The Mainichi Shimbun answers some common questions readers may have about the evolving features of lockers installed in train stations in Japan, including a service to deliver luggage deposited in station lockers to users' homes.

Question: What are the purposes of the new train lockers?

Answer: They are known as multifunctional lockers. One example is the "Multiecube" locker developed by East Japan Railway Co. (JR East), which has four functions: reservation, drop-off, pick-up and delivery. The service launched in September as a way to deliver packages deposited in lockers at Tokyo and Shinjuku stations to a specified address, such as the user's home. Furthermore, luggage left in lockers at five stations including Tokyo, Ueno and Shinagawa can now be delivered to guests at hotels in the center of the capital the same day.

Q: How does it help people traveling with a large luggage?

A: With the hotel delivery service, if guests make a reservation by 9:30 a.m. and leave their luggage in the locker by 11 a.m., they can pick it up at around 6 p.m. the same day at one of about 500 hotels in Tokyo's 23 wards as well as in the nearby city of Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture. Seibu Holdings Inc. also started a similar service in September on a trial basis at three Seibu Railway Co. stations. Visitors bringing large suitcases into Japan have contributed to crowding on trains, which is viewed as one negative aspect of "overtourism," and it is hoped the multifunctional locker system will alleviate congestion while also improving convenience.

Q: What other locker services are there?

A: Recently customers have been able to pick up items sold at stores in station buildings including side dishes, medicines and even formal wear rentals from station lockers. In addition, Seibu Railway started a service in October that allows customers to purchase unsold items from restaurants and supermarkets after they close and receive them in lockers at 19 stations along its train lines, in an effort to reduce food waste.

Q: Will there be more of these services in the future?

A: JR East hopes to enhance the function of stations as logistics hubs by increasing the number of areas where packages can be received in order to respond to the shortage of truck drivers, known in logistics as the "2024 problem," stemming from a new limit on working hours for drivers that took effect in April. As of the end of October, a total of 325 Multiecube locker cabinets had been installed mainly in the greater Tokyo area. The company aims to deploy 1,000 cabinets with a total of 30,000 individual lockers nationwide by fiscal 2026.

(Japanese original by Kazuki Sakuma, Business News Department)