In 1984, something really unsettling started happening across Japan. Boxes of children’s candy were showing up on store shelves laced with cyanide, and it didn’t feel random or hidden. It felt intentional, like someone wanted people to notice. The group behind it called themselves The Monster with 21 Faces, and for 17 months they turned the whole thing into a kind of performance with kidnappings, arson, poisoned sweets, and dozens of letters sent to police and the media, openly mocking them. And then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. No arrests, no answers, and now too much time has passed for anyone to be held accountable.Â
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🖤 SOURCES & FURTHER READING
If this story got under your skin and you want to go deeper, here is everything we used to research this episode.
🔗 WEB SOURCES
CrimeReads - Japan's Most Notorious Kidnapping Is Still Unsolved https://crimereads.com/japans-most-notorious-kidnapping-is-still-unsolved/
All That's Interesting - full case profile https://allthatsinteresting.com/monster-with-21-faces
The Ghost in My Machine - deep dive narrative https://theghostinmymachine.com/2019/08/12/unresolved-the-monster-with-21-faces-the-glico-morinaga-case-and-the-candy-poisoning-incident-of-1984-kidnapping-katsuhisa-ezaki-extortion-unsolved-fox-eyed-man-video-man/
Unresolved - Monster with 21 Faces case file https://unresolved.me/the-monster-with-21-faces
Historic Mysteries - full case timeline https://www.historicmysteries.com/major-crimes/monster-21-faces/1240/
Monster with 21 Faces - dedicated case archive https://www.monsterwith21faces.com/
Who was the Fox-Eyed Man - case archive https://www.monsterwith21faces.com/who-was-the-foxeyed-man
Marilyn Ivy - "Tracking the Mystery Man with the 21 Faces" Critical Inquiry, Vol. 23, No. 1, Autumn 1996. The only serious English-language academic analysis of the Monster's letters and their cultural significance. Available via JSTOR or university library access.
📚 BOOKS MENTIONED
Lady Joker, Volumes 1 & 2 - Kaoru Takamura The closest thing to a definitive literary treatment of this case. A 1997 Japanese epic, only translated into English in 2021–2022, by the author often called the Queen of Japanese crime fiction. It's a fictional reimagining - the candy company becomes a beer company, the Monster becomes "Lady Joker" - but it's directly inspired by the real events and goes deep into the social wounds of postwar Japan that made this case possible. Made TIME magazine's 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time. Devastating and extraordinary. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/598484/lady-joker-volume-1-by-kaoru-takamura-translated-by-allison-markin-powell-and-marie-iida/
Toppamono - Manabu Miyazaki The autobiography of the prime suspect. Deals with his experience of being publicly named as the only person of interest in Japan's most notorious unsolved case. Currently available in English and Japanese.
🎬 FILM & TV
The Voice of Sin (Tsumi no Koe) - 2020 A Japanese thriller film based on Takeshi Shiota's 2016 novel of the same name, which uses the Glico Morinaga case as its backdrop. Stars Shun Oguri and Gen Hoshino. Japanese-language with subtitles. A rare piece of fiction that engages directly with the actual events rather than fictionalizing them.
Lady Joker - Film & TV Adaptations Kaoru Takamura's Lady Joker novel has been adapted into both a film and a television series in Japan. Japanese-language productions. Worth seeking out for anyone who reads the books and wants more.
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