Early April, 1991, afternoon.
Sugimoto Yasuhiro's residence in Setagaya was not particularly large, but the drawing room was decorated with great care.
Beige floral wallpaper extended down to dark oak wainscoting. Two brass floor lamps stood to the side, covered with milky white shades. The fireplace was sealed, but two porcelain horses bought in England still sat above it.
This kind of Western-style decor was very popular ten years ago, but looking at it now, it had a somewhat dated feel belonging to the bubble era.
Sugimoto was the only person in the room.
He was sitting at a low table in a shirt and vest, pouring boiling water into a cooling bowl. After waiting for the temperature to drop, he slowly poured it into the kyusu containing the tea leaves.
He did not even lift his head when the door was pushed open.
Shibata Eiichi appeared at the doorway alone.
He was the Vice Chairman of the Tokyo Metropolitan Small and Medium Construction Association and also the President of Shibata Civil Engineering Co., Ltd.
Shibata Civil Engineering started in Koto Ward and had been doing road, sewer, and river embankment work for over thirty years. Within the Metropolitan Construction Association, it represented a group of local companies that relied on projects contracted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to survive.
These people and the Seiwakai had never been on friendly terms.
When central factions needed votes and contributions, they always remembered that there were still a batch of small and medium construction companies in Tokyo; but when the Ministry of Construction's large-scale projects finally landed, the most valuable contracts were often taken by large integrated construction companies.
"What is the matter, Mr. Shibata? Will you not sit down?"
Sugimoto continued to focus on the teapot in his hands.
"This is Ippodo's gyokuro 'Kanro.' I believe you will like it."
Shibata did not answer.
His gaze swept across the living room first, finally landing on the unobstructed floor-to-ceiling window.
"If someone took a picture of me coming out of Mr. Sugimoto's house, perhaps tomorrow someone from the association would ask me when I joined the Seiwakai."
The words carried a very obvious irony.
Sugimoto seemed to have finally finished brewing the tea.
He poured the last drop of tea from the kyusu and looked up at Shibata.
"Does Mr. Shibata think we should have moved to some ryotei to talk in secret?"
Having said this, he laughed himself.
"Actually, it makes no difference where we meet."
Shibata frowned slightly.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Sugimoto put down the teapot.
"Mr. Shibata, did you know?"
He looked straight into the other man's eyes.
"In the current Tokyo Metropolitan area, SIS people are everywhere."
The living room became a bit quieter.
Shibata's frown deepened.
"SIS?"
"That information technology company of Saionji's?"
Sugimoto did not answer, just gestured for him to sit in front of him.
Shibata stood in place for ten seconds, watching Sugimoto motionless. Sugimoto was not in a hurry, just staring back at him like that.
"The thing you are talking about had better have some weight to it."
Shibata finally took a breath and came to sit in front of Sugimoto.
Sugimoto immediately pushed the freshly brewed gyokuro over.
"What did you mean by what you just said?"
Sugimoto reached out to pull open the drawer by the table and placed a document with the Cabinet Secretariat's header in front of Shibata.
"Last September, the Cabinet Secretariat, the National Police Agency, and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry jointly issued a document."
Shibata looked down at the cover.
"Outline of Special Measures for Strengthening Crisis Management Capabilities of Important Private Economic Facilities."
The title was very ordinary, like yet another document created by bureaucrats after the bubble burst to prove they were still working.
"What does this have to do with Saionji?"
"Turn to the attached table at the back."
Shibata opened the document. Sugimoto picked up his own teacup and took a slow sip while he read.
"Private enterprises capable of simultaneously undertaking international communications, financial data processing, port logistics, VIP security, and disaster emergency communications may apply to become designated collaborative operators."
"Once listed, they can obtain dedicated radio frequency bands, prioritise the import of high-performance photography, communication, and anti-eavesdropping equipment, and send personnel to participate in security and counter-terrorism training organised by the National Police Agency."
Shibata finished reading those conditions and looked up at him.
"Saionji does not appear in the articles."
"Of course, would something like this be publicised?"
Sugimoto put down the teacup.
"But in the entire Tokyo Metropolitan area, can Mr. Shibata find a second company that simultaneously possesses international data lines, computing centres, port warehouses, financial settlement businesses, and its own security company, and can also apply for VIP security cooperation on the grounds of hosting foreign political and business figures?"
Shibata did not answer.
Sugimoto reached out and pointed to the bottom of the attached table.
"The second month after this policy was announced, SIS became the first batch of designated collaborative operators."
"They obtained dedicated frequency bands, and the permission for imported equipment was changed from item-by-item review to annual filing. When the Metropolitan Police Department holds large-scale security exercises, Saionji's people can even follow them into the joint command post, learning how the police deploy personnel, how to block routes, and how to identify surveillance."
"This only shows that they have received policy favours, does it not?"
Shibata closed the document.
"No one in Tokyo is unaware of the relationship between Saionji and the Kaifu Cabinet."
Sugimoto looked at Shibata, then at the untouched tea in front of him, and smiled.
"Then take a look at this one."
Sugimoto took another stack of papers from the file bag. This time there was no formal header, just a list of personnel organised by a typewriter. After the names were the former departments, time of resignation, and the currently verifiable destinations.
Shibata only looked at the first few lines before his gaze stopped.
Public Security Investigation Agency Tokyo Public Security Investigation Bureau, Metropolitan Police Department Public Security Division, Tokyo Customs Investigation Department, Immigration Control Bureau Examination Department.
They were all public security agencies.
"Over the past ten months, twenty-seven people have had their whereabouts confirmed."
Sugimoto said.
"Eleven of them entered the S.A. Security Department, eight went to the technical company under SIS, and seven others first entered several low-profile crisis management consulting firms, and then those consulting firms were subsequently acquired by Saionji one after another."
Shibata turned to the second page.
Most of the people on the list did not hold titles like president, consultant, or other decent positions suitable for printing on a business card. Some were just ordinary Section Chiefs, and some did not even have their specific positions made public.
"It is not uncommon for people from public security agencies to enter private enterprises after retirement."
"If it were just one person, then of course it would not be uncommon."
Sugimoto smiled.
"But for twenty-seven people to flow into the same corporate system in less than a year, including several field managers who have long been responsible for tracking, informant management, and counter-espionage investigations, this is very difficult to explain away as a coincidence."
"According to regulations, the re-employment of these people originally required review."
"But their procedures were all handled very quickly, so fast that it does not look like Tokyo bureaucrats were helping them with the review."
"Some people even participated in important facility security exercises organised by Saionji before they officially retired."
Shibata's hand stopped at the edge of the list.
"Where did these things come from?"
"The Seiwakai is not so poor that it cannot find a few old friends even within the Public Security Investigation Agency."
Sugimoto pulled the list back from his hand and placed it back on the desktop to organise it neatly.
"The trouble is, those old friends are no longer sure whether the people sitting next to them have accepted Saionji's invitation."
"Or perhaps, those old friends have already been invited themselves, and even the information we can see now is what Saionji wants us to see."
When he said this, his tone was still very relaxed, but Shibata only felt a chill down his spine.
Is there really a company in Japan that can do this...
"Over the past year, the Seiwakai has had people investigate several companies that were later acquired by Saionji."
"The situation in each one was very similar."
Shibata did not urge him, waiting for him to continue.
"When the bank is preparing to withdraw loans, who in the management is secretly contacting buyers, which subcontractor is keeping the account books for the president, and who is the one inside the labour union who can really call on the workers."
"By the time Saionji's people sit at the negotiating table, these things have often already been organised into files."
Shibata raised his eyes.
"There is always someone in the company willing to sell news."
"So they checked."
Sugimoto added new tea to his cup.
"The president changed secretaries, the office was checked again, and the phones and vehicles were handed over to external companies to handle. Everyone who had touched core documents was interviewed, and their accounts, debts, and family situations were all checked."
He said this, picked up his teacup and took a sip.
"But in the end, the only thing that could be confirmed was that the message had indeed reached Saionji's hands."
"As for which door it went out of, no one can explain clearly."
Shibata looked at the two documents on the table.
"So you think they have been monitoring the management of those companies?"
"The things they do should be much more complicated than surveillance."
Sugimoto picked up the teapot again and added a little hot water to Shibata's tea, which had already cooled down somewhat.
"When an ordinary investigation agency receives a commission, at most they send a few people to watch the target, take a few photos, and then find a way to ask for some information."
"But SIS is different. They have formal field personnel who have received public security training, have their own communication and data systems, and can call upon Saionji's companies and facilities spread throughout Tokyo."
"Formal personnel only need to be responsible for finding targets, judging intelligence, and organising actions."
"When it is really necessary to fill a gap, the person delivering materials to the construction site, the person transporting documents for the bank, or an employee in a company who has just received help from Saionji might all provide a word for them."
"Among these people, some know they are working for SIS, and some just feel they are reporting business to the Saionji Group."
Shibata's frown never relaxed.
"You say they are everywhere; is this the basis for that?"
"Is this not enough?"
Sugimoto looked out the window. There was no one in the yard, and the street in front was very quiet. Occasionally a vehicle drove by and quickly disappeared beyond the wall.
"The trouble is right here; they have never left a trace that can be followed."
"The employee who was responsible for delivering this policy document to my office today might be one of SIS's people. The public security official who told me the whereabouts of those twenty-seven people might have already accepted a job from Saionji."
"The directors in your association, my secretary, the person who comes here to collect the trash every day, all might occasionally say a word or two for them."
Sugimoto said this, suddenly smiled, raised his hand, and pointed at himself.
"Of course, I might also be one of Saionji's people."
"Today I deliberately invited Mr. Shibata to my home, and after you leave, I will write your reaction exactly as it is into a report and send it to Satsuki-san."