crime

Tokyo bank heist unsolved, 44 years on

22 Comments
By Shigemi Sato

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2012 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

22 Comments
Login to comment

get away cars, police uniforms, flares...sounds like a police job to me

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

A 12 million dollar investigation for a stolen 3.5 million.... Sounds about right.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Sounds like one of the few smart criminals: did it alone, maybe one or two accomplices, simple plan, no one got hurt and then he`s leading a quiet life somewhere.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Whoa!!

The 19-year-old son of a real local motorcycle policeman emerged as the chief suspect, but just five days after the robbery he was dead, having swallowed potassium cyanide that his father had bought.

More information please.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I think it was the Asahi Shimbun that reported the modus operandi and even the location of the robbery closely resembled a serialized novel written by Haruhiko Oyabu that had been published in a men's magazine earlier the same year. Oyabu was very popular in his time as a writer of hard-boiled fiction.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Then he calmly climbed behind the wheel and drove off with 300 million yen, never to be seen again.

It was Japan s biggest-ever cash heist, netting the crook the equivalent of $3.6 million today,

Surely 300 million yen in 1968 would be worth more than $3.6 million USD today?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

I wonder which tree in Japan this money is hiiden under.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Those were old style bills, right? I wonder if you can still get them changed at the bank.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Marty, you are correct. The cost of living now is about 3 times the level in 1970, so it would be a good $10,000,000. To add to this article, the perpetrator used a bullhorn to shout orders. He left it behind and the police narrowed down where it was sold, but in the end it didn't lead them to the guy.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Not to diminish this crime itself, but it is nothing compared to the known white collar criminals running free after the financial collapse.

Still, it was a pretty wild plan and easy to see how it led to movies, etc.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

leaving a mystery that remains unsolved 44 years later, having eluded some of Japans top investigative minds.

I think I've spotted the main reason why it went unsolved.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

That's probably the money Ozawa had under his bed.... seeing as he couldn't remember where he got it from.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

BoredToTears, quote: "Those were old style bills, right? I wonder if you can still get them changed at the bank?"

I think you can, but large quantities would be suspicious. If the perp had any foresight, he would've bought gold.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Well-planned and well-executed. He must have had inside knowledge of the movement. He got away by not drawing attention to himself. Probably still working 9-5.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@bicultural, @Marty

That can't be true, unlike the US, Japan's financial woes have never been about inflation, actually it's the opposite. Just because cost of living goes up doesn't mean the value of the currency changes.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

That can't be true, unlike the US, Japan's financial woes have never been about inflation, actually it's the opposite. Just because cost of living goes up doesn't mean the value of the currency changes.

The cost of living increase is EXACTLY why the value of currency changes. If it cost 600 yen for you to fill the tank of your 1965 Toyota back when it was new, but 2400 to fill it now, then today's yen are only worth 1/4 of what they were back in 1965. Switching the view around, 600 yen in 1965 is the same as 2400 yen today.

The price goes up because people get pay increases, which increases the costs of the employer, which causes them to need to increase the price of their goods, which causes people to need more pay increases... (repeat ad infinitum)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This is amazing. i love mysteries like this. I wonder if investigates of this time and age would be able to solve it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

while the cost of living is different between the US and Japan according to the Inflation Calculator what cost $817520 in 1968 would cost $5212525.44 in 2011.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I'm surprised it makes it to many tabloids, i mean isn't it a shame to the police force in general that such a simple cash heist has been left unsolved so many years. I mean all it took was a little smoke and all 4 fled the scene without the fake officer? wasn't even a fake explosion for crying out loud.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

ushosh 123, as they say in Japan " simple is MORE" LoL!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

" The cost of living increase is EXACTLY why the value of currency changes."

Fadamor, that's looking at the result, not the cause, or driving by the rearview mirror. A runny nose isn't the cause of a cold, but rather a symptom.

Central bank injection of more banknotes, unbacked currency, decreases the value of existing currency. The result is that gradually prices rise, workers damand higher wages, etc. What you could buy for a quarter in 1964 in US now costs about $5.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Hahaha, it's obviously Lupin III.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites