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๐Ÿšข Sea Freight

China to Japan Sea Freight

Door-to-door transit 25-45 calendar days. Duty and final delivery are inside the published rate.

Container vessel and terminal operations on the Nansha to Nagoya ocean freight lane
Sea freight โ€” China to Japan

Sea Freight from China to Japan runs 25-45 calendar days door to door, clearing through the destination customs authority. Rates shown are indicative freight estimates; duty, tax and customs handling depend on the commodity and are quoted separately. Send weight, dimensions and product details for a firm figure.

Transit time
25-45 calendar days
Destination
Japan
Customs authority
the destination customs authority
Duty-free threshold
JPY 10,000 customs value (some categories excluded)

Indicative published channel rate for planning, not a quotation. What you actually pay depends on the product and its HS code, chargeable weight, declared value, duty and tax at destination and the exchange rate on the day โ€” it can come in above or below this.

Current Freight Rates

Price data updating. Contact us for current rates.

Trade Terms Explained โ€” Who Pays for What EXW, FOB, CIF, DDP and seven more โ€” see which costs sit with us and which sit with you

The rate above is quoted on one specific trade term. Change the term and you change how much of the journey to Japan is already inside the price. The table below maps the eleven common Incoterms® against the twelve cost stages of a door-to-door shipment, so you can see exactly where our responsibility ends and yours begins.

  • Seller โ€” Cost and arrangement sit with the seller / shipper.
  • Buyer โ€” Cost and arrangement sit with the buyer / consignee.
  • Negotiable โ€” Not fixed by the rule โ€” agree it in the contract.
Responsibility for each shipment stage under each Incoterms rule
Term 1 Loading on truck 2 Export customs declaration 3 Carriage to port of export 4 Unloading at port of export 5 Loading on vessel / aircraft 6 Main carriage 7 Cargo insurance 8 Unloading at port of import 9 Loading on truck at import 10 Carriage to destination 11 Import customs clearance 12 Import duties & taxes
EXW Ex Works Buyer Buyer โ€” Loading on truck Buyer Buyer โ€” Export customs declaration Buyer Buyer โ€” Carriage to port of export Buyer Buyer โ€” Unloading at port of export Buyer Buyer โ€” Loading on vessel / aircraft Buyer Buyer โ€” Main carriage Buyer Buyer โ€” Cargo insurance Buyer Buyer โ€” Unloading at port of import Buyer Buyer โ€” Loading on truck at import Buyer Buyer โ€” Carriage to destination Buyer Buyer โ€” Import customs clearance Buyer Buyer โ€” Import duties & taxes
FCA Free Carrier Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck Seller Seller โ€” Export customs declaration Buyer Buyer โ€” Carriage to port of export Buyer Buyer โ€” Unloading at port of export Buyer Buyer โ€” Loading on vessel / aircraft Buyer Buyer โ€” Main carriage Buyer Buyer โ€” Cargo insurance Buyer Buyer โ€” Unloading at port of import Buyer Buyer โ€” Loading on truck at import Buyer Buyer โ€” Carriage to destination Buyer Buyer โ€” Import customs clearance Buyer Buyer โ€” Import duties & taxes
FAS Free Alongside Ship Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck Seller Seller โ€” Export customs declaration Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to port of export Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of export Buyer Buyer โ€” Loading on vessel / aircraft Buyer Buyer โ€” Main carriage Buyer Buyer โ€” Cargo insurance Buyer Buyer โ€” Unloading at port of import Buyer Buyer โ€” Loading on truck at import Buyer Buyer โ€” Carriage to destination Buyer Buyer โ€” Import customs clearance Buyer Buyer โ€” Import duties & taxes
FOB Free On Board Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck Seller Seller โ€” Export customs declaration Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to port of export Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of export Seller Seller โ€” Loading on vessel / aircraft Buyer Buyer โ€” Main carriage Buyer Buyer โ€” Cargo insurance Buyer Buyer โ€” Unloading at port of import Buyer Buyer โ€” Loading on truck at import Buyer Buyer โ€” Carriage to destination Buyer Buyer โ€” Import customs clearance Buyer Buyer โ€” Import duties & taxes
CFR Cost and Freight Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck Seller Seller โ€” Export customs declaration Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to port of export Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of export Seller Seller โ€” Loading on vessel / aircraft Seller Seller โ€” Main carriage Buyer Buyer โ€” Cargo insurance Buyer Buyer โ€” Unloading at port of import Buyer Buyer โ€” Loading on truck at import Buyer Buyer โ€” Carriage to destination Buyer Buyer โ€” Import customs clearance Buyer Buyer โ€” Import duties & taxes
CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck Seller Seller โ€” Export customs declaration Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to port of export Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of export Seller Seller โ€” Loading on vessel / aircraft Seller Seller โ€” Main carriage Seller Seller โ€” Cargo insurance Buyer Buyer โ€” Unloading at port of import Buyer Buyer โ€” Loading on truck at import Buyer Buyer โ€” Carriage to destination Buyer Buyer โ€” Import customs clearance Buyer Buyer โ€” Import duties & taxes
CPT Carriage Paid To Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck Seller Seller โ€” Export customs declaration Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to port of export Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of export Seller Seller โ€” Loading on vessel / aircraft Seller Seller โ€” Main carriage Negotiable Negotiable โ€” Cargo insurance Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of import Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck at import Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to destination Buyer Buyer โ€” Import customs clearance Buyer Buyer โ€” Import duties & taxes
CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck Seller Seller โ€” Export customs declaration Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to port of export Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of export Seller Seller โ€” Loading on vessel / aircraft Seller Seller โ€” Main carriage Seller Seller โ€” Cargo insurance Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of import Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck at import Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to destination Buyer Buyer โ€” Import customs clearance Buyer Buyer โ€” Import duties & taxes
DAT Delivered At Terminal (DPU) Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck Seller Seller โ€” Export customs declaration Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to port of export Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of export Seller Seller โ€” Loading on vessel / aircraft Seller Seller โ€” Main carriage Negotiable Negotiable โ€” Cargo insurance Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of import Buyer Buyer โ€” Loading on truck at import Buyer Buyer โ€” Carriage to destination Buyer Buyer โ€” Import customs clearance Buyer Buyer โ€” Import duties & taxes
DAP Delivered At Place Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck Seller Seller โ€” Export customs declaration Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to port of export Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of export Seller Seller โ€” Loading on vessel / aircraft Seller Seller โ€” Main carriage Negotiable Negotiable โ€” Cargo insurance Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of import Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck at import Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to destination Buyer Buyer โ€” Import customs clearance Buyer Buyer โ€” Import duties & taxes
DDP Delivered Duty Paid Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck Seller Seller โ€” Export customs declaration Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to port of export Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of export Seller Seller โ€” Loading on vessel / aircraft Seller Seller โ€” Main carriage Negotiable Negotiable โ€” Cargo insurance Seller Seller โ€” Unloading at port of import Seller Seller โ€” Loading on truck at import Seller Seller โ€” Carriage to destination Seller Seller โ€” Import customs clearance Seller Seller โ€” Import duties & taxes

EXW Ex Works

Buyer takes over at the seller's door and carries every cost from there. Lowest quoted price, highest buyer workload.

FCA Free Carrier

Seller clears the goods for export and hands them to the carrier the buyer nominated.

FAS Free Alongside Ship

Sea and inland waterway only. Seller delivers alongside the vessel; loading is on the buyer.

FOB Free On Board

Sea and inland waterway only. Risk passes once the goods are on board. The most common buying term.

CFR Cost and Freight

Seller pays the main carriage but carries no insurance obligation; risk still passes on loading.

CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight

As CFR, plus the seller must buy and pay for cargo insurance (minimum cover unless you agree more).

CPT Carriage Paid To

Any mode. Seller pays carriage through to the named destination; insurance is not obligatory.

CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid

As CPT, plus the seller must insure the cargo through to the named destination.

DAT Delivered At Terminal (DPU)

Seller delivers unloaded at the named terminal. Renamed DPU (Delivered at Place Unloaded) in Incotermsยฎ 2020.

DAP Delivered At Place

Seller delivers to your address ready for unloading; import clearance and duty stay with the buyer.

DDP Delivered Duty Paid

Seller carries everything through to your door, duty and tax included. Highest quoted price, least buyer workload.

Two things worth flagging. Under CIF and CIP the seller is obliged to buy cargo insurance and pay the premium; under every other term insurance is optional, and we recommend buyers arrange their own cover so a loss or damage in transit is recoverable. And this table is a working summary for planning purposes โ€” the binding definitions are the ones published by the International Chamber of Commerce in the Incoterms® rules, so confirm the exact term wording in your sales contract before you ship.

Service Details

Nansha → Nagoya Container Shipping

Nansha to Nagoya container shipping, priced per box rather than per CBM. This is the lane to book when the cargo fills a container or when it should not share one: machinery, stone, steel, building materials and project pieces all move better as FCL because nothing else is loaded around them.

Port-to-port means exactly that: the rate ends at the Nagoya terminal gate. Typical dwell at destination runs 1โ€“3 days before the box is available for collection, and that window sits outside the transit figure above. Origin haulage, export declaration, destination clearance, duty and delivery beyond the terminal are all quoted separately, so ask for a door figure if that is what you are comparing against.

Rate by Container Type

  • 20GP โ€” USD 350 per container
  • 40HQ โ€” USD 650 per container

Rates on this lane are per kilogram of chargeable weight, which is the greater of actual gross weight and Lร—Wร—H รท 6000. One cubic metre of cargo is treated as about 166.7 kg, so anything lighter than that per cubic metre is billed on the space it occupies rather than on the scale reading. Knowing which side of that line your cargo falls on changes the quote more than any negotiation will.

The consignments that move regularly on this service into Japan are dominated by salon furniture (HS 85 / 90 / 94), where clearance turns on cE and FCC; a scope check on whether a treatment device is a regulated medical device, pallet (HS 44 / 48) and fasteners (HS 73 / 82 / 83). We publish a handling brief for each, because the difference between a clean clearance and a two-week hold is almost always documentation prepared before the cargo leaves the factory rather than anything that happens in transit.

Ocean cargo on this lane discharges at Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka. Which one your container routes through is decided by the sailing we book rather than by you, and it moves the inland leg far more than it moves the ocean rate, so if your consignee sits closer to one of them say so at booking and we will bias the routing that way.

Delivery does not stop at the gateway. We run inland to Osaka, Hitachinaka, Hakata, Sendai and Tokyo among others, and each of those has its own destination guide covering the port or airport it clears through, the realistic inland transit to add on top of the figures above, and the local clearance quirks worth knowing before you ship: see all Japan destinations we cover, 16 in total.

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Additional Information

Scope, Exclusions and What to Check Before Booking

This is a port-to-port FCL rate for Nansha to Nagoya. It covers ocean freight for one container and stops at the Nagoya terminal gate. Everything either side of that โ€” trucking to Nansha, customs at both ends, duty and tax for Japan, inland delivery โ€” is quoted on request rather than bundled, which keeps the freight number comparable between carriers.

  • Priced per box in USD for 20GP and 40HQ, not per KG or per CBM โ€” utilization is yours to optimize
  • Heavy and out-of-gauge cargo is core traffic here: machinery, steel, stone, building materials, project pieces
  • Cut-off and free time attach to the specific sailing; demurrage begins the day free time expires
  • Reefer, dangerous goods and out-of-gauge are priced case by case rather than from the card
  • Clearance at destination is handled by Japan Customs; the consignee must be registered to import
  • Destination conformity for Japan: PSE mark for electrical appliances; Giteki/MIC certification for radio devices; Food Sanitation Act notification for food-contact items

The most expensive mistake on a Nansha to Nagoya booking is not the freight rate, it is free time. Demurrage and detention start counting at the Nagoya terminal whether or not your consignee is ready, and on a bad week they can exceed the ocean freight itself. Confirm how many free days the booking carries before you fix a collection date.

Before you book, confirm two things with your consignee: that they are registered to import into Japan, and that whoever is named as importer of record accepts the duty liability. Those are dull questions and they are also the two that most often surface only after the cargo has already sailed.

Where these numbers come from

Every duty and tax figure quoted on this page is our working estimate for planning, not a ruling. The binding rate for your consignment is whatever Japan Customs applies against your declared HS code on the day of entry, and their published guidance is the source to check before you commit stock.

Most landed-cost surprises trace back to classification rather than freight. the WCO Harmonized System defines the heading structure every customs administration builds on, and ITC Market Access Map will show you the duty a given heading attracts in this destination.

For ocean cargo, restricted commodities move under the IMO's IMDG Code, and the container has to be declared and stowed accordingly. Batteries, flammables and corrosives all have a compliant ocean path; what causes rolled bookings is finding out about them after the container is packed.

If this is your first shipment into Japan, the Japan Country Commercial Guide covers the practical import environment in more depth than a rate page reasonably can, and it is written by a party with no stake in your booking.

China to Japan โ€” Shipping Reference Data

Main sea gatewaysTokyo, Yokohama, Osaka
Destination customs authorityJapan Customs (็จŽ้–ข)
De-minimis / duty-free thresholdJPY 10,000 customs value (some categories excluded)
Import tax & duty regimeConsumption tax 10%; duty 0โ€“15% on most manufactured goods, higher on leather, footwear and food
Local currencyJPY
Typical clearance / dwell time1โ€“3 days
Peak / busy seasonSepโ€“Nov
Conformity & certificationPSE mark for electrical appliances; Giteki/MIC certification for radio devices; Food Sanitation Act notification for food-contact items

Thresholds and duty bands are buyer-planning references, not formal customs rulings โ€” confirm the exact HS-code rate for your goods before shipping.

Free 3D Loading Tools for This Sea Route

This page covers a Sea freight service from China to Japan. Use the matching tool below to plan your cargo before requesting a quote.

๐Ÿšข

3D Container Loading Planner

Sea freight to Japan prices by CBM or container โ€” plan your 20GP/40GP/40HQ loading in 3D, compare utilization, and see exactly how many cartons fit before you commit to a booking.

Open Container Planner โ†’

Japan Sea Freight Checklist

  • Ask whether the quote includes destination port charges in Japan or only ocean freight.
  • Photograph the container number, seal, and loading process for insurance evidence.
  • Confirm whether your Japan rate is per CBM or per container before comparing quotes.
  • Declare accurate gross weight โ€” VGM misdeclaration delays vessels and triggers fines.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does Sea FCL Port-to-Port (Spot) from China to Japan take?

Sea freight on this route runs about 25โ€“45 calendar days door-to-door, plus roughly 1โ€“3 days of clearance/dwell once it reaches the gateway. All times include customs clearance under DDP terms.

What duties and taxes apply when importing into Japan?

Clearance is handled by Japan Customs (็จŽ้–ข). The regime is: Consumption tax 10%; duty 0โ€“15% on most manufactured goods, higher on leather, footwear and food, with a de-minimis position of JPY 10,000 customs value (some categories excluded). Under DDP these are pre-paid, so nothing is collected on arrival.

What certification is needed to import into Japan?

For regulated goods, plan for: PSE mark for electrical appliances; Giteki/MIC certification for radio devices; Food Sanitation Act notification for food-contact items. Missing conformity paperwork is the most common clearance hold with Japan Customs (็จŽ้–ข), so confirm requirements for your HS code before shipping.

In what currency is this route priced and paid?

Freight is quoted and invoiced in USD; the destination-side currency is JPY. Payment is typically due before departure, and DDP means you settle the full landed cost once.

What documents are required for customs clearance in Japan?

Japan Customs (็จŽ้–ข) typically requires a commercial invoice with HS codes, a packing list, the bill of lading/air waybill, a certificate of origin (may lower duty), and any product certification (PSE mark for electrical appliances; Giteki/MIC certification for radio devices; Food Sanitation Act notification for food-contact items). We file these under DDP.

When does capacity tighten on the Chinaโ€“Japan lane?

Space and rates tighten around Sepโ€“Nov, plus the China-side windows of Chinese New Year (Jan/Feb) and Golden Week (early Oct). Book 1โ€“2 weeks earlier in these periods.

Shipping Japan cargo by industry

This rate is for the lane. What decides whether the cargo arrives intact is the commodity โ€” how it prices, how it must be packed and loaded, and which compliance step holds it at the border. These guides cover that per industry.

All 60 industry guides →

Get a quote โ€” Japan

Send the cargo details below and we price your actual shipment. Weight, dimensions and what the goods are is everything we need to come back with a firm number.

Answer these and you get a real price, not a range. These are the exact figures a carrier needs before it will quote. Fill them in once and we can price your cargo the same day โ€” leave them out and we have to come back and ask, which is what turns an hour into a week.

kg
ctn
Carton sizeoptional
ร— ร— cm
mยณ
ctr
Built-in battery?* Lithium cells are dangerous goods.
Someone else's brand?* Logos you are not authorised to ship.
Magnetic product?* Speakers, motors, magnets.
Why these three decide everything

They determine whether your cargo can fly, and on which service. A declared battery changes the price; an undeclared one grounds the shipment at the airport and you pay storage while it sits. Unauthorised brands are seized at customs and the freight is lost with them. Magnetic goods need a field test โ€” routine, but it has to be booked ahead. Telling us now costs a click; telling us later costs the shipment.

Sea or air?*
Tick both and we quote both.
When should it move?optional
Photographs of the goodsoptional
    Your details are used to prepare this quotation and nothing else.

    Customs clearance in Japan

    Duty and tax position, certification, typical port dwell and what actually holds shipments at this border โ€” plus who files the entry.

    Japan clearance requirements →

    Destination guide

    Gateways, inland legs and clearance context for Japan โ€” background rather than pricing.

    Japan destination guide →