Glico Morinaga And The Mystery of the “Monster With 21 Faces” (Parts 9-11, finale)

In the previous part, we discovered how the Monster With 21 Faces ceased its reign of terror after 17 months and how Manabu Miyazaki was a possible suspect for the police.

Previous Parts:

In the final chapter, I present possible scenarios regarding who was this mysterious person and his motives.

Part 9: The Case Was Closed But Not Solved

In 2000, Japan police closed the case and ceased all investigation as the stature of limitations (15 years) run out.

Police closed a case that terrorized a nation of 120 million without identifying the offenders or their motives.

According to reports, the criminals received none of the money requested, and their motives remain unclear to this day.

Regardless, food companies may have proceeded with payments in secret.

A mystery that might remain unsolved forever.

Part 10: Two Possible Scenarios

The level of detail and skill, together with the technical equipment and expertise required to operate on such a scale, suggests the criminals might have been police agents or army officers trained for special operations.

Three scenarios make sense:

Scenario 1. Stock price manipulation.

Possibly, the stock of Glico, Morinaga, and the rest food companies was the target.

This whole ordeal contains enough absurdity, but perhaps the organizers of this campaign against food companies aimed at lowering stock prices and trading the stocks accordingly.

Knowing beforehand of vast swings that can happen to certain stock prices can generate lucrative trades. Stock price manipulation can apply using various (illegal) methods.

While the perpetrators established a strong anti-police stance by ridiculing the force with letters made public, perhaps it was all a diversion.

Stock manipulation sounds logical. However, this explanation is always the one we hear before any similar (black swan) event with the potential to crash a stock or the market.

We have read these conspiracy theories about how insiders knew about the 911 attacks and placed massive shorts on airline stocks the day before. We read the same speculative articles right after the first Covid lockdowns and the temporary crash of the stock and commodity markets. No evidence suggested price or market manipulation, though.

Investors often place periodic shorts or longs in trading rooms. It won’t help the investigation unless we detect an anomaly. A new trader appearing for the first time, opening a notable short on Glico’s stock days before the incident.

That indeed should ring the alarms. Anything out of the ordinary is always worth investigating.

However, we have no data to back the stock market manipulation argument as a plausible theory. Perhaps the Japanese stock exchange data and any unregulated trading rooms of the time could regenerate this type of evidence if the data is still available.

Did the Japanese authorities examine this theory and investigated recorded trades? Was there such data collected? They should have, but I have found no information of such an investigation.

After a massive recall of products for safety reasons, the stock price should decline. There is no data from the Japanese exchange, though. There could be something, but because of the difficulty of acquiring such data, nobody noticed.

The Monster With 21 Faces was a “black swan event” for the candy industry.

There should have been an investigation. It seems it never happened, or no results were made public, or such an investigation remained secret.

Scenario 2: Foreign Spies Destabilizing the Country

Police and Japanese agencies investigated this scenario.

There is a possibility the perpetrator(s) were Chinese or North Korean spies working undercover to destabilize the nation.

The motive, in this case, is clear. By attacking Japan’s foundations and spreading panic, societies crumble, lose trust in the establishment, and begin collapsing.

This was the outcome of the actions performed by the Monster with 21 Faces and could align with the intentions of a spy ring assigned to spread chaos in Japan.

A castle usually falls from inside.

Police officers that faced the suspect and investigators assumed the fox-eyed man to be of Korean descent.

Spies’ practices are always textbook.

We have witnessed how North Korean spies murdered Kim Yong-nam (Kim Jong-un’s brother) in Malaysia in 2017 with the use of a nerve agent. The murder was performed by people the group of spies hired.

That operation was based on tricking two random people into believing they were acting for a TV-series prank.

The culprits of the Glico-Morinaga incident applied similar manipulation techniques. Regardless, it is doubtful any foreign spies would perform a kidnapping without bearing real guns.

The respect for human life displayed by the group and the halt of operations right after the first loss of life connected with the case occurred does not describe the actions of a spy ring.

Whoever this was, they did not expect this casualty and did not seek the loss of an innocent person.

Spies or infiltrators from communist regimes or enemies of Japan during WW2 seeking destabilization of the country seem like a convincing explanation. Still, this explanation does not justify why the group ceased terrorizing the country right after the first death their actions caused.

This was no reason for a spy ring to terminate their activities.

Part 11: The Solution To This Mystery

From all the information available, it appears the mastermind behind the Monster With 21 Faces was the fox-eyed man.

The person in charge of every operation.

The events as we explored this case point to the solution to this crime.

We can uncover the identity and the motives of the culprit.

A crime organized by one person. One person alone.

The Monster with 21 Faces was a master manipulator with a psychotic personality. A dangerous person, but still one with morals. Although, these morals were declining by the day.

He disrespected regulations and the establishment and felt trapped in a strict society.

He was a police officer for years (perhaps a decade or fifteen years), but one day realized the corruption and incompetence around him.

In his career he encountered corrupt and unqualified officials, all those who make a bad name for the force.

He could not stand the injustice upon which incompetent associates received promotions faster than him.

He calculated he could never achieve a career in the force as he required bonds with people in power to reach the higher command.

Perhaps he made one error in judgment that excluded him from achieving a significant career in the force, or perhaps because of his peculiar character and temperamental nature messed up entering a fight with another officer and was excluded from the force.

His writing style was aggressive, decisive, and defiant.

The main suspect is probably an ex-agent that could ace any score, accomplish any operation, and reach the highest ranks in the force if they allowed him this chance. And he would have excelled in his duties.

Favoritism and nepotism in the public sector and corporations is a disease that devastates quality individuals. In the end, this social disease reduces the efficiency and quality of public services, increases the cost of governance, and in the private sector, it bankrupts businesses.

He was an exceptional individual with respect to human life, but reduced his moral restraints after experiencing this injustice.

The dark side attracted him. The same system he could have served exceptionally was the one that restricted his potential. Bitter by unjust decisions felt forced retaliate.

He was determined to ridicule the police force.

He exposed the incompetence of the authorities for 17 months, but ceased when an innocent man lost his life.

He decided he had punished the system long enough and perhaps felt regret about the death of an innocent and honorable person. No more honest people should pay for the incompetence of others.

He even mentioned his actual targets in his final letter. Two police executives he might have met before.

He used the word “career” in his last letter (“no-career Yamamoto died like a man”, he wrote), apparently hinting at his true motives.

As the police force selected less capable colleagues for promotion, he discovered the system was rigged. He did not stand a chance to achieve a career.

There is no justice, he determined. It drove him to embrace a lifestyle that he fought all his life.

The life of a criminal. And as time passed, he enjoyed it.

“It’s fun to lead a bad man’s life”, he concluded in his final letter.

Only a person that turned into this life would write this. Not a criminal from a young age.

With his final words, he left a final clue about his identity.

He paid respects to superintendent Yamamoto, maintaining his outspoken condemnation of the police force and hinting at other officials that should have taken the place of Yamamoto instead.

The Monster With 21 Faces forced or directed others to execute his commands.

He was the master manipulator, pulling the strings.

Below him, as pawns, the people he controlled.

We should doubt he trusted any of his associates. It is unlikely he remained anonymous and separated from his team, but had reached a level of understanding with some of those working for him.

He forced the people he assembled in his team to perform tasks, at least in the beginning. In the same way he forced food companies to comply to his demands.

Threatening with letters after he kidnapped a beloved family member of the person he wanted in his command while demanding complete silence.

Those he targeted would comply with his requests since they figured out their actions would not harm anyone directly. He would then release the kidnapped family member and assign new tasks to the designated individual, expressing new threats if they did not comply.

If we recall the Ezaki kidnapping, it was all about threats and manipulation.

However, since their actions would not endanger human life, it would appear rational and easier to comply, which is how it happened for 17 months.

I believe this is the solution to the case.

Not even Sherlock Holmes can solve this case, as the Monster suggested.

Conclusion

The Glico-Morinaga Incident (or the mystery of The Monster With 21 Faces) involves kidnapping, extortion, massive threats to the public and acts of terrorism, corporate bullying, arson, threats, and one suicide that marked the end of the 17 months the “Monster with the 21 Faces” operations.

Almost forty years later, perhaps some of those involved with this criminal organization are still alive.

If the Monster is still alive and reads the story, I hope he enjoyed it. I also wish I did justice to the victims and names mentioned in this story, which increased my love for Japan.

We do nothing without a cause. Was it the money you wanted? Well, how much money is the story worth, then?

Fame and money will embrace the one that admitted his guilt.

A million police officers, agents, private investigators, or mystery enthusiasts could not solve it for 40 years.

The culprit (if he is still alive) is over 70 years old today. Perhaps 80.

Everyone that read the story begs for a finale, but there is not an uncomplicated one.

The explanation I posted is speculation on my side. We cannot prove it without the means we require.

Thirty-eight years later, technology has advanced. We should request the Japanese police to establish a new investigation unit and share all the data it collected with the public to allow the internet to find the solution.

We miss vital details that can direct us without having doubts.

It is the only way to understand who was:

The Monster with 21 Faces.

Notes:

Katsuhisa Ezaki stepped down as president of Glico this year (March 24th, 2022) and, as per Japanese tradition, passed his position to his son, Etsuro Ezaki.

Manabu Miyazaki passed away this year (March 30th, 2022).

A cycle ended, and a new one begins.

What we make of our time matters most.

Previous Parts:

References:

• The Monster with 21 Faces, Wikipedia
• CASE CRACKED: Glico-Morinaga, themonsterwith21faces.com
• The Glico-Morinaga Incident: Japan’s Greatest Unsolved Mystery
• Glico-Morinaga Video Man, Ex Cathedra
• Head of cyanide-candy investigation commits suicide
• Chronology of cases: Glico Morinaga, NHK

Originally published on Medium (full story), on my "Ex Cathedra" profile.

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