Photo/Illutration Hitoshi Yamamoto, head of a community safety bureau at the National Police Agency, far left, and directors of the three major delivery companies, pose for a group photo in Tokyo on April 20. (Hidemasa Yoshizawa)

A string of robberies by people masquerading as delivery personnel is prompting householders to increasingly opt for parcels to be left outside the front door or at designated spots that do not require face-to-face contact.

Three delivery companies--Sagawa Express Co., Japan Post Co. and Yamato Transport Co.--reached agreement with the National Police Agency on April 20 to make “okihai” deliveries as much as possible if recipients choose the service to avoid having to open the front door to receive a package.

The firms said they will advertise the okihai service on their websites and by other means to promote the delivery system.

A spate of robberies since last year involved perpetrators disguising themselves as delivery workers and barging into homes when occupants opened the door to receive parcels. Among the areas targeted were the capital’s Nakano Ward and Inagi.

As a result, the government drew up an urgent plan in March which included a measure to promote the use of okihai in cooperation with delivery companies.

The NPA had been in discussion with the three companies since January.

The okihai service was widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver goods without face-to-face contact between drivers and recipients of parcels.

Nasta Co., a Tokyo-based company selling boxes to place outside doors to receive parcels, surveyed 1,000 internet users last November on the use of okihai and found that 61.3 percent of respondents had used okihai at least once, significantly more than the 26.8 percent in October 2019.

An NPA official said that, in cooperation with the delivery companies, it “would like to publicize that okihai is effective to prevent robberies.”

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