Getting a lost item back from a Tokyo police station after you've left Japan
Published 2026-10-06
When someone hands in an item you lost in Tokyo, it usually ends up at a police station. The police will keep it for you, but they do not ship items overseas. To get it back, someone in Japan has to collect it with your written authorization and then post it to you.
This page explains what the police ask for and shows how it worked in a real case: a wallet we collected from Shinjuku Police Station in September 2026 and shipped to its owner in the United States.
What the police need from you
To release an item to someone other than the owner, the police asked for three documents:
- A lost property report (遺失届, ishitsu todoke). This is the police record that you lost the item. If you filed one before you left Japan, you don't need another. If you didn't, the police form has English next to the Japanese: you fill in your contact details, when and where you lost the item, and a description of it.
- A letter of authorization (委任状, ininjō). A one-page police form on which you name the person who will collect the item for you. You fill in your address, full name and phone number, and sign it.
- A copy of your passport, so the police can check that the person who signed the authorization is the owner.
You will also need the item's reference number. The police give it to you when they register your report or contact you about a found item, and they use it to find the item. If you don't have a reference number, we can ask the police to search using a description of the item and when and where you lost it.
How long the police keep your item
Under Japanese law, you can claim a found item for three months. After that, you no longer have a right to it. Umbrellas, clothing and similar inexpensive items, which the police receive in large numbers, can be disposed of after two weeks.
During those three months, the item may move. A local police station keeps it for a short time and then sends it to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Lost and Found Center (警視庁遺失物センター), where it can still be claimed. When we called the station in our case, we learned it would keep the wallet until September 30, the end of the month, and then send it to the center.
So it matters to find out early where the item is and when it will move. That means calling the police, usually in Japanese. It's simplest to collect an item before it moves, because the authorization letter is addressed to the office holding it. If it moves first, collecting it may take more paperwork and more time. It can usually still be claimed from the center until the three months are over.
The police lost-property desk is closed on weekends, so a few days before a deadline can mean only one or two working days.
A real case: a wallet from Shinjuku Police Station
The owner lost a wallet in Tokyo in early September 2026, and had already flown home to the United States when they contacted us. The wallet had cash in it.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Sep 23 | The owner contacted us through our form and sent the police reference number. |
| Sep 24 | We called the police in Japanese. They confirmed they had the wallet and would hold it until September 30. We sent the owner the forms. |
| Sep 25 | The owner returned the signed forms and a passport copy. It was already the weekend in Japan. |
| Sep 28 | Monday: we started the retrieval with the police. |
| Sep 29 | The police released the wallet to us in a sealed package. |
| Sep 30 | We opened the package, listed the contents, and sent the owner photos and the list. |
| Oct 2 | We shipped the wallet to the US by EMS (Japan Post's express international mail) and returned the cash to the owner by bank transfer. |
| Oct 6 | Delivered. The owner confirmed they had received it. |
From the owner's first message to delivery took 13 days. The owner returned the documents within a day; most of the waiting was the weekend and the police's processing.
What to expect if this happens to you
Cash can't go in the package. International mail from Japan does not accept banknotes, and this wallet had cash in it. If your item has cash in it, we agree with you in writing, before anything is shipped, how the cash will be returned to you.
You see the contents before anything leaves Japan. We open the package from the police, list what is in it, and send you photos and the list. If anything is different from your report, you can decide what to do before it is shipped.
You choose the shipping. To the US, airmail for the wallet cost ¥1,700 and EMS cost ¥4,000 at the time. The EMS package arrived four days after we posted it. The cost depends on the size and weight of the item and where it is going.
What it cost
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Our fee: collect from the police and ship | ¥15,000 |
| Shipping | At cost. In this case, ¥4,000 by EMS to the US |
You pay nothing in advance, and nothing if we can't get your item.
Can a friend do this instead?
Yes. Anyone in Japan can collect the item with the same three documents. They would need to call the police, usually in Japanese, to confirm where the item is and until when. Then they go to the police station during weekday office hours, and pack the item and send it to you by international mail. If you have a friend in Tokyo who can do all that before the deadline, you pay only the shipping. A service is useful when you don't know anyone in Japan, or when no one you know can do it in time.
If your item is at a Tokyo police station
Send us a description of the item, and the police reference number if you have one, through our lost item form. We confirm with the police that they have the item before we ask you for any documents, and you pay nothing unless we get the item. If the police have already given you a deadline, tell us. If not, we'll find it out when we call them. Signing and returning the documents usually takes a few days.