This week, we cover a crime wave that shocked 1980s Japan, and proved that postwar society was perhaps not quite all it was cracked up to be. Also, there’s a lot of poisoned candy.
Listen to the episode here.
Sources
Ivy, Marilyn. “Tracking the Mystery Man with the 21 Faces.” Critical Inquiry 23, No 1 (Autumn, 1996)
Some original NYT coverage of the case.
An article by the Japan Times on the occasion of the final expiration of the statutes of limitations as they relate to the case.
Fascinating story it’s sad that there was somebody out there sick enough to do this. Is there any thought that the monster might have been influenced by the 1982 Tylenol tampering incident when a disturbed person put cyanide tablets in Tylenol pill bottles in the Chicago area?
Speaking of Persona 5 and the Phantom Thieves, I didn’t know the makers of that game swiped the name of their detective character straight out of a famous detective novel series. Interesting episode though. I might look up that autobiography.
What a thrill!
This month was the first time that I heard about this case, but I definitively had notice these references years ago. From what I see this thing became some sort of anti-hero for the public.