Chapter 222: The Wrath of the Zaibatsu

The Metropolitan Police Department's actions could not be called slow; they salvaged the body parts at dawn, received the report in the morning, began dissection and testing at noon, and obtained results by comparing DNA in the afternoon. By evening, the Sumitomo Mitsui Group—which had borne the brunt of the impact and shock from the Yokohama Case, and even had an Executive Director thrown into prison—could no longer hold back and urgently convened a Board of Directors meeting.

In the evening, more than thirty members of the Sumitomo Mitsui Group's Board of Directors in Tokyo arrived collectively; only one solitary seat remained empty, which clearly belonged to Executive Director Sato.

After receiving a call placed personally by Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji, the Chairman of the Board of the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Miyata Koichi, and the President of the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Ota Jun, arrived in person. In addition, the Chairman of the Niki-kai and President of Mitsui & Co., Hori Kenichi, also came, and another, the President of Mitsui Real Estate, Mitsui Nagunori, arrived on an emergency flight.

The CEOs of more than thirty subsidiaries under the Sumitomo Mitsui Group frowned; every one of them knew what had happened.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows were the brilliant Tokyo Tower and a sea of neon lights under the night sky, but no one in the meeting was distracted enough to look out. Beside a black sandalwood conference table about fifteen meters long, over thirty middle-aged and elderly men in suits and leather shoes sat upright, their ties and cufflinks meticulous. Nearly half of them already had graying hair. Among the piles of documents spread out before them, one could vaguely see bold headings such as "Emergency Contingency Plan," "Project Interruption," and "Construction Plan Frozen." The air was permeated with the bitterness of freshly ground coffee and a tense silence, with only the hum of the central air conditioning barely filling the void.

Everyone remained silent, but within the room, a storm visible to the naked eye was gathering.

They were somewhat enraged!

Japan's Zaibatsu were established during the Meiji era. Benefiting from the Black Ships opening the country and the Meiji Restoration, a large group of merchants engaged in industry and finance began to rise rapidly. By sponsoring the new imperial government and coordinating provisions and military pay, they gained the favor of the Meiji government, monopolizing the nation's industrial and financial sectors. On this foundation, they formed a political-business alliance and acted as accomplices and financiers in Japan's series of foreign aggressions; their crimes were too numerous to record.

But that was also a very common phenomenon of that era; everyone did it, it was just that in this place called Japan, there were unique national conditions, and they were combined exceptionally tightly.

After World War I, the Mitsui Zaibatsu had already become the largest monopoly capital group in all of Japan.

After World War II, Five-Star MacArthur entered the island nation to handle post-war affairs. MacArthur keenly discovered the intricate connections and mutually reinforcing relationships between the Japanese Zaibatsu system and the old Japanese government system, believing this to be one of the roots of Japanese militarism. Thus, he decided to strike hard, dealing heavy blows to the major Zaibatsu, confiscating monopoly assets, dissolving key departments, and splitting the Zaibatsu system to allow subsidiaries to form independent companies.

MacArthur grabbed both hands and made both hands firm; he wiped out the Peerage politics, factional politics, nobility politics, and Zaibatsu politics all in one breath.

Most of the assets were confiscated, and the Zaibatsu system was ostensibly dissolved. MacArthur's reforms were undoubtedly very successful, but just as he was preparing to further and fundamentally resolve the major Zaibatsu, the Korean War broke out.

The outbreak of the Korean War led to MacArthur not completing the final step. Facing the Korean War, the United States needed a front-line logistics center, a light industrial processing point, and a base for heavy industry. MacArthur slightly relaxed the standards, re-allowing cross-shareholding and mutual guarantees between the Zaibatsu's subordinate companies and trading firms, which allowed the old Zaibatsu to retain their last bit of vitality.

Looking back, MacArthur's handling was not problematic, because such large military orders and military supplies required entities of sufficient scale to take them on, so it was necessary to allow the contracting enterprises to engage in cross-shareholding and mutual guarantees for risk control; otherwise, once a default occurred, even the scale of the United States would have been hard-pressed to handle it.

Relying on the "special procurement orders" worth 5 billion USD at the time in the 1950s, the Zaibatsu caught their breath and solved the employment problem for nearly ten million people. The old Zaibatsu reorganized into new financial groups according to MacArthur's will and rose again, forming the current major financial groups on the tailwind of economic take-off.

Because they had been hit by the iron fist and nearly wiped out, Japan's financial groups were far from having the sense of monopoly seen in South Korea. Within a financial group, it is generally a loose "confederation," combined through relationships of cross-shareholding, mutual guarantees, and joint mortgages. It belongs to a horizontal alliance, with internal decision-making carried out by professional agents; it is more dispersed and emphasizes mutual cooperation and internal resource exchange.

South Korean Zaibatsu, on the other hand, are directly controlled by a certain family through multiple complex equity stakes, belonging to direct control.

The Sumitomo Mitsui Group is a combination of the Mitsui financial group and the Sumitomo financial group; the two groups united through the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group to become a behemoth that is one of Japan's three major financial entities.

Hori Kenichi, President of Mitsui & Co., sat at the head of the long table, his left hand unconsciously rubbing the edge of his teacup, his right hand drawing rapid short horizontal lines on his notebook. He did not speak, but his gaze constantly scanned the room—this was the tacit rule of the Niki-kai: when a crisis affects multiple companies, the president of the core trading firm must be the first to break the deadlock.

"Bad news has come from the Metropolitan Police Department. Department Manager Igarashi of Mitsui Real Estate has been confirmed dead. According to DNA testing, it has been determined that the body parts found in Tokyo Bay this morning are indeed Igarashi himself."

"Gentlemen, just a short while ago, Superintendent Watanabe of the Metropolitan Police Department called personally to confirm this news. Sakuradamon is asking us: what exactly do we intend to do about this?"

Mitsui Nagunori, President of Mitsui Real Estate, pushed a stack of reports toward the center of the long table and tapped his fingertips heavily on the paper: "What do you mean, what do we intend to do? What exactly is Sakuradamon thinking? Do they think that we, Mitsui Real Estate, staged this ourselves?"

"Executive Director Sato has already been inside for several days. According to the Nishimura Asahi Law Office, Sato insists it was not his doing." Miyata Koichi, Chairman of the Board of the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, shook his graying eyebrows: "We also feel that Sato is not that kind of person!"

"That is not the point," Ota Jun, CEO of Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, leaned back against his chair, his voice calm but carrying a sense of pressure: "The point is, Igarashi is dead! He was murdered! And he was dismembered and dumped in Tokyo Bay!"

"This will cause our entire Yokohama International Logistics Center plan to be shelved! Not to mention that a project worth 1.5 trillion yen needs to be re-evaluated, gentlemen, what about this year's financial report data? If the financing plan collapses... the Risk Control Committee will launch an investigation into us."

"Not only that, we absolutely must not set this precedent," Hori Kenichi, President of Mitsui & Co., said coldly: "Regardless of the reason—whether it is commercial competition, or involves a personal vendetta related to Igarashi's father, or even involves some Yakuza—the face of our Mitsui financial group, the face of our Niki-kai, must not be tarnished."

"A high-ranking executive of Mitsui Real Estate was actually murdered and dumped in Tokyo Bay. If we do nothing, who in all of Japan, or even the whole world, will take this group seriously in the future?"

"If this continues, we, Sumitomo Mitsui, will become the laughingstock of the international community!"

Everyone nodded one after another; the large group of gray-haired elders within the Niki-kai all felt anger.

Internal group struggle is one thing, resource competition and involution is one thing, and family grudges are another.

A high-ranking executive of Mitsui Real Estate being murdered and dumped in Tokyo Bay is a huge blow to the reputation of the entire group!

On this point, everyone was unable to accept it!

If they can kill a Department Manager today, they can kill a Director tomorrow; the day after tomorrow, could they kill these old guys sitting here?

Where did these Yakuza come from? To dare to do such a thing, I think you are tired of living!

Damn it, is Tokyo a nest for the underworld?

We must retaliate, retaliate very fiercely!

The people present soon reached a consensus.

Just at this moment, the President of Sumitomo Mitsui Insurance frowned and suddenly interjected: "Tokyo Marine Holdings and Nippon Life are also paying attention to this matter. They are also asking if they need to provide assistance? Should we form a joint committee?"

Tokyo Marine Holdings and Nippon Life Insurance provide joint insurance for the entire Yokohama International Logistics Center project.

In the corner, two young secretaries bowed and walked quickly, silently handing the revised draft agreement to each president's side. Hori Kenichi finally raised his hand to signal, his speech fast and low: "If the final project fails completely and the entire joint insurance policy chain collapses, Tokyo Marine Holdings will need to pay a maximum of 230 billion in claims, and Nippon Life Insurance will pay 150 billion."

He paused and turned his gaze to Ota Jun: "Can this compensate for the financing losses of our entire project?"

After three seconds of silence, Ota Jun nodded slightly, and a soft sound of cufflinks being unfastened and hitting the chair arms came from under the table—thankfully, there was insurance.

"That is still unacceptable!" Mitsui Nagunori, President of Mitsui Real Estate, said angrily: "Tell the Metropolitan Police Department that we will investigate to the end! The group will fully support and cooperate with the police's actions."

"However, the Kanagawa Prefectural Police are insisting that it was Sato's doing..."

"No, we don't need to support the Kanagawa Prefectural Police; we only need to support the Metropolitan Police Department," Mitsui Nagunori said: "Kanagawa police, those who know, know; they are not trustworthy!"

"Hmm." Hori Kenichi, Chairman of the Niki-kai and President of Mitsui & Co., nodded: "Indeed, the Metropolitan Police Department feels more reliable, but... who can investigate this matter? If it is not handled well, it will have a huge impact on our group's reputation, and we must also be careful of sabotage by other opposing forces."

The President of Sumitomo Mitsui Insurance thought for a moment and took the initiative to speak: "Regarding this matter, Tokyo Marine Holdings and Nippon Life have a proposal."

"They want to specifically name Forensic Examiner Uesugi of the Special Investigation Division of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Metropolitan Police Department to investigate this matter."

Once these words were spoken, a commotion erupted throughout the Board of Directors meeting.

"Forensic Examiner Uesugi? Is that the Uesugi from the Yonezawa Peerage?"

"Yes, that's the one who investigated the Todai Case, the Chiba serial murder case, and the Fuji TV Case!" Someone immediately recalled who Uesugi Muneyuki was.

"Oh, oh, oh, Kuninori's grandson, I remember now!"

"That's the kid who gave the employees an excuse to take annual leave, saying something like 'I need a paid long vacation'."

"And that FX Predator thing; thanks to his remarks, several middle managers in my company got divorced."

"Let him be responsible for this case? Indeed, if there is anyone who can make everyone feel at ease, it would only be him, right?"

"If it's Uesugi-kun, we don't have to worry about him deliberately changing the verdict for some reason; that's a guy who even dares to confront the University of Tokyo and the District Public Prosecutors Office's Special Investigation Team head-on!"

"Hmm, hmm, hmm, if it's this guy..."

At 1:00 AM, the presidents reached a consensus and left the meeting one after another, rubbing their temples as they climbed into the waiting black Toyota Century sedans.

Hori Kenichi, Chairman of the Niki-kai and President of Mitsui & Co., remained until the end. Gazing at the city that was still brightly lit outside the window, he sighed to the secretary beside him: "Notify the Metropolitan Police Department that we demand a thorough investigation to the end to give an account to all our Sumitomo Mitsui employees and all the citizens of Japan. For this, we are willing to provide all assistance within the scope permitted by law."

"However, we specifically request Uesugi Muneyuki to investigate this case."

"Also, notify Tokyo Marine Holdings and Nippon Life Insurance; we must form a special investigation committee as soon as possible to figure out exactly what happened."

"Yes!"

The car door closed, and the Niki-kai chairman could finally no longer control his expression as he clenched his fists.

How did the country end up like this?

The Mitsui Sumitomo Group is furious!

(End of this chapter)