Safes, cash wash up on Japan shores after tsunami

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

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.

... 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.

... The number of safes that have turned up in Ofunato alone is a reflection of the area's population: In Iwate prefecture where this Pacific fishing town is located, nearly 30 percent of the population is over 65.

Many of them keep money at home out of habit and convenience, said Koetsu Saiki of the Miyagi Prefectural Police's financial affairs department. This practice is likely compounded by persistently low interest rates, leaving little financial incentive for depositing money in a bank.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Safes-cash-wash-up-on-Japan-apf-3921189077.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=5&asset=&ccode=

[BlueJazz]

1. Wait a Minute...A Safe ??...A metal Heavy Steel-thing Safe washes up on Shores??

Ok...I give up..How?? :)

[DJ13]

2. Sealed so well it trapped air inside?

:shrug:

[ret5hd]

3. But...wait...that gives me an idea!!!

Would it be possible to build boats from steel?

[BlueJazz]

4. Boats made out of Steel?....oh brother....no wonder the republicans won...sigh..

:)

[BlueJazz]

5. Yes...but a cubic foot of water weighs about 63 pounds...a cubic ft size safe..

...made of steel should? weigh more than that...

[Hassin Bin Sober]

6. Perhaps it weighs the same as a duck?