Rakumani

Japan transport guide

Send your luggage ahead: takkyubin for travelers

Last checked: July 2026

TL;DR

  • Japan’s door-to-door courier service (takkyubin, most famously Yamato’s Kuroneko “black cat” trucks) will move a suitcase hotel to hotel for roughly ¥3,000 — Tokyo to Kyoto arrives the next day.
  • You book it at the hotel front desk. No Japanese needed beyond the address, which your next hotel can give you.
  • Shinkansen luggage rules and packed trains make this the single biggest comfort upgrade of a multi-city trip.
  • Only need your hands free for a few hours? A coin locker (¥700–1,000) or a booked ecbo cloak spot (¥500–800/day) is cheaper and instant.

How hotel-to-hotel delivery works

Sending a suitcase to your next hotel
  1. 1

    🏨Ask at the front desk the day before

    Say “takkyubin” — nearly every hotel handles this daily and has the forms.

  2. 2

    ✍️Fill in the destination hotel’s address

    Get the address, postal code and phone number from your next hotel’s booking confirmation. Add your own name and check-in date.

  3. 3

    💴Pay at the desk and hand over the bag

    Around ¥3,000 for a large suitcase between major cities.

  4. 4

    🧳Collect it at the next hotel

    Next-day delivery between most main-island cities. Ask the desk to hold it until check-in.

Allow an extra day for Hokkaido, Okinawa, southern Kyushu and other outlying areas — and confirm that your next hotel will accept a bag that arrives before you check in.

Prices depend on size and distance. As a reference point, a large suitcase (the 160-size bracket) between Tokyo and Kyoto is around ¥3,000–3,200. Yamato revised its rates for larger parcels in October 2025, so treat any figure you read online — including ours — as a ballpark and check the official rate finder for your exact route.

Airport delivery: arrive light, leave light

  • Airport to hotel: counters in the arrival lobbies at Narita, Haneda and Kansai (Yamato, JAL ABC, Sagawa and Japan Post all operate at the main airports) will take your bags straight from the airport to your hotel.
  • Hotel to airport: the same service in reverse — send the suitcase two days before your flight and pick it up at the airport counter on departure. Airport handling adds a surcharge — Yamato charges ¥660 for airport-bound parcels — so expect to pay more than a standard hotel-to-hotel delivery.
  • Same-day is possible at Haneda: drop bags by 11:00 and they reach central Tokyo hotels after 18:00 the same day. Terminal 3 can extend the cut-off to 14:30 for a small premium.
  • Watch the cut-offs. Same-day and next-day guarantees depend on the drop-off time; drop off late and your bag just travels a day later. Check the counter’s deadline before you commit to a plan.

When a locker beats a courier

Delivery is for overnight moves. For a few hours between checkout and your train, use storage instead:

  • Coin lockers: about ¥700–1,000 a day for the large sizes at major stations. Fast and everywhere — but the big lockers fill up early at Tokyo, Shinjuku and Kyoto stations.
  • ecbo cloak: app-booked storage in cafes, shops and karaoke parlors — roughly ¥500/day for a bag and ¥800/day for a suitcase (some station locations charge a flat ¥1,000). Worth it exactly when the lockers are full — you can reserve ahead.
  • Your hotel: free, and available both before check-in and after checkout. Always the first thing to ask.

Practical notes

  • Keep one night’s essentials in a day bag. Your suitcase arrives tomorrow — medication, chargers and a change of clothes should stay with you.
  • Convenience stores accept parcels too, and take cards and e-money as well as cash. The paperwork is in Japanese, so the hotel desk is easier for a first-timer.
  • Confirm the receiving hotel. Delivery assumes someone can accept the bag; most hotels can, but a small guesthouse or private rental may not.
  • Size and weight caps apply (roughly 200 cm total dimensions and 30 kg) — comfortably more than a standard checked suitcase.

Sources

Facts above were checked in July 2026 against operator pages including Yamato Transport (TA-Q-BIN), Yamato’s airport-surcharge FAQ, JAL ABC (including its same-day delivery FAQ), Sagawa’s hands-free service and ecbo cloak.

Prices are typical examples as of the last check and vary by size, route and operator; rates for larger parcels were revised in late 2025. Confirm the current fare and cut-off times with the operator before you travel. This page contains no affiliate links; links go to official sources.