Japan Post international

Hi I recently bought an item from Japan and It got dispatched on the 25th of July and it has been 2 weeks and 2 days and hasn't arrived in England yet according to the tracking info. I have ordered many items from Japan before and normally it takes 2-4 days to arrive in England, therefore I'm a bit worried and was wondering what the problems could occur?

If it was EMS, then that is unusually long. You can track every step of the way with MES, to see where it's been delayed.

I often send packages from Japan, and it takes around 2-3 days to get to customs, then 1-2 more days for delivery. I've noticed, however, that in the US, they will often hold it in the delivery post office for 3-6 days extra.

I am using Registered SAL. does this take longer sometimes?

According to Japan Post website, SAL would take 2-3 weeks if sending something from Tokyo to England, for instance. You can check it yourself by inputting details here:

http://www.post.japanpost.jp/cgi-charge/index.php?lang=_en

When I lived in the UK, I had bad experiences with postal staffs in the UK. Postman rang our door bell and when I opened the door, the box sent from Japan was delivered half opened and no one was there. The box was half empty. Obviously some items were stolen. It happened more than once, so I complained to a local post office and I got little compensation for that.
So that is one possibility in the UK.

SAL usually takes like 1 month or 2 to deliver.
When I sent stuff from Japan to America once using SAL it took about 3 months.

I hope that hasn't happened to my parcel. Once it arrives to England does it go through customs first then does it get updated? or is it as soon as it arrives before going to customs? Does it take a while to update the tracking information?

It's Registered Sal and all the packages that I have bought from japan using this shipping have only took around 1 week and 3 days and even less.

SAL would take longer than EMS.
Yes, it goes through customs first upon arrival in the UK. So far my experience with UK (with EMS from Japan) is that the tracking does not work once it reaches the customs in the UK (the last update I saw was "customs"). I once sent something, and the tracking was updated as late as a week after I received an e-mail from the recipient acknowledging receipt.
I would not worry but just wait. When I lived in the UK, I did have a surface parcel box opened and some stuff stolen (it was not insured) years ago, but that was one in how many, I don't know.

Thanks for that information. I agree that the tracking takes quite a while to update. Disclegend for example the guidelines say 2-4 weeks for SAL so I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer.

It was a mistake to use SAL.

e.g. A 500g package to UK form Tokyo:

SAL: small package 580yen, 2-3 weeks
SAL: International parcel 2700yen, 2-3 weeks

EMS: 1800yen,trackable, 2 days (but it's more like 4-5 delivered)