Black Cat Magic

If you’ve travelled anywhere in Japan by train, then you’ve probably noticed the difference between locals and tourists when it comes to how much luggage they have with them. In most cases, it’s likely the Japanese aren’t travelling with luggage at all.

And no, this isn’t some mysterious Marie Kondo led movement, it’s thanks to the magic of takkyubin - or Japanese luggage forwarding services. The most popular provider is Yamato (known for its famous Black Cat logo).

In Japan you simply send your bags on to your destination where they will arrive safely the same or following day, depending on the distance. Sending bags further afield to somewhere like Hokkaido may take a couple of days but that’s just a great excuse for a couple of nights in Tokyo in our books!

Many visitors to Japan come unstuck upon the realisation that luggage storage isn’t exactly plentiful on bullet trains. In fact, did you know it’s a new requirement that reservations must be made for larger bags, like suitcases, on some bullet train routes or you could face a fine and the removal of your luggage!? Not a great way to start a holiday…

At The Japan Concierge, we swear by takkyubin to get our bags to our destination. It’s not only extremely reliable, but also very cost effective. As an example, it’s about AU$20 to send a suitcase from Tokyo to Kyoto.

In winter, the takkyubin counter at the airport is always our first port of call when we land in Japan so our snow equipment can get shipped off to whichever powder wonderland we’re heading to. When we’re done in the snow (insert sad face emoji), we ship our gear back to the airport ready for the return flight home. It’s as easy as that.

Our advice is to let the takkyubin folks take care of things for you so you can just kick back and enjoy the journey. The Japan Concierge organises takkyubin services for our clients as part of our service.

Please drop us a line if you want help planning the most amazing Japanese holiday ever!