A Quiet Place (19 page)

“Did they ask for me… um… I mean did the Nagano people request me specifically?”

“Not exactly. Well, they said they wanted someone with experience, and Mr Shiraishi told me to send you.”

“The director general wanted me?”

“It seems you made a specific request to be dispatched. He says you told him how disappointed you were when you got ill and were unable to accompany him to Nagano back in December last year, and that you'd told him you definitely wanted to go the next time.”

“Ah, yes. Well, that… er…”

He hadn't spoken to Shiraishi because he wanted to be sent to Nagano. He'd only meant to apologize for cancelling the first time. Shiraishi had misunderstood his motive. But Asai could hardly tell that to his division chief.

“The director general clearly remembered your request. The tour will be for five days, starting 1 April. I expect you'll get the formal request shortly.”

“Which districts of southern Nagano exactly?”

“Ina, Takato, Iida, Fujimi and Chino. It'll be five nights and six days.”

There was no way for Asai to refuse, not after last time, and now he was being recommended personally by the director general.

Faking a sudden illness wasn't going to work this time, either. He couldn't play that card twice.

His mistake had been to approach Shiraishi in the first place. The director general had long since forgotten that Asai had pulled out of the December tour, because it hadn't been an issue for him. He'd had a bad feeling at the time that his apology was unnecessary, and he turned out to have been right. He should have let sleeping dogs lie.

A five-night, six-day tour of a relatively small area meant he was practically guaranteed to meet Akiharu Kido and Jiro Haruta. The lectures would be attended exclusively by members of the agricultural cooperative. And it wouldn't only be lectures – there would be receptions, dinner parties, and other get-togethers in the evenings. All the local members would look forward to attending these events, and he was sure to run into the two men there too. Asai would be seated in the place of honour, and each attendee would come in turn to drink a toast. Mr Kido and Mr Haruta would be right there in front of him. Country types could down a lot of alcohol, and their parties went on late. There'd be plenty of time for the men to remember him.

If only I'd never met those two, thought Asai. He'd have been fine if there was no chance of Kido and Haruta turning up. He knew that he'd keep imagining their eyes on him, even while giving a lecture. He'd never be able to completely relax, have to be constantly on his guard.

Why did he keep being reeled back in to a place that he was desperately trying to avoid? He felt as if he were slowly going crazy.

And then he remembered his recent conversation with Yagishita.

Kurosaki Machinery was inviting members of the agricultural cooperatives in the Koshinetsu area on a tour of Southeast Asia beginning at the end of March. Nagano was part of the Koshinetsu area. The participants were being selected from small local cooperatives according to this policy of “hand-picking”.

What if Kido and Haruta were on the list of attendees? The end of March was around the time of the lecture tour. There was still a chance he might be able to avoid bumping into them.

There was a glimmer of hope in Asai's heart. He needed to get hold of a copy of Kurosaki Machinery's list of attendees as soon as possible. If the tour was to begin at the end of March, it should already be drawn up.

Asai waited impatiently for Yagishita to get back from his Hokkaido spa retreat.

19

Yagishita stopped by in Tokyo on his way back from Hokkaido, and called Asai at the ministry. Asai had left him a message at Yagishita Ham's Tokyo branch office.

“I'm back,” he said, coughing. “It was freezing up there; I caught a cold. Anyway, they told me you phoned.”

His voice was more gravelly than ever.

“It's nothing important, but I'd really like to meet you for dinner tonight if you're free. How about it?”

“I don't see why not. Shall I bring along someone from our office?”

“No, no. Just the two of us. I've got a bit of a favour I want to ask you.”

“Okay. Got it.”

Normally it was Yagishita who played the host, but this time Asai had invited the other man to join him, so Asai made all the arrangements.

They met in a café in Shinjuku at six that evening. Yagishita was coughing and constantly wiping his nose.

“There was still snow on the ground in Hokkaido. We went to the hot springs in Noboribetsu. The water was hot, of course, but I still caught a chill when I got out.”

“Why did you choose Hokkaido at this time of year?”

“Everyone's been to Shirahama or Atami these days.
Despite the weather, I thought it would be better to travel a little further afield. My guests were all impressed that they could sit in the open-air baths in the snow, but it was way colder than I'd imagined. Still, the inns were really quiet, and the service was great.”

So Yagishita had picked Hokkaido because Shirahama or Atami weren't luxurious enough for his guests, but he'd deliberately gone in the off season to save money on the accommodation. Asai recalled his earlier complaint that he couldn't afford to offer expensive freebies to his sausage and ham vendors, especially when compared with Kurosaki Machinery's tour of Southeast Asia.

He couldn't ask for a favour over a single cup of coffee, so Asai took his guest to a nearby restaurant that specialized in the cuisine of Northeast Japan. It was a simple place; the type with stools instead of chairs. The counter was completely empty, but Asai chose the table in the far corner. They ordered sake and a regional speciality, a
Shottsuru-
style hotpot made with salted, fermented fish. This simple fare was all the rules allowed a public employee to treat a visiting businessman to, but the hot broth turned out to be just the thing for Yagishita with his cold.

As they drank and chatted, Asai wondered when the best moment would be to broach the topic. He couldn't bring it up right away. He'd thought over what to say, but the content was very different from the usual stuff he talked about with Yagishita, so he was very conscious that he'd have to be careful with his wording to avoid arousing the other man's suspicions.

About an hour passed. Yagishita also seemed to be preoccupied with whatever this “bit of a favour” was that
Asai wanted from him. It would be best not to wait too long; it'd be more difficult to talk when the restaurant filled up with customers.

“So, Mr Yagishita, you mentioned the other day that you were on good terms with the managing director of Kurosaki Machinery.”

Asai took care to make the question sound like the natural progression of their conversation. Yagishita nodded and put down his sake cup.

“Yes, that's right. I know him. In fact, he's a friend of mine. He's the younger brother of the president's wife, and a shrewd businessman.”

“I have something I need to ask him, but it's a bit delicate, and I wonder if you could do it for me?”

“What kind of thing?”

“Well, you see, it's a request that was passed to me by someone else – someone I'm connected to at work. It's not something I can refuse, unfortunately. You can see what kind of a position I'm in?”

He left his friend to imagine for a moment.

“Yes, I get it,” said Yagishita, with a nod. “You're an old hand at this, so everyone is asking you to do stuff for them. It must be coming at you from all sides.”

He clearly had in mind one of Asai's bosses or someone very prominent in the business world.

“Yes, that's pretty much it. But it's hard being an old hand when you're still just a petty functionary.”

“No, that's not what I'm saying,” said Yagishita hurriedly, conscious that he might have committed a faux pas. “I'm talking about how you've been an influential power for quite a while now. Don't take it the wrong way.”

“Never mind about all that,” replied Asai good-humouredly. He poured Yagishita another cupful of sake. “Anyway, we all have our obligations.”

“I understand. Thank you. Anyway, what is it I can ask Yada about for you? Yada – that's Kurosaki's managing director.”

“Right, well… This is the situation. For various reasons, I can't reveal the name of the person who passed on this request to me. Anyway, this is what it's about. Do you remember when you told me how Kurosaki Machinery had invited some of the influential names in the cooperative to go on a tour of Southeast Asia at the end of March? I suppose the participants have already been chosen?”

“Yes, they must have been if they're going that soon. It's overseas travel, so there are passports and things that need to be prepared.”

“Yes, I suppose there are.”

“So what about it?”

Asai took a deep breath. “Well, the person in question wants to know whether the names Akiharu Kido and Jiro Haruta from Nagano are on the list of participants or not.”

“I can't tell you that off the top of my head, but I can ask Yada. He'll tell me right away. If you like, I can call him right now.” Yagishita straightened up and checked his watch. “Oh no – sorry. It's too late. He'll have gone home by now.”

“Don't worry. It's not that urgent.”

“Really? All right then. Will tomorrow be okay?”

“Tomorrow's fine. But I'm sorry to say I've one more request. This one isn't quite so easy.”

“What is it?”

Asai needed a moment to summon his courage. He took a long sip from his sake cup.

“Right, well, it's very annoying to have been asked this, but I may as well just come out with it. If Kido and Haruta aren't already on the list, is there any way you can get Kurosaki to add them to it?”

“Add them?” Yagishita coughed in surprise. He looked very reluctant, but Asai had been prepared for this.

“Of course, that person – I mean the man who asked me this favour – is prepared to pay the full cost of travel for these two individuals,” he explained hurriedly. “He doesn't want to inconvenience Kurosaki Machinery, but he would be very grateful if they could be included in the group tour.”

“If he pays the costs himself, then it might be possible,” Yagishita conceded. “But what the heck is all this about? I mean, what is this person thinking?”

“Yes, obviously I asked him the same thing, and it appears to be as simple as wanting them to enjoy an overseas trip. There may be some sort of obligation involved, but I really don't know much about it. Individual travel is rather expensive, but it only costs about half the amount to join a tour group. He must have realized that.”

“Yes, I see. To save on costs the best thing is to get them on a tour. I get that.” Yagishita's roots as a Kansai businessman meant that economy was something he understood very well.

“Kurosaki Machinery's tour is going to be six nights and seven days and take in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.”

Asai had got this information by calling the headquarters of the National Union of Agricultural Cooperatives and
using a false name. The tour would leave Haneda Airport on 31 March and return the night of 6 April. The two men wouldn't get back to Nagano until the seventh, after Asai's lecture tour would have finished.

“About the expenses: I believe it'll come to around 170,000 or 180,000 yen per person – 350,000 or 360,000 for the two of them. If the plan gets the go-ahead from Kurosaki Machinery, I've been authorized to hand over the cash in full right away.”

“Hey, hey – just a minute. I can't tell you anything until I've had the chance to talk to Mr Yada.”

“Of course not.”

“And if this Mr Kido and Mr Haruta are already on the list then we don't need to worry about all this, do we?”

“Sure.”

Asai thought how perfect it would be if they did happen to be on the tour: 350,000 or 360,000 yen was quite a sum of money. But he was willing to pay it in order to save his own life. He'd backed himself into such a corner that he was willing to dig into his savings and come up with close to 400,000 yen. On the other hand, if the two men were already participating in the tour, he'd get away without paying a penny. When he put it like that, coughing up so much money was a totally crazy thing to do. It was a ridiculously convoluted scheme just to get these two men out of the way for the week of his lecture series.

“But one thing, Mr Asai. Kurosaki Machinery went through a very strict selection process among the Koshinetsu region cooperatives in order to pick the participants. The people they chose in the end must be some pretty big names.”

Asai considered this point. Neither of the men who'd given him a lift had looked like they'd be influential in the politics of farming. The younger one in particular, this Jiro Haruta, wouldn't be on the list of invitees. Asai knew he was going to have to pay up. If he was lucky, Akiharu Kido might be on the list, and then it'd only cost him half.

Back then, what on earth had possessed him to get into their car? If he'd just refused, he wouldn't be in this predicament now. More to the point, why did that damned car have to be travelling on that particular stretch of road at that time in the evening?

Asai surprised himself by squeezing his sake cup so hard that it almost shattered in his grip. He felt very agitated all of a sudden.

Yagishita promised to visit Kurosaki Machinery's Tokyo headquarters the next day to find out whether the two men were signed up for the tour. If they weren't, he promised to find some pretext to get them added to the list by the managing director.

“Thank you for understanding. I hope I can count on you to be discreet. It's vital that no one knows the request came from me, otherwise I'll be put in a very awkward position at work. If anyone goes digging around, it could cause all kinds of trouble for the person in question. I know it might sound like I'm exaggerating, but I really need you to keep it all hush-hush.”

Yagishita coughed again, and patted Asai reassuringly on the shoulder.

“Consider it done. I know you're in a difficult position. I'm already in your debt, and I know I'll need your support
in the future too. You have my word – I won't tell a soul it was you. You can count on me – Yada's my friend, and he'll understand the situation.”

Asai was a little disturbed to see that Yagishita was rather drunk already.

Yagishita called the following afternoon.

“Mr Asai, what we talked about last night… I went to see my friend and it turns out neither of the two people we discussed were on the list.”

His voice sounded nasal. Apparently his cold hadn't got any better.

“I thought that might be the case.”

Asai was very conscious of his colleagues sitting nearby, but he still couldn't completely hide his shock. It was like a sword to his heart. He had been hoping for better news. Now he had to compose himself and wait for the response to his next request. It didn't matter whether this would cost him 400,000 or even 500,000 yen. He didn't need to borrow it; he had the money there in his account. It was almost as if he had saved up in expectation of this very eventuality. He felt the heat rise in his body; his back was burning. He needed to hear the result of Yagishita's negotiations as soon as possible.

“Are you ready? I'm just going to keep it simple,” continued Yagishita, apparently conscious of his friend's surroundings. “Mr Yada agreed.”

Asai was unable to speak. The division chief was away from his desk, and he wasn't too afraid that the other managers and junior employees nearby might overhear,
so it must have been the overwhelming relief that had taken his voice.

“Yada said that it was all fixed, but – without mentioning you, Mr Asai – I managed to invent some pretext for getting them included. Yada said that seeing as it was me, he'd make sure to get them on the tour.”

“Thank you very much for that.”

“Yada checked the rosters of all the agricultural cooperatives in Nagano Prefecture. It looks as if Akiharu Kido and Jiro Haruta are members of the Fujimi branch. Does that sound right?”

“Yes, that's correct. They are.”

Asai felt his forehead break out in sweat. There was a throbbing in the back of his head.

“Okay, he's working on getting them on the trip. About the money – I paid him for now. It came to about 180,000 each. You can take your time paying me back. I'll stop by and get it one of these days.”

“But—”

“It's complicated. Let's leave it at that for now. We'll sort it out next time we meet. Is there anything else you need to know for now?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“Just to be completely clear: I can assure you that I never once mentioned your name. You can rest easy. The two men and everyone around them will think that it's Kurosaki Machinery that sent the invitation. If that's everything, then I'll let you go.”

Perhaps Yagishita's cold had somehow changed his tone, but the other man's voice left a pleasant echo in Asai's ear.

That night, Asai felt more at peace than he had for a long while. The crisis had been averted; now he could depart for Nagano Prefecture on his lecture tour without any fear. If he completed this task, then he'd never be obliged to go there again. Or if he had to return, it would be at least ten years from now. Which meant never. No one would think it strange if he turned down a request that many years from now.