Disclosure: Some links in this article are affiliate links. If you book through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Every price and cutoff time below comes from Yamato, Sagawa, JAL ABC or JR Central’s own websites (several only in Japanese), checked on October 9, 2026.

Luggage Forwarding in Japan With Kids: Cutoff Times, Costs, and What Arrives When

Families who use luggage forwarding in Japan almost always say it was worth it. The question parents get stuck on comes first: if I hand over my suitcase now, when do I actually get it back?

That decides what goes in your day bag and which nights you sleep without your suitcase. This guide answers it route by route.

Quick answer: what arrives when

Prices are per suitcase for a large bag (Yamato’s “160 size”, see the size section), cash, from the carriers’ official pages.

The pattern: same-day only works if you hand bags over in the morning, and only between certain places. Everything else moves overnight, and the farthest regions take two nights.

The one rule: your bags travel a day behind you

Plan as if every suitcase arrives one day after you do, and treat same-day delivery as a bonus.

1. Moving day between cities: send the big bags from your Tokyo hotel the day before you check out, so they’re waiting in Kyoto when you arrive. Send them on the morning you leave and they arrive the next day, so you sleep one night in Kyoto from your day bag.
2. Evening arrival in Japan: your bags reach the hotel the next day. That first night runs on carry-on only.
3. Flying home: Yamato wants bags at the airport the day before your flight, so they leave your hotel two days before. Your last two nights also run on a smaller bag.

Yamato itself says bags going to a hotel should arrive by the day before your check-in date, and you can set the stay date up to 10 days after sending. Some hotels charge a storage fee if bags arrive days early, so ask.

Family of four: what forwarding costs for a whole trip

Example: 2 adults, a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old. Two large suitcases (160 size). The stroller stays with you, because a toddler needs it on travel days too. Fly into Haneda in the morning, stay in Shinjuku, move to Kyoto, fly home from Kansai Airport. Yamato’s Haneda price assumes the hotel is inside its “central Tokyo” zone; outside it, add ¥610 per bag.

Cheaper version: if you land in the afternoon anyway and can live out of carry-ons for one night, JAL ABC’s next-day delivery from the airport is ¥2,820 per bag. That brings the trip to about ¥19,320.

The math: Yamato’s current rate card (effective October 1, 2025) charges ¥3,160 for a 160-size parcel from the Kanto region to the Kansai region and ¥3,020 within Kansai; airport deliveries add ¥660. If you take bags to a Yamato office or convenience store yourself, it’s ¥100 less per bag. Some Yamato pages still show older, lower rates; the rate lookup (Japanese) has the current ones.

For comparison, a single taxi from Haneda to Shinjuku is about ¥9,000 plus tolls, and Narita to Shinjuku about ¥31,500 (details in my airport guide).

Airport to hotel

Haneda: the easiest same-day option

Drop your bags at a Yamato counter in Terminal 1, 2 or 3 by 11:00 a.m. and they reach a central Tokyo hotel after 6 p.m. the same day. Delivery also covers parts of Yokohama, Kawasaki and Urayasu (the Tokyo Disney Resort area). No reservation is needed and there’s no limit on the number of bags. Each piece can be up to 200 cm in total dimensions and 30 kg. You can fill in the form digitally in English while you wait in line.

After 11 a.m., the counters still take bags until 6:30 p.m. at Terminals 2 and 3, but delivery is from the next day. Yamato’s Haneda page

One catch: same-day delivery from Haneda doesn’t go to convenience stores, Airbnb-type rentals, or hotels without a staffed front desk.

Narita: two companies, two cutoffs

• Yamato: by 10:30 a.m. at Terminals 1 and 2, 9:50 a.m. at Terminal 3. Bags arrive between 6 and 9 p.m. anywhere in Tokyo and seven nearby prefectures, including Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama. You pay the standard rate plus a ¥660 counter fee at Narita, and you can’t choose a time slot. Yamato warns it may turn down same-day requests for a one-night stay in bad weather or heavy traffic. Yamato FAQ
• Sagawa: by 2:00 p.m. at its Terminal 1 North and Terminal 2 counters, arriving from about 4 p.m. It only delivers to hotels in 10 central wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Shinagawa, Bunkyo, Taito, Koto, Ota) and Urayasu. A 140 cm bag is ¥3,390 and a 160 cm bag ¥3,650. Sagawa Narita counter (Japanese)

Sagawa’s later cutoff is the one that helps families on a midday arrival.

Landing in the afternoon or evening

Nothing same-day is left, so your bags arrive tomorrow. The cheapest next-day option from either airport is JAL ABC: ¥1,950 (120 cm), ¥2,430 (140 cm) or ¥2,820 (160 cm) per bag to the Tokyo area.

Yamato’s own delivery estimate shows next-day arrival from both airports to Tokyo and Kyoto, but that assumes the bag leaves before that counter’s daily cutoff, which varies. If you’re handing bags over late in the evening, ask the staff for the expected delivery date, and pack for two nights in case.

If you’d rather keep everything with you, a car with a big trunk is the alternative. Compare vehicle sizes and child-seat options before you book.

My Narita and Haneda arrival guide compares trains, buses and taxis by arrival time.

Hotel to hotel: Tokyo to Kyoto (and beyond)

This is where forwarding pays off most with kids. Tokyo to Kyoto or Osaka is next day, and a morning delivery slot is available. Hakone, Kawaguchiko and Kanazawa are next day from Tokyo too. Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sapporo and Okinawa take two days.

A moving-day timeline that works

• Day before you leave Tokyo, morning: repack. Big suitcases get everything except two nights of essentials. Ask the front desk to send them and choose “morning” for the delivery time.
• Moving day: check out with a day bag and the stroller, ride the Shinkansen, and your suitcases are waiting at the Kyoto hotel.

Sending from the front desk

Many hotels can send bags for you, but only if the front desk works with the carrier, so ask at check-in rather than on departure morning. If yours doesn’t, take the bags to a 7-Eleven, FamilyMart or Yamato office (some convenience stores can’t take bags of 180 cm or more).

Before you send anything to your next hotel, email them: tell them your name, check-in date and how many bags are coming. Some hotels limit when they receive parcels or charge for holding them. Vacation rentals and unstaffed hotels may not be able to receive deliveries at all.

If you carry the bags on the Shinkansen instead

On the Tokaido Shinkansen (Tokyo–Kyoto–Osaka), bags up to 160 cm total go on the overhead rack or the luggage area on the deck. Bags from 161 to 250 cm need a reserved “seat with an oversized baggage area”, which costs nothing extra; without one, you pay ¥1,000. Strollers can go on the racks, in the luggage areas or in the oversized spaces. JR Central’s rules

Hotel to the airport

Two days before your flight (Yamato Airport TA-Q-BIN)

Send the bags two days before departure (three from some far regions). They’re held at your departure airport’s counter, and you pick them up 1 to 3 hours before boarding with your copy of the slip. Your flight must leave from that airport on the pickup day, and you can’t choose a time slot or pay on delivery. Yamato’s example: for a Narita departure on February 1, ship from Tokyo by January 30. Yamato FAQ

Price: the normal rate plus ¥660, so ¥3,680 for a 160 bag from Tokyo to Narita or Haneda.

Same day, if you’re near the right counter

• To Haneda (Yamato): drop off by 11:00 a.m. at offices in Ginza, Ningyocho, the Shinagawa Prince Hotel or Shinjuku (Kabukicho Tower, Hyakunincho). Pick up at Haneda the same day between 5 and 11 p.m. (domestic counters until 9 p.m.). ¥5,780 for a 160 bag. Yamato has no same-day service to Narita.
• To Narita or Haneda (Sagawa): drop off at the Tokyo Station (Nihonbashi exit) counter by 11:00 a.m., arriving from about 4 p.m. Narita: ¥3,390 (140 cm) / ¥3,650 (160 cm). Haneda: ¥3,100 (160 cm). Busta Shinjuku’s cutoff for Narita is 10:00 a.m. Sagawa Tokyo Station (Japanese)
• Kyoto to Kansai Airport: hand bags to one of Yamato’s Kyoto Station-area offices by 10:00 a.m. and they’re at Kansai Airport by 7 a.m. the next day. ¥4,680 for a 160 bag. Yamato Kyoto page

How to fill in the slip

You can write the form in English. Blank forms are at Yamato offices, convenience stores and partner shops; they can’t be downloaded.

1. To: the hotel’s postal code, phone number and address, then write “c/o” plus your own name as the recipient.
2. From: your name, plus an address and a phone number that works in Japan (Yamato asks for one that’s easy to reach, like a mobile).
3. Contents: be specific, like “clothes, toys, diapers”. Yamato says vague words like “sundries” can delay delivery or make it impossible.
4. Delivery date and time slot (optional): 8–12 a.m., 2–4 p.m., 4–6 p.m., 6–8 p.m. or 7–9 p.m.
5. Press hard with a ballpoint pen: the form is 5–7 carbon copies. Cross out mistakes with two lines; no correction tape.
6. Keep your copy. You need it to collect bags at an airport.

Don’t stick the slip on the suitcase itself; staff attach it with a free tag on the handle. A suitcase doesn’t need a cover (it may get scuffed), but a soft duffel bag does. Yamato’s waybill guide

Sizes: measure your suitcase before you go

Size is length + width + height, or the weight band, whichever is bigger.

A 75 × 50 × 30 cm suitcase totals 155 cm, so it’s 160 size, but at 26 kg it jumps to 180. Anything over 200 cm or 30 kg can’t go by TA-Q-BIN.

Strollers and car seats

Yamato accepts strollers and car seats if they’re within size limits and packed in a box or similar packaging suitable for shipping. A bare stroller won’t do. A boxed travel stroller at 140 size costs ¥2,780 from Tokyo to Kyoto.

For a toddler, I’d keep the stroller with you. It’s your child’s seat, nap spot and shopping cart on exactly the days your bags are away. Send it only if you have a second, bulkier one you won’t need until the next city.

A car seat is different: you only need it in cars. If you’re not using one between cities, boxing it and sending it with the suitcases works.

The first-night bag for kids

Whenever bags travel overnight, someone carries this. Pack it before you hand anything over:

• Diapers and wipes for 24–36 hours (Japanese brands are easy to buy, but you may not want to test a new brand on night one)
• Formula, bottles and a bottle brush, or the snacks your child will actually eat
• Medicine: fever reducer, any prescriptions, a thermometer
• Pajamas and one spare outfit per child, plus a spare for you
• The comfort item: the toy, blanket or bedtime book that makes sleep possible
• Chargers for phones and anything that plays cartoons

Paying

At Yamato offices and with drivers, you can pay in cash, credit card (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex, Diners), QR apps, or IC cards like Suica. Cashless payment is a few yen cheaper. Convenience stores and partner shops don’t take every method. A bag you send to your hotel must be prepaid: Yamato doesn’t deliver cash-on-delivery parcels to guests at hotels.

At a hotel front desk, how you pay depends on the hotel, so ask when you hand the bags over.

FAQ from parents

“Luggage transfers seem to have an early cutoff, and it’s unclear when we’d get things the next day.” That’s normal. If you miss the morning cutoff, expect the next day. Plan for a full night on carry-ons, and ask the counter for the expected delivery date. Same-day service exists only from certain counters, and almost always needs a morning drop-off.

“Is luggage forwarding really worth it with a stroller and a young child?” For moving days between cities, usually yes. As one parent on Reddit pointed out, there are no luggage carts at stations, so one adult ends up pushing the stroller while the other drags two suitcases. For our example family, all three legs cost about ¥24,000.

“Can we send the big bags and keep a small one for the night?” Yes, that’s the standard way. The hotel receives the delivery, so you don’t need to be there when it arrives.

“Can our bags go hotel to hotel without coming back to us?” Yes. Tokyo to Kyoto is next day. Just send them the day before you move.

“Will they take bike boxes or a bike trailer?” Not if a piece is over 200 cm in total dimensions or 30 kg. Book a large vehicle for oversized gear.

Before you go: luggage forwarding checklist

1. Measure and weigh each suitcase and note its size band (most large bags are 160).
2. Mark your moving days and plan to send bags the day before each one.
3. Email each hotel to confirm they accept deliveries before check-in.
4. Pack the first-night bag for every leg where bags travel overnight.
5. Note the cutoffs for your arrival airport (Haneda 11 a.m., Narita 10:30 a.m. or 2 p.m.) and your departure (2 days before, or same-day options).
6. Decide on the stroller and car seat: stroller with you, car seat boxed if you’re sending it.
7. Keep every slip copy in one place.

Prices and cutoffs checked against official Yamato, Sagawa, JAL ABC and JR Central pages on October 9, 2026. Carriers change rates and counter hours, so check the linked pages for your travel dates.