Tokyo Detective

Chapter 387 A Storm is Brewing

Tens of thousands filled the fields, and a procession of 5 was even more spectacular.

Protesters from the south formed a line that stretched for several kilometers, requiring many police officers to maintain order and direct traffic along various routes.

These people mainly entered Shinagawa Ward from Ota Ward, and their next destination was the administrative center of Chiyoda Ward.

But before that, they will run into the ordinary people who are organizing protests against rice prices today.

Several farm vehicles were blocking the way, and there were countless banners on both sides. Led by a middle-aged man, the farmers' group was arguing with the people on the other side.

A man in his seventies shouted loudly, his voice full of energy.

“I have been growing food for this country for decades. Without us farmers, how would you have enough to eat?”

A middle-aged man opposite him retorted.

“You help the country grow grain, and we also pay taxes to the country. My family has six people. Do you know how much my family spends on rice every month? It’s a full 50,000 yuan, which is one-seventh of my salary. I can’t even feed my family enough rice with my salary. What kind of logic is this?”

Others echoed.

"That's right. Since the whole country is experiencing a poor harvest, shouldn't we import rice from abroad? Instead, you're protesting against imported rice."

"Nonsense. Our country's food economy is already fragile. If we allow foreign rice imports to impact local food production, causing local farmers to stop growing food because they can't survive, do you want to see a nationwide famine caused by some external factors?"

The protesters will not accept compliments.

"You're talking about future famines? We're already facing a famine. How can we afford 5 kilograms of rice that cost nearly 5000 yuan? The agricultural cooperatives behind you are playing the monopoly game, profiting from the national crisis."

The middle-aged man in the group of farmers was originally just watching the show, but when he saw the other party bring up the farmers' association, he suddenly jumped out in a huff.

"Our agricultural association has always worked hard for national stability and ensuring that the people have enough to eat, so why are you slandering us?"

The man, named Fukiishibu, is a grassroots director of the farmers' cooperative and was also the leader of this protest.

Today, agricultural cooperatives in Japan are a behemoth, divided into a national command system and grassroots units.

The highest position nationwide is that of the president, the highest decision-maker of the national organization, who represents the agricultural association in policy consultations and can even influence national policies.

Executive Directors are responsible for daily operations and oversee different business lines (such as finance, sales, and insurance).

There are three department heads in total, each responsible for a different financial business unit.

They are respectively responsible for the circulation of agricultural products and the procurement of materials for the entire agricultural sector.

Quanxinlian: Manages JA Bank and its credit business.

All-round cooperation: coordinating insurance business.

The positions of grassroots agricultural cooperatives in various regions are as follows.

The head of the cooperative is the highest-ranking person in charge of the grassroots agricultural cooperative. They are responsible for the overall operation, developing strategic plans, and coordinating relationships with farmers and local governments.

Board members: They participate in the decision-making and management of the agricultural cooperative. They are usually farmers' representatives or respected local figures and are responsible for reviewing major matters.

Supervisors: Independently oversee the financial and operational operations of the agricultural cooperatives to ensure compliance.

Besides these, there are the department heads and clerks of each business department.

Rumors suggest that the agricultural cooperative has access to over 100 trillion Japanese yen, equivalent to 7000 billion US dollars or 50000 trillion RMB.

This enormous sum is equivalent to 9 percent of Japan's annual GDP and 7 percent of America's annual military spending.

The most frightening thing is that agricultural cooperatives control the votes of grassroots farmers. There are 18 members of parliament who are affiliated with agricultural cooperatives, and 20 percent of the current ruling party's members are related to agricultural cooperatives.

This is in an era of severe aging; the peak period 20 years ago was even more terrifying.
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With the farmers' association taking the lead, the farmers became excited. In fact, they all benefited from participating in this protest to some extent, either with cash or some kind of convenience.

Therefore, a force of only 10,000 ordinary people could not compare to a force of 50,000 farmers, and the enemy even had armored vehicles (agricultural vehicles).

Seeing that the two sides were about to get close and push each other, the police officers on the side were stunned. The chief of Shinagawa Police Station was even more at a loss until Naoki Hanyu arrived.

"Why don't you have people separate the crowd?"

The Shinagawa Police Chief said with a wronged expression.

"There are so many of them, it would be bad if the police rushed in and caused a riot."

Well, another seasoned veteran. The less he does, the fewer mistakes he makes; if he does nothing, he makes no mistakes. Even if the two sides start fighting, it's not his responsibility. He's just an assisting "junior cop."

Naoki Hanyu looked at his colleague beside him, Rina Kurokawa, the first advisor of the regional department, a middle-aged woman in her fifties.

Despite his higher rank, the Criminal Investigation Department was only assisting in this mission; the main force consisted of 1300 rank-and-file officers from the Regional Department.

Rina Kurokawa explained in a deep voice.

"The mobile unit went over and separated the people."

Because most of the riot police were at two other large events, there were fewer than 100 riot police officers present.

Before the police officers armed with riot shields and batons could intervene, several men in the conflict suddenly started fighting, instantly causing Kurokawa Rina's expression to change. She knew she would be held responsible if the situation wasn't handled properly, so she looked at the police officer standing to the side.

"Captain Hanyu, could you please help me?"

Considering that the other party was a trusted subordinate of Jingu Futaba, Hanyu Naoki could not stand idly by.

"Okay, prepare tear gas. If I can't stop them by leading the team, use it directly. Also, arrest all those who caused trouble and started violence." Kurokawa Rina hesitated, then swallowed back what she wanted to say.

It may be radical, but she asked someone else for help.

Naoki Hanyu jumped to the edge of the crowd; he had no intention of using violence to stop them.

People tend to get hot easily, so cooling down is all that's needed.

Yuzuru took a deep breath, causing his chest to bulge. The air was compressed in his lungs, releasing heat and achieving the effect of cooling the air to its extreme.

The next second, a cold wind, like that of December, blew out. This was Naoki Hanyu's useless skill, Cold Breath. Originally, the temperature could only reach zero degrees, but now, with the increase in his physical strength, the exhaled gas reached minus 3 degrees, comparable to a cold day in Tokyo's winter.

In an instant, it was like a giant fan at full power blowing out a strong wind, making the people's clothes sway wildly.

Dozens of people dressed in thin clothes felt a sudden chill and shivered, and even the conflict stopped.

"What's going on? It's so cold."

"I'm getting a cold, what kind of weather is this?"

"It's not autumn yet."

At this moment, other police officers took the opportunity to step forward and separate the crowd, while Naoki Hanyu continued to blow air to separate most of the people, leaving only a few hot-blooded men still fighting.

Since they dared to be so disrespectful, Naoki Hanyu didn't tolerate it and directly pointed at the group of guys.

"At 13:21 PM, the perpetrator of the intentional injury crime was arrested in the act."

"Yes."

The police arrested the people, finally stopping the protest and conflict. This prompted Chui Shibu, a member of the farmers' association, to rush forward and persuade them.

"Officers, please wait a moment. They acted impulsively. We are willing to pay compensation and hope you can let them go."

Naoki Hanyu didn't give the other party a friendly look. Others might not have noticed, but he watched as Fukiishi Ayumi was fueling the fire the whole time. It's likely that some of the people involved in the fight were from the agricultural cooperative.

"You are the organizer of this protest."

Fukibu shook his head, feigning panic; he had put in the effort. The protest was considered a gathering, so the organizers were also responsible; if they failed to effectively control the violence, they would likely be held accountable for negligence.

"I am not an organizer."

"Then who is the organizer?"

"I don't know. I'm just an ordinary participant. I don't even dare to join the fight."

Naoki Hanyu didn't care whether he was an organizer or not.

“I don’t want to see any more violence, or I will arrest you and take you back to the Metropolitan Police Department, regardless of whether you are the organizer or not.”

Fukishibu's expression changed slightly, but he dared not say anything polite, because he recognized who the man in front of him was: the legendary 21st-century slayer known as the Grim Reaper in the underworld.

"I really don't know who the organizer is, but I will tell everyone not to act impulsively."

Naoki Hanyu's expression softened after hearing the assurance, and he patted the man in front of him on the shoulder.

"Police-community cooperation is essential. If you make things easier for me, I'll make things easier for you. Please cooperate."

"."

The peasant group resolved the issue, and the ordinary people had no objections, so the conflict was stopped, but the farce was not over yet.

The long line arrived at the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Chiyoda Ward, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries was clearly prepared.

They allowed hundreds of protest representatives to enter for a meeting, while the rest of the protesters were provided with water and food, and even had a place to rest. Of course, this was also partly to prevent the protesters from going berserk.

Inside the ministry, Naoki Hanyu and Rina Kurokawa were still in charge of maintaining order. He was quite curious about how the Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries would handle this mess.

The meeting began with Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Okada Imamura, bowing to apologize to everyone present. The 50-year-old man appeared somewhat relaxed.

"I want to apologize to the people of the whole country for my private visit to Marseille. It was my dereliction of duty as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry."

He apologized right away, and the people present didn't want to make a fuss, so they continued to quietly watch to see what he would say.

Imamura Okada continued to speak, but his words did not imply agreement with the reduction of rice prices or the decision to stop importing rice. When everyone was getting impatient, he made a surprising statement.

"Speaking of which, nothing good has happened since I became a minister a year ago. I've really had a lot of bad luck because of the rice issue."

The anger of the ordinary protesters was instantly ignited, and a man grabbed a microphone and asked questions.

"Since you, Minister, are aware that rice prices are a problem, why not use the grain reserves? Aren't the grain reserves what we're using now?"

Imamura Okada gave a curt reply.

"The grain reserves are a bit complicated. If it's not refined rice but coarse rice, it might speed up the circulation of rice and simplify things a bit, I think."

When the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry got to this point, his secretary suddenly leaned in and whispered something. Naoki Hanyu heard what was said, but he didn't understand what it meant.

"Minister, please be careful with your words."

"."

(End of this chapter)