Paula writes: "What are the rules regarding taxes placed on imported purchases — for example, a pair of boots? I live in Kobe and had to pay taxes of ¥5,400 for a ¥9,000 purchase. I paid more than half the cost of what I bought in taxes."

Japan's import taxes can be a bit tricky to understand, and despite the fact the "tariff schedules," or charts, are available online in English (at www.customs.go.jp/english/tariff/2012_1/index.htm), they aren't easy to decipher.

If you look at any of the tariff charts, you'll notice a horizontal list of tariff rate headers at the top of each column after the "Description" column. The first one is the general tariff rate, which is the default in most cases if none of the other rates apply. Also, for certain items — including duty-free goods, leather products, "knitted" clothing (this sounds very general but there are many small differences that determine what does and doesn't count), shoes, tobacco and some types of jewelry, to name a few — the general rate almost always applies.