Cheapest Shipping Rate

I have a cousin that is currently visiting me in GA. She purchased a lot of stuff for friends and families in Japan. The question now is how to transport most of this to them.

She wants to ship most of it via boat freight. But USPS doesn't seem to do boat freight. None of the other major carriers seem to have this option either. Can anyone else recommend another means of transporting about 50lbs or 22.5kg from Atl, GA (USA) to Nagano, JPN? Time is not an issue during transit. It can take a month or so and there will be no problems. Biggest concern is cost.

you should ask at your local post office. UPS and other private post services normally transport by plane only and for this reason
they are more expensive than normal post. You can send up to 50 kg in one box, that's the maximum japanese post will handle. If your friend wants to send for example books only she could consider a M-Bag (that is you put the books in a bag and save lots of money). In Japan you also get special price if you send cloth only. I really recommand you checked your local post office ^^

Unfortunately the US postal service has discontinued sea mail. They do offer some flat rate "priority international" shipping boxes that are fairly economical though and a whole lot faster.

Here's all the USPS options and rates to Japan:
http://pe.usps.com/text/Imm/il_010.htm#ep1628203

Does anybody know of private companies offering sea mail or other options that are cheaper than USPS?