Northern Virginia. It was the UPS store. I agree it is crazy BS.
There were/are several factors. First, I just walked in to a UPS store, who of course hikes up the price. Second, Amazon required DHL Worldwide Express for the return, no other method was acceptable to them. Third, they required it be insured for 25,000 jpy. Fourth, the package is ever so slightly big enough to be classified for a larger size, and the default weight went up to 44lbs.
The UPS store's price was only slightly higher than DHL's website, which initially quoted me $279. I had the UPS store give me the weight and dimensions so I knew what to put in.
In the end, I used DHL's website to pre-pay for the shipment, along with a coupon for 25% off. It still wasn't cheap and ran me just under $200, not including an automatic 20% upcharge in case I was lying to them on weight/size. This was the cheapest way I could find to send the package and still meet amazon's requirements, including asking a friend who works in logistics if he knew a different way, and calling DHL direct for some schmoozing.
I got an email from amazon saying they understood the shipping charge and would be refunding me the purchase price (including shipping it to me) along with a large portion of the return shipping. The rest of the return shipping would be on a amazon gift card, which will likely go to HMRs or Arcadia flight stands.