A teenager in Japan reportedly spent three weeks putting together a 10,000 yen (S$87) note that was accidentally torn by a paper shredder.

The man's journey gained traction online after being posted on X (formerly Twitter). At the time of writing, the post has garnered 5.8 million views.

Accidentally shredded

It is not known how the banknote ended up being torn by a paper shredder, though Oddity Central reported that the teen's father was shredding an old envelope at work and had forgotten there was a 10,000 yen (S$87) bill in it.

The father reportedly brought the entire paper shredder waste basket home, and challenged his son to piece back the shredded bill and exchange it for a new one at the bank.

The father said that his son could keep the money if the bank accepted the note.

"Hopeless"

In the first series of social media posts documenting his journey to piece back the torn bill, the teenager expressed his determination to collect all the pieces of the torn banknote from the pile of shredded papers, piece them together, and eventually exchange them at the bank.

集めて貼り合わせ銀行で交換出来たらあげるというので頑張る pic.twitter.com/KTgX762QMP

— Tomo/Yasu (@C8kCGa5jT0LlbuA) February 25, 2024

The first post was posted on Feb. 25, 2024.

The boy eventually managed to salvage the shredded pieces of the banknote, even though he said piecing them together feels "hopeless".

Piecing back torn banknote

To complete his mission, the boy had to piece back the torn bill on top of another 10,000 yen (S$87.19).

Two days after the first post, the boy managed to piece back a few torn pieces together.

Almost a month later, on Mar. 21, 2024, the boy announced that he was able to piece back the torn pieces to recreate the bill.

Money credited

But the big question was - would the bank accept the note?

About three weeks later, on Apr. 13, 2024, the boy said the bank accepted the note.

He shared a photo that 10,000 yen (S$87) was credited to his account.

長らくお待たせしました

例のバラバラの1万円札の件ですが無事に全額戻って来ました！

この状態でも許してくれた日本銀行の方々ありがとうございます！

（※4枚目タップ推奨） pic.twitter.com/cRon8ujOhN

— Tomo/Yasu (@C8kCGa5jT0LlbuA) April 12, 2024

Criteria for exchange of torn banknote

According to the Bank of Japan, damaged bills can be exchanged for new cash "subject to the criteria set out in law".

Damaged banknotes, including those torn or burnt, will be replaced according to the proportion of the remaining part of the original banknote "provided that both front and reverse sides of the banknote are maintained".

In the case of a torn banknote, the bank suggests the note be pieced back together as much as possible.

The bank also encouraged the features of each note, such as serial number, printed patterns, and colour, to be inspected carefully.

"The bank may judge banknotes torn into shreds as having no value if they cannot be identified as pieces of the same banknote," the bank added.

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Top image via @C8kCGa5jT0LlbuA/X.