| １．In the Year 1936
What happened in 1936 (Showa 11) in Japan?
For one, the February 26 (2-26) Incident occurred this year.
This was an attempted coup d'état in the Japanese Empire. It was organized
by a group of young Imperial Japanese Army officers with the goal of purging
the government and military leadership of their factional rivals and ideological
opponents.
Although the rebels succeeded in assassinating several leading officials (including two former prime ministers) and in occupying the government center of Tokyo, they failed to assassinate Prime Minister Keisuke Okada or secure control of the Imperial Palace. Their supporters in the army made attempts to capitalize on their actions, but divisions within the military, combined with Imperial anger at the coup, meant they were unable to achieve a change of government. Facing overwhelming opposition as the army moved against them, the rebels surrendered on 29 February. (Wikipedia)
It was also the year of the Berlin Olympics, where Tajima of the triple
jump and Maehata of the breaststroke won gold medals.
The remote fishing village of Miwasaki facing the Sea of Kumano had already been merged into the city of Shingu and was then called the Miwasaki Ward of Shingu City. With the neighboring wards of Sano and Kinokawa, its population was still about 4,000.
Transportation means from Miwasaki to the urban area of Shingu were the
national road passing over a hill, and the Kisei railroad line.
If one goes down to the seashore and stands in the middle of the concrete
bridge connecting Suzushima and Kushima islands, he can see the Sea of
Kumano spread out to the Pacific Ocean.
How about the important fishery? It had changed a little while Kyozo was
away for over ten years.
Fishermen came to be able to make a fair living with small steam boats
by catching migratory fishes in the vicinity such as bonito, sardine, Pacific
saury, and yellow tuna, though most families were still involved in farming,
too.
Gamed fishes were unloaded on the seashore along the bay, and sold at auction
on the dirt floor of the Miwasaki Fishery Cooparative.
The fishery cooperative was run by the commission of auction. It was faced
with a complicated problem, just a short while after the Wozumi grocery
store opened by Kuma's request.
In late autumn this year (1936), when Kyozo was 36 years old, this fishing
village was faced with a severe situation.
2. Yakuza Group in Shingu
The world of the yakuza in existed Shingu City, too. Pocketing a part of
sales was their good source of revenue.
Four hoodlums of the Anto group running this whole Shingu area force themselves
on the house of the cooperative's chief, having their eyes on the market
of the Miwasaki Fishery Cooperarive after the municipality in general.
"We are from the Anto Group. This area is also our turf. You don't
seem to have visited us. It is one of the problems in our group, you see,"
they spoke with disdain.
"Anyway, we want some share from the next year's auction. Now is not
the time for only you to enjoy your profits. This is not just the talk
of the four of us! The boss and other seniors agree. From now, all of you
should be relieved because we will not cause any troubles for you, you
see? Any amount will be good enough. Talk about it with your men and let
us know your answer."
The senior guy talked fast and nonstop, seemingly with memorized words.
The three others are looking through the room. The cooperative chief could
do nothing but just stand there.
"Your next meeting is this Saturday, right?"
The senior reminds the chief with an upward glance.
"We will see you at the cooperative office at 8:00 at night to have
your answer!"
The chief turned pale and contacted the members.
Kyozo Wozumi had built the "Hinomoto-maru Boat", a ship for collecting
pearl oysters, just after his return from Arafura Sea. He had also been
a member of the fishery cooperative, as he had been catching fishes himself.
"Would you now join us to work for our town?"
Kyozo could not decline the chief's polite request, so he had been one
of the members, though he does nothing special.
The autumn deepened and it was cold with late-autumn showers even in the
warm Kumano district. At present a light rain was falling, but the sea
became wilder as a sign of a stormy weather. Pacific saury fishing has
been quite good and they had begun catching mackerel (Japanese seerfish)
which brought an expensive price.
No boat would go fishing from tomorrow for several days.
Eight members of the cooperative gathered together in its office in the
evening, where they suffered a gloomy atmosphere sitting in a circle on
a tatami mat.
Though they know everything beforehand, the chief briefly explained it
again. He starts the talk by saying that this request is not an evil plan
of only the four hoodlums,
"We have to give some answer to them....."
All members look down with a scowl and are hesitant to speak.
"Could you give your opinion first?"
Asked by name, the vice chief speaks timidly.
"I cannot stand it but it cannot be helped. There is no reason to
give them any money, but I am afraid of complications. I doubt if the police
is reliable at this most important time. Both of them may have an understanding
between them behind the door."
Each member just mumbles something neutral, looking away or down at the
tatami mat.
"I know we are in a difficult situation. I wonder how much they will
request. But why don't we think that they will protect our market whenever
any trouble would happen?"
"It will look bad if this kind of trouble is revealed or known by
the media."
"I think there's nothing we can do about it, though we are angry."
" ..... "
The active young man does not resist the seniors this time, saying,
"If we refuse their request, they will surely do something more troublesome.
Just as the chief says, this must not be only the hoodlums' idea. I think
it is better for us to make a compromise with them. I am sure all union
members will accept this."
Kyozo sits cross-legged, folding his arms, and is looking up the front
openwork panels. He looks as if he had nothing to do with the case, but
this is his habitual appearance. Actually, he is listening carefully and
seems to have his own idea.
The young man notices it and urges Kyozo to talk.
"How about you, Kyozo-san? Could you tell us your idea?"
Kyozo nods. He just says so, looking around the members.
"I don't like to make any compromise. Let's refuse."
Then he drinks a sip of tea in his usual face. The other members take his
attitude just as usual in a boring atmosphere.
"You shouldn't say so. We also want to resist, but it would be terrible
after that. Just imagine what a fight they would pick with us. The market
might have to be closed. It would be another thing if it were OK."
"I may agree with Kyozo on one side, but as the cooperative we cannot
give them such a conventional answer."
" ..... "
Each member adds a similar criticism. Then there was an uncomfortable silence
for a while.
One member impatiently says.
"It might be better to see their move after the first talk by Kyozo.
We have no other ideas anyway."
Another member adds, looking at Kyozo and the chief.
"They may take advantage of our weakness. ..."
The chief finally speaks ambiguously and hesitantly in a way to take a
vote.
"Shall we do it this way, right? Kyozo-san, please be calm. Any fight
by chance would ruin everything. I wish you to bring up your opinion, watching
their move in order not to let them get angry. Be sure to be peaceful.
After that, we would work well."
All the members look at each other with downcast eyes probably due to having
no other opinion. The vice chief speaks slowly to reflect the opinion of
all.
"Well, no objection. Let's do it this way and see. Kyozo-san, please
do your best."
Everybody knows the stubborn guy would never change his idea once he makes
up his mind. Now that there is no good idea rejecting him with a majority
decision, they have to cross a risky bridge this time.
Kyozo remains completely calm with his arms folded as if it had nothing
to do with him. He nodded to the chief, blinking his eyes.
3. The Hoodlums Came Over
The four guys came at 8:00 p.m. They are the same hoodlums who visited
the chief cooperative's house.
They are between late 20s and early 30s, behaving like high-handed gangsters.
All of them have some bags in their hands. What is in them?
"Here we are from the Anto group!"
The door was opened with a menacing voice. Suddenly the wind and rain blew
in from the sea.
"We came here to get an answer for what we asked the chief the other
day!"
The short and heavy senior said so, casting an upward glance to the chief,
and added.
"Our boss gives you his regards."
Then glaring at the sitting circle of the cooperative members, he barges up to the room and sits cross-legged on the tatami mat. The other three are standing near the door with threatening faces.
"Well, ....."
The chief, hesitatingly, urges Kyozo with a sidelong glance.
Kyozo with a cropped head has still been crossing his arms, and now looks
at the senior hoodlum sittng across from him. Pausing for a minute, he
begins to talk in a hoarse voice.
"All of you, don't do such a thing that makes your parents cry."
The unexpected words make both the gangsters and the members speechless.
The cooperative members draw back, while the yakuza senior sitting cross-legged
turns red, with his sworn brothers behind him.
"What! Is that the answer? Don't act so great! You have to know what
you are saying and how it's going, don't you! Chief, is it OK this way?!"
Seemingly without hearing the blaring voice, the stubborn man says in a
low voice with his eyes fixed still to the gangster's eyes. His thick eyelashes
mixed with prematurely gray hair do not move at all.
"You don't know what you are doing now yourself, do you?"
The members on his both sides hastily move further away from him. Other
members pull to their back and suck in their breath.
Without a break, a guy on the dirt floor, with unclear cry, throws a vase
at Kyozo. The vase grazes Kyozo's head and hits the strong back pillar
and smashes into pieces with a metallic sound.
The other two rush to the tatami mat and the slanted-eye guy jumps on Kyozo.
He swings the bag round and throws it at Kyozo in vain, and immediately
he tries to overcome and grab Kyozo by the collar. For a moment, he is
pushed away one meter behind and squats down.
Holding his right hand, he forces a groan from his stomach.
"It pains, it's sore, ..."
Before they know it, Kyozo is ready for the next attack sitting with his
right knee raised. His dark face keeps a watchful eye on the guys. All
the cooperative members are out of the present struggle. They seem to be
half asleep.
The second guy with Mohawk hairstyle aims some blunt instrument at Kyozo. He dodges quickly, and the guy's momentum caused him to stumble on the overturned teacup, then bangs his head on the wall, losing the target.
With a scowling face he reclaims the blunt instrument and tries to turn
around, when Kyozo's fist like a pine cone strikes the pit of his stomach.
The Mohawk guy faints in agony.
The third guy, who just threw a vase, takes a dagger from his inside pocket
and draws a sheath. His eyes are already bloodshot and his hand is trembling.
Kyozo is sitting with his right knee raised, breathing normally. He says
in a low voice, staring at both the rash young punk and the heavy senior
on the tatami.
"Truly you are all scum mat."
The senior stops the younger with a frantic look, saying,
"We better go back. Better talk to the boss."
- - - - -
They left with a parting threat, not staying to listen to any response.
The two were managing to hold up the other wounded two.
The rain with sea wind blew in through the opened glass door.
4. The Yakuza Leader Pays a Visit
It was the next afternoon that the boss of the Anto Group himself visited
Kyozo Wozumi's house from Shingu, accompanied by his three men. They drove
there in a black car that was rare those days.
The boss, about fifty, was a muscular man of medium height and build with
a dark face, wearing a suit jacket and pants with a bow tie. Short hair,
small mustache, a slash of 3 cm from the left eye corner to the ear -
all of them reflected the yakuza world. A faint and scornful smile seemed
his usual look.
The storm since last night had increased in power, hitting the closed glass
door of the Wozumi Store. Kyozo, as vice manager, was in the store with
an apron written "Sake Tama-no-hikari", and was arranging the
showcase under manager Kuma's direction. He was bare-footed and wearing
geta as usual.
"Hello."
The yakuza boss says, with one of his men forcing the glass door open,
and notices the vice manager with short grey hair just before him. Kuma,
under Kyozo's silent suggestion, withdraws to the back of the store.
"It was you who injured my young men, right?"
In spite of a low grim voice, he is not threatening in particular with
something sharp look. His left hand is playing with a black rosary.
Kyozo nods slightly with no expression.
One of his men says in a posture of asking his consent.
"This is our boss Mr. Anto. Actually only three of us should be here,
but the boss came all the way with us to see you with his own eyes."
A pretentious way of speaking, but it is ignored by the vice store manager.
At this time the boss looks around the store and sees Kuma looking worried
at the back. He now smirks faintly and says.
"Isn't she your wife? Looks beautiful. Don't do that way like last
night not to put your fishery cooperative."
At the threatening low voice of the boss, the vice manager stares into
the boss's eyes standing a mere 2-meter distance. He remains calm with
his hands dangling and his eyes gentle in an apron and geta style.
The three subordinates are glaring at the vice manager Kyozo with watchful
eyes at each place in the small store. Knives or dangerous toys might possibly
come out from their inside pockets.
The boss threatens him more in a low voice.
"The bill for last night is not cheap. As you know, I am a boss of
the Anto Group. You have to understand that I should not back off easily!"
"....."
The short-hair man just listened silently.
"To injure one arm is good enough!"
The boss says looking around at his men.
The vice manager still keeps his eyes on the boss. The boss also keeps
the same stance as he does. His men are waiting for the boss's next order
clearly irritated with their eyes rolling.
In front of Wozumi Store, several customers, under the eaves across the
road, are looking into the dark store with their helpless umbrellas closed,
exposed to the rain blowing sideways.
How long did the time go by?
The boss turns his eyes slightly aside, and gives a glimpse toward Kuma
just revealing her face at the back of the store. Then with his appearance
loosened, his hand goes slowly to the cigarette display and tries to carelessly
take a 10-piece box of "Hikari" cigarettes to smoke. He pretentiously
scrapes his tasteful gold lighter.
Finally the vice manager opens his mouth.
"You have to pay beforehand."
The hoarse voice is normal, but Kyozo does not hide his firm will.
The boss, being taken aback, puts out the fire of the lighter and grins.
His usual face of a slight smile changes to a half bitter smile.
Nodding to one of his men, he said.
"Pay for this."
He says so, and put the fire of the lighter on the cigarette. He smokes
deeply and slowly exhales up to the ceiling. After the same gesture again,
he added.
"You have good nerve. It's just a greeting today."
He says so looking slightly at the back and adds.
"I'll be back."
The black car rode away in the middle of the storm.
A messenger came over the next day. In controlled yakuza-black dress, he
said politely.
"Our boss would like to exchange cups of brotherhood as a vow. It
is very rare for us. So, I ask you to accept it."
Kyozo turns him away abruptly.
After a couple of days, Kyozo was summoned by the police and detained at
the police station on a charge of bodily injury.
But after two days he was released for no known reason, and when he came
back home he found a celebratory drink from the yakuza boss. He flatly
turned it down
The trouble between the Anto Group and Miwasaki Fishery Cooperative was
shelved through with the happening that night.
Kyozo never talked about it to Kuma. Kuma, on the other hand, noticed his
reaction to the Boss's visit and hearsay, but she only said to him softly,
"Please take it easy, omahama."
It was known among people in the village that Kyozo had never had a stronger
enemy in karate. He had learned it as a hobby during a break from work
at the Arafura Sea years ago. He is said to have practiced under a colleague
from Okinawa for self-defense against rough guys or pirates.
He made an instant decision to use karate that night, and his power was
steady.
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