Coin Lockers & Luggage Delivery: Travel Hands-Free in Japan

Japanese cities are best explored on foot, and dragging heavy bags up and down station stairs is no fun. Two systems let you travel light.

Coin lockers

Most stations and many attractions have coin lockers in several sizes.

• Pay with coins or, increasingly, an IC card (Suica/PASMO) — tap to lock and unlock.
• Sizes range from small (day bags) to large (suitcases), though the biggest fill up fast at popular stations.
• Note the location and your locker number; some newer lockers issue a code or use your IC card as the key.
• They are typically emptied daily, so retrieve items the same day.

Luggage delivery (takkyubin)

For bigger moves, Japan's famous takkyubin courier services can send your suitcase ahead.

• Send bags hotel-to-hotel or airport-to-hotel so you arrive unburdened.
• Hotel front desks and convenience stores can arrange pickups; delivery often takes about a day, so plan ahead (send the bag the day before you need it).
• Perfect before a shinkansen trip, a stay in a traditional ryokan, or heading to the airport.

Hands-free shopping & sightseeing

• Some airports and stations offer same-day baggage delivery to nearby hotels.
• Department stores and some tourist information centres offer temporary bag holding — ask locally.

Which to use?

• A few hours out? A coin locker at the station.
• Changing cities or hotels? Takkyubin delivery.
• Arrival/departure day? Airport-to-hotel delivery so you can sightsee immediately.

Drop the bags, free your hands, and enjoy Japan the way it is meant to be seen — on foot.