Back in May, I am embarrassed to admit that I had lost my wallet in the Narita Airport, (or at least that’s what I think.) I had landed, after flying overnight, right after a shift at work and was excited to go to Tokyo for my first hotel stay.

My Journey of Losing
Japan’s Lost and Found System
Likelihood of Permanent Loss?
What to Do When you Lose your Wallet (and all your cards) in Japan
Communicating w/Lost and Found
FOUND IT!

My Journey of Losing
It was in the morning in Japan and while there were a lot of signs with English on it, the Japanese language, the bustle of people, the excitement, jetlag and the yearning to lay on an actual bed all together was overwhelming to say the least. To top it off, I needed to get the Skyliner train and between the intercom saying I needed two tickets and my one ticket in my hand, I was a little discombobulated!

To make matters worse, as I was standing waiting for the Skyliner (after pacing back and forth upstairs and finally finding someone who told me that the specific ticket I had was a dual ticket where I don’t need another one, despite what the Intercom was saying) a lady came up to me and started asking me questions- is this the right train to take? Do I need an extra ticket? First of all! Do I look like I know? Well, apparently to her I did LOL. To be honest I think the main reason she asked me was because I stuck out like a sore thumb and likely spoke English, which I did. I tried to help the best I could and took a photo of my ticket somewhere along the way (with my wallet in the background which was a HUGE help) and boarded the train.

I sat down, got my portable charger hooked up and enjoyed my 1-hr ride until making it to the Tokyo hotel. I often get a little disorientated the first day of traveling somewhere and I remember (stupidly) saying to myself, “wow, this is so smooth. Maybe my first time of a no-problem transition to another country.” Well.

Once I got to the hotel, they said that I paid but they needed to collect Japan fees, which I was happy to do… except as I was rummaging through my bag, my heart started beating and stress creeped in as I realized I had somehow lost my wallet! Thankfully, they took Apple Pay, which I gave them and then planned to go back to Narita airport the next day.

I would’ve taken the Skylight back but the ticket office required a physical card, so Apple Pay was out of the question, so I had taken an Uber which was a little over $200 (as opposed to the Skylight which was less than $20). I figured out how to get to the correct Terminal and asked the woman at the help desk where the lost and found was. She pointed straight ahead where I was met with a woman who helped me. She asked me what I was looking for with a little diagram and asked me what color.

The woman at the lost and found did give me a small card with a QR code to get in contact with Japan’s lost and found, which I had done when I returned to the hotel.

Japan’s Lost and Found System
So I don’t necessarily know the specifics, but Japan has a pretty elaborate Lost and Found system. I mean, they have a freaking chat! They seem to have a Network of lost and found locations and after a certain amount of days, will send them to the next location. They ship overseas, and are pretty efficient with it, thankfully for me!

After scanning the QR Code, I was sent to a website where I was able to both put in my contact information, the suspected place where I lost it and upload pictures if I had them (which I did!) of the lost item. The following day, in the morning, someone had texted me (which was automatically translated through the chat system) and told me that they think they have an item matching mine but are not sure and it’s being transferred to the next location.

Likelihood of Permanent Loss?
So I can’t guarantee you that your lost item is absolutely safe, obviously- however, a few days later I had gone on a tour in Japan and told the tour guide that I had lost my wallet! She empathized, of course, and also said that Japan is a good place to lose something because people here believe in Karma so they won’t steal it! Haha! So I just had to hope the person that turned it in was a local not a tourist!

What to Do When you Lose your Wallet (and all your cards) in Japan
Unfortunately, literally everything was in my wallet lol. Any cash I had, all my cards and my ID. Thankfully my passport was not… Can you imagine!?

If you have a reservation somewhere that requires card payment on site, it would probably be wise to cancel that just in case as many places do have late cancellation policies.

Communicating w/Lost and Found
The Lost and Found chat did reach out to me a few days later to tell me that they found an item resembling mine and had given me the location of the item. Of course, it was back at the Narita airport and without a physical card, here we go Uber!

Because they didn’t share a photo or say “we found the exact item” I did ask to share a photo, but they couldn’t for security purposes, which makes sense but the woman on the chat essentially said “it’s here but due to precautions, we are using language that’s more ambiguous”

FOUND IT!
I got to the airport, and unsurprisingly, based on the title of this- I found it! I bowed to them about 5 times to show my utmost gratitude and it was just in time because the following day, I was heading to Kyoto, which would have been a lot harder to go back to the airport to retrieve!

Cheers friends & Travelers!
~Sho, Founder of Backroad Butterflies ~

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