Occupied City

by David Peace

  17. Wake up, Detective N., says Detective Inspector H., kicking my desk, kicking my chair how much do you love Japan NOT SPEAKING, BUT MOANING I’ve just come from a meeting with Miyakawa from the Justice Ministry, says Detective Inspector H. a dwarf whose heart is too big for his body CRAWLING OUT OF HELL, ON MY HANDS, ON MY KNEES Mr Eaton from the Public Safety Division told Miyakawa that no US military personnel are presently employed in typhus epidemic control, and that all involvement by US personnel in such duties ceased sometime in 1946 how much do you hate America NOT SPEAKING, BUT MOANING Furthermore, there are no records of any Lieutenants Hornet or Parker ever being involved in such work, says Detective Inspector H., so that would seem to be the end of that a giant whose heart is too small for his body DOWN THE BANK’S CORRDIORS, INTO THE BANK’S GENKAN I say, Then I want to go up to Sendai. I want to interview Dr Takase personally. Dr Takase met the man who tried to get potassium cyanide, the man who claimed to be Dr Matsui. Dr Takase met the Cyanide Man do you hope, do you believe NOT SPEAKING, BUT MOANING As you know, Inspector K. has already interviewed him, says Detective Inspector H., and I need you in Tokyo in the possibility of a utopia THROUGH THE DOORS, INTO THE STREET, THE SNOW AND THE MUD As you know, we have traced sixty of Dr Matsui’s name-cards, says Detective Inspector H., and so I need you here to record and collate all the information we are gathering in the field about these sixty name-cards and the ones we are still to find do you hope, do you believe NOT SPEAKING, BUT MOANING I say, What about the Matsui name-card we already have. The name-card used at the Ebara branch of the Yasuda Bank. The man who said he was Dr Matsui. The man who said the same thing in Sendai in an end to petrification, in an end to paralysis IT WAS THE DRINK, IT WAS MEDICINE, A DOCTOR, DYSENTRY The answer is still no, says Detective Inspector H. again, I need you here and besides, what about your wife, you want to leave her alone in Tokyo while you chase name-cards in Tōhoku with all your heart NOT SPEAKING, BUT MOANING

  18. I turn the dark corner, I stand outside the door, the door to our room, and I hear her voice I want to love you like I used to love you I SMELL THE HOSPITAL, I SMELL THE LABORATORY A long, long time ago, she says, there was a poor little girl who had no father or mother I want to love you like I loved you before THE WHITE COATS AND THE WHITE MASKS Everything was dead and there was no one left in the whole of Japan I want to love you without suspicion THE RUBBER GLOVES AND THE RUBBER SHOES And since there was no one left in the whole of Japan, the little girl decided to go up to heaven to where the moon shone down without jealousy THEIR MEDICINES AND THEIR DRUGS But when the little girl got to the moon, it was just a lump of rotten wood I want to love you without the fear of losing you THEIR PILLS AND THEIR INJECTIONS So then the little girl went to the sun, but when she got there it was just a withered-up sunflower the fear of hurting you I SUBMIT TO THEIR EXAMINATIONS And when she got to the stars, they were just little white lice stuck on a piece of dirty old black cloth like I used to love you I SUBMIT TO THEIR TESTS So the little girl went back to Japan, but Japan was just an overturned pot of nothing like I loved you before I SUBMIT TO THEIR EXPERIMENTS The little girl was completely alone now, and so she sat down and cried but most of all, I want you to love me I SUBMIT TO THEIR TRIALS She’s sitting there still, all alone, still crying I want you to love me IN ROWS, IN CAGES, A DOG

  19. I turn another dark corner, I climb another set of stairs, I walk along another corridor, I knock on another door have you ever seen nature inside-out, have you ever seen nature upside-down, have you ever seen double-nature I AM NOT DISTRACTED I told you they would lie to you, didn’t I, says Comrade X., and here is the proof of my words when the sun stands high and still at noon, as though the whole world is on fire, how it makes you hold your breath, as though the world was dead I AM NOT DELIRIOUS Comrade X. hands me a document, a document in English, a document stamped ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ then those frightful voices come, they speak to me, when nature is out I AM NOT POSSESSED As you can see from this, says Comrade X., the Americans have lied to you; a First Lieutenant Paul E. J. Parker, medical officer, was assigned to the Tokyo area between June 1946 and June 1947 to assist in various health-control activities the world so dark that you have to feel your way around it with your hands I AM NOT PREOCCUPIED Comrade X. says, This is undoubtedly the ‘Lieutenant Parker’ who was assigned to a typhus control team in Ōji Ward in March 1947 you think it is coming apart, like a spider’s web, dissolving and disintegrating in your fingers I HAVE NO MEMORIES And as you can further see from this, says Comrade X., while there is no record of a ‘Lieutenant Hornet’, there are records of a Captain J. Hartnett who was similarly engaged in public health work in Tokyo between June 1946 and April 1947 when something is, and yet isn’t, when something is there, yet nothing is there I HAVE NO VISIONS I say, They lied to me, to us everything so dark, and yet there’s still this redness, this redness from the west, the glow from a distant furnace, a gigantic underground oven I AM NOT MAD Comrade X. smiles and Comrade X. says, Are you really so surprised, Detective. I told you they would lie. The Americans always lie it’s all in the air, have you noticed the patterns in the air, in the clouds, in the fog, in the mist, and in the smoke I HAVE EATEN MY CORN, MY AMERICAN CORN, AND I AM NORMAL I say, I don’t know what to do if we could only read those patterns, if one could only read the air, then what things we would know, what truths I HAVE TAKEN MY PILLS, MY AMERICAN PILLS, AND I AM RATIONAL I will tell you, says Comrade X., I will help you, if you let me if we could read the air, then we would know the truth I AM NORMAL, RATIONAL AND SANE

  20. I say, I was taking a big risk telling you the things I did, showing you the documents I did. A big risk for nothing! Nothing in your newspaper, nothing about the China connection, nothing about the GHQ connection, nothing about Parker and Hornet. So it looks like I took a big risk just for nothing your mother’s new husband, your never-my-new father WE’VE SEEN YOU BEFORE Not nothing, says the journalist now, you took a risk, I know, but I paid you he likes Americans, he entertains Americans WE’VE SEEN YOU PISSING I say, Not enough, not enough for all the risks I’ve taken. And now I don’t know why I bothered, why I took all those risks, you weren’t even listening to me, you didn’t even write the story with your father’s money, in your father’s house PISSING IN THE STREET I wrote the story, says the journalist, I gave it to my editor and he read it and he said he liked it, said he liked it very much on the floors he walked, in the chairs he sat PISSING DOWN A WALL I ask, so where is it, this story of yours, this story your editor liked so very much, he liked so very much he didn’t publish, so very much they didn’t print, where is it then in the room he lay, in the room they lay PISSING LIKE A DOG I don’t know, says the journalist your father and your mother IF YOU CAN’T CONTROL YOUR BLADDER I stand up and I say, Well, you better find out. Or there’ll be no more help, no more stories from me Americans lie, everybody lies WHAT CHANCE YOUR MIND

  21. You are distracted, Detective, says the doctor, you are distracted and you are delirious you have not been listening, Detective IN THE FAMILY ALBUMS, IN THE HISTORY BOOKS I ask, What is to be done. What should I do you have not been following instructions THE EMPEROR SAYS, I STAND BY MY PEOPLE You are delirious and you are possessed, possessed and preoccupied, possessed by memories and preoccupied with visions you have not been following orders I AM EVER READY TO SHARE IN THEIR JOYS AND SORROWS What is to be done. What should I do you have been making connections, Detective COURAGEOUS PINE, ENDURING THE SNOW Memories of things that never happened, visions of things that never will connections where there are no connections to be made THE TIES BETWEEN ME AND MY PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FORMED BY MUTUAL TRUST AND AFFECTION What is to be done. What should I do you have been making links, Detective THEY DO NOT DEPEND UPON MERE LEGENDS OR MYTHS I’m sorry to say, says the doctor now, but in a word, Detective, you are mad links where there are no links to be made THAT IS PILING UP, COLOUR UNCHANGING What is to be done. What should I do you have been imagining things, Detective NOR ARE THEY PREDICATED ON THE FALSE CONCEPTIO
N THAT THE EMPEROR IS AMANIFEST DEITY I will tell you, says the good doctor, and I will help you, if you will let me hearing things, seeing things THAT THE JAPANESE ARE SUPERIOR TO OTHER RACES AND DESTINED TO RULE THE WORLD I ask, What is to be done. What should I do things that are simply not there LET THE PEOPLE BE LIKE THIS, SAYS THE EMPEROR Eat more corn, says the doctor, American corn and take these pills, these American pills you are suspended from duty, Detective, you are off the case IN THE HISTORY BOOKS, IN THE FAMILY ALBUMS

  Act IV

  22. In the Occupied City in the Occupied City IN THE OCCUPIED CITY Time passes time passes TIME PASSES Seconds pass minutes pass HOURS PASS Days pass weeks pass MONTHS PASS But the city is still a wound the city still a wound STILL A WOUND My father still dead, my mother still remarried in these half-remembered memories of this half-forgotten detective MY FAMILY CURSED, MY HOUSE CURSED My wife still unfaithful, my case still unsolved they will find you guilty and they will hang you THE GROUND BENEATH STILL HOLLOW GROUND Sharpening pencils, writing reports until your bladder empties and your neck breaks UNDER MY CHAIR, UNDER MY DESK Passing time, backward and forward, forward and backward, time passing in the family albums, in the history books SOMETHING IS MOVING, MOVING BEHIND ME, MOVING BENEATH ME The city still occupied, the city still wounded we are all whores FROM A MUSIC BOX The clock strikes again and the telephone rings in the ruins of the city, in the eyes of the dead WHAT IS THAT TUNE, THAT FAMILIAR, SCRATCHED TUNE In the Occupied City, in the Wounded City through the looking-glass A LIGHT GLOWING ABOVE THE CITY, A FIRE RAGING ACROSS THE TOWN

  23. In the final days of the war, as our Red Army swept over the former Japanese colony of Manchuria, many Japanese soldiers surrendered and were taken prisoner you’ve not been eating your corn, your American corn, have you, Detective ALL MEN HAVE SECRETS Among these prisoners, were men who had served in Detachment 100 and in Detachment 731 of the Japanese Kwantung Army; Detachment 100 and Detachment 731 were bacteriological detachments, both involved in the prosecution of and research into bacteriological and chemical warfare you’ve not been taking your pills, your American pills, have you, Detective ALL MEN TELL LIES In Khabarovsk, in the Primorye Military Area, my comrades from the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR have been interrogating these former members of Detachment 100 and Detachment 731 in preparation for their indictment as war criminals on charges of waging bacteriological warfare on China and the Soviet Union, and of conducting bacteriological experiments on Chinese and Soviet prisoners you’ve been putting your ear to the ground again, haven’t you, Detective SOMEWHERE TO SOMEONE Of course, we know that not all the criminals responsible for these atrocities are in our custody. We know that these secret bacteriological units of the Japanese army, which were commissioned to prepare for and conduct bacteriological warfare, were formed by the personal command of Emperor Hirohito himself hearing the sound of scratching from under the ground ALL MEN ARE GUILTY, ARE GUILTY OF SOMETHING We also know the names of the criminals in the Japanese General Staff and Ministry of War who backed and directed the clandestine work of these secret bacteriological units, who lavishly financed, equipped and staffed them, who sanctioned the research and development of internationally proscribed types of bacteriological warfare, and who planned for the day when they would authorize the launching of bacteriological attacks tunes from the music boxes SOMEHOW, SOMEWHERE Yes, we know the names of the contemptible, morally corrupt servitors of Japanese imperialism, generals of the former Japanese army – the bacteriological scientists Ishii, Kitano and Wakamatsu – who were ready to place their special knowledge at the service of the ruling clique of Japan for the purpose of preparing to conduct criminal bacteriological warfare in the whispering CRIMES NEVER STAY SECRET, SECRETS NEVER STAY SECRET And we know the names of those wicked misanthropes, the former members of Detachment 100 and Detachment 731, physicians and engineers of the Japanese army – Ōta, Murakami, Ikari, Tanaka, Yoshimura and many others – who mercilessly and in cold blood murdered defenceless people and bred many millions of plague-infected parasites and hundreds of kilograms of lethal microbes for the extermination of mankind and you’ve been putting your head in the clouds, haven’t you, Detective MEN ALWAYS TALK, TALK TO SOMEONE We know who they are and we know where they are, outside our borders and outside our jurisdiction, because these miscreants enjoy the protection of those reactionary forces in the imperialist camp who are themselves dreaming of the time when they will be able to hurl upon mankind load upon load of TNT, atomic bombs and lethal bacteria trying to read the patterns in the air again IN CONFIDENCE, IN BETRAYAL But you, Comrade Detective, you can help us, help mankind smoke from the Americans’ ovens ALL MEN HAVE SECRETS For this is a list of the names of men given to my comrades in Khabarovsk by the former members of Detachment 100 and Detachment 731 who are now our prisoners, the names of men who were once their colleagues in Detachment 100 and Detachment 731, men who are now back here, living and working freely in Japan, and I believe among these names, among the names of these men, is the name of the one man, the one man you are looking for, Detective in the fog ALL MEN ARE GUILTY Catch this one man, Detective, and expose this one man for the mass-poisonings at the Teikoku Bank, and you will expose all those men for all their crimes, all those Japanese men and all the American men who protect them in the nut-house, Detective, that’s where you’ll be ALL MEN, ALWAYS

  24. Another name from the list, another doctor from the list, this one called Yanagi, this one in Chiba bad men, good men YOU ARE ALWAYS SO SUSPICIOUS, YOU ARE ALWAYS SO JEALOUS Yanagi had once been a research director in Detachment 731 in wartime, in peacetime I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, I DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT Yanagi had once been in charge of botanical disease experiments war crimes, peace crimes WHAT MEN YOU MEAN, WHAT MAN YOU MEAN Now Yanagi is living on a dusty highway between a tobacconist and a butcher the clues lie in your words HE WAS NEVER HERE, NEVER IN THIS ROOM Now Yanagi is working in a shabby surgery between a noodle shop and a gas station in your words lies the evidence I CAN’T MAKE THEM STAY LOCKED IN THEIR HOUSES For Yanagi is in hiding, for Yanagi is in fear the evidence of your lies, the evidence of your guilt I CAN’T MAKE THEM LEAVE THEIR EYES AT HOME He denies and he lies, then he cowers and he whimpers, and now he confesses to his crimes all men are guilty, all men are culpable I CAN’T MAKE THEM NOT THINK WHAT THEY THINK He begs and he pleads, then he betrays and he informs, and now he gives me a name in wartime, in peacetime I CAN’T STOP YOU BEING SUSPICIOUS, YOU BEING JEALOUS Another name for my list, another doctor for my list, this one called Sawa, this one in Funabashi bad men, bad men PUT A KNIFE IN MY BELLY IF YOU WILL, BUT NEVER PUT YOUR HAND ON MY HAND AGAIN

  25. I turn the dark corner, I go up the stairs, I walk along the corridor, I open the metal door, I take off my shoes, I walk through our room, I stand over her body, I lift it up, and I say, Is it still you, are you still here you are not a bad man, but you are a poor man I AM THE GOOD DETECTIVE I should be able to see you with my eyes, but I can’t see you; I should be able to touch you with my hands, but I can’t touch you nothing but her and this job, this bloody job NOTHING BUT WORK UNDER THE SUN I should be able to see things, I should be able to touch things everybody hates the police, nobody talks to the police THE EARTH HOTTER THAN HELL What a very fine city we live in, what a very fine place it is, even finer with company the police don’t talk to the police, even the police hate the police I SWEAT EVEN WHEN I SLEEP Did he stand here, this close to you you’ll be giving someone a very nasty cut one day BUT HELL IS COLD, AND I AM COLD Oh, how I wish I had been him you go through this world like an open razor AS COLD AS THE PAUSE BETWEEN A ‘YES’ AND A ‘NO’ Your lips are so very beautiful, would you had left them at home today someone or something waiting, just waiting to be cut IS THE ‘YES’ TO BLAME FOR THE ‘NO’, OR THE ‘NO’ TO BLAME FOR THE ‘YES’ Your lips, your mouth, so very, very red; why are there no blisters on your lips, your mouth, I wonder a good detective takes care of himself and his family BELOW THIS VERY FINE GR
EY SKY, ON THIS VERY FINE GREY DAY I can see him now, I can see him standing, him standing here with you a good detective isn’t careless, distracted or foolhardy I WANT TO HAMMER A PEG, A PEG RIGHT INTO THAT SMOKE Oh, how I wish I had been him don’t cut your nails at night, don’t whistle those tunes at night A PEG TO HANG MYSELF FROM I see him, I see him, I see him and I see you, I see you, I see you, I see you and I see you with him, I see you with him, I see you with him, I see you with him and I see an abyss, I see an abyss, I see an abyss, an abyss you have nothing in this world but your wife UNTIL MY BLADDER EMPTIES If you look inside, every man is an abyss, you get dizzy if you look, if you look down, look inside you are a poor man, but not a bad man UNTIL MY NECK BREAKS

  26. My colleagues have gone up to Otaru in Hokkaido, gone to arrest a man called Hirasawa Sadamichi among the tunes, among the smoke THE SOUND OF SCRATCHING My colleagues believe they have the evidence to prove that Hirasawa Sadamichi committed the Teikoku crime in the Black Fog, in the Black Mist SCRATCHING UNDER THE GROUND My colleagues believe Hirasawa Sadamichi has no alibi for the time of the Teikoku crime we’ve seen you before IN MEMORIES, BLOODY MEMORIES My colleagues believe Hirasawa Sadamichi had a strong motive for committing the Teikoku crime we’ve seen you pissing ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT ME My colleagues believe Hirasawa Sadamichi is guilty, my colleagues believe Hirasawa Sadamichi is the killer pissing in the street BEHIND MY BACK But I know Hirasawa Sadamichi is not guilty, I know Hirasawa Sadamichi is not the killer pissing down a wall OF THOUGHTS, BLOODY THOUGHTS For I know who is guilty, I know who the killer is pissing like a dog ALWAYS WHISPERING ABOUT ME I know his name and now I know his address among the tunes, among the smoke BEHIND THEIR HANDS And soon, very soon, I will know his face, I will see his face in the Black Fog, in the Black Mist THE DREAMS, BLOODY DREAMS, OF THE GOOD DETECTIVE