Storing Luggage in Osaka Station
Say you want to visit Osaka on a day trip — maybe to see the cherry blossoms at Osaka Castle — and you have a big clunky suitcase along with you. Why not just leave it at the station?
The first thing you want to be aware of is what a person means by the train station in Osaka. There are two that are easily confused. The first is the Japan Rail station called Shin-Osaka. This is where all the Shinkansen bullet trains arrive and depart. It connects to other JR lines that head into the city or go locally on to other places such as Kyoto. (The Midosuji Line (red) of the subway connects to Shin-Osaka as well, but if you are using the Japan Rail Pass, you can ride the JR line for free anyway.)
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The other station is Osaka Station and it lies one stop from here on a JR train line — the JR Kyoto Line, be sure you take it the right direction — across the river deeper into the city. From there you can connect to subway lines, the JR Osaka Loop line, and other JR lines.
If you are with bags arriving by high-speed rail, it’s best to store bags at Shin-Osaka station.
Your first plan might be the coin-operated luggage lockers. Throw your bag in, drop the coin, take the key, and go. But as you can see in the photo, they aren’t terribly big.
No worries, there is a luggage storage room at Shin-Osaka station on the very first floor. It’s not far from the tourist information office. (Ignore the “information” booth at the bottom of the escalators coming off of the trains, unless you speak Japanese.)
Outside the Southern Shinkansen Gate at Shin-Osaka (which puts you on the 3rd floor of the station – see map but it won’t show the luggage room) you will go down two more floors to First Floor to get to the bus pickup. At the bottom of the steps to 1F turn left to see Central Gate and the bus and car area outside, as well as some bicycle parking just past a convenience store. Go left on the other side of that convenience store and you can see the luggage storage at the end of the walk up a short ramp for your suitcase’s rollers.
The man inside the check room will understand well why you are there so don’t worry too much if he speaks little or no English. He will take your bag and give you a token to retrieve it. (To be safe he even scrawled my name on the other half which he attached to my suitcase before filing it on a shelf behind the desk.)
It’s all very clear and easy and you must pay the attendant for the first day (500 yen) when you leave the bag. Remember that the luggage storage at Osaka is not 24 hours. The baggage storage opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 8 p.m.
The cost for each bag is 500 yen per day. After 5 days it goes up to 820 per day.
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Was going to Osaka and was looking for exactly this information.
Thank you so much for writing it.
Thanks for posting about this, it was a great help when we had to find the left luggage quickly between trains.
Glad it helped! 🙂
Thank you very much.. This kind of information can be very helpful for planing the trip. 🙂
Glad to hear it 🙂
I hope the same still applies this year. This is very helpful information. Thanks a lot!
Me too! I need to use it next week, in fact. I will add Nagoya. 🙂
Thanks for the info!
Are there any luggage storage rooms (not lockers) at Nagoya station?
Hi Kenny, I can say there are a lot of lockers, and some rather big ones, but I can’t say with certainty if there is a storage room there. I didn’t see one but I can’t say I was thorough in checking. I can send you photos of the lockers themselves. I had a devil of time finding a free one last time I was there which really surprised me. Not sure what the rush was on all those lockers that day.
There is a luggage store at Nagoya Station. Past the lockers on the outside of the station. Look for the sign “Delivery service”.
Price is increased to 800yen, even more expensive than lockers outside.
Repetitive I know, but again, thank you so much!
Am planning an Okinawa trip but didn’t want to take all my baggage with me, this is wonderful to know/planning so much easier 🙂
Thanks. And you’ve reminded me that I haven’t posted all my Okinawa material!! Agh!!!
We used this today, we needed to drop off bags for a few days before starting a hike. Wouldn’t have known about it if it wasn’t for this blog. Thanks so much!
I want to store a medium sized backpack and a regular size suitcase in Osaka Station (not Shin Osaka) for a little over 24 hours. Is there a similar place there?
I’ve been meaning to post about that. There are coin-op storage lockers in Osaka Station too. However, I have twice gone there and found all of them full. Bad luck? Typical situation? I’m not sure. Many of them are pretty small too, though there are properly large ones just fewer in number.
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Thank you for this excellent info about left luggage at Osaka. It saved us forwarding our luggage and we found the left luggage room just as you described. Incredibly helpful!
Keep up the good work, Mad Traveler!
Glad I could help! Happy Travels!
Kevin
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thank you for sharing. It helps lot 🙂
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I am going to Osaka in a week’s time.
This info is so timely as I am trying to figure out where to put my luggage for the day.
Thanks!
Thank you very much. I was looking for somewhere to put my luggage in Osaka for a week and this is perfect.
Simon
Thank you so much for the details it is very useful information.
Genaa
Kevin – Many thanks for this info, such great detail, we used the left luggage service last month, leaving our large cases there for three days, in order to make our journey to Koyasan easier. Your photos and directions made life much easier.
Kevin Morgan
Glad it helped!
Hello! This is exactly the information I’ve been looking for thanks! but am nervous about how long ago you posted this – Any chance you know if it is still the case now…? I did not read the advice on light packing before coming here!
(Oct’14)
Yes, everything was still the same (or even improved a bit) when I was there in April 2014. Additionally, the improved Osaka Station (not Shin-Osaka) is no longer a construction maze and also has added luggage storage if you care to haul it one stop from Shin-Osaka on local trains.
Hi Kevin,
Im going to Osaka in a few days but we arrive at the station late at about 9 pm, wonder if the luggage storage area would be open that late, and if there are big coin lockers at the station?
The luggage storage with an attendant at Shin-Osaka will be closed. But the self-storage locker areas will all be accessible. There should be large lockers as well, and if all else fails, take the local train to Osaka Station and there are plenty.
Thanks for posting this very useful article and I appreciate the update for 2014. Is there a time limit? We’ll be in Japan 4-5 weeks with lots of omiyage, so we’ve always traveled with two carryons and a large suitcase. We’d like to be able to store the large suitcase for 2-3 weeks while we wander around Hiroshima Prefecture and Western Honshu. Our last stop before going to Tokyo will likely be Koyasan so Shin Osaka Eki would be perfect. I realize this can get expensive but I don’t know any other way to do it. Ideas? Thank you.
I’m not sure but I imagine if you use the storage with the attendant you can do it, plus then there’s someone to ask. But check your hotel and see if they will keep it for that time. I have packages shipped to hotels often, and they sit there for several days before I arrive. And that method may be free.
hello sir,is it ok to leave my bag even im not riding the train.just for the purpose of leavng them?
Yes, it is ok!
I will be in Osaka this week and would lke to leave my skis somewhere for 2 weeks.Is the left luggage at Osaka station a good option for this?
Yes, and I’d be clear about the amount of time you will leave them there. There MAY be a 14-day limit. Be aware also that last time I checked the daily rate doubles from the 6th day forward. If you are coming back to a particular hotel, you might also consider leaving them there. I’ve done that before with other bags but it depends on the hotel and your comfort level.
Kevin this is incredibly helpful info. Is there a luggage storage room (not just lockers) anywhere at Osaka/Umeda station? Or a similar room at Tsuruhashi please? Or Namba? We are going from Kansai airport straight to Arima. Thank you so much!
Hm, I really can’t say for certain, but the staffed luggage storage is generally only at the really big JR stations (Shin-Osaka, for example, which is a few minutes from Osaka Station on JR and subway lines). However, I do see it on the Osaka Station map (see the tiny suitcase icon in the very middle of the map): https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/travel-information/routemap/pdf/station_osaka.pdf I’ll have to get a photo of that next trip. 🙂
Sorry I meant Tennoji, not Tsuruhashi.
Hello
do you know that are there big lockers or luggage storage in Akita station ??
They have lockers, but I’m not sure of the size, unfortunately.
This information was excellent, and just what I needed. I used the storage locker at Osaka train station last August, when my daughter and I visited Japan. We got to Osaka, dropped off our luggage there, and then went to see a baseball game. We retrieved the luggage later that evening and went on our way. Your info helped us see the game. Thanks!!!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
You have saved the day.
We need to drop-off three large suitcases so we walk 8 days throughout the Tateyama / Kurobe area.
Your information is very helpful and I am so glad you have been updating it over these last few years!
Mike
Glad it helped!
I know the baggage room is probably not 24 hours, but do you think we can access the coin lockers late at night (after midnight) at either Osaka Umeda station or Namba station? I’m just wondering if the train stations will be closed when the trains stop running, or are they still open so we can just go in, drop the bag, and go?
As long as trains are running, they are open for sure, but you are right, the attendant is not there 24 hours. Unfortunately I really don’t know for sure about the after midnight access at Osaka Station. But I would expect the local lines (subway) stations to be closed (But this is my guess only). The bigger Osaka Station may be different, and Shin-Osaka. The trains stop running, but the baggage areas are outside the platform gates (but still inside the bigger station). Are you arriving after midnight? At the airport?
gud information.
we were looking for same.
i hope this information valid today also.
please update.
we r planning to visit osaka this month end.
thanks
Kevin,
Thanks a bunch. This was sooo very useful as I have to deal with a one day layover without lugging my big suitcase around. Since I’m arriving and departing my shinkansen, this is the perfectest thing to find on the net. Superb directions and thanks so much for taking the trouble to post it.
IE
Hello Kevin, thank you so much for the original post and the recent updates in the comment section! I am going to Osaka at the end of the year and I was wondering if you have had a chance to visit the storage area as shown on the map yet? I would be so grateful if you could shed some light on whether there are many storage spaces or storage room (as opposed to coin-storage) at Osaka Station for large luggage.Cheers!
Just to clarify, you mean Osaka Station not Shin-Osaka Station, right? I have photos from Osaka Station of coin-op storage. At Shin-Osaka they have both a room and the coin-op. I am not 100% sure about Osaka Station but I will try to find out. I will also be going there in October, so I can check then too. 🙂
Here is some interesting info from my friend who lives in Osaka! “There is a luggage room with an attendant at Osaka Station, but sometimes especially on weekends it seems fully occupied. This is best, but there is an another option to keep them with department store like Daimaru, Hankyu, or Hanshin. They also have attendants to take care of luggage.”
1st, thanks so much for the info on the luggage storage room at the 1st floor. Didn’t expect to find a website on this.
To whoever stopover at Shin-Osaka station, don’t bother looking or wait for the coin lockers, they are always fully occupied. Did I metioned the attendants at the luggage storage place is friendly, it is cheaper, they take any size too
Super useful and current as of Sep 2015. ????????????
Hi Mr. Kevin,
This is a very useful information. Thank you very much. By any chance, do you know if there are luggage lockers or storage room in nipponbashi or nipponbanshi station/namba station?
Thank you.
Hi Vanessa, I cannot say with any certainty. It seems I had some photos of luggage storage for Namba but I’m not sure. I am on the vacation away from my photo library!
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Mate, thanks so much for this info. I googled ‘Osaka station luggage storage’ on the off chance I would find something vaguely useful but this is fantastic. You saved us lots of stuffing around. Thanks again and keep us the good work 🙂
Hi, I was wondering if the room gets full and they turn away customers?
Hi Jennifer, sorry for the late response. I was just there and had a look. The room was almost completely empty! So I really doubt they ever turn people away.
Hi,
We are 2 people traveling from Tokyo to Nagoya – stopping for a few hours in Nagoya to see Totoro’s House then back to the station to ride to Kyoto. So, naturally I’m wondering if I can leave our luggage for those hours. I can’t rely on a small coin locker. We do have some big bags since we’ve been here a few weeks. I saw someone else replied that there is a luggage service outside of the Nagoya station. Can you confirm this? Thank you in advance. ( Leaving Tokyo in 2 days so please let me know if you can. )
I used this in 2014 and this information was very useful while i was leaving the luggage in shin-osaka so that i may travel light for a week in different cities
1. I’m just wondering if this place still exist since I plan to store my luggage again in 2016 MAR
2. Anyone knows if there are other train stations that offer the same service throughout Japan in the major cities’s JR stations?
It was still there when I was in Osaka in October. 🙂
good to know, thanks Kevin
Has anyone used this more recently? Going to be in Osaka at end of October 2016 and need to store bags (two medium suitcases) for the day until around 5pm before we leave for the airport?
Many thanks
Angela
I was there again in March. All appears in order, if that’s what you’re worried about.
Hi Kevin,
Thank you very much for all your post. We are planning a trip to Japan and your post has truly made everything so much easier for us!
Hope your travels are going well.
Regards,
Maggie
This is the greatest thing in the history of the Internet. Thank you so much! I will navigate from photo to photo when we are in Osaka next month.
*price update*
It is 500 yen per day as of November 29, 2016.
Thank you! Noted! (You meant the staffed luggage storage room, right?)
Hi..anyone knows if there is a storage room or locker that can fit in luggage size 29″ in tennoji station? And how much does it cost?
Would I be able to leave a bike in a box for 12 days. The box is 1.3m x .8m x .25m and weighs about 13kgs.
Thanks John
Yes, John, I think so. But only in the staffed storage space in Shin-Osaka, not a locker, of course. See the photo there for how much that’s going to cost.
It was sooooo easy. You saved my trip, thank you!!!!
glad it helped!
Great and helpful blog! I was looking for somewhere to dump bags while we spend a couple of days on the Kumano Kodo trail. Couldn’t seem to find anywhere near Kii Tanabe so this is perfect – thanks!