If you don’t have any check-in sized baggage, then you can probably skip this post.
Imagine you’re cruising around Tokyo and you’re heading off to Osaka in 5 days. You’ve got a backpack, a carry-on roller, and a check-in roller. How are you going to get yourself and all of that luggage to Osaka in the least miserable way possible?
Let’s talk about the Shinkansen and Luggage Forwarding.
Shinkansen
If you’re heading to another major city in Japan, chances are you’ll be boarding the Shinkansen. Maybe you might take a domestic flight? But where’s the fun in that?
With the Shinkansen, you can take yourself and all of your luggage with you, no problem! Your seat comes with a coat rack and there is an overhead compartment for smaller baggage, such as carry-on luggage.
Although if you have oversized baggage, which is basically anything that wouldn’t fit in an overhead compartment of a plane, then it becomes slightly more complicated. If you don’t have oversized baggage, then you can skip this section.
Oversized Baggage – Tokaido-Sanyo-Kyushu Line
If you’re travelling anywhere between Tokyo and Kagoshima (such as Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Hiroshima, basically anywhere west of Tokyo), you’ll probably have to board the Tokaido-Sanyo-Kyushu Shinkansen Lines.
On any of those three Shinkansen lines, there is a designated area for oversized baggage, and you will have to reserve one of the seats at the end of each train car to use them. This means that there are a limited number of seats for oversized baggage, so you should make sure to reserve at least a few days ahead of time.
Those who do not have the oversized baggage seats are not allowed to use the oversized baggage space. If you bring oversized baggage with you and do not have the oversized baggage seat reserved, then you may be fined.
Oversized Baggage – Any other Shinkansen line
For the remaining Shinkansen lines, they shouldn’t require a specific seat to use the oversized baggage area, but that doesn’t mean you can relax just yet. Without reservations, it means that the oversized baggage space is a first come, first serve, free for all.
For the best experience on these lines, it’ll be imperative to do enough research to determine whether the luggage rack is at the front or back of the train, then reserve the nearest seat possible. On the day of your trip, make sure to line up a bit earlier to ensure you get a spot on the luggage rack.
Reserving a seat near the luggage rack can help ease any anxiety of someone running away with your luggage, and it also makes getting off the train easier too since you can get off first. It’s not important, but if a nearby seat is available, then there’s no reason not to.
But what about getting to the Shinkansen?
Yeah, although the Shinkansen ride is comfortable and isn’t a worry as long you have the right seats, it’s still going to be an ordeal just getting to the station. You’d have to roll your luggage down to the train station, hop on the train, transfer as needed, then roll down to the Shinkansen station.
You could get a taxi and just go directly from your accommodations to the Shinkansen station, but what about when you arrive at your destination? Will you just rough it out and persevere, or will you get another taxi?
Well fellas, let me introduce you to:
Luggage Forwarding
Ever wondered if there was a way to snap your fingers and just instantly warp your luggage from your current hotel to your next one? That’s not quite possible, not even with Japanese technology.
But what you can do is use the luggage forwarding services of Yamato Transport (also known as Black Cat Yamato or Kuroneko Yamato). With Yamato Transport, you can ship your check-in size luggage to your next hotel where it will be held by the reception desk until you arrive and check-in.
Of course, this will cost you more than booking an oversized baggage seat on the Shinkansen, but how much would you be willing to pay to lighten your load? Both physically and mentally. As of now, it costs about ~2600 yen to ship a medium check-in size luggage from Tokyo to Osaka. It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.
The only caveat to this is, it generally only works when shipping from hotel to hotel. When shipping from hotel to hotel, it’s a lot easier since the reception staff can help you with the whole process, and you can just leave your luggage there.
In addition, Yamato Transport can only deliver to places that have a reception desk to receive the package. If you plan on staying at an Airbnb, you’re going to have to deal with handling your luggage the manual way. Or maybe you’ll get lucky and can coordinate something with your host.
Anyways, hopefully this post gave you some insight into what your options are when dealing with check-in sized luggage. Make sure to plan appropriately!
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