Japanese Postman Hid Up to 24,000 Undelivered Item

A postman of Japan Post rides a motorcycle in Tokyo. Issei Kato/Reuters
A postman of Japan Post rides a motorcycle in Tokyo. Issei Kato/Reuters
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Japanese Postman Hid Up to 24,000 Undelivered Item

A postman of Japan Post rides a motorcycle in Tokyo. Issei Kato/Reuters
A postman of Japan Post rides a motorcycle in Tokyo. Issei Kato/Reuters

A postman admitted he stockpiled 24,000 letters for years in his house because he thinks his job is too hard.

The 61-year-old man told the Japanese police "it was too much bother to deliver the items."

The authorities found thousands of undelivered letters in his house in the Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo.

The man kept the letters for years, but his action wasn't discovered until lately following an internal investigation carried out by the post company.

Efforts are being made to deliver all the delayed mails accompanied by an apology to each person who had to wait all this time to receive his letter or parcel.

In a similar case, a 47-year-old Argentinian postman, named Manuel Guterres, served a one year jail sentence in Patagonia after he was convicted of deliberately keeping letters.

In Guterres's house, the investigators found bags containing 19,000 undelivered letters with stamps, AFP reported.

The case took place in 2009, but, the final sentence wasn't announced until 2015, stipulating a suspended year of prison, after being convicted of "illegally keeping messages".



Buyer Splashes Out $1.3 Million for Tokyo New Year Tuna

 The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
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Buyer Splashes Out $1.3 Million for Tokyo New Year Tuna

 The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)

The top bidder at a Tokyo fish market said they paid $1.3 million for a tuna on Sunday, the second highest price ever paid at an annual prestigious new year auction.

Michelin-starred sushi restauranteurs the Onodera Group said they paid 207 million yen for the 276-kilogram (608 pound) bluefin tuna, roughly the size and weight of a motorbike.

It is the second highest price paid at the opening auction of the year in Tokyo's main fish market since comparable data started being collected in 1999.

The powerful buyers have now paid the top price for five years straight -- winning bragging rights and a lucrative frenzy of media attention in Japan.

"The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune," Onodera official Shinji Nagao told reporters after the auction. "Our wish is that people will eat this and have a wonderful year."

The Onodera Group paid 114 million yen for the top tuna last year.

But the highest ever auction price was 333.6 million yen for a 278-kilogram bluefin in 2019, as the fish market was moved from its traditional Tsukiji area to a modern facility in nearby Toyosu.

The record bid was made by self-proclaimed "Tuna King" Kiyoshi Kimura, who operates the Sushi Zanmai national restaurant chain.

During the Covid-19 pandemic the new year tunas commanded only a fraction of their usual top prices, as the public were discouraged from dining out and restaurants had limited operations.