Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
309
LAUNDROMATS
All upper- and most
midrange hotels offer laundry and dry-
cleaning services (but it's expensive, with a
laundered shirt costing about ¥400). Note
that for same-day service, it's usually nec-
essary to hand over your laundry by 10am.
Many hotels do not offer laundry service
on Sundays or holidays. Several Japanese-
style accommodations in the budget cate-
gory have coin-operated washers.
Otherwise, coin laundries (as they're
known in Japan) can be found in residen-
tial areas; ask your hotel for the nearest
one. Many hotel guest rooms have a pull-
out laundry line over the tub for hand
washables.
LEGAL AID
Contact your embassy if
you find yourself in legal trouble. The
Legal Counseling Center,
1-4 Yotsuya,
Shinjuku (
&
03/5367-5280;
www.
horitsu-sodan.jp; station: Yotsuya), is
operated by three bar associations and
provides legal counseling with English
interpreters Monday to Friday 1 to 4pm.
LOST & FOUND
If you've forgotten
something on a subway, in a taxi, or on a
park bench, don't assume it's gone for-
ever—if you're willing to trace it, you'll
probably get it back. If you can remember
where you last saw it, the first thing to do is
telephone the establishment or return to
where you left it; there's a good chance it
will still be sitting there. If you've lost some-
thing on the street, go to the nearest police
box
(koban);
items found in the neighbor-
hood will stay there for 3 days or longer.
If you've lost something in a taxi, have
someone who speaks Japanese contact the
Tokyo Taxi Center,
7-3-3 Minamisuma,
Koto-ku (
&
03/3648-0300
). For JR
trains, go to the nearest station master's
office (usually near the exit) or call the
JR
East Infoline
(
&
050/2016-1603
). For
items lost in the
subway,
go to the nearest
subway station; after 1 day, lost items are
kept at Ueno Station's Lost and Found
Center (
&
03/3834-5577
) for 3 to 4 days.
Eventually, every unclaimed item in
Tokyo ends up at the Central Lost and
Found Office of the
Metropolitan Police
Board,
1-9-11 Koraku, Bunkyo-ku
(
&
03/3814-4151;
Mon-Fri 8:30am-
5:15pm; station: Iidabashi).
Be sure to notify all your credit card
companies the minute you discover your
wallet has been lost or stolen, and file a
report at the nearest police precinct. Your
credit card company or insurer may
require a police report number or record
of the loss. Most credit card companies
have an emergency toll-free number to call
if your card is lost or stolen; they may be
able to wire you a cash advance immedi-
ately or deliver an emergency credit card in
a day or two.
Visa
's emergency number in
Japan is
&
00531/11-1555.
American
Express
cardholders can call
&
03/3220-
6220,
and for traveler's checks it's
&
0120/779-656.
MasterCard
holders
should call
&
00531/11-3886
in Japan,
and
Diner's Club
holders should call
&
0120-074-024
in Japan.
LUGGAGE & LOCKERS
At Narita
International Airport, delivery service
counters will send luggage to your hotel
the next day (or from your hotel to the
airport) for about ¥1,690 to ¥2,000 per
bag. Coin-operated lockers are located at
all major JR stations, such as Tokyo, Shin-
juku, and Ueno, as well as at most subway
stations. Lockers cost ¥300 to ¥600 per
day, depending on the size.
MAIL
If your hotel cannot mail letters
for you, ask the concierge for the location
of the nearest post office, recognizable by
the red logo of a capital T with a horizon-
tal line over it. Mailboxes are bright
orange-red; the left slot is for domestic
mail while the slot on the right is for mail
to foreign countries. It costs ¥110 to air-
mail letters weighing up to 25 grams and
¥70 to mail postcards to North America
and Europe. Domestic mail costs ¥80 for
letters weighing up to 25 grams, and ¥50
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