Another noticeable trend for 1995 was the increase in the number of mobile phones and pagers, as well as of ferrets, the trendy pet at present.

Cash Finds Increase
Lost property handled by the Metropolitan Police Department included cash totaling 2.73 billion yen, an increase of approximately 20 million yen over the previous year. Cash finds initially increased every year from 1985, when statistics were first compiled, reaching a peak of 3.5 billion yen in 1990 at the height of the bubble economy.

However, as if in response to the collapse of the bubble and the ensuing business slowdown, the amount began falling sharply from the following year, dropping to 2.71 billion yen in 1994. This figure now appears to be climbing back up again.

The amount of cash found has tended to fluctuate with swings in the business cycle, and many feel that the recent increase is proof that business is picking up. The amount of cash reported lost, however, was more than triple the amount that was found and handed to police.

Mobile Phones and Ferrets
Lost property also provides a glimpse of what is fashionable. Police were handed 226 mobile phones and pagers during December of last year, an increase of 65% over the same month of 1994. Because owners can be tracked down and contacted, most of these items were returned. People who came to collect pagers, a fad among high school students, were mostly of the younger generation.

Sixty-six animals were reported found, 2.4 times more than the previous year. Iguanas were once again the most commonly found pet, with 17 handed to police. The number of badgers fell from 10 for the previous year to 3, with ferrets jumping from 1 to 12. Small and mild-mannered with little odor, ferrets last year became a popular pet that can be kept in apartments.