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You really gotta hand it to the Japanese, not only are they so stoic, even in the midst of  a devastation, they are so disciplined in fact that, even after the double whammy they received from mother nature, there were no reports of mob rule even in the temporary shelters. People were actually lining up, patiently waiting for hours for their turn on the free phone calls or to get their daily rations. Heck, even some Americans were so envious, some even tried to compare what happened in New Orleans where, after Katrina, there were reports of widespread looting and riots. It’s no wonder they are now being lionized and admired by  many countries, and has become a shining example of a model society.

And now this…

Safes, cash wash up on Japan shores after tsunami

The Associated PressBy TOMOKO A. HOSAKA – Associated Press | AP – Sun, Apr 10, 2011 10:06 PM PHT

There are no cars inside the parking garage at Ofunato police headquarters. Instead, hundreds of dented metal safes, swept out of homes and businesses by last month’s tsunami, crowd the long rectangular building.

Any one could hold someone’s life savings.

Safes were washing up along the tsunami-battered coast, and police were trying to find their owners, a unique problem in the country where many people, especially the elderly, still stash their cash at home.

There are no cars inside the parking garage at Ofunato police headquarters. Instead, hundreds of dented metal safes, swept out of homes and businesses by last month’s tsunami, crowd the long rectangular building.

Any one could hold someone’s life savings.

Safes are washing up along the tsunami-battered coast, and police are trying to find their owners — a unique problem in a country where many people, especially the elderly, still stash their cash at home. By one estimate, some $350 billion worth of yen doesn’t circulate.

There’s even a term for this hidden money in Japanese, “tansu yokin.” Or literally, “wardrobe savings.”

So the massive post-tsunami cleanup under way along hundreds of miles (kilometers) of Japan’s ravaged northeastern coast involves the delicate business of separating junk from valuables. As workers and residents pick through the wreckage, they are increasingly stumbling upon cash and locked safes.

Read the entire article here…

Man, can you imagine if the very same thing happened in this country? We’d have a riot on our hands as everyone, from those thieving cops, barangay officials, neighborhood crooks, all the way to ordinary Pinoys who chose live by the motto: “Finders Keepers”, would have a grand time sifting through those unclaimed safes.

It’s no wonder why secretly, a large number of locals would rather be of another nationality…

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