Chapter 54 second quarter
On the second day after the incident (January 22), Murakami of the Hokkaido Local Committee of the Communist Party of Japan came to the press club of the Hokkaido Office and issued a statement in the form of a talk.The main points of the content are:
"The Party has nothing to do with the 'White Bird Incident.' Sexual inexplicable things, it is doubtful that the party would send out such leaflets."
Murakami is the representative and spokesperson of the JCP legal organizations throughout Hokkaido.
"But the next day Murakami appeared at the press club again, and he retracted the statement made the day before, and read out the statement, to the effect that:
"I don't know who the murderer of the 'Shiratori incident' is. I have nothing to say about the relationship between the party and this case. But the killing of Shiratori was a heroic act of patriots who resisted the suppression of the police authorities, not a personal one. act of terror."
This was not so much a revision of the statement made in conversation the day before as a complete reversal of it.I don't know why he retracted his preface like this.
The investigative authorities failed to report the suspect, and arrested Yoshida Tetsu, a young member of the Free Laborers Branch, when they were in extreme anxiety.He came to Hokkaido as an organizational cadre at the center of the "Minqing" (Japan Democratic Youth League led by the Japanese Communist Party).
The authorities learned that Yoshida had distributed the "Tianzhu leaflets" and arrested him on this suspicion.Yoshida's fingerprint was also checked at this time, wondering if it was the same as the faintly discernible fingerprint on the surface of the shell case that fell on the scene.Some of the fingerprints on the bullet casing were unclear, but it was said that they were similar to Yoshida's, so he began to be interrogated severely.
However, in the meeting room of the Sapporo High Prosecutor's Office, Yoshida's fingerprints and the fingerprints stained on the bullet casings were reflected on the screen and the results were considered to be different, so Yoshida's suspicion was reduced.Yoshida had made false statements, which prosecutors found to be untrue and released him.
At the same time, relevant parties in the prosecutor's office received hundreds of threatening postcards, and the investigative headquarters collected them and studied them carefully.It is almost impossible to check fingerprints from postcards, but the authorities assumed that the threatening letter was related to the shooting of Shiratori, and planned to trace the prisoner from the handwriting.Therefore, according to the handwriting identification, the name of the Communist Party member suspected of writing the postcard was found out.Since April of that year, twelve open party members have been arrested on suspicion of writing threatening postcards; one of them is a student at Hokkaido University named Tomoya Tsuruta.Among these party members, he was the only one who belonged to the underground party organization, but at this time the authorities did not know this.
The central figure on the part of the investigative authorities is Prosecutor Kazu Takagi, who served as chief prosecutor in the "Imperial Bank incident".
The arrested party members resisted with hunger strikes, and the authorities could find no reliable clues about them.Therefore, after three months, all were released from prison.
The victim was an active police officer.No matter from the seriousness of the background of the incident or from the perspective of maintaining the prestige of the police, the investigating authorities must go all out to search for the criminal.But the investigation team couldn't even get any clues, and their anxiety can be imagined.
In this way, the investigative authority's activities against the "Shiratori incident" entered a dead end at the very beginning, and it has long been rumored that they have lost their way.
But one day, about four months after the incident, the reconnaissance team who had hit a wall suddenly saw a glimmer of light.It was shot from the far west.Regarding this passage, we can quote a few passages from the book "The White Bird Incident" written by Chaping Yongjia (one of the defendants):
"Needless to say to the investigative team, an event that even the Communist Party itself could not think of made the 'Shiratori Incident' take a turn for the worse. It turned out that a Communist Party member in Sapporo fell in the hot spring area of Ito City (Shizuoka Prefecture) On the street, protected by the police.
"It was the Sapporo National Police who first received this information. After repeated investigations, it was found out that this party member was a young man from the branch of the Hokkaido Agency. He was prosecuted for distributing leaflets slandering the U.S. occupation forces as coal thieves. Authorities are tracking him down when he disappeared while out on bail, when he was so drunk that he collapsed on the beach in the hot springs area.
"Fate is very strange. The inspection minister S who happened to be on duty that night was a very soft-hearted person. From the attitude of young N, S felt that he didn't look like a person who ran away from his family purely for suicide, so he patted him on the shoulder Encourage him and introduce him to Ito's vinegared fish rice roll shop 'Snakeme' as an apprentice under the master. The boss of 'Snake's' takes care of N like his own son and teaches him the technique of making rice rolls .
"N worked hard, doing everything from purchasing materials to washing buckets. The skill of making vinegar fish rice rolls is getting better and better. But his peaceful life did not last long. After a period of time, the authorities found out According to N's history, he was related to the "Shiratori Incident". At this time, the National Police in Sapporo sent the experienced Akasaka Police Department to detain N.
"N, who was taken to Sapporo, was determined to break away from the Communist Party, so he took the initiative to write a memorandum and handed it to the Akasaka Police Department for supplementation. It was in this memorandum that he specifically recorded the general situation of the Communist Party's underground organization under the command of the Sapporo Committee. Only then did the authorities know that the 30 underground branches in the Sapporo area belonged to seven general underground branches, and these seven general underground branches were in turn led by the Sapporo Committee.
"The investigation headquarters suddenly became active after receiving this important information."
N is the young Communist Party member Narita.The information provided by Narita stunned the authorities, who until then knew almost nothing about the underground organization, and each item of the memo seemed to be an important clue to solve the "Shiratori Incident".Generally speaking, the information he provided has the following pieces:
1. The northern general branch leads several branches including the Hokkaido branch.The organization cadre is Sato Naomichi, known as "Old Straight".
2. Like Kuniji Murakami, chairman of the Sapporo Committee, and others, Naomichi Sato is also one of the important party members belonging to the underground organization of the Sapporo Committee.
3. When the "Shiratori incident" occurred, "Otokawa" (pseudonym) was a liaison directly under the Sapporo Committee. He rode a bicycle to communicate among important party members.When the incident happened, he was also the one who distributed the "Tianzhu Leaflets" to the Fifth General Branch.
4. They also seem to have formed a "core self-defense force". When the "Shiratori incident" occurred, it was Shishido Jun who used the pseudonym "Hanai Goro" to act as the captain.
5. N has also received cadre training centered on the "Core Self-Defense Force".
The training took place at a farmer's home in a newly established small settlement in Huiting Village. Instructors Konno and Ciro were one of the eight cadres who sneaked underground at that time.
6. Judging from the words and deeds of Murakami Kuniji, Sato Naomichi and others immediately after the "Shiratori Incident", the planner of the "Shiratori Incident" is the Communist Party. The drafter of the "Tenchu Leaflet" was Murakami, and Sato was opposed or skeptical of the "Shiratori Incident".
7. N, together with other party members in the branch, participated in the event of posting leaflets at the Shioya Prosecutor's residence at the end of Showa 26.
8. N once saw Naoto Sato hiding the weapon - homemade grenade in the charcoal box of the secret residence.
Because N revealed these important facts, the investigative headquarters determined the basic direction of the investigation.They immediately arrested members of the underground party organization one by one.
Sato Naomichi was originally an employee of the Japanese power supply plant and was fired when he was born.The Communist Party promoted him to the standing committee of the Sapporo Committee, and then to the acting chairman.After the Communist Party put forward the "military policy", he worked as a member of the Sapporo Committee Guidance Department under Chairman Murakami and devoted himself to organizational activities.
After Sato, who was 42 years old at the time, was arrested by the investigative headquarters, he finally succumbed to the interrogator's stubborn cross-examination and began to confess important facts.
Sato, who left the party in prison, provided the investigative headquarters with materials about the inside story of the "Shiratori Incident".Here is another excerpt of the main points in the tied "White Bird Incident":
1. The Guidance Department of the Sapporo Committee (an underground organization guidance organization established in accordance with the organizational policy of the Fourth National Congress of the Japanese Communist Party) is the highest leadership body of the Sapporo underground organization, and the chairman is Kuniji Murakami (pseudonym K).The members of the guidance department include Sato Naomichi (pseudonym Y) and Taihei Yongjia.
2. The Military Department of the Sapporo Committee was dissolved, and the Military Committee was merged into the Guidance Department.K (Murakami) will serve concurrently as the chairman of the military committee, and Shishido will serve as the vice chairman.Lun Tsuruta, a student at Hokkaido University, is also one of the military committee members.Around October of Showa 26, the "Core Self-Defense Force" directly under the Military Trumpeter Association was established, with Shishido as the captain and Tsuruta as the deputy captain.The plan to kill Police Department Shiratori was carried out as part of the military operation of the Sapporo Council Military Committee.
3. At the end of Showa 26, K (Murakami) and Y (Sato) negotiated a plan to publicly attack the Shiratori Police Department. Y said no."He should be killed quietly," he said—implying that assassination should be the method.
4. Since around October of Showa 26, the Sapporo Committee has been running around collecting weapons.Pistols and ammunition were collected and hand grenades were manufactured.
5. Around December 24, Showa 26, Sato was walking on Nanbajo Street, and saw Shishido walking there with his chest upright.He thought Shishido's appearance was a bit strange, and when he asked, Shishido patted the pistol in his pocket and said, "I'm going to use this guy to kill the American soldiers." Sato asked K to monitor Shishido's excessive actions.
6. The murderer who shot the Shiratori police department was Sato Hiroshi. He was a member of the Communist Party that Sato Naomichi once led, and he was a pump installation worker.
7. The liaison officer of the Sapporo Committee is Otokawa (pseudonym), who acts as a clerical liaison between important party members.This person has now left the party and his whereabouts are unknown.
8. In addition, Sato Naomichi also provided the names, resumes, and activities of about a hundred party members he had contacted since he joined the party. Among them, the third member of the leadership department, Chaping Yongjia, was particularly noticeable.Chai Hirano is the leader of the Hokkaido University Party branch. Not only is he close to most of the Hokkaido University students who joined the "Core Self-Defense Force", but he also leads the Maruyama Branch of the Western General Branch.The scene of the murder was within the divisional area of this branch, and Sato Hiroshi, who was determined to be the murderer, was a member of the Maruyama branch, who was transferred from the direction of Taiping to the military.
9. It was K (Murakami) who drafted the "Tenzhu Leaflet". Y (Sato) thought it was dangerous to do so, so he issued a special instruction to all branches to burn it. When K heard this, he said in surprise: "Oh, what?" showing dissatisfaction.
10. The Hokkaido Committee is above the Sapporo Committee.The chairman of the committee is Shiro Yoshida, and the chairman of the military committee is Takao Kawaguchi. The "Shiratori incident" was done without the permission of the committee.Afterwards, Yoshida Shiro will severely criticize the "Shiratori incident", saying that it was "petty bourgeois, hooligan-like impetuous behavior".
11. On the night of the incident, Y (Sato) happened to be standing at a crossroad near the scene.At this time, he heard a crackling sound like setting off fireworks.Only afterwards did he realize that it was the sound of a murderous pistol.
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