Tokyo, 16 March, /AJMEDIA/
TOKYO – The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department says that 3.997 billion yen in cash was handed in to its Lost and Found Center in 2022.
Of the amount, police were able to return 2.95 billion yen to the owners, the department said in a report. Unclaimed money goes to the metropolitan government, the report said.
The report also said that approximately 3.43 million lost items were handed in to police stations last year, which is an increase of 21.9% from 2021. The increase in lost items is attributed to the slowing signs of COVID-19 infections, leading to an increase in people traveling outdoors.
According to the Lost and Found Center, the number of lost items between 2015 and 2019 remained steady at around 4 million. After the pandemic hit, this number sharply declined to 2.8 million in 2020 and 2.81 million in 2021. Lost property cases increased to 3.43 million in 2022, although it did not reach pre-pandemic levels.
Other lost or misplaced items included identification documents, such as driver’s licenses and insurance cards (totaling about 730,000 items). There were also about 390,000 lost commuter passes and stock certificates.
