Haneda Airport Lost and Found – Retrieval & Shipping

HANEDA AIRPORT / LOST & FOUND / OVERSEAS SHIPPING

Lost something at Haneda Airport and already returned home? Whether your belongings are being held by an airport lost-and-found office, Tokyo Customs, or the police, getting them back from overseas can seem complicated. Japan Luggage Express can contact the relevant office in Japanese on your behalf, arrange the receipt or authorized retrieval of recovered property, and ship it to your address overseas.

We are a Japan-based international shipping company established in 1995. We help travelers with the practical arrangements for recovering an item in Japan and having it sent abroad.

Already have a lost-property reference number? Please tell us which office is holding your item, its approximate size and weight, and the destination country. Inquiry Form 

1. Haneda Airport Lost and Found: Where Recovered Items Are Held

Haneda Airport (Tokyo International Airport, airport code HND) has three passenger terminals. The correct lost-and-found contact depends on where the item was left and which organization currently has it. You do not need to understand every airport procedure before asking Japan Luggage Express for help, but the last known location is valuable information.

For example, something found near a check-in counter or public seating area may be handled through the airport’s lost-property service, whereas certain international-flight restricted areas are covered by Tokyo Customs. If a recovered item has already been transferred to the police, the police will determine the return procedure.

Airline lounges and some other areas follow their own procedures. The important point is to identify the current custodian of the item before arranging its return.

2. Haneda Airport’s find chat Lost-Property Service

Haneda Airport provides an online lost-property inquiry system called find chat. It covers many areas in Terminals 1 and 2, as well as the non-restricted areas of Terminal 3. The airport began offering this service in March 2025.

According to the airport’s official guidance, find chat inquiries are handled daily, including weekends and public holidays, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Japan time. New inquiries received later are addressed from the following morning. Certain locations, including Terminal 3 after international departure procedures and airline lounges, are excluded.

On the official Haneda Airport Lost and Found page, you can select the relevant facility and submit details of the missing item through the chat process. If communicating with the airport in Japanese is difficult, we can assist with Japanese-language inquiries and subsequent recovery arrangements. Some online verification steps may need to be completed using the owner’s own contact details.

For telephone inquiries about covered airport areas, Haneda Airport also lists +81-3-5757-8111 (03-5757-8111 within Japan). The service hours depend on the area concerned.

3. Lost Property at Haneda Terminal 1

Haneda Terminal 1 mainly serves domestic flights. If your item was left in a public departure lobby, arrival area, restroom, shop or seating area, an inquiry through the airport’s lost-and-found service is a reasonable starting point.

Give the date, approximate time and a recognizable location—for example, a check-in counter, shop name, floor or nearby gate. If you were transferring between terminals, mention that as well. A clear description will help the office distinguish your item from similar belongings.

Once an item has been located, we can communicate with the holding office about what documents or arrangements are required so that it can be sent to us or released for collection. After we receive it, we can prepare the package for international shipment.

4. Lost Property at Haneda Terminal 2

Haneda Terminal 2 serves domestic flights and also has international-flight facilities. For most airport-managed areas covered by find chat, the normal inquiry route is the airport’s lost-property service. Haneda Airport additionally lists its terminal information number for inquiries concerning the Terminal 2 international departure area after security.

One important exception concerns Terminal 2 international arrivals between disembarkation and customs inspection. Tokyo Customs identifies this area as one of the locations for which it may hold lost property. If the item is held by Customs rather than the airport building, a different return procedure applies.

When you contact us, simply state that you used Terminal 2 and indicate whether the loss occurred before departure, after arrival or in a public part of the building. We can help establish which office should be approached.

5. Lost Property at Haneda Terminal 3 and Tokyo Customs

Haneda Terminal 3 is used for international travel. Lost belongings in public parts of the terminal—such as accessible check-in and shopping areas—are generally within the airport-managed inquiry system. However, items found in certain restricted international-flight areas are handled by Tokyo Customs (Haneda Customs Branch).

Tokyo Customs specifically identifies these areas:

• Terminal 3 international departures, from security screening to the boarding gate.
• Terminal 3 international arrivals, from leaving the aircraft to the customs inspection area.
• Terminal 2 international arrivals, from leaving the aircraft to the customs inspection area.

For lost-property inquiries relating to these areas, Tokyo Customs publishes the following email address: tyo-haneda6931@customs.go.jp. Its stated business hours for handling these inquiries are 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. on business days; inquiries outside business hours are answered subsequently. See the official Tokyo Customs lost-property instructions (English).

Customs asks for the date and place of loss, a detailed item description and identifying features, the owner’s name, the inquirer’s relationship to the owner, and contact information. A photograph or serial number can be particularly useful for an electronic device.

Where Customs agrees to release a recovered item to an authorized representative, its published instructions require a letter of authorization and a copy of the owner’s passport. We can explain the requirements and arrange authorized collection when approved. Unlike airport-managed property, a Customs-held item should not be assumed to be available for ordinary domestic courier forwarding.

6. When Lost Property Is Transferred to the Police

A lost item may eventually be handed over to a police station. For property recovered at Haneda Airport, the relevant office may be Tokyo Airport Police Station (東京空港警察署), although the current holding location should always be confirmed rather than assumed.

Tokyo Airport Police Station
Address: 3-4-1 Haneda Airport, Ota-ku, Tokyo 144-0041, Japan
Telephone: +81-3-5757-0110
Published counter hours: Weekdays, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., excluding weekends, public holidays and year-end/New Year closures.

The police may assign their own lost-property reference number, which can be different from the number previously issued by the airport. If your item has already been transferred, please give us the police reference number and the station’s contact details if available. The Tokyo Airport Police Station official page provides its current contact details.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police provides procedures for the return of found property, including authorized representatives and, in eligible cases, domestic freight-collect (chakubarai / 着払い) delivery after the required steps are completed. In other words, a visit to the station is not automatically required for every item. We can coordinate the appropriate method once the police confirm what is permitted for your property.

If you received notice of a recovered item, please respond promptly and confirm the collection deadline. A single seven-day retention period should not be assumed for all airport, Customs or police holdings.

7. Lost Property Retrieval by Japan Luggage Express

Yes. Our service covers the practical steps that often remain after an airport or police station has located an item. We can contact the relevant organization in Japanese, confirm the release procedure, receive the recovered property in Japan, package it as needed and arrange shipment abroad.

The usual process is straightforward:

1. 01Tell us about your item. Send the location, date, description and any reference number you have received.
2. 02We confirm the holding office and requirements. If the property has not yet been identified, we can make relevant inquiries on your behalf. If it has been found, we establish how it can be released.
3. 03We arrange receipt in Japan. Where permitted, the office may send the item to our Japanese address using a domestic courier, sometimes with postage payable on arrival. If a personal collection is required, we can discuss authorized representative pickup.
4. 04We prepare the overseas shipment. After the property reaches us, we arrange appropriate packing and the shipping documents.
5. 05We dispatch the item internationally. The service and cost depend on the item, its packed weight and dimensions, and the destination country.

If your item has already been found, providing the reference number and holding office will normally make the process considerably simpler.

Want to know how much retrieval and international shipping will cost?

Tell us which office is holding your item, what it is, its approximate weight, and where you would like it delivered. We can check the available arrangements and prepare a quotation.

Inquiry Form

8. Authorization Documents and Identification

Different organizations may have different rules for releasing recovered property. Where formal authorization is required, documents may include:

• A Letter of Authorization (LOA, or ininjo / 委任状) signed by the owner.
• A copy of the owner’s passport or other identification, when required by the holding organization.
• Identification of the authorized representative collecting the item.
• The lost-property or police reference number and details proving ownership.

We will explain which documents apply after checking with the office that has the item. For Customs-held property, the letter of authorization and passport-copy requirement is specifically stated in the official Customs guidance. For police-held items, the police will advise the applicable return process.

Some owners are surprised that their item cannot simply be released to any courier driver. Authorization protects the owner by ensuring that the correct property is returned to the correct person or approved representative. Our role is to help manage those arrangements from Japan.

9. International Shipping of Recovered Items from Haneda Airport

Once we receive the property, Japan Luggage Express can arrange international shipping to destinations such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan, as well as many other countries.

Typical items include clothing, bags, accessories, documents, cameras and personal electronic devices. Smartphones, laptop computers and tablets with installed lithium-ion batteries can be shipped using suitable services, subject to the carrier and destination conditions. We do not handle the international shipment of standalone power banks. Certain products such as perfumes, aerosols and other restricted goods may need different arrangements or may not be accepted.

Shipping options may include international postal services or express courier services, depending on the contents and destination. We can recommend a practical method based on your item and the available services. For countries where customs clearance is required, we prepare the shipping description using the information you supply; destination taxes or handling charges may apply.

We are primarily a lost-item recovery and international forwarding service. Customers do not have to organize separate Japanese domestic receipt, repacking and overseas shipment themselves.

10. Cost of Haneda Airport Lost Property Retrieval and Shipping

Each case is different, so we provide an individual quotation rather than a single fixed charge for every recovered item. The price may include the cost of domestic transport or authorized pickup, our handling and packing, and the international postage or courier charge.

For a useful estimate, please provide:

• The type of item and an approximate description of its contents, plus the flight date and number if relevant.
• The holding office (airport, Customs, police or another facility) and the reference number, if available.
• Approximate weight and dimensions of the item or package; an estimate is sufficient initially.
• Your destination country, city and postal code.
• Any specific handling requirements already communicated by the office.

If the item is small and the holding office permits domestic delivery, the arrangements may be simpler than a case requiring an in-person collection. We will explain the expected charges before proceeding.

11. When a Lost Item Has Not Yet Been Found

You can still contact us. Please describe what you lost, where and when you last remember having it, and any inquiry already made to the airport or another organization. We can contact relevant Japanese offices on your behalf to check whether matching property has been reported or recovered.

Not every inquiry results in a match, and an item may appear in a lost-property system only after it has been processed. We therefore recommend keeping any response, inquiry number or reference number you receive. If the property is later found, we can move on to the return and international shipping arrangements.

Our priority is to make the process manageable for travelers who have already left Japan and cannot easily communicate with the holding office themselves.

12. Haneda Airport Lost and Found: Frequently Asked Questions

Get Your Lost Property Back from Haneda Airport

If an airport office, Tokyo Customs, or the police is holding your belongings, Japan Luggage Express can contact the relevant office in Japanese and check how the item can be received in Japan. Tell us about your item and its overseas destination, and we can provide an estimate for retrieval, packing, and international shipping before you decide how to proceed.

Japan Luggage Express — international shipping specialists in Japan since 1995.

Ask About Retrieval & Shipping Costs

For general airport lost-property information, see the official Haneda Airport Lost and Found page. For Customs-held items, consult the Tokyo Customs instructions.