The Road To The Hell Is Cluttered With STUPID JUSTICE

By Miyazaki Manabu

PUBLIC INQUIRY LETTER Addressed To Mr Nakabo Kohei, Director of Jusen Resolution Corporation On December 6th, The Criminal Investigation Section 2 of the Metropolitan Police Department arrested lawyer Yasuda Yoshihiro on charge of obstruction of compulsory seizure, and immediately thereafter Jusen Resolution Corporation, of which you are the president, brought him the same charge. No one doubt that lawyer Yasuda has been dedicated to his profession as a defense counsel for those falsely charged or sentenced to death on many cases, that he has been playing a central role as the head of the defense council on the Aum Asahara trial, and that he has been committed to the campaign for abolition of death penalty as a leading figure on "Death Penalty Abolition Forum" The time the arrest took place and the nature of the case in which the accused was allegedly involved has left many in doubt as to the validity of the reason officially given that the arrest was made as in ordinary investigation, and increasingly voicing their protest against this arrest and detention as unlawful. By the way, since you have a superb and immense public support and trust as former president of Japan Bar Association. your decision to indict lawyer Yasuda is responsible for wide spreading perception that the arrest is justifiable and lawyer Yasuda is a corrupt lawyer, thus becoming an obstacle to the lawyer Yasuda rescue movement. This prompts us to ask you the following questions, and make your answers open to the public and use them as the base for our lawyer Yasuda rescue campaign. We request you to consider the gravity of the arrest if lawyer Yasuda, and your role in public, and fax your sincere answers to the following address. Questions: Q1. It is no doubt that lawyer Yasuda has been devoted to what should be the basis for human rights issues such as the cases of falsely charged accused, case of those sentenced to death, or criminal case of Aum Asahara, and that he has been a central figure in the campaign against death penalty. And it should be noted that such activities are supposed to be undertaken by the entire community of lawyers as its social responsibility in the first place. Therefore, it is a prerequisite to evaluate the activities that lawyer Yasuda has been engaged in before filing a criminal charge that might affect such activities. You must have taken into account the possible influence on such activities considering your influential public role. So far there has been nothing about what you do or say that suggests that you had such considerations. What is your view on all this? Q2. There is some perception that the arrest of lawyer Yasuda, which coincided with the 100th Aum trial, was made to weaken the defense council on the Aum Asahara case so that the trial will proceeds the way the prosecution wants it to proceed. And quite a few people think that your charge against lawyer Yasuda was made used of for the prosecution to hind behind, and to avoid direct criticism. Indeed, filing suit as you did immediately after the arrest seems to us so unnatural. So we would like to know whether you are sure or not that you were made use of by the investigation authority and whether you had consulted the investigation authority about your planned lawsuit. Q3. Lawyer Yasuda is saying that the discussion was under way toward a civil case level settlement on the matter he was arrested for obstruction of compulsory seizure, and that he was 100% cooperative with the investigation and there is no need to resort to such forcible means of investigation as arresting. Did you hear what he had to say before making decision to file the suit? Written Reply From Nakabo Kohei, Director of Jusen Resolution Corporation It should be understood that this company has informed the chairman of Japan Bar Association, and the chairman of Tokyo 3 Association of the following: 1. Our company was founded on July 26th , 1996 as the credit processing company as provided in the Jusen Law. And on October 1st, 1996, it bought the loaned credits from the former seven Jusen corporations for approximately \460 billion and is now recovering credits. Included in those credits we inherited from a former Jusen corporation is a credit of a little less than \20 billion loaned to the debtor Sun's Corporation Group. 2. The total amount of money repaid by this particular corporation over the 2 years since then remains below \1 billion. 3. In accordance with our policy not to put any heavier tax burden on our taxpapers, we urge those debtors to come up with a sincere repayment schedule and vigorously implement such a repayment schedule. And if a debtor does not show any honesty in his response to our approach, we urge Deposit Insurance Corporation to have an on-the-spot inspection. And if we decide that such a debtor is involved in a criminal activity, we have filed a charge with the investigation authority. Incidentally, the number of enforced investigations made based on our charges totals 53 (as of December 2nd, 1998). And our investigation found the fact that Sun's corporation was trying to evaded compulsory seizure. We reported this to Deposit Insurance Corporation and the police authorities. 4. Over the past two years, we have been requesting repeatedly this particular company to disclose all its assets including those it owns overseas, and financial reortss, and to present us with a specific repayment schedulr only to obtain no sincere reply. They have been insincere all through from the beginning. They also pledged verbally to dispose of the real right of securities, but they renege on us. 5. The investigation authority that was already in progress found that the president of the company had flown to Shanghai without attending the negotiation meeting with us scheduled for October 7th, 1998. You may note that lawyer Yasuda visited us for the first time in the capacity of the president's proxy to negotiate with us. After this, because the investigation authority was then getting ready for enforced investigation, we decided to discontinue the negotiation until the investigation was complete. 6. We accused the president of Sun's corporation and others on the charges as provided in the written indictment on October 15th, 1998. They were arrested on October 19th, brought a charge on November 19th, accused on November 16th, and brought a charge supplementarily. 7. When we accused the president of the company, we had no knowledge of lawyer Yasuda's involvement in affairs as described in the written indictment. As it became clear that he was involved in December, we were strongly urged by Deposit Insurance Corporation to accuse him. But we refused to accuse him, aware that the accusation might encourage enforced investigation. 8. On December 6th, lawyer Yasuda was arrested. With the police and prosecution applying for arrest warrant, and the court issuing it, we decided that he was engaged in a criminal act in accordance with Paragraph 9 of Article 12 of Jusen Law and Article 28 of our company's articles of association, and accused lawyer Yakuza on the charges provided in the written indictment. (For your information, we have in the past accused one lawyer on charges of false entry in attested document, use of such document, and obstruction of auction) 9. As stated above, we would like you to understand that our company is performing the duties expected of us. (End of Reply)

It's clear from Nakabo's reply to our open questions that he is not a lawyer any more. First, read the following:
"And if a debtor does not show any honesty in his response to our approach, ..... And if we suspect that such a debtor is involved in a criminal activity, we have filed a charge with the investigation authority. Incidentally, the number of police raids made based on our charges totals 53."

What the hell is this?　This means they keenly turn a typical civil case of money trouble into a criminal case and tell on the police. Look. A lawyer's job is to defend the accused on a criminal case. What kind of lawyer do you think he is, Nakabo, who is asking the police to punish a man, saying "I know a bad guy. Pleased teach him some lesson." And how disgusting, boasting the number of such
shameful acts !

Then, read this:
"You may note that lawyer Yasuda visited us for the first time in the capacity of the president's proxy to negotiate with us. After this, because the investigation authority was then getting ready for enforced investigation, we decided to discontinue the negotiation until the investigation was complete."
This is also breathtakingly disgusting. When lawyer Yasuda for the debtor came to the office to work out the problem as a civil case issue to find a compromise, the creditor JRC decided ulilaterally to discontinue the negotiation because it had already decided to turn it into a criminal case. Indeed, 8 days later, it filed a charge, followed next 4 days later by the arrest of the president. From this, it is apparent that they had no intention whatsoever from the very beginning that they would handle the issue as civil affair.

Nakabo goes on:
"As it became clear in December that he was involved, we were strongly urged by Deposit Insurance Corporation to accuse him. But we refused to accuse him, ........."
We must take note of this part. What it suggests is that in early December, the experts of JRC had a perception that lawyer Yasuda was not worth charging. Indeed, they refused to do that despite being urged to do so. But what happened in the next few days to make them change their mind? Nakabo says "With the police and prosecution applying for arrest warrant, and the court issuing it, .... we decided ......"

Christ! How long have you been being a lawyer, Nakabo? You know as well as I do that only 0.1% of arrest warrant applications by the police or prosecution get turned down. It takes no more than kid's composition for the police to get an arrest warrant. This is something you learn before ABC of lawyer's common sense. And what kind of lawyer you think you are, overturning the decision your investigation has reached just because of such a groundless arrest was made? You just followed the police blind, didn't you?

And he concluded:
"As stated above, we would like you to understand that our company is performing the duties expected of us."
What a finishing touch this is! It's so clear now that he is not anything but a lawyer. A pawn of the police. As simple as that.
Let me leave Nakabo for a while here but on December 22nd, the first trial of the president of Sun's Corporation and others was held. There came out one interesting thing. What we found was the way the police fabricate evidence to arrest lawyer Yasuda. As Nakabo is saying, 4 of Sun's corporation people were arrested. They have of course their defense counsels, one for each one of them. So, when Yasuda was arrested, Mr. Sun, the president apologized saying "I don't know what excuse to make to Yasuda-sensei."

But the police started to put pressure on the four Sun's people to change their lawyers. Two of the four accepted the demand, and replace their lawyers with "Yameken "(Quit-Prosecution) ex-prosecutor lawyers. Coaxed by these "Yameken" lawyers, they started to tell lies and everything like "Lawyer Yasuda told me to destroy the pad on which I jotted down the instructions on the way to hide rents"

So these two were not to be brought a charge. It's quid pro quo, or judiciary deal. As I pointed out earlier in this book, it's another fixed race arranged by the police and "yameken" lawyers.
The remaining two, that is, Mr. Sun and his eldest son, were to be brought a charge for obstruction of compulsory seizure, and attended the 1st trial.

But this trial also reveals the same difference. Although he was apologizing to Yasuda, he replaced his lawyer at the suggestion of the police. As expected, he admitted all the charges. On the other hand, his son has not replaced his lawyer, and pleads not quilty saying "We have never hidden our assets. Nor have we conspired with lawyer Yasuda."

It's more like the police. They should hire a little better scriptwriter. Even an ostrich buries its head. Our police ostrich doesn't bury even its head.

Now, let's go back to Nakabo.
As I said "Nakabo is not a lawyer any more", you can see it's true also by looking at the company he keeps.

First, his LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) buddies. He makes donations to those security maintenance lower house members like Foreign Minister Komura Masahiko and Nakawama Masaki.

Second, his "Sakigake" party chummiess. They include lower house member Takemura Masayoshi, and former lower house member Nishikiori Jun. Nakabo went all the way to his constituency, Shimane prefecture, for pep-up speech for Nishikiori in his election campaign. Nishikiori is also a lawyer with connections with the new left. These connections operated behind the scene to have Nakabo installed as the president of JRC as I told you before.

And his JCP (Japan Communist Party) comrades. When he was prevailed upon to head the defense counsel on the "Morinaga Arsenic Milk" case, those lawyers originally on that case were members of the Seihokyo (or Young Lawyers Association) which was an affiliate of JCP. Nakabo walked out of this trial with all the JCD lawyers plus the member of the Consumer Problem Committee I got acquainted with on that occasion.

He's got mates in the Metropolitan Police Department, too. Remember that I told you about his flirtation with ex-Director General Kunimatsu Takatsugi.

The highlight of all this is his connections with Ministry of Justice. Negoro Taishu is now the chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, and was once said to be e be the next Public Prosecutor General. Nakabo is a long and intimate acquaintance of his since his college days at Kyoto University. Jesus, what a lawyer!

Another Kyoto University connections are ex-Director General of Tokyo High Court Kawasaki Yoshinori, who is currently the chairman of Environmental Pollution Dispute Coordination Committee. Invincible is a lawyer backed by the court and prosecution.

In fact, what he installed teaming up with these Kyoto elite was a system that allows a lawyer to become a judge and a prosecutor. This is an expansion on what is already troubling us, the "yameken" nuisance a lawyer teaming up with the prosecution) . This is a system in which judges, prosecutors, and lawyers are jumbled up but all on the same side. Who would put an issue to such a farcical court?

Finally, I should add that Nakabo is a legal adviser to Osaka Yomiuri Newspaper. With his galaxy affiliations from right to left, who would dare to criticize him?

The way Nakabo wins what kind of people over and use them to his advantage is very much characteristic of the way they do it in Kyoto. Being from Kyoto, I can tell that. Especially, the way they use the left to their advantage. For instance, when he ran for the chairmanship of the Japan Bar Association, he fully mobilized the Seihokyo young lawyers connections he had from his days on the case of Morinaga Arsenide Poisoning I mentioned a little while ago, so he could get the support from JCP-affiliated lawyers. He could also get the support from the new left or human rights lawyers such as Kuroda Junkichi. He's got what it takes to get differing elements integrated into his system. This is a tactics developed and refined where JCP has been historically a force to be reckoned with. The Cabinet Secretary Nonaka Hiromu has also this natural technique that has put him where he is now. The political climate of Kyoto is best understood by the fact that it elected the first left wing governor Ninagawa Torazo who was to be elected to the governorship for 8 consecutive terms over 28 years. He was to be lost to Hayashida Yukio, ending his 28 years of reign in Kyoto. And the man that put Hayashida in that job was Nonaka. He was appointed vice governor of Kyoto for his political skill in beating Hayashida's political opponent.

What Nonaka did was first to analyze Ninagawa's political base. Of course, he had the JCP always behind him. But communist votes accounted for not more than 30%. So Nonaka wanted 5% from other segments of population. What engaged his interest was the votes from "buraku" population? With not so many going out and coming in, discrimination in Kyoto is traditionally rather rampant. Nonaka himself came out to reveal that he was from "buraku", too. That may have been one reason for his interest in this segment of population. But, anyway, how he could win the buraku voters over from Ninagawa became critical for Nonaka's side.

To see what he did to win these people over, we have to go back to the Tanaka Kakuei's days. When Tanaka was in power, he introduced integration projects and Integration Law (Dotaiho law) for ameliorating those people discriminated against. He set up "Zen-Nippon Dowakai" (All Nippon Integration Association) as a LDP-affiliated organization for the liberation movement to complement Dotaiho. With this organization used as a leverage, it devoured the supporters for the left. Nonaka knows he can't make it to the top without putting on a semblance of justice, presenting himself as a supporter or champion of liberation or democracy. In fact, this is what they do in their frenetic crave for power. Nonaka knows he can't get power without putting on a clean face. That's a kind of man he is. He is capable of absorbing everything any anti-establish movement has that he thinks appealing to the people he needs the support of. He is something to have this quality really. You can see Nakabo and Nonaka have the same mode of existence.

I've got something more to say about Nonaka. I said in my home page right after the Lower House Election that the new government would be formed around LDP, Jiyuto, and Komeito. I said that with Nonaka in mind. Another political trick he pulled off to put Ninagawa out of power in Kyoto was to get Komeito on his side. There is an established way of getting people on your side. His application of this in Kyoto went like this. He employed many Komeito members for local government of Kyoto, and helped them organize themselves into a number of "fractions" if you like. Of all the fractions, the one in Kyoto Prefectural Police was the most awesome, made up of Komeito police officers there. It was at the great initiative of this "fraction" that the Kyoto Police charged right ahead with the raid of Chosen Soren, a North Korea organization in Japan a few years ago. He is absolutely superb at this level.

The tricks and knacks he acquired through his excruciating and agonizing struggle to break the back of formidable Ninagawa government still find their expression in what he does today. So for Nonaka today, nothing seems to stand in his way. Social Democratic Party, Democratic Party or whatever is all wrapped around his finger. Behind Nonaka's decision to drag Ozawa Ichiro in to join the coalition is his gut feeling that the prime minister doesn't make any difference. It wouldn't be surprising if he recommend Kan. "Kan will do if he is popular enough. "That's the way he thinks. So, I thought right after the Lower House Election that the new government would be formed with Hamayotsu Eri as prime minister. Hamayotsu is the head of Komeito party. With the "Ji-Ji-Ko" coalition (coalition of Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Party, and Komei Party) formed under the premiership of Hamayotsu, he might think he could lure Hatoyama out of Democratic Party to get a 3/4 majority in the Lower House. Something about him surely suggests that he is seriously thinking of a regime in which all political parties are ruling parties

But even such tough guy like Nonaka had a political close call just before he became the head of National Public Safety Commission. He was just about to be arrested for corruption in connection with a construction company in Kyoto. The only way left for him was to become the head of National Public Safety Commission. I can image Kyoto District Prosecutors Office stamping their feet seeing the back of Nonaka.

So, it's Chief Cabinet Secretary Nonaka using this "Kyoto Method" to put the world under his thumb. But, he is of humble origin, like peasants or construction labors. Nonaka has the same kind of blood running in him with that running in Tanaka, but unlike Tanaka Kakuei who solely depended on the power of money, he has mastered the political maneuvering techniques that make much of the minorities in Japan such as those buraku people, Koreans, and Sokagakkai. This is the political trickery he couldn't have acquired had he not been in Kyoto where political wheels are turning with another turning within them. With political parties merging and de-merging as they are doing today, this "Kyoto Method" works best. Nonaka, steeled through his experience with Ninagawa Communist administration in Kyoto, is hard to beat, really, whether he is on offensive or on defensive.

Nakabo uses the same "Kyoto Method" but he has different blood running in his family. This makes the world of difference. If Nonaka is a commoner, Nakabo is an aristocrat. Nakabo's father was a commoner, his mother had an uncle who was the chief priest of Shogoin temple. His mother was brought up in Shogoin. So she was treated like a princes.
If you are living in Tokyo, you may find it very hard to understand what we are talking about. But Shogoin comes under the category of Monsekijiin temple, meaning it is related to the Imperial Family. They have a system whereby the class of temple can be identified by the number of horizontal stripes on its walls. Shogoin temple is not only the headquarters temple for discipline training priests and mountain priests, it's also closely connected to the Imperial Family as its deputy. Through discipline training and incantation, it has been guarding the country. That's the role of this temple. It's not just another temple. It's nothing to do with Shogoin radish, or Shogoin Yatsuhashi cookies if you are a frequent visitor to Kyoto . When the Imperial Palace was burned down when Emperor Komei was on the throne just before Meiji Restoration, the provincial Imperial Palace was set up in Shogoin. That's how close this temple is to the Imperial Family. So it's one of the influential powers in Kyoto.

Kyoto has been the capital in this country for more than 1,000 years. It's where a number of influential groups have been repeatedly getting together and parting with each other in different combinations so that the government has been changing hands. Playing the game of politics for power were the aristocrat groups like imperial family or Fujiwara clan, old Buddhist groups like Nara Buddhism, Tendai-Shingon School, Kamakura Buddhist groups like Jodoshu school, Shinshu school, and Nichiren school, and Samurai group like Kamakura, Muromachi, and Tokugawa

So the historical vicissitude of power in Japan is the history of these player taking turns to go into power, getting kicked out of it, sometimes changing partners, or sometimes with no partners. Kyoto is a microcosm of Japanese politics, with everything packed in there.

Having survived many hundreds of years of such political maneuvering, they have a certain accumulation of how-hows. While People like Nonaka of humble origin struggle their way to the top, people like Nakabo take full advantage of their network of affiliations, connections, and acceptances they have built up over the years to hold on to the power. That's just as natural as water always seeks it level.

When Nakabo became the chairman of Japan Bar Association, he went into Syogoin to receive "tokudo" treatment, or sor of baptized in other words, he became a Buddhist priest. His religious name is "Kodo". This shouldn't be interpreted as his hobby level interest in mountain priests but as his declaration that he is to take on its history and heritage as a power of influence. Nakabo visits Shogoin, the first thing in the year, to greet the chief priest. This is what he has been doing for many years. It's not because he runs a Japanese inn on one corner of the temple's premise.

Nakabo's father worked his way through to become a lawyer. He had hard time as all the first generations do. The more rough time you have, the more likely you are to deviate, thus more likely to be faulted for scandals. But the second generation Nakabo was like a baby born with a spoon in his mouth. He had had no difficulty to keep clean, and he decided by then that he deserve to be the man that reprents the power of influence, a rightful successor worthy of the high lineage if his mother's side. His inauguration to the chairman of Japan Bar Association provided one such symbolic occasion when he went into the temple and came out as "Kodo". It was his determination to become the head of that power of influence.

A bit of Japanese history here. You know the "Chater Oath" It's a founding declaration for Japan" promulgated by Meiji Emperor at the beginning of Meiji Restoration. It's a pledge by influential people if you like. The article 4 reads as follows:
"Break the established conventions, and follow the natural way of the world"
Looking up and down this sentence, I feel like reading into it the policy of priest Nakabo Kodo, not Nakabo Kohei. (For English language speaking readers, Nakabo's religious name "Kodo" means "Public Way" or "World Way")
Strange! But with it comes the memory of the way the Meiji Restoration ended up.

Setouchi Jakucho is a writer who has been lavishing her unconditional praise on Nakabo, repeating cliche-like "Nakabo is a modern Buddha elect" This may be a language only the Setouchi could use who has forsaken the secular world. And, granted that Nakabo and Setouchi are both Tendai priests, she should not be allowed to forget the Nakabo, Mr "Kyoto Method" is at the top of a power of influence, playing with s strange word like "Buddhist elect" Irrespective of your origin, you must dig your hole that fits your height. By the way, according to some newspaper reports, Nakabo's path often leads to the residence of prime minister as his priest name "Public Way" seems to suggest. Actually, he has a very close tie with the prime minister's office. This against suggests his "Kyoto Method" does not seem to know its boundary. It has already went beyond that. More specifically, Nakabo is in this world to bring over to his or prime minister's side the lawyers who would otherwise be potentially most noisy in public. All lawyer would be then a bunch of lawyers all supporting the same regime.

Lawyer Yasuda is symbolic of those lawyers that cannot fit into this bunch of all supportive lawyers. And the charge against lawyer Yasuda is "Obstruction of compulsory seizure" is a very obscure concept indeed. The headlong move toward the revision of the laws concerning the application of "Obstruction of Compulsory seizure" is now gathering momentum, to reorganize the legal system thus making it easy for the authority to do debt disposal job.
I am of opinion that both creditors and debtors should fight against each other according to the rules, each stating its own case. But the authority has changed the rule halfway through the fight.

We should always be reminded that money is the bone of contention in the first place. Borrowing and lending money is a pure act of economics. They don't lend money out of humanitarian concern for the people in need of money. It's their business to lend. If the borrower cannot pay back, he should go over the contract. It's all written in there. Everything should be handled according to the contract. As simple as that.

But Nakabo comes in with morality, compounding the matter otherwise so simple. He says "It's morally wrong of the borrower not to pay back.. The borrower is to blame." I've never seen a contract that says "If the debtor will be morally wrong if he does not repay." (ha, ha, ha). If it's wrong not to pay back the borrowed money, who would be the one to be blamed before our country?

Look at the budget for this year. \35 trillion worth of bonds are issued. In other words, our government owes us. But it won't replay. The total balance of bond issued will amount to \327 trillion.The interest to be paid on it is \1 million per second. How could they repay? The one that takes more money away from us than anybody else and doesn't pay back is our state. That's what it is. So my logic is "Why not do what our country is doing?"

Whatever they say, the "bubble economy" is a picture drawn up by the Ministry of Finance and banks. First, a bank approaches Mr.A asnd shows him a piece of land, saying "Why not buy this land. We will lend you money." So the bank lends Mr A \1 billion securing this land as mortgage.". Then, the bank says to Mr.A "Sell the land to Mr. B for \1.2 million" Then the bank approaches Mr. B offering to finance the purchase, securing the land as mortgage. The bank charges the interest and commission for each transaction. So the bank gets 6% of the money it lends for each transaction because it charges 3% for the sell, and 3% for the buy.
If the bank does it 5 times for the same land, it makes a 30% profit.

The bank is only thinking who should be at the exit of the game. Well, to put it more precisely, the bank finds the last one first before drawing up the picture. If the bank decides that Miyazaki will be the one to be left with a garbage. So the bank approaches me after Mr. A and Mr.B saying "Mr. A made \200 million. Mr. B made \200 million, too. So please hold this land for a while, Mr. Miyazaki. we'll help you make \300 million this time." Banks were taking profits out of this imaginary picture. The government was levying taxes on those profits. That's the bubble. So Nakabo is being loaded for accusing such banks. That's the common perception of the things. But, they got only \3 billion back from Sumitomo bank. That's not a big deal at all. And forJRC, Ministry of Finance and politicians are their sanctuary. To prove that, not a single politician or MOF bureaucrat has been arrested. They say the banks have a lot to answer for the bubble economy. But, banks are synonymous with MOF because banks just do as they are told by MOF. If JRC were an organization of justice as Nakabo says it is, tell us why it is MOF and politicians are immune from your probing.

So for Nakabo, MOF is a client. The, why tell a lie? Why can't you say, Nakabo, "We are only a dog. We can't buy our master."? Why didn't you bare your teeth on MOF and politicians, instead of on Yasuda? That bald headed bastard! I'm gonna beat him up next time I meet him.

Nakabo is now strengthening his ties with the police to confront the "Underground World". Quoting the case in which "Nakabo wrested Sueno Kosan's hidden assets away after a long tug of war", his chummy "Kunimatsu" is saying openly that a profit collecting system more unlawful than the Anti-organized Crime Law about to be legislated should be in place. ("Cornering Nakabo Kohei")

But, this Anti-Organized Crime Law cannot apply to organized crimes committed by businesses or bureaucrats. It only applies to outlaws to banish them from the world. It's the same structure that characterizes the Anti-Gangster Law Nakabo and Kunimatsu worked together to push through. When the Anti-Gangster Law was up on the agenda, I argues with the Anti-Gangster Section 1 Head of the Metropolitan Police Department. That head of the section is, interestingly enough, Ishitsuke Hiroshi, Assistant Manager of Defense Agency Procurement Implementation Headquarters, who was engaged in the organized activity of concealment of evidence on the case of Defense Agency's Procurement Implementation Headquarters breach of trust.

In that argument, Ishitsuke said as if he was sensible "I understand what you are saying. I know behind all this are the discriminations of buraku people or Koreans living in Japan, and the poverty. And I know the yakuza problem will not be solved unless these problems are solved. But discrimination and poverty should concern politicians. They are not the problems that the police should address." He said it so well, even convincingly. He was saying that the law would be required for the police to prevent illegal acts that came to the fore. But look what he did. It's a perfect case of an organized crime committed. After all the bureaucrats species would do anything to protect their interests.

Like the president of Suenokosan was an outlaw, most of those who borrowed from Jusen corporations were outlaws like yakuza, Koreans, and Chinese living in Japan. They were made the last ones who ended up at with garbage. The Japanese society is, and has always been structured this way with its outlaws always ending up with a garbage. So it was such outlaws at the end of the game of the bubble that got garbage with nobody to hand it over to. What's worse. those crafty banks did not directly finance those outlaws. Instead, they got Jusen to finance those outlaws. Mr. Sun of Sun's Corporation, approached by a bank that has arranged everything including a Jusen that will finance the purchase, got bullish as anybody would do if approached by a bank saying "We will finance you. So do not hesitate to buy the property we are recommending." It's quite natural that people like Sun should do what he did. It is sheer joy of feeling recognized for the first time when he was addressed as "Shacho" (=president") by the kind of people he had never dreamed of having business with. But, he found a little too late that he had to pay the price in the end as he had always had done so in his life.

And in the end, they went as far as to arrest a lawyer like Yasuda. Come to think of it, I remember, the president of a company called Ako-kensetsu whose legal adviser was charged by JRC and put under house arrest was "All Japan Anti-discrimination Work League Chubu District Headquarters Head Adviser" The financial world of this country has always singled out outlaws to do the cleanup jobs. This is an inherent structure, found in every system in this country. You can't talk about the Japanese economy without taking about outlaws.

There used to be two kinds of yakuza gangsters in Japan one called "tekiya" an the other "bakuto" or "gamblers" The tekiya are those people you see at a stall on a local festive day, selling shoddy goods or foods. Normally, they have little problems. But it's the gambler one that has a problem In Pre-Ward days, the yakuza of gambler's kind were poor as gamblers of any kind would end up. (ha, ha, ha). But, they were OK the way they were. But, the authority deprived them of gambles. This spawned those people looking for some other means of survival. There was no alternative left for those people but to engage in legitimate activities.

And it was quite natural to expect to see these people end up with something more profitable than others, for instant, they tended to end up as financiers or construction businesses. This is the historical fact. And just as natural is the emergence of such people as Sokaiya (or corporate extortionists). There has never been any single Japanese company that is not allied with Sokaiya. All of them have owed a lot to those extortionists.

The most striking examples I can now recall are when the stock holders meetings of Chisso or Mitsubishi Heavy Industries were thrown into confusion by the Beheiren's (Peace to Vietnam) one-stock campaign. Sokaiya extortionists were asked to crush the one-stock campaign. It's not at all that the sokaiya were ideologically opposed to the movement. They were just paid by the management of these companies to crush the movement. If we go a little further back to the early post-war period that saw something like labor offensives, yakuza would intervene in labor disputes such as Toho dispute or Yomiuri dispute. But, it wasn't either that yakuza was ideologically opposed to the labor unions. It was because there were clients out there that needed them. The relationship of this kind probably dates back as far as the history of Japan.

In its historical process, the interdependence between the establishment and outlaws became much closer during the "bubble economy" period, and inseparable from each other. Until then, the relationship between yakuza and business as well as the one between sokaiya and business had been literally running underground. "Go out on tiptoe, and whisper" is what they used to do to ask for an underground helping hand. But, their relationship came to light as when chairman of Inagwakai yakuza syndicate bought up the stocks in Tokyu company. Still, it's not what chairman Isshi wanted to do. It's was the will of the business that supplied chairman Ishii.

There is another such example. Remember the "Takeshita being praised to death" incident. This happened at the very critical last minute when he was bidding for premiership. What happened was really strange, indeed. Many LDP brasses went to see one obscure local right wing. But after all, considering the historical fact that the LDP was founded on the loots brought from China by Kodama Yoshio, Sasaawa Ryoichi, etc, we shouldn't be so surprised. The establishment in Japan and the outlaws have been interdependent on each other.

Swallowed up in the frenzy of the bubble economy, they became ever more intimate, their interdependence now visible to anyone to the embarrassment of the establishment. But it was all to obvious that getting rid of sokaiya extortionists to avoid criticism would not get them anywhere. No matter how many times the commercial law is revised to kick out sokaiya, this system about to be deprived of its intergral part will immediately start seeking its replacement. Indeed, what happened after sokaiya left the scene was the increasing number of ex-cops "descending from heaven".
The business establishment in Japan now thinks that replacing sokaiya is the way to go. But nothing has changed as far as the underlying attitude is concerned. It doesn't make any difference whether money is paid to sokaiya, or cops.
All they do is exclude outlaws without even touching upon this inherent nature of the business establishment in Japan.

Let me add one more. It's the problem with waste disposal where we can see the same symboisis between the Japanese capitalism and the underground world. It's a fact that the industrial waste cannot be disposed of without the help of outlaws. This is not confined to Japan. You cannot talk about capitalism without waste disposal. They are just the two side of the same coin, in perfect symbiosis with each other.

But the citizens of the world hate the economic and social refuse. They should realize that the Japanese society would not be able to function without them.

Speaking of industrial waste, Nakabo is defending the plaintiff on the case ofTeshima residents who filed a charge against the local authority for dumping of industrial waste. His obsession with cleanliness, his hatred for refuse beats me, really. And the mayor Yanagawa Zenzo who, ever since his first election to the office, had been against the construction of industrial waste disposal facility in Mitaka-cho, in Gifu Prefecture in central Japan, a township Nakabo had visited, was assaulted by a ruffian, touching off a nation-wide campaign against dumping of industrial waste and terrorism.

But the one applying for the permission to construct a industrial waste disposal facility was a Korean living in Japan. His involvement in industrial waste disposal is attributable to his origin. He was forcibly sent from Korea to Kamioka, Gifu to work at Mintsui Mining there. But when the war ended, he was kicked out. So he started out as a garbage collector to feed himself. He had managed to survive by screening metal scraps from rags.

So, first you've got to keep in mind that he was once a human being abandoned by the Japanese. But when he went on to become a successful businessman with some fortune made, it wasn't yakuza but the LDP that sniffed their way to him for moneym saying " We will give you a permission to build an industrial waste disposal facility. But give us some money." So the LDP members of prefecture parliament took with them a lot of money. But the mayor would refuse to issue such permit. So there was no choice left with this poor Korean but to ask yakuza for help, or to threaten these local politicians. That's what happened.

So the members of the prefecture parliament did nothing but extortion of his money. Yakuza beat up the major as a job they were paid to do, although I am not saying it's 100% justified.

Actually, those who attempted on the mayor's life did a very lousy job of it. They should have found the mayor's replacement first to ensure that the application would be accepted before attempted to kill him.

For your information, you must remember that I was the first one arrested on a criminal charge after the Industrial Waste Law was passed. When I was in the business of industrial waste disposal, those coming over to dump the waste were all from big businesses operating in the industrial area stretching from Osaka to Kobe. They came literally with many-truckloads of waste, about 50 of them. They sneaked in at 2 or 3 'clock in early morning, dumped it out quietly, and left. In a sense those outlaws were credited for the high economic growth in post war Japan.

Whether it is bad loans, industrial wastes, or sokaiya, it's always those outlaws like Koreans living in Japan, buraku people, or yakuza that are singled out to soil their hands. And when the public opinion cannot be persuaded, they are the first to be banished. It's not only Nakabo's JRC, but whole of Japan that's doing this. "Prim up our Japan to make it into a lot, lot cleaner society" is the buzzword of fascism.

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About Kuroda Junkichi's Paper, "Activities Carried Out by Jusen Lawyers in House Clearings of Bad Loans" ("Freedom and Justice," October, 1998) by a group of conscious lawyers The January 1998 issue of the journal "Freedom and Justice" started a series of articles entitled "Changing Lawyer's Occupation". Since then articles on a variety of subjects have been carried in the journal. The October 1998 issue carries an article "Lawyer's Activities in Disposing of Jusen Bad Loans" written by lawyer Kuroda Junkichi (Second Tokyo Bar Association). The intention of this article on "Lawyer's Activities in Disposing of Jusen Bad Loans" published at this particular point of time is not clear. Nor is it the purpose of this report to identify it. But the tenet of this article as shown in the separate resume, is to press on us to radically change the view we have on the lawyer as a professional whose mission it is to protect basic human rights from the stand point of those outside the establishment. For this reason, this article deserves our vigorous analysis. The separate resume is no more than some excerpts from the Kuroda's article I found probably important and my responses to them. It was prepared hastily toward the year end as I was running about with too much to be done with too little time to do it. And it's not actually the subject I can talk about well. So I may have missed out on some vital points of the Kuroda's article, or may find myself pressing my views based on my possible misinterpretations. For more accurate and precise analysis of the points I raise in the resume, you are well-advised to examine and review the Kuroda's article itself. I hope this report will prompt heated and constructive debates among lawyers on the evaluation of the Kuroda's article and the ideology expressed in it. 1. Organization of JRC The collecting sector of JRC "consists of two Special Adjustment Divisions, one in Tokyo and the other in Osaka."(p.84)" Each Special Adjustment Division has Special Measure Chamber staffed with personnel from prosecution and police for criminal indictment" "Kuroda is assigned to Tokyo Special Adjustment Division" (p.85) -> This suggests that JRC lawyers including the author of this article are directly involved with the prosecutors and police assigned to the Special Measures Chamber in the criminal indictment process in connection with the Jusen problem 2. Deposit Insurance Corporation JRC is required to have its planned measures and operation results reported to Deposit Insurance Corporation for its approval. Deposit Insurance Corporation is an instructive and advisory organization. (p.84) The board chairman of Deposit Insurance Corporation is a prosecutor. So are the managers of Special Operation Department in Tokyo and Osaka which are responsible for servicing bad Jusen loans. In addition, there are 3 judges, and 6 prosecutors working ""So that different views due to the differences in the duties prove of great use in filing a charge or in criminal indictment."(p.94) -> This shows JRC operates practically under Deposit Insurance Corporation. The lawyers at JRC file criminal charges at the advice and instruction of judges and prosecutors. 3. Coordination with Investigative Authorities JRC has been taking appropriate measures including lawsuit immediately when fraudulence on the part of the debtor in obtaining finance, or when the debtor is concealing his assets in order to evade the compulsory seizure on them. Arrests as we se fit have been made through its coordination with investigative authorities so can now show our determination to break with the dark side of the world once for all. Searching for potential criminal cases is also what is expected of a lawyer. (p.88) -> This shows a system of terror is now in place in which lawyers not only bring a charge as a result of investigation they conduct in coordination with the investigative authorities but also they take initiative to go out and search for potential criminal cases. 4. Meaning of Lawyer's Involvement "The involvement of lawyers with JRC means that lawyers are taking part in the administration." " Rather than leaving JRC up to the arbitrary decisions by bureaucrats and financial institutions, providing it with lawyers to ensure the fairness and transparency in the procedures taken based on legality, thus making it possible to reveal the results of the on-going operations and the problems encountered." "All this is now being made into reality by the leadership in the peerless person of Nakabo Kohei.(p.91) -> "fairness and transparency in the procedure taken based on legality" is the expression similar to that used in LDP's Judiciary Special Investigation Committee. But it's not only passively accepting the decision by the LDP's committee, but it's an aggressive affirmation and ignorance of the dangerous fact that lawyers are getting built into the administrative authorities. 5. Debtor's Attorney "We appreciate the majority of lawyers understand the purpose of the operation of JRC and given the debtors apt advise" "However, some lawyers instruct the debtors to conceal their assets and arrested as their accomplice. What role is expected of a lawyer is now called into question. (p.91, 92) -> This could be interpreted as the determination on the part of the writer of this article to take initiative in exposing these lawyers for debtors. And it is noteworthy that the writer of this article sees this problem as that concerns "a role expected of a lawyer" 6. Lawyer's Involvement What keeps these lawyers involved with JRC going is the sense of fulfillment they get from the debt collection operations using such a versatile means available and from the trust the staff have in you, and from the sense of their commitment something public which transcends their own personal interests." (p.92) -> I am dumbfounded by a lawyer saying " ... sense of fulfillment" from exercising government power "using such a versatile means available". Where is that sprit of being outside the establishment gone? "Here is a huge workload of legal clerical jobs to be addressed by lawyers. We cannot afford to leave it unattended. This requires a systemic change in the way a lawyer works, and in the place where he stands to meet the demand for a large number of quality lawyers. (p.93) -> What he means is that he has to fulfill duty as a lawyer in such a way that he could be mobilized with other many lawyers to serve "something public". And he wants to see a change in the way a lawyer works, and in the place where they occupy. What this article boils down to is that Kuroda avails himself upon the lawyers to change their place where they stand in order to be able to live up to "what is expected of lawyers", departing radically from the traditional place where they protect human rights. If his vision were to be implemented, more and more would be incorporated into this "something public". And they would, in their coordinated efforts with judges, prosecutors, and police, become part of the administrative authorities to seek out possible criminal cases at the instructions and advice of the judges and prosecutors. And for these lawyers to get the sense of fulfillment and satisfaction, the article of this writer wants to see a radical departure from the traditional work system or attitude. This means the eventual transformation into a regime like the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in prewar days of the judiciary world that is meant to be outside the establishment. An extremely dangerous idea, indeed.

I hear that Doi Takako (leader of Social Democratic Party) has been appointed the guarantor in their request for Yasuda's bailout. But I am afraid it will be turned down. From the information I have gathered, it wasn't Nakabo himself but Kuroda Junkichi that decided that JRC would file a charge against lawyer Yasuda. His true nature was all to apparent in his article we have just analyzed a moment ago. There is still something hesitant about Nakabo. He is still concerned about some possibility him being subject to criticism. He suspects there's many fools like himself in this whole wide world.

On the other hand, Kuroda is a criminal case specialist, and cable of leftist approach, which is something he owes to his days with Bund. His perception of the things today is that the present leftists would soon give up. The logic he uses when he accuses Yasuda is that a lawyer should be strict on his own species. Ya, it's all fine. But wait a minute. I want to say to Kuroda, "Then what the hell do you think you are?" Every time I come across something like this, I can't help seeing a limit to what the new left or grassroots movements can do, or the lousiness of the post-war baby boom generation as inseparable from one another.
On the other hand, there's a lot of zip in the way Nakabo gets ahead with his scheme of the things along his line, incorporating such movements, often to our admiration, or even finding himself leading the way. In other words, it's this post-war baby boom generation incorporated into the established society that has been always up at front engaged in all sorts of evil activities. And it now finds its parallel in the world of lawyers. It came a little late, though.

This delay may be attributed to the national licensing system and the plausible tradition of this particular profession that have been acting as a cushion to soften up an immediate impact. But once this cushion is removed, or they are pressed hard for a choice between this and that, their true nature would be exposed for anybody to see.
After all, it was this post-war baby generation that has negatively sustained Japan in this age of ours. But serious examination of what this generation , often referred to as Zenkyoto Generation was all about is long overdue.

One example is one father that beat his son to death with a metal baseball bat. He was working for a publishing house. I have known him since school days. He was a Communist member. It all started when the mother forgot to wake his son up at the time he asked her to wake him up. He made her sit properly Japanese style on the floor and kicked her in the face. It was a case of violence at home. Looking at this, and thinking that he son must be suffering mentally, smarting inside, he approached his son without giving tit for tat, only to find himself in an act of violence. And he killed his son with a baseball bat.

In the parent-child relationship, the father wanted to consider the human rights for his son. But the human rights as we generally know them are different from those that exist in the parent-child relationship, I think. Because he didn't distinguish these two different kinds of human rights, he couldn't foresee that the problem at home ended the way it did.

Sadly, I am not living with my children as I am divorced. But if I knew that my son had hit his mother, I might probably beat him nearly to death. Failure to do so would result in "beating him to death".

What is needed in the parent-child relationship is animalistic love. After all humans are animals. The father who beat his son to death with a baseball bat chose the relationship which works only when human rights for the child is recognized as the goal of human rational love. But I think the relationship this father chose would only work if anything animalistic were excluded. It's a precondition that all family relationships between parents and children, between brothers and sisters, and between husband and wife will be fostered in the final analysis through animalistic love.

The concept of human rights was born of the modern rationalistic thinking. Subscribing yourself to this concepts may have an inhibiting effect on the sexual love. That father belongs to my generation, born in 1945. A long time student movement activist, he spent his life working for a publishing house. Then he found himself in dilemma, or self-contraction. That was what the modern rationalism was. Rather than letting his animal out, he escaped into the rational generalization only to find himself at the dead end, where that tragedy happened. I cannot think otherwise.
Another typical example of lousy human existence is Fujiwara Iori. "Terrorist Parasol" That's was terrible. I cannot reconcile myself to the fact somebody working for Dentsu is calling himself a terrorist. Quit Dentsu before calling yourself that way. If you want to be recognized as a terrorist, why not kill the president of your company? It would be OK if you were brave enough to do that.

The Zenkyoto movement did not develop around any party. It was a non-partisan movement. But I cannot think of any movement without a party. Whether it's Communist Party, Chukaku, Kaihouha, or even Kakumaru, you are forced to make a choice when you join a party. It's a decision you have to make whether you are ready to live or die a revolutionary no matter how you are childish, or mistaken. It's after you are forced to make a decision that you are becoming what you have been forced to make a decision to become. In that respect, the non-partisan movement of Zenkyoto movement was no more than a fashion. So any fashion should end up as fashion. That mean it would be OK if it feels good when you are with it. So, do not try to see any new potential in that movement or in what's left of it.

I don't want a little man like Hujiwara Iori to call himself an outlaw in the first place. How could he be called an outlaw? He's never been busted. The gambles he depicts in his nooks are small time gambles to me, too small to get a kick out of, too small to makes you feel sad, and too small to torment you. But he is only intested in the Dentsu-like visualization of words, so the gambles he depicts are so removed from reality. And he doesn't care whether the gambles such words describe are real or not. This self-expression style only represents the limit to the Zenkyoto movement which was a non-partisan movement. But the sad reality is that those activists who were affiliated with new left parties are not necessarily better than that, as shown in the case of Kuroda, or Ozaki, who were converted to end up as a pawn for the fascism a la Nakabo. Presumably these bastards sought to form a majority. But they fantasize themselves that they are speaking for the majority of citizens sneaked in, and overtook them, misleading them to think that they are themselves the cause of justice.

Cause of justice is really frightening. Yakuza do not kill people for the cause of justice. They kill some out of faithfulness or loyalty, but not more than a few people however splendid or noble their faith may be. But, there is no limit to how many you can kill for the cause of justice. The Second World War was fought for he cause of justice in which as many as they liked were killed, especially the hostilily broke out between two different causes of justice as it actually did in that war. Cambodia's massacre by Khmer Rouge is another example of what happens when people do something for the cause of justice. The word "justice" sounds nice, and enticing. But that's where it gets most dangerous. Here Nakabo says "It's our citizen waiting to see the justice to be done." But he should know better that our citizens have long been lost to the establishment.

I do not support the logic of the citizens that allows them to reject some elements in their selfish endeavor to keep clean. Wrapped in the sweetish word like "citizen", humans tend to get deprived of its poignancy, and with it potency. You should break out, and do things on the premise that humans are first and foremost animals. What I want to say here is that there are some elements the humanity rids itself of, or destroy in the course of history as shown in the case of modern rationalism which tends to reject what it finds incompatible with it, and in those rejected do we find something we should leave intact as an animal human being.

It may sound a little archaic. But getting rid of those elements completely aware of this would be completely different to doing so not at all aware of it.
From a distance, a castle looming serene against the night sky is out of fable with the rest being unilluminated. But, once you are in it, it's not as good as it appears to be, you will sort of find the temperatures different from place to place. Whether this temperature is suitable for humans is another question.

What Nakabo is getting up to is to clean our world of those unilluminated elements, outlaws as social refuse, and industrial wastes as economic refuse, under the banner of justice. He is trying to purifying our society. But let's face it. Refuse or rubbish is around as it always has been and will continue in many different forms to be as indispensable.
I will also continue to be an outlaw. I have already countless corpora piling up behind me. This doesn't allow me to abandon this way of mine, to clean myself. The spirits of those many dead are always on my back, watching out for every suspicious move I may make to deviate.

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Review Of The Year Of 1998--What It Was All About. Miyazaki Manabu How will future historians see the year 1998 when they look back? I am sure that they will say "The turning point of the history came in 1998" It was a year when there was absolutely no way out left, politics, economy, education, culture, everything in a completely deadlocked situation, plummeted to the abyss. In this sense, it was the year when they "bottomed out". You should understand that history destroys its way forward, crushing things out of existence. This leads to another question "What is it that it is crushing out of existence, and in what direction it is heading?" or more basic question, "Is there any destination in any direction?" "Is there any single existence that provides any universality?" "Who is it that can answer all these questions?" It is my perception that the nations all over the world have dissolved what little was left of their universality of state during the past 20 years. All that's been sustained is "market", isn't it? The true picture of the market place is that all the economies of the world are built on the ridiculous and strange shifting sand of the currency of the United States which is by far the world's biggest debtor nation. "The chicken games are being played out in places like Iraq or North Korea to maintain the unnatural picture. 1998 was the year that ushered in the age far more deprived than any age of its transparency where the "market place" makes decisions to maintain the unnaturalness now that government or politics has dissolved their universality. One such example is the arrest of lawyer Yasuda that took place in December. Servicing the bad loans for the survival of the financial market took precedence over every bit of universality that was left of the judiciary world. I would like to see the arrest of Yasuda not only as politically motivated, but as the beginning of dissolution of something more structural as the result of the market's response to maintain its universality. A giant in the world of finance, George Solos, a Hungarian born Jewish, says about the "market" like this: "There is no mathematical logic that prevails in markets. What prevails in markets are mass psychology." The 1998 might well be remembered as the year when a historically unprecedented monster called the fascism of market origin was fast engulfing the globe. Let me make myself clear one more time. With the Communist block no more there to compete against in their efforts to improve upon themselves, the capitalist economies are now self-devouring their way toward self-destruction out of their greed that knows no bound. Organizations and systems including schools, mass media, government ministries and agencies, and political parties are all renouncing their inherent missions to provide education, information, and administrative services as they try to survive for the sake of its own continued existence. And it is for this very reason that they are doomed. It's like yakuza getting organized for their survival, but for this very reason, they have been numbered . The same is true of education. With all the things they used to be say about education, like "raising cultural or intellectual standards", it's now intended for brainwashing. The more educated one becomes, the less viable he comes as a human being, losing his confidence in his ability to live. Thus, the system is falling apart. The world today is fast becoming like the back of my palm I have no difficulty knowing. Well, I am very much looking forward to the new year, which will surely be a year of good-for-nothing. But it doesn't matter. Let's enjoy another bad year together. To live your life is what you live for, not to learn how to live it. Oh, here I did it again. I am the only one that carried it off from this mahjong party. How could these losers manage to make it through to the new year? It's December 31 today. I am a bit worried.

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Wishing You A Happy New Year This greeting sounds hollow, doesn't it. Being a long-time outlaw, I find these New Year's Holidays and what's known as "Golden Week" early in May so depressing. Because I've got many family members but no family, in other words, no family to go home to. Well, joking aside, thanks for new year's greeting cards from so many. But let me respond to all of this through my web site. I need your support this year, too. Mr. M in Suginami, Tokyo called me to say "Announce your new year's resolution", the first thing in the new year. And in the greeting card I received from a young promising journalist was saying something like "It's getting awfully hard to fight back the police as their powers are getting beefed up at an increasing rate." So, I give my bit of observations about "How to Walk the New Year." First, let me make it clear that I am an outlaw, not any less or any more. In the book entitled "A rebel" I wrote a year ago, there is a passage under the tittle of "What is an outlaw?" Let me repeat. Do not abandon yourself to the comfort of the "rules" of the civic world. Attach great importance to human relationships. Put more emphasis on people than on things. Be a go-getter in time of emergency. Do not avoid rough stuff. Operate best in a struggle, fight, and turbulence. Absolute altruism. Honor the morality and duty for human beings of flesh and blood Do not enslave yourself to wages and rewards. Live on the money that happens to come your way. Always be ready for the worst possible consequences. Make quick decision as to good or bad, work on it until you finish it off. Do not allow yourself to be bound by the petit bourgeois outlook on love and marriage. These are the basic stances. There's one more I want to add to the list. That is "Do not allow the venality to be your criteria for action." In other words, I'll put myself on the side I think is right even though I am ware it will spell a great loss." That's my way of walking this year. Why is such re-confirmation? It's because outlaws are becoming un-outlaws these days. For instance, someone wants to be a doctor. And it's because he wants to protect people against diseases, or treat them. Or else someone wants to be a lawyer. And it's because he wants to defend criminals. Well, some may say it's a lot of money. True, many doctors and lawyers are better off. But that's not something doctors or lawyers cannot do without. Money is not the purpose onto itself. This is true of outlaws. The purpose of becoming an outlaw is to drop out of the society. It's never been because "You can make a lot of money if you become an outlaw." But the way I see it, the society as a whole has lost sight of the very foundation on which it rests. I would like to hold on my own as an Don Quixote-like outlaw, not to allow myself to be carried away in the tide of this world that might engulf me. The new year reminds me of my friends behind the bars. They were joined last year by my friend O in Kyoto and even lawyer Yasuda. Tanaka and Kodama in Thailand, "K", and "J" imprisoned in Asahikawa, and more than ten of those in jail, all come to mind hauntingly. I hate this season of the year. I have a chill. Looks like I got a flu. Take care, everyone.

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