
Japan’s Lost-and-Found System - leonagano
https://www.citylab.com/life/2020/02/japan-lost-and-found-phone-wallet-purse-tokyo-property-law/604645/
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WnZ39p0Dgydaz1
As someone who lives in Japan I believe this is not a result of "Japanese
people being more honest", but rather:

\- Availability. There are police stations (kobans) and officers on the street
everywhere, just a few steps away from wherever I may find something. Turning
in a lost item has no friction. All it takes is a few extra steps. In the U.S.
there is huge friction - I would need to go out of my way to go to a police
station and turn in something.

\- The general view of police and government as your "friendly helper" as
opposed to enemies. Officers and public staff (at train stations, etc) are
service workers there to help you. I can ask them literally anything -
directions, store recommendations, etc - and it's totally normal. Turning in a
lost item to some random officer on the street is just a normal. In the U.S.,
I try my best to avoid all people in police uniform. They tend to be
unfriendly, not helpful, and their job is to see if I am doing something
illegal - not to help me. While this may not be true, that is my perception. I
wouldn't even trust them to actually take care of a lost item I give to them.
And the fact that they're carrying guns doesn't make them look any more
friendly/helpful.

The definition of what "police" means in Japan vs. most Western countries is
completely different.

~~~
drak0n1c
Japan has a 99% conviction rate and indefinite uncharged detention happens
often. Despite that people treat police amicably, and there is a trusting
relationship.

That's to me a sign that there is a fundamental cultural difference in
Japanese attitude, in the US stats aren't anywhere as close to as severe, yet
relations/trust is much worse. Goes to show how much of a productivity and
effectiveness loss lack of trust is, regardless of how justified.

~~~
naniwaduni
There are about two ways to get a 99% conviction rate: run total kangaroo
courts that only fail to convict when the defendant credibly threatens big
problems if they get convicted, or just don't take cases that aren't open-and-
shut to court in the first place.

And while the kangaroo court thing is maybe a bit too true to be comfortable
with, I'd wager Japan errs _heavily_ on the side of not bringing potentially
contentious cases to court.

~~~
chmod775
Japan is a bit of both. Prosecutors are extremely reluctant to bring cases to
court if a conviction isn't guaranteed (losing a case is extremely
embarrassing), and for this reason judges almost always side with them because
they assume a prosecutor wouldn't bring a case against someone who is not
definitely guilty.

Basically in Japan they err on the side of letting criminals roam free if it's
not an open-and-shut case in front of a judge, but it sucks for the (very few)
who are wrongfully convicted, because nobody will believe them. Especially
because you'll never get the government to admit they wrongfully convicted
someone.

------
thunderbong
I've never been to Japan, but whenever I read these articles, I am reminded of
the Japanese word 'Kaizen' which means to continuously improve your work. The
way I understand it is to step outside of yourself while working and to see
your output as to how it will be perceived over time and from an outsider's
point of view and ask from that person's point of view what could be done
better. I might be wrong, but to me, as a programmer, it is like seeing the
code that I've written and see if it is simple to debug and simple to
understand for people who will see it after me. A kind of stepping away from
our creation.

Previously, there was another article on this [1]. And the corresponding HN
thread [2]. And also a wonderful comment [3].

[0] Kaizen:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen)

[1] [https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200114-why-japan-is-
so-...](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200114-why-japan-is-so-
successful-at-returning-lost-property)

[2]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22055867](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22055867)

[3]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22061001](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22061001)

~~~
tidenly
This might come off as somewhat pessimistic but I actually think Japan is one
of the worst implementers of Kaizen anywhere. Japanese are famously
conservative in how they work, with employees largely avoiding taking on any
responsibility and spreading out tasks and checks. The end result being no-one
really stands out, but also that no-one is ever really singularly "at fault"
as every decision and check is daisy-chained.

It's horribly inefficient but exactly what a lot of people want in their jobs
here. Kaizen is an example of executives and people who occupy the top of the
chain mostly just pontificating and getting high off their own airs and mostly
empty words with no internal policies or actions behind it imo. Most famous
example in the Japan expat community of this would be somewhere like Uniqlo or
Rakuten - horrible places to work with CEOs who like to roleplay as the next
Steve Jobs.

I love this country, but these articles foreigners write without ever actually
having worked in real Japanese companies with mostly Japanese natives always
come off as a bit naive to me.

~~~
unishark
I've always felt that Japanese companies were very big on process because
their management actually isn't very good otherwise. Promotions and status are
much more based on seniority rather than merit.

As for the people at the top, they do seem to have more than their fair share
of god complexes. I notice this a lot with their academics too. The average
japanese person is so respectful and humble, it's like they overcompensate
when they are in charge.

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CaptainZapp
What always stumped me is that there are virtually always lockers for
umbrellas available (the exception being if they have appliances where you can
wrap your umbrella into a plastic wrap before entering. That's mostly found in
malls and department stores).

Given that the standard plastic issue umbrella is sold in any konbini [7/11 et
al]) for 500yen combined with Japanese honesty that always surprised me.

Can anybody knowledgeable comment on this?

~~~
WnZ39p0Dgydaz1
What do you mean by "lockers for umbrellas"? Are you talking about public
spaces or restaurants? Maybe I just haven't seen them, but I'm really not sure
what you are referring to.

An umbrella may be 500 yen, but not getting wet when it's raining is priceless
:) So, getting an umbrella stolen while you are in a store has a much higher
cost than 500 yen.

~~~
mikekchar
It took me a while to figure it out too, but it's those little umbrella
holders with locks on them that you can often see in the library or onsen.
I've never once locked mine, but I live in the countryside :-) But I don't
even lock my front door. I've had drunk neighbours come into my apartment in
the middle of the night by accident. It's almost stereotypical. Sometimes I
think living in the Japanese countryside is like living in a time machine...

Edit: Funny story. When I first moved to Japan, I lost 33 umbrellas in 3
years. I couldn't figure out where they were going. Then at the morning
meeting at work they said, "We have this huge pile of umbrellas in the back
room. Can people please claim them?" They were all mine... Apparently in the
morning after the staff arrive, they would put them in the back room so that
it wasn't a nuisance to visitors. Since I live in Shizuoka where it barely
rains, by the time I was ready to go home it was usually sunny and forgot
about my umbrella. I never ever realised that it was just getting moved. Of
course, by then I was indoctrinated enough in Japanese society that I was
_way_ too embarrassed to claim my umbrellas!

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rawoke083600
I live in South Africa, we have the exact opposite ! Count your blessings

-Here nothing gets returned but they will go out of your way to kill you for your cellphone.

-One of our past police-ministers had done away with specialised units (like child abusers etc)

-He (Police minster) was also found not guilty of committing fraud, yet the party involved was committed of fraud. "Shabir Shaik" (go figure usually it takes two...)

-Police routinely loose or just outright sell their own weapons.

-Police will also sell weapons that are being turned it (The S.A government really wants to disarm all the law abiding citizens)

-Police are routinely arrested for being part of the crime problem. From murders to drug trafficking -Very few ppl trust the police here.

Count your blessings !

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einpoklum
Where the police is less violent and less biased against underprivileged
strata of society, the probability of people thinking of the police as an
institution which may help with such issues is higher. In many (most?)
countries, an encounter with the police is something that makes you worried
you will likely be talked down to, potentially held up, and potentially even
locked up for the night, beaten somehow, arrested, have stuff taken away from
you, and in some countries perhaps even shot.

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reustle
This reminds me of a cute story here in Japan about someone finding a lost
acorn in a mall and taking it to the lost and found, only to find the mother
and child there already asking if someone had turned it in.

[https://twitter.com/kiyotoshi_y/status/1179243144363331585](https://twitter.com/kiyotoshi_y/status/1179243144363331585)

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neom
Shout out to Korea. On separate occasions I lost my cell phone and wallet -
got them all back the next day.

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chubbyrabbit
Just like most public systems in Japan.

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justlexi93
My sister lost this wallet for a week and report to the police, then she got
it back before we return home.

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tus88
Japan is insanely good.

~~~
ronsor
Japan is efficient, however their culture has many issues, including extreme
working hours.

