Where to donate clothes : “Yofukupost 洋服ポスト” (Clothes Postbox)

17th December, 2016

I donated clothes in good condition to “Yofukupost” for the first time today.

Why I chose Yofukupost was because:
・One of the “postboxes”, namely, the collection place was about 20 minutes’ walk from home. (There are some collection places in Tokyo, Kanagawa and more. You can also send clothes directly by mail.)
・I could donate immediately because fortunately today was a collection day. (Generally Yofukupost are held about once a month.)

How to “mail”:
Bring (or send) clothes that can still be worn, in paper bags or plastic bags, directly to the collecting places.

What to “mail”:
Clothes, shoes, bags, belts, scarves, swimsuits, underwear, kimonos, blankets, sheets, towels, handkerchiefs, curtains etc.

They also accept clothes with the owner’s name embroidered, which ordinary second hand shops wouldn’t. Thanks to Yofukupost, I could finally send away my long heavy gloomy semi-custom-made Aquascutum trench coat that never suited me.

The collected clothes are sold at overseas old clothes markets, and clothes that cannot be sold as they are can be used as wiping rags at factories.

The donating instruction above says, “in paper bags or plastic bags” (for taking donated clothes in easily, I think). Taking this seriously, I brought the clothes to donate in a new plastic trash bag because I didn’t have any disposable bag. But it turned out that I didn’t have to do such an absurd thing. There was a woman who brought clothes in a furoshiki (Japanese traditional wrapping cloth), and the staff at the collecting place received the bundle confirming with her that “You are taking back the froshiki, right?”.

Writing this post I noticed that I could also “mail” kimonos, I’ll go again and donate some unused kimonos to Yofukupost. It is really helpful for decluttering!