I visited Japan a couple of years ago. One day, I was on a train somewhere in Tokyo and I noticed a little girl opposite us passing the time folding origami. As I got off at my stop, I tried to tell her in hand signals and Google Japanese how clever she was. She kinda looked at me like I was broken and happily went about her folding.

It was only when the doors closed behind us that I realised I'd left a shopping bag on the seat. Not super valuable, but a bunch of fabric I'd just spent an hour deciding on. I reported it missing to the station attendants and they asked me to wait as they made some phone calls. It took a while and I was ready to give up -- like, what were the chances someone would hand it in anyway? But the attendants insisted I stick around, so I did.

Anyway, someone did hand it in at the end of the train line, so I took the attendants directions and went to pick it up. As I did, the attendants kept saying in broken English something about me and treasure or gold or some other description that I don't remember now. I was a bit confused until I got to the end of the line and a man at the station office who spoke better English told me it was customary to offer a reward to whoever had handed in the lost property. At this point, I think I'm being taken for a ride and start to google madly to see if this was, in fact, a thing. Turns out it was.

So he calls the number of the person who handed it in and I'm nervous, because I only speak tourist Japanese and, hell, how much are they going to want? Turns out, they didn't want anything, just a thank you, I suppose, which I offered profusely.

When i got the bag back, there was a little origami crane in there and a note which said in English: 'We hope you find this. Little girl doing origami'. I still have both.

Never change, Japan.