Luggage forwarding - Doable? Risks?
 

Hi,

I have some queries about luggage forwarding. I will be leaving my hotel in Tokyo at 7 AM in the morning on a Saturday and I would like to send my luggage to my hotel in Kyoto where I'll be checking in on the following day (Sunday) late in the evening.

1. Would I be able to forward the luggage over the weekend?
2. Do you think my hotel (Century Southern Tower, no concierge) will be able to arrange it?
3. Will it definitely arrive by Sunday night or are there any concrete lists of delays?

Thanks!

The answers to your questions:

1. Yes

2. Yes, even tiny bare-bones business hotels do this all the time. It's a simple matter of filling out a form, and any desk clerk can do this. If you have the name and address of your next hotel in Japanese (print it out from the hotel's web page) you will make the desk clerk's job easier. The charge will be about ¥2000, collectable when you make the arrangements.

3. This should be OK, given that you are leaving early in on the morning of Day 1 and not checking into your next hotel until the evening of Day 2. If, for some reason, this arrangement is not possible, the desk clerk will be able to tell you. If it's not, you may have to wait till Monday at the latest.

IIWY, I'd make the arrangements on Friday night. Not because it can't be done on Saturday, but because 7am is just not my best time of day. YMMV.

Timely thread as I have similar questions -- which courrier is the most reliable and do you get assigned a tracking number for your luggage, should there be any issues?

Are they private companies or is it a national service? Are rates reasonably priced?

This is the premier one. Cost varies depending on distance and size of suitcase (size of suitcase being more important) but 2000 yen per case is a normal charge. You pick the time you want it to arrive as well.

http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/personal/ta_q_bin/

Someone once quipped to me that they were so reliable, that if it did not get there it would likely be on that evening's newscast. While I would not go that far , I would say they are totally reliable First few times I used them I had the typical angst of will it actually be there..and sure enough it was. Cannot speak highly enough of that type of service.

Wonderful, thanks for setting my mind at ease!

I'll make good use of this service between Kyoto-Osaka, Osaka-Miyajima, and Miyajima-Nagasaki. Very much appreciated, this will literally take a load off! :)

There are actually a few different companies that offer this service, and if you're in a hotel usually the front desk has already chosen one of these companies as their provider, so that's generally the way to go rather than choosing your own. (Mostly as a matter of convenience, as the hotel will already have the necessary forms on hand, etc.)

Are they able to deliver bags with a delay of two - four days? We are planning to keep a larger bag with us which we share and send one on to certain hotels with additional clothes etc as we are there for 3 weeks.

In the U.S. simply due to the size of the country shipping by ground service can take four to five days but in Japan even with slowest delivery service usually do not take that long.

However, just like hotels in Europe or the U.S. many hotels in Japan will be happy to accept shipment for you few days prior to your arrival given that you do hold reservation at that hotel. Simply inform the hotel beforehand, just like in Europe or the U.S.

Are they able to deliver bags with a delay of two - four days? We are planning to keep a larger bag with us which we share and send one on to certain hotels with additional clothes etc as we are there for 3 weeks.

I've had hotel clerks ask me when I want the bags to arrive, so I think that within reason, a delay of a couple of days should be possible.

Incidentally, I highly recommend printing out the Access pages of the Japanese websites of the hotels you will be staying it. This is useful not only for forwarding bags but also for showing to cab drivers (since the map on the Access page will show how to reach the hotel from the nearest major transit station or landmarks) or even to pedestrians, if you choose to walk from the train or subway station and find yourself in a maze of narrow streets.

I once got lost trying to find a small ryokan in Nagoya, and the local people in the subway station area didn't know it by name, but as soon as I pulled out the map, they realized that it was across the street from a temple that they knew. They gave me directions to the temple, and I was able to take it from there.

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Yes. Late delivery request is accepted with no problem. Up to seven days later from the shipping day.

You can even order delivery time frame which is around two hours each.

As O Sora said it is possible to specify the delivery date. But I was not sure if all services in Japan can specify the delivery date. For example Yamato’s TA-Q-BIN has delivery date option. If it is within one week of pick up date then you can specify the delivery date.

I'm not aware of any issue with a hotel or ryokan accepting a bag for a guest who will arrive within a few days.
Asking the takkyubin (courier) company to hold on to a bag rather than a hotel seems unnecessary to me.

Only time I ever specified a particular courier was when I wanted bags delivered to a small island, I had figured out which company was represented at the location. As I sent my bags off from Nagoya Airport, most of the takkyubin services had their own desks ther so it was straightforward to identify and use the appropriate company.
Otherwise, I just go with the service linked to the hotel I'm staying at, never ever had a problem. Hotel staff have always been aware of the takkyubin published deadlines for any desired delivery date and won't accept the request if the delivery cannot be guaranteed.

Unlike my experience in the US, no Japanese hotel has ever charged me for receiving deliveries - and no hotel has ever kept me waiting in the lobby for an hour while the lackadaisical staff wander around, sort of looking for the package that nobody can remember and all denied the existence of until I got the courier company to send me a copy of the delivery note. (Marriott Hotel near SFO, I'm talking about you). Being charged for that kind of service really stings ...

Via Inn Higashi Ginza misplaced my luggage which I'd had takkyubin'd over 4-5 days before. Provided them with the tracking slip and had to ask for them to make a copy instead of taking the original. And on top of that, I had to ask about the status at the front desk when returning over two hours later and there was no apology which seemed unusual. They'd put it in the "other storage area". Maybe the main storage was full? Found is found and they handed it over at the desk instead of taking a service oriented approach by placing it in my room after finding it. Either self service business hotels have really cut out a lot of service or I encountered lackadaisical staff.

So that is to say, don't worry but do keep the tracking receipt. I usually ask the hotel staff to fill out the form for me and provide my destination hotel reservation with address since their handwriting is usually neater than mine.

Does one usually inform the destination hotel of luggage deliveries? I usually only let them know of packages since takkyubin luggage seems so commonplace.