Money hoarding Japanese victimized by natural disaster

While thousands of Japanese homes were destroyed in the earthquake and tsunami, the metal safes in some of them are turning up in the rubble. Japanese police have been storing the safes and accepting money discovered in bags, boxes and furniture turned in by honest citizens. The drawbacks to hoarding money at home have been made clear as a great deal of the lost money might be extremely hard to return.

Metal safes intact among the devastation

A month after the Japan earthquake and tsunami, cleanup workers and residents looking through the wreckage of the ravaged northeast coast are finding tens of millions of yen in money and countless safes. All of the safes are being stored. Police have them. There have been hundreds of safes in Ofunato put in the parking garage where automobiles are no longer welcome according to the AP. There may have been over 25,000 deaths from the tsunami. All of the cash might go unclaimed. The safes may no longer belong to anyone. Police have to wait 90 days while storing the valuables according to Japanese law. Any person who finds it gets to keep the unclaimed money if nobody claims it. The government gets the money if nobody claims it.

Those in Japan hiding money

All of the money could be helpful. The Japanese government might appreciate it. Paying for earthquake and tsunami damages won’t be cheap. The estimate is at $309 billion already. The estimate contains losses due to wiped out homes, buildings and infrastructure, however not the stashes of cash stored in your house in safes and other hiding places. Many in Japan would keep cash in your house, since several didn’t feel comfortable with banks. According to Japan’s central financial institution, more than a 3rd of 10,000-yen bills that are printed do not circulate — about 30 trillion yen — about $354 billion at the current exchange rate. Cash has been stashed in furniture, boxes and safes by older Japanese individuals. The idea of a savings account is inconvenient since there have been very low rates of interest.

What’s in the safes?

As of April 11, there have been over 13,000 fatalities confirmed from the tsunami on Japan’s coast while there are still 14,377 missing right now. Recovered safes and cash are expected to continue piling up. For owners of the safes, claiming them might be as simple as opening them. Claiming cash may not be as simple. It would be hard to figure out. Kesennuma was one of the worst hit towns by the tsunami. Only 10 to 15 percent of its valuables found were returned so far. Authorities may try opening safes to see what’s inside them as there is no space to store them.

Information from

Associated Press

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110411/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake_lost_money

The Telegraph

telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8443301/Japan-earthquake-police-handed-tens-of-millions-of-yen-from-devastated-area.html

Seattle P.I.

seattlepi.com/news/article/Debris-challenges-pile-up-in-Japan-1-month-later-1331227.php