Abandoned suitcase problem at Narita Airport

I caught a report on TV Asahi this lunch time, about the growing problem of abandoned suitcases at Narita Airport. Reportedly, the number of abandoned suitcases in 202 was 1073 8.5 times higher than the 124 abandoned cases of 2020. 

I was curious, so I have just spent a bit of time reading various articles online about the problem. Reportedly, Narita Airport police have warehouses of unclaimed or intentionally abandoned suitcases. Furthermore, it would seem it is not a problem exclusive to Narita airport, but all airports nationwide have been seeing an increase in the number of abandoned suitcases. And its not just airports, but hotels and other accommodation facilities too. 

According to both the TV Asahi report and various online news articles, the reason is that many tourists buy new, larger suitcases while in Japan and discard their old ones. Carry-on luggage size restrictions also play a part. They are often just left in random places, not even beside a bin, and the airport are forced to treat the bags as lost items. 

As unattended luggage poses a security risk, each suitcase needs to be checked to ensure its not dangerous. Resulting in additional workload for airport security, creating knock on effects such as delays at security gates. Moreover, storage capacity is being overwhelmed. Legally, the police have to store the suitcases for a fixed period, so its not like they can just throw them out. And when they do throw them out, there are disposal costs involved.

At Narita airport one of the luggage shops now offers free collection of old suitcases when you buy a new one at their store. In other locations, facilities are reusing abandoned suitcases or giving them away to the public to reduce disposal costs. I was thinking that suitcase auctions might work too. More needs to be done as the number of international tourists continues to increase year on year.