Filing a Police Report in Japan

Filing a police report in Japan means choosing the right report type, visiting the right counter, and leaving with the right paperwork.¹ The visit itself is straightforward; the mistakes happen before it (wrong counter) and after it (missing certificate).

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at your prefectural police site and the National Police Agency pages.

Overview

Three report types cover the resident cases. The victim report (higai-todoke, "crime victim report") covers crimes committed against you; the lost property report (ishitsu-todoke, "lost property report") covers losses with no crime involved; the accident report (jiko-todoke, "traffic accident report") covers traffic accidents.¹ Describe the facts and the officer selects the fitting type.

Prompt reporting leads to earlier action on crimes.² Crimes can be reported at any police station or koban, so proximity never blocks you.²

Which Report Matches Your Situation

The distinction decides whether your insurance claim survives. Get the type right at the counter, not at the claims desk weeks later.

Lost property, crime victim, and accident reports

File a lost property report when no crime is involved: a wallet dropped on a train, a passport left at a hotel, a phone slipped from a pocket.¹ File a victim report when a crime occurred: pickpocketing, a snatched bag, assault, fraud.¹ File an accident report for traffic collisions involving a car, bicycle, or pedestrian.¹

The lost-property and victim-report concepts are confirmed in official foreigner guidance; the accident-report naming follows practitioner guides, so confirm the exact form name at the counter if your case is a collision.²³⁴¹

Why the distinction matters for insurance

Insurers commonly require the matching report type, and a lost-property report does not support a theft claim. Confirm your insurer's exact documentation requirement before or during the visit, because re-filing under a different type later costs time and credibility.¹

Where to File: Koban or Police Station

The routing rule fits in one sentence: simple matters at the koban, serious or complex matters at the district station. The rest is detail.

The koban path

The Metropolitan Police Department directs lost belongings and theft cases to the nearest koban, and in Tokyo a victim report is accepted at any station or koban.³⁵ For lost property, the koban near where you lost the item is the natural choice.

The police station (keisatsusho) path

Serious crimes, accidents, and complex cases belong at the district police station (keisatsusho, "district police station"), where detectives and fuller interpretation access sit.¹ For assault or threat, the koban takes the initial report and escalates serious cases to the station.²¹

The Filing Procedure Step by Step

The officer asks questions and fills in the Japanese form; you confirm and sign.¹⁶ Filing is free and completed in person.

What to bring

Bring ID (passport or residence card with no exceptions in practice), the incident details (date, time, exact location shown on a map where possible), item descriptions with serial numbers for electronics, and photos or receipts as evidence.²¹ A phone with a translation app and a Japanese-speaking companion both help; the companion helps more.¹

Police may ask to submit clothing or belongings you held during the crime as evidence to establish the case. These return once they are no longer needed for investigation or proceedings.²

What happens at the counter

Expect questions on when, where, what, and who: the time and place, what was lost or taken, descriptions and values, and any account of the other party.¹ Answer concretely; estimates are acceptable where exact values are unknown, and uncertainty about theft versus loss should be stated openly so the officer picks the right type.

The report number and the certificate

Every filing yields an acceptance number (juri-bangō, "report acceptance number"). Write it down; it anchors every follow-up inquiry and insurance reference.¹⁶

Ask for the written certificate before you leave

The number alone may not satisfy an insurer or embassy. Request the report certificate (todokede-shōmeisho, "report certificate") in person, since some offices do not issue it automatically.¹

Language Help and Special Cases

Japanese is the working language of every counter. The support paths below close the gap without pretending it away.

Interpreters and bringing a speaker

Police arrange an interpreter where necessary, and statements are treated in strict confidence.² Non-emergency consultation runs on the nationwide number #9110, with English-language service available.³

Assault, threats, and fraud specifics

For fraud or scam cases, file at the koban or the area police station; preserve messages, transfer slips, and call logs as evidence. For assault or threat, the koban takes the initial report and escalates serious cases, and embassy emergency contacts matter where consular notification or assistance is needed.²³

Good to know

File in the district where it happened

Cross-district filing delays processing as the report travels to the responsible station. For lost property, use the koban near the loss location; for crimes, use the district of occurrence.¹

Ask for the certificate before you leave

Practitioner guides flag this as the single most-missed step: visitors assume the acceptance number is the documentation, then learn at the insurance desk that it is not.¹ One sentence at the counter prevents the second trip.

Reports rarely produce progress updates

Police contact victims on significant developments, not as routine status reporting.¹ The report's everyday value is the paper trail for insurance, embassy, and civil-recourse purposes; investigation updates are the exception for minor cases.

See also

• The Consumer Affairs Hotline (188)
• Small Claims (Shogaku Sosho)
• Calling 119: When and How
• The Koban (Police Box) as Universal Interface
• Fraud and Scams Targeting Residents
• Japan's Crime Picture for Residents

References

Footnotes

1. LO-PAL. How to File a Police Report in Japan as a Foreigner (report-type table, koban vs station, juri-bango and certificate steps). 2026-04-10. https://lo-pal.app/guide/en/police-report-japan-foreigner ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸

2. Chiba Prefectural Police. To Foreign Nationals (report at any station or koban, interpreter arrangement, evidence handling). https://www.police.pref.chiba.jp/english/to_foreigners01.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. For Visitors to Tokyo (dial 110, koban handles lost belongings and theft, #9110 consultation). 2026-05-22. https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/multilingual/english/safe_society/victim_of_crime/ninpo.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. National Police Agency. Lost-property English page (report contents, contact details, no investigation off the report alone). https://www.npa.go.jp/bureau/soumu/ishitsubutsu/otoshimono/en/lost-road.html ↩

5. LO-PAL. Stolen Phone in Tokyo (Tokyo MPD victim-report acceptance at any station or koban; Keishicho foreigner consultation line). 2026-03-12. https://lo-pal.app/guide/en/tokyo-stolen-phone ↩

6. Ohashi Jozu. How to Report a Stolen Bicycle in Japan (in-person filing, receipt number, frame-number lookup). 2025-12-20. https://ohashijozu.net/articles/bike-theft-report ↩ ↩²