TOKYO: A Japanese city devastated by the 2011 tsunami has received anonymous gifts of gold worth more than US$250,000 in a phenomenon dubbed a ‘goodwill gold rush’ ahead of the second anniversary of the disaster.
The president of the company which operates the port in the northeastern city of Ishinomaki last week received a parcel containing two slabs of gold each weighing one kilogrammes.
“Since it was labelled as ‘miscellaneous goods,’ I casually opened the box,” thinking it must be books or the like as it was heavy, said Kunio Sunow, president of the Ishinomaki Fish Market Co. Ltd.
“I was stunned because what’s in there was 24k gold in two plates.
“One was wrapped in brown paper and the other in a page taken from a magazine – both were sitting in bubble sheets,” he told AFP by telephone yesterday.
The parcel had been sent anonymously from Nagano city northwest of Tokyo with no message.
“Just looking at 24k gold can encourage people as it has a presence. It’s great to know we haven’t been forgotten,” Sunow said, adding he had not yet decided how to use the gift. — AFP