Jin – Episode 6 Trailer

14Nov09

Episode 6: Alive (Airs 15 November 2009)

Jin has created a stir with the production of penicillin, which had not been available in the Edo era, and his treatment of syphilis. His divine medical techniques rapidly spread around the city of Edo and he becomes a sensation to the extent that amulets calling him a god appear. Maybe it is because the Tokugawa government’s medical school heard these rumours that Jin is requested to have a meeting with the school’s doctor of the inner palace.

Jin meets Taki Antaku, the doctor of the inner palace, and is quizzed about his background. Ryoma and Kyotaro, who have come together to protect him, skillfully try to sidestep questions on Jin’s identity but this only strengthens the medical school’s distrust of Jin.

At that moment, Fukuda Genko, who is with Taki, suddenly complains of abdominal pains and collapses. Examining Fukuda, Jin diagnoses a high possibility of a ruptured gastric ulcer and hurriedly performs an emergency surgery on him. He boldly proceeds with the surgery even as everyone at the medical school watches …

However, after the surgery, Saburi is discovered to have caused an incident which shakes up the Western Medicine Institute. This incident stirs up an unexpected state of affairs.

Meanwhile, at Yoshiwara, Nokaze hears an unbelievable rumour about Jin …

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Filed under: Fall 2009, Jin   |  Leave a Comment

Winter 2010 Dramas – Rumours

14Nov09

TBA
Date: January 2010, Wednesdays 10.00 pm
Station: NTV
Cast: Ueto Aya

Hidarime Tantei EYE
Date: January 2010, Saturdays 9.00 pm
Station: NTV
Cast: Yamada Ryosuke, Yokoyama Yu, Ishihara Satomi, Terawaki Yasufumi

Keirin Yaro
Date: January 2010, Fridays 10.00 pm
Station: TBS
Cast: Domoto Tsuyoshi

Bloody Monday Season 2
Date: January 2010, Saturdays 8.00 pm
Station: TBS
Cast: Haruma Miura, Sato Takeru, Kichise Michiko

Code Blue Season 2
Date: January 2010, Mondays 9.00 pm
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Aragaki Yui

TBA
Date: January 2010, Tuesdays 9.00 pm
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Eikura Nana

TBA
Date: January 2010, Tuesdays 10.00 pm
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Sato Ryuta

Angel Bank
Date: January 2010, Thursdays 9.00 pm
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Hasegawa Kyoko

Once Upon a Time in Tokyo
Date: January 2010, Fridays 9.00 pm
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Kitamura Kazuki, Matsuzaka Keiko

Salaryman Kintaro Season 2
Date: January 2010, Fridays 11.00 pm
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Nagai Masaru, Inoue Waka

Filed under: Upcoming Japanese Dramas   |  12 Comments

Upcoming Winter Dramas 2010

14Nov09

Hanchou ~ Jinnansho Azumihan Season 2
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Mondays, January 2010
Station: TBS
Cast: Sasaki Kuranosuke, Nakamura Shunsuke, Suzuki Taku, Tsukaji Muga, Kurotani Tomoka, Kashu Toshiki, Yamaguchi Shogo, Hosokawa Shigeki, Tayama Ryosei, Shibuya Asuka, Yasu Megumi, Okunuki Kaoru
Synopsis: -
Website: http://www.tbs.co.jp/hanchou2009/

Akakabu Kenji Kyoto-hen^*NEW*
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Wednesdays, January 2010
Station: TBS
Cast: Nakamura Baijaku, Kikukawa Rei, Hara Sachie, Asagi Kuniko, Nakanishi Ryota, Kawamata Shinobu, Abe Shinnosuke, Yasui Kenichiro, Ono Takehiko, Kotegawa Yuko
Synopsis: Hiiragi Shigeru (Nakamura Baijaku) is not an elite who passed the bar exam but a public prosecutor’s assistant officer who worked his way up to be a public prosecutor. He is certainly not the aggressive sort and speaks in Nagoya dialect. He defeats sly, elite lawyers in courtroom showdowns through his decades of experience and legal knowledge. A lover of red turnips, his nickname “Akakabu Kenji” came about when he was the head of the Takayama District Public Prosecutors’ Office in Gifu. During one episode, he bought his favourite red turnips first thing in the morning, brought them to the courtroom and scattered them on the floor out of a whim, earning the laughter of the judges.
Website: http://www.tbs.co.jp/akakabukenji/

Kimitachi ni Asu wa Nai
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, 16 January 2010
Station: NHK
Cast: Sakaguchi Kenji, Tanaka Misako, Sudo Risa, Kitamura Yukiya, Aso Yumi, Murata Takehiro, Sakai Masaaki
Synopsis: Murakami Shinsuke (Sakaguchi Kenji) is a consultant working at a company that undertakes corporate restructuring. Murakami is a professional who goes into companies which have been squeezed by the recession and are on the verge of collapse. He conducts interviews with the employees of such companies and pressures them to resign in the name of “voluntary retirement”. Faced with this crushing life crisis of “corporate restructuring”, Murakami’s interviewees are severely distressed. They are forced to look hard at themselves and make the ultimate decision. This time, Murakami’s client is a manufacturer of building products listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. He is assigned a “quota” of 200 people for “voluntary retirement”. No matter how resentful or battered they are, Murakami dispassionately induces his interviewees to take “voluntary retirement” in one interview after another. However …
Website: -

Ryomaden
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Sundays, January 2010
Station: NHK
Cast: Fukuyama Masaharu, Terajima Shinobu, Kodama Kiyoshi, Sugimoto Tetta, Matsubara Chieko, Kagawa Teruyuki, Omori Nao, Hirosue Ryoko, Maki Yoko, Kanjiya Shihori, Kaname Jun, Sato Takeru, Oizumi Yo, Takahashi Katsumi, Kanie Keizo, Takeda Tetsuya
Synopsis: Sakamoto Ryoma (Fukuyama Masaharu) was born as the second son of the Sakamoto family, who were merchant samurai in the Tosa domain (present day Kochi Prefecture). Because the Sakamotos were originally merchants, Ryoma was in touch with the free and businesslike mercantile spirit as he grew up. He left the constrictive Tosa domain and learnt sailing under Katsu Kaishu (Takeda Tetsuya), a vassal of the shogun. Ryoma later established Kameyamashachu, a trading company and political organisation, and then Kaientai, a naval force, in Nagasaki. He mediated peace and concluded an alliance between the Satsuma and Choshu domains which had been at odds with each other. Furthermore, he orchestrated Tokugawa Yoshinobu’s restoration of imperial rule and was a key force in pushing through the Meiji Restoration. However, he was assassinated by someone at the young age of 33, with his dream to create “the world’s naval force” half accomplished …
Website: http://www.nhk.or.jp/ryomaden/

Tokujo Kabachi^*NEW*
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Sundays, 17 January 2010
Station: TBS
Cast: Sakurai Sho, Horikita Maki, Endo Kenichi, Takahashi Katsumi, Nakamura Masatoshi, Asano Yuko (guest star)
Synopsis: Compassionate, meddlesome Tamura Katsuhiro (Sakurai Sho), who burns with a sense of justice, enters the admired world of notaries public to save his mother. He moves from Hiroshima to Tokyo and joins the firm Ono Notaries Public. Studying as he works, he aims to become a notary public. Tamura in reality believes “law is not in the least just” but uses it as a weapon to save the weak. On the other hand, Sumiyoshi Misuzu (Horikita Maki), who used to be a delinquent youth, is a highly capable notary public. She hates to lose and dislikes men. Unable to accept Misuzu’s callous working style and nastiness, Tamura clashes with her over every little thing. At times, she yells at him but they gradually grow to understand each other, and mature as people and as lawyers.
Website: http://www.tbs.co.jp/tokujyokabachi/

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Filed under: Upcoming 2010 Dramas, Upcoming Japanese Dramas, Winter 2010   |  1 Comment

WOWOW Drama Specials (Fourth Quarter)

13Nov09

Daisan no Misu ~ Mazu Ishi o Nageyo
Time: From 10.10 p.m., 13 December 2009
Station: WOWOW TV
Cast: Kuroki Hitomi, Tsuruta Mayu, Hakamada Yoshihiko, Kokubu Sachiko, Ikegami Kimiko, Matsushige Yutaka, Yamamoto Kei, Kohinata Fumiyo
Synopsis: Sakurai Takako (Kuroki Hitomi), a television programme producer, habours animosity towards medical treatment and doctors when her father dies from illness immediately after his surgery. She produces many programmes that expose the shady side of the medical world with her incisive views. Then she sees a startling newspaper article. It is about a confession by a surgeon, Miki Tatsushi (Kohinata Fumiyo), regarding a medical malpractice that no one has blamed him for, and an offer to pay compensation to the bereaved family of the dead patient. Takako starts to pursue Miki together with Kikumura Ayako (Tsuruta Mayu), a medical writer who feels his sincerity and continues to gather more information, but gets a sense of discomfort. What is his true motive for this “confession of medical malpractice”? Could it be true sincerity? Or could it be the cover up of a murder … ?
Website: http://www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/miss/

Ichiou no Suitei
Time: From 10.10 p.m., 20 December 2009
Station: WOWOW TV
Cast: Emoto Akira, Hiraoka Yuta, Sakai Miki, Bengaru, Miho Jun, Shirakawa Kazuko, Ueda Koichi
Synopsis: It is 7 July, the day of the Tanabata festival. In the countryside of Yamagata Prefecture, an lone elderly man, falls from the platform at Nagai Station. He is run over by a train and killed. The man had just bought a hefty 30 million accident insurance three months ago. Furthermore, he has a young granddaughter with a severe heart ailment who can only be saved through a transplant surgery. Suspecting that the man had orchestrated his suicide in order to pay for his granddaughter’s surgery, the insurance company asks Murakoshi Tsutomu (Emoto Akira), a veteran investigator who is due to retire in two weeks, to conduct an investigation into the man’s death …
Website: http://www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/suitei/

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Filed under: 2009 Drama Specials (Second Half), Upcoming Drama Specials, WOWOW   |  Leave a Comment

Jin – Episode 5 Synopsis

12Nov09

Episode 5: Birth of a drug against God

Granting Nokaze’s request, Jin examines another patient. This patient is Nokaze’s senior, a courtesan who goes by the name of Yugiri. Yugiri has severe syphilis which is an incurable condition given the medical techniques of the Edo era. Nokaze appeals to Jin to save Yugiri one way or another, but Jin tells her that even he cannot cure her.

At the Western Medicine Institute, Ogata discusses the difficulty of treating syphilis with Jin. Jin considers it important to first protect those within the red-light district in order to avoid a further increase in patients suffering from the venereal disease. And so, together with Ogata, he offers to examine the courtesans of Suzuya for syphilis. Fearing that they will lose business, the courtesans reject him squarely and he is at a loss.

Nokaze explains that a courtesan will become a full-fledged woman and can command a higher price if she recovers from her first bout of syphilis because it will be difficult for her to contract syphilis again or get pregnant. Jin protests that this a misconception. The courtesans know that, having seen others in the final stage of the disease, but “What can a woman do to survive if she does not sell her body?” Nokaze asks and walks away. Jin learns from Suzuya that Nokaze, who was once a child attendant to Yugiri, has been searching for renowned doctors to treat Yugiri ever since she was laid up in bed three years ago.

Jin broods over the first step in the production method of penicillin which has slipped his mind. Then one day, an incident jolts his memory and he recalls that Miki had told him that rapeseed oil is added to the culture of percolated penicillium during a discussion they had had on penicillin production. Jin immediately runs to the Western Medicine Institute to ask Ogata for his help to produce a cure for syphilis. He explains the production process for penicillin to Ogata and the other doctors, who eagerly get into action. However, some doctors including Ito Genboku, the director of the institute, are displeased that Ogata seems to treat the institute as his own school.

Jin and Ogata visit Yugiri to obtain spirochete bacterium from the boils on her skin in order to make the penicillin. However, Yugiri’s condition has been deteriorating steadily and she now displays symptoms of end stage syphilis. The production of penicillin becomes an urgent task but the process does not go smoothly. The penicillin extracts seem to have no effect on the small dishes of agar medium which have been rubbed with bacterium. There are no changes to the surfaces of the agar medium. Just when it is thought that it is all over, the efficacy of the penicillin is finally proven with the discovery of a circle around the extract in one of the dishes.

At that moment, Jin is notified that Yugiri is in a critical condition. Before leaving for Yoshiwara, he tells the doctors that he needs a large amount of fresh penicillin extract. This means that they will have to produce the drug around the clock.

Yugiri is unconscious when Jin arrives at Suzuya with Saki. He hurriedly injects Yugiri with the pencillin as he prays for her to come round. Yugiri slowly regains consciousness and over the next few days, she shows a dramatic recovery. The penicillin has dealt a blow to the syphilis but the amount of the drug that they can obtain is very little and its efficacy is uncertain.

Then on the morning of the fifth day, Yugiri passes away. There was nothing more that Jin could do. Nokaze, who had put on a brave in front before Yugiri, breaks down in tears …

Later that day, Jin tells Saki about Miki and how she had thought of that method to produce penicillin.

“At first, I thought this was some punishment.
But now I believe that my being here is an opportunity.
If I can push medicine forward,
the future will be a more medically advanced world.
By doing this, maybe her surgery may be a success too.

Meanwhile, Ito, who had set up the Western Medicine Institute, is suddenly ousted from his position as the chief doctor of the inner palace and the doctors belonging to his faction begin to feel insecure and discontent … If this goes on, the institute will soon belong to Ogata and Matsumoto. And so, those doctors plot to frame Saburi for the murder of a woman he had been seen visiting by planting a scalpel engraved with his name at the scene …

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

Filed under: Fall 2009, Jin   |  8 Comments

Fuji TV Drama Specials (Fourth Quarter)

11Nov09

Saigo no Yakusoku
Time: Spring 2010 (TBA)
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Ono Satoshi, Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari, Matsumoto Jun
Synopsis: One day, a massive building is taken over in an unprecedented incident that shocks the police and mass media. Five guys happen to be present in that building. Will they be able to escape from this crisis?
Website: -

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Filed under: 2010 Drama Specials (First Half), Upcoming Drama Specials   |  Leave a Comment

Fumou Chitai – Episode 5 Synopsis

11Nov09

Episosde 5: War and three females

In December 1959, Iki submits his letter of resignation to Daimon. He intends to take responsibility for the trouble caused to the company as a result of the arrest of his subordinate, Koide, in securing the order of Luckheed’s F104 as the Defence Agency’s next generation of fighter planes. Daimon understands Iki’s feelings but in the same way that a soldier does not write a resignation letter to take responsibility for the failure of a mission, in a corporate battle, he will not allow Iki to write a resignation letter without careful consideration. What Iki must do is the kind of work that will pay tribute to the spirit of the departed Kawamata, Daimon says.

Iki gives up on his plan to resign and is offered the post of the head of the Steel Division. This is intended to strengthen Kinki Corporation, which has weak ties with the steel industry because of its focus on the textile business, in a Japanese economy that is becoming more heavily industrialised.

In March 1964, Iki succeeds in affiliating major, strong wholesalers in steel with Kinki Corporation. Daimon accepts Iki’s proposal to set up a division that will direct the entire company’s corporate strategy and entrusts it all to Iki.

Iki sends for Hyodo, who is at the London branch; Kaibe, who is at the New York branch; and Fuwa Shusaku, who is at the Hong Kong branch, to build the headquarters for the operations. Within two years, Iki transfers 200 people from the Textile Division to non-textile divisions in the undertaking of a large-scale personnel reshuffle, and the Steel Division racks up profits.

Applauding the results of the business operations headquarters, Daimon makes Iki the managing director in April 1967. However, Iki’s way of doing things infuriate Satoi, who is now the deputy CEO; Ichimaru, the Executive Director for Textiles; and other people.

At that moment, Iki and his men get information on the tensions in the Middle East. Fearing a third Middle East war will erupt, Iki focuses efforts on gathering intelligence. Meanwhile, Samejima, who has been promoted to Executive Director for Transport at Tokyo Corporation, has also detected changes in the Middle East situation and starts preparing for the outbreak of war.

One night, Iki meets Chisato again. Chisato says she would like to consult him on the matter of her older brother, Seiki, who has been undertaking ascetic practices at Mt Hiei. Seiki is actually suffering from tuberculosis. However, he is unmoved by his sister’s entreaties and has no intention of stopping his training. Iki promises Chisato that he will make time to go to Mt Hiei with her when he comes to Osaka on a business trip.

After dining together, Iki and Chisato visit the club, Le Bois. And Beniko, who has become the second wife of an Indonesian Chinese trader, Howan Kan Chen, and should be living in Jakarta, shows up. Teasing Iki, Beniko says this is her first time meeting his girlfriend. Concerned about Chisato, Iki chides Beniko for being out of line. Then Chisato flatly tells her that that is not the case.

Beniko detains Iki as he is about to leave and broaches the subject of the Middle East situation. She says she has received various information ever since her marriage to Howan, then tells Iki that he will know if he asks, Takenaka Kanji, the international lobbyist for information on Israel.

Iki escorts Chisato to her hotel and comes home late. Naoko also returns. Learning that the guy who has sent her home is Tomoatsu, the son of Samejima, Iki is strongly against their relationship.

The business operations headquarters, which has continued to gather intelligence day and night, learns of the ever-increasing possibility of a Middle East war. Meanwhile, Iki visits Anhiru Koichi, the president of a company called Nitto Trading, whom he had been introduced to by Takenaka. Anhiru is dealing with the import of Israeli farm produce but says he has recently received a large quantity of orders for tin and rubber from Israel which he cannot fulfill. Iki immediately promises to help and gets information on Israel from Anhiru. Anhiru also judges that war will breakout within this one week. The Israelis will win and the war will end in a short time.

Returning to Kinki Corporation, Iki asks the Food Division to import Israeli oranges. This being Anhiru’s request in exchange for the provision of information. Satoi learns about that. Addressing the members of the Food Division, he says that he personally feels the ways of the business operations headquarters should be reviewed and tells them to report any problems to him.

Hyodo is contacted by Beniko and meets Howan, who has come to Japan. Howan is one of four Indonesian Chinese who run big conglomerates, and he is a key figure in Southeast Asian trade because of the network he has around the world. Having just returned from Cairo, Howan tells Hyodo that the Suez Canal will definitely be blocked. Anticipating that, he wants Kinki Corporation to have five 10,000 ton deadweight vessels built in accordance to war-time standards, at under $400,000 per vessel ready. Their deadline is tomorrow. Iki instructs Hyodo to immediately negotiate with the Ship Division.

Then, Iki receives a call from Anhiru, who conveys news of the blockage of the Gulf of Aqaba by the United Arab Republic. Iki reports this to Daimon and Satoi, telling them that the business operations headquarters analysis is for the third Middle East war to end within a short time with Israeli victory. However, Satoi says the United Arab Republic has superior war power. Furthermore, he drags in the matter of Nitto Trading and the vessel arrangements, accusing Iki of causing trouble by acting without thinking. Daimon rebukes Satoi and immediately orders an emergency board meeting.

At that moment, Samejima, who has learnt of Howan’s request to Kinki Corporation, starts getting into action in attempt to wrest it from them.

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

Filed under: Fall 2009, Fumou Chitai   |  Leave a Comment

Gaiji Keisatsu

10Nov09

Official Website
http://www.nhk.or.jp/dodra/gaiji/

Broadcast
Saturdays, 9.00 – 9.55 p.m. from 14 November 2009

Station
NHK

Story
Detective Matsuzawa Haruna of Toyoshima Minami Precinct, is suddenly ordered to undergo hands-on training at the Fourth Foreign Affairs Section. Called spy hunters, the Fourth Foreign Affairs Section is a special unit charged with the duty of catching international terrorists and spies, and preventing acts of terrorism. However, Haruna does not understand why she has been assigned to the section. Assistant Inspector Sumimoto Kenji is in charge of her training. If fellow police officers get in his way, the aggressive Sumimoto calls them “flies” and drives them away. Haruna has doubts about his investigation methods which are on the verge of illegal. Before long, Sumimoto sniffs out the secret maneuverings of a terrorist attack behind-the-scenes of a minor car accident caused by a diplomat …

Characters
Watabe Atsuro as Sumimoto Kenji
Chief, Fourth Foreign Affairs Section of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Safety Division. Rank: Assistant Inspector. The darling of the Foreign Affairs Police who trains them as spy hunters. He pursues his targets with levelheaded judgment and calculation but is called “Devil of Public Safety” because he will do whatever it takes for the missions and thinks nothing of trampling on the weak. He is also a trouble maker within the police as a result of his ruthless investigations.

Ishida Yuriko as Shimomura Aiko
The wife of a reputable hairdresser. She and her husband are a loving couple. Even though her husband has slipped into a vegetative state because of a traffic accident, she continues to devote herself to his care but her life is turned upside down by Sumimoto. She becomes his collaborator and infiltrates terrorist hideouts.

Ono Machiko as Matsuzawa Haruna
Senior Police Officer, Toyoshima Minami Precinct. Her ambition is to be a detective but she is suddenly ordered by her precinct to undergo training and assigned to the Fourth Foreign Affairs Section. She originally pursued a career as a police officer in order to protect females from criminal offenses because her good friend had developed a fear of men ever since she was attacked by a slasher back when they were in high school. She gains Shimomura Aiko, whom she got to know as a result of an accident, as a collaborator. However, that was a ruse set up by Sumimoto. She sees his hard-nosed methods with her own eyes and grows hostile to him.

Endo Kenichi as Kurata Toshiki
Director, Security Planning Division of the Metropolitan Police Department. He tightens discipline within the police.

Yo Kimiko as Muramatsu Kumi
Chief Cabinet Secretary of the current administration. She intends to cut the budget of the Public Safety Division’s Foreign Affairs Sections.

Ishibashi Jun as Ariga Shotaro
Head of the Police and Head of the Security Bureau. He senses terrorism and supports Sumimoto.

Photos from press conference: http://mainichi.jp/enta/geinou/graph/200910/16/

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

Filed under: Fall 2009   |  1 Comment

Subbing Soratobu Taiya

08Nov09

Kazuya and I will be subbing Soratobu Taiya, a WOWOW drama production which aired earlier this year in spring. Adapted from the original novel written by Ikeido Jun, the drama tells a gripping story of one man’s relentless quest for the truth after the tire of a moving trailer truck comes off and kills a pedestrian.

As most of you who have been following this blog will know, I have a soft spot for WOWOW’s productions as they have consistently raised the bar for drama quality, and Kazuya feels the same way too. So, we would like to share Soratobu Taiya with you.

Incidentally, this drama has won three awards: Best Drama at the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters Awards 2009, Best Drama at the 26th ATP Television Grand Prix, and Best Drama at the Tokyo Drama Awards.

More information on the drama is available here.

Find out more about our subbing projects here.

Filed under: Soratobu Taiya, Spring 2009, Subbed Works, WOWOW   |  5 Comments

Fumou Chitai – Episode 4 Synopsis

08Nov09

Episode 4: … killed me

Iki is asked by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Second Investigative Division to appear voluntarily for questioning in relation to the leak of the Defence Agency’s confidential information to Kinki Corporation. He had made his man, Koide, obtain the quotation of Grant Corporation’s Super Dragon in a battle regarding the Defence Agency’s second generation of fighter planes. Kawamata’s subordinate, Ashida, was the source of the leak. Learning that a lower-ranking employee like himself is being sacrificed by the company, Koide, who had been arrested along with Ashida, testifies that Iki is the one who is guilty. The investigators have also identified Iki as the key figure in this incident.

Iki calls Satoi to report that he has been summoned to appear voluntarily for questioning. Satoi reminds him to deny that Kinki Corporation has this sort of classified documents because Koide had acted alone in this entire incident.

News of Iki’s questioning reaches Samejima through Kaizuka. Samejima is concerned that the pro-Luckheed politicians may cover up this leak of confidential information. Kaizuka asserts that as long as the Public Prosecutor’s Office has conclusive evidence, the investigation will not be closed.

Questioned by Inoue, the head of the Second Investigative Division, Iki denies Kinki Corporation’s involvement in the leak of confidential documents and his instructions to Koide. However, Inoue and his investigators have discovered the location where Koide had hidden the copying machine and Hisamatsu’s involvement. Finally, Iki is told that the quotation of Grant Corporation that was leaked actually belonged to Kawamata. Even so, Iki continues to deny the existence of the documents right to the end.

But when Iki returns to the company, the situation has undergone a huge change. Daimon had instructed Satoi to hand all the documents obtained from the Defence Agency to the Second Investigative Division. By doing this and mobilising Hisamatsu and Mishima Shintaro, secretary general of the Liberal Party, to salvage the situation, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and Kaizuka will be suppressed. Furthermore, Luckheed’s F104 will be officially chosen as the next generation of fighter planes in an extraordinary meeting of the National Defence Council in a few days.

Hearing this, Iki asks Daimon to allow him to sift through the documents since its submission is obviously a formality. This is because there is something within the documents which will reveal where it had come from in the Defence Agency. However, Daimon says the military police are already fully aware of the leaked documents and firmly refuses to give permission.

Samejima believes that the turn of events will favour Grant’s Super Dragon F11. And so he raises his voice at Kaizuka when the latter calls to say that Luckheed has been chosen. Kaizuka has actually been offered a promotion to Vice Minister of the Defence Agency by Mishima. Hanging up the phone, Samejima bitterly smashes the model of the Super Dragon F11 that had been displayed on his desk.

The next day, Kawamata is summoned by Kaizuka. Then Kaizuka tells Kawamata about Ashida’s testimony that the documents leaked to Kinki Corporation belonged to Kawamata and that he had taken out the documents on Kawamata’s instructions. Restraining his anger against Kaizuka, who presses him to take responsibility, Kawamata states that it is a tragedy for the Defence Agency to have a person like Kaizuka as the Deputy Vice Minister and tries to leave. Kaizuka informs Kawamata that he will be dismissed from his post as of tomorrow and personally interrogated by the head of the military police.

That night, Kawamata submits his resignation to the Defence Agency and visits Iki’s residence. Hearing about Kawamata’s situation, Iki confesses that he had ordered Koide to obtain Grant Corporation’s quotation and apologises to Kawamata. Kawamata is told that Luckheed’s F104 has been chosen as the Defence Agency’s second generation of fighter planes. However, realising that he no longer fits in the Defence Agency, Kawamata voices his chagrin at having wanted to create a Self-Defence Force that would be supported by the people.

Iki drinks with Kawamata and walks him to the platform of the train station. Kawamata smiles and salutes Iki from inside the train. And that is the last seen of him. His runover body is found on the tracks that run in the opposite direction from his home. Iki receives a phone call from Kawamata’s wife, Hisayo, and identifies Kawamata at the scene of the accident.

Iki goes together with Yoshiko to help with Kawamata’s funeral. Kaizuka arrives to offer incense. He tells Iki that he plans to treat Kawamata’s death as that of death in the line of duty and goes on to instruct, “If there is something like a suicide note that has been entrusted to you, you’ll get rid of it so that it won’t get out, won’t you?” Those words make Iki lose his cool and he grabs Kaizuka by his lapels but Yoshiko stops him. Iki feels guilt-ridden and helpless against his anger at Kaizuka …

Iki later visits Hisamatsu at his residence to thank him for his assistance. Maichou Shimbun’s Tawara suspects that Kawamata’s death was in fact a suicide but Iki does not say anything. The article on the selection of Luckheed’s F104 as the Defence Agency’s next generation of fighter planes appears on the front page of the evening newspaper. The same newspaper also carries an article on Kawamata’s accidental death in a corner of the third page of the same newspaper.

The following day, Iki goes to Daimon’s office and asks Daimon to let him resign but …

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Filed under: Fall 2009, Fumou Chitai   |  Leave a Comment