A thief who 10 years ago stole 10,000 yen from a donation box at Yama Jinja shrine in Utsunomiya has had a change of heart after all these years;

“There is something I have to apologize to this shrine for.” Those were the opening words of a letter found in the donation box at Yama Jinja shrine here along with 30,000 yen.

The letter was a confession from someone who 10 years before, when still in primary school, had stolen 10,000 yen from the box. “When I became an adult, I realized how hard it is to make money, and I remembered stealing from the box,” the letter continued.

The extra 20,000 yen, the mysterious writer said, was to make up for all the time that had gone by, as a kind of interest payment.

“It’s good this person didn’t continue down a bad road,” said the shrine’s manager, 76-year-old Tadashi Sunaga. “I’m happy.”

Source