＜Serial Investigative Reports: Chapter 2> -Darkness of Arson Attack against a residence of Mr. Shizo Abe, a Japan Prime Minister Still Unsolved-

Profile: Shunsuke Yamaoka
CEO and editor in chief of Access Journal

Born in Ehime prefecture, on August 1959. Majored a Japanese history course at Hosei Graduate School but dropped out during master degree. For over two and half years, worked as an editorial staff at a small editorial production company and became a freelance journalist at age 29. Since January 1991, while be a full time staff reporter at Shukan Taishu, a weekly tabloid, contributed a number of scandal scoops mainly for Uwasano-Shinso, Zaikai-Tenbo and other magazines.
Published books: “AMWAY Nobody writes about” (Apple publishing company), “ Silver Bank a Case of records of tapping by Takefuji Ltd.,” (Sou publishing company), “ Undercover reportage into Fukushima Daiichi A truth of highly contaminated sites and nuclear workers”(Futaba publishing company).
On December 2nd, 2003, his articles drove a then chairman of Takefuji ltd., Mr. Yasuo Takei who was one of the leading world’s billionaires, into a jail.
In July 2005, someone set a fire on his house. In that evening, he was sued for defamation over the article claiming that the perpetrator of the arson attack was alleged to the cause of the trouble over Tamio Araki, a chairman of Pashikon, a world’s famous construction consulting company. However, he won the case.
His online independent media, “Access Journal” was introduced as a paid online site which reports the backside of backsides of the news by “Media Times” at a colum of Asahi Newspaper. As a pioneer on online media industry, he has made comments to the interview by NHK broadcaster at a broadcasting program called “News Watch 9” under the title of “ demerit of the deceasing information paper.

On a first serial story, I have introduced a general briefing of the arson attack against a residence of Mr. Shinzo Abe, based on juridical documents.
On a second serial story, I would like to hereby introduce the testimony of Mr. A, who was a then a reporter at a local newspaper in Shimonoseki.

Mr. A is a person who has met Koyama Saichi for interview, soon after the arson attack against a residence and office of Abe in Shimonoseki city, suspecting that the criminal offender was urging to solve out the trouble by blackmailing his office with petrol bombs. During the exclusive interview, Koyama mentioned that he had met in person Mr. Shizo Abe himself and also the office of Abe submitted the letter of confirmation describing that with an exchange of sabotaging the mayoral election campaign, the office side would give a favor for Koyama, in regards to construction assignment. Additionally, he started confessing to the local reporter that means of blackmail were not only through petrol bombs, but also firing gun.

Currently, he left his local newspaper and he works at a different occupation in Kyusyu area.
I was desperately searching about the where-about this reporter and after I found his current address, visited him with Yu Terasawa, my journalist colleague. The testimonies of Mr. A , proved such a high level of investigation skill with seriousness and gravity as a former veteran journalist . Some of his investigation unveiled some shocking news.

Yamaoka:
Where did you interview Koyama at a first time. Was it at his house?
(Photo: A house of Koyama)

Mr. A:
Yes, it was at his house at Mikawa, Shimonoseki city.

Yamaoka:
I see. But, it is on a sale located on a high hill.

Mr. A:
Yes it is

Yamaoka:
You mean to interview Koyama as knowing that he was just released in a few hours after being arrested over blackmail case? (It was a blackmail case committed by Koyama against Nobuyuki Saeki, a then secretary of Abe office. On August 30th, 1999, Koyama was arrested but immediately released soon after he confessed to the detectors that he was doing it because of the unrewarded assignment about the election sabotage requested by the office of Abe)

Mr. A:
No, I did not know about it

Yamaoka:
So, you directly visited him at his house without any in advance information.. at a main entrance, his wife came out first when you pushed a bell on a door?

Mr. A:
The reason why I visited Koyama at his house is that, he threw pertrol bombs against a residence of Abe and against wall of sea mall. When Koyama was arrested, I visited Mr. Takeda (Mr. Riki Takeda, a secretary of the office of Abe and a former policeman at Yamaguchi prefectural police station. A then general secretary of Abe office in Shimonoseki city), but he pretended as if he knew nothing about it.
However, just as you (Yamaoka) know about, it is a ruin of bullet firing

(Photo: A ruin of bullet shooting).

Then, I started investigating around his neighborhood and they said, they heard the sound of “Bang Bang!!”?a sound of dry fired guns. Then, I got convinced that Takeda lied for sure. Then, I told him that it was like an internal gang conflict among Yakuza group, with sounds of “Bang Bang!” And, I warned him that the community might have starting a citizen movement with a request to remove an office of Abe. I innocently asked him about it, like an innocent boy. An office of Abe did not want anyone to talk about it. In an entire city, the petrol bombs were exposed to public but, the office lied about it as they were afraid of negative image on the office which drew the attention of the public rumoring about the gunfire. The neighbors pointed me a hole made by gun fire at office of Abe, telling me that it was not made by a canister but something else.

Yamamoka:
What did Takeda say about it?

Mr. A:
He was telling something non-sense but he kept denying that it was not made by a gunfire.

Yamaoka:
But, he did see a hole, right?

Mr. A:
Of course, the crime scene was yellow-taped, off limit. No matter what he did not admit, so I did not have a choice left but to meet the offender himself.

Yamaoka:
So you heard about the offender, from some resource. You met him when he was no released from arrest?

Mr. A:
About the incident of gunfire, I doubted that someone blackmailed the office, though Tekeda and the office told to local newspapers that they could not think of anyone who did. Then, I started questioning who did? Finally I reached to Koyama.
Then, I push a door bell at his house and he came forward to appear as if he was drugged, saying “Who are you, man?!”

(Photo attached= article at Yamaguchi Newspaper dated on June 18th, 2000)

Yamaoka:
How did he look like,as appearance?

Mr. A:
He was so bonny and small. My impression was that he was like a skinny mantis. His height was like around 160 centimeters. I confessed him that I was researching about the gunfire incident. Then, he said to me, “It is on me, you can come in my house”.

Yamaoka:
So, he admitted the gunfire so smoothly?

Mr. A:
I had wanted to know about the truth. I told him that “ the office of Abe claimed that it was a petrol bomb”. And then, he said to me that “Oh, that one, I order my subordinate to shoot” and added to mention, “it was for sure a bullet of a gun”.

Yamaoka:
So, then, he showed you a business card of Kudo clan, a Yakuza group in north Kyusyu area (an offender ordered by Koyama)?

Mr. A:
I was given a business card of a chairman at Keiyu Kaihatsu Ltd.,. Then, he has started showing me off many business cards of high-ranking Yakuza members who belong to Kudo clan. But, my local area was nothing to do with them. In that time, I did not realize what these business cards meant because the city of Shimonoseki has been controlled under Aida family (Kudo clan is located in Kita Kyusyu, city, Fukuoka prefecture).

Yamaoka:
Then, he began revealing the existence of the letter of confirmation between him and the office of Abe.

Mr. A:
Then, I interrogated him, with questions, firstly, “ Why did you shoot his office and house? What was your aim?”. He replied to my questions saying that he did commit the blackmail because of the broken promise pledged during the mayoral election in April, 1999. He confessed that it was he, himself who distributed hundreds of anonymous leaflets that described that Koga, a candidate for a mayor, a rival of Abe camp was a North Korean and he would send money to his mother country once he will be seated as a mayor. He said, he used his assistants to spread the harmful rumors damaging Koga. Once he would have succeeded it, he said, he would have been told to reward 100 million yen (1 million US dollar worth) in cash?but instead of the cash, the construction job of JUSCO shopping center that belongs to Aeron group was mentioned. I was puzzled?why JUSCO? Then, Koyama showed me a letter of confirmation on a table. There it described that the office of Abe would give a favor for him?though there was no clear mention about a name of JUSCO. (** Note from the editor: In a part of juridical paper, there is a description saying that “Regarding the request by Koyama, to change the construction plan for the sake of mayoral election in Shimonoseki city and a major supermarket promotion, he was in trouble with a camp of Abe, a member of Cabinet”..A photo attached is a site nearby the planned JUSCO construction around JR Shin Shimonoseki Station)

Yamaoka:
In this letter of confirmation, didn’t you find such a description of change on construction of streets?

Mr. A:
Certainly, there was not such a story of a real construction etc.

Yamaoka:
Street, planning, or excluding other construction companies..??

Mr. A:
I was not sure, but certainly there were description on the streets etc.
Maybe there were less than 10 sentences on A4 size paper–. There used 甲乙, on behalf of representing Koyama and Takeda with their signatures. As for the signature of Takeda, he had a habit to write his first name Riki in wider and long letter. I remembered that I had before saw his signature and recognized that it was indeed his signature. I was about to take a picture of this letter, but was stopped by Koyama. He told me that he would give me a copy later, but he never gave until today.
Regarding the signature and stamp of Takeda, it was made by his individual name or any title of Abe’s office?

(Photo attached=KOYAMA Company tenant building）

Mr. A:
Though I do not have a clear memory, Koyama told me that he had met Abe himself regarding this letter of confirmation. Shinzo Abe is coward, despite his appearance, quoting Koyama. Koyama said, when he threw a glass against a wall and fell into piece during discussion, Abe was shaking. I am not sure if it is true or not”.

Yamaoka:
Where it happened? At an office of Abe in Shimonoseki city?

Mr. A:
I cannot tell. However, it is a fact that Saeki, a secretary of Abe paid him 3 million yen.
In fact, I was about to be exploited by Koyama. He told me that I should investigate about the house of Abe’s parents in Nakamon next time for his next shooting target since the raid only against an office of Shinzo Abe did not work. (At a juridical paper, it was admitted that Koyama ordered someone else to make a map around the neighborhood of a house of Abe’s parents). Additionally, he asked me to join in the strategy making meeting at a fancy Japanese restaurant he reserved. There, he promised that he would bring a letter of confirmation. Koyama had an intention to use me”

Yamaoka:
Has Koyama said anything about a secretary of Saeki?

Mr.A:
He mentioned something like that Mr. Saeki had immersed a lot into the office of Keiyu Kaihatsu construction company (a photo attached above). He was saying that Mr. Saeki was someone like his real subordinate.

Yamaoka:
According to Takeda, it was his surbordinate, a managing director at Sales department at his company who brought to him.

Mr. A:
This is for Mr. S (Mr. S was arrested regarding this arson attack).

Yamaoka:
Takeda claimed that there are more evidences such as the brochures attached with a photo of Koga, besides, the handbills distributed during election campaign, false hand writing letter supposedly sent by a wife of Ejima(a rival of Koga during mayoral election).

Mr. A:
Indeed, there were some brochures of slandering Koga with his photo attached.