Shadowy areas

Author: Hara/Komatsu Kiyosato Ye Rongding
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: This book narrates the encounter between young Japanese photographer Tashiro Rikiyasu and a beautiful girl, Reiko, on a flight from Kyushu to Tokyo, and their subsequent meeting at the Elm Bar in Ginza, Tokyo. On that day, she came looking for the bar's mamasan but couldn't find her, and later that night, the mamasan mysteriously disappeared. A few days later, the media reported that the leader of the Yamagawa faction of the ruling party, Member of Parliament Yamagawa Yoshihira, had gone missing. Afterward, Tashiro Rikiyasu went to the Shinshu region to shoot lake scenes for a magazine. Upon arriving at the station for the shoot, he unexpectedly encountered a short, plump man who had traveled with Reiko on the flight from Kyushu to Tokyo. The wooden box package he retrieved at the station caught his attention. While shooting by the lake, he repeatedly heard the sound of something heavy being thrown into the lake, so he went to the nearby station's package acceptance window to inquire. To his surprise, he nearly got shot in the back at Lake Nojiri. A few days later, the body of the mamasan was found in a wooded area, followed by that of a taxi driver who had been a witness to her disappearance the night before, having seen her with three men. To investigate the scene of the taxi driver's death, Tashiro Rikiyasu was pushed off a cliff and nearly died. A reporter named Kimura, who was searching for Member Yamagawa, found Tashiro Rikiyasu recovering from his injuries and suspected that the sound in the water was the culprit discarding a body. He went to the lakes in Shinshu and asked local swimmers to retrieve the body, but they found nothing and Kimura himself went missing. After recovering, Tashiro Rikiyasu went to the area around Lake Nojiri and was lured into a trap set by the criminal. Just as he was about to be killed, Reiko saved him at the last moment with quick thinking. A few days later, he went back into the lion's den and fell into another trap, but this time someone called the police. When the criminals were fleeing and about to finish him off, Reiko saved him yet again. In the end, the criminal gang, led by Reiko's older brother, was arrested. Under her older brother's, Reiko was freed from his control and was deeply moved by Tashiro Rikiyasu's unwavering love, beginning a new life. The novel praises the protagonist for his pure love and his willingness to help the other person escape the criminal underworld, as he gets involved in the murder case of the bar's mamasan and the ruling party member. Not only does he win true love, but he also helps the other person turn their back on darkness. At the same time, the work exposes the ugly behavior of factions within the ruling party fighting for economic interests, resorting to hiring killers and disregarding human lives.