Chapter 6 - Rumbling 1
"The Story So Far"
Early one morning in June 1995, the body of Yoshimi Tadayuki, a company employee living in Kitami City who had come to take railway photos, was discovered along the tracks near the Ikutahara-side exit of the Jomon Tunnel on the JR Hokkaido Sekihoku Main Line. There was a high possibility that the camera he should have had with him had been taken by someone moving around the vicinity. While the possibility of murder was considered, it was largely judged to be an accidental death caused by tripping over a tree root and hitting his head against a stone. However, the reason for the fall was thought to be the influence of a mysterious person who was believed to have taken the camera.
At the time, there had been information about "fireballs" being witnessed around the scene for a short while (information from the Taisho of the small restaurant-izakaya that Yoshimura frequents), and it was also considered that the fall occurred because Yoshimi witnessed it and panicked.
Later, through Yoshimura's introduction, a veteran JR driver gave testimony denying the credibility of the series of fireballs that had been witnessed, and Nishida and the others judged it to be the work of a human. From their nightly actions in the mountains and their apparent desire to hide their presence, they suspected they were up to something suspicious and decided to search the area around the scene as a station.
As a result, they discovered a memorial monument and gravestone for the countless victims of tako-beya labor from the time of the Jomon Tunnel construction, as well as several traces of digging. Ultimately, they discovered a body from among them. Based on the condition of the body, they concluded it was murder.
Now that it was finally a murder case, the next day, almost all the officers of the Engaru Station were mobilized to investigate the area around the scene. However, as expected, since they had done it thoroughly the day before, no new discoveries were made. Also, it was revealed through a contact from Sergeant Maruyama of the Ikutahara residential police box that evening that the scene was not the state-owned forest they had initially assumed, but was actually privately owned land. Upon receiving that, the Station Chief ended up having to contact the landowner, who lived in Asahikawa, to offer an explanation and an apology.
And it was on June 17, two days after the discovery of the body, that the Kasoken of the Hokkaido Prefectural Police officially concluded it was a murder case. Immediately after, an investigation headquarters was established at the Engaru Police Station. The name of the investigation headquarters (commonly known as the "kaimyou" or posthumous name) became "The Murder Case of a Young Man by a Blow to the Head near Jomon Tunnel," which was somewhat lacking in punch, but it wasn't a major issue.
The head of the investigation headquarters was, as usual, Otomo Yuhei, the Criminal Investigation Director of the Kitami Area HQ of the Hokkaido Prefectural Police, which has jurisdiction over the Engaru Police Station, and who was on secondment as a career official from the National Police Agency. Station Chief Makita of the Engaru Police Station served as the deputy head. On the other hand, the case chief officer who would constantly be at the investigation headquarters and practically direct the investigation was Kurano Takafumi, the Chief of the 1st Investigation Division of the Kitami Area HQ. Note that the "titles" within the investigation headquarters are merely roles within that headquarters.
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An "Area HQ" in the Hokkaido Prefectural Police can be understood as an organization similar to a prefectural police headquarters within the Hokkaido police, because Hokkaido is as large as several regular prefectures. Besides the Kitami Area HQ, Hokkaido has the Hakodate Area HQ, Asahikawa Area HQ, and Kushiro Area HQ, for a total of four Area HQs. Each Area HQ is placed under each Area Public Safety Commission, which shows they are organizations similar to other prefectural police. The Sapporo area is the home of the Hokkaido Prefectural Police HQ, so it does not have an "Area HQ" name.
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By the time the investigation headquarters was established, quite a bit of information about the body had come out. Including the initial forensic assessment, it was a male with blood type B, in his early 20s, about 165 cm tall, and the cause of death was a cerebral contusion caused by a blow to the head with a sharp object. It was known that about three to four years had passed since death, there were dental treatment marks, and there were traces of a fracture below the left knee. When they checked whether there was anyone matching this within the jurisdiction of the Engaru Station or the Kitami Area HQ, it was revealed that a person matching the description was included in a missing person's report already filed with the Engaru Station. It was at a level that could be said to be almost certain from circumstantial evidence. Since the missing person's report had been filed with the Engaru Station itself, it took almost no time to get this far.
The victim was believed to be Yoneda Masatoshi, a 23-year-old youth from Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, and a fourth-year student at Kansai Sho-Dai, who went missing in August three years ago in Ikutahara Town (as of 2015, the Ikutahara area of Engaru Town due to merger) within the jurisdiction of the Engaru Station. He was a railway enthusiast and had planned to go take railway photos near the Jomon Tunnel from the morning, leaving behind some luggage at a minshuku (T/N: Japanese-style bed and breakfast) in Ikutahara, saying he would be back by dinner, and then disappeared. This was the case.
Because his camera and tripod were left by the tracks, speculation initially spread that he might have been attacked by a brown bear, and a mountain search was conducted by the police and local residents, but no traces were found, and he remained missing until now. Incidentally, the camera that was left behind only had images of trains on it. As a result of cross-referencing with the investigation materials, it had already been confirmed that the blood type, height, and fracture traces were almost identical, and it had reached the stage where it would be confirmed if the dental records and cavity treatment marks matched.
When the investigation headquarters was established, regardless of whether the body's identity could be confirmed, it was certain that they would be forced to conduct a very difficult investigation given the circumstances of the body's discovery and the surrounding environment. Therefore, the number of support personnel from the Kitami Area HQ and the Hokkaido Prefectural Police HQ was kept smaller than for a typical murder case, as it was deemed useless to unnecessarily prolong the investigation period. Both Nishida and the Division Chief might have felt somewhat indignant that they were being "slighted," but in reality, they were in a state of resignation as the possibility of the case going cold could not be denied. However, it goes without saying that the belief that a lead to the culprit (hoshi) must be somewhere also coexisted.
For the few days until the victim was confirmed, the investigators gathered at the investigation headquarters conducted another field investigation and thoroughly carried out door-to-door and neighborhood inquiries. In particular, to identify the "source of the fireball," who was highly likely to be involved in this case as well, they conducted thorough checkpoints on surrounding roads and re-interviewed JR maintenance workers and drivers. The person who created the fireball phenomenon... who was likely a man given the shoe size and the amount of digging work done alone, might have been directly involved in Yoshimi's suspicious death, and it was certain that he had attempted to recover or confirm Yoneda's body. Also, by necessity, there was a high possibility he was involved in the abandonment or murder of Yoneda's body.
The Kitami Area HQ group also emphasized the fact that the source of the fireball was a key person in this series of cases, as per the circumstances of the case's discovery by the Engaru Station, and the Head of the Investigation Headquarters and the Case Chief Officer also followed the Engaru Station's policy on this point. However, due to the location, nothing in particular was gained from the inquiries at the checkpoints in the surrounding area, and no facts beyond what had been heard before came out from the JR personnel. The investigation headquarters also speculated that the source of the fireball might have a job with some flexibility in time, or might be unemployed, given the time of day the fireballs were witnessed.
Since the investigation headquarters was established, Nishida had been paired with a 31-year-old young detective named Kitamura, who had come as support from the 1st Investigation Division of the Kitami Area HQ. Basically, when an investigation headquarters is established, a detective from the HQ who came as support and a detective from the local station are paired up, but in Nishida's case, considering his experience and rank, the support group from the HQ was younger than Nishida.
Kurosu, who was coming down the stairs toward the entrance, spoke to Nishida as he returned to the Engaru Station with Kitamura from their neighborhood inquiries.
"It seems the identification results are out. They said it's a match!"
"It was a match after all!"
Nishida and Kitamura nodded to each other and hurried up the stairs to the second floor where the investigation headquarters was located, in preparation for the investigation meeting that would likely be held soon.
The atmosphere at the investigation headquarters wasn't particularly noisy, as the identification was a result that had been somewhat expected. The fact that the investigation was likely to be difficult even though the victim had been identified might have also contributed to a psychological weight that prevented them from expecting further progress so easily.
The meeting began with Chief Officer Kurano's formal report of the identification results, an introduction of the victim, and a confirmation of the investigation policy. After that, the investigators gave their reports. As expected, there were no results today either, and the purple smoke from the cigarettes they were puffing on drifted through the air as if suggesting the future of the investigation.
"Kakarichou Nishida, now that the victim (marugai) has been identified, do you think this will lead to progress?"
Kitamura, sitting next to him, spoke in a low voice. Of course, Nishida didn't have any specific ideas either, but he conveyed what had been on his mind.
"I think the key point of the investigation will be why they brought up a three-year-old case now..."
This was something all the members of the Engaru Station who had been present at the search site were thinking.
"You're right. They went to the trouble of trying to dig up something they had successfully concealed, so there must have been a need to either recover the body or confirm it, even at such a risk. The question is, what was the reason for that?"
Kitamura said, lightly tapping his ballpoint pen against the desk. Although he was the type who didn't show his emotions, he seemed somewhat irritated. As a senior detective, Nishida couldn't show such feelings, but he also felt the impatience.
In the end, immediately after that, the investigation policy was switched to thoroughly searching for the lead as to why the source of the fireball had started moving now. Or rather, it could be said that there were no other clues left, but the timing of the switch was likely not too late. The detectives also poured all their effort into their last hope and continued their tenacious investigation. Incidentally, on June 21, an incident occurred where ANA Flight 857 was hijacked at Hakodate Airport and remained parked, an event that shook the entire Hokkaido Prefectural Police. However, it was resolved safely before dawn the next day, and it was a stroke of good luck that it did not affect Nishida and the others' investigation at all.
And ten days after the investigation headquarters was established, and two days after the investigation policy was switched, there was one major development. Yoshimura, who had been paired with Detective Takagi from the Kitami Area HQ, had heard another interesting story from the Taisho of the drinking establishment who had told him about the ghost and fireball commotion.
Apparently, in the local paper "Kitami Tonden Times" around the middle to late May, when the fireballs first started being witnessed, there was an interesting article. The article apparently announced that a local volunteer group would be conducting a large-scale survey and collection of remains of tako-beya labor victims around the Jomon Tunnel for the first time in over ten years this July, and was also calling for volunteers. In particular, it was also written that they would be focusing on the Ikutahara side, which had never been surveyed on a large scale by the volunteer group before.
If this was true, it would be a sufficient reason for the source of the fireball to move again now, three years later. After all, even if it was buried, if the buried body was recovered by the survey, there was a possibility it would develop into a police matter. The investigation headquarters was abuzz. However, since the Taisho no longer had the actual newspaper, the investigation headquarters dispatched Nishida, Kitamura, Takagi, and Yoshimura to the newspaper company in Kitami.
The Kitami Tonden Times, which published the newspaper with that article, was a weak local paper specializing in the Kitami area, whose name even Nishida, a Hokkaido resident, had never heard until this case. According to what they had researched just before visiting, it seemed to be a newspaper published in a weekly community paper format, rather than a daily paper like a morning or evening edition. Therefore, he had assumed the office would likely be quite small, but when they actually visited, it was in its own five-story building with a decent site area, and it seemed they were renting out the first to third floors as tenants. Likely, in reality, it was a company that was "eating" by renting out tenants rather than being a newspaper company.
The four were shown into the headquarters of the newspaper company on the fifth floor by a female clerk, as they had made an appointment by phone before visiting, and were waiting for the person in charge to confirm the article in question. Eventually, the elderly person in charge who arrived handed them a business card that read "President and Editor-in-Chief Tagami Masayoshi." Likely, there were only a few employees including the president. Nishida also introduced himself and briefly introduced the other three, and after some small talk, they immediately decided to confirm the article the president had brought.
The content of the article was indeed as Yoshimura had reported, and the date was May 18. The timing also corresponded to immediately before the fireballs began to be witnessed by the JR drivers. The four looked at each other and nodded. According to the president, the interview for writing the article was on May 12. Since President Tagami and the chairman of the "Jomon Tunnel Investigation Committee," the volunteer group for collecting remains, were acquaintances, the chairman's request for an interview was the catalyst for the article.
"President Tagami, I'm sorry for barging in like this, but could you tell us the approximate circulation and where it's distributed?"
To Nishida's question, President Tagami said,
"Let's see... It's about 1,000 copies in total, from around Kamiyubetsu (former Kamiyubetsu Town. Merged with Yubetsu Town in 2009 to become 'Yubetsu Town') in the north to Rikubetsu (Town) in the south, Rubeshibe (former Rubeshibe Town. Merged in 2006 to become 'Kitami City') in the west, and around Abashiri in the east. We can't survive on that alone, so as you can see, we're like a company eating off real estate."
He said this while lightly scratching his head. Then he continued.
"Even so, we're a newspaper company that's been around since my grandfather's time, and until a while ago, we were a daily paper... Well, I made it a weekly in my generation, and we're somehow maintaining the appearance of a newspaper company with this building my father and the others left me... Wait a moment, I'll bring the subscriber list."
He said this as he finally stood up.
A few minutes later, the list the president brought had names of companies and restaurants far more than individuals. It was speculated that they were likely taking it for "socializing" or for "customers." He immediately asked for a copy, and while the clerk was copying the list, the president casually made an inquiry to Nishida and the others during the silence.
"Does this article have something to do with that incident in Ikutahara?"
Nishida didn't particularly answer that. He gave a social smile and signaled to his direct subordinate, Yoshimura, with his eyes. After all, he couldn't easily leak investigation information. Moreover, in the past, they likely had some kind of relationship with the police through reporters, but now it was even more so with a weak weekly paper. However, it would also be rude to flatly refuse after having received investigation cooperation. Yoshimura, sensing Nishida's intention, replied in a vague way.
"Well, something like that."
The president didn't ask any further. In the current format of the Kitami Tonden Times, even if he had obtained information, he wouldn't have been able to demonstrate any scoop potential.
"Ah, and since you knew about the article's content, could you also tell us the contact information for the volunteer group you interviewed, and the names of the reporters and employees of this newspaper company?"
Immediately after that, Tagami was indeed surprised by the words Kitamura spoke during a brief pause.
"Eh? I understand the contact information for the Jomon Tunnel Investigation Committee, but you're going to investigate our employees too?" he said in a startled voice.
"It's just a check, and unless there's a very good reason, we won't be doing things like interviewing them as witnesses, so don't worry," Nishida immediately followed up, but the president shook his head a few times and didn't hide his somewhat dissatisfied attitude.
After gathering other information about the article and receiving the copies, the four decided to leave the Kitami Tonden Times since they had obtained the necessary information for now, after about an hour in total. When they handed a small amount of "reward money" to the president as they left, although Tagami declined once as a social courtesy, he ultimately accepted it. Nishida and the others had caused various troubles, so it was a psychological help that he accepted it.
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Before getting into the car, just in case, Nishida had the two young men, Yoshimura and Kitamura, take tire impressions from the cars parked in the Times' parking lot using the transfer sheets they had brought. Of course, since they were common tires, a match wouldn't immediately link them to the "source of the fireball." However, since they needed to link the few clues they had, they had no choice but to thoroughly investigate the newspaper company's people as well. From the look of it, they seemed similar to the tire marks collected from the scene, but they didn't seem to match.
On the other hand, the "Jomon Tunnel Investigation Committee" they heard about from Tagami was in Rubeshibe, but when they called, they were told that interviews were impossible except on Saturdays and Sundays, so the four decided to return directly to the station for today.
Switching from National Route 39 to National Route 242, around the time they passed through the Kanehana district of Rubeshibe Town toward the station, a sign reading "Entrance to the Monument to the Martyrs of Jomon Tunnel Construction" caught their eye by the road. On the way to Kitami, it was on the opposite side of the road, so they apparently hadn't noticed it. No, in the first place, they had passed this place on the way to and from Kitami not only before this case but also after this case. Why they noticed it today—was it because they had some results and had time to spare? Nishida spoke to Yoshimura, who was driving, and had him park the car in a narrow space by the national route, and the four slowly climbed the stairs toward the small hill.
(Author's Note: I will link other people's blogs and reference videos below as reference materials)
http://takahashinonuhiro.seesaa.net/article/188248513.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLbuF0AddkE
When they reached the high ground, as the monument for the "Site of Kanehana Elementary School" indicated, it was a place that had apparently already been closed down, likely due to depopulation. The brick-style "Monument to the Martyrs of Jomon Tunnel Construction" was immediately in their field of vision. Below the monument, whether it was a local person, someone passing by, or a family member, a small flower and a cup of sake had been offered.
"Is this it..." Yoshimura muttered while looking at the monument thoroughly from top to bottom. On the other hand, Takagi and Kitamura, the support group from the Kitami Area HQ, seemed to have known the general anecdotes about the Jomon Tunnel from before this case, as they had mentioned at the beginning of the investigation headquarters' establishment. However, seeing the memorial monument in person, they seemed to have different feelings. As expected, they refrained from the kind of "haunted spot" conversation they had before in this place.
After about five minutes of wandering around the memorial monument as they pleased, they saw an old man climbing the stairs lightly for his age. He appeared with a large, old-fashioned, metal-looking radio-cassette player hanging from his hand, playing Murata Hideo's "Jinsei Gekijo" at high volume. The impression was that listening to Murata Hideo's "Jinsei Gekijo" in this era was very typical of an old person.
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"Jinsei Gekijo" was the theme song for the "Jinsei Gekijo: Hishakaku Series," a series of movies starring the famous actor Tsuruta Koji that were screened from Showa 38 (1963) to Showa 39 and sparked the ninkyo (chivalrous yakuza) movie boom. Also, Murata himself appeared in the movies, and it was one of his representative hit songs. However, the story of "Jinsei Gekijo" had been made into movies many times since before the war based on the original novel "Jinsei Gekijo," and this song itself had already been created in Showa 13 (1938) with lyrics by Sato Sonosuke and music by Koga Masao. In other words, Murata's version of "Jinsei Gekijo" was merely a revival, or in modern terms, a cover. Furthermore, Murata's version of "Jinsei Gekijo" had already been released once in Showa 34 and was a minor hit, and after the hit of Murata's representative song "Osho," it later became an even bigger hit (before becoming a movie theme song). Also, while the movie "Jinsei Gekijo" is often regarded as a ninkyo piece, in the novel the work was modeled after, it is more accurate to say it is a youth story in which yakuza appear.
Even so, as is common with old people, he likely didn't know about things like "Walkmans," or even if he did, he had no intention of owning one. The fact that there were almost no houses and no "noise pollution" would occur might have been a factor in allowing the high-volume blaring from the old radio-cassette player.
The old man raised his eyes and seemed to "discover" the four strong men in suits who were out of place in this depopulated land, but he didn't show any sign of surprise and slowly approached them. He was likely a nearby resident; what he was wearing was simple, like indoor clothes. He operated the radio-cassette player, and whether he stopped it or muted it, the "Jinsei Gekijo" that had been playing was no longer audible. As Nishida and the others watched him, he spoke up abruptly.
"Where did you all come from?"
It was an expected first word, and Takagi, who was closest to the old man, replied,
"Engaru."
"Engaru? Ah, people from across the mountain, then."
Even as he said this, he turned a carefree smile toward them as if he had known the answer, and straightened his slightly bent back. Then he asked again.
"Did you come to pay your respects?"
"Something like that," Nishida replied this time. Then, the old man turned his gaze toward the monument and said,
"This was truly terrible... The tako who escaped all looked like they were about to die, and even escaping was a life-threatening risk. The police, far from cracking down, even brought back the tako who escaped, so it was a truly awful story..."
He muttered this with a very distant look, his deep wrinkles becoming even more serious.
"Jii-chan, they say the Jomon Tunnel opened in 1914, so if you're at an age where you have memories of that time, you must be quite old, right?"
Yoshimura said, a bit surprised by the old man's story, but the old man only gave a wry smile and said nothing about that.
"Regarding the people who died in the tako-beya, JNR itself is memorializing them at the Kanwa Jizo Statue down toward the Jomon Tunnel. Well, it's not a place you can easily go to... This memorial monument here was made by local volunteers. I've heard there's a memorial monument or a grave on the Ikutahara side too, but I don't know much about it."
He spoke while pointing toward the mountain. Despite the fact that it had already been privatized and become JR, the fact that he used the expression "JNR" was very typical of an old person.
"Do people come here?" Kitamura asked.
"No, they rarely come. As you can see, there's no sign of people, though it seems young guys who like trains occasionally get off at Kanehana Station and come here... At worst, there might be more brown bears than people, you know? It's a place already forgotten by the world, though it's sad..."
He even told a black joke halfway through, but in the end, he had a sad expression. The part about the brown bears wasn't something they could laugh at as "self-deprecation," and by the time they heard the end, the four could only manage a social smile.
After saying goodbye to the old man, who seemed to be in the middle of a walk, the four moved toward the stairs they had come from. Since "Jinsei Gekijo" began playing again from the old man's radio-cassette player, Nishida stopped alone and looked back briefly to see the old man silently staring at the monument. Nishida found that strangely concerning, but since they didn't have time, he followed after the other three, trotted down the stairs, returned to the car, and headed straight for Engaru.
On the way to Kanehana Pass on Route 242, a small sign with the words "Jomon Tunnel" and an "→" caught his eye. There are two routes to the Jomon Tunnel: one from the Ikutahara side and one from the Kanehana Pass side, and this was the latter. Nishida and the others had never used it, but it was apparently a very steep mountain road that led to the Kanehana Station side of the Jomon Tunnel, specifically to the JR Jomon Signal Base. This was also something he hadn't noticed until now, but today it stood out clearly. However, unlike when he saw the "Entrance to the Monument to the Martyrs of Jomon Tunnel Construction" sign, Nishida felt it entered his field of vision more consciously. Of course, since they didn't have the time or reason to stop by the Jomon Signal Base deep in the mountains, the car continued toward the Engaru city area.
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When the four returned to the station, the investigation headquarters began selecting a plan to execute a roller operation based on the subscriber list brought back from the Kitami Tonden Times. Since there were nearly 1,000 targets, with a small-scale system of just over 40 people, they had to do it very efficiently. Moreover, since there were many places where unspecified numbers of people came and went, such as companies and restaurants, it was certain that the actual number of subscribers would increase considerably from there, making it difficult to judge how far to expand the investigation. On the other hand, as it was a case that was a kind of last bastion for solving this incident, there was also a dilemma that they had to do it thoroughly. It would likely be necessary to request support from Engaru Station officers who were not part of the investigation headquarters.
However, in conducting the roller operation, the investigation headquarters emphasized one point. That was, "In the first place, why did the youth Yoneda have to be killed?" While they were approaching the search for the culprit from the point that "there was a need to go to the trouble of digging up a case that had not been treated as a murder three years later," this was a method where they might be able to narrow down the targets further by considering the "motive" for the murder itself.
The fact that a person with clearly no connection to this region was killed in this land meant that things like a grudge were almost impossible, and the most persuasive speculation would be that he was accidentally caught up in a crime. The question was whether that crime was truly a pure random murder by a "street-slasher" type culprit who acted on the spot, or whether he was caught up in it for some reason; they had to analyze this properly.
If it were the former, there was a high possibility that similar cases had occurred during these few years, but the counterargument was that there were no cases that could be classified as such at this point. Also, there was considerable doubt as to whether the location could be said to be suitable for a culprit aiming for random murder. Of course, in the sense of being "difficult to discover," it might be a suitable place...
If it were the latter, whether intended or not, the victim Yoneda had done something that became a reason for being killed near the Jomon Tunnel. On the other hand, Yoneda was a normal university student who liked railways and had lived without any connection to criminal acts, so it was almost unthinkable that he had met with a counterattack due to his own malicious act. In that case, it was more convincing to say he was completely and unilaterally caught up in it and killed. A common pattern would be that the victim was killed to silence him after he tried to stop a criminal act or witnessed an inconvenient scene.