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In Japan, one yen coins don’t get picked up by strangers in public – they multiply instead

Oona McGee Feb 4, 2019
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One coin became an investment in happiness for an entire apartment complex.

Japan is known for being a safe country, where people often leave smartphones and laptops unattended at cafes, and wads of cash are regularly handed in at lost-and-found offices in train stations.

This mentality of respecting other’s property and belongings is instilled in Japanese people at a very young age, and it doesn’t matter how big or small the item: if it’s not yours then you simply don’t take it.

So when Twitter user @kaya_its returned home one day to find a one-yen coin sitting atop the intercom to their apartment complex, the thought of taking it never crossed their mind. Instead, @kaya_its decided to give it a friend to keep it company, starting off a series of tweets that has been warming hearts around the country.

It all started with this tweet, posted on 2 January:

▼ “There was a one-yen coin on the intercom to our apartment complex, so I put another one up there too.”

マンションのインターホンに1円が乗ってたので僕も乗せといた pic.twitter.com/WGVjCwDzWI

— やや (@yaya_k_) January 2, 2019

Then this update a couple of days later:

▼ “Looks like they’re now getting on well together.”

なんか仲良くなってた pic.twitter.com/vwJRJXW0NA

— やや (@yaya_k_) January 4, 2019

The two happily sat on the the intercom untouched for nearly three weeks, before there was another development.

▼ “They gave birth to a child.”

子供産んでた pic.twitter.com/e9agaKyPF3

— やや (@yaya_k_) January 26, 2019

▼ The two proud parents could then be seen holding their child aloft, forming a happy pyramid.

たかいたかーい pic.twitter.com/HJhMuH3FtS

— やや (@yaya_k_) January 28, 2019

▼ However, there was soon room for a bigger pyramid to be made.

@kaya_its
ちな現状 pic.twitter.com/1N159AoI1B

— やや (@yaya_k_) January 28, 2019

▼ So @kaya_its completed it a day later.

ピラミッドが完成しておりました pic.twitter.com/WK5qNAtCgC

— やや (@yaya_k_) January 28, 2019

The latest update, on 2 February, shows there are now eight one-yen coins on the interphone, all lined up in a way so that they reflect light onto the polished wall.

形態変化してた pic.twitter.com/5Q8hHroNsP

— やや (@yaya_k_) February 1, 2019

While cynics might wonder whether @kaya_its is the only one placing coins on the intercom, a different Twitter user came forward to say they were the one to start the whole thing off.

▼ “I’m the one who put the first coin there.”

https://twitter.com/hide1224ka/status/1089812944802594816

The two then wondered who had put the third coin there, seeing as neither of them were the ones responsible for it, prompting another Kyoto-based Twitter user to chime in with:

▼ “I’m the one who topped off the pyramid.”

https://twitter.com/naoki5315/status/1090362917948514304

Commenters on Twitter fell in love with the story, urging the apartment dwellers to meet, and expressing their own desire to move into an apartment complex where residents have an equally great sense of humour.

Others, though, expressed concerns for the future of the coins on the intercom, which look set to keep multiplying. After all, it’s not the first time one yen coins have grown in public.

Source: My Game News Flash
Featured image: Twitter/@kaya_its