A Japanese city received 21 gold bars with instructions: Fix your water pipes

Officials in Osaka, Japan, did not pay much attention when an anonymous donor pledged $3,000 toward repairing the city’s water pipes.

But they did a few weeks later when the same donor sent the city a second installment: 21 gold bars worth more than $3 million and weighing about as much as an airline passenger’s checked baggage allowance.

The gift, made in November and revealed last week by Osaka officials, has prompted speculation about the mystery donor and their motives. It has also focused attention on the city’s aging water pipes, which are some of the oldest in Japan.