Luggage forwarding in Japan means handing your suitcase to a courier at one hotel and collecting it at the next, while you travel with a daypack. The service is called takkyubin. Yamato Transport's rate table puts a suitcase from the Tokyo area to the Osaka area at ¥2,170 to ¥3,160, depending on its size. You hand the bag to a hotel front desk, a Yamato counter, or a convenience store, and it meets you at your next stop.
It earns its fee when you change cities with more than one bag, or want a day trip between two hotels without dragging anything along. For one large case on one direct Shinkansen ride, a reserved seat with luggage space is cheaper, and this guide shows where that line falls.
Takkyubin and the Companies Behind It
Takkyubin is Japan's door-to-door parcel service. Residents use it for gifts, online orders, and golf bags, and travellers use the same network for suitcases. The name you'll see most often is Yamato Transport, whose logo shows a black cat carrying a kitten. It sells the service in English as TA-Q-BIN.
Sagawa Express and Japan Post run similar parcel services. This guide uses Yamato's figures, because Yamato publishes its rates, size limits, and airport rules in full.
Japan's national tourism organisation points visitors to counters marked with a Hands-Free Travel logo, which are certified to store or deliver luggage. Its luggage page lists airport delivery counters at Narita, Haneda, and Kansai International Airport.
Luggage Forwarding Costs by Size and Distance
Yamato charges by size and by distance. Size is the length, width, and height of the bag added together in centimetres, and each size band has a weight cap. If a bag weighs more than its size band allows, Yamato charges the larger band.
These are Yamato's cash rates from its published rate table, per bag, one way.
| Yamato size | Weight cap | Within the Tokyo area or the Osaka area | Tokyo area to Osaka area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 10 kg | ¥1,530 | ¥1,650 |
| 120 | 15 kg | ¥2,040 | ¥2,170 |
| 140 | 20 kg | ¥2,630 | ¥2,780 |
| 160 | 25 kg | ¥3,020 | ¥3,160 |
| 180 | 30 kg | ¥3,680 | ¥4,480 |
| 200 | 30 kg | ¥4,470 | ¥5,410 |
Two discounts cut that price. Dropping the bag at a Yamato office or a convenience store takes ¥100 off each parcel. Paying by card, Apple Pay, or electronic money moves you to Yamato's separate cashless rates, which run lower.
To find your size, measure the bag with its wheels and handles. A cabin bag of 55 by 40 by 25 cm adds up to 120 cm, so it travels as size 120. A large checked case of 75 by 50 by 30 cm adds up to 155 cm, so it travels as size 160. That case costs ¥3,160 travel from Tokyo to Osaka, as long as it weighs 25 kg or less.
How to Send a Suitcase From Your Hotel
The simplest way is to send the bag from the hotel you are leaving, the day before or the morning you check out. Many hotels with a staffed front desk keep blank waybills and hand the bag to the courier for you.
- Ask at the front desk. Tell them where the bag is going and when you need it there.
- Fill in the destination. Write the next hotel's name, address, and phone number. Add your name as it appears on that booking and your check-in date, so the desk knows whose bag it is.
- Choose a delivery window if you want one. Yamato's time slots are morning, 14:00 to 16:00, 16:00 to 18:00, 18:00 to 20:00, and 19:00 to 21:00.
- Pay and keep your copy of the waybill. Its number lets you track the bag online.
No front desk, or a hotel that won't handle parcels? Take the bag to a Yamato office or a convenience store yourself. Yamato names 7-Eleven and FamilyMart among the chains that accept its parcels, but some convenience stores refuse size 180 and above. A very large case is safer at a Yamato office.
Don't assume next-day delivery. The arrival day depends on distance and the destination postcode, and Yamato's delivery date search, in Japanese only, shows it before you pay. That date tells you how many nights to pack in your daypack.
Same-Day Delivery Inside One City
Same-day delivery is the version to use when you change hotels within one city, or arrive in the morning long before check-in. Osaka is a good example of how it works.
Yamato's counters near Namba Station, Osaka Station, and Shin-Osaka Station's east exit take bags until 11:30. They deliver to hotels in seven central wards the same day: Kita, Nishi, Konohana, Chuo, Naniwa, Yodogawa, and Higashiyodogawa. Prices on Yamato's Osaka page run from ¥1,240 for size 60 to ¥4,140 for size 200. The receiving hotel needs a front desk that holds parcels.
Each counter sits beside a large interchange, and the hard part is often finding your way out of the station to it. The guides map Namba's four stations and how they connect, the link between Osaka Station and Umeda Station, and Shin-Osaka, where the Shinkansen stops, and the Osaka metro map and guide covers all train map in Osaka, metro or subway lines, and more.
For Tokyo, there are dedicated sections for Tokyo metro map and guide as well as Tokyo last train map.
Airport Delivery Before You Fly
Airport delivery lets you ride to your flight with only a daypack. Yamato's Airport TA-Q-BIN asks you to drop the bag off two days before your departure date, or three days from some areas. Its airport rates include a ¥660 airport fee, and you collect the bag at the carrier's counter in the terminal before you check in.
From central Osaka, the timing is shorter. Bags left at Yamato's city counters by the 11:30 cutoff reach Kansai International Airport at 07:00 the next day, at ¥4,680 for a size 160 case.
The service runs the other way too. Yamato's counter on the fourth floor of Kansai Airport Terminal 1 opens from 06:30 to 22:30. It takes bags until 12:30 and delivers them to hotels in central Osaka and Kyoto from 18:00 the same day. Land in the morning, hand over the case, and take the train or bus from Kansai Airport into the city with nothing heavier than a daypack.
Riding the Shinkansen With a Big Suitcase Instead
You don't have to forward a suitcase to ride the Shinkansen. JR Central's rules let you carry bags up to 160 cm in total size with no booking. A bag between 160 cm and 250 cm needs a reserved seat with an oversized baggage area, which costs the same as an ordinary reserved seat.
Board with an oversized bag and no such reservation, and you pay a ¥1,000 fee. Bags over 250 cm can't go on board at all. Sports equipment, musical instruments, wheelchairs, and strollers don't count as oversized, whatever their size.
For one large case on one direct train, the reserved seat is the better deal. It costs nothing extra, and the case arrives when you do. Forwarding wins in three cases: you carry two bags, each end of the trip means stairs and transfers, or you want a day trip on the way.
Size Limits, Banned Items, and What to Keep
Yamato takes parcels up to 200 cm in total size and 30 kg, with no single side over 170 cm. JNTO lists the items hands-free services won't accept: valuables, fragile items, fresh products and liquids, and dangerous goods. Yamato caps its liability at ¥300,000 per parcel.
So the daypack carries what you can't replace. Pack your passport, cash and cards, medication, chargers, and a change of clothes for every night the suitcase is on the road. Your passport matters most, because you need it at hotel check-in and for tax-free shopping.
When a Locker or Hotel Desk Beats Forwarding
Forwarding is one of several ways to travel light, and it isn't always the cheapest. Match your situation to the table below.
| Your situation | Best option | Why it wins |
|---|---|---|
| Changing cities with two bags | Takkyubin, sent the day before | Two size 160 cases cost ¥6,320 from Tokyo to Osaka |
| One large case, one direct Shinkansen | Oversized baggage seat | No extra cost, and the case arrives with you |
| Changing hotels within one city | Same-day delivery | Drop by late morning, collect at the new hotel that night |
| A few hours between check-out and a train | Station coin locker | The cheapest option for a short gap |
| Arriving before check-in | Your hotel's front desk | Hotels usually hold guests' bags on arrival day |
| Your last full day before a flight | Airport delivery | You ride to the airport with a daypack |
JNTO says to expect ¥300 to ¥600 for a station coin locker, but suitcase-sized units fill first at busy hubs. In Osaka, the guide of Explore Osaka to where to leave a suitcase in Osaka lists the locker banks, staffed counters, and prices station by station.
Questions About Luggage Forwarding in Japan
Short answers for anyone about to hand a suitcase to a courier in Japan.
How much does luggage forwarding cost in Japan?
Yamato Transport charges by size and distance. A suitcase between 120 cm and 160 cm in total size costs ¥2,170 to ¥3,160 from the Tokyo area to the Osaka area at cash rates. Within one region it costs ¥2,040 to ¥3,020. Dropping the bag at a Yamato office or convenience store takes ¥100 off.
How long does luggage forwarding take in Japan?
It depends on the distance and the destination postcode, so check Yamato's delivery date search before you send. Inside Osaka, Yamato delivers bags dropped at its main station counters by 11:30 to central hotels the same day. Bags sent from those counters reach Kansai Airport at 07:00 the next day.
Can you send luggage to the airport in Japan?
Yes. Yamato's Airport TA-Q-BIN delivers to Japan's major airports if you drop the bag off two days before your departure date, or three days from some areas. Its airport rates include a ¥660 airport fee. You collect the bag at the carrier's counter in the terminal before check-in.
Do you need luggage forwarding to ride the Shinkansen with a big suitcase?
No. Bags up to 160 cm in total size need no booking. Bags from 160 cm to 250 cm need a reserved seat with an oversized baggage area, which costs the same as an ordinary reserved seat. Boarding without one costs a ¥1,000 fee, and bags over 250 cm aren't allowed.
What can't you send with takkyubin?
Yamato takes parcels up to 200 cm in total size and 30 kg. JNTO lists valuables, fragile items, fresh products and liquids, and dangerous goods as items hands-free services won't accept. Yamato caps its liability at ¥300,000 per parcel, so keep your passport, cash, and medication with you.