Osaka has received a hefty gift of gold bars worth 560 million yen ($3.6 million) from an anonymous donor asking for its specific use: to fix the Japanese city’s dilapidated water pipes.
According to Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama, the gold bars weighing 21 kilograms (46 pounds) in total were given to the Osaka City Waterworks Bureau in November by the donor who wants to help improve aging water pipes.
“Tackling ageing water pipes requires a huge investment. So I have nothing but appreciation,” Yokoyama told reporters on Thursday, in response to a question about the huge gold donation.
Yokoyama said the amount was “staggering” and he was “lost for words”.
The same mystery donor had previously given 500,000 yen in cash for municipal waterworks, he added.
The mayor said his city will respect the donor’s wishes and use the gift to improve waterworks projects.
Concern over the safety of Osaka’s waterworks systems grew after a massive sinkhole swallowed a truck and killed the driver last year.
It was linked to a damaged sewer in Saitama, north of Tokyo. Osaka had 92 cases of water pipe leaks under city roads in the fiscal year ending March 2025, the city’s waterworks official Eiji Kotani told The Associated Press on Friday.
With the population of 2.8 million, Osaka is the country’s third-largest city that serves as a western Japanese capital.
