Background
In early 1984 Ezaki Glico was one of Japan's best-known food companies, based in Osaka. On the evening of 18 March 1984, two armed, masked men entered the Nishinomiya home of company president Ezaki Katsuhisa, bound his family and took him away. He was held in a warehouse in Ibaraki, Osaka, and the kidnappers demanded 1 billion yen and 100 kilograms of gold. Ezaki escaped on 21 March.
What happened
His release did not end the case. In April 1984 Glico vehicles and premises were set on fire. From May, letters were sent to police and the press signed "The Monster with 21 Faces," a name taken from a villain in Edogawa Rampo's novels. The letters mocked the police.
The group claimed to have laced Glico products with potassium cyanide and left sweets said to be poisoned on supermarket shelves. Glico recalled its products, at a cost of more than $21 million, and about 450 part-time workers lost their jobs. Morinaga, Marudai Ham, House Foods and Fujiya were later targeted with threats and extortion demands. A security camera filmed a man in a Yomiuri Giants cap placing confectionery on a shelf.
On 26 June 1984 a letter declared "We forgive Glico," yet the group later turned to other firms, demanding 200 million yen from Morinaga, 50 million from Marudai Ham and 100 million from House Foods. Morinaga cut production by about 90 percent in November 1984.
Investigation and legal outcome
At drop-off points, police saw a man later called the "fox-eyed man" and released a sketch in early 1985, yet the suspect escaped on both occasions. In August 1985 the head of the Shiga prefectural police took his own life; days later the group sent a final message saying it would stop targeting food companies.
The Monster with 21 Faces was never identified, and no one was prosecuted. The statute of limitations expired in 1994 for the kidnapping and between October 1999 and 12 February 2000 for the other offences. Several people who had been suspected were cleared.
Where it stands today
The case, officially known as Designated Case 114, remains one of Japan's most famous unsolved crimes and has been revisited repeatedly in media and popular culture. The threats did not result in confirmed deaths, but they shook public trust in food safety and influenced corporate crisis management in Japan.