Japan travel · Phone guide
How to get a lost item back in Japan when you don't speak Japanese
Left your bag on the train, your wallet in a taxi, your phone at a café? In Japan, lost things are surprisingly findable — but the trail runs through Japanese-only phone lines, scattered across each rail company, taxi firm and police desk. Here's where to start, the exact phrases for the call, and the one thing to do differently if it's your passport.
Japan really is good at returning lost things. The catch is that the system is fragmented and runs in Japanese: each rail company, each taxi firm, and the police all keep their own found-items desks, and the one that has your thing is rarely the one with an English website. The good news is there's now an online shortcut to try first — and for the calls that follow, the words below.
Honest first: found, not guaranteed
Yovoca helps you make the call and translates it live — so you can ask whether something's been turned in, how to collect it, or whether they can ship it to your hotel. It can't promise the item turns up. Two things to know before you start: first, try the online lost-property search before phoning (see below) — it can save the call entirely. Second, a lost passport isn't a normal lost item — it's a police report plus your own embassy, covered at the end.
Where to start
Before any phone call, try the online route — it's faster when it works:
- The online lost-property search ("find" / 落とし物クラウド). A cross-operator chat search that now covers many Japanese railways and facilities (JR East joined in 2026), with no app to install. Some operators offer it in more than one language. If your item shows up there, you may skip the call.
- If it's not there, or you need details, you call — and that's where it's Japanese-only. Work out who to call from the list below, then use the phrases.
Who to call, by where you lost it
- On a train or subway — each operator keeps its own lost-and-found, so call the company whose line you were on (JR, Tokyo Metro, Toei, and the private railways each have their own). Have your line, direction, time, and the station you got off.
- On a bullet train (Shinkansen) — it goes by the JR company that runs that line (Tōkaidō → JR Central; Tōhoku/Jōetsu/Hokuriku → JR East; Sanyō → JR West). Work out the JR first.
- In a taxi — use the receipt. It has the company name and contact details; call that firm. No receipt? Ask the regional taxi association. (Tokyo's taxi centre doesn't hold items itself — it points you to the operator or police.)
- In a shop, café, station or attraction — ask that facility first; in Japan, items lost inside a venue are handled by the venue before they reach police.
- Once it's reached the police — found items often end up at a 交番 (police box), station, or the prefectural lost-and-found centre. You may need to call to confirm before going in, and bring ID to collect.
What to say on the call
Polite ます/です form. Fill in your own line, station, time and item where the phrases show a placeholder.
Reporting it
Describing it
Collecting it
If it's your passport, do this instead
A lost passport isn't a normal lost item — don't just wait on the found-items system. First, report it at a local police station and get the loss certificate (they can create the report for you). Then contact your own country's embassy or consulate to replace it or get emergency travel documents. The two steps go together, and the embassy is the one that reissues — look up your own country's mission in Japan.
Good to know
Operators hold briefly
A rail or taxi company keeps a found item only a short while before handing it to the police — so check quickly, then follow it to the police if needed.
Police hold ~3 months
Once with the police, items are kept about three months. Unclaimed after that, they may pass to the finder or be disposed of. Bring ID to collect.
Inside a venue? Ask the venue
Lost in a station, shop or attraction, the venue handles it first. Lost on the street, go to the nearest police box.
Phones & cards
Items with personal data aren't handed to a finder. Have details ready to prove it's yours, and cancel cards separately if a wallet's gone.
English help lines
Public services worth saving — not Yovoca, and several offer English:
- Police emergency (theft, crime in progress): 110. Non-emergency police consultation: #9110 (mainly Japanese; hours vary by area).
- Japan Visitor Hotline: 050-3816-2787. 24/7, English / Chinese / Korean — travel trouble and help finding the right desk.
- Tokyo Metropolitan Police English line: 03-3501-0110. 24/7, for help and questions in English.
- Tokyo Lost & Found Center: 0570-550-142. The Metropolitan Police's central desk; counter open weekdays 8:30–16:30, near Iidabashi.
When it's a call
Make the call, in your own language.
When the lost-and-found desk that has your thing only speaks Japanese, Yovoca translates the call live. You speak English; they hear natural Japanese, and their reply comes back to you — so you can ask if it's been turned in, how to collect it, or whether they can ship it to your hotel. Join the waitlist and reserve your founding line.
Yovoca translates the call. It doesn't find the item for you or guarantee it turns up.
Frequently asked
I left something on a train in Japan — how do I get it back?
Call the lost-and-found of the company whose line you were on (for a Shinkansen, the JR company that runs it). Try the online lost-property search first; have your line, direction, time and the station you got off. Operators hold items briefly before passing them to the police.
I lost my wallet or phone in Japan. What do I do?
If you lost it inside a station, shop or venue, ask there first; on the street, go to the nearest police box. In Tokyo you can reach the Metropolitan Police Lost & Found Center on 0570-550-142. Items with personal data aren't handed to a finder, so have details ready and cancel cards separately.
How do I get a lost item back from a taxi in Japan?
Use the receipt — it has the taxi company's name and contact details, so call that firm. No receipt? Ask the regional taxi association. Tokyo's taxi centre doesn't hold items itself; it points you to the operator or police.
Do I need to speak Japanese to report a lost item?
Many lost-and-found desks are phone-only and in Japanese. The online search supports more than one language for some operators, and for English help you can call the Japan Visitor Hotline (050-3816-2787). The phone call itself is exactly what a live translator bridges.
I lost my passport in Japan — what should I do?
Report it at a local police station and get the loss certificate, then contact your own country's embassy or consulate to replace it or get emergency travel documents. It's not the normal lost-item process — don't just wait on the found-items system.
How long do police in Japan keep lost property?
About three months. After that, unclaimed items may pass to the finder or be disposed of. Bring ID to collect, and a proxy needs a letter of authority plus ID.
Does Yovoca find my lost item for me?
No. Yovoca helps you make the call and translates it live — it doesn't search for the item or guarantee it turns up. A lost passport additionally needs the police and your embassy.