1.7 Million Lost Items

[thomas]

Tokyo Lists 1.7 Million Lost Items

If it's lost, it can be found on the bustling streets of Tokyo 窶 where police collected nearly 1.72 million left-behind items last year, from mobile phones to wayward tortoises and nearly $20.33 million in stray cash. Umbrellas, however, topped most lost-and-found boxes across the nation's capital, with police reporting 332,579 left behind in 2002 窶 an average of about 3,200 each rainy day. Lost wallets were another big find in the city of 12 million people, according to figures released Wednesday by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. The $20.33 million in dropped or misplaced money included a single find of $79,000 last December. No one has claimed that amount yet. But about 72 percent of the rest was returned to the rightful owners, with an additional 19 percent going to finders, according to a police spokesman. The remainder went to city coffers.

Under Japanese law, lost-and-found items, including cash, are kept at a city lost-and-found center for six months and two weeks. Items are returned to the original owners if claimed during that period. If not, the finder can claim the items within the next two months. If that period elapses, items automatically go to the city government. Among other lost-and-found items were 84 pets, including 12 ferrets and an unspecified number of tortoises.

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