Many of you may have heard of the awesome experiences people have had with lost and found in Japan.
For the most part, when it comes to belongings, while there are cases of theft, they are most often NOT perpetrated by Japanese. Japanese tend to take things they find to the lost and found and there is even a program which one can watch while flying on an airplane to Japan, to teach travelers on how to retrieve their lost items.
I have three stories that deal with lost and found, the good and the bad.
I. I FOUND A LOST PHONE
I found a lost smartphone and I took it to the station, but I was told to take it to the police. Because I had to leave one place immediately and be in Shibuya, I decided to bring the lost phone to a Shibuya Koban. I was given a sheet to fill out, gave them the phone and I told them the phone is ringing. They asked if there was money inside the phone case, I said I didn’t see anything. I’m just returning the phone. And that was it. I hope the person who lost it, was able to retrieve it.
II. I LOST A SMART PHONE
I lost my smartphone as I was doing TikTok and Facebook Live Streaming at Tokyo Midtown. I brought two smartphones. Mainly as backup for photography/video for live streaming.
I didn’t realize maybe an hour and a half later that I didn’t have my EXPENSIVE smartphone. I looked around to where I was at, a bit of a panic and a group of people were sitting next to it, hoping that the person who lost it would come back for it. And sure enough, I came back for it. I was so happy but was even happier to see how people were there sitting on the bench and waiting. I was so happy and thanked them.
III. I LOST ANOTHER SMARTPHONE
This is on the same day I lost my expensive smartphone. It was a long day, came back from a baseball game and I needed to charge my Suica Card. And what was bad, in my mind, I was thinking, please put both smart phones in your backpack. It was a long day, I was tired.
But I had my inexpensive smartphone (an LG V35 ThinQ) which I put on top of the top area of the Suica station at Ikebukuro Station and when I left the Suica station, after five minutes, I realized, oh crap, I left it on top of that area. But when I went back, it was gone.
I started to look at the “Find my Phone” and saw the GPS of the person leaving with it and even them riding on the train and arriving on Shinjuku Station, several stops a way. I then notified the person to please return it to the Koban (police station).
Instead, they left in a spot and the GPS would keep pinging from that spot.
Unfortunately, because it was after 10:00 p.m., I was told to check lost and found the next morning.
So, I came back and filed the first report at Ikebukuro Station’s Lost and Found and they checked but nothing. Because it was at Shinjuku Station, they recommended me to go there.
So, I went to Shinjuku Station and had to wait until the lost and found opened and then they checked and nada. They recommended two things: 1) Go to Shinjuku Station Koban and file a lost and found report with the police 2) Because the area where it’s lost is in the Odakyu area and wanted me to check their lost and found as that is different from JR.
I filed with the police lost and found and nothing. I filled out the paperwork and the policeman told me bluntly, if it’s a smartphone, chances are it won’t be found.
I then went to Odakyu’s lost and found and they were unable to find it. They put an alert, but nothing. They said there is another Odakyu lost and found and go there.
so, I followed it to the area and if you can see above, I’m right near it.
Odakyu’s other lost and found tried looking and they sent a staff along with me to find it. So, we started following the GPS signal and it led to a garbage can. They contacted Shinjuku Station’s sanitation and an employee came and he looked and they went as far to check everything, including under the vending machines.
He felt that the night crew may have emptied the garbage or another morning crew.
But now the three of us went to check all three levels on Shinjuku Station where the GPS signal was coming from and nothing.
They offered me to look and allowed me to go through the ticket gates, with temporary tickets to look for my phone and visit nearby areas were the GPS signal is coming from. The difficulty is that the signal became unstable, so it was telling me to go to different areas.
So, while station staff were very awesome…I came to an area where one person was not so pleased. We had to use a translator device as he was asking who let me into the gates freely without paying.
I explained via translator as my Japanese was not good enough and he was not understanding. He was not understanding the translator either. So, I took him to another station of people who helped and they communicated in Japanese to him.
Then there were a discussion between him and the Odakyu staff (and unfortunately they started to exchange words with one another – tone was more of anger). The guy from that station left and the Odakyu Staff apologized and said that some people may not understand, so please avoid that area when I’m looking for my phone.
Odakyu staff helped me once more and this now two hours later. They went beyond their duty of helping me out and we realized more than likely, it was dumped in the trash when I used the “Find my Smartphone” and whoever had it probably got scared and tossed it in the garbage.
While I was saddened, I was not disappointed of losing the phone, I was disappointed at myself. That was on me!
I thought about putting it in my backpack but I didn’t.
Fortunately, it was not my expensive phone, but losing two phones in one day, suffice to say, those two instances…were on me!
If anything good came out of it, it was the fact that I saw the Japanese who were very helpful, come to assist me. And I thought that was awesome.
IV. The Lost Smart Watch
This happened on the day I arrived at Haneda Airport back in 2018. My smartwatch somehow unbuckled and fell off somewhere. Unfortunately, while it had GPS, the GPS was not for searching for it if lost, but for tracking maps for workouts for apps like Strava. Unfortunately, the watch was not found and I actually went to the lost and found of the station where I lost it.
V. BONUS – The Lost Bell and the Lost Map
This was not in Tokyo but in the Nikko region in Tochiki Prefecture. One time a small bell fell out of my pocket. The bell was one of the bells given away by people at the area and one older man came to deliver the bell to me that he saw fall out of my pocket. How cool is that?
Another person who saw my map fall out of my pocket at a station in Tokyo, was able to find me and return my map.
Again, more examples of how awesome Japan is!
With that being said, their lost and found is one of the most efficient things that I like about Japan. Every station must be on a network in which lost items are posted and they can easily check of where the item is currently at.
For the most part, the majority of the things that I have read, most people were able to reunite with their lost belongings. But sometimes it doesn’t always happen, as I’m 1-2 when it comes to lost and found items.
But definitely set sometime if you are going to visit the lost and found and also the local police koban. Prior to your trip, take a picture of your items. They will ask questions of what was lost and it helps to have a photo of what was lost, so they can put as much information in the description. Especially, if they can’t speak good English, a picture of what was lost, can really help a lot.
Never give up hope if you lost something on the train/shinkansen, at a station, restaurant, etc.
