ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (2)

Dashing Introduction of Jakyu Jindo

April 12

A 3-story apartment building, Sumida Ward, Tokyo

Beep, beep, beep, beep! Beep, beep, beep, beep...

A man hiding under the futon in an apartment with a 2DK layout reached for the alarm clock ringing in one of the rooms. The man then rose from the futon, stood up tall, scratched his bed-habituated head, and headed for the bathroom. After washing his face and fending off sleep, he stood in the kitchen and began to prepare breakfast.

"........."

The man took his place at the table in the dining room and proceeded to eat the breakfast he had laid out. In his left hand, he held two documents given to him by Ezaki, the head of the National Police Agency's Security Bureau.

'Hoaaam... Hiraide, Hiraide. Not many people have a surname like that.'

What he was looking at was a document about a certain Metropolitan Police Department official. It contained data on two public security officers who were to be sent overseas with him to search for five missing Japanese nationals. After finishing his breakfast, he reached for a custom-made suit hanging on the wall. He put his arms through the pale blue shirt, his legs through the slacks, and then the gray jacket. Standing in front of the mirror, he checked for anything off as he put on his tie. When he finished dressing, he sat upright in front of the Buddhist altar in the dining room, lit two candles, then the incense, rang the bell, and picked up his prayer beads. He closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. The picture in front of him is of his grandmother, who died five years ago.

"...Then, grandma, I'm off!"

He stood up, picked up the bag he had put aside, put on his leather shoes, and walked out of the door. On the nameplate of the house was written "Jindo." Dressed in a gray suit, the young man walked out of his three-story, 21-year-old apartment building, ran down the stairs, greeted a neighbor lady who is sprinkling water, and got into his Fiat 500X parked in the parking lot to head for his place of work.

"Jindo-san, you are in good spirits today."

"But he always seems to be in trouble. He rarely comes home..."

"I wonder what he does for a living."

Residents of the apartment building where Jindo's car is seen off are talking about him. Neighbors who knew him thought he might be a manager at a small or medium-sized company, an executive at the ward office, or an employee of a decent company. But none of that is true. He is actually a police bureaucrat working for the National Police Agency, a career group that has passed the National Civil Service Comprehensive Exam, a test required to become a so-called "bureaucrat."

The Fiat he is driving pulled into the parking lot of the National Police Agency. This is the place where the national police organization is controlled, and it exists at the top of the police hierarchy.

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April 12

Public Security Bureau, Metropolitan Police Department, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo

Right next to the National Police Agency is a building called the Metropolitan Police Department. They are the police organization in charge of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. The MPD consists of nine internal organizations, one of which is the Public Security Bureau. In a corner of the room where one of the divisions, the Foreign Affairs Division 2 Section 5, is located, a man was listening to the radio with an earphone jack.

"...The election is still more than four months away, isn't it? I can't believe you're telling me that now."

The man complained about the radio report. His name is Michitaka Hiraide, a sergeant in the Foreign Affairs Division 2. Originally a detective in the Organized Crime Control Bureau's Organized Crime Countermeasures Division 5, he was transferred to the Public Security Bureau's Foreign Affairs Division 2 because of his high level of field ability and his skill with a handgun, which puts him in the top two in the Metropolitan Police Department. A young detective tapped him on the shoulder while he was absorbed in listening to the radio. He turned around and gave Hiraide some news.