Japan is holding its breath as the deadline looms for a lucky lottery winner to claim their staggering 700 million yen prize. The winner, who has yet to identify themselves, is running against time, adding suspense to Japan's lottery scenario. If the jackpot remains unclaimed, it could result in a significant impact as per the lottery guidelines.

In Japan, lottery winners are not obligated to publicly declare their win. Hence, the winner retaining anonymity is standard. The condition, however, is that the prize must be claimed before the deadline. Missing the deadline will result in the prize going unclaimed and may be channelled into future prize pools or used for public projects, including education and disaster relief.

In contrast, in the U.S and much of the EU, lottery winners often have the option to remain anonymous, though this varies by state and country. However, similar to Japan, winners are given a deadline by which they must claim their prize, or else forfeit it.