Chapter 81 - Name and Reality 4 {Combined 7 & 8} (16-18, 19-21 Questioning the Perpetrator of Kagami's Murder in Tokyo, Reunited with Takagaki After a Long Time, Takeshita's Reporting on the Yubetsu Mine Accident)
On the afternoon of April 23rd, Nishida and Yoshimura visited the Tokyo Detention House in Kosuge, Katsushika Ward. Due to the detention house's schedule, they couldn't conduct the questioning immediately.
The person to be questioned was Aiba Yoshiko, thirty-two years old. Dissatisfied with the district court's sentence of eight years in prison for Kagami's murder, she had appealed to the high court, so she was still in the detention house. The club boy who had conspired to kill and dispose of the body had accepted the eight-year sentence and was already incarcerated in prison.
They entered the building with the women's section, completed the procedures, and went into the visiting room. When Aiba appeared in the visiting room, although she naturally had no makeup, she was a seductive beauty, as expected of a former hostess.
However, as soon as she saw Nishida and Yoshimura, she threw a sulky comment at them.
"What on earth do you want!"
The two ignored that since they hadn't even introduced themselves yet.
"Hello. I'm Nishida, Assistant Manager of Section 1 of the Kitami Regional Headquarters, and this is Senior Staff Yoshimura. We're here today because we want to ask you various things about a crime Kagami committed a long time ago, so we're bothering you for a bit. Sorry for coming while you're busy," Nishida said with a touch of irony.
"Is that the story the detectives from the MPD here also persistently asked about? If so, I don't know anything! It was before I started dating him, wasn't it?" She still kept her gaze averted diagonally downward, her foul mouth ruining her blessed appearance and sex appeal. However, they were able to unexpectedly understand that the MPD side had indeed asked her properly.
"Now, now. Please don't be in such a bad mood. It's a waste for such a beauty to have that attitude." Nishida spoke words of appeasement, but it didn't seem to have the slightest effect on her. Since the detention house had specified a time, they couldn't afford to waste any more time, so the two decided to get to the main subject.
"You said you started dating Kagami in the summer of '97, but how did that happen?"
"Why do I have to talk about that? You came for what that guy did a long time ago, didn't you?"
"Now, now, it's the introduction to the talk, so don't be so irritated." Yoshimura played the role of the typical pacifier.
"Good grief, I guess I have no choice... He was apparently a regular at the shop I joined, and he often nominated me since I was a newcomer... it's a common story. Honestly, I didn't intend to fall in love with a yakuza, but despite how he looked, he was surprisingly attentive, until we started living together..."
"After that, he started using violence... It's a common pattern for a bad couple; the man is strangely kind at first, but you end up regretting it later." In response to Aiba's story, Nishida stated his impression straight out—or rather, he accidentally said it.
"Ugh, shut up! Really, detectives are all so lacking in delicacy! Everyone was like this during the previous interrogation too." While indignant, she toyed with her short-cut hair. Nishida didn't engage with that and quickly moved the conversation to the next topic.
"Did he ever have nightmares or cry out in the middle of the night?" he asked.
If someone is a heinous criminal, there are certainly those who are demonic to the core. However, no matter how much they act tough, there are actually many criminals who are barely enduring the pangs of conscience for the great sin of murder. It was a bit of a gamble of a question based on what he had heard from veteran detectives when he was young.
"Hmm, I don't think he was having nightmares that much..." From the way Aiba spoke, Nishida felt something, so he pushed further.
"It seems like there was something that bothered you?"
"...Now that you mention it, when he was drunk and sleeping, he often shouted something nonsensical like 'It's the outlet! Hurry up!' several times. It was like he was dreaming, and since it happened a few times, I asked him 'What was that?' but he just looked surprised and said 'Was I saying that?' and fell silent... After that, I made sure not to ask even if it happened."
Hearing this, Nishida and Yoshimura couldn't help but look at each other. They were convinced that he was dreaming of the exact same scene as the tape Kitamura had been recording.
"Did he say anything else... for example, 'Did we kill them all?' or 'Hurry up, together, Abe!'?" When Yoshimura listed the specific statements from the tape, she said,
"It's a strange thing, but it was always just that part..." and fell silent. The reason he repeated only that part isn't clearly known, but since he was undoubtedly in a hurry to find the items to be recovered and escape after the murder, it might have left a particularly strong impression on him.
They asked various other questions, but it seemed Kagami hadn't actually revealed anything specific to her. Having killed him, there was no need for her to show loyalty to Kagami now, and there was likely no lie in that itself. Rather, she seemed to fear retaliation from Kagami's yakuza associates after her release.
The time was up, so Aiba was led out of the visiting room, but Yoshimura pointed something out to Nishida as he saw her off.
"But, thinking about it carefully now, isn't it a bit strange? If Kagami himself was actually saying those lines at the time of the incident, wouldn't the one called 'Abe' be Kagami himself, based on the flow?"
"Ah, now that you mention it, you're right..." Nishida hadn't noticed it at the time, but what Yoshimura said made sense. After all, the audio on the tape went like this:
'I recovered the paper and the notebook that guy had. Hurry up and recover that!'
'Where was it?'
'He said it's at the outlet, hurry up!'
'Ah, found it, found it! Hurry up, together, Abe!'
'Ah... that damn habit again... Let's go, quick!'
If Kagami was the one mentioning the outlet, then it would be common sense to assume that the "Abe" being called was actually Kagami. Since they had been investigating on the premise that the one who called out "Abe" was Kagami, this would be clearly strange.
"But, isn't it possible that what someone else said to him left an impression, rather than what he said himself? Or—and I'm saying this even though it would completely invalidate the premise of the investigation so far—maybe they were calling each other by different names like code names?"
"No, no, Assistant Manager Nishida! That can't be it, can it!? Certainly, the denial of the investigation policy that assumed 'the one called out to was the one with the surname Abe' is... although I don't want to think about it, it might be an unavoidable correction if it's necessary... but if it was like a code name, I don't think there would be any need to say 'bad habit' afterward, would there? Originally, it was to prevent their real names from being revealed, and in reality, the investigation was disrupted exactly as intended. If it was a 'performance' to make them think it was their real surname, then the opponent was just too good, but did they have the leeway to perform like that?" Nishida tried to patch things up, but Yoshimura didn't seem convinced at all and just kept tilting his head.
"But if you think about it, in the end, the audio also couldn't be clearly identified as to which one it was, partly because the recorder was in Kitamura-san's breast pocket and the two voices had no major characteristics and sounded similar. In other words, you can't say for sure which one said 'Abe' in the end, can you?"
"That's why, in the voiceprint analysis we did, we were able to distinguish the voices of each perpetrator, but since there was no data of Kagami's voice from when he was alive, we ended up not knowing which one was Kagami. Of course, there's no data for the partner at this point. However, the perpetrator who mentioned the outlet and the perpetrator who said 'Abe' are definitely different people."
"Ah, so we put it through voiceprint analysis because we couldn't tell by ear... But it's certain we don't know which voice is Kagami's. In that case, it's certainly possible that Kagami was the one called 'Abe'... If the 'bad habit' meant that he got someone's name wrong, is it possible...?"
"Eh? Then, Yoshimura, do you really think the one who was called 'Hurry up, together, Abe' was actually Kagami?" Nishida asked exaggeratedly, with some irony, since his own theory had been rejected and then Yoshimura had moved in a similar direction.
"No, I wouldn't go that far... but considering that the guy in the dream mentioned the outlet, something just doesn't sit right..." Since it didn't feel right, he didn't add anything more. And the two headed out of the detention house building, lost in thought.
"But still, for having come all the way to Tokyo, it's frustrating that there were no results as hoped. Rather, it's more accurate to say the confusion has deepened..." While waiting for a taxi in front of the detention house entrance, Nishida grumbled to Yoshimura.
At 6:00 PM that day, Nishida and Yoshimura were sitting at the counter of "Charmant" in Shinjuku Golden Gai. Since they were staying in Tokyo anyway, they had told Takagaki in advance that they would be in town for an investigation and wanted to see him. They had chosen a hotel in Shinjuku, away from both Katsushika and Haneda, for this purpose. It had been since November '95, when Takagaki came to Kitami, that they had met in person. It had been nearly seven years.
On the other hand, Nishida had actually stopped by Charmant three years ago during a business trip to Tokyo for an investigation while he was at the Chitose Station. The bartender, Saito, remembered Nishida well and hadn't forgotten that he was a detective. Of course, he recognized Nishida when he came to the shop this time.
Moreover, despite not having met for seven years, he also remembered Yoshimura, who was with him, and Nishida was amazed by his memory. It seemed that the fact that detectives from Hokkaido had shown up at a bar in a back alley of Shinjuku had been strongly etched in his memory.
The three, including the bartender, toasted with highballs to celebrate their reunion, but the other main character, Takagaki, had left a message for Nishida saying he would be "a little late" and hadn't shown up even after 9:00 PM. Nishida and Yoshimura were drinking happily, so they were already half-indifferent to Takagaki, but as if he knew the situation, Takagaki finally arrived and opened the shop door with vigor.
"Yo! It's been a long time!" The two thought he still had a loud voice and a big attitude, but they didn't show it and responded,
"You're late! We've been waiting for you!"
"No, sorry, sorry! I was meeting with a subject for a story and it took some time... You two look like you've already had quite a bit?" Takagaki said this and looked at the bartender for confirmation. The bartender smiled and nodded, so Takagaki accepted it with a "I thought so" and settled into his usual seat by the wall.
"How was it? The questioning of the woman who killed Kagami? Did it go well?"
"Even though you've helped us before, we can't tell the details to someone who is basically an outsider like you, Takagaki-san!" Yoshimura spat out.
"I suppose so. You guys almost got into trouble before!" Takagaki laughed loudly.
"Briefly put, you can conclude that 'basically, there was no point in coming all the way to Tokyo'," Nishida answered in a somewhat dismissive tone.
"Ho... that's a shame. Anyway, the people involved in this series of incidents sure die a lot. I wonder if they're cursed like Tutankhamun?"
At the comment, which could be taken as either serious or a joke, Yoshimura flatly denied it from the start: "Hokkaido isn't Egypt!"
"Well, if you're punching a woman, you're bound to be hated, regardless of any curse..." Nishida said exasperatedly, and Takagaki laughed exaggeratedly, "So a real woman is more formidable than a curse, huh?"
Takagaki joined them, and for a while, they talked about trivial things while drinking, but the conversation eventually turned back to the incident.
"What about the Sada Minoru murder? Including everything from Motohashi's indictment to the finalization of the sentence, the statute of limitations is... exactly this year, right? Is there any information that might lead to the case?"
"The statute of limitations for that is actually the hidden major factor why Yoshimura and I were transferred to Kitami, so in terms of the order of what should be solved, it's actually that one rather than the hospital shooting incident... It's technically solved by pinning it on Motohashi in the end, but... Ah, Master, another highball! ...Honestly, there's no lead at all." Nishida explained the current situation while asking the bartender for a refill.
"The fingerprints... That was painful. After they didn't match the fingerprints I sent, you even went so far as to sneak into Oshima's inner circle to get fingerprints, and even then it was no good, right? From what I heard from Takeshita later."
"That's right. I think the real person of Oshima probably killed Kuwano and just assumed his identity, but it's just a hypothesis... And even if that's the case, I don't clearly know why he needed to assume Kuwano's identity." Nishida gulped down a significant amount of the highball the bartender had made as soon as it was placed in front of him.
"I'd heard about that from Takeshita before too. I met Takeshita four years ago in Sapporo when I went to Hokkaido for a story, and two years ago when he came to Tokyo."
"You two met directly quite a bit, didn't you?"
"Yoshimura-kun! Well, since he also became a colleague of mine in a way, I feel more of a kinship than before, and he'd call me to ask for advice from me, his senior. Well, I'm in no position to give advice to a guy whose name appears as part of a writing team for a serialized article that wins the Newspaper Association Award." He spoke to Yoshimura with pride and self-deprecation, even though he was getting drunk.
"Ah, did you see it too, Takagaki-san? The article about the earthquake he was involved in?"
"Nishida-san, I didn't see it in real-time. I saw it all together later. I thought the reporter from the Hyogo Shinbun and the reporter from the Doho did a good job. It was a good article that stayed close to the victims while excluding sentimentality as much as possible. It also clearly pointed out specific problems and challenges."
"Certainly. I'm not in a position to criticize whether an article is good or bad, but I think it was quite a readable article. I told him that directly too."
"You thought so too! If his former boss thinks that, Takeshita will feel it was worth switching careers," Takagaki said, lighting a cigarette with satisfaction.
"Someone I was investigating with is now a newspaper reporter... I thought he wasn't the type for the police, but thinking about it now, it's still strange... It was about seven years ago, but it feels like a very long time ago."
"Well, yeah. I've never heard of such a pattern except for him. I don't think it's unprecedented, but..." The conversation between Yoshimura and Takagaki was different from the previous tone, and Nishida himself was feeling nostalgic.
"By the way, are you writing anything now, Takagaki-san?" With that feeling, he ventured to change the subject.
"Right now, I'm in the middle of chasing the people around Prime Minister Takamatsu and the changes in the internal dynamics of the Minyu Party."
"Heh... and how is it, Takamatsu's 'thorough restructuring' or whatever?"
"Nishida-san, the fact that you put it that way means you don't really trust it, do you?"
"Well, do you think he can do it, Takagaki-san?"
"Hahaha. You've got me there!" He laughed loudly, but it was clearly not from the heart.
"Is it no good after all?"
"Well... in the end, didn't the interests just shift from the Hakozaki-Umeda faction to the Shitetsu-kai? As far as I can see, I think that's the correct and unmistakable recognition for now, unfortunately!"
"You're quite assertive about it." To Yoshimura's teasing way of putting it, he simply replied, "I'm serious," and Nishida felt a sense of "reality" in that.
"Right, right... anyway, the 'intra-party change of government' seems to be a tailwind for you guys. You can feel the pressure from the Umeda faction decreasing in various situations, after all."
"I'm certainly feeling that to some extent, after all." Nishida also felt that.
"In the first place, Oshima himself is old. No matter what, he's in his late eighties, right? There won't be a next time for him. The Hakozaki faction has also completely become the Umeda faction, with Umeda Tatsunosuke as the leader, having been inherited by the junior Hakozaki from the old man Hakozaki who already died—though he's a middle-aged man himself." In fact, Nishida still called it the Hakozaki faction sometimes, but as Takagaki said, it's common now to call it the "Umeda faction."
"That aside, the investigation into Oshima's academic background that Takeshita asked for—it seems you hit a wall at the Former Second High School, but you really looked into it that far. There must have been many people who died in the war or from old age..."
"It was actually difficult... As rumored, the real Kuwano must have been almost certainly brilliant. He skipped a grade from the former middle school, after all. But no stories about his time at the Second High School ever come out. It's possible his schoolmates died, but it was also said that he might have dropped out..."
"Ironically, that would match Oshima's—or rather, Tada (Kuwano) Yasushi's (after changing his name from Kinya)—statement that he 'only finished former middle school', if that dropout theory is true."
"That's how it would be. I don't know if Oshima knew that about Kuwano and said it consciously, or if it was a coincidence, or if Oshima himself was actually in such a situation."
Yoshimura cut in there.
"If we assume that the real Kuwano himself dropped out of the former high school, it overlaps slightly with the era when his family suffered terrible damage from the tsunami, so as expected, just as 'Oshima' told Tada Sakura and Koshiba, the 'economic reason' might have been the trigger for his withdrawal, and he practically ended up with an academic background of only former middle school? Even for the real Kuwano. Did Oshima know that and make the statement? Or did Oshima just state his own situation..."
"There are many things we don't know, but the fact that Oshima Kaiji has been impersonating Kuwano for such a long time... regardless of whether that's the conclusion... and no one has found out, means that Kuwano probably became completely alone in the world due to the tsunami, doesn't it? In that case, as Yoshimura-kun says, I don't think he could have paid the tuition for the former high school. It must have been a considerable amount back then too." Takagaki supported Yoshimura's first theory.
"I've heard that the former high schools back then were places you couldn't go to unless you were quite academically capable, so including skipping a grade, it's certain he was quite brilliant. This strongly matches the evaluation of Kuwano by Sada Toru and Hojo Masato. He also seems to have had charisma. That person suddenly disappeared, and for whatever reason, there's a high possibility that the real person of Oshima Kaiji took his place. And the evaluation of Kuwano 'Yasushi' by Koshiba, who was a Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblyman—it might have been because Koshiba himself was a graduate of Tokyo Imperial University—wasn't that high. However, if he was at a level to skip a grade to the former high school, even a graduate of the Imperial University should have felt something... Does that also serve as testimony backing up that it wasn't Kuwano himself? But what happened... Is the theory of Kuwano's murder correct? If so, what's the reason? Hmm." Takagaki, who had been staring at the groaning Nishida for a while, said,
"Well, you guys must have a headache too. Things from the distant past are too complicatedly intertwined. I'm not directly involved, but I sympathize with how hard it is..." and tilted his glass.
"That aside, I haven't heard much detailed news about the shooting incident investigation since the news about Kagami around last year, but what's going on? Do you have a lead on the accomplice? Aside from the fact that you guys heard from Kagami's woman today. Takeshita also says he can't know police information even if he wanted to now that he's left, so he doesn't know and can't tell me." Takagaki suddenly said this after a light sip.
"Takeshita is saying that?" Nishida heard this with some surprise. This was because he thought that if it was Takeshita, he could gather information to some extent, such as by asking Nishida, if he wanted to.
Until now, he had vaguely imagined that since Takeshita had left the police, he might not have been uninterested, but he hadn't done so because there was no particular need... Nishida himself hadn't been directly involved in this investigation since leaving Engaru, so the information he could get was limited...
However, looking at the recent situation and hearing Takagaki's talk now, he felt that the idea that Takeshita didn't need to ask because he had left the police was definitely wrong. He certainly couldn't be indifferent to the series of incidents. He had been so invested in the investigation at the time...
And Nishida had returned to the "field" this spring. In that case, he thought that since Takeshita had become a newspaper reporter, he either thought it was better for the police and the press to have a certain level of tension and was daring to refrain from asking in detail, or he was being considerate of Nishida's "exceeding his authority" as the one in charge of the case. On the other hand, he was starting to think that the recent Takeshita might be at the limit of suppressing that "ardent desire" because the investigation was showing new developments.
"Yeah, he's saying that and he was saying that." Takagaki answered.
"I see... He hasn't asked me. So, to return to the subject, the shooting incident investigation has hit a snag due to a certain condition, unfortunately." Nishida suddenly changed the subject, conscious of the fact that he hadn't given Takagaki the "Abe" information from the tape yet.
"I thought finding one perpetrator was a huge harvest."
"Of course it is. He came out from an unexpected place, after all. He was dead, though."
"And today, there was no harvest from the woman who killed him... But what is that 'certain condition'?"
Naturally, no journalist would fail to poke at that. Takagaki was no exception.
"Since I didn't say it seven years ago, I can't say it now either."
"Nishida-san! There are things you can say precisely because it's seven years later, aren't there? And isn't it a bit much to bring it up yourself and then say that?" Takagaki slapped Nishida's shoulder exaggeratedly.
"No, I can't say it." To the cold behavior despite having brought up the topic as pointed out,
"You're stubborn, aren't you?" Takagaki said playfully and downed the rest of his drink.
"No, we're even, aren't we? Rather, you're the stubborn one." Nishida also responded without losing, with a laugh.
After having such a silly exchange for a while, the two left the shop with Takagaki. Takagaki hailed a taxi at the entrance of Golden Gai, and as he was ducking to get in, he looked toward Nishida and the other and suddenly shouted,
"The story about me cooperating is still ongoing even seven years later! Don't you forget that!"
"I know! If anything happens, I'll be the first to ask for help!" After confirming Nishida said that, he waved his hand two or three times, and as soon as he was completely inside the car, the door closed and the taxi drove away.
"He was exactly the same as back then, in both appearance and personality..."
"Yeah, that man doesn't change. For better or worse... On the other hand, what about us?"
"Huh? ...Well, what do you think? Don't people often not really know about themselves?" Questioned back by Nishida, Yoshimura dodged. Nishida, who had asked, didn't really know either. Had they grown, deteriorated, or remained unchanged?
"Well, we're going back to Kitami first thing tomorrow morning, so let's go back and get to bed!" The two resumed their stopped walk and headed toward the business hotel they had booked nearby.
Tuesday, April 30th. On the third floor of the Hokkaido Shinpo Monbetsu Branch office in Monbetsu, one of the fishing hub cities on the Okhotsk Sea side, Takeshita was called to the desk of News Editor Kumada along with his young junior, Reporter Hamada.
"Takeshita, do you know... about this?"
The first thing that jumped into Takeshita's eyes from the few sheets of paper handed to him was the text "Yubetsu Mine Accident."
"I'm not detailed on it, but of course I know. I think we also put out small articles about the memorial service every year, or at least occasionally, on May 26th?" As he said this, Takeshita naturally remembered the story of the Boss's father at the izakaya "Yusen" seven years ago, who was said to have died in the Yubetsu Mine Accident.
"Exactly. But we didn't have anyone go to cover it last year." Kumada spoke as if reminiscing.
"Well, that doesn't matter. So, as it says in the materials I gave you, this year marks exactly the 60th anniversary since that accident occurred. It was 1942, Showa 17, right? This year is 2002. It's exactly 60 years on May 26th. Since it's a milestone year, the headquarters has instructed us to run a seven-part serialized feature article about it over a week toward the end of May. I want you and Hamada to do it." He spoke in a tone that was strictly a business communication, as if it were someone else's problem.
"It's the 60th anniversary, but didn't they do a feature ten years ago in '92 for the 50th anniversary?" Hearing that, Reporter Hamada voiced a reasonable doubt.
"I wonder... I don't know how it was ten years ago, but anyway, the story is to do it on a large scale this time, so I'm just giving the instruction as is. It seems there was a request from the accident's bereaved family association to write an article about it." Kumada answered with a troubled expression. In response,
"Anyway, I understand the general story. However, with just these summary materials of the accident, it's actually difficult to write a serialized article. There's no point in just listing what's written here," Takeshita said, bringing the conversation back to the main point as if to offer a helping hand. In fact, it was actually impossible to write several serialized articles with just the materials given by Kumada.
"Ah, sorry. About that... for now, please interview the people in these materials." The new materials Kumada handed over had the name "Ouchi Kiyoshi, Professor, Faculty of Letters, Kitami Seiyo University" and the text "Sasaki Tatsuzo, Union Leader of Saroma Fishery Cooperative (Chairman of the Yubetsu Mine Accident Bereaved Family Association)."
"I can tell who Mr. Sasaki is from his title, but what about this professor from Kitami Seiyo University? Is he an expert in the field of history?"
"Probably? He's apparently a person who has various detailed materials about this accident."
"I see. I understand for now. I'll meet these two, hear various things, and then think about what to write."
Returning to his seat with Hamada, Takeshita began to look at the first materials he received with the young reporter. Despite being a major catastrophe with 112 dead (including those who died later from injuries), it was only slightly reported within the prefecture at the time because it was during the war.
The Yubetsu Mine Accident was an accident caused by the explosion of a naval mine that had washed ashore in what is now the town of Yubetsu, then the village of Shimoyubetsu, in 1942 (Showa 17). 106 people died instantly, and including those who died from their injuries, a total of 112 people died, with an equal number of 112 injured. It is a massive explosion accident that is hardly known to the people of the prefecture today.
The course of the accident began in May of that year when two naval mines washed ashore one after another on the village's coast. There are various theories as to which country the mines belonged to, and they have yet to be identified.
Naturally, the village was in an uproar, and the local police box contacted the Engaru Police Station, the jurisdiction at the time. Upon receiving this contact, the Station Chief of the Engaru Station decided to carry out a demolition on the beach, both for disposal in a safe place and to boost morale.
Then came the fateful day of May 26th. The two mines had been lined up on the beach by the previous day. It had been communicated to the surrounding municipalities that the demolition would take place, and it became a commotion with over a thousand local spectators flocking to the scene.
Furthermore, before noon, considering the danger of a sympathetic detonation, it was decided to move one mine away from the other. But ironically, during that work, the mine suddenly exploded. The beach apparently became a hellscape of scattered bodies and fresh blood.
Due to this accident, not only general spectators but also many members of the Keibou-dan (T/N: civil defense corps, equivalent to today's fire brigades) and police officers from the Engaru Police Station who were involved in the work or monitoring were killed. Mr. Chiba, the Station Chief of the Engaru Police Station at the time who was leading the operation, was also killed in the line of duty. It was also a major blow to the administration of the region.
Takeshita was first looking for the Boss's father while looking at the list of victims. This was because he had heard from the Boss, Aida Izumi, that his father had died in this accident. However, although he looked carefully from the beginning to the end, no victim with the surname "Aida" was listed at all.
"That's strange... He definitely said he died in this." As Takeshita muttered this, Hamada asked,
"Was there a problem?"
"It's nothing major, but I'd heard that a relative of an acquaintance died in this accident. But I can't find him..."
"What's the name?"
"The surname is Aida, I don't know the first name."
When told that, Hamada also looked but couldn't find it, and began to say,
"I can't find it. Isn't the surname different for some reason?"
"No, I don't think so..." Takeshita trailed off, but since his job this time wasn't to find the Boss's father, he switched his mind and began to look at the document describing the course of the incident and the victims with his junior.
In the midst of that, there were about three victims that Takeshita was a bit curious about. Three people whose occupation was listed as "Sanyu Imperial Metal Mining, Konomai Gold Mine Employee."
"Why would employees of a gold mine in the mountains be on the coast... May 26th back then was a Tuesday and should have been a weekday... yeah, that's right. So, I don't think they would have gone out of their way to watch..."
Although he wasn't satisfied, Takeshita finished reading through the list to the end.
"But still, this is horrible, isn't it! Handling a naval mine isn't something the police or the civil defense corps of the time could manage!" As soon as he finished reading, Hamada didn't hide his indignation. It wasn't simply out of a sense of justice as a young reporter who had been assigned last June as a new hire, but a normal impression that any sensible person would have.
"In the first place—this is just a guess at this point—were the people from the Konomai gold mine called in to demolish the mine? If that's the case, having general mine dynamite technicians do it... It's unthinkable, by today's standards." Takeshita also shouted, driven by an emotion of being too appalled for words.
"What is it? Was there a problem?" At that voice, Kumada, who had been facing his computer, noticed the "abnormality" and asked about the situation.
"No, I just learned that a hundred people died for such a stupid reason, and I thought it was horrible..." Takeshita answered, and Kumada said,
"Ah, that is indeed horrible," and then concentrated on his computer again. He thought he might sympathize a bit more, but Takeshita was a bit disappointed by his curt attitude.
"About the feature article, it seems necessary to write about this area as well." When he shared his "plan" with his junior again, the young reporter expressed his agreement: "Right. Let's criticize the reckless actions of the Station Chief!"
*
Wednesday, May 8th, after Golden Week. Takeshita and Hamada were waiting for the Union Leader, Sasaki Tatsuzo, in the Union Leader's office of the Saroma Fishery Cooperative. They were there to hear detailed stories from the time from the representative of the bereaved family association.
In front of the two, who were enjoying the rather austere "offerings" of kombu tea and dried scallop mantles typical of a Saroma Lake fishery cooperative, Sasaki entered while apologizing profusely.
"No, no, I'm sorry for being late."
"No, we're the ones who are sorry for making an unreasonable request while you're busy," Takeshita replied.
"Not at all, not at all! We're the ones who asked the Doho to write an article! I'm in no position to say that." He laughed cheerfully.
Takeshita confirmed again from those words the reason why they were doing a large feature article despite it being the 60th anniversary. He had heard vaguely from the desk that the request from the bereaved family association had gone to the Doho headquarters, but he was able to hear it directly from Sasaki. Most likely, it hadn't been such a large article at the time of the 50th anniversary.
"I am Takeshita, and this is Hamada next to me. Nice to meet you." After introducing themselves while handing over their business cards, they immediately got to the main subject.
"First, as the representative of the bereaved family association, is the relative of yours who died this Sasaki? There seem to be several people with that name?" Takeshita pointed to the list of victims, which contained several people named Sasaki (Author's Note: Unless stated as fact, names and the like are purely fictional and unrelated to actual victims).
"Let's see, my old man is... ah, this one. 'Sasaki Takezo'. He was the vice-commander of the Shimoyubetsu Keibou-dan at the time." He explained to the two while looking at the list with his reading glasses on.
"The vice-commander of the Keibou-dan, which would be the fire brigade today."
"Yeah, exactly. I can only say he was completely unlucky. Looking back as an adult, it was a completely pointless death. You reporters think so too, right?" At Sasaki's words, Takeshita nodded deeply, feeling he had found a kindred spirit.
"That's right, moving a mine and having it explode when there were no experts present. The people who died are to be pitied." At Takeshita's words, Sasaki nodded deeply in agreement.
"Were you at the scene at the time, Chairman? It seems people gathered from a wide area locally, and even students from local schools were brought to the scene as if it were a school event."
To Hamada's question, Sasaki's expression, that of a very cheerful elderly man, suddenly clouded over.
"At the time, I was attending Barou Elementary School, and I was made to go watch... Fortunately, I wasn't caught in it, but when the old man, the breadwinner of the family, dies, well..."
"It's very difficult to ask, and I'm sorry, but was your father's body...?" Since it was an explosion accident, Takeshita knew from the materials and the Boss's story that the damage to the bodies was severe, and he tried to ask while being vague.
"Well, as you'd expect... I was a kid, so I didn't see it directly, but he was apparently identified as my old man by a part of his clothes. Well, everyone was in that state... It wasn't just us, so it couldn't be helped..."
"I see." He hesitated to rub salt in the wound. No, as a reporter, there are parts where being somewhat insensitive is praised among colleagues, but Takeshita himself was not the type who could be thorough about that. He had been told he wasn't suited for the police, but in a way, he might not have been suited for being a journalist either.
While they were listening to the situation at the time and the movements of the bereaved families over the past sixty years, the door suddenly opened.
"Union Leader, the fish catch allocation estimate you asked for... oh? Do you have guests?"
A sun-tanned man with graying hair, appearing to be in his early sixties or late fifties, slightly younger than the Union Leader, appeared before them. The Union Leader walked over to the door and introduced them.
"Ah, you did it for me? Sorry about that. And these two gentlemen are, you know, the reporters from the Doho who are going to write that article."
"Ah, I think you mentioned that, Union Leader." The man, also a cheerful old guy, slapped his own head exaggeratedly. The two reporters could do nothing but remain silent, but the Union Leader said,
"This person is, ah, 'Asai Hisashi', and he's a director of our fishery cooperative. And he also had a relative die in the mine explosion. Was it your uncle?"
"Ah, so are you also a member of the bereaved family association?" When Nishida asked that, Asai said,
"Yeah, more or less. But as the Union Leader says, in our case, it's my uncle, my father's younger brother, who died, so I can't possibly be put in the same category as the Union Leader," while standing at the door.
"Why don't you come in instead of staying there? The reporters probably want to hear your story too, right?" Sasaki said to Asai and then confirmed with Takeshita, who answered, "Yes, definitely." In response, Asai said, "Then I'll intrude," and sat on the sofa next to the Union Leader.
"Let's see, you said your name was Asai, so is it this one...?" Takeshita began to look for Asai from the list of victims he had brought, and the name of a police officer, "Asai Inazo," who worked at the Engaru Station's Barou Police Box, immediately came up.
"Yeah, that's it. Uncle Inazo. My brothers and sisters called him Uncle Ine. But still, even though he came from a family of fishermen, he didn't become a fisherman probably because he was named Ine (T/N: rice)." Asai had a complex smile that was hard to describe. Takeshita wasn't a fatalist and was often seen as a rationalist, but he also occasionally felt very attracted to such irrational stories. He didn't know the reason himself...
"Did your uncle have a family?"
"A family... He did, in a way. A wife and a son." When asked by Hamada, he replied.
"So that means you had a cousin, Mr. Asai?"
"Wait, is this story also going to be in the article?" Asai asked Takeshita, suddenly becoming serious.
"I don't know yet, but I have to gather all sorts of information, otherwise I might run out of information when I write the article later. When I write an article with real names, I'll contact you properly. There are also privacy issues for people other than public figures."
"No, as for me, I'm talking myself, so I don't mind if it's in the article, but naturally I haven't gotten permission for the story about my cousin."
"I see. Anyway, I won't write an article with real names, or even anonymously if it seems like they'll be identified, without permission." Takeshita made that excuse, but depending on the reporter, this kind of confirmation is often quite lax. Takeshita thought they were interpreting "freedom of the press" too conveniently.
"Well, I could say he was there, or I could say he wasn't. It's hard to say." Takeshita didn't immediately understand the source of Asai's noncommittal expression. Sensing that, Asai immediately began to tell the meaning.
"Actually, the story is that Uncle Ine and his wife were in a common-law relationship and weren't a formal couple."
"So that's why you were concerned about it being in the article." The two understood Asai's point.
"Well, something like that. And not only did they not register the marriage, but there's also no blood relation between the son and my uncle. In other words, he was the wife's child from a previous relationship. It's all very complicated."
"In other words, he was the common-law wife's child from a previous relationship?" Hamada confirmed, repeating what Asai had said.
"Exactly. So even though I call him my cousin, he's not formally my cousin either in the family register or by blood. But we were on good terms, and we still keep in touch."
"But even now, marriage partners are a hassle; wouldn't there have been problems for a police officer back then to remain in a common-law relationship?" Takeshita poked at the doubt based on his own experience from his police days.
"I don't know directly if such things happened back then, but Uncle Ine's common-law partner was an Ainu woman. And Uncle's father—my grandfather—was strongly opposed to it. Those kinds of things have mostly disappeared now, but there were various things back then... You understand, don't you? And, excuse my language, she already had a kid, right? So, they had various troubles and apparently couldn't register the marriage. They intended to register it once the grandfather died, according to what I heard from my father later."
"Ho, the wife was Ainu... Well, there were various obstacles. But if they remained unregistered, what happened after your uncle died? I don't think she was eligible for 'Onkyuu' (Author's Note: The system before the transition to the current public service mutual aid system. However, at that time, pensions did not exist for general citizens, and it was a typical preferential measure by the authorities), right?" (Author's Note: Under the current public service mutual aid system, a partner in a general common-law relationship is eligible for compensation.)
When Takeshita asked further based on his knowledge, Asai said,
"I haven't heard the details about that, but after that, she lived at her mother's house in Engaru and seemed to be in quite a bit of poverty, so I guess there was no such thing..." He spoke emotionally, as if remembering the time.
"Engaru?" Takeshita asked instinctively.
"Yes, Engaru. Uncle was originally a police officer working at the Engaru Station, and he met his wife there... well, I called her 'Auntie' directly... in other words, he met his common-law partner and promised to marry her. But as I just said, they started living together without registering the marriage, he was assigned to the Barou Police Box, and finally died in the accident... Oh, the family home of Uncle and my father is here in Saroma, and they've been fishermen for generations, but as I said, maybe because of the name Inazo, I don't know, but for some reason he had terrible seasickness and apparently became a police officer instead of taking over the fishing business like my father... well, that's an irrelevant story." He touched the tip of his nose restlessly as he said this.
"So, after Uncle's death, their life was hard, so my father—his older brother-in-law—couldn't bear to see it and offered help. My father was more on the side of his younger brother, my uncle, than the grandfather. But the auntie apparently accepted offerings like seafood but wouldn't accept any money. I also went to play in Engaru occasionally during summer or winter breaks, and well, even to a kid, life didn't look easy. We weren't wealthy either, but... Fishermen have become a profitable business now, but many were poor back then..."
Takeshita felt a certain weight in the way Asai spoke.
"By the way, in Engaru, she lived with her father—my cousin's grandfather—for a while until he died, but it seems they lived a life of barely scraping by, tilling a small field. That grandfather was apparently a man with a lot of Ainu pride. He himself, like our grandfather, didn't seem to look very kindly on his daughter's marriage to a Wajin (T/N: ethnic Japanese). He was apparently a person who didn't speak much Japanese either. If both sets of parents are opposed, a marriage won't go well, will it? Even if Uncle hadn't died... Although, of course, Uncle and Auntie—ah, her name was Michi—Uncle, Michi-san, and the stepchild Icchan were on very good terms."
Asai's story sounded like a tragedy caused by the friction between the Ainu and general Japanese people of the time, and the problems of the family system. It was undoubtedly an era when, even if the individuals themselves were fine, the people around them would interfere far more than they do today.