Safes, cash wash up on shore in Japan after tsunami - earthquake

Credit: U.S. Navy Imagery

In a problem that is certainly unique to Japan, safes and wads of cash are washing up on shore, after the tsunami swept them away in March. Many elderly people in Japan keep their savings in cash at home. The Japanese even have a word for this: : "tansu yokin," or "wardrobe savings." It's estimated that the hoarding has taken  $350 billion yen out of circulation.

In most places, if people found wads of cash they would consider it a gift from heaven. In Japan, people finding the cash and safes are turning the booty over to police, who are trying to find the rightful owners.


"At first we put all the safes in the station," said Noriyoshi Goto, head of the Ofunato Police Department's financial affairs department. "But then there were too many, so we had to move them."

"I spent my career trying to convince them to deposit their money in a bank," said Yasuo Kimura, a former bank employee. "They always thought it was safer to keep it at home."

Related articles

• Safes, Cash Wash Up On Japan Shores After Tsunami (huffingtonpost.com)
• Japanese citizens turning in cash found in tsunami zone (cnn.com)