TOKYO: Lost your umbrella, keys, or perhaps a flying squirrel? In Tokyo, the police are almost certainly taking meticulous care of it. In Japan, lost items are rarely disconnected from their owners for long, even in a mega city like Tokyo — population 14 million.

“Foreign visitors are often surprised to get their things back,” said Hiroshi Fujii, a 67-year-old tour guide, describing Tokyo’s vast police lost-and-found centre.

“But in Japan, there’s always an expectation that we will.” It’s a “national trait” to report items found in public places in Japan, he said. “We pass down this custom of reporting things we picked up, from parents to children.” Around 80 staff at the police centre in Tokyo’s central Iidabashi district ensure items are well organised using a database system, its director Harumi Shoji said.

Everything is tagged and sorted to hasten a return to its rightful owner. ID cards and driving licences are most frequently lost, Shoji said.

Flying squirrels

But dogs, cats and even flying squirrels and iguanas have been dropped off at police stations, where officers look after them “with great sensitivity” — consulting books, online articles and vets for advice.

More than four million items were handed in to Tokyo Metropolitan Police last year, with about 70 per cent of valuables such as wallets, phones and important documents successfully reunited with their owners.

“Even if it’s just a key, we enter details such as the mascot keychain it’s attached to,” Shoji said in a room filled with belongings, including a large Cookie Monster stuffed toy.

Over the course of one afternoon, several people came to collect or search for their lost property at the centre, which receives items left with train station staff or at small local police stations across Tokyo if they are not claimed within two weeks.

“The first thing we think is that people who lost their items must be in trouble so I think it’s normal for us that we report it to police,” Shoji said. If no one turns up at the police facility within three months, the unwanted item is sold or discarded.

The number of lost items handled by the centre is increasing as Japan welcomes a record influx of tourists post-pandemic, and as gadgets become smaller, Shoji said.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2024