Make the contents transportable
An outer box contains the item, cushioning fills gaps and limits movement, and tape secures the box. Yamato’s packing guidance asks senders to adapt packaging to the contents, weight and volume.
JAPANESE CULTURE, EXPLAINED
Parcel delivery: a household service built on a network
宅配便
Takuhai-bin is a general term for parcel delivery. Takkyūbin, used by Yamato, names a particular branded service. The broader practice includes different carriers and arrangements.
01
How a parcel travels
A relay between depots
1 · Departure depot: collect parcels 
2 · Departure hub: sort by destination 
3 · Line haul: transport between regions 4 · Arrival hub: sort for local depots 5 · Arrival depot: allocate delivery areas 
6 · Handover to recipient
A delivery relay, illustrated. Repeated images represent different locations, not one vehicle or driver making the entire journey.
Yamato’s 2026 teaching booklet describes a relay: collection leads through an origin depot and sorting terminal, linehaul carries parcels to a destination terminal and depot, then local routes complete delivery. Shipment information travels between these nodes too. This is the carrier’s documented network example.
02
The growth of home delivery
A household service becomes a network
Yamato launched Takkyūbin in the Kantō region on 20 January 1976, offering household collection by telephone. Its company history describes the density of small-parcel routes as an important part of the business design.
More carriers enter
The Museum of Logistics records Nippon Express entering the market in 1977 under early Pelican-related names. Surviving soft-bag materials show changing service and packaging. Postal parcels and other transport already existed before 1976.
Information travels with the parcel
Rising parcel volumes also changed information handling. Yamato’s history describes a move from manual labels to depot barcode entry in 1980. From 1985, drivers progressively received portable terminals for doorstep input, transferring the data after returning to the depot—not yet uploading it instantly on the move. Internet parcel enquiries followed in 1998. This company’s development shows why a delivery network also needs an information network.
03
Names and service conditions
A name is not a delivery promise
Collection methods, size limits, prices and schedules differ by carrier and service. Initial weight and next-day arrangements from 1976 describe a historical product, rather than present conditions for every route.
Check your understanding
Are takuhai-bin and Takkyūbin identical labels?
The first is generic; the second is Yamato’s service brand.
Why fill space inside a box?
Cushioning limits movement and collisions between contents.