Chapter 434

Uesugi Muneyuki also saw the headline of the Asahi Shimbun.

When the Asahi Shimbun announced "Japan's manufacturing industry is already dead!", he almost choked, couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The problem of counterfeiting in Japan's manufacturing industry has existed for a long time, but it also has its reasons.

The previous text mentioned Japan's "acceptance bill" problem, that is, only Japan, a country with unlimited personal liability, can afford this so-called "acceptance bill"; if replaced by the United States daring to give individuals this power, every American would immediately issue 10 billion USD in bills for frantic consumption that day, and the next day everyone would immediately apply for bankruptcy.

Only Japanese people can afford this unlimited personal liability system, and only Japan, a country with an exceptionally strong shame culture, can uphold acceptance for the sake of its morality and reputation, even if it means losing family wealth and destroying lives.

Every Japanese small and medium-sized enterprise owner forced to commit suicide was not driven to death by bank loans, but rather, on top of those bank loans, they had borrowed at least five times more in private loans and more than ten times in acceptance bills!

So, what does this have to do with counterfeiting?

The answer is, it has a great deal to do with it.

It is well known that since Japan's economy began to take off in the 1970s, the Japanese products it produced have always been the epitome of good quality and low price; those better in quality (like German goods) were not cheaper, and those cheaper were not of better quality, so Japanese products quickly became popular worldwide, providing the greatest impetus for Japan's economic takeoff.

In this context, it must be said that Japan's culture of strong shame and unlimited personal liability played a major role; the so-called "craftsman spirit" that many once mocked also stems from this, although this term has now become derogatory, but in the 1970s and 1980s, before the internet era, in the post-industrial age, the craftsman spirit truly helped brand quality, otherwise Japanese products would not have become globally popular at that time.

However, the problem also lies here.

In the mid-1990s, as the bubble economy began to burst, Japan failed to catch up with the internet's Windows era (still stubbornly using DOS systems and 3.5-inch floppy disks for a very long time), and the original era dividends and industrialization dividends also began to be exhausted, so the previously called "craftsman spirit" instead became a severe burden dragging down Japanese industry as a stumbling block, but Japan's strong shame culture and unlimited personal liability system determined that they must strive to maintain their "face" and "craftsman spirit".

Thus, the "craftsman spirit" that once brought high-quality, low-cost, superior materials and fine craftsmanship instead turned into large-scale counterfeiting and mutual cover-up of substandard goods being passed off as good; although from the 1970s to the mid-1990s, Japanese products had established an extremely solid reputation and good impression worldwide, causing such problems to go undetected immediately, only after the new millennium did Japan's large-scale counterfeiting problem begin to surface gradually, but even so, because the impression from previous years was still good and many good brands remained, the world's impression of Japanese products is not too bad, belonging to another example of living off ancestral legacy.

When the entire industry is counterfeiting, it's equivalent to the entire industry not counterfeiting. JPG!

As for manufacturing, Uesugi Muneyuki's evaluation is that manufacturing is bound to die sooner or later.

The answer is simple: I can sit in the office blowing air conditioning, trading stocks, flipping land, doing IT live streams and selling goods; why would I go to the factory to tighten screws?

I made money in manufacturing, had a surplus, and certainly prioritized investing in real estate, finance, and the tertiary industry!

Moreover, with surplus in manufacturing, it will certainly lead to rising worker wages and rising raw material costs; in Japan's view, working in a factory tightening screws for eight hours a month with two days off, earning less than 220,000 yen, is completely unacceptable, but in a certain country across the sea, earning 100,000 yen a month for eight hours with two days off is considered a blessing, which will certainly lead to the relocation of manufacturing.

What's more excessive is that in places like India, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Indonesia, even 100,000 yen is not required; a monthly salary of 60,000 yen already has many people willing to work.

Therefore, manufacturing is forever seeking larger markets and cheaper raw materials and labor, which is unavoidable, just like sunrise, sunset is also a natural law. jpg

The shift of manufacturing from substance to void is a cyclical reincarnation that no one can change.

It is worth mentioning that after Weekly Bunshun was hit hard last time, this time it indeed launched a heavy punch against the problems of the Metropolitan Police Department.

"The Truth of 'Paper Armor': The Metropolitan Police Department's Corruption Network Behind the '30,000 Yen per Piece' That Killed Fallen Police Officers!"

"Weekly Bunshun's In-Depth Tracking:

Corruption Chain: The secret ledger in the study of the Daiwa Armor CEO's luxury mansion shows that each piece of substandard bulletproof vest (cost: ¥18,000) can generate a ¥40,000 kickback! Total bribery amount exceeds 3 billion yen!

The Metropolitan Police Department's supervisory joke: checking the package: This Weekly Bunshun secret investigation of the Metropolitan Police Department warehouse keeper's testimony: inspection only looks at whether the packaging box seal is intact.

Fatal Cost: Compliant bulletproof vests require ¥85,000 per piece, substandard ones win bids at only ¥58,000—the difference is the price of a police officer's life! How can a Japanese police officer's life be so cheap?!"

"This country, I ponder, ask the established body, need reflection!"

Weekly Bunshun believes that with such a major incident, the Metropolitan Police Department must have its top leadership resign en masse to account for it!

The headline of the Sankei Shimbun is then:

"The Questioned 'Safety Myth': The Bulletproof Vest Scandal Exposes the Blind Spot in Police Equipment Management!"

"The fraud in bulletproof performance symbolizes the collapse of 'Japanese-style quality management'. In automotive and electrical fields, leading the world in testing technology, yet in police equipment, retaining the Showa-era visual inspection. This 'blind spot of peace' sacrifices the frontline police officers!"

Sankei Shimbun's commentary is relatively mild, because this publication is relatively "right-wing".

While Japan's five major television stations seem to be under control, they are currently only reporting, without specific in-depth analysis, seemingly waiting for the investigation results of the Metropolitan Police Department and the District Public Prosecutors Office, after all, no conviction has been made, no indictment issued.

But global media doesn't care about this so much.

BBC headline analysis: "'Paper Armor' Scandal: How Japanese Police Fell Victim to Internal Betrayal!"

"The Tokyo Superintendent General's tearful press conference—his subordinates wearing the same deadly vest—summarized this national trauma: 'We believed the system would protect us, but the system instead sold our lives for profit.'

"This scandal exposes a potential risk faced by low-crime-rate countries: when armor is rarely tested in real combat, corruption may turn it into a death trap. The International Criminal Police Organization warns all member states to immediately conduct a full audit of their stockpiles!"

New York Times in-depth column: "Japan's Safety Illusion: When Bulletproof Vests Can't Stop Bullets"

"In a country where 'kicking a vending machine too hard makes it surrender', police believe their armor will take effect via administrative order. But reality, using. 45 caliber bullets, pierced this fantasy—Japan's so-called safety illusion is nothing more than this."

"As for us Americans, we would never encounter such problems from prolonged peacetime!"

"According to the report from Agent Smith on the front lines, in the Metropolitan Police Department's emergency full-scale test of 1,000 bulletproof vests, 84% failed the basic fiber density check—meaning thousands of police officers on patrol have their uniforms embroidered with false courage."

Reuters flash: "'Japanese Police Die from 'Welcome Bullets' Bulletproof Vests, After Which the Metropolitan Police Department Decides to Prosecute the Armor Manufacturer'"

Reuters stated rather neutrally: "The Tokyo prosecutor charges Daiwa Armor Co., Ltd. with fraud and negligent homicide, demanding compensation of 23 billion yen, and imposing 20 years imprisonment on its executives."

The report from the Old Chinese Media across the sea is: "Tokyo's Lesson: The High Cost of Complacency in Armor Procurement"

Old Chinese Media, while beating the drowning dog, also subtly suggests: don't buy domestic low-quality, high-priced bulletproof vests; buy ours from the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta! Single piece quote is five hundred USD, bulk purchases can be negotiated separately, hundred billion yuan state subsidy for good quality and low price, guaranteed replacement and refund, send your order over, we will immediately start all factories, double shifts, full power! Firepower Boy King!

Under the global headline storm, domestic public opinion also began to sharpen.

Police family groups marched in front of the National Diet, holding up signs saying "Is my husband's bulletproof vest a tool for executing the death penalty?", grabbing a National Diet member and shouting at them, making these politicians flustered.

The stock market also began to tremble, with rumors appearing: "After the Metropolitan Police Department launched a large-scale secret inspection of police equipment, four out of five major suppliers had problems, the only one without issues being the company founded in the late 1950s, Shōwa Protection, whose CEO is already over 90 years old, with a pass rate as high as 95% or more."

Affected by this, the stocks of the four major suppliers plummeted 30%, while Shōwa Protection's stock surged 50%.

The most humorous part is that Minami Ojou-sama told Uesugi Muneyuki that although the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Relations Division first denied the news, the news is not a rumor, but true!

Affected by this, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, curry, meat bone tea, Indonesian nine-layer……cough cough, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, etc., immediately conducted emergency inspections of domestically purchased Japanese-made bulletproof vests, while Australia and New Zealand, Canada then immediately canceled the bidding qualifications of all Japanese-made police equipment companies.

On Twitter and INS and other social media, PS images are still hotly circulating: the word "police" or "Metropolitan Police Department", "XX Police Headquarters" on the chests of Japanese police are photoshopped out, replaced with the warning label "This area is not bulletproof".

Finally, as the national broadcaster NHK, it couldn't help but lament: "Armor cannot stop bullets, the system failed the police, the nation lost its soul."

And just amidst this global public opinion storm.

The police funerals of Inspector Kikuchi Fūma and Inspector Yamada Yuki were held as scheduled under the insistence of the Metropolitan Police Department.

(Chapter End)