Occupied City (31 page)

16. This is Comrade X., says Comrade Horie, in his windowless, book-lined room
you seem distracted, Detective
IN THE LOOKING-GLASS How much do you love Japan, Comrade X. asks me, how much do you hate America
are you listening, Detective
IN HEAVY BANDAGES Let me tell you two stories, says Comrade X., when our correspondents marched into Berlin with the Red Army, we went half-hungry, because all the available food was reserved for the foreign press, mostly Americans. Because the American press were our guests, we wanted them to have the best
people are talking about you, Detective
IN THE LOOKING-GLASS Then when all of us landed in Kyushu, alongside a full Red Army general, the American colonel in command sent his aide to invite us all to dinner
behind your back
FROM OPEN WOUNDS That night, at dinner, we were all seated at the foot of the table, even our Red Army general at the foot of this colonel’s table
people are whispering about you, Detective
IN THE LOOKING-GLASS From our seats at the foot of his table, we could see this American colonel well, this American colonel and his other much more important guests: a couple of ill-mannered and noisy girls
behind their hands
IN HEAVY WINTER COATS In the middle of the dinner, one of the girls got up and sang, and all the American officers whistled
you need to see someone, Detective
IN THE LOOKING-GLASS The song she sang was called, ‘Will I Sleep Alone Tonight’
are you listening
FROM OPEN HUNGRY MOUTHS They will treat you like dogs, says Comrade X., they will fuck your women and they will lie to you, Detective, they will lie to you
someone who will help you
IN THE LOOKING-GLASS So I ask you again, Detective, how much do you hate America, how much do you love Japan
are you listening to me, Detective, I’m trying to help you
REFLECTED, FRACTURED, DISFIGURED AND OTHER

17. Wake up, Detective N., says Detective Inspector H., kicking my desk, kicking my chair
how much do you love Japan
NOT SPEAKING, BUT MOANING I’ve just come from a meeting
with Miyakawa from the Justice Ministry, says Detective Inspector H.
a dwarf whose heart is too big for his body
CRAWLING OUT OF HELL, ON MY HANDS, ON MY KNEES Mr Eaton from the Public Safety Division told Miyakawa that no US military personnel are presently employed in typhus epidemic control, and that all involvement by US personnel in such duties ceased sometime in 1946
how much do you hate America
NOT SPEAKING, BUT MOANING Furthermore, there are no records of any Lieutenants Hornet or Parker ever being involved in such work, says Detective Inspector H., so that would seem to be the end of that
a giant whose heart is too small for his body
DOWN THE BANK’S CORRDIORS, INTO THE BANK’S GENKAN I say, Then I want to go up to Sendai. I want to interview Dr Takase personally. Dr Takase met the man who tried to get potassium cyanide, the man who claimed to be Dr Matsui. Dr Takase met the Cyanide Man
do you hope, do you believe
NOT SPEAKING, BUT MOANING As you know, Inspector K. has already interviewed him, says Detective Inspector H., and I need you in Tokyo
in the possibility of a utopia
THROUGH THE DOORS, INTO THE STREET, THE SNOW AND THE MUD As you know, we have traced sixty of Dr Matsui’s name-cards, says Detective Inspector H., and so I need you here to record and collate all the information we are gathering in the field about these sixty name-cards and the ones we are still to find
do you hope, do you believe
NOT SPEAKING, BUT MOANING I say, What about the Matsui name-card we already have. The name-card used at the Ebara branch of the Yasuda Bank. The man who said he was Dr Matsui. The man who said the same thing in Sendai
in an end to petrification, in an end to paralysis
IT WAS THE DRINK, IT WAS MEDICINE, A DOCTOR, DYSENTRY The answer is still no, says Detective Inspector H. again, I need you here and besides, what about your wife, you want to leave her alone in Tokyo while you chase name-cards in Tōhoku
with all your heart
NOT SPEAKING, BUT MOANING

18. I turn the dark corner, I stand outside the door, the door to our room, and I hear her voice
I want to love you like I used to love you
I SMELL THE HOSPITAL, I SMELL THE LABORATORY A long, long time ago, she says, there was a poor little girl who had
no father or mother
I want to love you like I loved you before
THE WHITE COATS AND THE WHITE MASKS Everything was dead and there was no one left in the whole of Japan
I want to love you without suspicion
THE RUBBER GLOVES AND THE RUBBER SHOES And since there was no one left in the whole of Japan, the little girl decided to go up to heaven to where the moon shone down
without jealousy
THEIR MEDICINES AND THEIR DRUGS But when the little girl got to the moon, it was just a lump of rotten wood
I want to love you without the fear of losing you
THEIR PILLS AND THEIR INJECTIONS So then the little girl went to the sun, but when she got there it was just a withered-up sunflower
the fear of hurting you
I SUBMIT TO THEIR EXAMINATIONS And when she got to the stars, they were just little white lice stuck on a piece of dirty old black cloth
like I used to love you
I SUBMIT TO THEIR TESTS So the little girl went back to Japan, but Japan was just an overturned pot of nothing
like I loved you before
I SUBMIT TO THEIR EXPERIMENTS The little girl was completely alone now, and so she sat down and cried
but most of all, I want you to love me
I SUBMIT TO THEIR TRIALS She’s sitting there still, all alone, still crying
I want you to love me
IN ROWS, IN CAGES, A DOG

19. I turn another dark corner, I climb another set of stairs, I walk along another corridor, I knock on another door
have you ever seen nature inside-out, have you ever seen nature upside-down, have you ever seen double-nature
I AM NOT DISTRACTED I told you they would lie to you, didn’t I, says Comrade X., and here is the proof of my words
when the sun stands high and still at noon, as though the whole world is on fire, how it makes you hold your breath, as though the world was dead
I AM NOT DELIRIOUS Comrade X. hands me a document, a document in English, a document stamped ‘CONFIDENTIAL’
then those frightful voices come, they speak to me, when nature is out
I AM NOT POSSESSED As you can see from this, says Comrade X., the Americans have lied to you; a First Lieutenant Paul E. J. Parker, medical officer, was assigned to the Tokyo area between June 1946 and June 1947 to assist in various health-control activities
the world so dark that you have to feel your way around it with your hands
I AM NOT PREOCCUPIED Comrade X. says, This is undoubtedly
the ‘Lieutenant Parker’ who was assigned to a typhus control team in Ōji Ward in March 1947
you think it is coming apart, like a spider’s web, dissolving and disintegrating in your fingers
I HAVE NO MEMORIES And as you can further see from this, says Comrade X., while there is no record of a ‘Lieutenant Hornet’, there are records of a Captain J. Hartnett who was similarly engaged in public health work in Tokyo between June 1946 and April 1947
when something is, and yet isn’t, when something is there, yet nothing is there
I HAVE NO VISIONS I say, They lied to me, to us
everything so dark, and yet there’s still this redness, this redness from the west, the glow from a distant furnace, a gigantic underground oven
I AM NOT MAD Comrade X. smiles and Comrade X. says, Are you really so surprised, Detective. I told you they would lie. The Americans always lie
it’s all in the air, have you noticed the patterns in the air, in the clouds, in the fog, in the mist, and in the smoke
I HAVE EATEN MY CORN, MY AMERICAN CORN, AND I AM NORMAL I say, I don’t know what to do
if we could only read those patterns, if one could only read the air, then what things we would know, what truths
I HAVE TAKEN MY PILLS, MY AMERICAN PILLS, AND I AM RATIONAL I will tell you, says Comrade X., I will help you, if you let me
if we could read the air, then we would know the truth
I AM NORMAL, RATIONAL AND SANE

20. I say, I was taking a big risk telling you the things I did, showing you the documents I did. A big risk for nothing! Nothing in your newspaper, nothing about the China connection, nothing about the GHQ connection, nothing about Parker and Hornet. So it looks like I took a big risk just for nothing
your mother’s new husband, your never-my-new father
WE’VE SEEN YOU BEFORE Not nothing, says the journalist now, you took a risk, I know, but I paid you
he likes Americans, he entertains Americans
WE’VE SEEN YOU PISSING I say, Not enough, not enough for all the risks I’ve taken. And now I don’t know why I bothered, why I took all those risks, you weren’t even listening to me, you didn’t even write the story
with your father’s money, in your father’s house
PISSING IN THE STREET I wrote the story, says the journalist, I gave it to my editor and he read it and he said he liked it, said he liked it very much
on the floors he walked, in the chairs he
sat
PISSING DOWN A WALL I ask, so where is it, this story of yours, this story your editor liked so very much, he liked so very much he didn’t publish, so very much they didn’t print, where is it then
in the room he lay, in the room they lay
PISSING LIKE A DOG I don’t know, says the journalist
your father and your mother
IF YOU CAN’T CONTROL YOUR BLADDER I stand up and I say, Well, you better find out. Or there’ll be no more help, no more stories from me
Americans lie, everybody lies
WHAT CHANCE YOUR MIND

21. You are distracted, Detective, says the doctor, you are distracted and you are delirious
you have not been listening, Detective
IN THE FAMILY ALBUMS, IN THE HISTORY BOOKS I ask, What is to be done. What should I do
you have not been following instructions
THE EMPEROR SAYS, I STAND BY MY PEOPLE You are delirious and you are possessed, possessed and preoccupied, possessed by memories and preoccupied with visions
you have not been following orders
I AM EVER READY TO SHARE IN THEIR JOYS AND SORROWS What is to be done. What should I do
you have been making connections, Detective
COURAGEOUS PINE, ENDURING THE SNOW Memories of things that never happened, visions of things that never will
connections where there are no connections to be made
THE TIES BETWEEN ME AND MY PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FORMED BY MUTUAL TRUST AND AFFECTION What is to be done. What should I do
you have been making links, Detective
THEY DO NOT DEPEND UPON MERE LEGENDS OR MYTHS I’m sorry to say, says the doctor now, but in a word, Detective, you are mad
links where there are no links to be made
THAT IS PILING UP, COLOUR UNCHANGING What is to be done. What should I do
you have been imagining things, Detective
NOR ARE THEY PREDICATED ON THE FALSE CONCEPTION THAT THE EMPEROR IS AMANIFEST DEITY I will tell you, says the good doctor, and I will help you, if you will let me
hearing things, seeing things
THAT THE JAPANESE ARE SUPERIOR TO OTHER RACES AND DESTINED TO RULE THE WORLD I ask, What is to be done. What should I do
things that are simply not there
LET THE PEOPLE BE LIKE THIS, SAYS THE EMPEROR Eat more corn, says the doctor,
American corn and take these pills, these American pills
you are suspended from duty, Detective, you are off the case
IN THE HISTORY BOOKS, IN THE FAMILY ALBUMS

22. In the Occupied City
in the Occupied City
IN THE OCCUPIED CITY Time passes
time passes
TIME PASSES Seconds pass
minutes pass
HOURS PASS Days pass
weeks pass
MONTHS PASS But the city is still a wound
the city still a wound
STILL A WOUND My father still dead, my mother still remarried
in these half-remembered memories of this half-forgotten detective
MY FAMILY CURSED, MY HOUSE CURSED My wife still unfaithful, my case still unsolved
they will find you guilty and they will hang you
THE GROUND BENEATH STILL HOLLOW GROUND Sharpening pencils, writing reports
until your bladder empties and your neck breaks
UNDER MY CHAIR, UNDER MY DESK Passing time, backward and forward, forward and backward, time passing
in the family albums, in the history books
SOMETHING IS MOVING, MOVING BEHIND ME, MOVING BENEATH ME The city still occupied, the city still wounded
we are all whores
FROM A MUSIC BOX The clock strikes again and the telephone rings
in the ruins of the city, in the eyes of the dead
WHAT IS THAT TUNE, THAT FAMILIAR, SCRATCHED TUNE In the Occupied City, in the Wounded City
through the looking-glass
A LIGHT GLOWING ABOVE THE CITY, A FIRE RAGING ACROSS THE TOWN

23. In the final days of the war, as our Red Army swept over the former Japanese colony of Manchuria, many Japanese soldiers surrendered and were taken prisoner
you’ve not been eating your corn, your American corn, have you, Detective
ALL MEN HAVE SECRETS Among these prisoners, were men who had served in Detachment 100 and in Detachment 731 of the Japanese Kwantung Army; Detachment 100 and Detachment 731 were bacteriological detachments, both involved in the prosecution of and research into bacteriological and chemical warfare
you’ve not been taking your pills, your American pills, have you, Detective
ALL
MEN TELL LIES In Khabarovsk, in the Primorye Military Area, my comrades from the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR have been interrogating these former members of Detachment 100 and Detachment 731 in preparation for their indictment as war criminals on charges of waging bacteriological warfare on China and the Soviet Union, and of conducting bacteriological experiments on Chinese and Soviet prisoners
you’ve been putting your ear to the ground again, haven’t you, Detective
SOMEWHERE TO SOMEONE Of course, we know that not all the criminals responsible for these atrocities are in our custody. We know that these secret bacteriological units of the Japanese army, which were commissioned to prepare for and conduct bacteriological warfare, were formed by the personal command of Emperor Hirohito himself
hearing the sound of scratching from under the ground
ALL MEN ARE GUILTY, ARE GUILTY OF SOMETHING We also know the names of the criminals in the Japanese General Staff and Ministry of War who backed and directed the clandestine work of these secret bacteriological units, who lavishly financed, equipped and staffed them, who sanctioned the research and development of internationally proscribed types of bacteriological warfare, and who planned for the day when they would authorize the launching of bacteriological attacks
tunes from the music boxes
SOMEHOW, SOMEWHERE Yes, we know the names of the contemptible, morally corrupt servitors of Japanese imperialism, generals of the former Japanese army – the bacteriological scientists Ishii, Kitano and Wakamatsu – who were ready to place their special knowledge at the service of the ruling clique of Japan for the purpose of preparing to conduct criminal bacteriological warfare
in the whispering
CRIMES NEVER STAY SECRET, SECRETS NEVER STAY SECRET And we know the names of those wicked misanthropes, the former members of Detachment 100 and Detachment 731, physicians and engineers of the Japanese army – Ōta, Murakami, Ikari, Tanaka, Yoshimura and many others – who mercilessly and in cold blood murdered defenceless people and bred many millions of plague-infected parasites and hundreds of kilograms of lethal microbes for the extermination of mankind
and you’ve been putting your head in the clouds, haven’t you, Detective
MEN ALWAYS TALK, TALK TO SOMEONE We know who they are and we know where they are, outside our borders and outside
our jurisdiction, because these miscreants enjoy the protection of those reactionary forces in the imperialist camp who are themselves dreaming of the time when they will be able to hurl upon mankind load upon load of TNT, atomic bombs and lethal bacteria
trying to read the patterns in the air again
IN CONFIDENCE, IN BETRAYAL But you, Comrade Detective, you can help us, help mankind
smoke from the Americans’ ovens
ALL MEN HAVE SECRETS For this is a list of the names of men given to my comrades in Khabarovsk by the former members of Detachment 100 and Detachment 731 who are now our prisoners, the names of men who were once their colleagues in Detachment 100 and Detachment 731, men who are now back here, living and working freely in Japan, and I believe among these names, among the names of these men, is the name of the one man, the one man you are looking for, Detective
in the fog
ALL MEN ARE GUILTY Catch this one man, Detective, and expose this one man for the mass-poisonings at the Teikoku Bank, and you will expose all those men for all their crimes, all those Japanese men and all the American men who protect them
in the nut-house, Detective, that’s where you’ll be
ALL MEN, ALWAYS