Chapter 223 - Final Episode
We have finally reached the final episode. I have managed to complete it four years and nine months after the serialization of the main story (currently the draft version) began.
That aside, at the end of the Heisei era, the Nikkei and the Dow are on a crashing trend (though there was a long-awaited big rebound on December 27). As you likely understand, the repetition of crashes and surges was frequently seen during the Lehman Shock, and it's on a different dimension from simply saying there's no problem because it went up. This morning, December 28 (Japan time), the Dow seems to be moving from a massive drop to a massive rise as far as I can see. I have a feeling some public funds are being dumped in because they hate the drop (though there's also the possibility of oil money...)
However, since the real economy of the US itself is said to be good (honestly, I don't think Japan's is), this drop can be taken as a mere adjustment of the part where investors expected too much on their own and then got fed up on their own since the birth of the Trump administration (even though the Dow dropped dramatically at first).
But what concerns me is that because the Nichigin has performed various "extraordinary" monetary easings, changes have occurred in the profit structure of regional banks in particular over the last few years. It is said that they have considerably increased domestic real estate investment (loans) and overseas securities investment due to low interest rates on government bonds (well, whether dependence on government bonds or Nichigin interest rates is a correct profit structure is another story).
https://diamond.jp/articles/-/175942?page=2
https://dot.asahi.com/aera/2018011600076.html?page=3
The excessive and inappropriate loans for apartment management (in that case, specifically share house management) that became a problem at Suruga Bank are likely one form of regional banks' bias toward real estate loans and investment businesses.
Also, regional banks seem to be making real estate investments (loans) mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but it is also said that the real estate bubble will burst after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (though it's impossible to conclude what will actually happen).
On the other hand, since I don't know at what average price regional banks are trading overseas securities like Dow stocks, this level of decline might be fine. However, if they have been caught buying at high prices as a result of repeated trading (of course, even in the case of "selling," if it's fluctuating wildly, you'll eventually get hit even in a down market. During the Lehman Shock, many individuals and institutions were hit by selling), there is a possibility that losses will become large depending on the case.
This means that even if stock prices eventually recover, it is meaningless if actual trading occurs and losses are generated at that point (if held long-term, the process of stock price fluctuation is not recorded except as valuation losses, so it's not much of a problem unless it's a truly massive valuation loss). In this regard, as I mentioned in the annotations of this work, it also concerns me that Japan Post Bank, especially after privatization, is investing considerably overseas. Well, the Trump market has only been around for about two years, so I want to believe they haven't bought at such high prices... Naturally, exchange rates also become a problem in overseas investment, and if stocks fall and the yen rises, losses in overseas investment will swell further.
Furthermore, since stock prices and real estate prices are linked, if stock prices fall more than expected, it will naturally affect real estate prices. In particular, the demand for popular high-priced condominiums like tower mansions in the metropolitan area is linked to the class making money in stocks, so there will be an even closer relationship. I already hear talk that condominium demand is falling.
https://media.tousee.jp/news/post-10367/
If something happens to domestic or foreign stock prices, there is a possibility that regional banks will record massive losses in both (overseas) stock investment and real estate investment (bad debts in the case of real estate loans). If a major problem occurs in multiple regional banks, it cannot be said that there is no fear of causing financial instability. Of course, even megabanks, setting aside their "basic strength," do not have a profit structure that is completely different from regional banks, so they could receive a certain amount of impact.
http://ascii.jp/elem/000/001/591/1591788/
In the previous Lehman Shock, the Japanese financial sector was in a great recession while having almost no problems, but if something happens this time, it could be a great recession while problems have arisen in the financial sector itself, and there is a fear of a recession with a worse nature than the Lehman Shock. Well, I pray it's a groundless fear, but there is already a problem that monetary policies that should be done during a great recession are being given away grandly at the "slight cold" stage.
Just as resistant bacteria are created by the wasteful overuse of antibiotics, I don't know if the "big shots" don't understand the danger that wasteful administration of "therapeutic drugs" will make them lose their effectiveness or leave them with no moves in an emergency, or if they are gambling while understanding it... Furthermore, if that method of treatment induced wrong movements by financial institutions, it might be called even more malicious.
Even after finishing his silent prayer, Nishida remained on top of the hill where the memorial stood for a while, walking slowly around while lost in various thoughts. The two young men who had been there earlier had already left, apparently returning to the station.
Thirteen years since then. Japan and the world have passed through a short but turbulent era, and may finally be stepping into an era of chaos. Also, during this time, it had been decided to hold the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but it is said that over 170,000 people who were affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake are still taking refuge in temporary housing and the like (as of March 2016 http://www.reconstruction.go.jp/topics/main-cat7/sub-cat7-2/201603_pamphlet.pdf).
After the Showa Depression, Takahashi Korekiyo implemented large-scale quantitative easing in the form of fiscal financing as an emergency measure, and the business world revived all at once (with the irony that the resulting currency depreciation led to the formation of economic blocs by the great powers, becoming a root cause of the World War). However, it could be taken that the quality of life for the common people, while better than during the depression, had fallen compared to before, and the Tohoku region, exhausted by the Showa Sanriku Tsunami and cold weather damage, was ultimately left behind. And in such a situation, it seemed to Nishida, unfortunately, that the "destination when economic recovery and the improvement of the general public's life do not coincide," which Oshima Kaiji warned of as a politician's last will, had begun to take on a sense of reality.
No, to be precise, that had already become a reality within the Takamatsu Reforms, and it should perhaps be said that it was reproduced in a short span even in Tanabenomics after passing through the Lehman Shock and the Great East Japan Earthquake.
How to evaluate this may depend on individual thoughts and values, but based on Oshima Kaiji's warning, it could be taken that social failures that should have been experienced were immediately repeated, and things were progressing toward a truly irreversible "burnt field."
However, the neoliberalism brought by Takamatsu's "self-proclaimed" reforms progressed within a "frenzy without scrutiny," but this time's neoliberalism seemed to be progressing steadily within an "unconscious blank check." In other words, it was mere acceptance of the status quo, not even realism.
On the other hand, although he could not endure even one more year of doubting his continued presence as a police officer until retirement, Nishida continued to worry about what he should do in his second life ahead, and no answer had come at all. It was a situation where the words "groping in the dark" applied, but like society, Nishida might have also stepped into chaos. And in connection with this, the purpose of witnessing the end of Kanehana Station had a further hidden meaning.
If he came to Kanehana Station or this hill with the memorial, he might be able to meet that Mizukami—such a thought had sprouted at the same time a month ago when he decided to visit Kanehana Station. And the earnest wish to meet Mizukami was related to Nishida's current worries.
Just like back then, he didn't need concrete advice; he wanted someone to push him, to encourage him—in a sense, he was possessed by a desire to cling even to a straw.
The reason he didn't visit Mizukami's grave in Kitami this time was precisely because Nishida bet that if they could meet, "this is the only place." Therefore, even after the silent prayer in front of the memorial ended, he was hanging around the area, thinking that Mizukami might just appear.
However, even after twenty minutes, there was no sign of anything happening at all, and the time for the Special Rapid Kitami bound for Engaru, which Nishida was to board at 9:42 AM, to arrive at Kanehana Station was gradually approaching. Though he felt a lingering attachment, Nishida had no choice but to return to the station.
As he slowly descended the stairs, Nishida began to think once more. Amidst the chaos of society, all events are consumed in an instant and treated as if they never happened a month later. That tendency had been felt normally since the 80s, but now it seemed to be accelerating further.
People were pushed to their limits just dealing with the life in front of them, unable to look back at the past in the sense of verification, and one could even see aspects of falling into a poor quality of anachronism rather than nostalgia. That said, they had no leeway to think calmly about the future either; this was exactly what it meant to be at a total impasse. Various raising of issues was merely consumed with a temporary surge, without ever seeing a fundamental solution. He felt that the things that truly needed to change had not changed at all.
Naturally, Nishida could not say, even by mistake, that he was not caught up in such a flow. Of course, as an organization man, he had not been able to produce any results that clearly improved the organization, let alone society. He was not just a lower member of a powerful top-down organization; he had been in a certain responsible upper position in that police organization, so excuses would not pass. At the same time, it was also true that he decided on early retirement because there were parts he could not accept. However, without being able to see clearly what would happen after retirement, he was now unable to even grasp his last resort.
After descending the stairs, he walked a bit along Route 242 and entered the side road heading straight for Kanehana Station again. Noticing it had become somewhat dark, he stopped and looked up at the sky that had been clear until a moment ago, finding it was now thinly clouded. That said, that level of weather change didn't particularly affect anything, and he began to walk again.
Looking back, in the Japanese society that achieved a miraculous recovery after the defeat in the war, dark clouds began to hang over it again from 1990, when stock prices passed their peak before the fall of real estate. That eventually led to the collapse of the land and real estate myth as a clear bubble burst in the early 1990s. After that, while Japan experienced the Great Hanshin Earthquake and terrorism by a new religious group, a serious financial crisis occurred after a few years, and the full-scale negative effects of the bubble burst finally began to appear. And the "middle-class consciousness" that had been shared by many people for many years in Japan, often ridiculed as a typical example of peer pressure, had already become a thing of the past by the 2000s.
Furthermore, the nuclear safety myth also collapsed with the great earthquake and tsunami. However, it might be more accurate to say that it had already half-collapsed due to the nuclear accident that occurred in the late 1970s (Author's Note: November 2, 1978, the first criticality accident in Japan at Fukushima Daiichi NPS Unit 3. Discovered in 2007), which was the reason Takagaki quit the Tozai Shinbun...
To put it exaggeratedly, everyone has been searching for the next values to rely on since the bubble burst, but it might even be doubtful if such a thing truly exists in the first place. In a world where nothing can be believed, people cannot speak of ideals or philosophies, and society seems to be covered by an acceptance of the status quo that could be called nihilism. If this social trend that Nishida is experiencing in real time is also a page of history, how will it be seen by future generations? Nishida can understand that "atmosphere" as someone living in the same era, but from the perspective of people who cannot feel it after time has passed, it might be dismissed as an "ununderstandable era." Of course, whether that atmosphere is right or wrong is a story on a different dimension, but it didn't look right no matter how he saw it.
As he was thinking about such things, light snow began to fall from the thinly clouded sky like cherry blossom petals fluttering down, so he unconsciously caught it with his gloved palm. Looking closely, it was clearly different from mid-winter snow; it was a soft, light snow that made one feel the arrival of spring. However, because the temperature was still low and because of the gloves, it didn't melt at all, so he lightly brushed it off. As he walked toward the station building with heavy steps, he ended up leaving Kanehana without obtaining any results, and he involuntarily let out a sigh and looked down.
It was then. An unexpected gust of wind blew through from Nishida's front left, and Nishida fell into the illusion that his cheek had been lightly slapped. For a moment, he didn't know what had happened and stopped, rubbing his cheek while looking around, but the wind had already stopped, and nothing had changed except for the abandoned houses in his field of vision entering his sight.
"What was that just now?"
Nishida started to say that with a suspicious grimace, but immediately after, the moment the warm spring sun shone through a gap in the clouds, he suddenly wore a startled expression. Then, after a short pause,
"I see..."
He muttered in realization, nodding twice.
"Even so, to think that at my age I didn't even consider such a thing... I'm still wet behind the ears... A greenhorn, that's what I am... That aside, thank you very much."
He whispered this and bowed deeply in the direction the wind had blown from. It goes without saying that he realized relatively quickly that the wind was not just wind. However, it took a moment for him to understand why he felt as if his cheek had been slapped by that wind.
Certainly, in this era of chaos, it is hard to say that some easy-to-understand "standard" exists. However, no matter when or where, it should never be permitted for people to be slighted, treated inhumanely, and for unreasonable things to pass through unchallenged. That might not be something as exaggerated as justice or universal truth, but there must be values that should be protected in any era. More than that, one needs to believe so.
A society where people do not have that conviction at their core will not only fail to last long, even if it seems to be going well in the short term, but could ultimately meet a disastrous end. And Nishida had also worked as a police officer, and as a detective, while being strongly conscious of such natural thoughts once again ever since experiencing the investigation of that series of incidents. ...No, hadn't he believed that one should be that way as a human being? Whether it is achieved or not, isn't it important to always maintain that consciousness, whether as a police officer or a civilian, or in any position? It could be said that he was made to realize such a simple thing. However, that itself was merely the natural answer to the doubt that had arisen in what Nishida wanted to be.
What Nishida was truly made to realize by the wind was that he himself was no longer at an age where he should be taught or told something by someone. He felt he was scolded precisely because he hadn't even realized himself that he had already entered a generation where relying on someone was originally not permitted.
And that also meant that Nishida himself had already completely moved to the side of teaching and telling all sorts of things. He was in a position to further pass on what he had been told to the next generation, and to teach what he had experienced and what he had thought and felt himself. At the same time, the role Nishida should fulfill from now on in his second life lay exactly there; it could be said that the answer had roughly come out. Nishida started walking toward the station building again. His steps were not fast, but they were firm.
Inside the narrow station building, there were more railway fans than he had expected, lamenting the final day of Kanehana Station. Since a local train that leaves Abashiri early in the morning and terminates at Kanehana arrives after 8:00 AM, there are likely many fans even at this time, as it is convenient for fans who want to see the station sufficiently during the waiting time until the next arriving train, the Special Rapid Kitami, setting aside fans who are satisfied just by visiting the station for form's sake and jumping back on the return train to Kitami. However, for Nishida, who was clearly out of place, it was just considerably uncomfortable. Since it was an unstaffed station with no station attendants, he slipped through the small, freely accessible ticket gate and went out onto the platform, which was still chilly with light snow dancing despite the thin sunlight.
Looking at the station building from the first platform, a dark blue sign was hung under the eaves (Author's Note: the ceiling part of the roof's eaves), with white letters reading, "Jomon Tunnel Construction Martyr Memorial, Established November Showa 55, Approx. 300m from station." While the term "tourist resource" is clearly an inappropriate expression, it is also true that the only thing worth seeing in this Kanehana district is that memorial. And this sign would likely completely lose its meaning for existence from tomorrow onward (Author's Note: Looking at a railway video on YouTube, I was able to confirm that the station building and sign still remained as of the summer of 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuEQkVviU74 after 4 minutes and 25 seconds). The sign alone would be one thing, but there was also a danger that the existence of the memorial itself might be at risk unless someone passed it on with a clear intention.
On the old platform, there were several railway fans, including the pair of young men from earlier, who seemed to be enthusiastically photographing the station building and platform with cameras. At this rate, today, even a station where normally one person getting on or off per day would be enough might show a bustle that could be called a late blooming, perhaps for the first time since its opening.
While he was killing time like that, a faint engine sound could be heard from beyond the curve in the direction of Kitami, and soon a diesel car with a silver body could be clearly seen heading this way. There was no mistake; it was the Special Rapid Kitami he had been waiting for. People also came streaming out from the station building, and the boarding point for one-man operation overflowed with people.
At unstaffed stations on local lines like the Sekihoku Main Line, when boarding a one-man operated local train without a conductor, the system is that only one door on the side where the driver is opens, but apparently, even the long-distance Special Rapid that runs all the way to Asahikawa does not have a conductor on board. Nishida also knew the current situation where conductors do not ride on local trains on many JR Hokkaido lines, and he had ridden one-man operated trains several times. However, even though no extra fee besides the fare is required, the fact that even a long-distance train connecting Kitami and Asahikawa at a speed comparable to a limited express was running with one-man operation truly made him feel the plight of JR Hokkaido.
Even so, Nishida wondered if a single driver could handle it if an accident or something occurred in the middle of a line with such long sections with few houses (especially between Kamikawa and Shirataki Stations, 36.3 km). Furthermore, if the driver became unable to respond due to injury or the like, there was even a possibility that passengers would be isolated in the mountains where Brown Bears appear and there are no houses. For a train running through the vast nature of eastern Hokkaido with its small population, this was precarious.
When the train arrived and the door of the first car opened, several railway fans who had also come to witness the end of Kanehana Station got off. Once they had all finished getting off, the railway fans who were leaving began to board, and following them, Nishida also took a numbered ticket and entered the car. As far as he had researched beforehand, the Special Rapid Kitami is usually a so-called single-car operation with one car despite being called a train, but perhaps because it was the busy spring break period, it was a two-car formation today (Author's Note: It is a fact that extra cars are sometimes added, but I don't know if that was actually the case at this time). Thanks to that, even with many railway fans boarding, it was not as crowded as he had thought. He easily succeeded in taking a window seat in a box seat on the right side in the direction of travel in the second car. Incidentally, another young man in his 30s, who appeared to be a railway fan and had boarded from Kanehana Station, also sat in the box seat.
To bid farewell to Kanehana Station, Nishida placed his backpack on the seat and went out to the deck once. With the signal to depart, Nishida continued to stare from the rear driver's cabin window at the final Kanehana Station slowly receding and the railway fans photographing the departing Special Rapid Kitami. However, as soon as they disappeared from sight upon entering the curve, he turned on his heel, returned to the passenger cabin, and slowly took his seat.
In contrast to Kanehana Station, which was disappearing today, the Hokkaido Shinkansen, which would open its extension to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in tomorrow's timetable revision, was already decided to be extended further to Sapporo. On the other hand, the Sekihoku Main Line he was currently riding was being reported as being at risk of the line itself being abolished, as if closing Kanehana Station wasn't enough, despite it being a trunk line connecting major cities in eastern Hokkaido on the Okhotsk Sea side, like Kitami and Abashiri, with Sapporo and Asahikawa.
Even before the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, the section between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto was already expected to have an annual deficit of nearly 5 billion yen for an operating distance of about 120 km (Author's Note: https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/kaya/2016/04/post-13.php In 2018, the deficit finally reached about 10 billion yen https://response.jp/article/2018/04/26/309065.html). Nishida felt quite doubtful whether it was something necessary even at the cost of cutting off the Sekihoku Main Line (Author's Note: https://tabiris.com/archives/jr-hokkaido-11/), which has a much higher importance as public transportation despite an annual deficit of over 3 billion yen.
Furthermore, even if the Hokkaido Shinkansen is extended to Sapporo, the construction costs will be astronomical due to a series of long tunnels (Author's Note: currently about 1.7 trillion yen https://railproject.tabiris.com/hokkaido.html), and there is no way it can beat airplanes, which now include low-cost carriers (LCCs), in terms of price, let alone time, so the deficit should become even more astronomical. It seemed to him that it was a public works project that was almost completely unnecessary for anyone other than construction companies, and if money did not go to the side where railways were truly needed, it was putting the cart before the horse, and would only make Hokkaido even more distortedly concentrated in Sapporo (Author's Note: Since it passes through the Niseko district, which has become known globally as a resort with good snow quality, I don't think the possibility of attracting overseas guests is zero if price is not considered, but that demand increase effect would likely be limited to about 1,000 people per day).
If the Hokkaido Shinkansen only had a slight deficit, it would not be a bad thing to have a choice of transportation connecting with Honshu other than airplanes. However, when other options exist and users are limited, and on top of that a massive deficit is generated, the situation is completely different from the Sekihoku Main Line, where there is a distance to Asahikawa and bus substitution is difficult on national highways that cross mountainous areas during the winter. Naturally, in the future, expressways might be extended to Kitami and Abashiri (Author's Note: Tokachi-Okhotsk Expressway. It takes a route similar to the old Furusato Ginga Line), but stable operation during the winter is almost impossible. It is obvious that a truly strange choice is about to be made. In the first place, at this rate, there is even a fear that the Hokkaido Shinkansen itself will eventually be abolished due to a massive deficit.
Of course, there is a need to think about what to do with the not-insignificant deficit of the Sekihoku Main Line, but if the railway, which was built even at the cost of great past sacrifices like the Jomon Tunnel, were to meet an end where it is cut off in a little over 100 years as a result of unbalanced policies, it was something truly hollow.
In the development of Hokkaido, even if there was a national defense purpose against Russia and the Soviet Union in addition to simple development purposes, they built railways and many roads, but forgot to nurture the essential industries themselves, and the people of the region (who came in for development) utilized them and eventually left—the typical example of the disastrous state of rural areas nationwide, not limited to Hokkaido, is likely the current state of Hokkaido's regional cities and local lines.
However, even if Nishida grumbled, considering the management state of JR Hokkaido, the possibility of abolition becoming a reality could not be denied given this much deficit. However, even if the Sekihoku Main Line were to be abolished, it should not be permitted for it to end by just being crowded with railway fans on the final day, as has been repeated with previous line abolitions, with a single word saying "it will be gone from tomorrow." It is necessary to think from all perspectives why the railway built with such sacrifices became like this, and why many people had to be sacrificed for "such a thing," and then pass that on.
Certainly, since it is in deficit, it might not be called rational to maintain the line just by saying "it's a waste because it was made with many sacrifices" (though the importance and necessity of the Sekihoku Main Line as public transportation still exist). On the other hand, if it is foolish to lament that the sacrifices were great and for current people to be pushed around by that, it is an even greater folly to only look at newly made things and throw away what was in the past as if it never existed. And if it's doubtful whether even those newly made things can be maintained from the start, there is no choice but to declare it nothing but idiotic behavior.
Not just the railway lines in Hokkaido including the Sekihoku Main Line, but various infrastructure facilities including roads, fields, and townscapes are redeemed with the sweat and tears, and in some cases the blood, of many voluntary pioneers, nameless people forced into development, and the Ainu whose means of livelihood were taken away. How should we in the present day think about the way the vast land of Hokkaido, built upon that, is returning to wilderness again? Nishida was aware that he had been burdened with, no, was carrying, a great task including that.
While he was thinking about such things, the train's diesel engine panted as it advanced along the winding tracks toward the pass, and suddenly a corner that appeared to have been artificially cleared of snow was reflected in the car window.
"Is that the Kanwa Jizo Statue..."
Nishida stared at the place where current JR Hokkaido employees still offer prayers for the victims of tako-beya labor. If the Sekihoku Main Line were abolished, how would the Jomon Tunnel and this Jizo statue be treated? Would they be maintained by volunteers like the "Jomon Tunnel Construction Martyr Memorial" in Kanehana? Or would they be buried in nature without being known to almost anyone, like a remote grave marker? However, the train passed by in an instant before he could think deeply, and soon, a horn sounding "Foon" echoed in the mountain gorge.
It was a horn to inform anyone who might be inside the tunnel that they were about to enter the Jomon Tunnel. After passing through the large shelter of the Jomon Signal Station (abolished in 2017) that protects the tracks from snow damage, the horn rang out once more, and they finally plunged into the tunnel.
This tunnel with a history, which caused between 100 and 400 deaths during the difficult construction of the approximately 500m tunnel and the section leading to it, was only dimly lit by fluorescent lights on the walls, and the train just moved forward silently. On the other hand, this sight could be taken as playing a role in heightening eerie ghost stories and tales of hauntings if one knew the terrifyingly sad legends of the Jomon Tunnel. But for Nishida, such things no longer mattered, and he quietly closed his eyes and offered a casual silent prayer for the victims.
After dozens of seconds had passed, the horn echoed in the tunnel again. It was a horn to warn people outside the tunnel that they were about to pass through. When Nishida heard it, although he had heard it many times before, it seemed for the first time as if it were a funeral salute for the victims of tako-beya labor. Then he slowly opened his eyes and, as if clinging to the car window that had become bright again, he stared at the unchanging deep mountain snowscape outside.
A short time passed after exiting the tunnel. The "Remote Grave Marker," which was originally set back from the tracks and could not be seen as it was, was even harder to distinguish because more snow had accumulated. But the moment they passed the place Nishida had identified from past memories as "here," he didn't just close his eyes this time; he bowed clearly and pressed his hands together. There was a young man with him in the box seat, but without caring at all about his gaze, Nishida remained like that for about five seconds. Then he suddenly stood up and headed for the deck at a trot.
From the rear driver's cabin, not only the Remote Grave Marker but even the Jomon Tunnel could no longer be seen due to the curve, but Nishida began to sing softly.
"If I decide to do it, I'll go as far as it takes
Isn't that the soul of a man?
If duty is discarded, this world is darkness
Don't try to stop me—'Spring Snow'"
Although he had arbitrarily changed the final "Night Rain" to "Spring Snow" to match the season and weather, he was humming the lyrics of the first verse of Jinsei Gekijo.
Today, when heading to Engaru where the Boss was waiting, he had actually decided in his heart from the beginning to sing this song when passing the "Remote Grave Marker." Of course, if it had been crowded, he would have only been able to sing it in his heart, but fortunately in this situation, on the empty deck, he could sing it out loud even if in a low voice, as it wouldn't be heard in the passenger cabin over the running sound of the train.
The Remote Grave Marker, which became the second starting point of his life as a police officer even more than the Jomon Tunnel Construction Martyr Memorial, after he stood up to a difficult problem for what could be called the first time as a police officer and detective. And the lyrics of the first verse of "Jinsei Gekijo," which Nishida had come to hold special feelings for ever since he learned their meaning during that investigation, had frequently encouraged Nishida during hardships in his subsequent life as a police officer, and were lyrics that strongly reminded him of his sense of mission to "not create social frontiers as a police officer."
However, it is said that the existence of black companies that ignore workers' rights and labor laws still makes the news, and there are even scoundrels who exploit the foreign technical intern training system to place mere foreign workers, in the name of trainees, in abysmal labor conditions that are reminiscent of tako-beya labor. Even in this modern Japanese society of the Heisei era, although they are often not the type of criminals the police directly deal with, it is by no means the case that a break has been made with these malicious groups.
That was why he was convinced that singing this song as an offering to the people sleeping at the Remote Grave Marker would be a requiem, in the sense of offering the gratitude of his final moments as a retiring police officer and telling the victims that "the juniors following in my footsteps will surely work hard so as not to create new victims."
However, for the current Nishida, that thought had slightly transformed. Because he had been taught by the "wind" in front of Kanehana Station. Whether he was a police officer or not, no matter what his position, the path and attitude he should take as a human being would not change... Naturally, he would need to reach out to his direct juniors and the next generation even more than he had thought before. And from now on, these lyrics would continue to be a "guidepost" for Nishida, and a requiem of a vow for Nishida himself to create a society that does not produce victims like them, even after leaving the police...
After finishing his quiet song, Nishida whispered this.
"Today it's from inside the train, but once the snow melts, I'll come and pay my respects right in front of you. I'll have plenty of time after I retire... So, unfortunately, by then, I'll just be a retired old man."
But he immediately shook his head.
"No, that's not it..."
He denied it instantly. Then,
"Ah, I was slightly mistaken... Unfortunately, I won't go as far as a retired 'sage,' but I'll come as just a 'good ordinary person'."
He corrected himself firmly. And Nishida performed what would likely be the last salute of his life as a police officer toward the Remote Grave Marker and the Jomon Tunnel, which were now far out of sight.
At that moment, perhaps there was an Ezo deer in front of the train, as the horn suddenly sounded "Foon." That horn not only echoed loudly in Nishida's current state of mind, but was clearly recognized as a funeral salute.
At the same time, Nishida was certain that after this Special Rapid Kitami arrived at Engaru Station, he would be able to look at Ganbo-iwa from the platform with a clearer and more refreshing feeling than ever before.
The End