How much Coffee can I bring?

I would like to gift a friend packaged coffee from USA in Japan when I visit next year. Since mailing the coffee last month costed me $40 USD.....I was hoping I can bring some to him as I am going there anyway.
What would be the procedure to successfully do this?
My idea was to buy maybe 4.5kg (10 lbs) or less and have them in my checked luggage bag. I looked for customs rules but did not find anything about what limits there are or if this isn't allowed.
I would like to bring the Starbucks whole bean coffee in flavors that my friend says aren't available in Japan, coffee will be transported from manufacture sealed package.
Thank you!

4.5kg is quite a bit! But checked into your luggage... shouldn't be a problem I suppose especially if they're in their original packaging so that customs knows what they are. I had coffee beans sent to me before, only about 2kg but customs got curious and opened to check ! Shipping cost quite a bit too.

One question though... why of all things Starbucks?

Hi!

Many years ago, I brought coffee to a friend in Japan. It wasn't 10 lbs cause that is a lot of coffee to carry around, but it was a few unopened bags.

This was for an American friend and for some reason she desperately wanted Dunkin' brand coffee, I don't like Dunkin' but it was easy to purchase and people want what they want.

Good luck!

There is no hard limit, but too much will alarm the customs.
People have tried to smuggle illegal drugs inside coffee cans/bags.
When I brought lots of coffee from Kona, customs on the US side did a chemical swipe test on EACH bag.

I once brought over a lot of coffee (beans in their original bags) back home to Japan from Hawaii. No problem back then at least. Of course Hawaii�fs Kona coffee is well known, so bringing some for souvenirs was considered normal, though I don�ft think it was more than 1.5kg or so.

Just a quick thought, which is offtopic (and I hate when people write totally unrelated replies to topics just being arrogant know-it-alls, so this is not what I am trying to be here)

Has your friend really asked to bring THAT certain coffee? Or are you at least 100% certain, they will enjoy it?
In which case this is fine, people have different tastes... so don't bother to read the following.

... cause if they just mentioned that that coffee was not available in Japan and maybe once asked for it to try it, you may not do your friend a favor.
There's quite some very good and wide range of coffees available in Japan, so for someone who really is into coffee, I don't really see a reason to have Starbucks blends imported from the US in large quantities.

Years ago I told my relatives, that I liked Baileys Irish Cream liquor which led to the fact that for every birthday and christmas, I got a bottle of Baileys for several years. I ended up pouring the stuff down the drain. So this is what I am trying to prevent here ^_^��
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To add something ontopic:
If there is no limit on the amount you may bring, just openly present the stuff to the customs inspector to avoid any doubts you are trying to hide anything. The worst that can happen is they might take it away from you (but why should they) but at least you won't look suspicious.
That's what I would do (after trying to convincing my friend to try some other coffee ;)

I have family in Japan and every time I can take some over to Japan they ask me to bring bags and bags of coffee beans - about 15 kg of them in my last trip (one bag is about 8500 yen in Japan, more than triple the price). It is not in any way illegal, and there is no specific Customs limit. I'll be doing it again in the next few months.
That said, if the Customs officer sees them, are you going to be put under a microscope? Quite possibly. They are trained to look for anything unusual, and this is pretty unusual. Based on my experience going through Customs countless times, I suggest if you can, you choose a line with an older and experienced man doing the checks. If you choose a young greenhorn, they are likely going to be extra strict to prove their chops to their superiors, and I have learned this the hard way.