Registering a Yahoo! JAPAN ID; Japanese Proxies

[shugon]

Hello, everyone!

(I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this discussion, but I failed to find a better match. If I have mistaken, please accept my apologies).

1) I'm trying to register a Yahoo! JAPAN ID, so I'll have full and direct access to Yahoo! Japan Auctions (auctions.yahoo.co.jp). However, since the Japanese language and I have nothing in common, I fail to pass their CAPTCHA test which requires the user to rewrite a string of Japanese letters. What should I do? Is there any way around that?

2) On eBay, registered users can set up "followed search" in which users are notified (by mail or otherwise) of new items that match certain search criteria as defined by the user. It's a highly useful feature. Is there anything similar on Yahoo! Japan Auctions, regardless of being a registered user or not? If so, how do I access it?

3) I'm totally new to buying from Japan using proxies and mail forwarding. What service is the best one?

4) Same question, but for the USA. What's the best USA proxy and/or mail forwarding service?

5) And heck, what is the difference between a proxy and mail forwarding?

Thanks in advance.

 

[LA Guy]

I don't really know anything about signing up for Y! Japan, but I have used proxies a fair bit. RIght now, I use zenmarket.jp, which is also an affiliate (http://www.styleforum.net/t/518233/...rvice-zenmarket-jp-official-affiliate-vendor/), who offer a free first time use for those who sign up using the Styleforum code, and the same proxy service that @brad-t recommends.
The difference between a mail forwarding service and a proxy is that that proxy actually does the purchasing for you, while the mailforwarding does not.

The only really obvious advantage of buying yourself is that for certain stores, you need to have a membership to see the exclusive deals, special clearance sections, etc... Though I've rarely seen anything in those sections that I really want. A lot of the better stuff seems to sell out at retail in Japan...

 

[futuresailors]

I'm pretty sure you need a Japanese bank account for Y! Japan.

If you're a registered member, I think the little star button next to the search bar will follow that search. But if you're not, you can just bookmark your searches.

 

[shugon]

Thanks futuresailors.

It seemed to me that the CAPTCHA test was the last step in the registration process, and while it's reasonable to assume that a Japanese bank account is indeed required for transactions, I guess it's not needed just for browsing. And, as said, the sole reason I'm interested in an account there is because of eBay-esque followed searches.

While bookmarking is a good idea, I'll still have to recursively check those searches, and very often. I may grow weary of this, I may be away from my devices for a while or I may altogether forget about checking those search often. Receiving notifications to my mail is a much more elegant solution.

This past December I discovered, to my great dismay, that I have missed on what I would say is my dream backpack, which is rare and was never on eBay. I have no idea when will it be offered again, and I want to avoid such mishappenings in the future...

 

[shugon]

Anyone? There has to be a way to register a Yahoo! Japan ID, even if you don't write read and write Japanese.

And I'd love to have more recommendation for Japanese proxies and mail forwarding services.

Thanks.