The Japan Fair Trade Commission found that Japan Post had violated the law by failing to specify the terms of its freelance contracts and issued a recommendation. The move has been reported in connection with developments surrounding the reality of collection and delivery operations since the Koizumi reforms.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission found that, between November 2024 and June 2025, Japan Post failed to specify transaction terms, including compensation amounts and payment due dates, when commissioning 167 individual freelancers to deliver parcels and perform other services. Although transaction terms are required to be specified in writing, mandatory items were missing from oral and email orders.
People familiar with the Japan Fair Trade Commission said there had been criticism that Japan Post treated individuals with a condescending attitude, as if it were “doing them a favor by giving them work.” They said, however, that the essence of the finding lies in the reality of mail and parcels being conflated. The actual state of collection and delivery arrangements and contracting practices is being called into question.
Japan Post has also previously been found to have failed to conduct roll calls at a post office in Hyogo for several years and to have falsified the records. In April 2025, it disclosed that improper roll calls or false entries had been identified at 2,391 offices, approximately 75% of the 3,188 offices nationwide. In response, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism took stringent action.
In June of the same year, it revoked authorization to operate 2,500 large trucks, vans and other vehicles. From October of that year through February this year, it also took action against light vans, suspending the use of 3,333 vehicles at 1,862 offices nationwide. The Japan Fair Trade Commission’s recommendation focuses on the inadequate practical separation between the handling of mail and parcels.