Heard of those horror stories about travelers losing passports while traveling abroad? It happens more times than you can imagine and it can happen to you too. If it happened to you, follow these top 5 things to do if your passport Is stolen or missing while traveling in Japan.
File A Police Report
This is where you will probably be held up, no pun intended. While there are numerous "police boxes" in an area you are in, there may not always be an officer on duty at the police box if they are responding to an incident or is on patrol duty. Do not fret if you find these police box empty, you can try calling 110 (equivalent of 911) for urgent matters; (03) 3814-4151 for lost and found; and for general information, (03) 3501-0110 (Japanese and English) or (03) 3503-8484 (English and other foreign languages).
Keep Calm And Contact Your Embassy And Consulate In Japan
It is always important to keep calm, think things through, remember where you last saw your documents, and then contact your embassy and consulate in Japan. If you have a copy of your passport and other documents, it would help speed the process of replacing them. For the list of embassies and consulates in Japan, click this link.
Apply For A New Passport
It is a must for travelers to carry a set of documents in different storages. These documents must include a copy of your passport, visa, airline tickets, and itinerary. As mentioned above, having these backup documents, even copies of the original documents, will speed up the process.
Patience Is A Virtue
It's true that this replacement process takes time and will cost you. While the cost of the replacement documents is trivial when compared to the daily cost of your hotel and basic necessities, stressing out about how unfortunate you were on this trip will not help at all. What you can do is explore the area you are in and try talking to the locals. Most times, being friendly or having new friends can ease your stress and give you more information or an alternative solution to your predicament. After all, there's nothing you can do about it but wait it out.
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This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
