Rising Gold Prices Lead to Higher Maintenance Costs
Concerns Over Theft Increase
Owner Announces "Exhibition Will End This Month"
The exhibition of the gold bar from Doikinsan, Japan, which was once registered in the Guinness Book as the "World's Largest Gold Bar," will come to an end at the end of July. This decision comes as the price of gold in Japan has recently reached a record high, management costs have increased, and concerns over potential theft have grown.
According to the Japanese media outlet "Abema Times" on the 23rd, the exhibition of the world’s largest gold bar, the main attraction at Doikinsan in the Doi area of Izu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, will end on July 31. Doikinsan is a tourist facility themed around a former gold mine.
Gold bar from Doikinsan, Japan, registered in the Guinness Book as the "World's Largest Gold Bar." Doikinsan official website
This gold bar was registered in the Guinness Book in 2006 as the largest gold bar in the world. It was originally cast by Mitsubishi Materials (formerly Mitsubishi Mining) to commemorate the year 2000. The bar initially weighed 200 kg, but after losing the "World's Largest Gold Bar" title to Taiwan, it was recast at 250 kg and regained its top ranking. Currently, the official record is held by a 300.12 kg gold bar produced in Dubai in February of this year.
The gold bar served as a tourist attraction in the region. While the Doi area is well known for its hot springs and beaches, it was also once home to the largest gold mine in Izu City. It is said that about 40 tons of gold were mined here from the Edo period, earning it the nickname "Village of Gold." Tourists are known to visit the area, hoping for "increased luck with gold" and similar fortunes.
Since the beginning of this year, as international gold prices have risen, the price of gold in Japan has also soared. The retail price of gold in Japan reached a record high of 17,678 yen per gram (including tax). The value of the Doikinsan gold bar is said to have increased about elevenfold since it was made. Kokubun Ayumu, a manager at Doikinsan, stated, "When the exhibition began in 2005, the gold bar was worth about 400 million yen (3,765,280,000 KRW)," adding, "Now, its value has risen to 4.4 billion yen (41,411,040,000 KRW)." He also remarked, "Of course, we never expected the price of the gold bar to rise this much."
The media outlet noted, "4.4 billion yen is equivalent to the total amount reported lost in cash to the police in Tokyo last year, or the sale price of a large bankrupt resort in Niseko, Hokkaido," emphasizing that "all of this value is contained in a single gold bar."
However, the exhibition of the gold bar will end on July 31. Manager Kokubun explained, "As prices and labor costs have risen, the price of gold has also increased, which has raised management costs and made it difficult to maintain the exhibition." He added, "Depending on the timing, we plan to return the gold bar to our parent company."
He continued, "While we are grateful for the increased media coverage as the value of the gold bar has risen, we have also been worried about the instability in the world and the possibility that something could happen. Our staff have been anxious every day about whether they can work safely." Having guarded the gold bar for 29 years, he added, "As you can see, there are quite a few security cameras installed."
In fact, crimes targeting gold have become rampant in Japan recently. In January, an employee at Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, one of Japan's four major megabanks, was arrested for stealing gold bars worth about 280 million yen (2,634,520,000 KRW). In April last year, a pure gold teacup worth about 10 million yen (94,090,000 KRW) was stolen from the Takashimaya department store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo.
There are also cases where gold thefts remain unsolved. The perpetrator of the "Golden Bathtub Theft" in Chiba Prefecture in 2007 is still at large. At that time, a pure gold bathtub worth about 120 million yen (1,129,080,000 KRW) was stolen from Hotel Mikazuki in Chiba Prefecture, but how the bathtub, weighing about 80 kg, was removed has never been clarified. In 2013, a similar bathtub in Katsuura City, Chiba Prefecture, was also partially cut and stolen.
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