One of the great things about importing retro gaming items from Japan is that you can often pick up items that were never released in the West or get other items at a lower cost than in North America and Europe.
That naturally extends to handheld consoles, which often have multiple variants which are totally exclusive to Japan – like the DS, PSP and PS Vita, for example.
Obtaining handhelds like these might have just become a little harder, thanks to the fact that Japan Post has recently changed its rules regarding the shipment of the lithium batteries which power these portable devices (thanks, Lee Jackson). This will also extend, one assumes, to controllers which contain built-in Li-ion batteries.
As reported by DeJapan, it is no longer possible to send items containing lithium batteries to the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Serbia, Tunisia, Portugal and Romania via EMS or Air Mail. They can, however, still be sent using surface mail, or by using an alternative shipment company, such as UPS or DHL.
"If a customer wishes to discard any lithium batteries included with their items, they may contact us before requesting consolidation to do so," adds DeJapan, a company which acts as a middle-man for people wishing to purchase items from Japan. "This change does not apply to items containing button batteries (i.e. batteries for watches) or alkaline batteries (i.e. batteries used in flashlights or toys), which can still be shipped via Japan Post methods to these countries."