Sending Tea from the UK to Japan

Hi Everyone

I would like to send some tea (black if that makes a difference) to a friend in Japan.
After having looked online, I've come to the conclusion that it is possible to send tea from America to Japan. However, on the Royal Mail (UK postal service) website, it states that it is prohibited to send tea to Japan. Has anyone had experience of this and, if so, is it OK to send tea to Japan using Royal Mail?

Thanks in advance

For the hell of it, I checked the ParcelForce website and they have no such restriction of sending tea to Japan.

Hi Rob

Thanks for the answer. It does indeed appear that the Parcel Force makes no mention of any prohibition. This seems very odd as it's part of Royal Mail Plc, but I guess that indicates that sending tea is probably OK.
Having checked the Universal Postal Union website, it seems that, whilst tea plants can't be imported, dried tea can. However, I'm not exactly sure, as the guidelines aren't particularly clear.
Information from someone who has actually sent tea from Britain to Japan using Royal Mail would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

In case anyone else had this same question, I'll give a follow up. I just sent the tea via standard airmail and wrote TGFOP (the type of tea) on the CN22 form, under description of contents. It seemed to arrive no problem.

A friend of mine who lives in england sends tea to me who lives in japan, and there has been no problem so far :) hope this helps x

Hello Jim,

I sent breakfast and earl gray tea with Royal mail to Japan last year. I listed the teabags with other things on the customs declaration form and they were delivered without any problem. Now I am in Japan and I reallise I can easily buy those tea here from many supermarkets.

Fortnum and Mason tea cans are bought at department stores (I do once in a while). Twining cans are bought at supermarkets.
That said, it's nice of you to send tea from England to Japan. From our family's experience there's been no problem at all.

Thanks for all the answers everyone. It's somewhat ironic that this thread only received some worthwhile replies after I had already sent the goods.

I'm not at all surprised to hear that many different kinds of black tea are available in Japan. However, the particular blends which I sent are, as far as I'm aware, unique to my area, so I'm almost certain that they can't be bought in Japan (or anywhere else for that matter).