Post by Ella
What a deal. Luggage forwarding service (known as Takkyubin) is common all over Japan. I’ve used it three times now. From Osaka, we forwarded one suitcase to Fujiya Mae, our ryokan on our 4th night of our hike. We exchanged dirty underwear and socks for clean and stuffed little trinkets we’d picked up into the suitcase and then the next morning had it transferred back to where we’d be staying when we got back to Osaka.
Yesterday we shipped both our suitcases from Osaka on to our hotel in Kagoshima where we are headed today. Nice to walk to the station, up and down the stairs with only our daypacks.
The hotel staff are well prepared to fill out the forms and order the service for you. Since the forms are filled out in Japanese, this is a huge help.
Our transferred luggage has arrived at our Kagoshima hotel.
After Kagoshima, our next three accommodations will be unstaffed so we won’t be able to use the service. Although if you can find a convenience store in the vicinity, many offer the service – to help you send from where you are and to receive your luggage for you to pick up on arrival.
I assume this service isn’t free. What is the cost? A few dollars? How is the luggage transported? A UPS like provider?
To send both our suitcases from Osaka to Kagoshima was $23.00. Delivery was next day between 2 and 4pm. It arrived at the hotel at 3:30.
They measured the suitcase, all three dimensions and the price was based on the sum.
You can specify arrival day up to seven days. They will basically store it for you and delivery on your chosen day.
It does seem to be a UPS-like service. They deliver all kinds of packages. They have delivery trucks. I don’t know if they have cargo planes. Most items are guaranteed to be next-day delivery although if you want to ship from Tokyo say to Okinawa, it might be two days.