One of Japan’s best-kept travel secrets: send your suitcase ahead and travel hands-free. It’s called takkyubin, and once you try it you’ll never lug bags up station stairs again.
What is takkyubin?
A cheap, ultra-reliable courier service (Yamato’s “Ta-Q-Bin” is the famous one, with a black-cat logo) that forwards luggage hotel-to-hotel, airport-to-hotel, or hotel-to-airport — usually next day.
Why travelers love it
- No wrestling bags on crowded trains or up stairs.
- Shinkansen-friendly — avoid the oversized-luggage reservation hassle on the bullet train.
- Day-trip freedom — send your suitcase ahead and explore a stopover city with just a daypack.
- Reliable — Japan’s couriers are famously punctual and careful.
How to use it
- Ask your hotel front desk — most handle takkyubin directly.
- Fill in a slip with the destination hotel’s address (they can help).
- Pay a few thousand yen per bag; hand it over by the daily cut-off.
- Your bag arrives at the next hotel, usually the next day.
Also available at
- Konbini and airport counters (great for airport-to-hotel on arrival).
- Cold/frozen forwarding exists too — handy for food souvenirs.
Smart ways to use it
- Overnight bag trick: forward the big suitcase, keep one night’s essentials in a daypack.
- Send souvenirs ahead to the airport so you’re not overweight at check-in.
- Allow 1–2 days — it’s not instant, so plan cut-offs around your route.
Travel light and love Japan more. Pair with our packing list and train guide.
Costs & timing at a glance
Expect roughly 1,500–2,500 yen per medium suitcase between cities, depending on size and distance, with most deliveries arriving the next day. Same-day is not guaranteed, so send bags a day ahead of when you’ll need them. Airport-to-hotel on arrival (and hotel-to-airport before departure) is one of the most useful uses — you land or fly out hands-free.
Forwarding vs coin lockers
For a few hours between check-out and check-in, station coin lockers (payable by IC card) are cheaper and instant. For moving bags to your next city or skipping the crowded shinkansen luggage shuffle, forwarding wins.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Sending a bag the same day you need it at the destination — takkyubin is reliable but not instant; next-day delivery is standard, so plan a one-night buffer, especially for a hotel-to-hotel forward on a tight multi-city schedule.
- Missing the daily cut-off time — most hotel front desks and konbini counters have a specific afternoon cut-off (often 3-5pm) for next-day delivery; missing it can push arrival back an extra day.
- Forwarding a bag you’ll need before it arrives — always keep a full night’s essentials (medication, chargers, a change of clothes) in your daypack rather than assuming the timing will work out exactly.
Using it for more than luggage
Beyond suitcases, takkyubin handles oversized sports equipment (ski gear, golf clubs), boxed souvenirs too bulky to carry, and even chilled or frozen regional food purchases — a genuinely useful service if you’ve bought fresh seafood or perishable regional specialties and want them to arrive home (or at your next hotel) properly refrigerated rather than carried in a bag all day.
International shipping versus domestic forwarding
It’s worth noting that standard takkyubin only moves items within Japan — if you want to ship purchases directly overseas, that’s a separate international shipping service (sometimes offered by the same courier company, sometimes not) with different pricing and customs paperwork, so don’t assume the domestic hotel-to-hotel service extends to your home country’s address.