> good, widely distributed Schelling points (koban and, to a lesser extent, commercial/transit centers information/etc desks) These aren't "schelling points".

> good, widely distributed Schelling points (koban and, to a lesser extent, commercial/transit centers information/etc desks) These aren't "schelling points". The nearest appropriate location of whatever kind (koban if it's outdoors or somewhere small, information desk in a mall or station) is likely obvious to both the loser and finder given the context and is no more a schelling point than, eg, the local hospital if someone got hit by a car. A real Schelling point is more like, eg, the statue of hachiko in Shibuya which is so famous a landmark and prominent in everyone's shared cultural understanding that if you told two strangers to meet in Shibuya with no other information it's actually pretty likely they'd both just go there by default. > both do the right thing for lost/found items and are widely believed to do the right thing explains most of it Yeah, but what you're missing is the expectation that the finder will do the right thing too - which is absolutely cultural.