Ocean Freight
FCL and LCL sailings out of Yokohama, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe to the major container hubs.
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Track & trace
Every booking gets a reference in the format NR-00000000.
17
Years moving freight from Japan
1,480+
Clients shipped for since 2009
42
Destination countries served
92,000+
Consignments delivered
Who we are
A Japanese freight forwarder that answers the phone in your working day
NipponRoute Logistics K.K. was founded in Yokohama in 2009 to do one thing properly: move cargo out of Japan without the customer having to chase it. We are an NVOCC, an IATA cargo agent and a licensed customs broker with AEO status, which means the booking, the clearance and the paperwork are all handled by the same company.
Today we work from eight locations across Japan, from Sapporo down to Hakata, and hand cargo to vetted partners in 42 countries. Most of our clients are manufacturers and distributors who ship the same lanes every month and need the transit time to be boring.
42 destination countries
Direct sailings and flights from Japan, with partner brokers handling clearance at the far end.
Documents done once
Bills of lading, air waybills, certificates of origin and FTA preference claims prepared in-house.
What we do
Six services, one job number
Book any part of the chain on its own, or hand us the whole move from the factory floor in Japan to the consignee's door overseas.
Air Freight
Consolidated and express air cargo from Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Chubu Centrair.
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Domestic Road Freight
Trucking across all four main islands, from single pallets to full trailer loads.
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Customs Brokerage
Licensed Japanese customs clearance for exports and imports, filed through NACCS.
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Warehousing & Fulfilment
Bonded and general storage with pick, pack and order fulfilment for overseas sellers.
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Project & Heavy Cargo
Out-of-gauge machinery, plant and industrial equipment moved on breakbulk and flat rack.
Read moreWhy clients stay
The difference shows up on the fourth shipment, not the first
Anyone can quote a rate. What decides whether you keep using a forwarder is what happens when a vessel rolls, a buyer changes the delivery address, or customs asks a question about your HS code at 16:45 on a Friday.
One named coordinator per account
You deal with the same person for every booking, not a queue. They know your commodity, your buyers and your paperwork, and they answer in your own working hours.
AEO customs status
Japan Customs recognises us as an Authorized Economic Operator, which means faster release, fewer physical inspections and simplified declaration procedures on your cargo.
Tracking that reflects reality
Milestones are entered by the person who handled the cargo, not generated on a schedule. If a vessel is late, you see it on the tracking page the same day we do.
Quotes that hold
Our rates include the local charges that usually appear later as surprises: terminal handling, documentation, customs filing and drayage are itemised up front.
Where we operate
Eight locations in Japan, partner hubs on every continent
Red markers are NipponRoute offices, warehouses and port desks. Navy markers are the partner hubs we route cargo through.
Yokohama — Head Office
Head office
Tokyo — Haneda Air Desk
Air cargo
Narita Air Cargo
Air cargo
Osaka — Nanko Warehouse
Warehouse
Kobe Port Office
Ocean freight
Nagoya — Kinjō Futō
Ocean freight
Fukuoka — Hakata Port
Warehouse
Sapporo Agency
Road freight
Client feedback
What the people booking the cargo say
We move precision components to three European plants on a fixed production calendar. In four years NipponRoute have missed one booked sailing, and they told us about it before we noticed. That is the whole relationship in one sentence.
Kenji Nakamura
Supply Chain Director, Sakura Precision Manufacturing
Importing from Japan used to mean three separate suppliers and nobody accountable when a container sat at the port. Now one team handles the booking, the clearance and the delivery, and the invoice matches the quote.
Marta Lindqvist
Import Manager, Nordsten Components AB
Their customs people caught a classification error on our first shipment that would have cost us a five-figure sum in duty over the year. They found it before we were billed, not after.
David Okoye
Procurement Lead, Meridian Auto Parts Ltd
Our temperature-controlled pharmaceutical shipments from Osaka to Frankfurt require zero room for error. NipponRoute's real-time cold chain monitoring and proactive milestones keep our regulatory team completely satisfied.
Elena Rostova
VP of Global Logistics, Baltic Marine & Pharma Supplies
Moving heavy machinery out of Nagoya across North America used to give us constant headaches with oversized permits. NipponRoute handles the flat racks, permits, and drayage with seamless precision.
Liam O'Connor
Head of Supply Chain, Apex Heavy Machinery Corp
During peak season port congestion, NipponRoute secured expedited air cargo space out of Haneda when other forwarders were quoting two-week delays. They saved our quarterly launch.
Aisha Al-Mansoor
International Operations Manager, Gulf Coast Industrial
Their bilingual team in Yokohama communicates clearly at every step. Transparent tracking, accurate HS code declarations, and never any unexpected destination port charges.
Carlos Mendez
Import & Customs Director, Veloce Automotive Europe
NipponRoute manages both our bonded warehousing in Hakata and consolidated air freight to North America. Having warehousing and freight under one roof cut our fulfillment lead time by four days.
Sophie Dubois
Global Fulfillment Lead, Lumina Tech Instruments
Have cargo to move out of Japan?
Send us the origin, the destination and what is in the box. Most lanes are quoted the same working day.