FAQs

No. You can check out as a guest. We also take orders by email or WhatsApp and send you a payment link or invoice.

Credit card (Shopify Payments), PayPal and Shop Pay at checkout. Bank transfer and Wise are available on request for larger or international orders; payment is due within 7 days and transfer fees are yours.

On the Japan store prices include 10% consumption tax. On the international store prices exclude Japanese consumption tax because the sale is an export. Import duties and taxes at your destination are not included and are paid by you on arrival.

Yes. For mature, rare and high-value wines we send photographs and a short video of the actual bottle before payment, and we will do the same for any wine on request. Once you confirm and pay, the bottle shown is the bottle you receive.

We do not take deposits. A bottle is reserved for you when payment is received in full. Wines can then be held in free storage for up to 90 days.

Within Japan by Yamato refrigerated delivery (free on orders of ¥25,000 or more), and worldwide by Japan Post EMS, FedEx or DHL. Available countries appear at checkout; if yours is missing, email us before ordering.

We dispatch within 3–5 business days. Typical transit after dispatch: Japan 1–2 days, EMS 5–10 business days, FedEx/DHL 3–6 business days. Customs clearance and holidays can add time.

By EMS to the East and Central US (for example New York, Chicago, Texas, Florida). We do not ship by EMS to California or other West Coast destinations, where the postal service destroys alcohol. FedEx is possible anywhere in the US only if you or a friend hold an alcohol import licence. Email us before ordering.

No, unless a cold-chain option is offered and selected. In hot months you can keep your wine in our free storage (up to 90 days) and ship when it is cooler.

You are responsible for confirming that alcohol may be imported to your address. Parcels seized or destroyed by customs are not refunded. Parcels returned to Japan are re-dispatched once you have paid the return costs, re-import taxes and new shipping, or refunded less those costs.

Fill level appropriate to age, label and capsule wear, sediment, tartrates and haze or light spritz in natural wines are normal characteristics, not defects. A corked or clearly faulty bottle can be reported within 7 days of delivery for wines under 10 years from vintage; keep the bottle with at least two-thirds of its contents and the cork.

Within Japan: email us within 48 hours with photographs of the box, packaging and bottles; we handle the claim with Yamato and replace or refund. International: have the carrier record the damage at delivery, keep all packaging, and email us within 48 hours; international parcels travel at your risk from dispatch, so we file the carrier claim on your behalf and pass on the compensation paid. Transit insurance can be added at your cost before dispatch.

No. Wine cannot be resold once it has left our storage and cannot lawfully be returned across most borders. You can cancel free of charge any time before dispatch.

Yes. Every purchase can stay in our temperature-controlled storage in Tokyo free for 90 days. After that storage is ¥220 per 750 ml bottle per month (1.5 L ¥440, 3 L ¥880), billed monthly.

Yes, free of charge at our shop in Ebisu, usually ready within 24 hours. The person collecting must be 20 or over and may be asked for ID. See Tokyo Pickup & Storage.

Bottles Japan is operated by Ebisu Maruco Co., Ltd. (恵比寿マルコ株式会社), a licensed liquor wholesaler and retailer in Ebisu, Tokyo (Shibuya Tax Office licence 渋法第755号). Shop: 1F Fukuryu Bldg., 1-4-11 Ebisu-Nishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0021. Tel +81 3-6416-3023 (Tue–Fri 12:00–19:00); email and WhatsApp at any time.