Safes Along the Sea Shore

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan left many people without any of their personal belongings and homes. One month following the disasters, belongings are beginning to wash up on the shores. Japanese culture and tradition cause many citizens of Japan to stash a lot of their money in safes in their homes. Those who couldn't evacuate quickly enough, lost much of their savings along with their houses. Tomoko Hosaka wrote an article depicting and explaining the massive number of dented metal boxes that have washed up.
Hosaka points out that because so many Japanese citizens keep their savings at home, there is about $350 billion worth of yen that doesn't circulate. Workers are attempting to identify the safes and are trying to successfully return them to their owners. The loss of so much money only further increases the amount of poverty and homelessness in a country under so much stress.