Yamato Transport, the black-cat "Kuroneko" carrier, delivers a large share of Japan's parcels under the TA-Q-BIN brand, and it is the name that appears when a Japanese shop, a proxy-buying service or a marketplace seller ships to you inside Japan. Yamato is unusual among carriers in publishing its own English glossary of the statuses shown in its Track Shipments tool. This guide walks through that glossary in journey order, adds the context Yamato's one-line definitions leave out, and marks the statuses where you need to act.
Short answer: A Yamato parcel runs "Shipment Accepted", "Shipped Out", "In Transit", "Arrival" (at the office that will deliver it), "Preparing for Delivery" (loaded on the truck), "Out for Delivery" and "Delivered". "Delivery Attempted" means you were out and the parcel went back to the office. "On Hold" and "Hold at Yamato" mean it is being stored, usually because you asked for a date change or pickup. "Hold at Agent" means it is waiting at the convenience store, Yamato agency or PUDO locker you chose. "Under Investigation" means the address or name on the label could not be matched and Yamato wants to hear from you.
Yamato statuses in English
Definitions in quotation marks are Yamato's own, from its English FAQ on delivery status.
| Status | Yamato's definition | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Shipment Accepted | "The sales office or sales driver has received your package." | None |
| Shipped Out | "The package has been shipped from the sales office where the package was accepted." | None |
| In Transit | Transported to, or arrived at the sorting facility for, the office in charge of delivery; also shown when a package reached the wrong facility and is being rerouted, or when delivery may be delayed by weather, traffic or volume | None. Wait for "Arrival" |
| Arrival | "Your package has arrived at the sales office in charge of delivery" | Be reachable |
| Request Accepted | Yamato has received your request to change the delivery date, time or location, or to redeliver | None |
| Next Driver Taking Over | The parcel is being handed between sales drivers; deliveries continue in order | None |
| Preparing for Delivery | "Your parcel is loaded on the back of the truck and ready for delivery." | Be home |
| Out for Delivery | "Delivery is in progress to the delivery address indicated on the waybill" | Be home |
| Delivered | "Your parcel has been delivered." | Check the detail if you do not have it |
| Delivery Attempted | "We are bringing back your parcel due to absence, or due to a holiday or other reason." | Request redelivery |
| Delivering into Box Not Possible | Delivery to a security or delivery box was not completed due to absence | Request redelivery |
| On Hold | Stored at the office or sorting facility: after a date-change request, until a specified delivery date, or awaiting pickup at a sales office | Collect or wait for your chosen date |
| Hold at Agent | "We store your parcels at the delivery location you specified (convenience store, Yamato agency, or PUDO)." | Collect it |
| Under Investigation | "Your parcel was not delivered and we are trying to find out information about the recipient." | Contact Yamato's English customer service |
| Forwarded | "The product is transported to an address other than the delivery address indicated on the waybill." | None, if you requested it |
| Returned / Return Completed | The package has been, or has finished being, returned to the shipper | Contact the shop |
| Handed Over to Partner Carrier | Passed from Yamato to another shipping company | Track with that carrier |
| Delivery to the consignee (Kuroneko Yu-Packet only) | A Yamato driver delivered the item to Japan Post for final delivery | Track with Japan Post |
| Incorrect Tracking Number / Tracking Number Not Registered | Wrong number, not a Yamato shipment, not yet received by Yamato, or more than 91 days since shipping | Check the number with the shop |
From acceptance to arrival
Shipment Accepted is the first scan: a Yamato sales office or driver has the parcel. Shipped Out follows when it leaves that office for the network. In Transit is the broadest status in Yamato's glossary and covers four different situations by Yamato's own description: the parcel is being transported to the delivering office, it has reached the sorting facility that feeds that office, it went to the wrong facility and is being rerouted, or delivery "may be delayed due to weather, traffic conditions, or an increase in the number of packages handled". In the delay case Yamato notes that customers who received the shipping notification by e-mail will get an "Advance Delivery Notice" by e-mail on the day the delayed parcel is ready to go out, and that this notice comes by e-mail only, not through LINE or the app.
Arrival means the parcel is at the sales office responsible for your address. Domestic Yamato shipments typically go from acceptance to arrival within a day or two, so a parcel accepted in the evening is often at your local office the next morning. The general shape of these scans is the same as any carrier's sort facility sequence.
Delivery day
Preparing for Delivery is a status few carriers show: Yamato's definition is that "Your parcel is loaded on the back of the truck and ready for delivery." Out for Delivery means the driver is working the route to your address. Yamato adds one detail worth knowing: "If delivery is completed, Out for Delivery is not displayed", so a parcel that jumps straight from Preparing for Delivery to Delivered has not skipped a step. Next Driver Taking Over appears when a parcel is passed between drivers during the day; deliveries continue in order afterward. For what a delivery window normally looks like, see out for delivery meaning.
Delivered is the end of the line. If the status says delivered and you do not have the parcel, Yamato points to a dedicated FAQ for that case, and the general steps are in package says delivered but not received.
Missed deliveries and holds
Delivery Attempted means the driver came and "we are bringing back your parcel due to absence, or due to a holiday or other reason". Request redelivery through Yamato's redelivery FAQ or the app. Delivering into Box Not Possible is the same outcome for a parcel that could not go into a building's delivery box; Yamato's FAQ lists items that cannot be left in a security box.
On Hold covers storage for several reasons, all of them ordinary: you asked to change the delivery date, time or location; the parcel is being kept at the office or sorting facility; it is waiting for the delivery date you specified; or you requested pickup at a sales office and it has arrived there. Hold at Agent is the pickup-point version: the parcel is at the convenience store, Yamato agency or PUDO locker you chose. To confirm where, Yamato says to check the "TA-Q-BIN Delivery Completion Mail", "My Parcel List" or the seller's website. Collect promptly; the deadline rules for any awaiting collection status apply.
Under Investigation: the one that needs you
Under Investigation means "Your parcel was not delivered and we are trying to find out information about the recipient." Yamato gives the typical causes: a wrong postal code or address on the waybill, an omitted room number, or no nameplate at the door. If you spot a mistake on the label or you have moved, contact Yamato's English Customer Service: the FAQ lists 0120-67-9625 (toll free in Japan), +81-3-6834-7503 from overseas, and an online contact form, open 8:00 to 21:00 daily. Left unresolved, the parcel becomes Returned and then Return Completed, and the shop will need to resend it.
Handovers to other carriers
Two statuses mean Yamato no longer has the parcel. Handed Over to Partner Carrier appears when a package is passed to another shipping company, and Yamato asks you to wait for that company's delivery. Delivery to the consignee is shown only for Kuroneko Yu-Packet, Yamato's small-item product, and means a Yamato driver has delivered the item to Japan Post (JP) for the final leg; from there, track it with Japan Post's statuses.
Number not found
Incorrect Tracking Number is shown "when the shipping company is not Yamato Transport or when the waybill number is entered incorrectly". Tracking Number Not Registered is shown before Yamato has received the parcel, when the shipment is being sent under a new tracking number, or "more than 91 days have passed since the package was shipped". A brand-new number from a shop that has printed the label but not yet handed over the parcel is the usual case; give it a day before worrying, the same advice as for any label created but not moving scan.
The merchant view
Japanese brands shipping domestically with Yamato, and foreign brands using a Japanese 3PL, get a rich status feed that their customers mostly cannot read, plus a set of hold statuses that quietly turn into returns if nobody acts. The operational fix is translation plus timing: map Yamato's events to plain milestones, message the customer at Delivery Attempted and Hold at Agent with the redelivery or pickup instructions attached, and raise Under Investigation as an exception the moment it appears rather than when the parcel comes back.
Pango does that across Yamato, Japan Post and 100+ other carriers: one normalised milestone set, proactive messages on the scans that predict a failed delivery, and a returns flow that starts when a parcel is marked Returned rather than when the customer complains. The support volume this removes is in what is WISMO.
The bottom line
Yamato's statuses are among the clearest in the industry because the carrier defines them itself: accepted, shipped out, in transit, arrival, preparing for delivery, out for delivery, delivered. The ones to act on are Delivery Attempted, the hold statuses and Under Investigation. For merchants, translate the events, message the instructions, and let the system watch the lane. See the post-purchase operations platform and book a demo.
