Several weeks ago Mavis Wanczyk, a 53-year-old woman from Massachusetts, won $758 million in the Powerball lottery — the largest single winner jackpot in North American history. Wanczyk said at a news conference that she had already quit her job and plans to "hide in bed."

Wanczyk's joke is easy to understand. Now that she's rich she will undoubtedly be the target of salespersons, charities and others who would like to get a piece of her sudden fortune. Reportedly, her home is under police protection.

In Japan, that wouldn't happen — or, it would be less likely to happen because the names of big winners of lotteries are not disclosed, though that probably has more to do with propriety than with caution.