The government began in February looking into ways to make good use of billions of yen in so-called dormant bank accounts, particularly to help fund reconstruction of areas in the Tohoku region devastated by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
An interim report compiled in May estimated the amount lying idle in dormant accounts in banks across the nation at about ¥85 billion every year, and 90 percent of the accounts have less than ¥10,000 in them.
A government panel meeting to discuss tapping these accounts hopes to use the money toward Tohoku recovery projects.