On Monday evening, my daughter came to the dojo to say goodbye to the other kids she had practiced kendo with.
So at the end of the adult session I packed her shinai (bamboo sword) into my shinai bag. To do that, I had to remove the tsuba (sword guard) and tsubadome (a fitting that holds the tsuba in place). I put them in my pocket in a rush and went home. When I got off the train and put my hand in my pocket, I could no longer find the tsubadome. It was decorated with a pretty sakura pattern and had been a small present for her from the tooth fairy. Oh damn. I had lost it somewhere.

On Wednesday morning I was back in the dojo to practice. I went to the shinai storage room where I had taken the tsubadome out, but I could not find it there. I asked the resident sensei if anyone had found it. He didn’t know. He checked in the lost-and-found box and it wasn’t there. I told him not to worry, that it was my fault, and that I had probably lost it somewhere else: maybe on the way to the station, or on the train.

On Wednesday evening, as I came back to the dojo for my evening practice, the sensei handed me the lost tsubadome, telling me that another parent had found the tsubadome at the station and brought it back, recognising from the pattern that it was my daughter's. It was not an expensive item, but it had sentimental value, and I would not have been able to find an exact replacement easily.

I was speechless that a nameless stranger would be so kind.

This kind of thing only happens in Japan.

What do you think would have happened where you live?