Chapter 43: The Nakasone Faction and the Yet-to-be-Born City

“Is it really that strange that we know?” Seiko retorted.
“What’s strange is that you knew who was really pulling the Takada-gumi’s strings but weren’t willing to tell us, isn’t it?”

“We?” Yoshida Shoichi gave a helpless, bitter smile.
“That ‘we’ definitely doesn’t include me.

Prefectural Governor Ito Eishiro should have known for a while, and Mayor Kiuchi may or may not have known, but I, at least, didn’t know until yesterday…
I myself was one of those not permitted to know the truth, so how could I have been willing or unwilling to tell you?”

Seiko didn’t know if Yoshida Shoichi was telling the truth, nor did she particularly care.
She continued to press, “Why would Nakasone Yasuhiro suddenly make a move on Saitama Prefecture?”

“Is that so hard to understand?” Yoshida Shoichi spread his hands.
“Next year is the double election for both the House of Councillors and the House of Representatives.
In such a crucial year, isn’t it perfectly normal for the LDP—or to be more precise, the Nakasone faction—to want to secure a major voting bloc like Saitama Prefecture before the election?”

Japan’s political system is quite peculiar.
It is common knowledge that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is Japan’s main ruling party; their hold on power has never wavered since the party’s formation in 1955.

However, this is less because the LDP’s ideology is so beloved by the populace and more because all the post-war political forces permitted to govern by the United States are contained within the LDP.

To counter the once-surging leftist forces in post-war Japan, the United States kneaded nearly all right-wing powers in the Japanese political scene into a single party, creating what would become the LDP.

Therefore, while they are all part of the LDP, it is highly possible for two LDP members to have vastly different governing philosophies and interests.
Thus, “parties within the party” naturally formed within the LDP—in Japan, these are called “factions.”

The Nakasone faction is one of the earliest established and currently most powerful factions within the LDP.

“It’s very hard to understand.”

Seiko stared at Yoshida Shoichi, her expression unchanging.

“The LDP’s approval ratings aren’t just declining in Saitama.
Looking at the last unified local elections, the LDP lost a central constituency at most.
On a national scale, that loss probably doesn’t even rank in the top five.
Why did Nakasone Yasuhiro specifically choose Saitama to make his move?
What about Okinawa, or Osaka? Can’t they be saved?”

Perhaps weary of the LDP’s long-term rule, a trend of “de-LDP-ification” had appeared throughout Japan since the mid-1980s, where some voters would subconsciously refuse to vote for any LDP candidate.
Minor parties, and even independent councilors and officials, rose to prominence on this tide.
Saitama’s independent prefectural governor and city mayors had likely ridden this wave to power.

However, “de-LDP-ification” was a widespread phenomenon, and Saitama’s case wasn’t even among the most severe.

Outside of core cities like Urawa and Omiya, the LDP still had a solid base in the surrounding smaller towns and even the Saitama countryside.
In Saitama’s four constituencies (under the 1985 medium-sized constituency system), the LDP was still highly likely to win three.

Therefore, Seiko found Yoshida Shoichi’s reasoning about the Diet election somewhat unconvincing.
Not long ago, when Takada Yamakiyo had said something like “Saitama is no longer the LDP’s domain,” Seiko had felt he was only telling half the truth.

Yoshida Shoichi felt extremely uncomfortable under Seiko’s gaze.
After a long pause, he had to surrender, muttering, “The approval ratings in Okinawa are a completely lost cause.”

“Actually, there’s a secondary reason…” Yoshida Shoichi divulged some of the truth.
“This year, the National Land Agency designated a project called the ‘Capital Region Redevelopment Plan.’ It passed the Diet vote yesterday and will be officially announced soon.”

“The ‘Capital Region Redevelopment Plan’?” Seiko couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
“What does that have to do with Saitama Prefecture?”

“Of course it’s related,” Yoshida Shoichi explained.
“This plan intends to build a number of strategic hub cities around Tokyo, called ‘business core cities,’ to further expand the radiating influence of the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Saitama Prefecture is one of the key targets for this future expansion.
This could involve financial interests in the trillions of yen and the migration of millions of people.
How could it not be related?”

“‘Business core cities’?” Seiko murmured to herself, suddenly understanding the crux of the matter.

Although Seiko couldn’t remember exactly how many business core cities were built in the future Tokyo metropolitan area, she was certain that one of them was named “Saitama City.”

That city did not exist yet.

In the future, the cities of Urawa, Yono, and Omiya would merge to become “Saitama City,” which would instantly become the tenth-largest city in Japan upon its creation.

Just as Yoshida Shoichi had said, the interests involved were simply staggering—a cake so sweet and tempting that no one could remain indifferent or not want to carve out a piece for themselves.

Not even the Prime Minister would be an exception.

“So you see,” Yoshida Shoichi said, seeing Seiko remain silent for a long time, and began to persuade her again.
“The Nakasone faction wants to carve up the interests of us Saitama people.
We cannot back down easily, or we will let outsiders take advantage.
Those greedy bastards probably wouldn’t even be willing to give us a single scrap.”

‘Oh, so this is a central-versus-local government conflict mixed with factional strife.’

Yoshida Shoichi, Kiuchi Shigezawa, and Ito Eishiro, this alliance of independents, represented the local Saitama powers, while the Nakasone faction represented the central powers coming from Tokyo.

“It’s too late for you to be telling us this,” Yamagami Nobuo interjected.
“We’ve already made peace with the Takada-gumi.”

Yoshida Shoichi blurted out, “You can just declare war again even after making peace!
You have plenty of time to correct your mistake…”

Bang!

Yamagami Nobuo slammed his hand on the table and roared, “Whose mistake is it, really?
You were the ones who were desperate for the Yamagami-gumi to stop fighting the Takada-gumi.
We stopped, and now you’re desperate for us to declare war again?
Whose fault is it?”

“Well, the situation is different now, isn’t it?” Yoshida Shoichi realized his slip of the tongue.

“The situation is different, so why didn’t you inform us beforehand?” Yamagami Nobuo continued to question him.
“You knew this involved a struggle between politicians, yet you didn’t tell us a single word of truth.
Now that we’ve made a choice that doesn’t suit you, you jump out and criticize us.
Whose fault is this, really?”

Yoshida Shoichi was sprayed with saliva and fled the Black Cat nightclub in disgrace.

After Yoshida Shoichi left, Yamagami Nobuo finally dropped his aggressive posture, revealing an irrepressible worry.
“What Yoshida Shoichi said is probably what Mayor Kiuchi, and even Governor Ito, are thinking.
If we refuse them so directly, I’m afraid it will displease them.”

“They will definitely be displeased,” Seiko nodded and said without thinking.
“But… Kiuchi Shigezawa, Ito Eishiro, these people boss us around, wanting our every step to be in line with theirs.
To put it bluntly, they still see the Yamagami-gumi as enforcers for them politicians.
As long as the Yamagami-gumi isn’t content with just being an enforcer, a rift between us and them is bound to happen sooner or later.”

Was the Yamagami-gumi content with just being an enforcer?

It was not.

Yamagami Nobuo thought about how Seiko had already begun to push for the Yamagami-gumi’s transformation.
Clearly, she wasn’t even content with just being a yakuza.

The future of the Yamagami-gumi would ultimately be in Seiko’s hands, and that future was likely not far off…
Yamagami Nobuo said no more, allowing Seiko to make her choice.