Sending your luggage

We are often asked the following question: 

 “Can we send our luggage in advance to the Machiya we rented in Kyoto? “

Of course! Yes, you can. It’s so much easier to travel light, without suitcases or large bags.  

Here are the details…

There are two options for shipping your luggage to Kyoto. First, you can ship it directly to the machiya house the day before your check-in (or sooner, depending on your location). This option is not obvious, so you need to be careful, because there may be other guests in the house or nobody there. To avoid any problems, you should select a delivery time when you are sure someone from your party will be at the house. Many shipping companies in Japan enable you to choose a two-hour window for the delivery. For example, choose 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the day of your arrival, and ensure someone will be present to receive your luggage.

You’ll find the actual address of your machiya house on the PDF document (IMPORTANT FOR YOUR ARRIVAL) with the map that you have received or will receive two weeks before your check-in date. Of course, you can also ask us now for the address. As a phone number is necessary, you can simply use our office’s number (090-8161-3870)

You can ask your hotel or guesthouse staff to arrange the shipment for you, or you can take care of it by yourself by bringing your luggage to one of the numerous convenience stores (7-Eleven or Family Mart) you’ll find everywhere in Japan. The staff in the store will take care of writing the address in Japanese for you. Usually, if you take care of the shipment in the morning, your luggage will arrive the next day at your machiya house in Kyoto (you may still want to confirm this at the time of shipment).

There are various “Takkyubin” (shipping) companies, but we suggest you use “Kuro Neko Yamato” (the black cat) or Sagawa.

To have your luggage in Kyoto before your arrival, the second option is to have it shipped to our office next to Kyoto Station and collect it when you go there for the registration and check-in (as mentioned in the above-mentioned message (IMPORTANT FOR YOUR ARRIVAL).

Here’s the office address you should use:

NOTE: If you send your luggage to the office, be sure to prepay the shipment. The office cannot have to pay anything to receive your luggage. The shipment would be refused and forwarded to the Kuro Neko or Sagawa office.

 ———-

The next question we often get is:

   “How do you get your luggage from Kyoto to your next destination?”

There are a couple of options.

The easiest one is probably to take your luggage to a nearby convenience store (7-Eleven or Family Mart) and ship it from there. The staff will help write your destination address in Japanese. Contact us if you need the location of the nearest spot from your house where you can bring your luggage to send it.

Another option is to ask our office to arrange for a pickup at your machiya house. This is a bit more inconvenient as you will have to wait for the carrier to arrive to pick up the luggage. They usually give a two-hour window for this, but you never know.

For the second option, you should contact the office at least two or three days before your checkout date.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions.

Akiko  @  mykyotomachiya.com