NewbieRunner

According to the Japanese website where I found this suggestion you cannot send a bag to the same location where it originates. But your hotel may be able to suggest a solution if they are not willing to hold the bag for a week. There are many Takuhaibin depots throughout the city where you can take your consignment but language could be a problem.

The Rail-Go Service I mentioned upthread is probably a better solution.

opieisog

Thanks for the info everyone! I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with the options you guys gave. I just want to make sure I have a few options in play in case the hotel won't hold them.

freecia

Just a general tip for multi-stop multi-day: Save your 100 yen coins for lockers. They're usually at the (manned) train station. Lockers usually get cheaper the further out in the countryside you get and small countryside stations are largely cash based, including the ticket counters (without Suica enabled gates).

I've sent my bags hop-scotching across the country, offloading excess small bags of items, too, and sending it back to my final stop. It is really easy to do a multi-day multi-stop trip with just small bag and occasional stay in a business hotel or mega onsen hotel with washer & dryer. I like Dormy Inn for that as I can use the washer in the women's sento while I bathe.

Some general takkyubin tips:

• It can take 15-20 min to get the form filled & payment collected if the desk is busy with check-outs
• Last pick-up is usually in the afternoon ~ 4/5 pm
• Larger yen shipments have accepted CC, though some smaller < 1000 yen have requested cash
• Some convenience stores also accept takkyubin
• Tourist shops also usually have takkyubin and some will also include it if you purchase above a minimum amount. This is quite handy for cooled items, too (ahem, thank you 2 day takkyubin from Hokkaido->Tokyo for sending my Royce chocolates & milk pudding while I gallivanted about)
• This is also a great way to prep/shed "stuff" when going on a multi-stop multi-day journey with weather changes.
• I usually ask the Front Desk/shop clerk to fill the Takkyubin form as my handwriting in English is pretty illegible and my kanji is probably even worse.

angra

Couldn't OP just take their bag to the closest combini and send it from there to the hotel?

I have another thought that is further outside the box of the original request.

If you expect that the stuff you want to buy would fit into a carryon sized rollaboard, you could bring a collapsible soft-sided bag (e.g. a duffel bag) with you, and kept in your regular bag until you reach your final stop, at which point you expand duffel bag and allocate between check and carryon as required. This is what I do when I go to places that I expect to buy souvenirs.

I've never had a problem with a normal rollaboard on a shinkansen or any train in Japan aside from a crowded commuter train.

opieisog

That's what I am thinking now. I can go to the nearest place to send the luggage to my hotel (so I'm not sending to that destination) and delay it 7 days, and that should solve it. Then I would just bring bare essentials in a duffel bag, with an empty expandable one to bring back any items I buy, and then my bags will be back at my hotel in Tokyo and I should be golden!

lobsterdog

If it were me, and my hotel wouldn't hold a bag for seven days, I would try to find a different hotel. Holding your luggage for you is a pretty basic level of service.

opieisog

I agree. I am ultimately just having an issue contacting them by email (don't want to call due to international rates, plus by doing email I can hope someone who understands English enough would be the one handling the email)

beep88

Perhaps for the category/class for the hotels you stay at.

Many travellers opt for business hotels with sub 10,000 yen single rooms. Many of these hotels do not hold luggage for more than a day, even if you are coming back to stay. The policy is posted at the front desk in multiple languages. This is thanks to abuse by travellers from certain countries.

It boils down to money you are willing to spend.

I have had luggage held by Comfort Hotel (cheap business hotel) for a week. 4 or 5 star hotels also do it without hesitation.

As for it being standard hotel service, especially international chains... one time at the Hilton Garden Inn at FRA, they said no for keeping 1 check-in sized bag for 1 night between my stays.

kzap

Shangri-la Tokyo held my bags for 2 days while I was in Kyoto. Depends on the hotel I guess. If you are staying long enough you can TaQ-bin them there, but do it 24 hours in advance.

Also on the Shinkansen, you can reserve a few days ahead of your trip at any Shinkansen Ticket Office for seats at the back of the car so you can put your luggage there, if not it can always go in front of you (most people dont recline their seats when there's someone behind them). The overhead also fits small suit cases.

zeo219

Sorry, but where on the page is the "Rail-Go Service" noted? Is it under "Baggage Storage B1, inside Gransta Tokyo" subheading under "Coin Lockers/Baggage Storage/Same-day baggage hotel delivery service at Tokyo Station"? Thank you!

AlwaysAisle

I hope you know that you are responding to the post which is more than 5 years old. Are you expecting the information posted five years ago still hold today? FYI, Rail-Go Service ended in Sept. 30, 2021.

zeo219

I didn't realize that. Thanks for pointing it out.