Luggage Forwarding in Japan (Takkyubin): Send Your Suitcase Ahead and Travel Hands-Free
For about ¥2,500 a bag, Japan's courier network moves your suitcase from one hotel to the next, or to the airport, overnight. It is the single best travel hack in the country and almost nobody uses it the first time. Here is how it works, what it costs, the cut-off times, and how to send from a hotel, a convenience store or Kansai Airport.
This page contains affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend.
Short version: Hand your suitcase to your hotel’s front desk (or a 7-Eleven / FamilyMart with the black-cat Yamato logo) by about noon, fill in a short form with the next hotel’s address, pay roughly ¥2,000 to ¥3,500 per bag, and it is waiting for you at the next hotel the next day (same day in some zones, two days to Hokkaido or Okinawa). Travel the day in between with a daypack. Send bags to the airport two days before your flight and pick them up at the counter. The service is called takkyubin (宅急便), run mainly by Yamato Transport (the black cat), and it is reliable to a degree that feels unreal the first time.
Why you want this
Japanese trains are built for commuters, not suitcases. There is no luggage car on the Shinkansen, the overhead rack fits a carry-on, big bags over 160 cm now need a reserved oversize-baggage seat, Kyoto buses have no space, and the walk from the station to a Gion machiya involves stairs and slopes. Dragging a 25 kg case across Kyoto Station to make a connection is how a lot of first trips go wrong.
Takkyubin fixes it. Typical uses:
- Hotel to hotel. Send the big bag from Osaka to your Tokyo hotel; spend the day in between in Kyoto with a daypack; the bag is in your Tokyo room when you arrive.
- Airport to first hotel. Land at KIX, send the bag from the arrivals-hall counter, take the train with only hand luggage.
- Last hotel to airport. Send it two days ahead, collect it at the KIX departures-floor counter, check in.
- Skip a city. Send bags straight from Kyoto to Hiroshima while you do a day trip to Nara in between.
- Ski and golf bags. Dedicated services for both.
What it costs
Yamato prices by size (length + width + height in cm) and distance. Cash-rate examples, per bag, late 2026:
| Size class | Max dimensions / weight | Within Kansai (e.g. Osaka → Kyoto) | Kansai ↔ Tokyo | Kansai → Hokkaido / Kyushu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | 120 cm total / 15 kg (cabin-size case) | ~¥1,900 | ~¥2,200 | ~¥2,600 – ¥3,000 |
| 140 | 140 cm / 20 kg (medium case) | ~¥2,400 | ~¥2,800 | ~¥3,200 – ¥3,700 |
| 160 | 160 cm / 25 kg (large case) | ~¥2,800 | ~¥3,200 | ~¥3,700 – ¥4,200 |
| 180 / 200 | up to 30 kg | ~¥3,500 – ¥4,500 | ~¥4,000 – ¥5,000 | Higher; not all drop-off points accept |
Add about ¥660 for the airport service. Drop at a convenience store instead of a hotel and you save ¥100. Pay at the counter; hotels add it to your bill. Yamato’s site has a calculator; your hotel will quote you exactly.
A typical traveller sending one large bag twice (Osaka → Tokyo, Tokyo → Narita) spends about ¥7,000 for the whole trip. Against the Shinkansen oversize-baggage hassle and a taxi or two, it is the best ¥7,000 you will spend.
Insurance is included up to ¥300,000 per bag at no extra charge. Keep the receipt with the tracking number.
How long it takes
| Route | Delivery |
|---|---|
| Within Osaka or Kyoto city, or between them | Next day; same day possible in parts of Kyoto city and Kyoto → central Osaka if dropped by morning (premium rate, ~¥3,500 – ¥4,000) |
| Kansai ↔ Tokyo, Nagoya, Hiroshima | Next day (drop by ~noon) |
| Kansai → Kyushu | 1 – 2 days |
| Kansai → Hokkaido, Okinawa | 2 days, sometimes 3 |
| To an airport counter | Allow 2 days before your flight (3 for Hokkaido/Okinawa origins) |
Next-day is not guaranteed: a late drop-off, a weekend, or a typhoon can add a day. If you need the bag tomorrow night, hand it in before noon today. You choose a delivery time window (morning, 14–16, 16–18, 18–20, 19–21) on the form; pick one after your check-in time.
How to send: three ways
1. From your hotel (easiest)
Every hotel, business hotel and most guesthouses do this daily.
- Tell the front desk “takkyubin, please” and show them where it is going. They will hand you the waybill (伝票).
- Fill in: recipient (the next hotel’s name, address and phone; write “Guest: [your name], arriving [date]” in the recipient name field so the hotel knows whose it is), sender (your name and this hotel’s address and phone), delivery date and time window.
- Pay at the desk (card is fine at hotels). Keep the receipt; the tracking number is on it.
- Email or message the receiving hotel to say a bag is coming. Not strictly necessary, Japanese hotels handle it routinely, but it avoids any confusion with your name spelt in katakana.
Cut-off is usually before noon, sometimes 10 or 11am for next-day delivery. Ask the night before and hand the bag over at breakfast.
2. From a convenience store
7-Eleven and FamilyMart (and some Lawson) with the Yamato black-cat logo on the door accept takkyubin. Useful if you are in a rental apartment or a guesthouse without a desk.
- Bring the bag and the destination address written in Japanese (copy it from the hotel’s booking confirmation; the staff cannot look it up for you).
- Staff hand you the waybill; fill it in as above.
- Pay at the register (cash or card). ¥100 cheaper than hotel drop-off.
- Some stores cannot take size 180/200 or odd shapes. Standard suitcases are fine.
Konbini staff are fast and used to it, but their English is limited. Having the address on your phone in Japanese, and knowing the word takkyubin, is enough.
3. From Kansai Airport (arrival or departure)
Arriving: Yamato (Kuroneko) and JAL ABC counters are in the Terminal 1 arrivals hall, 1F, open roughly 6:30 to 22:00. Send the big bag to your first hotel and ride the Haruka or Nankai with a daypack. Delivery is usually next day, so pack one night’s things in your hand luggage; same-day to Osaka city is sometimes available for an early-morning drop.
Departing: send the bag from your last hotel two days before the flight, addressed to “Kansai International Airport, Yamato counter, Terminal 1 departures 4F” with your flight number and date (the hotel will write it correctly). Collect at the 4F counter on the day with your receipt and passport, then check in. Counter hours for pick-up are roughly 7:00 to 21:00; check the latest on Yamato’s site if you fly very early.
Terminal 2 (Peach) does not have a full-service counter; send to T1 and take the shuttle, or carry the bag.
Tax-free goods: from November 2026, tax-free purchases must be shown to customs at the airport before check-in. If they are in a forwarded suitcase, you cannot show them. Carry tax-free items with you, or do not buy tax-free in the forwarded bag. See Japan’s New Tax-Free Refund System.
Hands-free services inside Kyoto
Kyoto Station has a Hands-Free Kyoto counter (near the central exit, run with Yamato) that does same-day delivery to Kyoto hotels for bags dropped by early afternoon (~¥1,000 per bag), plus storage. Arrive by Haruka, drop the bag, go straight to Fushimi Inari, and the bag is at the hotel by evening. The same counter stores bags for day-trippers. Several hotels in Gion also offer same-day forwarding to Osaka hotels for guests moving on.
Kyoto also has luggage storage at the station (coin lockers ¥500–¥1,000, often full by 10am in peak season) and at staffed counters (¥700–¥1,000 a day). For a day trip, storage; for moving on, forwarding.
Practical tips
- Pack a daypack with one night of clothes, chargers, medication and anything valuable. Takkyubin is safe, but passports, cash and cameras should stay with you, and Yamato’s terms exclude them from liability.
- Lock the suitcase. Not for theft, which is almost unheard of, but because waybills are sometimes attached with tape and zips get caught.
- Write the hotel phone number. The driver calls the hotel, not you, if there is a problem.
- Check the hotel’s policy. Nearly all hotels accept bags for arriving guests. A few budget capsule hotels and some apartment rentals do not; email ahead.
- Weekends and holidays work, with no surcharge, though Golden Week and Obon can add a day.
- Tracking is on Yamato’s site in English with the 12-digit number from your receipt.
- Fragile items: tell the counter; they will mark the box. Bottles of sake or whisky travel fine wrapped in clothes.
- Alternatives: Sagawa Express is the other big courier and works the same way (fewer konbini drop points). Japan Post’s Yu-Pack is cheaper for boxes under 25 kg but slower and less hotel-friendly. Klook sells a LuggAgent airport-to-hotel service for a fixed online price if you prefer to pre-book. Luggage delivery on Klook Luggage delivery on Klook
Shinkansen oversize baggage, since you asked
Any bag with total dimensions over 160 cm (roughly a large checked suitcase) on the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen must be booked into an oversize baggage seat (the last row of a car, with space behind) at no extra cost when you reserve. Bring one without a reservation and there is a ¥1,000 fee and no guaranteed space. Bags under 160 cm go in the overhead rack or at your feet. The practical answer for anything bigger than a carry-on: forward it.
FAQ
Is it really safe to hand my suitcase to a convenience store clerk? Yes. Takkyubin moves millions of parcels a day with a loss rate close to zero. The system has been doing hotel-to-hotel luggage since the 1980s.
Can I send a bag to a hotel I have not checked into yet? Yes. That is the standard use. Put your name and check-in date on the waybill.
Can I send to an Airbnb or apartment? Only if someone is there to receive it, or the host has agreed to accept parcels. Otherwise send to a Yamato service centre near the apartment for pick-up, or use a hotel.
My bag has not arrived and it is check-in time. Rare. Check tracking first; it usually shows “out for delivery” with an evening window. If it says delivered and the hotel cannot find it, the hotel calls Yamato; drivers sometimes leave bags at a different desk. If genuinely lost, Yamato’s insurance covers up to ¥300,000.
Same-day Osaka → Kyoto? Possible from Kyoto to Osaka within set zones; the reverse is less common. Ask the hotel. For most people the next-day service with a daypack is the simpler plan.
Can I forward a bag and then change hotels? Call Yamato with the tracking number before it is delivered; redirecting is usually possible for a fee. Easier to get it right the first time.
How early do airport counters open at KIX? Pick-up from about 7:00 in Terminal 1. For a 7:30 departure, carry your bag instead.
Sources: Yamato Transport TA-Q-BIN rate tables and service conditions (October 2026); Kansai Airports terminal guide; JR Central and JR West oversize-baggage reservation rules; Hands-Free Kyoto (Kyoto City Tourism Association). Prices are indicative and vary by exact size and route; the counter or hotel will quote the current fare.