Buying luggage on trip

Hello everyone!

My husband and I are looking at options for our luggage when going to Japan next year. We had a thought that to save on airfare going over that we would just take backpacks from Aus to Japan (we wont have alot of clothes with us, and only a camera and laptop) and buy luggage while we are there. We just need something to bring all our goodies and pressies back home with us, so it doesnt need to be fancy or top quality. And we thought it would be a hassle to lug empty luggage around.

Has anyone done this before? How did it work out? And is luggage affordable (ie Aus $50 - $150 for a larger bag) ?

Depending on if you are going to need to carry any of these souveniers around Japan in the purchased luggage or if this can all be put together in your hotel in the last few days, but I would suggest getting a strong (double corrugated) cardboard box and some packing tape. Reasonable sized boxes can be found in many supermarkets, larger boxes from department stores or just out on the street for recycling.

Depending on where you will be, getting a box can be easy and packing tape is found in stationery stores, C-stores or DIY stores.

It should be pretty easy to find reasonably priced luggage - I was tempted by a few options at Tokyu Hands that were within your stated budget.

What I did instead was pack a pretty sizeable dufflebag in my backpack. It rolled up to an okay size so didn't take too much room. (And if I'd been thinking I would have used duct tape to shrink it as small as possible.)

During my previous trips to Japan, I've bought luggages that cost from 5,00yen - 10,000yen.

I've also bought boxes instead of luggages to bring my stuff back. Japan Post boxes are particularly sturdy. Once, I bought a 700yen box to pack a folding bicycle my husband bought in Japan! The stuff made it safely back. ;)

We needed extra luggage to get our goddies home and bought some resonably priced ones in Japan at Tokyu Hands, great idea.