The 300 Million Yen Robbery Day

What Is the 300 Million Yen Robbery Day?

December 10th marks the "300 Million Yen Robbery." On this day in 1968, in Fuchu, Tokyo, a cash transport car carrying about 300 million yen in Toshiba employee bonuses was taken by a culprit disguised as a motorcycle police officer. It is counted among the most famous crimes in Japanese history.

A Lone Culprit in a Police Uniform

The roughly 300 million yen taken was the largest sum in any cash theft in Japan at the time.

• When: December 10, 1968, in Fuchu, Tokyo
• Method: a figure dressed as a motorcycle officer stopped the car, claimed a bomb had been planted, and drove off with the vehicle
• Statute of limitations: despite abundant physical evidence the case went cold, and prosecution expired seven years later on December 10, 1975
• Names: known as the 300 Million Yen Incident, or the Fuchu 300 Million Yen Incident

Called a Robbery, Charged as Theft

It is often described as a robbery, but because no violence or threat was used, under Japanese law the act constituted theft rather than robbery. Police published the serial numbers of 2,000 five-hundred-yen notes among the stolen cash; none has ever turned up. The case pushed many companies to switch to paying salaries by bank transfer, and it increased the use of trained security staff for cash transport.

Tips for Marking This Day

• Ask someone of a different generation how payroll came to be transferred to banks
• Rethink how much cash you carry around at year-end
• Review how much you actually use cashless payment
• Look into how the statute of limitations has changed over the years

A Crime That Happened on Bonus Day

December is bonus season. One reason salaries now arrive by bank transfer as a matter of course is what happened on this day in 1968.