置き配 (Okihai): Japan's Doorstep Delivery Era and the Vocabulary You Need

Hi everyone! Kenji here 😊

If you've shopped Amazon or Rakuten in Japan lately, you've noticed something different: the default delivery option is now 置おき配はい (okihai) — leave it at the door. A few years ago Japan was strict about in-person handovers. Now leave-at-door is the standard.

Let me walk you through what changed and the Japanese vocabulary you need.

📦 Why Japan suddenly embraced doorstep delivery

Japan's logistics industry hit a wall in 2024. New work-hour restrictions on truck drivers (the 2024 logistics problem) cut delivery capacity. Combined with population pressures, the old model of always-in-person handover became unsustainable.

The answer: 置おき配はい — contactless leave-at-door deliveries.

In 2025, Amazon and Rakuten default to okihai. Yamato and Sagawa offer it as a standard option. Some platforms even give points if you don't trigger redelivery — incentivizing first-attempt success.

🔍 Vocabulary for handling deliveries

The biggest pain in Japan delivery is the 不在ふざい (absence) → 再配達さいはいたつ (redelivery) cycle. Master these terms:

📖 Delivery vocabulary

Term	Reading	Meaning
宅配便たくはいびん	takuhaibin	parcel delivery (general term)
置おき配はい	okihai	leave-at-door delivery
再配達さいはいたつ	saihaitatsu	redelivery
不在票ふざいひょう	fuzaihyō	missed-delivery slip
対面たいめん	taimen	in-person delivery
指定してい	shitei	designating (time / location)

📍 Where to drop it: location keywords

Delivery apps let you specify where on the property to drop the package. The standard choices:

📖 Drop-location terms

Japanese	Reading	Meaning
玄関げんかん前まえ	genkan-mae	in front of the entrance
宅配たくはいボックス	takuhai box	delivery box (apartment buildings)
ガスメーターボックス	gas-meter box	gas meter cabinet (used as a drop)
物置ものおき	mono-oki	storage shed
車庫しゃこ	shako	garage

Apartment buildings increasingly have 宅配たくはいボックス — a wall of secured lockers with PIN codes — the gold standard for okihai.

⚠️ When you miss a delivery: the fuzaihyō

If the carrier couldn't leave it (no safe spot, signed delivery required), they leave a 不在票ふざいひょう in your mailbox. The slip has:

配達日時 (delivery date/time)
担当ドライバー (driver in charge)
再配達 (redelivery) request URL/QR/phone number

📝 Common slip phrases

再配達さいはいたつのご依頼いらいはこちら — Request redelivery here
配達日時はいたつにちじのご指定してい — Specify date/time

Most services let you book redelivery via the QR / URL within seconds.

🗣️ Practical phrases

Requesting okihai

📝 置おき配はいでお願ねがいします。 — Please leave it at the door.

Specifying drop location

📝 玄関げんかん前まえに置おいてください。 — Please leave it in front of the entrance.

Booking redelivery (phone)

📝 再配達さいはいたつをお願ねがいしたいんですが。 — I'd like to request redelivery.

✨ Kenji's recap

2025 default = okihai — Amazon, Rakuten, etc.
不在票 is the missed-delivery slip — has QR/URL for redelivery.
Drop locations: 玄関前, 宅配ボックス, ガスメーターボックス.
Apartment trick: most buildings have 宅配ボックス — the easiest okihai setup.
Get the points / first-attempt success is increasingly incentivized.

Delivery in Japan went from be home or miss it to set it and forget it in just a few years. The vocabulary makes the system frictionless. 📦