Send a package to your hotel or ryokan in Japan before you arrive: what to order and how to address it

Do this before you order anything. Yamato Transport says it delivers to a hotel or ryokan only if the inn is willing to accept the parcel, that some inns don't handle parcels at all, and that some restrict where and when you can collect them. Sagawa Express says it can't deliver to lodgings with no staffed reception, such as private rentals, so if your first night is in a self-check-in apartment, choose a pickup point instead.

Ask how long the inn will hold a parcel. Yamato notes that a parcel can arrive earlier than planned and that some accommodations charge a storage fee, which you have to check with the inn yourself. A short email in English is usually enough: the name on the reservation, your check-in date, which shop the parcel is coming from, roughly how many boxes and how big, and a question about whether there is a fee or a limit on how early it can arrive.

Yamato's English guide to filling in a waybill for an accommodation asks for the inn's postal code and address, the inn's name followed by "c/o" and the guest's name, the guest's phone number, and the date of the reservation. Copy the postal code and Japanese address exactly from the inn's official website or your booking confirmation rather than retyping it from a map app.

Online shops don't have a check-in-date box, so we suggest using the address lines for it: the inn's address, then the inn's name, then "c/o" and your name, and your check-in date (for example "Check-in 12 Dec"). Spell your name exactly as it appears on the reservation, and give a phone number that works in Japan if you have one, since that is what the carrier and the front desk will use to match the box to you. If the inn gave you its own instructions in reply to your email, follow those instead.

Don't assume the basics will be in the room. Japan's Plastic Resource Circulation Act names hairbrushes, combs, razors, shower caps and toothbrushes given away free by hotels and ryokan as "specified plastic products", and accommodation businesses are expected to cut how many they hand out — by charging for them, offering points to guests who decline, checking whether guests want them, or switching materials. The Ministry of the Environment's own example is an inn that no longer puts amenities in the rooms and asks guests to request them at the front desk or pick them up from a counter.

Our reports show what that looks like. At Mukaitaki in Aizu Higashiyama Onsen, free toothbrushes were dropped in 2022, so bring your own. At Gora Kansuiro in Hakone, 2025–2026 reviewers noticed that some amenities are now sold rather than provided. At Kishu Shirahama Onsen Musashi, several September 2026 guests found no toothbrush or comb in the room — they were sold at the shop instead.

A small parcel of toiletries is an easy first order: toothbrushes, a razor, a comb, travel-size bottles you can refill, and for the baths a thin towel and a waterproof pouch for your phone or room key. What each inn supplies varies, so check your inn's page or ask in the same email.

Electricity: JNTO says the voltage throughout Japan is 100 volts AC, at 50 hertz in the east and 60 hertz in the west (including Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka). Dual-voltage hair dryers, travel irons and shavers should work without a converter; other appliances need a step-down transformer. Check the rating printed on your charger and whether its plug fits Japanese sockets; if it doesn't, a plug adapter or a Japanese charger in the first box saves hunting for one on arrival day.

Food and drink: remote inns can be a long way from the nearest shop. Our report on Yachi Onsen, a lone inn in the Hakkōda mountains of Aomori, says there are no vending machines and the nearest convenience store is about 35 minutes away by car, and its free shuttle takes one suitcase per person — exactly the kind of stay where snacks and drinks are better bought before you get there. Ask the inn whether outside food and drink are allowed in the room.

Heavy or bulky things: nappies, wipes, baby food and formula, a folding umbrella or rain jacket for walking between bathhouses, and slip-resistant shoe covers in snow country are all bulky in a suitcase and easy to have delivered. Order what you'll need for the first few days, not the whole trip.

Yamato's guidance for parcels sent to accommodations is that they should reach the inn by the day before your stay, that delivery times can't be specified, and that it can take two or three days depending on distance. Shops add their own dispatch time on top, so order well before your flight and read the delivery estimate shown at checkout. If the date would be close to your check-in, don't risk it — choose a pickup point on your route instead.

Rakuten's konbini pickup works at Lawson, FamilyMart and Ministop, though which chains you can choose depends on the shop. It doesn't take parcels over 100 cm (three sides combined) or 10 kg, chilled or frozen goods, dangerous goods, date- or time-specified delivery, or cash on delivery and deferred payment, and the parcel waits only two or three days after it reaches the store, depending on the chain and carrier. Rakuten's post-office pickup takes parcels up to 170 cm and 25 kg and holds them for seven days. At FamilyMart, Rakuten says the parcel is handed over as it is, without a carrier bag, so bring one. For Amazon.co.jp's pickup points and their deadlines, see our guide to delivery to your ryokan.

Yamato won't carry cash, credit and bank cards, passports and other documents that are hard to replace, items that can't be reproduced, pets, poisonous or dangerous substances (it names batteries as an example of products containing them), weapons such as swords, flammables and explosives such as fireworks, kerosene and gas cylinders, parcels containing items worth more than ¥300,000 in total, or parcels over size 200. For some routes it ships by air, and it lists cosmetics, perfume and hair spray, as well as devices with lithium batteries such as phones and laptops, among the goods that are restricted on air freight. Rakuten's pickup services also exclude dangerous goods and swords.

Keep anything you can't do without on the first night in your hand luggage: passport, cards, cash, prescription medicine, your phone charger and power bank. A parcel is for things that would be inconvenient to lose, not things that would ruin the trip.

Once the first parcel has done its job, the same carriers can move your suitcase on. Yamato says you can send luggage from one hotel to another if the front desk handles parcels and the next inn can receive them — confirm both — and that it should arrive at least a day before your stay. If the inn can't arrange it, you can take the bag to a convenience store such as 7-Eleven or FamilyMart, or to a Yamato office. Yamato doesn't accept bags over 30 kg, some konbini can't take size 180 and above, a Boston bag must have a cover, and a suitcase without one may get scratched. You can set a stay date up to ten days after the shipping date, and when you leave an inn you can ask the front desk to send the bag, paying on delivery if you prefer.

Sagawa's Hands-Free service delivers bags from its counters to hotels, and the same day only in some areas: Tokyo's 23 wards and Urayasu, partner hotels in Kyoto city, and partner hotels in Matsuyama and Naha. It takes bags by about 11:00 and delivers from 16:00, usually finished around 20:00. Hot-spring towns outside those areas need standard delivery, which Yamato says should be sent at least two days before check-in, so plan the day you travel to the onsen with a day bag and let the case follow.