​YOUR BELONGINGS

SELL

• Your successor, fellow JETs, coworkers, etc.
  • If your successor is interested, you are welcome to give/sell your items to them. However, please be honest about the condition of the items and their worth. Whenever possible, send pictures and describe items in detail.
  • Do NOT leave items for your successor that they have not asked for.
  • Do NOT sell the items that belong to your Contracting Organization or base school. 
    • For Kyoto Prefectural ALTs, at the very least, your base school owns the following: refrigerator, washing machine, heater, fan, & vacuum - do not try to sell these to your successor!
  • It is your and your successor’s responsibility to arrange the exchange of any items and/or money.
  • Your base school and the BOE are not responsible in any way for items being sold or passed along to your successor or for any canceled/false transactions.
  • Clean any items to be sold to your successor. 
• Online - There are also lots of online resources for selling items to people outside of JET. These involve the general public so be careful of who you sell to - there is no guarantee of anything. 
  • "Kyoto Sayonara Sales” Facebook groups
  • Mercari – requires conversational Japanese
• Local secondhand shops - There are lots of second-hand shops in the towns and cites in Kyoto Prefecture if you have any items still in good shape that you wish to dispose of in a sustainable way!  But don't expect much money)
  • 2nd Street
  • Book-Off / Hard-Off / Off-House
  • Treasure Hunter, etc.

DONATE

• UNIQLO/GU (only Uniqlo and GU brand clothing in good condition)
• H&M (any brand, any condition)
• “Mottainai” Facebook group
• Eco to SHIP
• Orange Thrifty

TOSS
Often, it may be cheaper and easier to toss household items and furniture rather than sell or pay to ship them. Unfortunately, throwing away household items in Japan is more complicated than just setting them out on the curb. Follow the local rules when it comes to disposal. For instance, you may need to pay a fee for oversize items like futons. 

• Check your area’s regulations!
• Take note of when and how to toss out specific items in your specific area; you may need to buy special stickers/bags, separate materials, etc.
• Ask your school for suggestions on how to dispose of certain items.
• Special trash days – Non-burnables and recyclables like glass and cans are usually picked up only once or twice a month. To save yourself time and stress, plan to toss out a bag or two every trash cycle.
• Large items – You may need to schedule for large items to be picked up, so don’t put it off until the last few weeks.
• Search your area for bulk waste disposal centers (クリーンセンター). There are also cleaning services that will dispose of everything. Search for 不用品回収 (fuyōhin kaishū) or ゴミの片付け (gomi no katazuke).