Report a lost item — a Japanese card to show
Print a wallet-size card that says %s を失くしました。落とし物として届いていませんか。 — "I have lost my %s. Has it been handed in?" — so you can hand it over instead of reaching for a translation app.
Loading the card builder...
Nothing is uploaded — the card is built in your browser
This tool only prints what you type. It gives no medical advice, makes no diagnosis and guarantees no translation of anything you write yourself.
What you need to know first
Lost property really does get handed in here. Railways run their own lost-property offices; everything else ends up at the nearest police box.
The exact Japanese on the card
The front prints %s を失くしました。落とし物として届いていませんか。, which means "I have lost my %s. Has it been handed in?". It is a complete polite sentence rather than a keyword, and that matters more than it sounds: a single noun handed to a stranger reads as a question about a product, while a full sentence in the request register reads as a person asking for help and almost always gets it.
Add your own line to the same card
The card builder takes free text as well as the twelve set phrases, so you can add a detail this sentence does not cover — a place name, a time, a room number. Anything you type yourself is printed exactly as typed and is never translated, and the card says so in Japanese so nobody mistakes your own sentence for a checked phrase.
Print it, or show it on your phone
The default is Japanese business-card size, 91 by 55 millimetres, with ten to an A4 or US Letter sheet and cut lines, printed at 100 percent scaling rather than "fit to page". A6 gives four bigger cards. The PNG export is 1080 pixels on the long edge, which is the version to use when you would rather hold up a phone than dig through a wallet. Nothing is uploaded. The phrase list is a static file bundled with the page and the PDF is assembled in your own browser tab, so anything you write stays on your device.
Why a card beats a translation app here
A phone needs a signal, a charge, an unlock and a stranger willing to lean in and read a screen you are holding. A card is readable at arm's length, needs none of that, and can be left on a counter while both of you look at it. For a fixed, common sentence like this one, the app is slower every single time.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say "report a lost item" in Japanese?
%s を失くしました。落とし物として届いていませんか。 That is what the card prints, and it is what a Japanese speaker would actually say in the same situation — polite, short, and phrased as a request rather than a demand.
What should I know before using it?
Lost property really does get handed in here. Railways run their own lost-property offices; everything else ends up at the nearest police box.
Can I put more than one phrase on a card?
Yes, and the tool has twelve of them: directions, taking a photo, a formal receipt, declining a bag, less spice, an English menu, lost property, tax-free shopping, where smoking is allowed, whether cards are accepted, and asking what is in a dish. One request per card gets the best answer, so the tool warns you when the card starts filling up.
Is anything I type sent to a server?
Nothing is uploaded. The phrase list is a static file bundled with the page and the PDF is assembled in your own browser tab, so anything you write stays on your device.