So you can’t find your driver’s license? I guess it can happen to anyone. It happened to me anyway! After spending a weekend at Mashiko Pottery Festival last weekend (which is great by the way, you should check it out!) I found once I got home my driver’s license had departed my pocket for somwhere in the wide, wide world never to be seen again by the gentleman who’s likeness it bear’s upon it’s surface.
There is a bunch of great information floating around that remains very useful and relevant today, but since I couldn’t find any information from the last half-decade I figured time to share my experience now so that in 5 more years someone else who might be thinking the same thing I am can replace whatever I spout below. As before, there is 1 thing you must do when you lose your license, and an optional second thing that really depends on whether you are confident you’ll actually get your original license back in a very timely manner.
- Tell the police you lost it
- Get a replacement license from a driving center (optional)
Telling the police
Despite all the horror stories (a few of which are unfortunately true) the police are generally rather helpful for the mundane day-to-day stuff like this, including at the Koban（交番）. When you lose your license your first objective is to inform the police you’ve lost it for 3 reasons:
- Someone might have already handed it in and it’s on the police lost item database
- It leaves a paper trail to help prevent identity theft on a off-chance a bad actor is the one who now has your drivers license. Once day in the future we might live in a world where someone who has your wallet cannot indefinitely open credit cards in your name, but it is not this day (insert Aragon meme). Fortunately since you’re reading this in English you’re probably a foreigner and so unless you lost your residence card at the same time identity theft in any serious way is often blocked without sharing that too.
- It’s required if you want to replace your license
Fortunately, you can do this at either the Koban or a police station, and it’s pretty simple. Walk in and tell them something like the below: 運転免許証をなくしました。遺失物届けの用紙に記入する必要があります。(I lost my driver’s license, I need to fill in a Ishitsubutsu-todoke, Google Translate will help if you need it).
Ishitsubutsu-todoke(遺失物届け) is a little sheet of paper they give you after filling in the A4 sheet of documentation with your information, what you lost, where you lost it etc. It’s all in Japanese, but they have an example sheet filled in that, so long as you aren’t braindead, you can infer what you’ll need to write. The police were quite helpful with that. Speaking of which…
So I mentioned that I lost my license in Mashiko (Tochigi), and I was in Koto-ku at my closest koban to report the missing item. The office told me quite clearly that I cannot report a lost item from outside of Tokyo in Tokyo, I have to go to the prefecture it was lost to file the police report. Obviously this is utterly stupid but it seems to be true. I told them there was no way I can go to Tochigi just to report I dropped my license, then the office asked me the suspicious question of ‘so there is no way it could have been lost in Tokyo?’. I can take a hint; it’s technically possible it was lost between my car and front door since I didn’t notice until I was already inside my home that it was missing. This therefore means I can file the report in Tokyo because the incident possibly happened here. lol. Anyway, fill in the report, you’ll get your little A5 Ishitsubutsu-todoke paper (it’s basically a black and white printout where they have write a case number on it and give it to you, that’s basically it):
Now you can replace your driving license if you so wish!
The driving center
I’ve talked about Koto driving center before, and it’s where I went this time since it’s close enough to walk. It’s important to note that in addition to the Ishitsubutsu-todoke you will also need a juminhyō (住民票) & new 30x25mm license photo + replacement fee. These days it’s pretty easy to gather these almost on the spot (at Koto center anyway):
- Lawson across the street can print juminhyō (住民票) via MyNumber card
- The driving center does have a photo booth
- They accept cash, credit card, PayPay etc.
With these things in hand it’s a rather simple process with a varying (probably long) wait time. You visit the re-issue booth (window 6) where you give them all the aforementioned items. Just like other processes here, it’s a case of collect a document A, have it stamped at window 1, take it to window 9 to trade for document B, stamp that at window 3, take to window 7 to trade for document C etc.
You have to fill in a short document at the window with your personal information and explaining what happened. You can basically just write ‘I dropped my license’ and that is a sufficient explanation lol. Staff are super helpful with explaining the details; it’s so busy they probably want you to finish up as fast as possible. Anyway, they tell you at window 6 how much you owe (for me 2,600 yen which was less than expected) and to go pay at window 0 (which is the same payment window for all processes at the center) and to then go to window 13 at the far end of the main hallway. Give them your documents and they give you a numbered token and you sit and wait until you are called. Worth noting that the token says to go to, and the recption screen are mounted at window 6, but actually you still want to go to window 13 once they call you. Exchange the token for a document, then it’s up to the 4th floor to wait for the number on your document to be called out. Note that it’s a different screen to watch compared to the license creation or renewals.
When they call your number, thats it! Take your license, re-assess your level of awareness based on how you lost your license and away you go.