Man Gives City 46 Pounds of Gold to Fix Infrastructure

Osaka's aging water pipes just got an unusual boost: 46 pounds of gold bars from someone who doesn't want their name known. The stash, valued at about $3.6 million, was handed over in November by a donor who wanted to improve the city's pipes, Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama said Thursday, calling the contribution "staggering" and saying he was "lost for words." The same donor previously gave a much smaller cash gift, about $3,300, for waterworks, the mayor added. The city of nearly 3 million has been grappling with deteriorating water and sewage infrastructure, logging more than 90 pipe leaks in the 2024 fiscal year, the BBC reports.

The mayor said the city would respect the mystery donor's wishes and use the gift for waterworks projects including replacing old pipes, the AP reports. Nationwide, over one-fifth of Japan's water pipes have outlived their 40-year legal service life and sinkholes linked to corroded sewage lines have become more frequent. Authorities across Japan stepped up efforts to replace pipes after a massive sinkhole caused by a ruptured pipe swallowed a truck near Tokyo last year, killing the driver. But financial constraints have slowed the work, making Osaka's anonymous gold donor a particularly timely benefactor.