Have you ever tasted this beef jerky? How did it taste? I wouldn't know, myself. You see, someone recently tried to send this to me, here in Japan, and it was intercepted by Customs.I received a call recently from the good people at the Customs Bureau in Japan informing me that the package (Christmas) I was expecting had arrived, but that some offensive articles would be removed.The package arrived the next day, and the day after I received a letter explaining what was removed.

The forbidden articles were packages (a couple) of beef jerky and dried duck jerky for our dog (dog food).This did, and didn't surprise me. In the past, I'd been denied beef jerky from Canada/USA because of concerns of 'mad cow' disease. However, afterward I'd see the same product for sale at various stores selling imported foods. If it's so dangerous, how come these stores could sell it, and at a much higher price?I phoned the Customs office and asked if they could send me pictures of the confiscated goods. The picture at the top of this page is one of the pictures. The beef jerky is all natural, and is 100% US beef.To my knowledge, American and Canadian beef products had been cleared of any dangerous classifications in recent years (especially as, like I said, the same sort of product can be found in some stores). So, after a bit of searching on the internet, I came across an article from 2015 showing that American beef jerky HAD been re-introduced into Japan.Now I was further confused. I tried to contact someone at the Canadian Embassy here in Japan, but after playing on their phone lines for 10 minutes and listening to various useless messages, I gave up. Next, I tried the American Embassy in Japan, and after speaking to someone was asked to phone another number. This finally allowed me to speak to someone well-versed in the laws and guidelines.It seems that while American and Canadian beef products are acceptable in Japan, regulations are so complicated that it becomes quite difficult for individuals to get such products for private consumption in Japan. A lot of complicated paperwork would have to be filled out, and various inspections made of the products before they could be imported. My guess is that this is protectionism for the Japanese beef industry. While Japanese beef jerky is good, it is limited in variety and is quite simple when compared with the wide variety of products available in North America.

My options available from the Customs office are to have the 'illegal items' returned to Canada (where they were sent from) or incinerated. I first considered sending the items back to Canada, but having not yet sent back the letter with my choice, decided to phone and ask a bit more about this. Given these two simple options, one could think that if they chose to send the items back to the sender, things would be finished. But no. What is not mentioned is that you may have to pay to send the items back to the sender. You, who did not receive the items. Either that, or the sender would have to pay to have them returned. Who would want such options?When I asked about who would pay to return the goods, I was told that I would have to phone the Post Office in Tokyo to determine who would be paying for the return, and that the customs office would definitely NOT pay.I asked why this information wasn't given in the letter, saying that the letter was misleading. Apologies were offered, but they weren't heartfelt.Should you wish to eat your North American beef jerky in Japan, I would suggest consuming it before entering Japan. There is a lot of beef jerky in Japan, at all sorts of stores, so should you really love eating it, you will not without. However, should you wish a wide variety of various beef jerky products, you may have trouble finding them here in Japan. I'm sure some of the bigger cities in Japan have a larger selection of foreign beef jerky products, though probably at a premium price level.I will be sending in my letter to the Japanese Customs office, asking them to incinerate it / "cough-cough" enjoy it during their lunch breaks, and move on with things.And what about the dog food products you may ask? Don't get me started.