How to Ask About Leaving Luggage in Japanese: Before Check-in or After Check-out
Learn beginner Japanese phrases to ask if you can store your bags at a hotel or station before check-in or after check-out, and how to ask when you can pick them up.
By SofiaGetting around · Yapr Learn
When you arrive early or your flight leaves late, you often need to leave your bags somewhere. In Japanese, the key verb is azukeru (預ける), which means to hand something over for safekeeping. This lesson teaches you how to ask 'Can I store my bags here?' and how to confirm pickup times. You will also learn the important difference between azukeru and the intransitive azukaru (預かる), which means someone keeps something for you. These phrases work at hotel front desks, station coin lockers, and tourist information counters.
By the end, you can…
- ask whether I can leave my luggage at a hotel or station.
- say when I will pick up my bags and ask for the pickup time.
- understand and use the verbs azukeru and azukaru correctly.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
荷物を預かってもらえますか。
Can you keep my luggage for me?
nimotsu o azukatte moraemasu ka
Polite, general request. Use at a hotel front desk or information counter. The verb azukaru means the other person keeps your bag. The pattern ～てもらえますか asks whether you can receive the favor of someone doing this for you.
チェックインの前に荷物を預けてもいいですか。
Is it okay to leave my luggage before check-in?
chekku-in no mae ni nimotsu o azukete mo ii desu ka
Use when you arrive before the official check-in time. Azukeru means you hand your bag over.
チェックアウトの後で荷物を預かってもらえますか。
Can you keep my luggage after check-out?
chekku-auto no ato de nimotsu o azukatte moraemasu ka
Use when you check out but your flight or train is later. Ato de means 'after'.
ここに荷物を預けてもいいですか。
Can I leave my luggage here?
koko ni nimotsu o azukete mo ii desu ka
Use at a station counter or shop. Koko ni means 'here'. This is a direct but polite question.
何時までに取りに来ればいいですか。
By what time should I come to pick it up?
nanji made ni tori ni kureba ii desu ka
Use to ask the pickup deadline. Tori ni kuru means 'come to pick up'. ～ればいいですか asks what you should do / what is the appropriate thing to do.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
The core pattern is 荷物を預けてもいいですか (nimotsu o azukete mo ii desu ka). Nimotsu means luggage, o marks it as the object, azukete is the te-form of azukeru, and ～てもいいですか asks for permission. For a more polite request, use 荷物を預かってもらえますか (nimotsu o azukatte moraemasu ka). Here azukatte is the te-form of azukaru, and ～てもらえますか means 'can I receive the favor of you doing this?' Compare: 荷物を預けてもいいですか (Can I leave my bags?) and 荷物を預かってもらえますか (Can you keep my bags?). Both are correct, but the second sounds more like a request for a favor.
When to use it
Use 預けてもいいですか when you are asking about permission at a place that clearly offers storage, such as a hotel front desk or a coin locker area. Use 預かってもらえますか when you are asking a person to do you a favor. At check-in, say チェックインの前に荷物を預かってもらえますか. At check-out, say チェックアウトの後で荷物を預かってもらえますか. If you want to confirm the pickup time, ask 何時までに取りに来ればいいですか. You can also say 荷物をここに置いてもいいですか, but ここに置いてもいいですか means 'Can I put my bags here?' and does not always mean someone will watch them.
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
すみません、チェックインの前に荷物を預かってもらえますか。
Excuse me, can you keep my luggage before check-in?sumimasen, chekku-in no mae ni nimotsu o azukatte moraemasu kaはい、大丈夫です。何時までに取りに来ますか。
Yes, that's fine. What time will you come to pick it up?hai, daijoubu desu. nanji made ni tori ni kimasu ka三時ごろ取りに来ます。ここに預けてもいいですか。
I'll come to pick it up around three o'clock. Can I leave it here?sanji goro tori ni kimasu. koko ni azukete mo ii desu kaはい、こちらで預かります。この番号札をお持ちください。
Yes, we'll keep it here. Please take this numbered tag.hai, kochira de azukarimasu. kono bangou-fuda o omochi kudasaiA little context goes a long way
At hotels, staff often use 預かります (azukarimasu, 'we will keep it') when they accept your bags. At stations, coin lockers use the verb 預ける, but staffed counters may say 預かります. Adding お願いします (onegaishimasu) after your request makes it sound natural and polite. Avoid using casual forms like 預けていい？ with staff you do not know.
One thing to watch for
Using 荷物を預かってもいいですか to mean 'Can I leave my bags?'
Try this instead: 預かる means 'to keep something for someone', so 荷物を預かってもいいですか can sound like you are asking to keep someone else's bag. To ask about leaving your own bag, say 荷物を預けてもいいですか or 荷物を預かってもらえますか.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1How do you politely ask a hotel to keep your bags before check-in?
Show a sample answer
チェックインの前に荷物を預かってもらえますか。
This uses 預かってもらえますか to ask for the favor of keeping your bags. チェックインの前に荷物を預けてもいいですか is also acceptable, but it asks about permission rather than requesting a favor.
2What verb means 'to keep something for someone' in Japanese?
Show a sample answer
預かる (azukaru)
預かる (azukaru) is intransitive and describes the person who keeps the item. 預ける (azukeru) is transitive and describes the person who hands the item over. Both appear in luggage storage situations.
3How do you ask 'By what time should I come to pick it up?'
Show a sample answer
何時までに取りに来ればいいですか。
何時までに (nanji made ni) means 'by what time', and 取りに来ればいいですか (tori ni kureba ii desu ka) means 'should I come to pick it up?' You can also say 何時までに取りに来ますか if you are simply asking what time the other person expects.
Use 荷物を預けてもいいですか to ask permission and 荷物を預かってもらえますか to ask a favor. Remember azukeru means you leave the bag, and azukaru means someone keeps it for you. Always confirm the pickup time with 何時までに取りに来ればいいですか。
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