Baggage shipping and delivery service in Japan
 

Hi,

I read in a few threads in this forum regarding shipping off bags from point to point within Japan.

We would like to ship our bags from a vacation rental apartment in Kyoto to a hotel in Osaka before proceeding to our stay in Koyasan This would make the travel to Koyasan a lot more convenient for us.

If you have knowledge of this service or have used this service in the past, please provide me with the details.

Regards.

It's very easy and very reliable, and used by just about anyone. Your hotel in Osaka will keep your luggage for you until you check in.
Japanese people usually phone up a courier company who come and collect their bags from their homes, fill in the dispatch form and pay there and then. Because of language difficulties, your best bet is to take your luggage to the nearest convenience store (open 24 hours), which acts as a collection point for the courier company they have an agreement with. Tell them you want 'takkyubin' - courier service. The biggest challenge is filling in the dispatch note with all details - destination, contents, your contact details etc, all in Japanese. So take to the store the full name and address of your hotel in Japanese and ask the staff to fill the form for you. You need to give your telephone contact. If you don't have a cellphone usable in Japan, give an alternative, such as the phone number of the inn at Koyasan.

Just to add, your vacation apartment's reception will almost certainly help you ship your luggage, and your lugagge will be collected from there - so no need to schlep them to a convenience store. Tell them about it at least a day before you check out.

Hi, kdd -

Each of my hotels were happy to arrange baggage forwarding. Here is some information:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

A very good and reliable service as noted by Alec and kja. I have used it often.
I would let the front desk know at check in of my intentions and have them arrange it for me.

Note: They only take cash for this service. No credit cards.

Aloha!

Do most people do this because the trains are so crowded or just lots of luggage? Are most stations older with no escalators and/or steep stairs? I'm 30 and very fit but just want a heads up why everyone does this. I plan on just taking 1 large suitcase & regular backpack which I hope will be no problems on the trains.

Hi, 262runr -

Depending on when and where you travel, it can be difficult to find sufficient room on a train for a large bag and you might have to climb or descend a number of staircases to get to and from the trains. And if you want to stop somewhere en route, you might not be able to find a luggage locker that will hold a large suitcase. Luggage forwarding provides a convenient and relatively inexpensive option.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks Kja! The only stopovers as of now will be Himeji station so hoping for available locker space there. When I say large, usually something that will fit or almost fit in the overhead bin of a plane. I know it's still larger than your typical locker. :)

We nearly always travel by train in Japan, and always carry our own bags. If the overhead bin is not big enough, there is often a bag area at the front fo the car, and of course you can put then under your feet too.

We have started using the airport Limo bus to go back to the airport on our way home though. By then, we often have extra carry on bags, and the driver will put all your stuff underneath. Just sit back till you get to Narita and let them unload it for you! It is very reasonable as well.

The most common dimensions luggage lockers at Japanese train stations can be found at the following site. Be forewarned, however, that the lock mechanism takes some extra space, so your suitcase would actually need to be smaller than these dimensions indicate.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2274.html

Thanks for that link kja!