NHK Special's popular series "Unsolved Cases" will be broadcast regularly (General TV, Saturdays at 10pm). On January 10th, they will be broadcasting "File 10: The 300 Million Yen Mystery."
On December 10th, 1968, in broad daylight, a fake motorcycle police officer stole approximately 300 million yen in cash along with a transport vehicle on the streets of Fuchu City, Tokyo. The loss is said to be equivalent to 3 billion yen in today's value. The crime took just three minutes. It was described as a "theatrical crime" like in a movie, and was also nicknamed the "blameless crime" by the public, as a play on the words for the loss amount of 294.3 million yen.
A total of 170,000 investigators were mobilized, and 120,000 people were investigated. The "montage photo" created by the police was etched in people's memories. The statute of limitations expired in 1975, seven years after the incident, and it remained unsolved, making it one of the largest cases in Japanese criminal history.
This time, the program obtained a vast amount of documents related to the investigation and spoke to over 180 people involved. The documents included the investigation structure and history, information about witnesses, and a list of people under investigation. A woman who was a high school student at the time and witnessed the entire crime scene spoke for the first time in an interview, vividly describing her discomfort with the police motorcycle, the words uttered by the perpetrator while dressed as a police officer, and his appearance. Frontline investigators and reporters, who were in their 20s and 30s at the time and who have not previously been able to speak about the deeper aspects of the crime, also testified. Each of these testimonies reveals cries from the scene and untold tragedies that have been buried for over half a century.
Among the documents was the memoirs of a famous Showa-era detective who was entrusted with the investigation. Four months after the incident, the detective, who had received the special assignment, revealed his unknown anguish. "It's not easy to recover from the initial stumbles," he said. The investigators' testimony also revealed the true nature of the initial investigation, which could be described as sloppy. The investigation headquarters expanded the investigation without looking at this mistake. The consequences of this came to light just before the statute of limitations expired. "Important testimony regarding the police motorcycle" was overlooked. In fact, several important testimonies regarding a fake police motorcycle believed to have been used in the crime were found about 20 kilometers from the crime scene.
"Unsolved Cases" is a popular series on NHK Special that began airing in 2011 and unravels historical cases through thorough investigative reporting. It will begin airing as a regular program in October 2025, unearthing new facts and testimonies, while also highlighting connections to the present day and lessons learned. Announcer Mayuko Wakuda will serve as Caster and main narrator.
