Elderly woman robbed, punched in the face on Tokyo street

punching in the face i can understand,but robbing a granny seems a bit much

Hmmm, if the guy followed her to the bank then surely they must have him on some security camera somewhere. I'm pretty to withdraw that amount of cash one has to go inside the bank. If the man was waiting for her outside it means he already knew how much she was going to withdraw. If he didn't premeditate then that means he went into the bank and saw her withdraw the cash then followed her. Have to wait and see what happens.

I feel really bad for her and don't blame her at all for taking out cash instead of wire-transferring. Old people have a hard time getting used to new things but that doesn't mean that they deserve to get robbed. :( I'm curious about why the robber said "This, This" in the first place. Wouldn't a robber be more likely to say something like "Give me your purse" and have a threatening weapon ready? This guy sounds desperate. If he were a part of an organized crime thing then he sounds like a newbie or someone that got put up to doing something. Maybe someone was threatening him or this was an initiation. Or maybe it was a kid who dyed their hair blonde and she wasn't wearing her glasses... Just letting my imagination run wild...

why had she withdrawn such a large amount of money in the first place? as well, wasn't there any surveillance footage of her getting punched in the face? the bank should at least have some video of this guy watching her withdraw the money, right? the whole stinks. i say she's lying. my opinon.

She got 6 million yen to buy postal insurance. The street she was walking on at the time was a small residential street (I saw the video on news) and was not a busy Tokyo street like many people here are assuming. Just wanted to clarify that.

Did anyone ask if this old lady was ex-PM Hatoyama's mum? Someone should mention to her that her son resigned and no longer needs his mom's money. But seriously, I think there are more angles to this story. The old lady could've been coerced to withdraw that kind of money by a scam artist and the caucasian guy could've been an accomplice.

I can not believe this silly old woman was walking around with 6 million yen cash?? She is lucky she is still alive and just got away with a punch in the face. I do hope they catch this idiot who robbed her money.

OTOH, could also have been a random mugging with the guy NOT knowing what was in the bag.

I joined my local Guardian Angels chaper about 7yrs back(also worked with the cyber angels due to my IT background).

There are a LOT of muggings going on in tokyo and some areas like Nakano are a hotspot. Was also surprised to find out how many muggings were in my neighbourhood.

Onme of my friends got mugged in shinjuku in a busy street where many cameras are. All I am saying the guys were NOT japanese.

Not saying incident in the article is a scam or not.

i agree with most of the comments on this topic. This sounds like a scam or even a way to set up foreigners as bad people maybe. Just a hunch. Why would she have that much money and why would a white guy in a business suit punch her in broad daylight and get away with it? and if he is pointing at something saying "this this" he obviously isn't a native english speaker of this story is true, he would have said "that give me that!" or something.

was wearing a navy-colored business suit

These corporate criminals are pretty slick.

He has probably fled back to the Caucasus Mountains - I suggest the J-Cops start scouring Azerbaijan.

This is weird. It's possible the lady is lying or mistaken, but if not, I hope they catch the dude, make him return the money plus, oh, how about another 6 million yen, and let her kick him in the face.

hmm ... her story sounds very suspicious. why had she withdrawn such a large amount of money in the first place? as well, wasn't there any surveillance footage of her getting punched in the face? the bank should at least have some video of this guy watching her withdraw the money, right? the whole stinks. i say she's lying. my opinon.

At 75, if she was not seriously injured by multiple punches in the face then:

a) She's one strong woman b) The thief is quite weak c) could be a scam.

Can JT please follow this story to see where it goes or provide more details. It seems strange that there were no witnesses in broad daylight in Tokyo. Nakano is a pretty busy place, the whole thing seems fishy.

rabblerouser : It's not the bank's fault. They aren't required to think for you. Regulations, as such, aren't necessary. Personal responsibility is. Any person of any age, let alone an elderly woman, is prone to mishap after the attention of withdrawing publicly that amount of yen. Common sense would tell you this. This is why alternatives are available ... This alleged thief had no problems with knocking over an elderly woman, after watching her like a hawk, to get to the ¥¥¥. It's the world we live in. No one deserves to be robbed, but blind ignorance of danger is a kind of arrogance... Ever heard of "It's a jungle out there"? She goes strolling out into it, carrying raw meat...

how did he know she had the money and that she was going to the bank? She clearly knows him, why did he punch her - what an awful thing to do. I hope he gets what he deserves. why did she withdraw the cash? what was her motivation? was she being blackmailed? why ot send paypal, escrow, visa, cheque -why all that cash?

Rich grandma get's clocked and instead of seeing stars she see's a caucasian guy, only in Japan !

Personal check? Cashier's check? Electronic transfer?

Why not cash?

Personal check? Cashier's check? Electronic transfer?

Exactly Pamelot. She should have hired an armoured truck if she actually did need that much cash tot take home.

Pukey2 at 09:45 AM JST - 11th June Shouldn't the baddie have said 'That' instead of 'This' hahaha very funny!

rabblerouser: My heart doesn't go out to any thief. But setting yourself up for trouble is not pitiable either.

Yeah right JT posters. The ol' gal had no business withdrawing that much cash. In fact it should be made illegal to withdraw that much from a bank. Bank clerks all over Japan should not under any circumstance let people leave the bank with that much money. Period. Our hearts go out to the white dude in the business suit. It's all the old woman and the bank's fault.

Why the Dickens is an old biddy carrying around all that money? You can only withdraw so much at a time from ATMs, that means that she must have withdrawn the money with the help of a bank clerk. Shame on the bank clerk for letting her leave the bank with all that money. in the first place.

hrd - of COURSE foreigners can be criminal.

However... the "hakujins" are a very easy target to blame if you are trying to cover your backside for something. Automatically 80% of Japan is on your side, uttering about the "baka gaijins" under their breath.

If I had ¥6M for everytime a foreigner had been falsely accused I would be rich.

As usual, people on this comm can't believe that the criminal could possibly be a foreigner

I guess it's because posters are so used to foreigners being blamed for all ills in japan that when a foreigner really does do a crime (maybe) they just don't believe it. But times are hard, jobs are hard to find, english schools are collapsing, who knows??

An old woman carrying the equivalent of $60, 000.00 on her person, after physically withdrawing it from a bank, is a moving target. Her kind of naivete is infuriating.

Deserverd to get robbed? Are you kidding! that's like saying the girl in the short dress deserves to get raped! This is a cash society and people do carry large amounts on occasion, how can anyone blame her for carrying it?

I agree. People here are constantly having to buy gifts to people for a numerous of reasons and once a gift is given a gift must be given back at some point and time. On top of that things can get very high prices. Maybe she had a relative she was helping out or something Either way whatever she was doing with it, its her money and the man hurt her. I don't see how he could be called a man though, punching an old woman like that. Tch.

As usual, people on this comm can't believe that the criminal could possibly be a foreigner.

Catch that man as soon as possible. It's very easy to get rid of that kind of money, so I'm sure is is trying to do just that. And to those who say she deserves to get robbed...I say, think about every time you have a large amount of money on you and why you deserve to have it taken it from you.

--Whether it's ¥30,000 or ¥3,000,000 it's your money. I mean why have a really nice car or anything worth a lot of money if you DESERVE to have it stolen?

Nobody "deserves to get robbed". There are many things strange about this story and I hope the police can solve it quickly.

so sad....caucasian? stupid caucasian....

Poor Obaasan. I hope they follow up this story. I'd like to find out if the cctv caught the actual robbery. Pink Panther gang??!! Really? I learn something new every day.

Hello, please police go to the bank and check secruity camera to tress the man, as I can see that the man really followed the poor woman from the bank

Deserverd to get robbed? Are you kidding! that's like saying the girl in the short dress deserves to get raped! This is a cash society and people do carry large amounts on occasion, how can anyone blame her for carrying it?

Terrible. But who carries around 60,000 USD cash!? Crazy!

**dolphingirl at 06:30 PM JST - 11th June

Okay, granted it is very stupid to go around with that kind of cash on you, anyone who would rob an old lady and punch her in the face is a piece of scum.**

Ｉ　ｓｅｃｏｎｄ　ｔｈａｔ！

bicultural

BTW, dendon, since when is 175cm tall?

Hey! I'm 175cm!

This is the female equivalent of oyaji-gari. Muggings of old men has been going around for quite some time already.

I don't understand all the comments on this poor old lady's money and her "intentions". I don't really care what she was going to do with it, and no one DESERVES to be violated like that. That is TOTALLY not the issue here. Some dirtbag PUNCHED HER and stole it from her! Good grief.

Okay, granted it is very stupid to go around with that kind of cash on you, anyone who would rob an old lady and punch her in the face is a piece of scum.

bicultural: What do you expect her to do, carry a stun gun?

No, I expect her to use any one of the multitude of methods we have in this modern world to ensure we are not walking about with copious amounts of cash. One poster said she needed it to buy Postal Life Insurance. Funny thing about the Post Office here is they have FULL banking system, which means should have gotten that money to the PO in a dozen different ways. There is no excuse for either the lady or the man IMHO. She deserved to get robbed and he deserves several years in prison.

Come one guys, bein a bit harsh on the 75 year old aren't we? She grew up in a time where people didn't even lock their own doors. As many people posted above, there was a reason that she needed to take out 6 mil in cash. What do you expect her to do, carry a stun gun? Very unfortunate, and hope they catch the guy, regardless of where he's from or the color of his skin. BTW, dendon, since when is 175cm tall?

If he's a gaijin, we need a brake to think. A 75yrs old women carry six million yen in a small bag, alone, in tokyo? Is it a drama or a film. May be she was dreaming in her own film & went and reported to the police. Now she wants everybody to believe in her. So that she can make her dream come true by becoming an actress for a day.

Still like to know if she has a cut up bruised up face from being hit several times in the face by this guy.

Yes what the heck was doing a 75 year old woman with 6,000,000 Yen cash on her pusrse (US$60,000), walking alone in Tokyo, give me a break...

Chotto matte... you withdraw SIX MILLION YEN and carry it yourself in a small bag?? The equivalent of two years' salary for many people?? I don't think I even own that kind of money! Some people deserve to be robbed.....

Nah, it was an impatient "ore-ore-sagi" who told her not to transfer it but couldn't wait for the pickup time and place. ;)

'a professional hit'? someone has been watching too many movies

If it was a normal amount of money stolen, I would question if it were a foreigner. But this amount makes it seem like a professional hit.

Are they sure it's a Caucasian? Couldn't they have gotten the photo of this guy from the banks CCTV by now and published his photo? I have a feeling the lady's story is not that accurate.

@mitsu: Yeah just because it was another "gaijin". You should of mentioned about Japan having more cops out when there are countless Japanese crimes as well.

More street crime being done by gaijin..... I think we need more cops on the beat.

good point. Russian....or any other. Guess I will buy it.

ogtob is right, Japan does have checks. I got one from Softbank for 500 yen when they leaked my data online a few years back. So ”much” for redress... ;-)

Why do people here find it so hard to believe that a white dude could be a criminal?

I ain't buying this at all.

Im not buying it. No way....

Japan does have cashiers checks. I used one to buy my property because I refused to pay with a satchel full of cash. She was too stupid or this was all part of a long con.

I can see why a 75 year old woman would take out 6 mill in cash. My grandmother took out thousands a few times and walked around with it in her handbag - we all went mental every time we found out she did it, but she genuinely didn`t seem to understand what the problem was.

We were angry with the bank (or post office in her case) for letting an old woman walk out with that amount of cash like that. Of course, I understand it is not their responsibility, but common sense would dictate they would at least warn her of the potential risks and suggest a transfer or some other way instead. Maybe they did, but I doubt it.

As for the caucasian guy - well yes, banks have CCTV everywhere so it shouldnt be too hard to find him. I hope they string up the &%%$. IF indeed it was a caucasian. Im not saying I dont believe her....its just....well....would someone really be that dumb as to do something like that when they stick out a mile already on camera and on the street?

chotto wrote: Those pesky caucasians. I feel the old dear, but really, walking around with 6 million yen in cash?

I have never been able to understand why the Japanese cannot adopt the "Personal Cheque" system... They could even adopt the French "Postal Cheque" system (with their new Privatized Postal System...) Cheques are MUCH safer. A cheque with two parallel lines running diagonally across the top with the words "& Co." written in them, can only be deposited to the Bank account of the payee, they cannot be cashed. In fact, when I still had a little money in the Bank, I DID have a chequebook account here in Japan.

Wake up Japan! Time for a little "modernization" (although the chequebook system can hardly be called "modern" in Western countries...)

Oh crap! I fit the profile.

i bet the amount is 600,000. another typo!

How much balance left in her bank account? Enough to survive for rest of her life, i guess !

timeborder:

It does sound fishy. I wonder if she has the cut up face and bruises to go along with her story. Also, it doesn't make a lot of sense to beat her up. Just snatch the money and run because at her age, she won't be able to do much running.

I think it was that pink panther gang

kujiranikusuki- she did NOT take out that money from ATM. she went to the bank teller window.

The oldies do seem to live in a world of cash. I don't think my MIL even owns a credit card.

But how much life insurance does a 75-year old need? Maybe an accomplice of the blue-suited caucasian had sold her a dummy policy so they knew she'd be taking stacks o'cash out of the bank. There's a definite whiff of a scam here - I never heard of any insurance demanding a cash payment for such a large sum.

How in the world did she take that much money out of an ATM. to take out 20man I have to fill out out a form at my bank. 6 million yen to buy postal life insurance?!?! that doesn't make any sense.

oqtob-

Why did a 75 year old woman withdraw JPY 6,000,000 from the bank?

According to Sankei and Yomiuri, this woman was going to buy postal life insurance.

raj20679-

is it possible to take our 6 million Yen from the ATM in one go ? i thot there are restrictions in the max amt you can withdraw in a day ....

She didn't take out 6 million yen from the ATM. She went to the teller window to get the money.

She said the guy said "kore kore" (well, the translation would be this this, but I think JT should have mentioned that the guy spoke in Japanese, it's just my opinion.

Police is now checking the security camera image of the guy to identify.

The Japanese news reports that she withdrew the money to pay her insurance contract, so ironically it may very well be a crime related to insurance... I also note she was not injured in the attack. Frankly, I am surprised this does not happen on a daily basis. There are so many old fogies out there hunched over a push cart, stashing their little purses with loads of cash.

Why did a 75 year old woman withdraw JPY 6,000,000 from the bank?

WOW!!! How about using a credit card and as YOUDONTKNOW said...a bank/wire transfer.

Well, one example is insurance. I too faced recently the problem that I could not pay my health insurance with my Citibank account and had withdraw that amount of cash and head over to Mizuho who do not accept credit card nor bank transfer for said purpose.

Good one alpha!!!

Anyway, as somebody has pointed out, if this chap was down the bank watching this woman, then he might have been filmed. Also, although I don't think it is suspicious that the old woman was carrying so much money (given the feudal nature of Japan's monetary system and business customs), carrying so much money is obviously asking for trouble.

cant take that much from ATM, she used counter.

srry take out 6 million yen ..

is it possible to take our 6 million Yen from the ATM in one go ? i thot there are restrictions in the max amt you can withdraw in a day ....

nakano ward? cameras all over the place and she'd just left the bank so probably one there too. should be easy to spot a tall white man in a blu suit

Shouldn't the baddie have said 'That' instead of 'This'?

None of us want to believe that this story is true. But wait for the facts before formulating an opinion. There are foreign crime groups like the Pink Panthers who do operations in Japan. It is plausible that one was dressed like a businessman and staking out an easy target in the bank. When he saw an elderly woman take out so much cash, he followed her out abd robbed her. Very conceivale scenereo for criminals who would cone to Japan with the sole purpose of such an operation. Hope the woman is okay.

kyokosmile

The woman told police the man was Caucasian A Classic!!

actually it would be classic if she said he was black.

So glad I wore my gray suit today.

Interesting how everyone in suspicious about a 75 year old woman and her intention. I hope they get this white dude and lock him up in the jails. Gaijin like this gives gaijin a bad name.

Hmm...sounds fishy, but not impossible. But why did she withdraw 6,000,000 Yen anyway? And the story mentions that she was "punched in the face several times" too. Well, punching a 75 years old woman can be really dangerous for her life and i am sure that she would have had scars and bruises caused by the punches. I wonder if there were any visible wounds on her face...

WOW!!! How about using a credit card and as YOUDONTKNOW said...a bank/wire transfer.

and said “This, this,” before punching her in the face several times and fleeing with the bag.

Is this a "kore, kore" scam to cover up being had by an "ore, ore" scam?

yea ... how much money do you want to bet that when they look at the bank cctv there is not a single caucasian in a blue suit.... ?

Sounds like an insurance job to me.... but if not I really hope they find this caucasian man.

A) Shouldn't be hard to find a caucasian in a blue suit, that was previously in the bank.

B) She had no reason to be carrying that much money in cash! Whatever she wanted to do with it, a bank transfer would have done the job!

Seriously the whole story sounds fishy. Why did a 75 year old woman withdraw JPY 6,000,000 from the bank?

I feel for the old dear, but really, walking around with 6 million yen in cash? That is just utterly stupid anywhere, but especially in Tokyo.

Yes, that old lady ought to have been aware that economic climate and immigration policies have changed significantly since her prime.

Those pesky caucasians.

I feel the old dear, but really, walking around with 6 million yen in cash? That is just utterly stupid anywhere, but especially in Tokyo.

The woman told police the man was Caucasian A Classic!!

It'll be open season on white guys in Tokyo now. Think I'll stay in this weekend and save myself the shakedowns by police..