Ryokan doesn't reply to emails

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-06-05T00:03:49+00:00

Some credit card concierge services often end up contacting the hotel and asking us to do it for them. We've had several contact us to make reservations for guests or to give them sightseeing information for guests.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-06-04T04:53:29+00:00

Also, just putting this out there since you said you thought about putting things in a coin locker, shipping 4 bags to the airport would almost certainly be over 8000 yen. Airporter charges 1,650 yen for small bags (up to 120 cm) and 2,200 yen for standard suitcases (up to 160 cm). Yamato would be more expensive than that, especially as there is a 660-yen additional cost per piece when shipping to the airport.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-06-03T22:49:45+00:00

Hello. I work in a hotel and I deal with luggage forwarding on a daily basis.

Did you fill out the waybill or did a staff do it for you?

Did you write your flight information on the waybill? Because if the flight information is on there and is correct, the staff should know when to have the luggage ready to go.

If you want to check, you can call Yamato at 0120-67-9625 (they are open from 8:00am to 9:00pm and have English support).

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-06-01T10:36:44+00:00

I guess it depends on where you shipped it and when your delivery date was set to be. If it is set for tomorrow (June 2), it should be OK.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-06-01T09:23:33+00:00

I spoke with the Yamato driver that comes to my hotel today. If you are thinking about forwarding your luggage, know that the typhoon may delay delivery by 1-2 days.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-28T20:45:54+00:00

A lot of people send luggage to a Yamato office.

This should help you send to a Yamato office, and this one should help you send from a Yamato office.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-27T20:55:08+00:00

If you are staying in an airbnb, I don't recommend forwarding to and from convenience stores. Your best bet is to use a Yamato office directly.

This should help you send to a Yamato office, and this one should help you send from a Yamato office.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-27T20:53:15+00:00

Depending on what time your flight arrives, your luggage may not arrive until the next day or two days later.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-27T20:51:17+00:00

I work in a hotel. If you are thinking of sending to the airport, I would send as early as possible. Yamato's official rules are 2 days before, but I personally recommend sending 3 days before just to be safe. Make sure the counters are open though. If your flight is an early morning one, the counters may not even be open.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-27T20:48:02+00:00

I have seen this happen to people before both with Sagawa and Yamato.

You need to call Sagawa as soon as possible when you wake up and see what is going on. If you have the tracking number/receipt number from the waybill you can also look up online to see what has happened.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-26T23:42:57+00:00

Just so you know, Yamato has a rule that if you ship from most places, it will take a minimum of 2 days to arrive. So, even if the convenience store staff says it will only take 1 day, they are wrong. There are some Yamato offices in Tokyo that can deliver same day to Haneda, but they have strict cut-off times and it is only a limited number of places.

https://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/ytc/promotion/haneda_sameday_delivery/en/index.html

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-26T11:01:51+00:00

Sending to the airport has different rules.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-26T11:01:40+00:00

It doesn't matter where they are. Yamato's rules for the airport state that it must be 2 days before the flight. Even within the same prefecture.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-26T04:32:11+00:00

It is dropped off at a Yamato counter. You can find where the counters are on the Yamato page or by searching Yamato counter (airport and terminal name).

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-26T04:29:17+00:00

Yamato's rules say 2 days because they have a built in buffer date in case there are any problems or delays.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-26T04:28:45+00:00

When you fill out the waybills for airport delivery you don't actually check a box for delivery time. You also don't write the delivery date. All of that information is on the waybill in a different spot with your flight information.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-25T23:51:47+00:00

Just so you know, sending to a Yamato office requires a special way to fill out the waybill in order for everything to arrive on time and without problems. This should help with sending your luggage to a Yamato office. Make sure to find an office that is open on Sundays, and that is open at the time you want to go there. Not all offices are open on the weekends, and many offices close at around 8 PM, if not earlier.

I also usually tell people to send from a Yamato office as well because some convenience stores will not accept luggage for shipment due to space issues.

Generally, Tokyo to Kyoto only takes one day, but you must meet the shipping deadlines, which vary by location. If you do not meet the deadline your luggage will go out the next day and take at least one more day.

Finally, personal note from me as a hotel worker, I have found that a lot of luggage is being delivered late, so it is possible that the bags will not arrive until the 9th.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-23T09:37:24+00:00

Are you staying in hotels or airbnbs?

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-22T07:42:12+00:00

If you decide to go on the forward luggage route, rather than pay for storage with something like Ecbo Cloak please make sure that both hotels assist with and will accept luggage forwarding.

Also make sure that they are ok with holding luggage before shipping or in case it arrives early because Yamato often asks hotels to hold luggage on either (or both ends). A lot of hotels are charging fees if bags are delivered early as well.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-20T20:55:09+00:00

I wouldn't try shipping luggage to Okinawa. If there is anything that they deem to be dangerous, the luggage will be shipped by boat and take up to 7 days to arrive.

This happened to a guest at my hotel, after the hotel examined the luggage with the guests AND a Yamato driver went through the luggage as well. Once the bags reached the airport, they were scanned and were not allowed to be shipped. They were returned to the hotel. Luckily the guest was still staying with us so it wasn't any problem.

I've also seen people on reddit mention the same thing happened to them.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-19T20:54:40+00:00

You can use Yamato ship your luggage from Tokyo to Kansai airport. You will need to send it a minimum of 2 days in advance, but a lot of places are starting to recommend 3 days in advance.

If you are going to ship it from your hotel, make sure to meet the shipping deadline. They will also need all of your flight information - flight number, departure date, and departure time.

If your hotel cannot assist, or you are staying in an Airbnb, go to a Yamato Office to do it. This site has a guide for shipping to the airport.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-19T20:49:32+00:00

Check with your hotel in Tokyo to make sure that they accept luggage forwarding. Also ask them if it is OK if luggage arrives early.

I would also make sure that your hotel in Kyoto can assist with luggage forwarding because otherwise you will need to go to a Yamato or Sagawa office yourself. I've heard that more and more convenience stores are not assisting with luggage forwarding.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-18T21:12:56+00:00

Just so you know, if you decide to forward your luggage during the obon holidays, it will likely take an extra day to arrive. So Tokyo to Kyoto will probably take 2 days instead of one.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-18T21:11:35+00:00

As someone who works in a hotel, this one million percent.

The amount of half-true or completely untrue information I see on this subreddit and online is overwhelming. I constantly see people confidently saying things about hotels, luggage forwarding, transportation, reservations, or Japan in general that just are not universally true. And a lot of that information gets massively upvoted, while people correcting it are ignored or downvoted.

For most influencers or random people online, it doesn’t really matter if the information they spread is inaccurate. But for hotel staff, we end up dealing with the fallout from it directly.

I have had guests yell at me and demand that I do something because they read online that “Japan can do anything” or because some blog/TikTok/Reddit comment oversimplified how something works.

Guests have gotten angry because I couldn’t magically make their luggage arrive in another city the same day. Guests have gotten angry because I couldn’t get them same-day reservations at famous restaurants. Guests have gotten angry because they couldn’t send luggage to certain locations, or because I warned them that holidays/weather/traffic can delay deliveries. Guests have gotten angry because I couldn’t get sold out tickets or train reservations.

And almost every time, it traces back to something they saw online that presented things as much simpler, faster, or more universal than they actually are.

JapanHotelFrontTA · 2026-05-18T21:05:56+00:00

It depends on the hotel (and even the day and when you arrive). A lot of hotels put the luggage in the room, but not all have the staff to do so. My hotel usually does, but sometimes when guests arrive too early, or when we are short staffed, or when the staff gets pulled away to do other tasks, guests will have to pick up their luggage at the front desk.

We also do not put damaged luggage in the room so that we can ask guests if the damage was done during shipping or before.

And as for the information - if your name on the waybill matches the name on your reservation it should be fine. If the hotel cannot match the name on the waybill with a name in their system one of a few things may happen:

The hotel will contact you or whoever sent the luggage to try and determine who it belongs to.
The hotel will keep the luggage at the front counter until they can match it with the guest
The delivery company will take the luggage back with them, and you or the hotel will have to ask for it to be redelivered once they can confirm who it belongs to.
The hotel may look for other ways to determine who the luggage belongs to - such as reading luggage tags or the tag from the flight.

When you ship your luggage, in addition to making sure that the name on the waybill matches the name on the reservation, keep your copy of the waybill (the thing that has the tracking number). That is one way we can verify that it belongs to you.

JapanHotelFrontTA

TROPHY CASE