Why Japan is so successful at returning lost property

Re:Why Japan is so successful at returning lost property by cookingrobot on Wednesday January 15, 2020 @05:58PM (#22059767)

I once found a wallet on the sidewalk outside a mall in Japan. I tried to drop it at the mall's lost and found, but the security guard there took me with him to a police box. The policeman there took me to the local police station, and we spent the next hour filling out a report. They were all very friendly and appreciative that I turned it in, but it was really quite an ordeal. If I were to find something valuable again, I might just leave it alone to avoid the hassle.

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Re:Why Japan is so successful at returning lost property by mjevans on Wednesday January 15, 2020 @06:45PM (#22060139)

I think this might have more to do with you not being one of the locals.

A good 'hack' to this might be to pick a set of 2-3 local looking people and loudly point out the item in question so that someone else can deal with it.

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Re:Why Japan is so successful at returning lost property by 4ntonius8lock on Wednesday January 15, 2020 @07:02PM (#22060276)

This works. And I do it. Too many unhinged people out there. Here in the US, I've found things in restaurants a couple of times and pointed it to the staff.

It clears the liability for all involved, since no one can claim that the staff or a fellow patron 'took it'. It was pointed out by a customer and removed with witnesses. I generally mention it to more than one staff.

I try to baseline assume that the person I'm dealing with in public is not fully there (which would include the property owner). It makes it easier to deal with when it is actually the case.

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Re:Why Japan is so successful at returning lost property by dreamcompiler on Wednesday January 15, 2020 @09:47PM (#22061260)

That's the beginning of a very common confidence game in Europe so I'd probably not do it. But IDK, maybe not in Japan.

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Re:Why Japan is so successful at returning lost property by tidenly on Wednesday January 15, 2020 @08:32PM (#22060832)

Even if you're a local this is the procedure. If the building doesn't have a lost and found (besides the train systems not all places do) then the police box will make you give over your contact information and a bunch of other stuff. It doesn't take an hou (maybe ten minutes if you speak Japanese), but it can be a pain if you just expected to throw it in without any questions.

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Re:Why Japan is so successful at returning lost property by numpad0 on Wednesday January 15, 2020 @09:27PM (#22061159)

I happened to study the process few days ago. Officer pulled out an elaborate form, asked the guy if he wants his copy, wants rights to the item if owner didn’t show up, to which he said no and no, and then he was asked to sign the blank and was told him they take care of the rest. Took 5-10 mins max.

Technically no one should ever sign a blank sheet, ever, but that could be done, I guess.

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Re:Why Japan is so successful at returning lost property by Aeolun on Thursday January 16, 2020 @12:26AM (#22061912)

Honestly, I generally prefer to find my lost item exactly where I left it.

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