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Observations
Observations: Hashovas Aveidoh in Japan
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
In Tokyo, Japan, in 2002, people found and brought to the
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Lost and Found Center $23 million
in cash and 72 percent of it was returned to the owners, once
they had persuaded the police it was theirs. About 19 percent
of it went to the finders after no one claimed the money for
half a year. Very few umbrellas are returned -- only 0.3
percent of the 330,000 brought in during 2002, but 75 percent
of the cellphones are restored to their owners.
If the original owner of a found object is not located after
half a year, the finder can claim the object or money. But
most finders don't bother making any claims, and the objects
usually end up going to the Tokyo government.
The lost-and-found property system dates to a code written in
the year 718, according to Hideo Fukunaga, a former police
official who wrote a book on the subject, Notes on the Law
on Lost Property.
Then, lost goods had to be handed over to a government
official within five days of being found. After a year, the
government took over the belongings, though the owner could
still reclaim them.
In the 18th century, finders were given more rights and were
rewarded with a certain value of the found property. Finders
who did not hand in objects were severely punished.
A new law was created in the late 19th century and then
reformed most recently in 1958. Currently, a finder must hand
in an object to the authorities within seven days, or lose
the right to a reward or ownership. In the case of lost
money, if the original owner is found, the finder has the
right to claim 5 to 20 percent of the sum, though usually it
is 10 percent.
Today, the authorities are thinking of ways to update the
system by creating an Internet listing of the items at all
lost-and-found centers nationwide, or at least those in
Tokyo. The system's survival, though, will depend less on
technology than on simple honesty.
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