[QUOTE=gbs1112;28080995
As a foreign visitor you will have one or more suitcase anyway, and Japanese couples and families have luggage too but JR, Japan Rail, is not luggage friendly and the Bullet Train, Shinkansen, is the least friendly of all. There is no dedicated luggage space on the Shinkansen at all, zero. Behind the last seats in each carriage there is a small free space that will hold a couple of bags each side of the aisle but you will be lucky to find this not already taken. You are not prohibited from taking your bags on board and you will see people doing just that, hoping for a free seat space at best. But it is not the Japanese way. Loads of them take advantage of a super-efficient and cheap baggage forwarding service, Yamato Kuro Neko, the Black Cat system. Their distinctive logo is a stylised black mother cat carrying its kitten by the neck, all on a bright yellow background. Once pointed out you will see it on vans, trollies, carrier bags and on shops several times every hour as you are out and about in Tokyo. It is ubiquitous. Every hotel I have ever stayed in has all the forms and if you present your bag and the address of the next destination to the concierge he will do everything needed. The bill will be added to your hotel account and the service is not expensive. About the cost of a modest lunch in Tokyo per bag. They will have your bag almost anywhere in japan within 24 hours.
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Report in today's Japan Times that Yamato (Black Cat) will be raising their prices for the first time in 27 years, in September this year. So right now it must be a super bargain.