Pinstripes, I too live in Japan (Not far from Nagoya, in Aichi-ken). I can attest to the fact that even though shipping from Japan is usually higher than shipping the same item to Japan (from the US or another country), surface (ocean) shipping is now the big exception. Now that USPS is literally raping people who live overseas by killing off Surface this past May, you have no choice but to use wickedly expensive Airmail (i.e., something like "EMS").
I am so very thankful I purchased the bulk of my hardware BEFORE that nightmare happened. I bought a 512k, 512k with Hyperdrive, SE/30, 20" ADC Cinema display, G4 Cube system, Apple HD20 hard drive, Apple HD20SC hard drive, and many other big-and-heavy items via EBAY and had them all economically shipped to me here in Japan from the US via USPS Surface. It took a month for each item to arrive, but boy did I save a bundle with ocean shipping! I would have never ever bid for those items, no matter how badly I wanted them, if I had been forced by high-handed USPS to use Airmail instead of Ocean. So in a small way, you can say that USPS Surface Mail is indirectly what brought me to this site! I wouldn't be the classic Mac nut I am today without good old Surface mail.
I say all this because, despite Japan Posts many faults, they have not yet gone the unruly way of USPS. That's right, you can still ship from Japan via Surface. Here are the rates:
http://www.post.japanpost.jp/english/fee/intel/parcel.html#parcel_03
Some people may try to scare you with Surface mail horror stories, but I would take those stories with a hefty bucket of salt. Those of us who live in Japan also must consider that such bad stories mainly come from people outside Japan -- which I think says a lot. Just put the item in a sturdy box surrounded by lots of bubble wrap (and I mean a lot), and it will be fine. I am by no means "lucky" and I've used Surface many, many times (to ship to Japan and from Japan) without a single bad incident. And yes, I've shipped items from my company here in Japan via Japan Post Surface, all over the world -- to tiny islands you'd never even heard of! Just pack the item well and it will get through unscathed. Then pay a couple hundred Yen to insure the package to soothe your conscience. It's really that simple. But again, sadly, you won't get this benefit anymore when shipping items
to you here in Japan
from the US.
Now, if you find someone INSIDE Japan to take your hardware, the shipping cost is even cheaper (of course). Japan Post is the cheapest, followed by Sagawa. Yamato service is great, but they are expensive. But selling on Yahoo Auctions Japan is not the most enjoyable experience in the world, language barrier aside, so I'm guessing you probably won't be shipping anything within Japan.
Hope this helps.