Our experience in Japan is that people consider you a little bit stupid or maybe ignorant foreigners to not use such services. A Japanese friend who met us at Narita insisted on this rather than escort us with luggage to her home (see below about transiting Tokyo by train). In arranging for a hotel in Kyoto luggage handling was part of the assumed and arranged service meaning the hotel expected to receive luggage from a service rather than in-hand.

We found in traveling on a night train in Japan that accommodations did not allow space for significant luggage, which evidently should rather have been shipped. Using a first class rail pass it was possible to park luggage on trains (we were the only one's so doing and did receive some stares), but the situation would have been difficult in second class. Hoisting luggage through Tokyo local trains and subways could be a miserable task.

I think Japan is a country that takes correct completion of services very seriously and might only worry about late or miss-delivery when counting on luggage being at the airport for final departure from the country. Japanese themselves would not worry about that.