Hi. Need some help on luggage questions, please.

We will be arriving at Tokyo Narita airport, spending 2 nights in Tokyo, 5 nights in Kyoto, then leaving from Osaka Kansai airport.

Based on this schedule, can someone recommend when (or whether) we should use a luggage delivery service? We will be 4 people, each with a rolling carry-on size suitcase and also a small backpack.

If we take our luggage on the trains, will we feel out of place?

This is our first time to Japan, so we have no idea what to expect. It will certainly be an experience, probably in many ways! Thanks.

Trains to and from the airport have space for luggage. Other trains are tight on luggage space, some more than others. Shinkansens have an area in the end of the cars often where you can store bags. The over seat area is tiny. Behind the last row of seats in trains cars is also handy for bags.

Sending bags to the airport must be done at least 2, sometimes 3 days ahead. It generally takes an overnight, but the shipping companies require the extra time to ensure your bags will be there. From the airport, bags generally arrive the next day...only once have our bags arrived 2 days later in 11 years.

A roller and a backpack shouldn't be problematic to keep with you, though, so unless you do a lot of shopping I'd just keep the bags with me.

Will you feel out of place...maybe. Depends on how sensitive you are. Foreigners stick out and attract a bit of attention with or without luggage. In the big cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, it's not as obvious as in the smaller cities and rural areas, though. You won't see many, if any at all, Japanese people with luggage beyond a small 1 day sized bag.

We are currently traveling in Japan and had the same question before we left. We ended up each taking a small carry-on, and a 22x10" roll-aboard bag that would be considered carry-on size in the US, but must be checked internationally. We've taken several shinkansen and regular trains with the luggage and had no trouble at all. We did travel outside of rush hours. There are overhead racks that accommodate the bags you'd normally carry-on to a domestic flight in the US. Obviously, you need to be able to stow and retrieve it quickly, without hitting anyone on the head as the stops come up quickly and the trains may be crowded. You could stow the carry-on rolling bag overhead and carry the backpack on your lap or at your feet. Hope this helps!

I've had a similar concern, but I'm not so much concered with looking out of place but rather whether our luggage will "fit".

We're planning to use the luggage service for every move - Tokyo > Kyoto and Kyoto > Tokyo (we'll detour for one night in Osaka, but will send our luggage onto Tokyo) except for the last train to the airport. We'll probably each have a 21" rolling carry-on suitcase and then 1-24" and 1-26" suitcase. I've asked JTB if it would be a problem taking the 24" and 26" suitcases on the train and they said no. I've read of several people taking the smaller carry-ons on the train, but no one has ever mentioned taking a larger suitcase, so I'm still a bit concerned. Can anyone put my mind at ease?

Thanks.

We always carry our luggage with us. Normally we each have a roll-on and a backpack, but even when there were four of us and we had extra big bags (heading back to fly out of Tokyo with gifts from friends) there was plenty of space on the trains. The Japanese tend to send their bags ahead, so you have little competition for the open spaces, such as behind the last seat in each car or in the entry section of the cars.

The problem is not finding space on the trains, but getting your stuff to the train. Most stations have lots of stairs few, if any, elevators and escalators. I'd say if you can't carry your bags down two flights of stairs, you either need to pack lighter or send it ahead.

I was always scared to travel w/luggage in Japan bc of the station stairs issue. I have seen a few subway stops n Tokyo that had no elevator and have LONG flights of never ending stairs (the subway stop by Tokyo Tower comes to mind- I would have died if I had luggage in that station). But on my last trip I traveled to Tokyo station from the Tokyo Bay area, and then to Hakone and stopping for a night, and then on to Kyoto w/a largish (25-26 inch) rolling duffel type bag, and two daypacks (which we each carried on our back) and I was able to easily find elevators in every JR train station. I did end up carrying the bag down 8 steps at the Hakone Yumoto station (non-JR). But I was surprised at how easy it was to find and use the elevators. We had maps of Tokyo station and knew where the elevators were. Elevators were easy to find at Kyoto station. So I think it depends on where you are going. I have found it helpful to have maps of the larger stations w/me (printed from the internet).

Just back from two weeks using JR rail and had no problem with space on the trains for one 26 inch and one 22 inch pull-along suitcases (overhead or at the end of cars). The only problems were in a couple of stations (Nagoya comes to mind) where there weren't escalators so we had to carry them up and down a couple of flights of stairs. If you can manage that, I don't see why you need to go through the complications of sending luggage.

travelgirl2, you won't feel out of place. There will be lots of people on the airport trains with luggage, including Japanese with big rolling suitcases. On the shinkansen, there will be quite a few foreign tourists with bags, more/bigger bags than you. Young people with huge backpacks. Business men with their required briefcases and an overnight bag.

You really don't need to use the baggage delivery service. If you could put enough for two days into your backpack then you could send your carry-on to Kyoto.

Tokyo, the Tokaido shinkansen, Kyoto, the Kansai train. This is all big-city stuff, so you'll just be a part of the routine.

I meant to say you could send the carryon from Narita airport to Kyoto. Not necessary, tho.

Thanks everyone. With the limited amount of time we have, we will probably skip sending our luggage ahead. Thanks for reassuring me that we'll be okay with the luggage on these trains.

Highly suggest you pack lite and make sure you have roller luggage. I say this because it can be a pain if you are carrying heavy bags. There are lots of stairs in the stations although if you look around you can almost always find an elevator that has been installed for handicap access. Some of the stations are pretty large too (shin-yokohama is a monster- I've had to lug a fully packed dive bag through that place and it wasn't fun at all.) On the bright side since your traveling in a group, you'll have someone to watch the bags if you need to go ask directions or peruse through a shop.