.JPG)
We decided to go home & get the car, so we could drive back to find it. When we got to the gate, we explained to the guard, and I was allowed in. We went home & picked up the car & drove back to the Kintai bus station, but my bag was not on the shelf in the still open restroom. I was stunned! I was sure I had left it in the handicapped bathroom because it was the last place we stopped about 4:30. But the bus station office (where we'd stopped to use the restroom before riding home) closed at 5, so by the time we got back, there was no one to ask. We walked around the Festival area & checked at the food booths where we ate, but no one had seen it. Then we drove over the car bridge, checked the restroom at the tram, and a man at the tourist office gave us a map and suggested we go to the closest police box - Koban - to report it lost. We knew where this was, because we passed it during our bike ride on the street with the Dr Seuss trees. Koban is a small police station which is located in every neighborhood. Read more about Japanese Koban RIGHT HERE!
When we got there about 7 PM, it was also closed (this picture was taken the next morning), but there was a phone on the outside of the building. Stan picked it up and when someone answered, he said we needed assistance. He was told "chatto matte" please wait, so we did. About 15 minutes later, 2 policemen drove up in a squad car and had a little book with translated phrases we could point to & explain the nature of our emergency. After another 15 minutes or so, and a call to a translator, one of the policemen drove off in the car, hopefully(?) to see if he could get someone to open the bus station office, but he soon returned with 2 more policemen. Now, the small building was unlocked so we could all go inside and file a report.
All 4 policemen were very polite and very concerned. In spite of my bag being missing, it was humorous trying to explain (in our very limited Japanese) to these very serious men who spoke little English, the exact items that might be in a woman's handbag at any given time! I would mention an item, they would look puzzled and we would try to translate it into Japanese using a few words we knew or hand signs. Then when they understood, one of the men would write it on the report in English letters, while I spelled the words. They were very detailed and very precise and wrote down everything about what I could remember. Needless to say this took a while, and I omitted a few less important items.
We finally finished with our report, thanked the policemen, and drove back to the base. Again, I explained to another guard at the gate about my lost bag, and I was allowed in. There was nothing we could do until morning and we were both exhausted from all our bike riding - over 18 km (just over 11 miles) of riding, in addition to walking and waiting . . . I slept fitfully, trying not to worry. I truly believed that because we are in Japan, my bag was waiting for me, but I was concerned that it was not still in the restroom where I thought I left it. I decided to download my camera & viewed all the pictures. When I saw the picture of us in the street mirror just before we left, I KNEW it could only be one place. Time stamps in photo details are so important!
Sure enough the next morning - Easter morning! - we drove to the (now open) Kintai bus station and I showed the lady at the window this picture that I had printed out the night before when I could not sleep. I asked her, "Lost baggu in toire yesterday?"
She nodded & smiled (the most beautiful smile I'd ever seen!) and turned around and picked it up. I just felt like crying! Apparently, either someone turned it in, or more likely, the office staff inspected the restrooms before the office closed and when they found it, they simply locked it up in the office. Of course, everything was still there: IDs, credit cards, American cash, Japanese cash, pictures, etc, etc.
We drove directly to a large grocery store and bought 2 fresh floral arrangements (which of course the flower lady gift-wrapped) and fresh pastries (gift wrapped by the baker) & then drove back to the Kintai and delivered one package to the staff at the bus station and the other to the police station. The lady at the bus station politely refused to accept my "presento" 3 times, as is the custom, but I continued to insist and to bow deeply, and she finally accepted it. At the police station, the same officers I had met the night before were on duty, and they remembered me. When I explained that my bag was recovered at the bus station, they seemed genuinely pleased and asked if I wanted to cancel the report, which I did. They were very surprised when I placed the wrapped present on the counter, bowed deeply and thanked them. I think it's puzzling to Japanese to be thanked for something that is just their normal jobs, but because we're American, I think they also realize what a big deal this is for us. What a nice little Easter Miracle!
While in the grocery store, Stan found his Easter chocolate of choice!
Two favorite tastes together at last!
Cherry blossom season is celebrated everywhere in Japan this time of year. Even the beer displays are decorated with cherry sprigs!
SEE WHY WE LOVE JAPAN?
Click "Older Posts" below right to continue . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment