My passport was stolen in Italy… What are the procedures for returning to Japan?

My passport was stolen while I was in Florence to cover the Italian MotoGP. Based on my experience, I’ll share with you the procedures for returning to Japan, useful items to take with you overseas, and the insurance that was applied.

My passport was stolen! What was the first thing I did?

My passport was stolen in Florence, Italy.

I was in Italy to cover the ninth round of the MotoGP, the Italian Grand Prix. I flew from London to Bologna and then took a train from Bologna to Florence, but I was exhausted from the constant travel that began late at night.

“Ah, times like these are the times I need to be careful,” I distinctly remember thinking as I sat in the crowded Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence, though my warning to myself proved to be in vain.

As it turned out, the theft occurred on the tram I was taking to travel from Santa Maria Novella station to the rental car office. In fact, I clearly saw the thief. The tram was a little crowded. As soon as the tram departed, I heard a woman standing a short distance away say something in a harsh tone to a girl standing very close to me (really very close).

Although I didn’t speak any Italian, I could tell something was wrong. The girl kept repeating, “No, no.” As I was shocked by this exchange, the woman turned to me and said in English, “Madame, please be careful of that girl.” The girl fled and got off at the next station, and the pouch containing my passport had disappeared from my backpack. Perhaps the woman realized that the girl had been pickpocketing me.

This was my fault. Even though I was sleep-deprived, carrying a backpack in an Italian city, especially on a tram, was like asking someone to steal from me. I regret it so much, because I would never do something like that under normal circumstances. I guess there is something “unnatural” about when something happens.

So, I had to apply for a passport. From here on, please keep in mind that this is just my experience. When you are abroad, the response will vary depending on the location, situation, and time of the accident.

First, I went to the police station at Florence Airport to have a police report written. Any police station would have been fine, but I had heard that there would be English-speaking officers at the airport. This turned out to be the right decision. They were busy, too, and didn’t have the time to leisurely converse with me using a translation app (every time I hesitated, they repeatedly said, “Hey, we’re really busy right now”). Still, the police officers who helped me were kind. “When you ride the tram or train, make sure you carry your backpack in front of you,” she told me as she saw me off.

After getting the police report, I called the Japanese Embassy in Rome to ask for a “return travel document.” This is, as the name suggests, a travel document for returning to Japan. Once I return to Japan, I will need to apply for a new passport in Japan.

Of course, you can apply for a new passport in Italy and have it issued. However, Japanese passports will be updated in March 2025 with strengthened security measures. Because of this, “it will take about a month to issue.”

I had planned to travel around Europe to cover MotoGP without returning home until mid-September, but I decided to return home. The stolen pouch contained not only my passport but also an international driver’s license. International drivers’ licenses are only issued in Japan. Both documents were necessary to rent a car, which is essential for covering MotoGP.

Documents I’m glad I brought with me from Japan

After that, you will go to the embassy on your scheduled visit date and time to receive your “return travel document.” Bring along your “family register (issued within the last six months),” “two ID photos (taken within the last six months),” “police report (a police-issued certificate of theft or loss),” and “document that verifies your return flight ticket or reservation.”

In my case, I had my family register and two ID photos. When I mentioned that I would be staying in Europe for an extended period to cover MotoGP, a photographer I know advised me to take my family register with me. “You’ll need it if you lose your passport,” he said. Having my family register in particular made the process much smoother. Of course, you can apply without it, but in that case, you would have to get someone in Japan to obtain and send the family register on your behalf, and then when you return to Japan, you would have to send the original to the Japanese Embassy in Rome. It’s a very cumbersome process.

The Embassy of Japan in Italy is located about a 20-minute walk from Rome’s Termini Station. This was my first visit to Rome. There were ruins right near the station, and the roads were hopelessly crowded. Rome was a place I had seriously wanted to visit someday, but arriving unexpectedly seemed to lose its sense of reality and fulfillment. I simply walked straight from the station toward the embassy, ​​trying to imprint as much of Rome’s scenery into my memory as possible.

I arrived at the embassy around 9:30 and finished my application by a little after 10:00. I then left the embassy once and received my “return travel document” around 4:00 pm. Even though it would have been issued on the same day if I had applied in the morning, it still took almost a whole day. Nevertheless, I was now ready to return home.

There are cases where insurance is applied to stolen passports.

In addition, if your passport is stolen, insurance may be applicable. I had overseas travel insurance, so I was covered by that insurance. Please note that insurance attached to credit cards may have conditions such as usage-related requirements (such as the need to pay for travel tickets with that credit card).

Regarding the scope of insurance coverage, I was told that it would not apply to cases such as leaving a backpack unattended and having it stolen, so it would be best to call the insurance company first to confirm. There are also documents required, so if you do call, it is best to do so at the site as soon as you are affected by the incident.

In my case, the coverage covered the cost of travel to Rome to get my “return travel document” issued (if I needed to stay overnight, accommodation costs were also covered), the 15 euro fee for applying for the “return travel document,” and the 2,250 yen fee for obtaining an international driver’s license after returning home.

In any case, whatever the circumstances, if you’re going abroad, I strongly recommend taking out insurance or carefully checking the terms of your credit card’s insurance. This is because unexpected things can happen overseas, and you can end up putting strain on your body without even realizing it, making you ill. In fact, two years ago I developed severe endometriosis and was rushed to hospital in London, England, where I underwent surgery. The one-week hospital stay and surgery cost about 1.4 million yen, thanks to the weak yen. It was all covered by insurance. Of course, there were no warning signs of this happening, and it was a bolt from the blue.

So, I have introduced my personal experience of having my passport stolen and what I did afterwards. I hope that this article will not be of any use to anyone, including myself.