Record S$36 million in cash reported as lost property in 2025: Tokyo police

A record 4.5 billion yen (around S$36 million) in cash was reported missing as lost property in 2025, according to Tokyo police.

This marks a 0.5 per cent increase from 2024, NHK World Japan reported, adding that police in Tokyo said they received a record number of reports of lost items in 2025.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, there were about 4.5 million reports of lost items in 2025, a 3 per cent increase from 2024 and the largest figure since records began in 1940.

A lot of money

Out of the cash reported missing and turned in, Japan Today reported that the largest single amount of cash turned in was 27 million yen (S$219,240).

In addition, nearly 820,000 credit cards, driver's licenses and other certification documents were reported lost.

More than 70 per cent of reports came from facilities, such as cases where change was left behind at supermarket self-checkouts, nikkei.com reported.

Returned

According to NHK World Japan, about 70 per cent or 3.23 billion yen (around S$26 million) was returned.

Meanwhile, 680 million yen (around S$5 million) went to the metropolitan government, partly due to owners not being identified.

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