With many baby boomers in the process of retiring — and this includes many foreigners who have spent years working in Japan — the following letter from the U.S. (in response to a query from HB on shipping, printed back on Dec. 12) makes a number of points that may help those in a similar situation.
"After almost 25 years of teaching English in Tokyo — the last 22 1/2 at the same language institute — I retired in 2003 and returned to the U.S.," writes S.
"I'd like to comment on the matter of actually getting your stuff back: