Send the big case ahead and travel with a day bag. Any convenience store will deliver your case to your next hotel, usually next day. On a day with two trains and a change, it is the best money you will spend here.
Japan has a nationwide next-day delivery network that ordinary people use constantly, and any convenience store is a counter for it. The case is collected in the morning and is there the next day.
This matters more here than in most countries, because older stations have stairs, trains have limited luggage space, and the walk from a station to an inn can be fifteen minutes. If your day involves two trains and a change, send the case ahead.
1. Ask at your hotel front desk, or take the case to a convenience store · 2. Fill in a slip: the destination hotel’s name, address and telephone, your name, and the date you want it to arrive · 3. Pay — roughly ¥1,500–2,500 for a suitcase, · 4. Keep the receipt; it has a tracking number · 5. It arrives at the hotel, usually next day, and they hold it for you.
Tell the receiving hotel it is coming. One line in your booking message is enough, and it prevents the only thing that goes wrong with this.
You can also send shopping home from Japan, and send a case to the airport for your flight — ask a day earlier than you think. Some shops will also post a purchase to your hotel or your country directly, and tax-free shopping and posting interact, so ask at the till rather than afterwards.