jamie.tokyo

How to stop receiving junk mail in Japan? Magnets.

Guilty guilt. I felt terrible every time I opened my mailbox in Japan, an avalanche of flyers and brochures would fall out. I would scoop them up and place them in a conveniently placed rubbish bin, and so did the other residents. Such waste...

Rubbish bin near mailbox overflowing with junk mail received by residents

None of the other mailboxes seemed to make use of the Japanese equivalent of a "No junk mail" sign, I began to ponder whether such a thing existed, it does!

All you need is a simple sticker on the mailbox saying “チラシ禁止” (Flyers Prohibited) or “チラシ投函お断り” (No mailing of flyers). I was hesitant to purchase a sticker as I was unsure of how cleanly it would remove.

Enter magnets! Unable to find what I was after on Rakuten and Amazon, I resorted to using my non-existent design skills to mock up an idea. After getting in touch with a custom magnets website I was able to produce this beauty!

The custom designed "No Junk Mail" magnet attached to apartment mailbox

Since proudly displaying my masterpiece on my mailbox for almost a year, I'm pleased to say I've received almost no flyers and my life is a little better for it.

Extra magnets on my wooden desk. Extras from my bulk order for the custom magnet

I still have a handful of excess magnets left over from the custom bulk order, if you'd like one, contact me at [email protected] and I'll try and get them to you! (All magnets have been claimed 🙇)