Lugging heavy luggage on and off trains, and trying to find space to store them on your journey is a problem many travelers experience in Japan. But now a new service is available that should make life easier for guests staying at certain hotels.
New Same-Day Luggage Delivery Service Between Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka
The “InterCity Hotel Baggage Link” is a new same-day delivery service that uses Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains to send luggage between designated hotels in Tokyo and Kyoto or Osaka. Mitsui Fudosan, JR Central, and Sagawa Express have teamed up to provide the service, which is now available to guests staying at Mitsui Garden hotels and The Celestine hotels.
The new service is made possible by utilizing the Tokaido Shinkansen, the high-speed bullet train rail line that runs between Tokyo and Osaka via Kyoto. This is the first time that the Tokaido Shinkansen has been used in this way.
Tokaido Shinkansen
The Tokaido Shinkansen will be used to transport baggage between the Tokyo, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka stations, while the delivery company Sagawa Express will be responsible for transporting baggage between stations and hotels.
An illustration of the InterCity Hotel Baggage Link system
The new service became available at participating hotels on January 20th, and can be booked via the InterCity Hotel Baggage Link website. After making a reservation on the official website, you can drop your luggage off at your hotel’s front desk before 9.00 a.m. and receive a reservation number. When you arrive at your destination hotel you simply show your reservation number to collect your baggage.
In a press release, Mitsui Fudosan said that the new service will not only make moving luggage across the country easier for hotel guests, but might also help reduce one of the recent problems of overtourism.
The recent increase in foreign visitors coming to Japan has created a situation where local trains and buses are often filled with travellers carrying large baggage — making it difficult for local people to get around. Sending baggage directly between hotels would reduce the amount that gets carried on public transport, alleviating this situation.
Article by Michael Lambe. Images courtesy of Mitsui Fudosan (1,3), d51498/pixta (2). All rights reserved.
