Amazon Seller Insurance for Japan-Based Sellers
Japanese makers of food, kitchenware and beauty products reach US buyers on Amazon.com, and Amazon expects a US-ready liability policy. Here is how the rule meets a Japan seller and what to prepare.
From a Japanese brand to Amazon.com customers
Amazon opened a JAPAN STORE on Amazon.com in November 2021, working with JETRO, Japan’s trade promotion body, to bring Japanese makers to US shoppers. In its first-half 2023 sales update, Amazon named grocery, home, kitchen and beauty among the store’s top categories, with dashi, tea leaves and skincare among the strongest sellers.
Other Japan sellers list directly through Amazon Global Selling and ship to FBA warehouses by sea from Yokohama, Tokyo or Kobe, or by air for smaller lots. Either way, once Amazon.com sales pass $10,000 in gross proceeds in a month, Amazon gives you 30 days to upload proof of commercial liability insurance, and it can ask earlier.
The policy needs limits of at least $1 million per occurrence and in total, an insurer rated A- or better, and Amazon.com Services LLC and its affiliates and assignees added as additional insured by endorsement. The full requirements page covers each term. Amazon also sets a deductible rule, so look it up in Seller Central and match your policy to it.
Food and beauty fall under the November 2026 rule
From November 2, 2026, Amazon adds a category trigger: cosmetics, ingestibles, children’s products and lithium-battery goods need the $1 million policy regardless of sales, for existing listings as well as new ones. For many Japan sellers that is the whole catalog. A tea, seasoning or supplement brand selling a few hundred units a month now needs the same policy as a high-volume seller.
Food shipped to the United States also needs FDA prior notice, confirmed before the goods arrive. Parcels sent by international mail need the notice before they leave Japan, and from October 1, 2026 that notice carries the mail service and tracking number. Underwriters ask how the product is labeled in English, which allergens it contains and where it is made; our supplements and ingestibles guide goes through those questions.
Beauty brands face questions about ingredients, preservatives, English labels and the US registration rules for cosmetics. The cosmetics and beauty guide sets out the documents underwriters expect.
Knives, cookware and home goods
Japanese kitchen knives, cast-iron kettles, donabe clay pots, ceramics and lacquerware sell well to US cooks, and none of them are in Amazon’s enhanced-safety group. They still raise their own underwriting questions once sales cross the monthly line.
Knives bring cut injuries and questions about packaging, blade guards and age gates on the listing. Cookware and tableware bring burns, cracked handles and the coatings or glazes that touch food; underwriters ask whether ceramics have been tested for lead and cadmium release and whether nonstick coatings are described accurately. Electric rice cookers and kettles add electrical safety questions and, for US buyers, a 120-volt plug and a US testing laboratory mark.
None of this is unusual. Answer it once, in writing, with test reports attached, and the same file serves every renewal.
What a Japanese PL policy covers, and what it leaves out
A standard Japanese product liability policy answers claims in Japan. Claims abroad belong to a separate overseas product liability policy, and Japanese insurers sell those with a regional choice, commonly split between plans that include North America and plans that leave it out. The North American option is priced higher because US lawsuits cost more to defend.
Industry group schemes follow the same pattern. A food-industry group program underwritten by Tokio Marine, for example, exists to answer overseas claims over Japanese food, including goods sold through cross-border e-commerce, because domestic policies end at the border. Read which regions your overseas policy names before you assume it reaches Amazon.com buyers.
Even a policy that includes North America has to meet Amazon’s own terms: the Amazon endorsement, limits in US dollars, an insurer rating Amazon accepts, and a named insured that matches your seller account. Mithril1 places US product liability for sellers based in Japan, written to those terms from the start.
Getting the company name right
Japanese company names pass through translation. A kabushiki kaisha can appear in English as K.K., Co., Ltd. or Corporation, and registration papers, bank records and Amazon’s Account Info do not always agree. Amazon compares the insured name on the certificate with Account Info, so the spelling Amazon holds is the one the policy uses.
We work with hundreds of Amazon sellers, and a translated company name is a common reason we ask for a screenshot of Account Info before requesting the certificate. It takes a minute and heads off a rejection that can cost a week.
The address matters too. Account Info lists your registered address in Japan, often romanized differently from your letterhead. The certificate shows the named insured’s mailing address, so use the romanization Amazon holds, down to the chome and the building name.
Time zone and timing
Japan Standard Time is UTC+9 with no daylight saving time, which puts Tokyo 16 hours ahead of Seattle in summer and 17 in winter. A question sent at the end of your working day reaches a US underwriter that morning, and an answer can be waiting when you start the next day. Use that rhythm: send documents in your evening and review drafts in your morning.
Renewals need the same planning. Amazon wants an unbroken policy, and the insurer must give Amazon 30 days’ notice before cancellation or nonrenewal. Start the renewal at least a month before expiry, especially when Golden Week or the New Year break falls inside that window.
What to send for a quote
Send your company’s English name exactly as Account Info shows it, a product list with ASINs, the factories or co-packers you use, ingredient lists and English labels for food and beauty items, and twelve months of Amazon.com sales. Tell us whether you sell through the JAPAN STORE, your own listings, or both.
If you already hold an overseas PL policy, send its wording too. We read the territory and jurisdiction clauses so you can see where it stops, and then you can talk with us about the US policy.
Selling only through a US importer that holds the Amazon listings? Then Amazon looks to the importer’s policy instead. Send us the importer’s name and how its policy treats your brand anyway, because a US lawsuit can still name the Japanese maker.
A few useful answers
Common questions
Does my overseas PL policy satisfy Amazon?
Only if it includes North America and also carries Amazon’s additional insured endorsement, $1 million limits, an accepted insurer rating and your seller account’s exact name. Many overseas policies miss at least one of those.
I sell tea under $10,000 a month. Do I need insurance from November 2026?
Yes. Tea and other ingestibles fall in Amazon’s enhanced-safety categories, which need the $1 million policy from November 2, 2026 whatever your monthly sales.
Does the Accelerator rule affect sellers in Japan?
No. Amazon’s November 2026 Accelerator rule names sellers based in Mainland China. A Japan-based seller can buy US product liability through its own broker.
Which English form of our company name should the policy use?
The one in your Seller Central Account Info, character for character. If Account Info says Co., Ltd. and your bank says K.K., the policy follows Account Info.