Tokyo Travel Forum

Are wheelie bags a hindrance in Japan, with many staircases to negotiate? What about in crowded trains from the airport and around the country? Is it better to stick to a backpack?

I would definitely stick to a backpack, that's what we used (needed hands free for the toddler), and it worked for us. From what I remember, there were escalators/elevators in most stations, but they're not always convenient if you're in a hurry (running late for trains as I usually am). Have fun. Tracey

Backpack is better. There are many stairs in Japan because the train in Tokyo are underground - so you have to climb the stairs to get up to the level of the roads. Also, once you are in the shinkansen or train, it is more convenient for a traveller to have a backpack -easier to get in and out of the train. You have to be quick and fast in catching trains so to have a wheelie bag is not even an option - for me.

Proper suitcases are fine in Japan, and the better choice. With a collapsable handle they are easy to deploy or hide away if you need to use some stairs. In my youth I used a backpack on my travels, but I'm now an old guy, and quite frankly, I don't think anyone over the age of 25 should carry a backpack. Unless you are camping, heading into some far off the beaten track location that hasn't even poured concrete yet, proper suitcases are a more efficient way to carry your stuff. Looking like a backpacker is the best way to be treated like a backpacker - I'm saying that they way you look affects the quality of your travel experience. I know people don't like to hear that, but it's a fact of human nature, if you look presentable and middle of the road, people respond to you better, and you are more likely to get "inside". How can you keep clean and fresh looking after heaving a dirty back on and off your clothes all day long? Not to mention that the clothes you put into a backpack come out looking like they were driven over by a car. If you are a youth out looking for where the party is, then a backpack is fine, but if you want to have a deeper travel experience, then I suggest that you consider how your presentation of yourself affects that experience.

re: stfumato pants,'looking like a backpacker'
What does a backpacker look like and how are they usually treated? We used a backpack and were treated with great courtesy. (We also managed to remain looking clean and tidy for the whole of our month long trip in spite of carrying it!)

Last year I had the wheelie case,wife had the backpack. I had no problems with my bad back and the occasional bag & case lift was no problem. I thought the constant on and off and clothes crushing with the backpack was more of a hassle and it got beaten up more. She was happy though.....

It depends on when you travel, because in the summer it is way too hot to backpack, you will be a sweaty mess because of the high heat and humidity. I have used a wheely bag there forever. It is perfectly acceptable to wheely down the street probably more so than a backpack. Most Japanese use this method unless they are headed to the mountains. However, pack as lightly as possible because like some of the others said, you will more than likely have to carry your bag up stairs, but there are many escalators and elevators if you look around the station, so you can many times avoid carrying it.

Hmm, approaching 50 now and always used a backpack, I find hands free useful on my travels. These things with wheels are very annoying in crowds, I'm always tripping over them. I've never felt discriminated against by being "a backpacker"
Don't remember any specific problems with my backpack in Japan a few years ago.

"What does a backpacker look like and how are they usually treated?"

Backpackers exist at the botom rung of the travel foodchain. People backpack to save money, because they are on a budget. This is what a backpack signifies. Your circumstances could be anything in the world, but when you put on a backpack you are communicating that meaning to the world, and more importantly, to the service people of the travel infastructure in the country in which you are travelling. You may agrue that you have never been mistreated as a backpacker, I have no doubt of this, what I am trying to point out are the opportunities that are never presented to you because you are a backpacker. You cannot know what you have never experienced.
As I said before, I backpacked myself when I was younger. I had one experience that changed my mind significantly. When I was in India in my early twenties, backpacking about, and looking quite worn out after six months, I decided, more for fun than anything, to have a suit made at a tailors in Mumbai. My travelmates thought I was nuts. Long story short, wearing a suit around Mumbai resulted in my meeting several business people, being introduced to their family and friends, one of which made me a job offer that allowed me to live in Mumbai for a short period time several years later. When I put my shorts and t-shirt back on with the pack, the only people that talked to me were touts and drug dealers.
I've never backpacked through Japan, but again, while on a business trip, and having to wear a suit for several days, I again accidentaly met some influential people, and again, long story short, as a result received another job offer which basically really jumped my career into overdrive. When I'm touristing it around Japan, I meet nice people and have great chats in bars, etc... but it's not at the same level of interaction.
I'm not saying backpacking is bad, I'm not telling everyone to wear a suit everywhere you go. I'm just suggesting that you consider the "meaning" of how you present yourself to those in another country. You may find that you have a "different" experience. Whether it's better or not is up to you to decide.

This has been a very interesting discussion that pursued issues way beyond the practicality of luggage types to traveller types and perceptions. Thank you everyone. I think I'll take a backpack and my partner will take a wheelie bag to Japan. That way, we'll both have something to whinge about at different times. We will perhaps get mixed responses, too.

I hear many cheaper ryokan have steep staircases!

And then when you're bored with whinging over the one type of bag, and sick of the response you're getting, you can swap! Excellent thinking! : )

These are the things that we have to consider in this question:
1. wheelie bags vs. back pack in Japan - remember, it's Japan- not other places.
2. staircases
3. crowded trains
4. airport and around the country of Japan

Japan has many staircases. If you look at the tunnel routes of the shinkansen, it is crazy. You get lost inside the tunnel just figuring out where to exit! You don't read and write in Japanese. That's even adding to your challenge of carrying a wheelie! Because of those staircases, you will end up carrying your wheelie because you can't wheel anyway because of those staircases!

Having a backpack is easier! The train stations are always crowded in Tokyo! The people move fast and if you have a wheelie, you will be dragging it through the crowd!!!

Check out the pictures I took how the train station look like in Tokyo. It has so many branches under the tunnel. To get out from the tunnel, you have to go through stairs! Just imagine wheeling through the stairs! By the time you have snaked in through the crowd to get out, you will be catching your breath once you see the light coming from that shinkansen/train!

Hi,

A bit late to join in the fray but couldn't resist :)

I've been to Japan at least 6 times in the past 3 years, with 3 of those trips 15 days or longer. I've tried all sorts of combinations, the huge trolley bag that was murder to lug around, the backpack where the one thing I needed for the night just had to be right at the bottom of the pack.....

I've found a small to mid-size trolley bag (at most slightly bigger than cabin size) plus a normal haversack to be a good combination.

The trolley bag should preferably be a 4 wheeler, so that you can keep it close to your body in crowded train stations and avoid banging into people. And keeping it smaller will allow you to store it in the lockers at train stations when necessary, or to place in front of you on the shinkansen if the luggage racks are full or too far away. It will also not be such a pain to carry up/down stairs at the train stations/subways when escalators/lifts are not available or inconvenient.

The haversack should be big enough to allow you to bring at least 2 days change of clothes and toiletries, for those short trips up the mountains or out of the city when you can store your main luggage at the city hotel you are or will be staying in.

So the suit can go into the trolley bag and your T-shirt and shorts can go in the haversack :)