Occupied City (30 page)

10. I turn a corner, blue hope in my pockets, I climb the stairs, my damp hate pulled low, I walk along the corridor, I put out my cigarette, I knock on the door
the city is upside down
HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE JAPAN Comrade Horie opens the door, Comrade Horie laughs, Oh, no! It’s the cops! Hide the books! Hide the pamphlets! Everybody run for your life
the city is inside out
WITH ALL MY HEART But Comrade Horie’s one-room apartment is empty, the meeting has already broken up, the party faithful have already left, just stale smoke in the air
the whole country, the whole world
A DWARF WHOSE HEART IS TOO BIG FOR HIS BODY I push past Comrade Horie into the room, the windowless, book-lined room, I squat down on the floor, and I say, Very funny
upside down, inside out
HOW MUCH DO YOU HATE AMERICA Comrade Horie shuts the door, Comrade Horie leans against it, Where have you been, Comrade. We’ve been very worried about you, worried you’d had a change of heart
back to front
WITH ALL MY HEART Don’t you read
the newspapers, I ask
the sun rises with the dusk
A GIANT WHOSE HEART IS TOO SMALL FOR HIS BODY Not the papers you read, no
with the dusk the moon sets
I WANT TO HOPE, I WANT TO BELIEVE But you’ve heard about what happened at the Teikoku Bank in Shiinamachi, I ask, the mass-poison murder-case
animals on two legs, men on all fours
WITH ALL MY HEART That your case, asks Comrade Horie
a horse rides a man down the Ginza
IN THE POSSIBILITY OF A UTOPIA Not just mine, I laugh, every single detective in Tokyo is on the case, every other investigation suspended
a boy laps rain water from a drain
IF I CANNOT HOPE, IF I CANNOT BELIEVE And do you have a suspect yet
a cow milks a woman’s tit
WITH ALL MY HEART Not yet, but it seems there could be a link back to the Americans, I say, at the very least it seems that the killer had access to Occupation information, that he’s possibly even employed by them
a woman shits in the street
IN THE POSSIBILITY OF A UTOPIA Comrade Horie sits down opposite me now, the jokes finished, Really. Now that is very interesting, that could be very useful
upside down, inside out
THEN THIS IS PETRIFICATION Useful, I ask him, useful for whom
back to front
THEN THIS IS PARALYSIS The movement, you idiot, he laughs, I should introduce you to Comrade X
a cat kisses a dog in front of a department store
THE PETRIFICATION OF HOPE, THE PARALYSIS OF BELIEF Who is Comrade X, I ask
a man bites the ear off another man in an alley
A NEW ICE AGE He is a correspondent for
Izvestia a hen dances with a pig in a ballroom
IN THE GORGON’S GAZE You’re joking, I say, not laughing, no chance
two women fight over a fish in a ditch
ALL WOMEN TURN TO STONE Listen, hisses Comrade Horie, if you’re serious about helping us, helping the movement, then you need to start giving us things
I see a rat wearing a suit
ALL MEN TURN TO STONE What kind of things, I ask
a family living in a hole
ALL HEARTS Information
a flea buying a cake
PETRIFIED, PARALYSED And what kind of information do you think I could possibly have, I ask Comrade Horie
a child scratching itself raw
WITH DESPAIR, WITH HATRED About GHQ, about crimes, about conspiracies
lice eating off silver
I LOVE JAPAN, I DESPAIR OF JAPAN About conspiracies, I repeat, what conspiracies
mothers eating their young
I HATE AMERICA, I’M AFRAID OF AMERICA Comrade Horie throws his head back, hands in the air, Oh, wake up! Open your eyes, cop! It’s like the war never happened
upside down, inside out
NO POSSIBILITY, NO HOPE Like the war never happened, I say, it’s you who should wake up, comrade! You who should open
your
eyes! This city, this country, was destroyed. People are homeless, people are starving. We were defeated! We are occupied
back to front
ONLY PETRIFICATION, ONLY PARALYSIS Exactly, grins Horie now, exactly! But for what. So the same political gangs, the same financial houses, the same military cliques, the same Emperor can stay in power. The more things change, the more they stay the same
on two legs, on all fours
THE DWARF WHOSE HEART IS TOO BIG FOR HIS BODY Tell that to our former prime minister, I say
animals are men, men are animals
THE GIANT WHOSE HEART IS TOO SMALL FOR HIS BODY Old Tojo, laughs Horie, he’s not important. He never was. He’s just a scapegoat. Maybe a martyr, the way things are going
detectives are suspects, suspects are detectives
ALL HEARTS ARE STONE I shake my head, I light a cigarette, I cough and cough
criminals are judges, judges are criminals
IN THE GORGON’S GAZE Listen, says Comrade Horie, things are changing fast and not for the better. Things are moving backwards. The Americans are scared to death of communism, of what’s happening on the mainland. The Americans want things back the way they were before the war. And the Americans are taking steps to ensure that’s what’ll happen, you watch, they’ll be knocking on that door any day now, locking us all back up, throwing away the keys again. Unless we act now, Comrade Detective, we need to wake the Japanese people up! And we need to wake them up before it’s too late! Need to do it now! Need to show the people what’s happening! And you, Comrade Detective, you can help us show them. Because you can provide us with the proof
the past is bad, the future is good
COLD WARS, ICE AGES Proof of what, I ask him
the present is not what it seems, and seems is not what is present
IN THE GORGON’S GAZE Are you listening, shouts Horie now, proof that the Americans are colluding and conspiring with the old pre-war elites to stifle and extinguish democracy. To destroy and to bury socialism
back to front
THE PETRIFICATION OF HOPE, THE PARALYSIS OF BELIEF
But what exactly is the proof that you think I possess, I ask
upside down, inside out
WITH ALL MY HEART You’ll find it, whispers Comrade Horie, I know you will
the moon rises with the dawn
I CANNOT HOPE, I CANNOT BELIEVE I cough once again, I hold my chest, I close my eyes, I see smoke again, animals in the smoke
with the dawn the sun sets
AN ICE AGE IN MY HEART

11. In Kanda, at the Myōjin Shrine, for the Setsubun Festival, I walk with my wife, her child on her back
her child is not your child
AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD Thank you for bringing me here, she says, I know you should be working
her words are not for you
EVERYTHING SLIPS, EVERYTHING SLIDES Through the crowds, through the bodies
their words are not for you
EVERY LIVING THING PASSES Demons be outside, we shout, fortune be inside
look at her, what a woman
PASSES AND FALLS AWAY All their eyes are on her body
the way she carries herself, the way her ass moves
INTO THE NIGHT, INTO THE FOG The bodies pressed tight together, hands filled with hard soybeans
that’s what I call a woman, that’s what I call a body
BLACK NIGHT! BLACK FOG! Hands that want to touch her, hands that want to hold her
all that meat to hold, but as wet as a fish
NOT SPEAKING, BUT MOANING Thank you for coming, my wife says again
be like fucking a fish filled with honey
FLESH INTO FLESH You’re welcome, I say
that’s what I call a woman
AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

12. Dr Takase Toyokichi, a senior member of the medical department of the Tōhoku University Hospital in Sendai, walks into Sendai North Police Station
the sound of scratching
MEMORIES Dr Takase Toyokichi reports that at the end of December, or at the beginning of January, a man walked into the pharmacy of the Tōhoku University Hospital in Sendai
scratching under the ground
PRECISE MEMORIES The man was in his fifties, two spots on his left cheek, his hair cut short and grey
we are always talking about you
IMPRECISE MEMORIES The man asked Dr Takase Toyokichi for potassium cyanide, potassium cyanide to kill the fish in his pond
talking about you behind your back
THOUGHTS The man had no prescription but the man had a name
we are always whispering about you
PRECISE THOUGHTS The man said his name was Dr Matsui Shigeru
whispering about you behind our hands
IMPRECISE THOUGHTS Dr Takase Toyokichi knew this man was not Dr Matsui Shigeru, Dr Takase Toyokichi knows Dr Matsui Shigeru
the sound of scratching
DREAMS Someone else knows Dr Matsui Shigeru, someone who has his name-card, someone who wanted potassium cyanide
scratching under the ground
PRECISE DREAMS Someone who murdered twelve people at the Teikoku Bank on January 26, 1948
behind your back, behind their hands
IMPRECISE DREAMS

13. I say, I’m sorry about the other night. I tried to call, but you’d already left your office
among the smoke, among the tunes
MY FATHER APPEARS TO ME It doesn’t matter, says the journalist, forget about it. You are here now. So what have you got for me, Detective
from the music-box, the American ovens
BY THE RIVER I say, Not something you can probably print, not yet, but it’s something you should know
eyes smarting, ears ringing
ON THE SHORE Go on, he says
in the smoke, in the fog
IN HIS UNIFORM What we’re not saying in public is the growing feeling that this case is connected with the Tokumu Kikan and Occupied China
on and on, dancing and dancing
WITH HIS MEDALS Very interesting, he says
on and on, turning and turning
WITH HIS SWORD There are rumours of similar cases, cases that occurred back in Shanghai, that the culprit is ex-Tokumu Kikan, with experience handling medicines and civilians, who we should be looking for
him, her, hell, hell
HE POINTS WEST Very, very interesting, says the journalist
flesh, filth, man, woman, human, animal
HE POINTS EAST I say, But what I’m telling you is nothing you can print yet, but there’s nothing to stop you looking into the China connection, is there
she curtsies, he bows
EVERYWHERE IS AMERICA Thank you, he says, I will
they clap their hands, their hands are hammers
EVERYWHERE

14. We bring Dr Matsui Shigeru back to Investigation Headquarters, we sit Dr Matsui Shigeru in the interview room
you are always so suspicious, you are always so jealous
IN THE FAMILY ALBUMS, IN THE HISTORY BOOKS I say, Someone used your name to try to buy potassium cyanide from the pharmacy of the
Tohoku University Hospital
I don’t know what you are talking about, I don’t know who you are talking about
GÖBBELS ADMITTED DEFEAT, GÖBBELS TOOK RESPONSIBILITY I know, says Dr Matsui Shigeru
what men you mean, what man you mean
HE POISONED HIS CHILDREN I say, Someone also tried to buy potassium cyanide from a pharmacy near Sendai Station on January 20, this year
he was never here, never in this room
HELGA, HILDEGARD, HELMUT, HOLDINE, HEDWIG AND HEIDRUN I know, says Dr Matsui Shigeru
I can’t stop them walking past here
HAND IN HAND, WITH HIS WIFE I say, This someone knows your name, they know who you are
I can’t stop them looking at me
HE ADMITTED DEFEAT, HE TOOK RESPONSIBILITY AND SHOT HIMSELF, HAND IN HAND I know, says Dr Matsui Shigeru
I can’t stop them thinking about me
IN THE FAMILY ALBUMS, IN THE HISTORY BOOKS I say, You must know them, must know their name
I can’t make them stay locked in their houses
NOT LIKE OUR EMPEROR, HE TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY It would seem so, says Dr Matsui Shigeru
I can’t make them leave their eyes at home
HE DENIES EVERYTHING, HE DENIES EVERYONE I ask, So tell me who, tell me their name
I can’t make them not think what they think
THE FATHERS AND MOTHERS, THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS I honestly don’t know, whispers Dr Matsui Shigeru
I can’t stop you being suspicious, you being jealous
HE DENIED US ALL AND HE MARRIED AGAIN I lean forward in my chair, I say, Then you are honestly a liar
put a knife in my belly if you will, but never put your hand on my hand again
IN HIS TOP HAT AND TAILS, AN AMERICAN GENERAL, WITH APIPE IN HIS MOUTH, HAND IN HAND

15. In the Police branch of the Public Safety Division of GHQ, they keep me waiting
among the tunes, among the smoke
THE WINNER AND THE LOSER First Miyakawa, the Liaison from the Justice Ministry, keeps me waiting, then Henry Eaton, the man from the PSD, keeps us both waiting
the smell of hospitals, the smell of laboratories
THE OCCUPIER AND THE
OCCUPIED Him in his smart uniform, buttons polished; me in my old suit, buttons lost
white coats and white masks, rubber gloves and rubber shoes
THE MASTER AND HIS DOG I say, I am here on behalf of the Second CID Section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Board to ask for the assistance of the Public Safety Division in our investigation of the Teikoku Bank robbery
medicines and drugs, pills and injections
HE SPEAKS, I JUMP I say, I am here to ask for the assistance of the Public Safety Division in locating a Lieutenant Hornet and a Lieutenant Parker
examinations and tests, experiments and trials
I JUMP, HE YELLS I say, We believe that on November 14 last year, the suspect in the Teikoku Bank robbery went to the Ebara branch of the Yasuda Bank in Shinagawa Ward, where he is reported to have told the employees of the bank, ‘I came here with Lieutenant Parker in a jeep because a new typhus case has occurred in this area.’ The suspect then produced some liquid which he told the employees was a preventative medicine for typhus control and directed them to drink it. They did so, suffering no ill-effects
in rows, in cages
HE YELLS, I COWER I say, On January 26 this year, a man we believe to be the same man appeared at the Shiinamachi branch of the Teikoku Bank in Toshima Ward and stated, ‘I came here because there have been many dysentery cases in this vicinity. Lieutenant Hornet will be here very soon. You must take this medicine for prevention.’ Sixteen employees drank the liquid simultaneously. Twelve died almost immediately
in rows of cages, in cages of dogs
I COWER, HE BEATS ME I say, We have reason to believe both Lieutenant Hornet and Lieutenant Parker have been associated with typhus disinfecting teams in the Tokyo area; Lieutenant Hornet with the Toshima Team in Ōji Ward and also in Katsushika Ward, Lieutenant Parker with the Ebara Ward Disinfecting Team
dogs barking, dogs snarling
HE BEATS ME, I WHIMPER I say, So I am here to ask for the names and addresses of any individuals either connected with or having any knowledge of the disinfecting work done by either of these two lieutenants, particularly interpreters or individuals who speak English, though we would advise the elimination of individuals below the age of thirty or above the age of sixty
rubber gloves and rubber shoes, white coats and white masks
I WHIMPER, HE PETS ME Henry Eaton yawns like a snarling dog, but I am the only dog here
in the
smoke, in the fog
HE PETS ME, I WAG MY TAIL Henry Eaton says now, Leave it with me
the dogs are not barking, the dogs all silent now
THE DOG AND HIS MASTER