While I don't usually buy thing from AmiAmi for the fact you can't prepay your items and know how much shipping cost. Even so, shipping wasn't that ridiculous pre-pandemic as I have imported a lot of items throughout the years since 2012.
Sure, the yen was very strong in the early 2010s, but shipping costs weren't as ridiculous since SAL and Air mail are available. Most cases, I get my items within 1 week for Air and a little over 2 weeks with SAL
Those options are not available since the pandemic and for a while, Fedex and DHL are the only available options, making small items and buying one CD not all that attractive since shipping costs are about $25+ at the minimum.
https://myfigurecollection.net/blog/57842