I agree with HigherFlyer. Send them UPS. It'll be so much less hassle schlepping through crowded airports and you'll have a little peace of mind.

Just don't put anything stupid inside your luggage that requires the locks to be cut. However, I strongly advise to lock all checked bags. In Japan, they check your bags in front of you.

The TSA already knows they are breaking the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution if they cut locks to search bags, for reasons beyond your necessary presence.

As for the EU, I don't go there. The Euro is overvalued by 60%.

Shipping bulkier items from Japan to Europe via a courier company will cost nearly as much as a discount air ticket, Japan being one of the most expensive countries to ship anything from.

UPS service in much of Europe is lousy, especially their custom clearance procedure for non-regular clients. For shipping out of Japan, I found DHL to be best. Fedex has a well-oiled operation in Europe, and so does DHL.


This has always been the case. But the US is alone among first world countries in systematically requiring bags to be unlocked or threatening to break locks. In other words, bags traveling in the rest of the world are still usually locked by their owners.


For Japan-Europe travel, theft from checked luggage is rare, and would most probably happen during transfer at European hubs such as CDG (where a theft ring ran by luggage handlers was recently dismantled) or LHR (the only place in Europe where my transfer luggage was ever pilfered). AMS has some luggage handling problems; FRA and ZRH have never failed me in ~30 years.


As always, use common sense: expensive/fragile items belong in your carry-on if not too heavy. If large, they are probably worth shipping separately with proper insurance coverage; expect to pay custom duties at the receiving end, though.

[This message has been edited by monahos (edited Dec 20, 2003).]