Chapter 5: Inagawa-kai and Yamaguchi-gumi

Murakami Eishi managed some of the Yamagami-gumi’s crucial assets, such as their two most profitable bars.

Murakami Eishi’s personality was clear to almost all high-ranking Chokusan within the Yamagami-gumi.
To put it nicely, he was a good-natured person, kind to others, and never participated in internal conflicts.
To put it less nicely, he had the weakness of a petty-bourgeois, unwilling to offend either side.
Therefore, both Yamagami Akira’s faction and Takeuchi Toshio’s faction within the Yamagami-gumi were happy to frequent Murakami Eishi’s bars.

Even after Yamagami Akira’s death in a car accident, and despite rumors circulating widely within the Yamagami-gumi that Takeuchi Toshio was the killer, Takeuchi Toshio was still able to enter Murakami Eishi’s bar with peace of mind.

As an “ordinary high school student,” Seiko appearing in a bar without a legitimate reason would be very conspicuous.

In a subsequent investigation, the police would find it hard not to notice her.
But Saori was different.
Saori was Murakami Eishi’s daughter, and she regularly frequented the bar, sometimes even helping out the uncles and aunts there, earning much praise from the adults.
So, even if Urawa police learned from other witnesses that Saori was at the bar at the time, they would find it hard to suspect that this seemingly sweet and well-behaved girl had killed Takeuchi Toshio through unknown means.

In the days that followed, that oddly small teacher didn’t bother Seiko again.
In the evening, the Inoshikachō trio once again waited at the school gate to greet Seiko and Saori.

“Why are you guys more idle than us?” Seiko asked the trio curiously on the way home, “Aren’t you in your third year?”

At present, Japan’s relaxed education reforms were just beginning to show signs.
After the war, the academic pressure on Japanese youth had been on a continuous upward curve.
In 1980, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) introduced the first revision of the “Course of Study,” which somewhat lowered the academic pressure on youth.
However, true relaxed education wouldn’t begin until 1992.
In 1992, MEXT made its second revision to the “Course of Study,” drastically cutting the study workload for elementary and junior high school students by thirty percent.
Thirty percent might not sound like much, but two examples illustrate its impact: one, in this revision, elementary and junior high students were only required to know pi as “3”; two, this revision directly eliminated the requirement for elementary and junior high students to master the formula for calculating the area of a trapezoid.
Since then, on one hand, the academic proficiency of Japanese students plummeted, and on the other hand, various cram schools began to emerge.

Parents, realizing that Japanese education was going to hell during the actual process of raising children, increasingly chose to send their children to outside cram schools.
Cram schools, of course, cost more money, leading to the bizarre phenomenon where the government was trying to reduce burdens, yet the educational burden on ordinary families grew heavier and heavier…
However, those matters were irrelevant to the Inoshikachō trio for now.
In 1985, Japanese high schools were still in the tail end of high-pressure education.

“Heheheh…” The Inoshikachō trio scratched their heads, laughing awkwardly, “Our grades are at the bottom of the class; there’s basically no hope for higher education. It’s hard to even get into a junior college.”

“Oh…”
So, because they were so terrible, they felt no academic pressure at all.
Seiko realized that her “Seiko Corps” was indeed full of talent.

“So, what do you plan to do after graduating from third year?”

“My mom said I should learn to make Wagashi with her and help out at our sweets shop after that,” “Boar” replied.

“I’ve been working part-time at a pet shop recently, and the boss said I can start working full-time directly after I graduate,” “Deer” said.

“Don’t worry, Boss, we will never let these trivial matters interfere with the important business of our Seiko Corps,” “Boar” thumped his chest, assuring her.
‘There’s no important business for your Seiko Corps to interfere with.’
Seiko was speechless and looked at the last person.

“I… I haven’t decided yet,” “Butterfly” sounded a little unsure.
Nishida Jun, in the past, if not a top student, at least had above-average grades.
Yet, after just one year of hanging out with Nakagawa Shuta and Baba Yoshiteru, even getting into higher education had become a problem for him.
Seiko could only say, ‘It’s hard to learn to be good, but easy to learn to be bad.’

“Ah, help, help… ahh!”
Suddenly, a commotion interrupted their conversation.
A young man, his clothes disheveled, tattoos showing on his arms and neck, ran frantically into the street.
As he fled, he tried to call for help.

From the massage parlor behind him, several men in black wielding short clubs rushed out, caught up to the youth, and beat him down with a flurry of blows.
A van pulled up to the curb and stopped, its door sliding open.
The men in black lifted the blood-soaked youth, threw him into the vehicle, and quickly drove away.
Seiko and Saori silently exchanged glances.
That youth was clearly a Yakuza, and Seiko even recognized him; he was an executive of the Takeuchi-gumi.

“Did you see that? Being a Yakuza is no easy business,” Seiko nudged “Inoshikachō,” “You guys had better think carefully, don’t lose your lives.”

Seiko and Saori returned to the Yamagami household.
Aiko wasn’t home yet; unlike her older sister, she participated in club activities with her classmates after school.
Yamagami Nobuo and Murakami Eishi were having tea in the tearoom, both with somewhat serious expressions.

“Grandfather, Father.”
Saori asked them respectfully.
The Murakami family lived next door to the Yamagami family, so Saori usually stayed a bit longer at the Yamagami house after school, under the pretense of doing homework together.
However, Seiko didn’t need to do homework for now.

“Saori, you go and study first,” Yamagami Nobuo smiled at his well-behaved and sensible granddaughter, then said, “I have something to discuss with Seiko.”

“Mm.”
Saori agreed and left the tearoom with Murakami Eishi.
Only the grandfather and granddaughter remained in the tearoom.

“There are two recent matters I want to tell you about,” Yamagami Nobuo took a sip of tea and slowly began, “First, I’ve purged all the key members of the Takeuchi-gumi; most of them have been arrested. How do you think they should be handled?”
Seiko thought for a moment, then said, “Except for the Chokusan of the Takeuchi-gumi, the rest don’t need to be dealt with.”

“Release all the others?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Most Yakuza are just reckless fools who blindly follow their boss. Takeuchi Toshio wouldn’t have told these people his true intentions, and the Takeuchi-gumi never truly severed ties with the Yamagami-gumi. Without a clear signal, these individuals actually still considered themselves members of the Yamagami-gumi. For them, moving from the Takeuchi-gumi to the Yamagami-gumi is just like moving from a branch company to the head office.” Seiko explained.

“And how should the Chokusan be handled?” Yamagami Nobuo asked again.

“You can directly tell them that Takeuchi Toshio murdered my father, and have them report evidence and accomplices of Takeuchi Toshio, to gauge their attitudes. See who will firmly refute you and who will genuinely report.”

“Then kill those who refute me?”

“No,” Seiko replied, lowering her head slightly, “The ones you should kill are those who report as per your request. As for those who firmly refute you, you should personally offer them travel expenses, shake their hands, and send them away from Urawa.”

“Why?”

“Those who report as per your request are one of two types: either despicable people, treacherous or fabricators of lies, not to be trusted; or they are remnants of Takeuchi Toshio who were complicit but kept silent, equally cunning. In short, killing them would be no loss,” Seiko said. “As for those who firmly refute you, there are also two possibilities: one, they are innocent people who genuinely didn’t hear about the situation, and letting them go is fine. The other is that they know the situation but were fiercely loyal to Takeuchi Toshio. To such loyal individuals, when you bid them farewell, add one more sentence: ‘Akira was your own son, and Toshio was your adopted son. Their fratricide has already caused you immense pain. You cannot bear to kill Toshio’s brothers as well, so you are letting them go. You hope they live well in the future.’ There might be unexpected gains from this.”

As Yamagami Nobuo listened, he almost slammed his hand down in applause.

His granddaughter understood the hearts of the Yakuza too profoundly, just as described in the popular Japanese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms—‘her wisdom was almost demonic.’
However, Yamagami Nobuo still controlled his emotions, merely raising an eyebrow before continuing, “So, there’s a second matter. People from the Takada-gumi have recently appeared on our territory. How do you think we should handle it?”

“Takada-gumi? What are they doing here?”
If the Yamagami-gumi was Urawa City’s largest gang, then the Takada-gumi was likely Saitama Prefecture’s largest gang.
However, their main area of activity was supposed to be in Kawaguchi City, Warabi City, and Toda City, which are closer to Tokyo.
Although they occasionally had friction with the Yamagami-gumi in the past, they generally coexisted peacefully.

“Some peddlers, supplying goods to nightclubs,” Yamagami Nobuo said.
The “peddlers” Yamagami Nobuo referred to were naturally not ordinary vendors, but small-time drug dealers at the very end of the drug trafficking chain—the kind seen in TV shows and movies, who pull out a small bag of pills the size of a fingernail in a dark alley and ask if someone wants “goods.”
Seiko nodded slightly.

It seemed the Takada-gumi had noticed the internal strife within the Yamagami-gumi and was looking to encroach on their territory.

However, it couldn’t be ruled out that the Yamagami-gumi’s internal strife was orchestrated by the Takada-gumi.
As Saitama Prefecture’s top two Yakuza forces, the Takada-gumi would certainly not lack reasons to assassinate the Yamagami-gumi Kumicho.
Seiko frowned in thought for a long time, then said, “There are two ways to handle it.”

“Tell me.”

“The first is to try and make a deal with the Takada-gumi, ceding all drug business to them in exchange for other benefits for us.”

“Why?”

“The Takada-gumi is currently more powerful and backed by the Inagawa-kai. Even when we didn’t have internal strife, we might not have been their match, let alone now that we’re experiencing internal conflict.”
Seiko analyzed.

The Inagawa-kai is one of Japan’s three major Yakuza syndicates—the other two being the Sumiyoshi-kai and the Yamaguchi-gumi—headquartered in Roppongi, Tokyo.

The Inagawa-kai is not only Yakuza; it also has deep connections with Japanese politics.
One of the Inagawa-kai’s founders was the Class A war criminal, Kodama Yoshio.
Kodama was also a founder of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party.
In other words, the Inagawa-kai virtually came into existence as two sides of the same coin as the Liberal Democratic Party.

“Furthermore, our drug profits were never high to begin with. The key members of the Takeuchi-gumi were primarily responsible for that sector. It’s simply not worth the effort and risk to painstakingly rebuild that business.”

The Yamagami-gumi’s drug trafficking profits were indeed mediocre, mainly because the Yamagami-gumi lacked direct channels to source from the production end.
They usually bought from secondary, or even tertiary and quaternary dealers, leaving little profit after each cut.
Yamagami Nobuo frowned and nodded, beginning to weigh his options.

“Then what’s the second method?”

“The second is, we should join the Yamaguchi-gumi, to find a reliable big patron to counter the pressure from the Inagawa-kai,” Seiko said.

“Do you know what state the Yamaguchi-gumi is in right now?” Yamagami Nobuo was genuinely surprised this time, looking at Seiko with an expression that said, ‘This girl must be crazy.’

“Of course I know, the Yama-Ichi Kōsō. Even the Yamaguchi-gumi’s Fourth-generation Kumicho was assassinated by a hitman, and countless executives have died.”

“And you still want to join the Yamaguchi-gumi at this critical juncture?”

“Precisely this juncture is a good opportunity to join the Yamaguchi-gumi.”