Chapter 128: Speaking Out for the Weak

"It's for society?!"

Hearing Akiwara Yuto's explanation, Sakaguchi Keito immediately became interested.

In the news business, especially when there are requirements for newspaper volume, the most desired interviewees are those who say something shocking.

Because only then can the published article attract more attention from readers, thereby selling better!

Sakaguchi Keito picked up his pen and looked at Akiwara Yuto seriously.

Akiwara Yuto organized his language and continued to explain (bluff): "Yes, the reason I created this work is my dissatisfaction with the current state of Japanese society, especially the deep-rooted solidification of social classes!"

After finishing this sentence, he took a sip of tea and continued: "The son of a rich man remains a rich man; the son of a politician remains a politician. For the children of ordinary people to get ahead, they often have to put in much more effort than children from those two types of families."

He paused and said in an even more "heartbroken" voice: "Even so, the opportunities to get ahead are gradually decreasing."

Sakaguchi Keito nodded. He felt this point wasn't explosive enough, so he continued to press: "What do you think is the reason for the decrease?"

"It is the uneven distribution of social resources by the older generation, and the chain reaction that brings."

Akiwara Yuto paused and asked back: "Reporter Sakaguchi, you should know the saying 'local support base, personal support group, and funding', right?"

Sakaguchi Keito lowered his head to think for a while, then replied: "Is that the three things regarding politician elections?"

"Yes," Akiwara Yuto replied, "local support base refers to the politician's hometown, representing connections; personal support group refers to the local cultivation of the older generation, representing public opinion; funding refers to political donations from affiliated companies, representing funds."

"Under these unfair circumstances, election situations often favor the descendants of politicians, and this also leads to further collusion of interests. For ordinary people who want to be successfully elected locally, they often have to marry into it or become part of an interest group. In this case, how many people can speak out for us ordinary people?"

Everything Akiwara Yuto said was not fabricated. In his past life, he had gained a deep understanding of Japan's factional politics through the internet.

In Japan, as far as members of the Diet are concerned, bloodline inheritance is very important, and they maintain their "pure bloodline" through marriage, adoption, and recognizing godchildren.

Ultimately, Japanese politics, developed through nepotism, has become increasingly factional, family-oriented, and fixed.

In this situation, phenomena like father-son prime ministers, three prime ministers from one family, and four generations of officials are common.

Data shows: The Liberal Democratic Party, which holds the most seats in the Japanese Diet, has 304 members, of which 124 are hereditary members, a hereditary rate of 40.8%, while the total hereditary rate of the Diet is as high as 33.8%.

Sakaguchi Keito couldn't help but sigh upon hearing everything Akiwara Yuto said; he knew that everything Akiwara Yuto said was reality.

Although Hokkaido is the base for more than 200,000 Ainu people, because of Japan's evil political hereditary system and manipulation of votes, there are not many politicians willing to speak out for the Ainu.

So much so that to this day, the government does not recognize the Ainu as the indigenous people of Hokkaido.

This has also become another major reason why the Ainu are discriminated against by mainstream Japanese society.

Sakaguchi Keito thought for a moment and asked another question: "Akiwara-sensei, is your work *The Death of a Mystery Novelist* created because of your dissatisfaction with this phenomenon of social class solidification?"

Akiwara Yuto "sighed" and continued to answer: "That's right, Reporter Sakaguchi. You should have already read this work."

Sakaguchi Keito nodded, indicating he had read it.

Akiwara Yuto continued: "Then think carefully, if the next generation of a mystery novelist has no support from the mystery novelist, and is penniless, which one of them can rely on themselves to achieve class mobility?"

Sakaguchi Keito began to think: The eldest daughter borrowed 100 million yen from her dad? The eldest son-in-law's copyright agency relies entirely on his father-in-law? The eldest grandson has no career of his own? The other family members all rely on the wealth of their ancestors...

After thinking for a long time, he shook his head.

Seeing that he understood his meaning, Akiwara Yuto continued: "A group of parasites who cannot stand on their own without relying on their elders think they are upper-class people and discriminate against the kind and diligent female caregiver in every possible way. Isn't this ironic enough?"

He was silent for a moment and then said: "This is the current social situation in Japan. These so-called upper-class people stand in their current positions relying on their ancestors, yet they think it is their own achievement and are full of contempt for the lower-class people!"

"*The Death of a Mystery Novelist* is a work created based on this!"

Hearing these words, Sakaguchi Keito was completely shocked. He hadn't expected Akiwara Yuto's work to have such deep thought. If this was the case, then this work was a masterpiece calling out for the weak!

At this point, Sakaguchi Keito suddenly realized that the questions he had prepared to ask hadn't been used at all; he had been led by the nose by Akiwara Yuto the whole time...

He thought for less than two seconds and then asked with a serious voice: "Then I would like to ask you, did you set the female lead as Ainu because you also considered the phenomenon that Burakumin are heavily discriminated against in Japanese society today?"

Seeing that he had just bluffed this reporter, Akiwara Yuto felt a little proud; after all, he had spent quite a lot of time pondering this set of arguments.

But after hearing Sakaguchi Keito's question, Akiwara Yuto couldn't help but be stunned.

Ainu? Burakumin? What the hell?

I originally just corresponded to the background of the female lead in *Knives Out* being a South American immigrant and just found a non-mainstream ethnic group in Japan to replace it.

But he thought about it and realized he couldn't say that.

In the previous Q&A, he had established a persona as a writer who came from poverty but always cared about society. If he expressed now that he had just set the protagonist randomly, it would undoubtedly destroy the image he had just built.

Akiwara Yuto was silent for a moment, then picked up his tea and took a sip. Using this time, he quickly recalled information about Burakumin in his mind.

Burakumin are an unspeakable class in Japan, at the bottom of the social pyramid, and were once contemptuously called "Eta" and "Hinin" by mainstream society. (Highly insulting terms, similar to the untouchables in India.)

And these Burakumin are actually funeral directors, butchers, or leather workers, as well as ethnic minorities in Japan, such as the Ainu and Ryukyuans.

Under the exclusion of mainstream Japanese society, the descendants of Burakumin usually find it difficult to enter good schools and universities, are not hired by good companies after graduation, and daughters from ordinary families don't want to marry them.

If they are unfortunately involved in criminal cases, they are often directly labeled as criminals, and even if they are wronged, society will not show sympathy (for example, there were relevant cases in 1963).

However, Burakumin account for one-thirtieth of Japan's total population, so it is better to show support.

If so, he could further shape his image as someone who cares for the weak, and besides that, he could also gain the support of these Burakumin.

More importantly, in order to improve its international image, the Japanese government will also further improve the political status of the Ainu and Burakumin in the future. And in mainstream society, there will be more voices supporting the two.

Akiwara Yuto weighed the pros and cons and decided to admit to this argument: "Yes, I set the female lead as Ainu because I am also dissatisfied with mainstream society's discrimination against Burakumin."

"I believe that all companies and schools should no longer stick to their own opinions and discriminate against Burakumin; and the government should also legislate to protect the interests of Burakumin."

"This society should not be about the law of the jungle, but should protect the weak while ensuring existing fairness!"

"This is my professional ethics as a writer, and it is also the original intention of writing *The Death of a Mystery Novelist*."

Hearing these righteous words from Akiwara Yuto, Sakaguchi Keito showed a satisfied expression.

Very good, his goal for today's interview had been achieved!

Now he had to write a good manuscript! ===== CHAPTER 129 =====