A 13-year-old boy found about 15 million yen in cash floating Saturday in an irrigation ditch in Hasuda, Saitama Prefecture, police said.
The boy, who was training with a junior baseball team, found the cash, consisting mostly of 10,000 yen bills, at around 10:30 a.m. and police officers later collected it, they said.
"I was following a foul ball and was surprised to find the bills scattered about," the boy said.
If the owner of the money is not found, it will go to the representative of the baseball team in six months in accordance with the law, an officer at Iwatsuki Police Station said.
The 33-year-old team manager said he first thought the money was discarded counterfeit bills, referring to recent discoveries of fake 10,000 yen bills around Japan.