What Does 満杯 Mean on a Japanese Coin Locker?

The little window on the locker said 満杯. The reel above, published 26 September 2026, is that moment at Tokyo Station: the bank was full, and another coin was not going to open a door. This page is those two kanji, the word they are not, and where the suitcase goes next.

What does 満杯 mean on a Japanese coin locker?

満杯 (manpai) means full to the brim. 満 (man) means full. On its own, the same character shows up in 満ちる (michiru, "to become full") and 満たす (mitasu, "to fill"). 杯 (hai) is a cup, and it is also the counter for cupfuls. That counter moves around: 一杯 (ippai) is "one cup," and 三杯 (sanbai) is "three cups." The locker sign is a fixed compound, and its reading is manpai. It is not manhai, and it is not manbai. The sign means the container has no space left. On a coin locker, that container is the box, or the whole bank of boxes. The reel's line, ロッカー、満杯です (rokkā, manpai desu), means "the lockers are full." You can say it to the person you are with. You will also hear staff say it when you ask.

What do you do when the locker window says 満杯?

Stop putting money in. A window that says 満杯 means this bank has no space left to sell you, and a coin will not make a door open. Some banks take the fee at a shared panel, and that panel is where the word shows up. Others put the window on the door. Either way, walk past it. Check the size next. A full large box is not the same fact as a full small box. Look for 空 (aki) or 空き (aki), the vacancy mark, or a green lamp on a door that fits the bag. 空 on a locker is aki, "vacant," not sora, "sky." Many banks at a big station have a screen that lists the other locker groups in the building. Tokyo Station is a set of banks, inside the gates and outside them, and one full row is not the whole station. 満杯 is about space. How you pay is printed on the slot, and paying by card in Japan is that other problem.

How is 満杯 different from 使用中?

使用中 (shiyōchū) means "in use." 使用 (shiyō) means use. 中 (chū) means "in the middle of," so the word is "currently being used." That window is about one door. Someone's bag is inside it. The doors beside it can still be empty. 使用中 on a door is the sign that says to leave that box alone. 満杯 is the sign that says the group is finished. No empty box is left in that bank, so a coin will not create one. Read the window before you pay. 使用中 sends you one door over. 満杯 sends you to another bank, or out of the lockers.

How is 満杯 different from 満員?

満員 (man'in) means full of people. 員 (in) is a person in a count, the same character as in 定員 (teiin, "capacity"). The apostrophe in man'in keeps the ん and the い apart, so you do not read it as man-nin. A packed train car is 満員. The announcement 満員です means that car is full of people, and the doors may still be open. A locker is not a crowd. You do not call a full locker bank 満員, and you do not call a full train 満杯. A parking lot uses a third word, 満車 (mansha), "full of cars," with 空車 (kūsha) when spaces remain. Same idea, different container. The locker window is the cup, 杯.

How do you ask where an empty locker is?

Ask すみません、空いているロッカーはどこですか？ (sumimasen, aite iru rokkā wa doko desu ka), "excuse me, where is an empty locker?" 空いている (aite iru) means "is vacant." どこ (doko) means where. If you only need to confirm the bad news, ask ロッカーは満杯ですか？ (rokkā wa manpai desu ka), "are the lockers full?" For one size, ask 小さいロッカーは空いていますか？ (chiisai rokkā wa aite imasu ka), "are the small lockers open?" Point at your suitcase while you ask. Staff answer with a direction more often than with a long sentence. Follow the point. コインロッカーはどこですか？ (koin rokkā wa doko desu ka) only asks where the lockers are. Use it when you have not found the bank yet. Once you are standing in front of a 満杯 window, ask for an empty one.

What do you do if every locker at the station is 満杯?

Leave the locker bank. Use a staffed hold, or send the bag ahead. The staffed hold is 手荷物一時預かり (tenimotsu ichiji azukari), temporary baggage storage. 手荷物 (tenimotsu) means hand luggage. 預かり (azukari) means holding something for someone. As of 29 September 2026, JR East Logistics lists four counters at Tokyo Station. The Yaesu South counter, outside the gates, and the Gransta underground counter, inside the north gate, take bags from 9:30 to 20:00. The counter in front of the Shinkansen south transfer gate runs from 9:00 to 21:00. The Marunouchi central-gate counter, on the north-south passage, runs from 10:00 to 20:00. The price list is the same at all four. 100 cm or under is ¥500. Over 100 cm, and up to 200 cm, is ¥1,000. Over 200 cm is ¥2,000. Tax is included. You collect the bag before that counter closes. After closing, it waits until the next day, and that next day costs the fee again. Those Tokyo Station counters can keep a bag for up to 30 days. A bag sitting on top of the suitcase is charged as its own bag. JR East Logistics also says weekends, holidays, Obon, and New Year crowd the counters, and it asks you to reserve ahead on those days. If the hotel is where the suitcase needs to be, sending it ahead skips the locker line. This is not the onsen locker. That door is 貴重品ロッカー, and it holds a wallet, not a suitcase.

Three readings cover the window. 満杯 (manpai) means full to the brim, and more coins will not open it. 使用中 (shiyōchū) means this one door is taken. 満員 (man'in) means a train, or a room, is full of people. When the locker window says 満杯, ask 空いているロッカーはどこですか？ or walk to 手荷物一時預かり.