Tokyo ( CNN ) -- A tsunami that followed a massive earthquake last month may have destroyed some of Japan 's structures , but police say the honest practice of turning in lost items , especially cash , remains intact . Residents have turned in lost cash across the tsunami zone at a much higher rate than usual , the Miyagi Prefectural Police Department tells CNN . A police spokesman , who asked not to be identified , citing department policy , said he could not specify how much cash has been turned in to lost-and-found offices at police stations . But , he said , of the 24 police stations across Miyagi Prefecture , nine of them are on the Pacific coastline . Japan 's cultural mores remain strong . Between March 12 , the day following the earthquake and tsunami , and March 31 , those nine police stations collected 10 times the amount of lost cash collected at the other 15 stations combined . Japanese children , from a young age , are taught to turn in any lost items , including cash , to police stations . The cultural practice of returning lost items and never keeping what belongs to a stranger has meant police departments like Tokyo 's Metropolitan have an entire warehouse filled with lost shoes , umbrellas and wallets . Golfer donates winnings to Japan . In the tsunami zone , where personal items lie amid miles of rubble , it 's meant that lost valuables have often gone directly to police , rather than the pocket of the finder . The lost cash has n't been easy to handle , the Miyagi Prefectural Police Department says . Money found along with some identification is being returned , but officers have been able to return only 10 % of the cash . Cash that was n't in a wallet is left unclaimed at the police station . After three months , the person who turned in the cash is able to collect that lost money . But police say people are already waiving their rights to claim the cash when they turn it in . Flying drone peers into nuclear reactors . Unclaimed cash will eventually be sent to the Miyagi Prefectural Government , though police say they do not know how it will be used . Also found : Hundreds of safes that ca n't be opened . If the prefectural government allocates funding for opening the safes , police will start doing so . Prefectural police believe that these safes could contain not only currency , but bank books , stocks and land deeds , which could give a huge boost to the amount of lost money .
Japanese children are taught to return lost items to police . Comment: People are waiving their rights to the money when they turn it in .