TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese authorities on Tuesday arrested two sisters for allegedly hiding some 58 million dollars in cardboard boxes to evade tax on their inheritance, an official said.

It was the largest sum of inheritance money ever concealed from authorities in Japan, said the official from the National Tax Agency, which arrested the women in cooperation with police in the western city of Osaka.

Hatsue Shimizu, 64, and Yoshiko Ishii, 55, inherited money after their father, who was in the real estate and financial business, died three years ago.

"They concealed most of the money in cash" in a shed attached to Shimizu's house, the Osaka tax official said.

"We have confiscated 50 cardboard boxes" packed with cash, he said.

The sisters, who hold South Korean nationality, allegedly failed to declare 5.9 billion yen (58 million dollars) out of a total of 7.5 billion yen they inherited from their father.