Japan - 14 Hours in Tokyo with HND to NRT Transfer

My wife and I are flying through Tokyo on our way to New Zealand from LAX next week. We arrive at HND at 5am and then depart from NRT at 7pm, and want to see some sights in the city. I'm trying to figure out the easiest way of doing this without having to haul our luggage everywhere. Is it better to take our luggage on a train into the city and stow it in a locker in a train station until we are ready to take a train to Narita? Or should we just use a locker at Haneda, take the train into the city, and then take the train back to Haneda to take the transfer bus to NRT? It seems like the latter option means we have to back track a bit, but we wouldn't have to bring our bags into the city, and we could just relax on the bus rather than transfering on the subway. On the other hand, it will be on a Friday late afternoon so I suppose the bus will hit traffic. Any opinions either way?

Also, we're open to suggestions on what to see during our layover.

Thanks!

You may want to try a Takuhaibin service, they can deliver your luggage from one airport to the other. I haven't used one before, but they seemed popular when I was researching my Japan trip. Do a search for Takuhaibin here on flyertalk and you should find some more info.

From a local's perspective, the best answer would be ...

1 Take Keihin Kyuko Line from HND to Shinagawa Stn.
2 Put your luggage in a locker.
3 Go to the city from Shinagawa by Yamanote Line.
4 Enjoy sightseeing.
5 Return to Shinagawa Stn. and pick up your luggage.
6 Take JR Narita Express from Shinagwa to NRT.

I am afraid Takuhaibin does not work in your case. It needs more time.

a loooong time ago, I used to check bags in at the Limousine bus terminal in Tokyo well before check in time. No need to even bring the bags to Narita. Is that still possible? If so, its not far from Haneda.

a loooong time ago, I used to check bags in at the Limousine bus terminal in Tokyo well before check in time. No need to even bring the bags to Narita. Is that still possible?
No. (Not since 2001)

Thanks for all the advice! We mapped it out and we're going to take the route suggested by O Sora.

Flyertalk comes through again! ^

Are there lockers big enough to fit check-in luggage? What is the rental rate?

Are there any staffed left luggage facilities at Shinagawa station or Tokyo Station, as an alternative to using lockers?

I have a similar 13 hour layover in the opposite direction, arriving NRT at 11 am and departing HND at midnight.

Thanks for the advice!

Coin lockers have standard sizes. I had no problem fitting a suit case into the largest coin locker, not at Shinagawa, but at Ikebukuro (cue Ikebukuro jokes ;).

According to http://coinlockersearch.com/shinagawa.html (Japanese), the largest coin lockers are 843mm high by 355mm wide by 575mm deep and cost 500 yen per calendar day. Not all locker locations have the largest size, and not all lockers accept Suica, Pasmo or cash. If you use an IC card to pay, it will also act as the key to open the locker.

aircam should get the one-way N'EX and Suica deal to go from NRT to Shinagawa. Unfortunately, there is no similar deal in reverse for Eric C.

Thanks for all the advice! We mapped it out and we're going to take the route suggested by O Sora.

Flyertalk comes through again! ^

Good choice. The other option is to take a limo bus to the Imperial or Pennisula Hotel. Leave your bags there and then take a limo bus from there to Narita. You'll save yourself a little time and avoid having to schlep your bags through the train station.

Outbound to Narita on the bus rarely has any traffic even on Friday afternoon.

Thanks, O Sora and msb0b, for the great info!

From a local's perspective, the best answer would be ...

1 Take Keihin Kyuko Line from HND to Shinagawa Stn.

6 Take JR Narita Express from Shinagwa to NRT.


Or you could take the monorail to Hamamatsuchō and leave your stuff in a locker there, also Hamamatsuchō is on the yamonote line which is nice to take in a loop to see tokyo, and from there you can sightsee. Also there is a great website for any train related questions, http://www.hyperdia.com/

Or you could take the monorail to Hamamatsuchō

Shinagawa has the advantage that one can take the N'EX from there.

I did exactly this back in March (1 & 6)
Worked like a charm and I also bought my N'EX ticket in the a.m. when I was at Shinagawa station.

It's in the 3/3/2012 blog post in my blog.
I received a great suggestion here on FT to have breakfast at Mandarin Oriental.