The honest people of Tokyo handed in a record 4.4 billion yen (US$29.1 million) in cash that had been lost around the city in 2023, usually on public transport or in dropped wallets or purses.
That total figure – which works out at a remarkable 12 million yen or US$79,291 per day – is a significant increase from the previous record of 3.99 billion yen handed in to police or public transport operators in 2022, and the 3.84 billion yen declared in 2019.
Announcing the 2023 statistics for lost property, Tokyo Metropolitan Police attributed the 10.3 per cent increase in cash returned and the nearly 20 per cent surge in belongings retrieved – a total of 4,444,854 items – was the result of more people commuting and visiting the city after the lifting of coronavirus restrictions last spring.
The largest single amount of cash found was 16.8 million yen discovered in Shinjuku Ward, which was eventually reunited with a relieved owner. Of the 4.4 billion yen found, some 3.23 billion yen was returned.
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Izumi Tsuji, a professor of sociology at Tokyo’s Chuo University, said of the trend: “It would be unthinkable for me to not give the money to the police and I’m sure that the vast majority of Japanese feel the same.”
“We do it because we know it is the right thing to do and to not hand in a purse or wallet would be stealing,” he told This Week in Asia. “We would also expect someone else to do the same for us if we lost something on a train or bus, so it is a question of trust as well as of honesty.”
Tsuji said most Japanese also had no qualms napping on public transport, effectively leaving bags containing a computer, wallet or other valuables unattended.
“I have no fears that it will be taken,” he said with a shrug. “I can relax because I trust the other people around me and they, in turn, trust me.”
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Among the most common items handed in to police in 2023 included driving licences, public transport passes, clothing and shoes.
By Japanese law, anyone who finds lost money is required to hand it in to police but is entitled to a reward of between 5 per cent and 20 per cent of the sum if it is claimed by the owner. If the cash is not collected after three months, then the total sum goes to the finder. If the finder does not claim the money after an additional two months, then it goes to the local government.
In 2023, the Tokyo government benefited to the tune of 825 million yen in unclaimed funds.