It’s rainin’ yen!

Al Freni/Getty Images Ever wondered what it would be like if it rained cash? Well, many residents of Tokyo don’t have to imagine. The BBC reports that mysterious stashes of money are popping up around Japan. It all started in the men’s rooms of local council buildings all across Japan, where lucky bathroom-goers found over ...

Al Freni/Getty Images

Al Freni/Getty Images

Ever wondered what it would be like if it rained cash? Well, many residents of Tokyo don’t have to imagine.

The BBC reports that mysterious stashes of money are popping up around Japan. It all started in the men’s rooms of local council buildings all across Japan, where lucky bathroom-goers found over 400 blank envelopes, each containing the same amount and accompanied by a note stating that the money should be used for “ascetic training.” Then last week, “bills started falling out of the sky”—18 residents of a Tokyo building found envelopes stuffed with cash in their mailboxes, totaling ¥1.81 million yen ($15,210), and with no instructions as to where the money should go.

So where is all this cash coming from? Residents and officials are baffled. Theories range from religious motives to the work of a rich businessman who has no idea what to do with his money. But one thing’s for sure: The Japanese are uneasy about the free money. One resident pleaded for his privacy, “People are very, very worried…. Put yourself in our shoes. We are very anxious.” According to the BBC, all the money has been given to the police.

Prerna Mankad is a researcher at Foreign Policy.

More from Foreign Policy

An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.

A New Multilateralism

How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.

The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy

Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

The End of America’s Middle East

The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.