How Silk Crane Luggage Storage Works
Silk Crane stores your suitcases, skis, snowboards and golf bags in Japan, so you can travel with less. Send your bags from your hotel or a convenience store, then have them delivered to your next hotel or the airport when you want them back.
From $50 a month One month, monthly or annual plans. Shipping is charged separately.
Carry-on up to 115 cm and large suitcases up to 157 cm (length + width + height), ski or snowboard bags, golf bags and bicycle cases up to 200 cm.
Suitcases and golf bags go from your hotel front desk, an airport counter or a convenience store. Skis and snowboards go from your hotel front desk or an airport counter.
Tell us where and when at least seven days ahead: your next hotel, the airport or a Yamato office. Delivery usually takes three to five days.
Humidity-controlled, secure indoor storage with AI-powered cameras and 24/7 SECOM monitoring.
Book first, then send
- Book storage for the bags you won’t need Choose suitcases, ski or golf bags and a plan on the storage page.
- Tell us where you’ll send from A hotel, an Airbnb, a 7-Eleven or Yamato center, or an airport. Not sure yet? That’s fine.
- Watch for our welcome email It has your Hokkaido storage address and suite number, ready for the waybill.
Use the orange waybill: send and go
Ask for an orange Yamato collect waybill (chakubarai) wherever you send. You pay nothing at the hotel, airport or store. Hand over the bag and carry on with your day; Silk Crane settles the shipping with Yamato and invoices you online.
- A. Suite number: the number we send after you sign up.
- B. Your name: the same name you signed up with.
- C. Contents: what is in the bag.
- D. Lithium battery: tick yes or no. Power banks and other lithium batteries need advance disclosure and separate handling.
Write the recipient as “SilkCrane”, followed by your name and suite number. The storage address is in your welcome email; our phone number for the waybill is 080-4504-3636. The pink waybill (hatsubarai) also works, but you pay at the counter.
Where to send from
Most hotels in Japan send luggage for guests. Ask whether they have a daily Yamato pickup and hand over the bag with an orange waybill. If they can’t, tell us and we’ll call the front desk to set up a pickup.
Ask for an orange waybill at the register. At 7-Eleven, a suitcase can measure up to 160 cm and weigh up to 25 kg; a golf bag can be larger if it’s in a protective shipping cover. Convenience stores don’t take skis or snowboards; take those to a Yamato shipping center.
Major airports have a Yamato luggage counter, often on the arrivals level. Send your ski, snowboard or golf bag straight away and reach your first hotel with only what you need.
We arrange a Yamato pickup in a morning or afternoon window; someone needs to be there for the whole window. Or take a suitcase to a nearby 7-Eleven instead.
Yamato delivery from Tokyo, Osaka or Sapporo to our Hokkaido storage usually takes one to four days. You can track it on Yamato’s website, and we confirm when your bags are checked in.
Skis and snowboards: send your gear completely dry
Wet gear packed in a closed bag can grow mold and be ruined. Boots, gloves, wear and the bag itself need to be fully dry before you hand them over.
- Dry boots with the liners out, and dry gloves, jackets and pants overnight at your hotel or rental.
- Wipe and dry skis or boards, edges and bindings before they go in the bag.
- Can’t dry it in time? Tell us before you send it. We can open the bag and dry the contents, or send your wear for dry cleaning. These are paid services.
More on packing in how to dry and pack ski and snowboard gear.
Before you hand it over
Packing checklist
- Use a cover for skis and snowboards; Yamato often requires one and sells reusable covers for a few hundred yen.
- Dry everything first to avoid mold and rust; see the ski and snowboard note above.
- Don’t send food, liquids or flammable items. Tell us in advance about power banks or other lithium batteries, and tick yes on the waybill.
- Keep your passport, medicine and anything you need before your bags come back.
Getting your bags back
Message us at least seven days before you need them, and earlier in the winter peak. Delivery usually takes three to five days.
The accommodation name and reservation name, the full address and phone number, your check-in date and the delivery date you want. At an Airbnb, someone needs to be there to receive it.
The airport and terminal (Narita, Haneda, Kansai, New Chitose and others), your airline and flight number, and your departure date and time.
Sending your bags back to storage
At the end of your trip, make sure ski and snowboard gear is completely dry (or tell us if it isn’t), then send it back with an orange waybill: use the return waybill from your delivery, or pick one up at your hotel, a 7-Eleven or a Yamato center. From Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, it usually takes two to four days to reach Hokkaido.
How this differs from a locker
A coin locker or a bag-holding counter keeps your bag in one place until you go back for it, which suits a free afternoon. Some 7-Eleven stores also hold bags this way through the ecbo cloak booking service. Silk Crane is for bags that can skip the next part of your trip: send them once and have them delivered where you need them. Compare the options in Tokyo and Sapporo.
Questions?
Message us on WhatsApp or by email and we’ll help you find the easiest way to send. See the FAQ, the shipping estimates, or choose your storage plan. Plans are monthly or annual, and shipping is charged separately.