Chapter 28

Tokyo

When we approach Tokyo I listen in on the radio chatter again. Duke is captain today and he calls in, “Tokyo control, private jet Ryū requesting straight in approach and immediate landing. We’re out of Kadena Air Base and have on board fifteen medical evacuees for urgent treatment in Tokyo. Over.” They give us a runway and clear everything out of our way while we go straight in for an immediate landing.

We’re soon on the ground and at the terminal. Medical people rush in as soon as the door is open, and the patients are quickly on their way to hospital for critical operations. I take time to learn which hospital.

Customs and immigration officials board with them to make sure only the Japanese patients leave with the local medical people. I take a moment to explain the plane crew and the US medical people will be staying on board because they’re going back to Kadena Air Base for other duties. When my people are ready to disembark one of the Customs people leads us from the plane to Customs. Once we’re off Duke will move to a cargo terminal to empty the cargo hold into a bonded store belonging to one of Mr Nagumi’s businesses.

While we leave I wonder what to expect because Haruko and Hideko have been very busy making phone calls all morning.

Media Relations

Rieko Mitsui wakes up to her cell phone ringing, and the loud sound tells her the phone has been ringing for a while. She wonders why she didn’t hear it earlier, until she sees the clock reads six fifteen, which is too early for her. She answers the phone, hoping it’s some work being offered because she really needs some income.

Her distant cousin, Haruko Kybo, says, in English for security as it has less meaning for anyone eavesdropping on the phone call, “Sorry to call so early, cousin, but I’m very busy, and I hope to make you busy too. You have to get up, dressed in something smart, sexy, and conservative, get two female camera crew dressed the same, and meet me at Tokyo International about ten this morning. I can’t say more at this time, just trust me, it will be very worthwhile for you and them.”

“Make up your mind, two sexy female good camera operators or two camera operators with working gear. I can do only one or the other.”

“Get the two good operators, find a store where you can buy top quality gear, select what you want, and call me back. I’ll buy the gear to make sure you do this right. Add a good light weight laptop computer with all of the latest software you need to the order.”

“Hell, if you’re buying all that you must really mean a good job. I’ll call you back, but it’ll probably be about eight before we can reach an open store.”

It’s eight fifteen when Rieko can ring Haruko, and she has everything selected with an invoice ready for payment. She hands the phone to the store manager. They’ve selected the best gear made so it’s a big bill. The invoice number, amount, and codes for direct payment are given. Ten minutes later he’s handing the gear over as the account has been paid by direct deposit which is better than cash since he doesn’t have to carry it down the street to the bank. Rieko, Oka, and Suzu are happy to be able to use the new equipment, even if they won’t get to keep it or use it for long.

Airport

The three person freelance video news team are well on their way to the airport when, at ten o’clock, Haruko calls Rieko to tell her about a delay because of an extra story, but to watch for a dragon to land at the airport.

They listen to the radio and discuss the main items of news while the taxi takes them to the airport. The only one they can think of having a connection with the airport is a report of a major accident in Kadena because some of the more critical injuries are being transferred to Tokyo for treatment. But the bit about a dragon has them confused.

They arrive at ten fifteen and they start looking for anything that may relate to a dragon. Ten minutes later Suzu points to the arrivals board as there’s a new entry - ’Ryū arriving at Gate 2 in five minutes.’ They race for Gate 2, the one with the inbound dragon. Arriving on site Suzu uses her press badge to get admission to the tarmac so she can film the plane landing while Oka and Rieko set up to film the people getting off the plane.

They’re just set up when a large group of medical people rush up to the gate and move out along the access tunnel. They film them getting ready. Then Rieko sees Haruko’s father arrive, followed by two other very important people, so she gets some shots of them standing there together. She’s very surprised because Shoji Kybo is standing very close to an arch rival, Takeo Tanaka, with Tomoya Nagumi making a set of three important people waiting for the flight. Which is very interesting.

After a few more minutes Suzu rings to say she’s filming a very deep blue Airbus with a blood red dragon on its side landing, it looks very dramatic with those colours. In a few more minutes she calls to say it’s at the gate. Rieko looks up to see all the medical people rushing forward and followed by a small group of officials.

A few minutes later the medical people are returning down the access tunnel with a stream of injured people. They film them coming from the gate and heading down the concourse. Almost on their heels is Haruko, she has no luggage and her Japanese passport sees her through customs in quick order.

Haruko walks up and says, “Leave one camera operator here with me to film as I direct, you can voice over later, get the other and get ready to film inside Ryū while you talk to a couple of people. I’ll brief you better in a little while. We don’t have much time at the moment because Ryū will fly out as soon as she’s unloaded her cargo.”

Oka agrees to wait for Haruko while she takes Rieko on board. They explain to the Customs people about boarding the aircraft to interview people before the plane departs. An official goes too, ensuring nothing is handed over. When they enter the aircraft they meet a group leaving and Haruko waves at a young man just behind the Customs official leading the group. Suzu joins them after climbing the stairs from the tarmac.

Interviews

Haruko introduces Rieko to Captain Miller and Basil while explaining she needs to interview them for two unrelated matters. She leaves them to do the interviews and dashes back to the terminal. The door closes behind her and Ryū moves away from the terminal while Rieko starts interviewing Captain Miller about the emergency medical flight.

Captain Miller says, “The flight was quick with no medical issues in flight. I think the patients were comforted by having medical staff on hand and by being carried by a friendly dragon. My staff and I were overnighting at Kadena Air Base on our way to the US for Christmas leave when the request came through for the injured to ride on the plane. I was talking to the owner when he was asked if he’d carry them as he was already heading here. I was sure he’d agree, and he did. So I volunteered my people to provide the in-flight care and to be on hand if an emergency happened during the flight. That’s about all there is to it.”

Basil adds, “Once he knew they needed a ride it was a forgone conclusion they’d be given a lift. If we’d been in the air the boss would have turned around to pick them up. Lord Torao’s like that when it comes to the welfare of the people.” This gets a gasp from Rieko and a surprised look from Captain Miller as he didn’t know Al’s Japanese name. Basil fields more questions then he tells how the injured were in the most comfortable seats while Lord Torao rode in the back area.

Then they move to the front and Basil gives a very good interview about the emergency landing of the C5 last night, praising the flight crew for their expert handling of the big cargo plane in a very difficult situation. He refuses to speculate on what’s wrong with the C5 and he further praises the crew on their calm handling of the matter. A short, but very good interview. By the time Rieko is finished with the men the Customs man is pushing for her to leave the plane so it can depart for Kadena; she and Suzu get off in the cargo area with the Customs man.

Haruko introduces Captain Miller to Rieko then Haruko returns to the terminal to have Oka film Al meeting his reception committee guests. Haruko makes sure they only film Al from the back quarter.

They also get good film footage of the bustle around the terminal while waiting. When Rieko rings to say she’s over at the cargo area Haruko tells her to wait there because they’ll come and pick her up. She has another interview to do and an event to film in the afternoon, then she’ll have three or four items to sell to the news channels.

Just after that Oka and Haruko join Al and his entourage when they leave the terminal for a hired bus. The bus takes them to the cargo area where they meet with Rieko and Suzu. They wait while Al talks to some Customs people, hands them some papers, and Customs inspects the cargo.

While they wait Al gives Rieko a short interview on his reasons for being in Japan. The camera is set to catch him from the rear quarter while it shows Rieko facing the camera. Al opens the interview with an apology for insisting on keeping his face hidden for security reasons. Several minutes later he closes the interview with an offer for her to film his visit to the Emperor in the afternoon. Which she’s happy to accept.

When Al leaves to speak with Customs again Haruko tells Rieko to have Al approve the final version of all of today’s footage and when she sells it the contract must include a clause the footage must always be played in its entirety. Each item is also to be a separate item. The news team agrees because they know they have very saleable products.

Airport

It’s only when we head up the access tunnel I see Haruko coming back leading two women and one has a professional video camera. Hmm, I think she’s organised some good public relations and maybe trying for something more as well. When we reach the customs area we’re told to split up for those with foreign passports to be processed in one area and Japanese citizens in another. I request we stay together as a group, and our guide isn’t happy with that, but he permits it.

When we near the barrier I realise we’ve been given very favourable treatment because our gate is the closest to customs. I can see Shoji Kybo with two other men waiting on the other side of the barrier.

There are two men working the Customs counter when we arrive. Both are seated and they stand up when we approach them. One sort of them sneers while the other smiles as he says, “Good morning, welcome to Japan,” in English.

As per my earlier direction the first to the counter are two of my US guards, Carl responds in Japanese, “Good morning. Please let me try my Japanese, and I’d be honoured if you’d correct any faults I make.”

The one who greeted us smiles wider while the other sneers harder. I take a deep breath and let it out real slow. Mayu is the only person with a bag because she’s carrying my large shoulder bag of complimentary gifts. We all empty our pockets onto trays with our passports, except me.

When they ask Carl to go through the x-ray machine he’s polite when he asks them to call their supervisor first. The one with the sneer slides down the counter, moving his hand toward an alarm buzzer. The polite one watches us while he lifts the handset of a phone and hits a speed dial button. They have a conversation and he hangs up before telling Carl the supervisor is on the way. He asks why he wishes to see the supervisor.

Carl says, “I’m a licensed armed security guard with an approval from your government to carry arms, it’s noted on my visa and the other papers with it. I don’t want anyone to panic when the x-ray shows I’m fully armed because one of this party is my employer I’m to protect.”

Both Customs people become more alert and the one with the sneer slides his hand along the bench more. I say, in Japanese, “Do not be hasty to trigger any alarms as a rapid approach by armed personnel will see my security people react as if attacked. Fifteen of us are armed, approved by your government, and all but two are combat experienced. The resulting bloodshed will be your fault for panicking.” They both turn to look at me, and the one with the sneer moves their hand faster. I put all the command I can into my voice when I order, “Stand upright and back away from the counter, now!” Both stand upright and step back before they realise what they’re doing. The shocked look on their faces when they realise they’d reacted to my orders is very interesting.

The Customs supervisor arrives with two armed police officers. She’s not happy when she takes in the situation and the tension. The officers split up and place their hands on their handguns. However, they leave the guns in the holsters because there are no weapons on display. I tell the supervisor, “Please check our passports and papers. Fifteen of us are armed and we have the proper approvals from your government, issued at your US Embassy. When my lead guard mentioned this the idiot on the right who likes to sneer at foreigners went to hit the panic button to start a shooting war.” The supervisor gives me a long hard look then starts to inspect the papers. After a moment she waves Carl to the x-ray, examines and counts the weapons he has, and checks that against his permit. She nods and motions for the next guard while she also motions for the friendly Customs officer to process the passports.

Soon everyone but Tora and I are processed. I motion Tora forward, and the woman almost has a heart attack. I say, “Check her paperwork more closely, please.” The woman does and she smiles when she sees the notation about Tora being a ninja as well as a guard. I hand over my passport, getting a raised eyebrow when she sees it’s a Japanese one. Her eyebrows go up more on opening it. She smiles, stamps it, and waves me past the x-ray device. It seems I’m too important for that sort of mundane activity; maybe it’s the diplomatic immunity thing.

I smile as I say, “Thank you for your prompt handling of what could have been a bad situation if someone panicked. Is it permissible to make a small gift to the officer who first met us?”

She smiles, “As his supervisor I can authorise a small gift as a token of appreciation if it is of no major monetary value, but I cannot accept one for myself.”

I wave Mayu forward to hand the young man a copy of books seventeen and eighteen. Seventeen is on sale, but all of the Japanese shops are sold out while eighteen isn’t due out until February. I say, “Please accept this small token of appreciation for your friendly assistance when we first arrived. It was a pleasant counter to the surliness of your assistant. If I may have your name I’d like to write to your senior management to compliment them on having the good sense to hire you and place you in such an important position. Your manner and attitude make a good first impression for foreign visitors.”

He smiles, bows, gives me his name, and says, “Thank you for these marvellous gifts. My girlfriend loves these books and was unable to buy a copy of ’Quebec Quest.’ She’ll be very happy to get it, and ’Ransom Race’ will make her think I’m a marvel as it’s not due out for months.”

“One of my companies prints these books and Japan is getting a special Christmas present because I’ve cargo being unloaded into bond storage. More copies of Quest with double the orders of Race. Ransom Race is being released here in Japan early as a gift to coincide with my visit.” I turn to the supervisor, “I also have some other items in the cargo area that needs special handling, can you please alert them of that.”

She smiles, “I’ll do better than that, Lord. I’ll go over there with you to see it’s done right.” I smile as I nod acceptance of her help. “If you don’t mind, I’ll need a few minutes to organise a few things, first.”

I grin, “That’s perfect because I have to greet some people before I’ll be free to go over there myself.” We both bow and go our ways.

Greetings

I notice Haruko with the camerawoman when I go to meet my visitors. Hideko introduces me to her brother, Tomoya, followed by Mr Kybo introducing me to Takeo Tanaka, and I shake hands with them all.

We have a short chat after I apologise for being late and I thank them for meeting me. I confirm appointments for formal meetings at their offices later today or tomorrow. A little later we break up and I turn to find the Customs supervisor waiting for me.

Tomoya has a nice coach bus waiting for us so we load up and head to the Nagumi bonded storage area. We arrive there to find a reporter and another camerawoman waiting for us.

We all get off the bus and one of the staff approaches Tomoya with a bundle of papers, which I sort into three groups. Handing the first set to the Customs supervisor I say, “These are the papers that relate to our personal effects from the cargo hold. They’re in the boxes with the red labels.” The senior cargo handler points to four pallets waiting to be dealt with. She waves the two Customs inspectors over and the three of them go through the papers. They stop when they reach the ones for the artefacts. A moment more and the pallets are opened, inspected, and we’re given approval to load them onto the bus. Kazuma, Chie, and Mayu supervise the cargo handlers doing this.

I hand over a second bunch of papers, “These relate to commercial shipments destined for various businesses around Japan. They all have blue labels and they can be held in the Bond Store until your people have done the processing and the duties are paid.” The senior cargo handler points at the many pallets stored inside the cage waiting to be locked. She hands them to the inspectors for handling in the normal manner. I hand over the last set of papers, “These relate to a few special items of my personal property that require special processing. They have orange labels.” The senior cargo handler points to a pallet by itself.

The customs supervisor looks through the paperwork and her eyes go up. She slowly nods and asks me to open them for her to confirm the contents. The two inspectors are very surprised to see the contents of this pallet. It has our body armour, ammunition, our swords, and our other weapons. It’s checked against the papers and signed off, which is a surprise for the two inspectors because most of this is unlawful to import. I open the sword case when asked, and the Customs supervisor smiles when I allow her to take out and examine my swords. The way she handles them shows she knows swords. Then we load all this and go.

Interview

While the main part of our luggage is being inspected I return to the bus to give the newswoman a short interview in Japanese. I show her my passport before the interview so she can be sure I’m who I claim to be, as no one knows what Torao looks like. She starts the interview by holding up my passport to the camera with her thumb over my photo.

She asks many questions which I answer truthfully, and I only refuse to answer two questions as being too personal. The real meat of the interview is in the first question and answer.

“Lord Torao, we all know you’re based in the US, please tell us why you are visiting Japan at the moment?”

“Rieko, as you know I’m well trained in martial arts. The purpose of my visit is to meet with the masters to be tested for my menkyo. I’m also taking the opportunity to do some business and to return to the people more cultural artefacts I’ve obtained. I’ll do that this afternoon when I visit the Emperor. To help celebrate my visit to Japan the people behind the Lyn Evans adventures are releasing book eighteen, ’Ransom Race,’ very early, and in Japan earlier than elsewhere. The private plane I flew here in, Ryū, brought the books in her cargo hold; along with more copies of ’Quebec Quest.’ They’re in customs and they should be in the shops sometime next week so people will have time to buy them before Christmas for presents. I’ve also been tasked to hand out promotional copies, and I will do so while I travel around this great country.”

After several more questions and answers the interview ends just as the customs people are finished checking our luggage.

While we leave the airport we all take time to change and put on our body armour, making us look more smartly dressed because our clothes are designed to fit well over the armour. It’s lunchtime, so we stop for lunch at a roadside eatery Rieko recommends and we have a nice meal.

Note: Today swords in Japan are closely regulated as the swords are licensed and the ownership is recorded. All transfers must be quickly notified to the relevant authorities. Ownership requires approvals after certain checks. It’s much easier for a US citizen to legally obtain and carry a handgun in the US than it is for a Japanese citizen to get and own a sword. To carry it in public is a very hard approval to obtain, and very rare. Most approvals are for special security people and for safety modified swords for public displays involving traditional dress. Thus the sight of swords being carried in public is not a normal one now.

Even the swords used in the martial arts are controlled with a set of special rules for their use at official martial arts activities. Generally, such swords belong to the senior sensei of the school, are kept at the school, and are used there only under supervision by senior staff.

It’s no longer normal to see people carrying a tanto either, but a portion of the population carry them. They aren’t often on open display and are most often carried by security staff, criminals, Yakuza, and upper-class people in certain situations. Wearing one openly is not cause for comment as such, but it does make most of the general population take a closer look at you and give you a bit more room out of a combination of fear and respect.

Al and some of his people who are properly trained are licensed to have and carry swords in public. The approvals and licenses were issued to them via the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. Those with the approvals all make a point of carrying their passports and the licenses with them at all times, ready to be shown to police if and when required.

Despite all of these controls a certain portion of people do carry swords without the proper licences, in the same manner certain US citizens carry unlicensed handguns. Some ninja are licensed and some aren’t. Also, some local authorities turn a blind eye to some of the local people carrying swords in public.