State-run Japan Post and private delivery company Sankyu Inc. said Tuesday they will begin a joint door-to-door delivery service for small freight in Asia.
Under the alliance, Japan Post and Sankyu will begin the service for freight between Hong Kong and Tokyo on Thursday and later expand to include routes between Japan and other major Asian cities.
The Sankyu Business Yu-Pack service targets small corporate freight between Japan and other Asian countries, allowing users to send freight in one package by either sea or air.
The two will first mainly handle Tokyo-bound freight originating in Hong Kong.
When delivering items from other Asian countries to Japan, Sankyu will collect the freight at the point of origin and send it to Japan. Japan Post will then sort and deliver it using its domestic network.
The service also includes providing inventory management and freight-tracking information to customers, as well as storage at warehouses in Japan and overseas.
The Postal Service Agency, the predecessor of Japan Post, and Sankyu have been cooperating in the domestic delivery business since April 2001.
In mid-November, convenience store operator Lawson Inc. started handling Japan Post's parcels.