10 million yen (≈ U$73,500) in cash was discovered at a recyclable waste collection facility in Sapporo, and a week later, the Hokkaido Police had already received 12 complaints from people claiming to have lost the money. The police have since been struggling to identify the rightful owner among the group of claimants. Those who had reported the loss had offered varying explanations for their misfortune, such as ‘I dropped it when I was carrying it around wrapped in newspaper’, ‘I lost it while traveling’, and ‘I think my parent with dementia accidentally threw it away.’
The Hokkaido Police will now have to investigate the garbage collection route to identify the rightful owner of the money. They are also considering the possibility that none of the claimants is actually the true owner. In such a case, the money will be turned over to the government. The police have also urged the public to be cautious when carrying large sums of money, as it’s easy to accidentally lose it.
The 10 million yen was discovered in a rather unexpected place: the trash. A contractor who was sorting through rubbish in Sapporo City stumbled upon the large sum of money. If the rightful owner of the cash is not identified, then it is expected that the ownership of the cash will be transferred to the city that collected the trash. This would be a great boon for the city of Sapporo, which could use the money to invest in public services, infrastructure, or other projects. However, the city is obligated to make a good faith effort to contact the owner of the money to return it to them.