Forwarding your luggage in Japan (takuhaibin)

You don’t have to drag heavy suitcases through crowded stations. Japan’s takuhaibin courier network lets you send bags ahead — airport to hotel, hotel to hotel, or hotel to airport — and travel hands-free. It’s officially promoted by Yamato Transport (TA-Q-BIN) with the Japan Tourism Agency as “Hands-Free Travel,” with Japan Post’s Yu-Pack as an alternative. Here’s how it works, based on the carriers’ and JNTO’s official pages.

What it is

“[Visitors] check in their luggage at the reception counters of airports, stations, and business facilities” for delivery to their accommodation, home, or another location. (JNTO / Japan Tourism Agency)

Yamato’s Airport TA-Q-BIN sends bags between your home/hotel and the airport; its Round Trip TA-Q-BIN sends suitcases to your accommodation “and back home without any troublesome procedures.” Deliveries are tracked, with compensation for loss or damage.

Timing: send your bags a day or two ahead

This is the part travelers most often get wrong — it’s usually not same-day.

• Home/hotel → airport (Yamato): drop off “by two days prior to your departure date (three days in some areas)”; it’s delivered “by the day before your departure.”
• To a hotel (Yamato round trip): drop off “two days (or three days in some areas) before checking in”; it “arrives by the day prior to lodging.” The return leg can be used up to a month later.
• Airport Yu-Pack (Japan Post): luggage is “sent to the airport by the day before departure” for counter pickup on your travel day.
• Same-city, same-day: possible in limited cases — JNTO’s example: sent from Tokyo Station by 11am, received after 4pm at a hotel in Tokyo’s 23 wards.

Where to send from and to

Drop-off points include hotel front desks, convenience stores that handle the service, post offices, Yamato sales offices/agencies, and dedicated Hands-Free Travel counters at major airports (e.g. Narita T1, Kansai) and stations (e.g. Tokyo Station Marunouchi North exit, Shin-Osaka). For Airport Yu-Pack pickup, bring the “client’s copy” of the shipping label plus ID such as a passport.

Note: for Yamato’s outbound round-trip service you can’t set a home address as the destination; the return leg needs no waybill or payment — just hand the bag to your accommodation’s reception.

Size, weight & what you can’t send

• Yamato TA-Q-BIN: up to 200 cm combined (L+W+H) and 30 kg — “parcels heavier than 30 kg are not accepted.”
• Japan Post Yu-Pack (standard): up to 170 cm and 25 kg.
• JNTO Hands-Free guidance: not exceeding ~160 cm and 25–30 kg, contents under ¥300,000.
• Can’t send: “Valuables, fragile items, fresh products and liquids, dangerous and hazardous materials.”

Short-term alternative: coin lockers

If you just need to be bag-free for a few hours, coin lockers at most stations and tourist spots cost “between 300 and 600 yen” by size, and many now accept IC transit cards. In busy areas they “fill up very quickly,” so have a backup.

Frequently asked questions

Prices, exact limits and participating locations change and differ between carriers — confirm the current details at the counter or on the carrier’s page before you send. Not all hotels/ryokan participate, and some counters offer delivery only or storage only.