TOKYO – Suitcases are being left behind at airports and hotels across Japan in greater numbers as more and more tourists visit the nation.
With limited storage space available and high costs associated with getting rid of the luggage, some facilities are using novel approaches to deal with the situation, such as reusing the suitcases or giving them away to the public.
Many of the suitcases are believed to be left behind when their owners buy new ones to fit their souvenirs.
A warehouse that belongs to the Chiba prefectural police’s Narita International Airport Police Station is located near a terminal inside Narita Airport in Chiba prefecture, which is bustling with overseas tourists. Inside, there is a room filled with about 60 unclaimed suitcases.
Most of the suitcases were found abandoned at the airport, some with broken wheels and some still locked. The police station keeps suitcases as lost property for three months and then disposes of them if no owner comes forward.
Last year, about 700 suitcases were brought to the warehouse. This year, about 400 suitcases had been brought in by the end of June. Only about 10 per cent of the cases are eventually claimed by their owners.
“Securing storage space is the biggest concern,” said the head of the accounting division at the police station. “Disposal also costs a lot.”
One factor is often cited as a cause for customers leaving their bags behind: airlines setting limits on the number and size of checked baggage that travellers can bring onto flights. To avoid exceeding those limits, some passengers rush to repack their luggage before boarding.
“We have customers who buy larger suitcases after finding out that the ones they have are too small to carry all their souvenirs,” said a manager of Grand Sac’s, a luggage store in the airport.
Gran Sac’s offers a service to collect unwanted suitcases from customers who buy new ones at the store, but it is still common to see baggage abandoned near rubbish bins at the airport.
“Sometimes police are called to the scene because (the baggage) might contain something dangerous,” she said.
A record 36.87 million tourists visited Japan in 2024, according to the Japan National Tourism Organisation, and suitcases are being left behind at airports in greater numbers as a result.
Kansai Airport in Osaka prefecture dealt with 816 abandoned suitcases in fiscal 2024, up from 716 in fiscal 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Likewise, Haneda Airport’s Terminal 3, which serves international flights, in Tokyo, saw a 1½-fold increase in the number of abandoned suitcases disposed of over the same period.
Some tourists simply leave their suitcases behind at hotels. According to a survey conducted by the Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau from June to July, 85 per cent of the 34 accommodation operators that responded said abandoned suitcases have “caused problems”.
Some hotels have found ways to reuse abandoned suitcases.
Washington Hotel Akihabara in Chiyoda ward, Tokyo, in 2023 began giving away suitcases that guests left behind or said they no long wanted.
The hotel has these giveaways irregularly, but they are so popular that as soon as one is announced on social media, it takes only a few hours to a day for someone to come and pick the baggage up.
“Ideally, no suitcases would be left behind, but we want to make use of the ones that aren’t severely damaged so that we can reduce waste,” said a section chief in charge of service at the hotel.
In 2023, Hotel Niwa Tokyo in the ward found a novel way to reuse suitcases that had been left behind in guest rooms – as planters.
The hotel grows nine types of vegetables and herbs on its rooftop using suitcases filled with soil and with a part of the side cut out. The harvested produce is served at a restaurant on the premises.
“These suitcases are so sturdy that we can grow vegetables in them,” said a hotel staff member in charge. “We want to make this way of utilising abandoned suitcases more widely known.”
Meanwhile, some facilities are implementing measures to prevent people from abandoning suitcases. Chubu Airport in Aichi prefecture in October 2024 introduced a service in which unneeded suitcases can be collected for a fee of 1,200 yen (S$10.40) per piece.
“Due to the weak yen, high-quality Japan-made suitcases have become more affordable and widely available,” said Dr Takeshi Sakimoto, professor of tourism studies at Edogawa University. “With multiple factors at play, like airline weight limits, simply asking overseas tourists to exercise restraint won’t solve the problem.”
“While each facility pursues initiatives to reuse the suitcases, it’s also necessary to come up with additional measures, such as a system that shortens storage periods by recycling abandoned suitcases quicker,” he added. THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
