The gold was donated to the Osaka City Waterworks Bureau with the request that it be used specifically for waterworks improvements. Osaka Mayor, Hideyuki Yokoyama, said the city would respect the donor’s wishes and use the gift to upgrade the water system.

Credits: Unsplash; Author: @ramonkagie;

The donation comes amid concerns about ageing infrastructure and the high cost of maintaining water pipes in the city. Osaka needs to replace about 259 kilometres of water pipes, and replacing a 2-kilometre section of pipes can cost roughly 500 million yen, about 3.2 million dollars.