Japanese man anonymously donates life savings of 60 million yen to Yokosuka city

An impressive amount of savings for an even more impressive deed.

Just when you thought the guy that donated 30 million yen (US$275,994) to Japanese schools couldn’t be outdone, another anonymous donor strikes. On May 17, a Japanese man who appeared to be in his seventies or eighties walked into the city hall of Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture and handed a backpack to an employee. As he did, he reportedly said, “I want you to give the letter inside this backpack to the mayor.”

When staff opened the backpack, they did indeed find a letter…along with 60 million yen (US$551,640). They were all in the form of ten-thousand Japanese yen bills, meaning the backpack was stuffed with six thousand bills.

The letter? It explained that the 60 million yen was the donor’s life savings that he started when he was a first-year elementary school student. He said he was donating it “in hopes that it will be of help in some way”. The donor wished to remain anonymous, so he left no name or contact information behind.

Understandably, Japanese netizens had a lot to say about this, from thoughtfulness to shock.

“I really hope it’s not put to waste.”
“I think this is a wonderful thing, obviously, but I also wonder how happy his life was after hearing that he’d been saving up money since he was in elementary school.”
“Hearing that he’d been saving up since elementary school makes me think he must have worked really hard to save up throughout his life.”
“This is really amazing! Why did he donate his precious savings, though? He should have at least written what he wanted it to be used for!”

Whatever the reason behind this huge and sudden donation, the deed has been done. The city is still deciding what to do with it, but with so many watching their next moves, we hope there’s a chance it will indeed be put to good use (like the new public ropeway system?).

Sources: TV Kanagawa via Yahoo! Japan News via My Name News Flash
Top image: Pakutaso
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