What to Do if You Lost Your ....

September 2010

Bag/Purse etc on the Train Passport Alien Registration Card Credit Card Driving License Mobile Phone Bag with Both Your Passport and Alien Registration Card in It

Bag/Purse etc on the Train

Many things that are left behind on the trains are retrieved by kind honest people and end up in the "lost & found" department of the railway companies. First, inquire at the nearest station. If they haven't got it may still turn up so inquire again at the lost & found office after a day or so. For Tokyo Metro, lost items are kept at Tokyo Metro Lost & Found center at Ueno station for 3-4 days, after that unclaimed items are moved to the Metropolitan Police Lost & Found Center at Iidabashi station. (Nanboku line, Iidabashi station, exit C2).

＊＊＊ NOTICE ＊＊＊
If you think your bag/purse was stolen, you need to report it at the police station nearest to the crime scene.



Report to the police station and not to a local police box.
They will issue a "Ishitsubutsu todoke juri shomeisho" certificate that you have reported the loss to the police. If the passport is not found and returned to you, you need to contact your embassy to find out what you should do to get a new one issued. It is advisable to make a copy of your passport to have handy for such unforeseen situations.

Useful words:
Police station = keisatsu-sho　けいさつしょ　警察署
Police box = koban　こうばん　交番
Certificate that you have reported to the police = ishitsubutsu todoke juri shomeisho　いしつぶつとどけじゅりしょうめいしょ　遺失物届受理証明書
"I have lost my XXXX" = "XXXX wo nakushimashita"　「XXXXを、なくしました。」
"My XXXX was stolen" = "XXXX wo nusumaremashita"　「XXXXを、ぬすまれました。」
"Please give me a certificate" = "ishitsubutsu todoke juri shomeisho wo kudasai"　「遺失物届受理証明書をください。」

Alien Registration Card

Same as with your passport, report to the police station as soon as possible that your alien registration card was lost. Take your passport and other identification if you have, like health insurance card etc, with you and they will issue the "Ishitsubutsu todoke juri shomeisho" certificate. Take that to the local city hall and apply for a new alien registration card.

Credit Card

If you have a Japan based credit card you call the following number and have your card frozen. If your card is from abroad, the operator will give a special number to call for information since foreign credit cards can not be frozen by phoning the usual credit cards help numbers.

Visa Card00531-11-1555(toll free)
Master Card0053-11-3886(toll free)
American Express0120-020-120(toll free)


Driving License

You go to the police station and report it lost and apply for a new one. It usually takes 1-2 weeks before you get your new license (the expire date will be the same as on the one you lost, not 3 years from the day you got the new one) If you absolutely need to drive your car, you can go to the "driving license center" of your prefecture and apply and get a new license on the very same day.

In either case, you need to bring:

  1. Alien card (or Proof of alien registration "toroku genpon juri shoumeisho")
  2. Passport
  3. Photo (3cm x 2,4cm)
  4. Fee (3,650yen)

Mobile Phone

If you lost your Mobile phone, you can temporary suspend your service and then reactivate your phone when you have found it.

NTT docomoCall 0120-524-360(24hours), but unfortunately only Japanese speaking service so the best thing may be to go to a nearby docomo shop.
auCall 007-77-111 (9am-8pm), there will be a recording in Japanese. Just press "0" and when you get the operator, ask for an English speaking person. You can also activate a remote lock for "osaifu-keitai" through the phone.
SoftBankYou can call 157 from an other Softbank phone or 0088-21-2000 from a regular phone and press "8" for English guidance. You can also go to a nearby Softbank shop.
If you have a "osaifu keitai" you can activate the remote lock at a nearby Softbank shop.

Bag with Both Your Passport and Alien Registration Card in It

First go to the police station and report the loss, take the "Ishitsubutsu todoke juri shomeisho" certificate and go directly to the city office and apply for a new Alien registration card, then contact your embassy on how to proceed to get a new passport.
While you are waiting for the alien card and the passport, you can have the "Ishitsubutsu todoke juri shomeisho" certificate from the police and your proof of alien registration document "toroku genpon juri shoumeisho" to show that you are in Japan legally. It really makes things easier if you have copies of your legal documents like passport and alien registration card. In such a case it would be really useful to have copies of your passport and visa stamps.