Taiwanese media outlet CTWANT reported on August 31 that accepting a request to "bring luggage forgotten in Japan back to Taiwan" could lead to terrible results.

According to the article, recently, a Taiwanese person on the social media platform Threads posted, "While traveling to Osaka with my child, I left one 28-inch suitcase at Kansai Airport. Inside are purchased medicines, cosmetics, souvenirs, daily necessities, changes of clothes, etc. If there is a kind person, could you please bring it back to Taiwan?" and offered a reward of 3,000 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 15,000 yen). The person also stated that it was fine to open the suitcase and check its contents on the spot.

When this post gained attention, internet users raised voices of caution, saying things like, "You shouldn't help carry anyone's luggage," "Everyone, absolutely do not help carry it. It's too dangerous," and "You should avoid easily carrying a stranger's luggage. Not even a single book. Even if you can open the suitcase and check it, what does that prove?" This is because if illegal items were hidden inside the suitcase, the person who carried it could be held criminally responsible.

Mr. Lin Shih-璧, a former doctor known as a "Japan travel expert," also issued a warning about this post, stating, "If you are asked by a stranger to carry their luggage, you should flatly refuse. The offer to let you check the contents is no guarantee that it doesn't contain illegal items." He added that if luggage is forgotten, one should first contact the airport's lost and found inquiry desk, confirm if it has been delivered to storage, and if it is difficult for the owner to pick it up themselves, there are also methods to have it sent by air or sea cargo.

He referred to his own past experience of losing a carry-on suitcase containing a laptop at Narita Airport. In that instance, he first informed the airport of the time and place of loss, the size and color of the luggage, and the items inside the suitcase, and after confirming the luggage's whereabouts, he went to pick it up himself with his passport, and was able to retrieve it after identity verification by staff on site and signing a receipt. (Translation and Editing/Kitada)