Hands-Free Luggage Service Allows Visitors to Japan to Travel Light; Aims to Decrease Congestion on Trains, Other Places

Mutsuko Kuwata / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

2:02 JST, February 27, 2025

NAGOYA — Hands-free luggage services that allow foreign visitors to Japan to travel light have begun to spread, with luggage being checked in at airports and train stations and delivered to their accommodations or destinations the same day.

The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a record high of an estimated 36.87 million last year.

This increase has caused problems such as tourists’ suitcases blocking passages at train stations and on trains. The luggage service initiative has also attracted attention as a measure to combat the negative effects of overtourism.

Central Japan International Airport Co. and Nagoya Railroad Co., among other firms, conducted in January a test of a baggage storage service for tourists on flights to Hong Kong.

At a drop-off point near Meitetsu Nagoya Station, staff checked the weight of bags and whether they contained dangerous items when passengers on direct flights to Hong Kong and flights to Hong Kong via Taipei deposited their luggage at a baggage drop-off location.

The luggage was tagged and placed on an express train to Central Japan International Airport Station. Those who used the service received their baggage at the Hong Kong or Taipei airport.

The delivery fee was ¥3,000 per item. Users said they were grateful for the service and felt the fee acceptable.

When the Sapporo Snow Festival was held this month in Hokkaido, a similar test was conducted in Noboribetsu for passengers on domestic flights departing from New Chitose Airport.

Tourists enjoyed the snow festival and other attractions after leaving their baggage — for ¥2,000 per item — at a drop-off point in front of JR Noboribetsu Station, the closest station to the Noboribetsu Onsen resort. The luggage was sent to destinations such as Tokyo and Osaka, and the customers received their baggage at airports.

In all cases, the users were able to check the location of their baggage via an app that is available in Japanese, English and Chinese.

“It’s necessary to separate people and baggage to reduce congestion and ease local traffic,” said Kazuo Mizuno, the director of the NPO Alliance of Research for Advanced Technology at Airports and who participated in the tests.

Railroad operators also have embarked on baggage transportation services.

In January, Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) launched a service to transport the luggage of visitors to Japan from Tokyo to hotels in Kyoto and Osaka.

The service is available to guests staying at hotels affiliated with Mitsui Fudosan Co. The luggage is stored in the service space of Kodama trains on the Tokaido Shinkansen line.

Many European and U.S. passengers traveling between Tokyo and Kyoto have used the service, and reservations have gone well, according to the company.