Lost in Transportation

Well I've always said, if you're going to lose something, you should lose it in Japan. Because here you have a great chance of getting it back. I'm a pretty scatter brained person and I've lost my share of things here in Japan, but apart from umbrellas I've gotten them all back. However, this time I'm not so sure. When riding my bike to the station my wallet dropped out of my jacket pocket somewhere along the way. I noticed it when I was parking my bicycle in the 'bike lot' under the station and I immediately retraced my route looking for it. No dice. I double checked our apartment to make sure that I hadn't just forgotten it at home (very possible) but that wasn't the case. So I went to the local koban (police station) and reported it. I also checked at every major shop along the road hoping someone may have brought it in. No luck there either. I think I had about 20000 yen in the wallet (about $200, hey Japan is a cash based society) but I'm really not concerned about the money. It's the cards that are important. I have my alien registration card, visa card, bank cards, and even harder to replace, my Canadian driver's license. I was planning to go get my Japanese license the next day so this really chucked a wrench into my plans. I've cancelled all the important cards already but it looks like this wallet may not be finding it's way home. I still have a glimmer of hope though. When I was at the koban there was a young man next to me handing in a 10000 yen note ($100) he had found. Hopefully someone as honest as him found my wallet and will turn it in. Or, at least, someone slightly less scrupulous will just take the cash and leave the wallet where someone will find it. Yukiko tells me that the wallet itself, which she gave me as a present, is worth a few hundred dollars.
Also in the lost & found department - I lent our digital video camera to a friend of our's and he forgot it on a train in Osaka. So far that hasn't turned up either. Hasn't been a great week for holding on to stuff so far.

Some other recent, sad news is that Yukiko's long time pet and companion, Taka, has passed away. She was quite old though and had some difficulty walking so I think it was the right time for her.

RIP Taka-chan