The 10,000 yen note, featuring Japan's first finance minister Yukichi Fukuzawa, is roughly equivalent to eighty US dollars. The anonymous Turd Samaritan has been leaving bundles of yen wrapped in fancy Japanese paper with handwritten notes stating that he is "atoning for his sins."

"It might be a bit of an exaggeration," says handwriting expert Hideho Kindaichi, "but it seems to me this person is thinking people are having a hard time in one way or another therefore he's offering this money to help people in this very uncaring society."

National broadcaster NHK has concluded that around 400 envelopes have been found in 18 of Japan's 47 prefectures, totaling around $40,000 altogether.

Judging by the language of the notes -- "Do only good deeds" "Do not think of evil" -- the police think the mystery giver must be a Buddhist. Religious beliefs aside, if I ever come across a bundle of cash in the john, I will consider myself one lucky heathen. And given Japan's past decade plus of economic woes, this just might help boost tourism and bring more foreign moons to the Land of the Rising Sun.