Mystery money in Japan’s mailboxes, bathrooms

A mystery gripping Japan over anonymous cash gifts has taken a new twist. For those who want the next batch of giveaways, the place to look is in their mailboxes — or even right at their feet.

A mystery gripping Japan over anonymous cash gifts has taken a new twist. For those who want the next batch of giveaways, the place to look is in their mailboxes — or even right at their feet.

Residents of a Tokyo apartment building are baffled after a total of 1.81 million yen was found in 18 mailboxes by Saturday, police said.

“The money was in identical plain envelopes, which were unsealed and carried no names or messages,” said the police spokesman. “Some people initially suspected they were fake bills. When they realised the bills were real, they reported them to us,” he said.

The predominantly middle-class apartment building in Tokyo is not alone. An envelope with one million yen was left in the mailbox of a 31-year-old woman in Kobe.

Since June, dozens of city halls and other public buildings across the country have reported finding neatly packaged envelopes full of cash in men’s restrooms. The money has come with identical letters asking people to do good deeds — leading to speculation that the benefactor may be a public servant trying to cheer up his profession.