Tokyo Year Zero

by David Peace

  ‘Noriko had been here just over six months, a very pretty girl, a very polite and very friendly girl. Because of all your inquiries after the murder of her friend, I know now the kind of life Noriko led, but I never ever would have guessed…

  ‘Noriko was so very quick to share whatever extra food or clothing she managed to get hold of, no matter what she had done for it, no matter what it had cost her…’

  ‘Asobu …? Asobu …?’

  I nod. I ask, ‘So when did Miss Tominaga go missing?’

  ‘About a month after her friend was killed, I think.’

  ‘So that would be early to mid July?’

  ‘Yes,’ agrees the landlady. ‘But it was definitely before the fifteenth of July because that was the date that the rent was due on her room. And so that was when I became worried…’

  ‘So when did you report her missing?’

  ‘Not until the start of this month.’

  I ask her, ‘Why did you wait?’

  ‘I thought she might have just gone off for a bit, you see. Because of what had happened to her friend, because of all your investigations into her and her friends, because of all your questions, because of all your insinuations…’

  ‘So if Miss Tominaga had just gone off for a bit, where do you think she would have gone?’

  Tominaga Noriko’s landlady turns away now. Tominaga Noriko’s landlady looks out of the window and does not answer –

  ‘You said she might have just gone off for a bit; so where?’

  The landlady shakes her head. ‘It’s too late. She’s dead.’

  ‘You don’t know that,’ I say. ‘Maybe she’s scared.’

  The landlady shakes her head again. ‘It’s too late.’

  ‘Maybe she just got scared and she ran away.’

  Tominaga Noriko’s landlady walks over to an old wooden chest of drawers. Tominaga Noriko’s landlady opens the drawers. Tominaga Noriko’s landlady says, ‘But Noriko would never leave all her clothes behind, never leave all her cosmetics…’

  ‘But you don’t know that for certain,’ I tell her again. ‘People’s plans can change quickly these days.’

  ‘But Noriko would never not say goodbye,’ she tells me. ‘She would never leave like that, you see.’

  I walk over to the chest of drawers. I touch the clothes inside. I walk over to the dresser. I touch the jars of cosmetics. I take the cover off the mirror. I touch the glass –

  ‘Does this become me…?’

  I say, ‘There was a man, wasn’t there?’

  Tominaga Noriko’s landlady catches a sob in her throat, puts a hand to her mouth. Now Tominaga Noriko’s landlady closes the drawers, covers the mirror and says, ‘You should know, detective.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ I ask. ‘How should I know?’

  ‘He was one of you, wasn’t he?’ she whispers –

  ‘She was seeing a policeman?’

  ‘For all the good it did her.’

  Now I take out my notebook but I do not open it. I ask her, ‘Did you ever see Miss Tominaga wear a yellow and dark-blue striped pinafore dress over a white half-sleeved chemise…’

  The woman is crying. The woman nodding now –

  ‘Dyed-pink socks and white canvas shoes…’

  Nodding now and crying and crying –

  ‘With red rubber soles…’

  ‘Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!’ she is crying as she opens the drawers again, pulling out the clothes and sending them into the air as she frantically searches for a yellow and dark-blue striped pinafore dress, a white half-sleeved chemise and a pair of dyed-pink socks –

  But these clothes are not here and neither am I –

  Our body has a name. Our case closed …

  I am running back down the stairs now –

  Case closed! Case closed! Case …

  Out of the house and straight into the face of a uniformed policeman asking, ‘Are you Inspector Minami?’

  ‘What is it?’ I ask him. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Excuse me, sir,’ he says. ‘There is a meeting of all divisions, sections, and rooms at Metropolitan Headquarters…’

  ‘How did you know you’d find me here?’

  ‘Chief Inspector Adachi told me I’d find you here, sir.’

  *

  The chiefs of all the divisions are here. The heads of all the sections. The heads of every room. The chiefs of every single police station.

  The Victors have also sent their observers and their spies; their Nisei translators; their collaborators in their turncoats; race traitors, these banana boys, with their yellow skins and white hearts –

  ‘Asobu …? Asobu …? Asobu …? Asobu …?’

  Down at the very front of the room, Fujimoto Yoshio, the chief of the Metropolitan Police Defence Bureau, stands up and begins his speech about the events of last night –

  ‘Gentlemen, as you know, though such cases have occurred before in Osaka and in Kobe, this is the first case of Formosans openly attacking a police station in Tokyo…

  ‘Details remain sketchy for now; however, it is reported that approximately five hundred Formosans, possibly aided by a further five hundred Chinese and Korean allies, all of whom are angry at their perceived exclusion from the New Life Market in Shimbashi, boarded at least five trucks at the Yaesu entrance of Tokyo station at about 7 p.m. last night. They then drove to the site of this Shimbashi New Life Market, where they rode about in a repetition of previous incidents at the market, hoping to confront members of the former Matsuda group. However, as the market is temporarily closed, there were no members of the Matsuda group present on this occasion and no confrontation occurred there. There are reports, however, that a few machine-gun bursts were heard…

  ‘But finding no Matsuda group members at the Shimbashi New Life Market, the Formosans then headed in their trucks for the Shibuya precinct station and, on arriving there at approximately 9 p.m., they were met by over two hundred policemen who had been assigned to guard the station…

  ‘Police initially stopped the trucks but then allowed them to pass when the Formosans insisted they were there only to peacefully visit the Kakyō Sōkai headquarters at the request of representatives of the Chinese Mission to Tokyo. However, as the trucks passed through the police lines, occupants of at least one truck opened fire on the police, aiming at the chief of the Shibuya police and seriously wounding two officers…’

  Bang! Bang! …

  ‘The officers were left with little alternative but to defend themselves and respond with revolvers. A fifteen-minute gun battle then ensued, wounding a further four officers, two seriously, and killing six Formosans and wounding a score more. The battle was waged with at least two machine guns, set up by the Formosans in their trucks, as well as with pistols, knives, staves, clubs, pickaxes and other weapons. One Formosan truck also ran up onto a sidewalk, injuring many of the passengers but allowing us to arrest twenty-seven of the Formosan occupants. Revolvers, iron clubs, wooden clubs and bottles of gasoline were also found inside the truck…’

  These lies that everyone tells themselves …

  ‘Unfortunately, the vast majority of the Formosans involved in this incident escaped during the course of the gun battle and the ensuing melee. These Formosan suspects remain at large…’

  Until everyone believes this history …

  ‘Furthermore, earlier yesterday evening the ōji police station was also surrounded and attacked by a group of twenty to thirty Koreans, resulting in the hospitalization of Police Chief Hashioka of ōji police station and the death of one Korean man…

  ‘It is believed that the incident began at around 5 p.m. last night and grew out of a dispute between Japanese and Korean stall-operators in front of ōji train station in which approximately forty or fifty people were involved in a fist fight…

  ‘Police were called to restore order and to arrest the perpetrators, detaining them at the ōji police station. It was at this point that the group of twenty to thirty Koreans surrounded t
he police station and began to stone the building. Police Chief Hashioka of ōji police station went outside to remonstrate with the crowd and was himself then surrounded and stoned. Police Chief Hashioka was left with no alternative but to discharge his pistol in self-defence. His shots unfortunately pierced the lower abdomen of one of the Koreans, fatally wounding him…’

  Bang! Bang! …

  ‘However, the firing of the shot undoubtedly brought the dispute under control and order was restored. Police Chief Hashioka was then taken to the Imperial University Hospital where, we have been told, he will take about ten days to recover from his injuries.

  ‘Finally, during the course of last night, there were also five separate reports of fights between rival Korean gangs, resulting in many injuries and much damage to property. The headquarters of the Youth League for the Promotion of Korean Independence at Denenchōfu in Ōmori Ward was attacked at around 5 a.m. by approximately three hundred Koreans in a number of trucks and vehicles, breaking windows, tables and chairs…

  ‘As a result of information received, a comprehensive roundup of suspects in the Komatsugawa, Sunamachi and Kameido districts has been ordered…’

  Bang! Bang! …

  ‘But enough is enough!’ shouts Chief Fujimoto now –

  ‘The restoration and maintenance of order must be our priority as both policemen and as Japanese!

  ‘The Tokyo Metropolitan Police will detail extra guards at all police stations with instructions to fire back in the event of a renewal or repetition of last night’s attack…’

  Bang! Bang! …

  ‘To fire back not for the purpose of wounding or killing but for the arrest of the attackers and for restoring order because the restoration and the maintenance of order must be our priority…

  ‘Extra guards have also been assigned to the Shimbashi Market and other markets believed to be potential targets…

  ‘Today we will also urge the operators of all markets to tighten their own security and to cooperate fully with police in order to restore and maintain order in Tokyo…’

  Bang! Bang! …

  ‘But we will continue to urge them to accommodate legitimate businesses run by Chinese, Formosan and Korean operators inside their markets. We will also continue to offer ourselves as arbitrators and mediators in the case of any disputes…

  ‘But enough is enough!’ shouts Chief Fujimoto again –

  ‘Restore order! Maintain order! Dismissed!’

  *

  Things never change. There are wars and there are restorations. Things never change. There are wars and there are victories. Things never change. There are wars and there are defeats. Things never change. There are occupations and there are elections. Things never change. Because there is always a second meeting. Things never change. There is always a second meeting to discuss the first –

  Never change. Never change. Never change …

  For everyone to discuss the best ways in which to ignore the conclusions of the first meeting; for everyone to pretend that the first meeting never actually took place; to promise to keep things exactly the way they were before the first meeting –

  Never change. Never change …

  ‘What a mess, what a mess, what a mess,’ our chief is saying over and over, again and again. ‘The Victors will be talking about the corruption of the police and the failure of justice again, warning of the growth of racketeering and the power of the underground, moaning about the mistreatment of minorities and the rebirth of nationalism. The Victors will be wanting more reviews and more reforms, watching us like hawks…’

  Never change …

  ‘But the Victors must let the markets reopen,’ says Adachi. ‘This whole situation is a direct result of SCAP’s campaign against the markets. I know they want to stop the hoarding and the pilfering of goods meant for rations, to keep these goods out of the markets so they are free to be distributed as rations at the official prices…

  ‘But the markets and the vendors are only fulfilling a demand. By closing the markets and then failing to meet that demand, the Victors are only creating further hunger and frustration…

  ‘And then, by forcing the markets to change, by limiting the number of stalls, insisting on licences, then the Victors are again only creating frustration among the excluded minorities…’

  ‘Chief Inspector Adachi is exactly right,’ agrees Kanehara. ‘A colleague from Chiba was telling me about this large catch of sardines that was brought ashore. The regular rationing organization was not properly equipped to handle such a catch. There was not enough ice to keep the fish from spoiling. There were not enough trucks available to bring the catch into Tokyo. Furthermore, the official price for the catch was so low that it couldn’t cover the cost of the boats, the fishermen, the storage or the transportation…’

  ‘So what happened to it all?’ asks Inspector Kai.

  ‘Well, this is my very point,’ says Chief Inspector Kanehara. ‘What would have happened last month, back when the markets were allowed to open, is that news of such a big catch would have caused a hoard of small stall-holders to descend on Chiba. They would have bought up the entire catch directly from the fishermen for cash. The stall-holders would then have brought the fish on their own backs into Tokyo in a couple of hours and would have had those sardines on their stalls within the day. Yes, the price would be higher than the official price but there would have been so much and from so many competing vendors that the price could not go too high…’

  ‘What happened this time?’ asks Kai again.

  ‘A very small proportion of the catch was sold at a very high price to one of the gangs,’ says Kanehara.

  ‘And the rest of it?’ asks Kai.

  ‘It was all allowed to rot,’ says Chief Inspector Kanehara. ‘And what could be salvaged was then turned into fertilizer.’

  Things never change. Things never change …

  There is silence around the table now –

  Never change. Never change …

  There is silence until Chief Kita says, ‘Chief Fujimoto wants us to keep out of the Shibuya and Shimbashi areas. Unfortunately, because of the Abe and Midorikawa cases, and because of the suspect Kodaira, we cannot keep out of the Shibuya area but we can refrain from using the Shibuya police station. Also, because of the proximity to Shiba Park, there is no way for us to avoid using the Atago police station. However, before you or any of your teams enter either Shibuya or the Shimbashi Market area, I want you to first request permission from Headquarters –

  Things never change …

  ‘I don’t want any of my men caught in the crossfire!’

  *

  I go to the bathroom down the corridor. I do not vomit. I go into a cubicle. I do not vomit. I lock the door. I do not vomit. I stare into the bowl. I do not vomit. I stare at the stains. I do not vomit. I smell the ammonia. I do not vomit. The insects and the heat. I do not vomit. I wait for fifteen minutes inside the cubicle. I do not vomit. Now I unlock the cubicle door. I do not vomit. I rinse my face in the sink. I do not vomit. I do not look up into that mirror. I do not vomit …

  I go back down the corridor. I knock on the door to the chief’s office. I open the door. I step inside. I apologize. I bow –

  ‘I am sorry to disturb you again,’ I tell the chief. ‘But I would be very grateful if you could spare me a moment…’

  But today the chief does not offer me a seat or any tea. Today the chief does not even look up. He just asks, ‘What is it now…?’

  ‘I didn’t have a chance to update you on our progress…’

  Now the chief looks up. ‘You’ve made some progress?’

  ‘I feel we have a strong lead which I’d like to pursue.’

  ‘Go on then, detective, what is this strong lead…’

  ‘Well, as you know, we managed to locate Masaoka Hisae, who was one of Abe Yoshiko’s friends. Well, Masaoka told me that the description of the second body found at Shiba Park resembled that of another of her friends, Tom
inaga Noriko…’

  ‘Along with hundreds of other girls…’

  ‘But this Tominaga girl is missing…’

  ‘And who reported her missing?’

  ‘Her landlady,’ I tell the chief. ‘And the dates fit because, although the landlady didn’t report Tominaga missing until the first of this month, she said Tominaga actually went missing between the ninth and fifteenth of last month…’

  ‘That’s it?’ asks the chief.

  ‘Far from it,’ I tell him. ‘The landlady also confirmed that Tominaga Noriko wore clothes exactly like those that were found on the body at Shiba. A search of the missing girl’s room and possessions revealed that these clothes are also missing…’

  Now the chief is interested. ‘Go on, detective…’

  ‘Masaoka has confirmed that Kodaira knew Abe Yoshiko. Masaoka also confirmed that Kodaira knew Tominaga Noriko…’

  ‘But that doesn’t make her the dead body in Shiba Park.’

  ‘Faced with this evidence, Kodaira will confess…’

  ‘Faced with what evidence exactly, detective?’ asks the chief. ‘A missing girl had the same dress as a murdered girl? A missing girl was an acquaintance of another murdered girl?’

  ‘But the dates are exactly right…’

  ‘Have the landlady view the body then,’ says the chief.

  ‘But there is no body,’ I tell him. ‘It’s just bones’

  ‘You have her clothes, don’t you, detective?’

  I nod. I say, ‘They’re still up at Keiō.’

  ‘Well, if she can positively identify them, through a repair or through a tear or anything, then that will be the evidence, won’t it?’

  ‘Thank you,’ I say. ‘And there was one other thing…’

  ‘Quickly then,’ says the chief. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I’d like to know the name of the uniformed officer who was dismissed during the initial Abe investigation?’

  ‘Why do you want to know that?’

  ‘He might know where the rest of Abe’s friends have gone or he might even be able to assist in any possible identification…’

  ‘No,’ says the chief. ‘Now is not the time.’