[Dx-qsl] Re: Return Postage

Fri Feb 25 07:51:29 EST 2005

John, NT5C writes:
> Sure makes the USPO worldwide airmail rate of 80c look like a bargain!

It is.
JA regular airmail rate for NA/EU: JPY110 (>USD1.00, <EUR1.00)
(for a letter no heavier than 25 grams)

JA IRC price: JPY150 for 1IRC 
JA IRC exchange value for a Japan Post stamp: JPY130 for 1IRC
(equivalent to the airmail letter (<= 25grams) rate for SA/AF)
It's not so easy to cash back USD1 bills (or Greenstamps) to JPY bills
in Japan, unless you have *way many* USD1 bills, since banks here charge
a lot of handling fee. I've been caged in Japanese borders for 7 years,
so the *one and only* purpose for exchanging JPYs to USDs is to send
them for QSL cards, ham radio awards, and some ARRL goods :-)
I owe a ham who sent an Abraham Lincoln (USD5 bill) instead of a George
Washington (USD1 bill) for (probably refunding my) return postage, for a
recent ARRL Int'l DX 2005 CW contest pin order; I only had one USD5
bill. (USD5 bills are hard to exchange here, unless you pre-order them
at a local large post office, because banks here in Osaka still don't
have USD5 bills, though they have plenty of USD1 and USD10 bills.)
So if you ever send a SAE with return postage to me from somewhere
abroad in NA/EU, 1IRC or USD2 are the best choice so far.
73
// Kenji Rikitake, JJ1BDX(/3)