Intruders steal ¥30 mil from elderly man’s safe at home

Poor old bloke waken in the night but looks like it could be a “inside job”, ski masks and all with a broken window to divert bumbling police.

Nice they left old grandad uninjured and maybe, they’ll all return to work on Monday “shocked” at the news.

Probably back for their bonuses. That looks like lot of cash on hand, leftover after payroll on a Friday.

Who in this day and age keeps that sort of cash in the house/office? Payrolls are paid bank to bank, the days of payroll robberies are decades in the past in most countries.

Yeah @engliscaspyrgend 7:28am, in most modernized, western countries but some Japanese “businesses” still prefer to deal in cash. Maybe they weren’t robbin’ the stage coach but still it is suspect the two men perhaps had inside knowledge about the fair sum of cash kept in the home/office.

-“Who in this day and age keeps that sort of cash in the house/office?” -

Plus, the 6:15am edition of the story doesn’t read exactly the size and ‘what kind of company’ it was.

A safe ?

Generally what banks are for

The safe was for good security but it seems the house needed it even more.

Immediately all of his workers and recently fired/quit workers should be the prime suspects.

The question is, who’s the real crook here? The old man? Or the ski mask hoods?

A safe’s only as safe as the combination

and as strong as the man who knows it.

The three didn’t steal from the safe.

They had the old boy open it.

What, no hammer to the head or a knife to the chest? Given Japan’s news of late, may be that papa refused another unemployed relative who demanded cash and they returned for what they felt entitled.

Sad state of family affairs coming to the fore in Japan as of late.

The Japanese preference for cash and keeping said cash 'hidden' in the house, which was such an issue in Fukushima and recovered safes after the tsunami, may be at an end in our more violent age...I hope this loss was not too damaging to the man or his family...

I wonder who told them he had that much cash in his house. He has a rat in his family or company.

Should have kept his secret stash in bitcoin.

They're called a bank account and electronic bank transfers. I guess he never heard that his money is insured if the bank is robbed. The old man set himself up for this happen.

High probability it was an inside job which should make it relatively easy for the police to find the culprits. But knowing the Japanese cops.......well......

Lol, this is something straight out of a bad B movie. I mean who even keeps that much cash in their homes anymore? He was basically asking to get robbed in this day and age. Also, how did the thieves know about the cash? I smell a rat somewhere...

The sanctity and security of Japanese homes are becoming treacherous places for elderly and children. It is a relief to learn this is not another story of intrafamily troubles.  Pray they catch these thugs before they do more harm.

Is that money dirty so it can't be banked?

The money is gone but the grandfather is unscathed and an innocent child unharmed

for a change.  

The poor child must have been scared but still found courage to step out in the darkness to help.

There will be more cases like this, as people try to keep cash away from the "My Number" radar.

Poor deduction skills. That's not the trigger. After people lost their life savings after the bubble collapse, many stopped trusting banks, and started keeping money at home. That's why these old people have money in their safes, not because of this new thing that you only know about because you don't know much about Japan. Your trigger is about 3 decades off.

what you said may be true following the property bubble that left many with serious negative equity issues... nothing related to "Savings", but instead "Borrowings"... And, that is not something limited to Japan only...

Sigh. I guess I need to teach a bit of history. Of course it was related to savings. People had their money in the banks, the banks gave bad loans, and the people lost their savings when the bubble burst, due to the bad loans. Yes, the collapse was a result of the loans, but the resultant effect was upon the savings of the people. As such, many people at the time grew a hatred of the banks, and as Japanese banks only insure accounts up to 1 million yen, many people feel a need to keep large quantities of cash at home.

Now, the man we're talking about is in his 80's. That puts him in his 50's when the collapse happened. That's the exact age of people who got hit hardest after the bubble, and who have the most distrust of banks.

The comment I was replying to implied that this old man keeping his money at home was the result of dissatisfaction with "My Number". I pointed out that this person was probably wrong, based on the context of this guys' life. My Number isn't going to be particularly relevant to him as an 80+ man. But he'll remember the bubble collapse.

Now he will remember that a safe is worse than a bank. I am sure he is not even insured for a million yen.

Now he will remember that a safe is worse than a bank. I am sure he is not even insured for a million yen.

Yeah, because this is his fault right? He deserves to have had his money taken from a safe in his house for not trusting the banks, right?

...right?

this is an inside job

@Strangerland

People should understand first the meaning of words before making comments and make ad hominem attacks.

A safe only is not adapted for a 30 million yen storage indeed.

Do you mean he could just lay it on his table because thieves should not exist ?

Have I ever said he deserved to have his money stolen ? No.

I repeat, a sum of 30 million yen shall never be just stored in a safe. Or you add cams and direct alarm system to police. And you don't even need to store it in a Japanese bank. I admit I have no confidence in Japanese bank because the system is so obsolete and complicated. So a US or European online bank would much be adapted, only if he knew.