Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 433, Global Headline Storm!
Uesugi Muneyuki also saw the headline in the Asahi Shimbun.

When the Asahi Shimbun announced, "Japan's manufacturing industry is dead!" he almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

The problem of counterfeiting in Japanese manufacturing has a long history, but there are reasons for it.

As mentioned earlier, the issue of Japanese "banker's acceptances" is that only countries like Japan with unlimited personal liability can afford to play with these so-called "banker's acceptances." If the United States dared to grant individuals this power, everyone in the US would immediately issue $100 billion in banknotes and go on a spending spree, and everyone would immediately file for bankruptcy the next day.

Only the Japanese can afford this kind of unlimited personal liability, and only a country like Japan with a particularly strong sense of shame can uphold their morals and reputation, even if it means going bankrupt and losing their family.

Every Japanese small and medium-sized business owner driven to suicide was not driven to their death by bank loans, but by the fact that they had borrowed at least five times that amount in private loans and ten times that amount in bank drafts!

So, what does this have to do with counterfeiting?

The answer is, it's very relevant.

As is well known, Japan's economy began to take off in the 70s, and Japanese goods have always been a model of high quality and low price. Good quality goods (such as German goods) are not as cheap as Japanese goods, and cheap goods are not as good quality. As a result, Japanese goods quickly became popular and sold well all over the world, which played a major role in the rise of Japan's economy.

In this regard, it must be said that the strong sense of shame and the culture of unlimited personal responsibility in Japanese culture played a significant role. The so-called "craftsman spirit" that many people used to ridicule also comes from this. Although this term has now become a derogatory term, in the 1970s and 1980s, in the post-industrial era before the Internet age, the craftsman spirit really contributed to the quality of brands. Otherwise, Japanese goods would not have been popular all over the world at that time.

However, that's where the problem lies.

In the mid-1990s, the bursting of the bubble economy began. Japan missed the Windows era of the Internet (and stubbornly used DOS and 3.5-inch floppy disks for a very long time). The original era's and industrialization dividends also began to be exhausted. As a result, the so-called "craftsmanship spirit" became a stumbling block that seriously hindered Japanese industry. However, Japan's strong culture of shame and unlimited personal responsibility determined that they would try their best to maintain their "face" and "craftsmanship spirit".

Thus, the "craftsmanship spirit" that brought about high-quality, low-priced, and exquisite materials turned into large-scale counterfeiting and mutual cover-ups of inferior products. However, from the 1970s to the mid-1990s, Japanese goods established an extremely solid reputation and good impression worldwide, which prevented these problems from being discovered immediately. It wasn't until after the millennium that the problem of large-scale counterfeiting by the Japanese began to be exposed. Even so, because of the good impression in previous years and the fact that many good brands were still retained, the world's impression of Japanese goods was not too bad. This is yet another example of living off one's ancestors' legacy.

The fact that the entire industry is faking is the same as the fact that the entire industry is not faking.JPG!

As for the manufacturing industry, Uesugi Muneyuki's assessment is that the manufacturing industry is bound to die sooner or later.

The answer is simple: I can sit in an office enjoying air conditioning, trading stocks and land, and doing IT live-streaming e-commerce, so why would I go to a factory to tighten screws?
If I make money and have a surplus in the manufacturing industry, I will definitely prioritize investing in real estate, finance, and the service industry!

Moreover, a surplus in the manufacturing sector will inevitably lead to an increase in worker wages and raw material costs. In the eyes of the Japanese, earning less than 22 yen a month for working eight hours a day with weekends off in a factory is completely unacceptable. However, in a certain country across the sea, earning 10 yen a month for working eight hours a day with weekends off in a factory is considered a blessing. This will definitely lead to the relocation of the manufacturing sector.

What's even more outrageous is that in places like India, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Indonesia, they don't even want 10 yen; many people are willing to work for a monthly salary of 6 yen.

Therefore, the manufacturing industry is always searching for larger markets and cheaper raw materials and labor; this is unavoidable, just like sunrise and sunset are natural laws.
The shift of manufacturing away from the real economy and towards the virtual economy is a cyclical phenomenon that no one can change.

It's worth mentioning that after being hit hard last time, Weekly Bunshun has indeed launched a strong attack on the Metropolitan Police Department's problems this time.

The Truth Behind "Paper Armor": The Metropolitan Police Department's Corrupt Network Spreading a "30,000 Yuan Per Item" Charge That Killed a Fallen Police Officer!

"Bunshun In-Depth Tracking:"
A corruption chain: Secret ledgers in the study of the mansion of the president of "Yamato Armor" show that each substandard bulletproof vest (costing ¥18,000) could generate a ¥40,000 kickback! The total amount of bribes exceeded ¥3 billion!

A Metropolitan Police Department Surveillance Joke: Checking Packages - A Secret Investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department Warehouse Keeper: The inspection only checks whether the packaging box seals are intact.

Deadly Cost: Compliant bulletproof vests cost ¥85,000 each, while inferior ones won the bid for only ¥58,000—the price difference is the cost of a police officer's life! How can a Japanese police officer's life be so cheap?!

"I ponder deeply about this country; the root of the problem requires reflection!"

Weekly Bunshun believes that after such a major incident, the Metropolitan Police Department must have all its top officials resign to explain the situation!

The front-page headline of the Sankei Shimbun was:

"The Questioned 'Safety Myth': The Blind Spot in Police Equipment Management Exposed by the Bulletproof Vest Scandal!" "The fraud surrounding bulletproof vest performance symbolizes the collapse of 'Japanese-style quality management.' While leading the world in automotive and electronics testing technology, police equipment management retains visual inspection methods reminiscent of the Showa era. This 'blind spot of peace' has cost frontline officers their lives!"

The Sankei Shimbun's commentary is relatively mild because the newspaper is relatively "right-wing".

Meanwhile, Japan's five major television stations appear to be under control, only reporting on the situation for now without any in-depth analysis, seemingly awaiting the results of the investigations by the Metropolitan Police Department and the District Public Prosecutors Office, since no conviction or indictment has been made yet.

But the global media doesn't care about all that.

BBC headline analysis: "'Paper Armor' Scandal: How Japanese Police Encountered Internal Betrayal!"

"The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Commissioner's tearful press conference—his subordinates wearing the same deadly vests—summarized this national trauma: 'We believed the system would protect us, but the system sold our lives for profit.'"

"This scandal exposes a potential risk for countries with low crime rates: when armor is rarely tested in combat, corruption can turn it into a death trap. Interpol warns all member states to conduct an immediate full audit of their stockpiles!"

The New York Times in-depth column: "Japan's Security Illusion: When Bulletproof Vests Don't Stop Bullets"

“In a country where ‘vending machines surrender if kicked too hard,’ the police believed their armor would take effect through executive orders. But reality shattered that illusion with .45 caliber bullets—Japan’s so-called security illusion is nothing more than that.”

"Our country, the United States, never has this problem of prolonged peace!"

"According to Commissioner Smith on the front lines, 84% of the 1000 bulletproof vests that were urgently and comprehensively tested by the Metropolitan Police Department failed the basic fiber density check—meaning that thousands of police officers on patrol are wearing uniforms embroidered with false courage."

Reuters Brief: "After Japanese policeman died from a bulletproof vest hit by a 'welcome bullet,' the Metropolitan Police Department has decided to prosecute the vest manufacturer."

Reuters reported, rather neutrally, that "Tokyo prosecutors have charged Yamato Armor Co., Ltd. with fraud and manslaughter, demanding 230 billion yen in damages and 20-year prison sentences for its executives."

Across the sea, the Old Chinese-language newspaper reported: "Tokyo's Lesson: The High Cost of Complacency in Armor Procurement"

While the old Xinhua News Agency was vehemently attacking a fallen enemy, it was also subtly suggesting that people stop buying cheap, overpriced, and substandard domestically produced bulletproof vests and instead buy those made in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions! A single vest is priced at $500 USD; bulk purchases are negotiable. With billions in national subsidies, our products are high-quality, affordable, and come with exchange and refund guarantees. Once you place an order, all our factories will immediately operate at full capacity, two shifts a day! Firepower Boy King!
Amidst the global headlines, domestic public opinion has also begun to sharpen.

Police families marched in front of Parliament, holding signs that read "Is my husband's bulletproof vest a tool for execution?" They grabbed any member of Parliament and yelled at them, leaving the politicians embarrassed.

The stock market also began to shake, with rumors circulating that "after the Metropolitan Police Department launched a large-scale secret inspection of police equipment, four out of the five major suppliers had problems. The only one without problems was Showa Protective Equipment, a company founded in the late 1950s with a president who is over 90 years old, with a pass rate of over 95%."

As a result, the stocks of the four major suppliers plummeted by 30%, while Showa Protection's stock surged by 50%.

The most humorous part is that Minami tells Uesugi Muneyuki that although the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Relations Division immediately denied the news, it was not a rumor, but the truth!

As a result, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, curry, bak kut teh, Indonesian basil... cough cough, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam and other countries immediately conducted emergency tests on the Japanese-made bulletproof vests they purchased domestically, while Australia, New Zealand and Canada immediately disqualified all Japanese police equipment companies from bidding.

On social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, photoshopped images have gone viral: the words "police" or "Metropolitan Police Department" on the chests of Japanese police officers have been photoshopped out and replaced with warning labels that read "This area is not bulletproof."

In the end, NHK, the national broadcaster, lamented: "Armor cannot stop bullets, the system has failed the police, and the nation has lost its soul."

And right in the midst of this global media storm.

The police funerals for Inspector Fuma Kikuchi and Inspector Yuki Yamada were held as scheduled, thanks to the insistence of the Metropolitan Police Department.

(End of this chapter)