Yamato Japan Tracking

Yamato Transport tracking lets you follow a TA-Q-BIN (Takkyubin) parcel from pickup to your door in real time. Yamato Transport, branded across Japan as Kuroneko Yamato (the "black cat"), is the country's largest parcel carrier, handling more than 2.2 billion parcels a year and roughly 40% of Japan's domestic parcel market. To check where your shipment is, copy the 12-digit number printed on your waybill or shipping confirmation and paste it into the tracking tool on this page for the latest scan and delivery status.

Yamato Transport Tracking Number Format

A Yamato Transport tracking number is a 12-digit numeric code, usually printed in three groups of four digits (for example, 1234-5678-9012). Yamato calls this the "okurijo" (waybill) number, and it is the single reference that identifies your TA-Q-BIN parcel across every sorting hub until delivery. The number contains digits only, with no letters and no country suffix, which sets it apart from the 13-character UPU S10 codes used by national postal services.

Yamato uses several words for the same code: the waybill number, the okurijo number, the slip number, or simply the parcel number. Whatever the label, it is always the same 12 digits, and it is the only reference the carrier's network scans. A store may also give you an order number or a purchase ID, but those identify the transaction in the shop's system rather than the parcel in Yamato's network.

Keep the order ID from the store separate from the Yamato number: a Rakuten or Amazon order ID identifies your purchase in the seller's system, while the 12-digit Yamato number is what the carrier's network actually scans. Only the Yamato number returns live transit scans. For International TA-Q-BIN shipments, the 12-digit Yamato number tracks the parcel while it is inside Japan and on the Yamato air-freight leg; once a partner carrier or postal service takes over in the destination country, that handoff partner may assign its own tracking reference for the final mile.

Where to Find Yamato Tracking Number

The 12-digit Yamato waybill number appears on the parcel and in the paperwork tied to your order, so it can be read directly rather than requested from the carrier. The most reliable places to look are:

• The okurijo (waybill) slip: printed or handwritten in the top-right corner of the label attached to the parcel.
• The seller's dispatch email: when a shop ships your order, the same 12-digit number is quoted in the shipping-confirmation email.
• The order page in your account: most Japanese stores show the Yamato number alongside the order once it has been handed to the carrier.
• Your Kuroneko Members history: customers who book a pickup online see the number the moment the label is generated.
• The counter receipt: when a parcel is dropped at a Yamato sales office or convenience-store counter, the number is on the printed receipt.

If the reference you have contains letters or is not 12 digits long, it is almost certainly a seller order ID rather than the Yamato waybill number, so look for the separate 12-digit code before tracking.

Yamato Transport Tracking Number Example

The table below shows the number formats you are most likely to encounter with Yamato Transport. Yamato does not publish a public prefix-to-service map, so the digits are best read as a single 12-digit identifier rather than a code where individual blocks reveal the service. Treat any digit-block pattern as a layout convention, not a guaranteed service indicator.

If your number is not 12 digits, you are probably looking at a seller order ID rather than the Yamato waybill number. Locate the 12-digit code on the slip or dispatch email before tracking.

Yamato Transport Tracking Status Guide

Yamato Transport tracking scans move through a predictable lifecycle, from acceptance at a sales office to the final "Delivered" event. The table below explains the statuses you will most commonly see when tracking a TA-Q-BIN parcel so you can tell at a glance whether your package is moving, waiting, or already delivered.

Why Yamato Tracking Is Not Updating or Not Working

When Yamato tracking is not updating or shows "no information," the parcel is far more often mid-route or awaiting its first scan than genuinely lost. Yamato records scans at each major handoff, so a quiet stretch usually reflects the gaps between those scan points. The reasons below cover the most common cases.

Awaiting the first scan: A newly created waybill number does not go live until Yamato physically accepts the parcel at a sales office or on a driver pickup. If a shop generated the label but has not yet handed the parcel over, tracking can read "no information" for several hours.

In transit between facilities: On long-distance or air-freight legs, a parcel can travel for 24 to 48 hours between scans without an update. A gap of this length usually means the package is moving, not missing.

Remote-region routing: Deliveries to or from Hokkaido and Okinawa add 1 to 2 days because routing relies on air freight and ferry connections, so scans are spaced further apart on those lanes.

Peak-season volume: During New Year (oshogatsu) and Obon, parcel volumes surge and scan-to-scan intervals lengthen across the whole network.

Wrong number entered: If tracking returns nothing, confirm you are using the 12-digit Yamato waybill number rather than a seller order ID, which the Yamato network cannot scan.

Failed delivery attempt: A status of "Delivery Attempted / Absent" means the driver called while no one was home; arrange redelivery through the notice left at your door or the Kuroneko Members site.

Customs clearance abroad: For International TA-Q-BIN, a stall of several days on "customs clearance" reflects the destination authority processing the parcel, not a Yamato fault. If the number still shows nothing after 48 hours, or a parcel is marked delivered but missing, contact Yamato customer service at 0120 01 9625 with the waybill number so staff can open an inquiry.

Yamato TA-Q-BIN Services and Delivery Times Compared

Yamato Transport built its reputation on TA-Q-BIN, the door-to-door parcel service it introduced in 1976 that turned next-day delivery into the national standard. Beyond standard TA-Q-BIN, Yamato runs a family of specialized services for temperature-sensitive goods, scheduled time slots, luggage, and round trips. The table below compares the main consumer services and their typical handling.

Parcel size is decided by the larger of two measurements: the sum of the three dimensions or the weight. For example, a box whose dimensions total 70 cm but which weighs 9 kg is charged as Size 100, because the weight pushes it into the larger band. Same-day pickup is available when you request collection by 4:00 PM. Kuroneko Members who drop a parcel at a Yamato sales office receive a 150 JPY discount per parcel.

Yamato Delivery and Transit Times Across Japan

Yamato TA-Q-BIN delivers next-day to most of Japan when a parcel is collected before the daily cut-off, which is what makes it the backbone of Japanese e-commerce. Short-haul lanes between neighboring prefectures, such as Tokyo to Osaka or Nagoya, are routinely next-day, and some airport-to-city routes support same-day delivery.

Transit time stretches for the country's geographic extremes. Deliveries to or from Hokkaido in the far north and Okinawa in the far south typically take 2 to 3 days, because some routing relies on air freight and ferry connections. Items that cannot travel by air, such as certain pressurized or hazardous goods, may add a day or more on lanes like Okinawa to other prefectures and Hokkaido to Kyushu, Chugoku, or Shikoku.

Yamato operates roughly 4,000 logistics bases and around 57,000 vehicles nationwide, the density that lets it sort and re-route parcels fast enough to keep next-day service the norm. Recipients can also narrow the arrival window using TA-Q-BIN Time Service, choosing a morning slot or a two-hour band in the afternoon or evening (14-16, 16-18, 18-20, or 19-21). In dense metro areas, Yamato competes closely with Sagawa and the national operator Japan Post for last-mile e-commerce volume.

Yamato Redelivery, Pickup, and Claims

If you miss a Yamato delivery, the driver leaves a redelivery notice ("fuzai renraku-hyo") and holds your parcel at the nearest sales office, so a missed attempt never means the parcel is returned immediately. You can arrange a new delivery date and time slot online through the Kuroneko Members service, by phone, or by scanning the QR code on the notice. Redelivery requests are generally accepted up to 7:00 PM for a same-day second attempt in many areas, with the exact cut-off varying by region.

Yamato also lets you redirect a parcel to a sales office for pickup, or request collection from a sales office counter. For Cool TA-Q-BIN, refrigerated and frozen parcels are stored at the correct temperature at the sales office for up to 3 days, including the day of the attempted delivery, before they are returned to the sender. If a parcel arrives damaged or goes missing, contact Yamato customer service promptly with the 12-digit waybill number and details of the contents so the carrier can investigate and process a claim; keeping the original packaging helps when a damage assessment is required.

Which Countries Does Yamato Transport Deliver To?

Yamato Transport international tracking follows a parcel across all 47 prefectures of Japan and onward to dozens of countries through its International TA-Q-BIN service. Domestically, its network reaches every region, from Hokkaido and the Tohoku north through the Kanto area around Tokyo, the Chubu and Kansai regions including Osaka, Kyoto, and Nagoya, down to Chugoku, Shikoku, Kyushu, and the Okinawa islands.

For cross-border shipping, International TA-Q-BIN carries parcels up to 160 cm in combined dimensions and up to 25 kg, with a late-night air-freight network that can reach major Asian cities as fast as the next day. Mail-order and business customers that meet Yamato's conditions can ship to markets including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and South Korea, and Yamato's broader global network extends parcel and forwarding services well beyond Asia. An International Cool TA-Q-BIN option extends temperature-controlled delivery to select overseas destinations. Representative destinations by region include:

• Domestic (Japan): Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Naha
• Asia Pacific: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, South Korea, Malaysia
• North America: United States (via Yamato Transport U.S.A. and partners)
• Europe and beyond: served through Yamato's global forwarding network and partner carriers

When a parcel reaches its destination country, a local partner often completes delivery. In Singapore, for instance, last-mile handoff may involve Singapore Post, while in Japan inbound international e-commerce is frequently delivered by Yamato itself alongside Amazon Logistics for marketplace orders.

Cross-Border Customs and International Handoff

Every International TA-Q-BIN parcel clears customs in the destination country before final delivery, and that clearance step is the most common reason a cross-border tracking number pauses. Yamato carries the parcel out of Japan and through its air-freight network, then transfers it to a customs broker or local carrier that presents it to the destination authority.

Senders must complete an accurate customs declaration describing the contents and value, because under-declaring or mislabeling goods can trigger inspection, duties, or return. Recipients are generally responsible for any import duties and taxes assessed in the destination country, and prohibited or restricted items, such as certain foods, batteries, and aerosols, may be held or rejected at the border. If your International TA-Q-BIN tracking shows "customs clearance" for several days, that is the destination authority processing the parcel, not a Yamato fault, and the parcel resumes movement once cleared and any charges are paid.

Marketplace Collaborations

Yamato Transport is the delivery backbone for a large share of Japanese e-commerce, carrying parcels for the country's biggest online marketplaces and countless independent shops. If you buy from a Japanese store or a cross-border seller shipping from Japan, there is a strong chance Yamato handles the last mile.

On Rakuten Ichiba, Japan's largest home-grown marketplace, many merchants ship with Yamato TA-Q-BIN, and Rakuten order confirmations frequently carry a 12-digit Yamato waybill number. Amazon Japan uses a mix of carriers, and a significant portion of Amazon orders are delivered by Yamato in addition to Amazon Logistics. The peer-to-peer marketplace Mercari relies heavily on Yamato through its integrated "Rakuraku Mercari Bin" shipping option, which generates an anonymous Yamato label so buyers and sellers never exchange addresses.

Yahoo! Japan Shopping, PayPay Mall merchants, fashion retailer ZOZOTOWN, and many Shopify-based Japanese stores also commonly dispatch with Yamato. Cross-border shoppers buying from China-focused marketplaces such as Shein may still see Yamato complete the domestic Japanese leg once the parcel arrives in the country. For shoppers buying Japanese goods from abroad through forwarding services, International TA-Q-BIN is one of the standard ways those parcels leave the country. Because Yamato is woven into so many checkout flows, learning to read its 12-digit tracking number is the single most useful skill for following a Japanese online order to your door.

What Is Yamato Transport (Kuroneko Yamato)?

Yamato Transport Co., Ltd. is a Japanese logistics company founded in 1919 in Tokyo, making it more than a century old and one of the pioneers of organized parcel delivery in Japan. The company was started by Koshin Kogura with 100,000 yen in capital and a fleet of four trucks, and it grew from local trucking into the operator that defined door-to-door home delivery in the country.

Yamato is universally recognized by its Kuroneko, or "black cat," logo, which depicts a mother cat carrying her kitten gently by the scruff, a symbol meant to convey careful handling of every parcel. The launch of TA-Q-BIN in 1976 transformed the business: it created Japan's modern consumer parcel market and set the expectation of fast, reliable, next-day home delivery.

Today Yamato Transport is the largest parcel operator in Japan, with around a 40% share of the domestic parcel market and annual volumes exceeding 2.2 billion parcels. The wider Yamato Group employs roughly 220,000 people and runs about 4,000 logistics bases and 57,000 vehicles, with Yamato Transport itself operating thousands of business locations nationwide. Alongside Japan Post and Sagawa, Yamato forms the core of Japan's parcel-delivery sector.