David Peace - Tokyo Year Zero

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 the 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 …