An Incident at Brussels Airport, Belgium

I went to the arrival lobby of Brussels Airport to meet a colleague arriving from Japan. After the long flight, he hadn’t had the chance to smoke, so as soon as we stepped out of the terminal building, he said, “I need a quick smoke.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his briefcase, lit one, and started smoking. Meanwhile, I stood beside him holding the handle of his large suitcase.

At that moment, a man approached us and asked in English, “Where is the taxi stand?” I replied, “It’s just ahead,” while pointing in the direction. After finishing his cigarette, my colleague glanced at the briefcase he had placed at his feet and, with a shocked expression, shouted, “??? It’s gone!” I immediately noticed the man who had asked about the taxi stand running toward the parking garage building. I instructed my colleague, “Stay here and don’t let go of the suitcase.” Then I shouted, “Thief!” and ran toward the parking garage building, but unfortunately, the man got away.

Afterward, we went to the airport police office and explained the situation. Inside the stolen briefcase were all his valuables, including his passport, cash, camera and a wallet containing credit cards...

Since my colleague was scheduled to travel to Barcelona, Spain, the day after next, he urgently needed a new passport by the following day. Although it was a Sunday, we immediately called the emergency line at the Japanese Embassy. They explained the documents required for reissuing a passport, such as a "theft report certificate" and a "family register transcript." After gathering this information, we returned to my house to plan our next steps.

We then made an international call to his wife, explained the situation, and arranged for her to obtain the family register transcript first thing Monday morning and send it to us via fax. On Monday morning, we went straight to the Japanese Embassy in Brussels, submitted all the necessary documents, and, to our amazement, the passport was reissued on the same day.

We were deeply grateful for the swift and supportive response of the Japanese Embassy in Belgium.

Thanks to their help, my colleague was able to depart for Barcelona as planned the next day.

At the same time, we both etched the fundamental rule into our minds: never let valuables out of your sight when traveling abroad.