On Monday evening, while taking the 206 bus back to Kyoto-eki, I accidentally dropped a small bag with my Shure earphones on my way out of the bus.
The next day, I went to the office and asked if they had seen it. Using a combination of broken Japanese, broken English, and some sketches, they managed to translate that into a inquiry to a bus terminal on the complete opposite side of Kyoto, and discover that indeed they had it.
As I sat there on a 1 hour round-trip bus ride to Kitaoji Bus Terminal and back, I felt pretty amazed at how nice the politeness and order of the Japanese society makes life more pleasant. Afterall, if you lost a $500 (retail) pair of earphones on a bus in Taiwan or the USA, you'd be totally screwed.
(I didn't pay $500 for the earphones. They were 50% off in a special deal.)