First solo trip abroad, currently visiting Osaka and I’m scheduled to leave Japan on Sept 27. I was carrying two bags, and somehow yesterday I managed to lose my smaller bag containing my passport, credit cards, >50000 yen cash, debit card. That afternoon, after sitting down in a department store, I realized about 30 mins after leaving there that I didn’t have it with me anymore. I tried retrace my steps to the place I sat at… it wasn’t there.
Went to the department store lost and found, they advised to report it to a police station, I did so. They said to come back in two days for a cerificate of loss. There are several police stations in the area, I was thinking maybe I should check with the others if they have it. So far, I’ve locked my credit/debit cards that were lost, and planning to leave to Tokyo sooner than planned to get a new passport from the embassy.
Has anyone else gone through something similar? Any advice and suggestions would be helpful.
4 comments
Sorry this happened to you. The only thing you can do is go to the police and embassy, unfortunately. It’s rough because more than likely whoever found it isnt even going to steal your shit. If someone finds it they’d bring it to the police rather than trying to use your CC.
On the plane ride over here I wrote down all the hotel dates where I’m going to be at, a US phone number, and my email on a piece of paper and taped it to my passport and my Pasmo. I’m scared of this exact situation.
Good luck
Edit: also there’s lost and founds at a lot of the major transit hubs. Who knows, anything is worth a shot
Contact the emergency line of your embassy ASAP… and, contact the lost / found of the place where you were.
Call your embassy hotline.
Are you staying at a hotel? Maybe ask the hotel staff if they have any suggestions?
Check with the train stations or restaurants that you visited prior to the department store. If the department store is part of another building, check with the building’s information counter too. And nearby train stations?
Japanese would normally not keep things they found. But there are many tourists with varying values…
Hope you recover your bag soon. Good luck!
Going to other police stations won’t help in my experience. Our friend lost his and when we went they looked it up in their system and told us the exact police box that had it. I’d guess they’re hoping it’ll turn up by the time you go back in two days.