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Comment by mmastrac | Hacker News Reader

We just returned from Japan having used luggage shipping the whole way and it's definitely the way to go.

The pricing in the article is a bit off. It was about twice what he suggested, but it might have been because our luggage was heavy.

As an experiment, we took a cab from Tokyo to Narita and avoided shipping the luggage. This was expensive (~$200 USD+) and in retrospect, I think I'd rather ship the luggages and take the metro + backpacks.

Don't use roads in Japan!

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If you have lots of luggage going to the airport, the "limousine bus" services (they are just coach buses) are a good option if you're near one of the pick-up locations.

Allowing two bags per person, it was cheaper for us and didn't need to send it two days in advance.

In the 90s, you used to be able to checkin, bag-drop, pass security and pass immigration at the bus terminal in Nihonbashi, and take a bus to Narita and bypass everything and go straight to your gate.

I lived outside Fukuoka for a while. It was a much easier airport to get in and out of. I usually took the train from the airport that dropped me off a few blocks from my apartment in Iizuka. But yes, that train also had space for bags. I usually tried to manhandle my own bags for international flights, but Yamato for everything in-country. My spouse and I did rent a car once (I got a Japanese driving license, so had to use it.) I also can't recommend driving near big cities, but out west near Aso there were some great rural areas to tour by automobile (though it would have been much cheaper to travel by bus.)

Though... we did randomly come upon the Panawave Laboratory, and the sight of a gaijin driving around seemed to shock some people our in the middle of the more rural neighborhoods.

Narita is really far! But cabs are more reasonable of a choice for Haneda depending on where you are, where it will be more like $50 and maybe save you half an hour or so if you’re in the opposite side of the city.

The Narita Express has dedicated space for luggage.

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