Japan luggage question

What size luggage would you recommend for a pre or post cruise stay with visits to multiple cities?

Plan on staying at AirBnB places instead of hotels (due to the number of people we have) so the luggage forwarding companies may not be an option.

When we cruise (or travel in general), we normally take our biggest luggage pieces. 29" roller, 25" roller, and a giant rolling duffle. Don't always need the room, but can come in handy at the end to fill up with souvenirs.

However, I'm reading online that when traveling on the Japan subways or shinkansen, you're better off with nothing bigger than a carry-on. Is that the case?

If it really is better to go with just carry-ons, I'm ok with that, including buying a piece of luggage at the end of the trip if we need just for souvenirs. We get 2 luggage pieces each person for airline, so we don't have to worry about airline baggage fees.

Japan's excellent luggage forwarding companies will deliver to ANY address. It need not be a hotel.

True but someone has to be there to receive the luggage. When we used Air B & B in Japan, it was an apartment where the key was in a key safe. Its easy to send as you can go to any convenience store, we used 7-11.

There is a very small area behind the back seats on the shinkansen but yes I would travel with carry on only. The lighter the better. We take carry on with us and use the luggage forwarding service but not every stop. We managed to have 3 night stops with our carry on luggage and our main luggage is waiting at our next hotel.

When I have traveled in First Class it has always been pretty empty and has always had room for a suitcase at the end of the car. I wouldn't want to lug around 3 heavy bags but one between you seems reasonable. fold up a soft duffel bag and keep it handy for any souvenirs on the way back.

Below is a detailed write-up I did on Japan's luggage delivery services for your reference:

Q: Is there a luggage transfer service / company that we can contact who will transfer our luggage from the Yokohama Cruise Terminal to our Tokyo hotel after our cruise? We would like to send our luggage to the hotel after we disembark the cruise ship while we visit Kamakura before checking in at the hotel later in the day. Any information you can provide will be much appreciated.

A: Great question! You are wise to think about such logistics in advance. Japanese often use such services generally referred to in Japanese as “takkyūbin”. (That’s why you rarely see Japanese lugging heavy luggage around on public transport.) They are very reasonably priced and reliable. However, non-Japanese are sometimes intimidated by the Japanese form they need to fill out, or they are concerned about the headaches they might face if the luggage doesn’t arrive as expected. However, previous guests that have followed my advice and have used such services have emailed me later to express their gratitude.

There are two main companies in Japan that provide this service, and I’ve never heard anyone say one was better than the other. The first one is Sagawa Express. Here is a link to a description of their services: http://www.sagawa-exp.co.jp/english/service/standard/service01.html In previous years, they have sometimes had a kiosk inside the port of Yokohama’s Ōsanbashi International Passenger Terminal. I do not know if that will be the case in 2017, but I will try to find out. The second provider is Yamato or “Black Cat” (nicknamed from their logo). Here is a link to a description of their services: http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/personal/ta_q_bin/.

To be honest, I find the English information on these sites a bit wordy and unclear, so let me boil it down to the basics from personal experience. First of all, you will need to fill out an application or waybill. Since most convenience stores in Japan handle such services, I recommend you pick up a couple (in case you make a mistake) when you are out and about during your cruise. You will need to know the address of your hotel AND their phone number (which is required). Since whoever receives your luggage may not speak English well, approach a Japanese crew member on board when they are not busy, and ask them if they could please fill out the name and address of your hotel in Japanese for you. This will speed things along when you give them your luggage and insure a reliable delivery.

You will need to pay in advance, and a typical large suitcase—depending on distance traveled—will typically cost around US$10-20. Confirm with them the delivery time to make sure it meets your requirements. (They cannot do same day delivery, but they can often deliver it to your hotel by noon the next day.) So, you will need to be strategic about what you keep with you for the first night and next day if you plan to go out early. Japanese hotels provide sleepwear, so it is not necessary to pack that unless you just want to do so.

You can use these services at many points in your journey. For example, if you are arriving early before your cruise and plan to stay overnight at least 2 days in the same hotel, you can have your luggage delivered from the airport to your hotel and then avail yourself to inexpensive transportation options luggage free. Just look for the Sagawa or Yamato kiosks at the hotel or ask the hotel information counter for assistance. As an added bonus, the staff at the airport should be able to speak English. Depending on your itinerary, you may want to have your luggage delivered from your hotel to the terminal. Every hotel in Japan has the necessary paperwork and can assist you---just make sure to inquire about the timeline in advance so you don’t miss the cut-off. Likewise, you can do the same thing in reverse when you disembark.

One word of caution. This doesn’t make sense to me, but if you plan to send your luggage from your hotel to the airport when you leave Japan, you have to send it two days in advance for Haneda airport (the closer one) and one day in advance for Narita. So, just ask right away when you check in about the cut-off time so you can decide if it meets your needs or not and plan accordingly.

As the saying goes, “when in Rome . . .”. So, give these services a try. Your back and shoulders will be grateful you did!

True but someone has to be there to receive the luggage. When we used Air B & B in Japan, it was an apartment where the key was in a key safe. Its easy to send as you can go to any convenience store, we used 7-11.

There is a very small area behind the back seats on the shinkansen but yes I would travel with carry on only. The lighter the better. We take carry on with us and use the luggage forwarding service but not every stop. We managed to have 3 night stops with our carry on luggage and our main luggage is waiting at our next hotel.

Yeah, that's what I've been hearing as I do my research. The system works great if you stay at a hotel. Doesn't when it's an AirBnB. No one to receive and many AirBnB's specifically ask that you not use it as it can also disturb neighbors.

We plan on doing a week pre-cruise in Japan. We are going to store most of our luggage at one of the luggage storage services (right outside the Shinjuku Station in Tokyo for us) and plan to travel with just smaller bags. Our trip is a few days south and then back through Tokyo and in to Takaragawa. If we need to we will stop by the luggage place and swap out some items while passing through Tokyo. Then just pick everything up for the cruise.

That's an excellent idea! I'll have to see if we can do the same (not my vote lol).

I found all accommodations in Japan, even 4 star hotels, to be extremely small. We had to pile up our luggage behind the entrance door of the room, because there was no room elsewhere in the room! Travel light!

Below is a detailed write-up I did on Japan's luggage delivery services for your reference:

 

Q: Is there a luggage transfer service / company that we can contact who will transfer our luggage from the Yokohama Cruise Terminal to our Tokyo hotel after our cruise? We would like to send our luggage to the hotel after we disembark the cruise ship while we visit Kamakura before checking in at the hotel later in the day. Any information you can provide will be much appreciated.

 

A: Great question! You are wise to think about such logistics in advance. Japanese often use such services generally referred to in Japanese as “takkyūbin”. (That’s why you rarely see Japanese lugging heavy luggage around on public transport.) They are very reasonably priced and reliable. However, non-Japanese are sometimes intimidated by the Japanese form they need to fill out, or they are concerned about the headaches they might face if the luggage doesn’t arrive as expected. However, previous guests that have followed my advice and have used such services have emailed me later to express their gratitude.

 

There are two main companies in Japan that provide this service, and I’ve never heard anyone say one was better than the other. The first one is Sagawa Express. Here is a link to a description of their services: http://www.sagawa-exp.co.jp/english/service/standard/service01.html In previous years, they have sometimes had a kiosk inside the port of Yokohama’s Ōsanbashi International Passenger Terminal. I do not know if that will be the case in 2017, but I will try to find out. The second provider is Yamato or “Black Cat” (nicknamed from their logo). Here is a link to a description of their services: http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/personal/ta_q_bin/.

 

To be honest, I find the English information on these sites a bit wordy and unclear, so let me boil it down to the basics from personal experience. First of all, you will need to fill out an application or waybill. Since most convenience stores in Japan handle such services, I recommend you pick up a couple (in case you make a mistake) when you are out and about during your cruise. You will need to know the address of your hotel AND their phone number (which is required). Since whoever receives your luggage may not speak English well, approach a Japanese crew member on board when they are not busy, and ask them if they could please fill out the name and address of your hotel in Japanese for you. This will speed things along when you give them your luggage and insure a reliable delivery.

 

You will need to pay in advance, and a typical large suitcase—depending on distance traveled—will typically cost around US$10-20. Confirm with them the delivery time to make sure it meets your requirements. (They cannot do same day delivery, but they can often deliver it to your hotel by noon the next day.) So, you will need to be strategic about what you keep with you for the first night and next day if you plan to go out early. Japanese hotels provide sleepwear, so it is not necessary to pack that unless you just want to do so.

 

You can use these services at many points in your journey. For example, if you are arriving early before your cruise and plan to stay overnight at least 2 days in the same hotel, you can have your luggage delivered from the airport to your hotel and then avail yourself to inexpensive transportation options luggage free. Just look for the Sagawa or Yamato kiosks at the hotel or ask the hotel information counter for assistance. As an added bonus, the staff at the airport should be able to speak English. Depending on your itinerary, you may want to have your luggage delivered from your hotel to the terminal. Every hotel in Japan has the necessary paperwork and can assist you---just make sure to inquire about the timeline in advance so you don’t miss the cut-off. Likewise, you can do the same thing in reverse when you disembark.

 

One word of caution. This doesn’t make sense to me, but if you plan to send your luggage from your hotel to the airport when you leave Japan, you have to send it two days in advance for Haneda airport (the closer one) and one day in advance for Narita. So, just ask right away when you check in about the cut-off time so you can decide if it meets your needs or not and plan accordingly.

 

As the saying goes, “when in Rome . . .”. So, give these services a try. Your back and shoulders will be grateful you did!

Hi Heather,

We are on the MSC Splendida, disembarking Yokohama on the 28th April '18 and wondered if you had an update on sending luggage from the terminal to either a Tokyo hotel and/or Narita airport ?

Kind regards,

Mandy

We did a 3 week trip in Japan last year using rail passes. We find it impossible to pack light, so we each had one large suitcase and one carry-on size, both on wheels. Was it doable? Yes, but it sure was cumbersome getting around the train stations and loading suitcases on and off (you have to be really quick on those Shinkansens!). We always reserved our seats on the trains so that we were right next to the small area designated for luggage. The carry-on size bags could fit either in the overhead rack or squeezed in by our knees. The big bags had to be stored in the luggage area. Most of the train stations are really big and require going up and down stairs/escalators/elevators, so we were dragging our luggage for what seemed like miles sometimes just to get out to the street. As someone else mentioned, the hotel rooms in Japan are often very small, so having a lot of bags caused space problems there too.

We looked into the luggage services but it seemed that most wanted at least 24 (if not 48) hrs for delivery and we were just moving around too much for it to be practical. We did find that some hotels would hold a couple pieces of our luggage for a day or 2 if we were doing short trips and then returning to stay with them again. That was a great help and there was no charge for that service.

Have a great trip, we loved our time in Japan!

The luggage shipping is very convenient, but since it takes 24-48 hours, doesn't always work out, and if you don't need the luggage with you, why ship it just to ship it back. Here's what I did pre- and post- cruise with my luggage.

Pre-cruise: Flew into Haneda airport and took the limousine bus to Yokohama and stayed overnight at a hotel there. I had arranged for them to store my large luggage when I checked out for a 3-day trip to Kyoto (did this via email before I made my Kyoto travel arrangements). I took the Shinkansen to Kyoto with just a carry-on and it was easy not having to lug around the large luggage. When I returned to Yokohama, I checked into the same hotel (which is why they agreed to store my large luggage). Checked out the next morning and boarded the ship. Staying in Yokohama made it very convenient to boarding (just took a taxi to the port with all the luggage) and also gave me a place to store my luggage for the pre-cruise trip to Kyoto.

Post-cruise: I took the ship's shuttle to Haneda airport, then stored my large luggage at the airport for 4 days. Toured Tokyo with just my smaller luggage. No problems taking my smaller bag on the train to where I stayed. When it was time to fly out, I returned to Haneda airport, retrieved my large luggage and checked in for the flight.

I'm doing another cruise in Japan next year and plan to stay in Yokohama again as it works out great. It's easy to get to Tokyo as well as other places I want to visit.

Flying in to Narita a week before our cruise. Plan on leaving the bulk luggage in Shinjuku at a luggage storage place right next to Shinjuku Station. Then headed out to explore Japan for a few days before returning to Tokyo a couple days before the cruise, and pick up luggage. Plan on traveling with just carry-ons for the trains.

Hi Heather,

We are on the MSC Splendida, disembarking Yokohama on the 28th April '18 and wondered if you had an update on sending luggage from the terminal to either a Tokyo hotel and/or Narita airport ?

Kind regards,

Mandy

Sagawa sometimes has a kiosk set up in the terminal for disembarking passengers, but I don't know specifically if there will be one on that day. If not, you could take a taxi to Yokohama station and send your luggage from there. Make sure you have the complete address and telephone # for your hotel--ideally in Japanese. Remember, also, that it is not a same-day service. If you send it the morning of embarkation, it won't arrive at a Tokyo hotel or Narita airport until the following morning by noon. However, Japanese hotels provide enough amenities and overnight sleepwear to get by with until then. Hope that helps!