Japan obsessed with mystery men's room money
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) - An elderly man nearing death who wants to give something back to the world, or just a prankster?
The mystery of who is leaving envelopes of 10,000 yen ($82) bills in men's toilets at government offices around Japan has gripped the nation this week despite the existence of far weightier issues, such as a looming election.
Since April 9, some 4 million yen ($32,720) has been found in men's rooms from the northernmost island of Hokkaido to the southern island of Okinawa, Japanese media say. Virtually all has been found in government office buildings.
The bills are individually wrapped in traditional Japanese "washi" paper with the word "remuneration" handwritten on the outside in ink.
Each comes with a handwritten letter in formal wording evoking Buddhist language, saying the giver hopes the money will be "useful for your pursuit of knowledge."
Newspapers have devoted lengthy articles to speculation about the identity of the unknown benefactor, and the mystery dominated evening news programs on Wednesday. One domestic news agency even sent out urgent alerts as the number of bills found mounted.
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