Mystery lottery winner donates winning ticket

Fukui prefecture governor Issei Nishikawa holds up an enlarged copy of a winning lottery ticket good for 200 million yen (980,000 pounds) in this picture taken July 24, 2004. The Ticket was mailed to the governor of Fukui prefecture on Friday with a note saying it was intended as a donation for rain victims. REUTERS

TOKYO (Reuters) - Officials in western Japan are marvelling at the generosity of a mystery philanthropist who donated a $1.8 million (980,000 pound) lottery ticket to help victims of recent torrential rainstorms.

In an extremely rare display of charity, a winning lottery ticket good for a 200 million yen grand prize was mailed to the governor of Fukui prefecture on Friday with a note saying it was intended as a donation for rain victims.

"I am sending a lottery ticket that is blessed with luck hoping that it will be of some help to the people who had the misfortune of suffering damages," the letter said.

Hiroko Imatomi, a Fukui prefecture official who first spotted the mail, said the note convinced her the sender was sincere.

"It was a wonderful letter ... It was definitely not intended as a hoax or a joke," she said.

"It must be from a rare type of person who has a big heart and hopes it will help people who suffered a lot," Imatomi said.

The sender used a false name and local authorities have no way to find out who sent the winning ticket, which has been confirmed as being authentic, she said.

Torrential downpours pounded Fukui prefecture on July 17-18, killing three people, injuring 17 and destroying or damaging more than 200 homes.