Japan Offers Hands-Free Travel for Foreign Tourists

When you travel with a sizable luggage, you constantly worry about what to do your luggage to do bits of sightseeing along the way. At train stations and airports, you have those coin lockers, but they are there only for keeps and you always have to get back to the locker once to get your luggage out. Naturally.

Here in Japan, Sagawa and Yamato are two leading door-to-door parcel movers sharing 80% of the industry. They are Japanese equivalents of DHL and have taken over parcel delivery services from Japan Post. They have an ingenious idea cooking.

Now, these top two parcel movers are about to reach out for yet another area of delivery service. Tourists just arrived at Tokyo Station and would rather go hands-free for a day's sightseeing in the city before turning in their hotels in the evening. What if this "another area of delivery service" saves their trouble of getting back the lockers? They would love to avail themselves of such a service, wouldn't they?

If fact, newly introduced delivery service not only saves your trouble of returning to the locker to claim you luggage but also carrying your luggage to your hotel. Um, a superb idea for tourists.

Instead of coin lockers, the "Hands-free Delivery Service" stations are to be there to accept your luggage. You just drop your luggage, leave hotel data and off you go - sightseeing, museum, theater and you name it. By the time you turn in the hotel after the day's excursion your luggage is already there waiting for you.

Sagawa and Yamato are joined by SoftBank, who will mobilize their service robot "Pepper", rather renamed "Happy" to engage in this delivery service, to guide you at the service counter.

It's a fresh vista about to open in delivery service in Japan.