Some more potentially useful links on luggage storage:

https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0001461/

Ueno has a TON of lockers in various spots around the station complex: https://www.uenostation.com/lockers-...orage-in-ueno/

Tokyo also has a few manned "cloak" desks: Coin Lockers/Baggage Storage at Tokyo Station?Tokyo Station City

My respects to anyone executing NRT - Ueno - HND with a full set of luggage.
Am sure it’s doable, but I’m getting hot and flustered just thinking about it.

Trying to make sure I have adequate connection time. I am on an SFO - HND ticket in J and then a second ticket HND-OKA. Both are JAL with about 2 hrs between arrival and departure. I don't believe I will be treated as transit since I have two different tix. Will this be sufficient to go through immigration and customs and recheck bags on the next ticket?

The basic deadline is that you have to go through security in the domestic terminal 20 minutes before departure. Catch a monorail to terminal 1, you can get a free ticket, or take the free shuttle bus.

JAL will be able to tag your luggage through and give you a boarding pass for the domestic flight in SFO. However, you will still need to collect your luggage and take it through customs at Haneda. And if you miss the connection, you will need to pay for your own rebooking. I would put more than
2 hours between the flights if it was me. Around 3 hours.

You don't really have time to head anywhere in to town with a two hour layover. The arrivals process at HND has been very fast the last couple of times I've been there, roughly 35-40 minutes plane to train. There is a JAL recheck for domestic connections at Terminal 3 and then it's a short bus ride to Terminal 1.

There will likely be some JAL reps at the plane from SFO. Also quite a few of them in the Arrivals area in Terminal 3. If you think it's going to be close then talk to them and they'll advise you on your connection. JAL will rebook you to the next flight if the misconnection isn't caused by you such as Immigration/Customs issues or the inbound is running late. There's a lot of flights from HND to OKA all day. After all it's Japan's version of Hawaii!

Don't worry, took me like 30min to find large lockers at Namba station Osaka last year, even though I had this page. Station layout is the typical confusing manner, multiple exits/levels

And I had money(1000yen) but not enough coins or money on my suica, so had to find a vending machine to change $ (and grab a drink since I was thirsty). The one I used was coin only, but eventually did pass by suica large lockers by the subway.

https://willerexpress.com/japantrave...post/20210519/

If you still have to collect luggage at HND, does through checking luggage actually save time or is checking in once the primary benefit? Is there a difference in ease or speed between the monorail or shuttle?

In a similar situation to the poster above, arriving at Haneda via international ANA J and connecting to ANA HND-CTS on a separate PNR. I had used ANA's recommended 80min minimum connection time as a guide, and so have 100min between flights. Do you recommend simply rescheduling and paying the re-booking fee now, or just keep the same itinerary since it'll likely work out fine? I typically arrive at airports pretty close to departure, but am obviously less familiar with Japanese airports and expected behavior in these situations.

Edit: Based on https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japa...ion-times.html, the consensus seems to be to reschedule

Yeah, 100 minutes is a bit tight to put it mildly.

Shuttle or monorail? In the end it is all probably same same but different. When you arrive at international, you are right by the monorail station, which is probably why I think that is easier. Then again when you arrive at T2 for ANA you are deep down in the basement. Personal preference maybe?

Searched and could only find an old thread from 2012 - transiting SIN-NRT-SFO - if I buy duty-free alcohol in SIN, can I transit NRT with it in my carry-on luggage? Is there a way to check it in @ NRT without clearing JPN immigration?

As long as Singapore duty free can seal the bottle(s) in bags the proper way, tamper secured bags with the receipt showing, all should be good for carry on.

Wierd JL Haneda Connection Experience
 

This is not really a rant, but an inquiry.

Just returned home from Sapporo, connecting in Haneda with JL. The originating flight was (on paper) delayed by thirty minutes due to late arrival of the plane in Sapporo (it actually pushed off 40 minutes late). We had what was supposed to be a 1:20 minute connect time. We were flying business domestic with JL and then connecting international to a business seat on a Hawaiian Air flight to HNL. The entire itinerary was all ticketed by HA.

Short story is that JL Sapporo lounge personnel insisted that we did not have time to make our Haneda connecting flight and that we had to #1 Pickup our luggage in Haneda and #2 fly a JL flight to HNL. They said that it was not possible to retag the luggage and divert it to HA so we did not have to waste time waiting for the luggage. No, they said, we had to pick it up. We have never had the experience of an airline not being able to transfer luggage between diverted fights or allowing the luggage to catch up with us later. Is this normal JL procedures? They also said that they could not tell us what business seats we would be assigned, but were assured that we would be in JL business. I started to monitor Expert Flyer to see if the only two remaining J seats were assigned, but they never were until we checked in at Haneda. I can't understand why this could not have been done immediately.

Our HA flght was to depart at 8:05 PM. Our JL flight arrived at the Haneda gate at 7:22. I'm not experienced with Haneda transfers, but it would seem to me that if we did not have to pick up our luggage, we could have made the HA flight with no problem. In fact, as I was keeping a record, it took us exactly 1:06 minutes to do the transfer and arrive air side, including picking up our luggage and dealing with getting our tickets reissued at Haneda.We wasted 25 minutes waiting for our luggage, and more checking in at the international desk. With all the wasted time, we could not have made the HA flight, but could have if JL handled the luggage issue, and certainly if they notified HA to wait a few minutes for us. (As it is, Flight Aware indicted that the flight actually pushed back at 8:11. So, we were pretty disappointed to have had to waste time with dealing with the luggage and rechecking in. Lucky for us, our two J seats were together.

So, a bit of good with this story: JL did assign a person in Haneda to personally escort us from the gate to luggage to transfer bus and all the way to the international checkin desk. That was pretty unbelievable for an F seat, but incredible for a J seat. The JL seats and meal service were superior to HA. There were some other aspects of the JL experience that were good as well, especially for a non-OneWorld flyer (like being allowed to use the F checkin area in Sapporo).

Any thoughts on the way JL handled the forced change to their aircraft and refusal to retag the luggage?

Many thanks.

To be fair, if you left the domestic flight at 7:22, and had skipped the 25 minutes waiting for luggage, you'd have been at the gate 8:03, which is kind of late for an 8:05 flight. Even taken another 10 minutes off for check-in which could have been avoided, it would still be more than cutting it close to catch an 8:05 departure.

Another side of the calculation is depending on runway used, there can be a drastic difference in taxi time. The difference between landing on 34L and 20 could easily have added 10-15 minutes to the taxi. Not that I know which one was the actual case. JAL needs more buffer, and I would say it is a positive thing that they proactively managed the situation, rather than let you run for something that more likely than not was a lost cause.

Not to mention swapping into a 787 with apex suites and JL soft product vs. HA's a330 is a big win - better seat, better food, better humidity and cabin altitude - congrats!

Cannot find a definitive answer so posting here. I am finding award availability for NRT/HND to the US on JAL, however nothing from BKK-NRT/HND (not even in Economy).
My question is: Can I purchase a paid ticket to NRT/HND from BKK (on either ANA/Thai) and then collect my bags and re-check them for the JAL flight to the US?
Or will I need a visa?

Depends on the passport you hold. What is the issuing country of your passport?