1/8/2008

“Finders keepers, losers weepers” is a refection of English common law for lost personal items. However in Japan, it’s finders weepers, losers keepers as evidenced by this poor school teacher getting arrested for finding a 500,000 yen ($4,565 USD) windfall and keeping it.

Junior high school teacher collared for stealing 500,000 yen left at ATM
2008 Jan 8 – Mainichi Daily News — A junior high school teacher was arrested Monday for stealing 500,000 yen in cash left at an automatic teller machine (ATM) last year, police said. Kenichi Shimada, 53, a teacher at Nakatsugawa Municipal Dai-Ni Junior High School, stands accused of theft…police launched an investigation into the case and recently tracked down Shimada from security footage…more…

Stories of Japanese “honesty” returning lost wallets are wildly overrated. Japanese law is quite strict: if you don’t turn in a lost wallet to Japanese police, you are a thief and you can be arrested if there is security video of the “theft” of the lost wallet. English common law for lost personal items is that the claimant – the “finder” – can usually has rightful possession of the lost item. “Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers” is literally the law, except in Japan.

UPDATE:
Also important to note is that besides negative motivations like being charged with theft for not turning lost money and wallets, Japanese have the positive motivation of collecting a five to twenty percent reward from the rightful owner of the lost money when the owner claims it from the police. See the Japanese Law: Guidelines for Handling of Lost & Found Items (or refer the comment section below).