Stolen Tokyo watch returned by courier, but police search continues

A handwritten apology accompanied the undamaged Audemars Piguet, while a former investigator points to the difficulty of reselling an identifiable luxury watch.

Channel: Nippon TV News ·

JapanStory of November 3, 2026Trari Newsroom

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Things we can learn from the video

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0:32The report identifies the stolen watch as an Audemars Piguet valued at 46 million yen.
1:02A computer reconstruction depicts a customer trying on the watch before running from the shop.
1:45The broadcaster reports that the watch returned undamaged in a parcel sent from Aichi under a suspected false name.
2:24A handwritten apology reportedly accompanied the returned watch.
2:35Former investigator Tatsuyuki Narumi says serial numbers hinder domestic resale and returning the watch does not erase the theft.
3:20Police continue searching for the suspect as surveillance footage replays.

The parcel contained the missing watch and a handwritten apology. It did not end the police investigation.

Japan's Nippon Television News (日テレNEWS) reports that an Audemars Piguet valued at 46 million yen was returned to a shop in Tokyo's Nakano Broadway shopping complex by courier on Sunday, following its theft the previous Thursday.

The report combines surveillance recordings with a computer reconstruction of the theft. According to the narration, a man posing as a customer asked to try on the watch, put it on his left wrist and ran out of the shop. Street footage shows a man running away, with something reflecting light on that wrist.

The watch arrived undamaged in a parcel sent from Aichi Prefecture, the broadcaster reports. The sender used a personal name believed to be false. Inside was the handwritten note expressing an apology; the report does not establish who sent the package.

Tatsuyuki Narumi, former head of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police's First Investigation Division, offers a possible explanation for the return. He says the identifying serial numbers on high-end watches make a stolen piece difficult to turn into cash through domestic resale channels. In his assessment, that obstacle may have left the person responsible unable to sell it.

Narumi also stresses that returning the property does not erase the theft. The report closes with surveillance footage and the news that police are continuing to search for the suspect.

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