Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 359 Seven Deadly Sins

It seemed that Zhang Chao was the only one left in the huge conference room.

The reporters in the conference room had spent a long time in Japan, a country steeped in the culture of "not causing trouble for others," and had never seen such an aggressive writer.

Even Shintaro Ishihara, who is known for his "violent remarks", spent 50 years to accumulate his wealth bit by bit.

With such a strong expressive output, it is difficult to find a figure comparable to Zhang Chao in the history of modern and contemporary Japanese literature.

The reporters looked down at their notes, and couldn't help but look at each other and their colleagues next to them, their eyes full of shock, confusion and embarrassment.

How to report Zhang Chao’s “apology” today has become a big problem facing them.

Although not many people like Ishihara, he was re-elected as the governor of Tokyo for three consecutive terms. If he was really angered to death by Zhang Chao, would the publication that issued the report be regarded as Zhang Chao's "accomplice"?

But if I don't publish the report, or if I cut too much, what's the point of coming here today? I'm afraid other newspapers and readers will laugh at me for not having the guts.

The scene fell into silence. Even the loudest right-wing newspapers such as Sankei Shimbun and Nihon Keizai Shimbun did not dare to ask any sharp questions at this moment.

In particular, the issues of Ishihara's mistress and illegitimate children involved in Zhang Chao's speech are actually "open secrets", but most people dare not speak out because of Ishihara's influence.

It is particularly embarrassing for a "foreigner" like Zhang Chao to expose it at this time.

Zhang Chao shook his head slightly and said to everyone, "Reporters are hounds chasing the truth." But you are all so cute today. Have you turned into Chihuahuas? "

Stimulated by this statement, someone finally couldn't help it. A reporter sitting in the back row said loudly: "No matter how many faults Mr. Ishihara has, he was also a member of the generation that built the country on an empty stomach after the war.

No matter how you Chinese evaluate him or hate him, he is the representative of our great Japanese people! "

Zhang Chao was amused when he heard this and said, "You mean a man who was elected as a member of the Senate at the age of 36 is building the country on an empty stomach?"

The reporters burst into laughter.

Japan's postwar "Senate" was derived from the prewar "House of Peers". Although it has been reformed, it still has a strong aristocratic color.

Being elected as a senator at the age of 36 has nothing to do with being hungry.

Zhang Chao continued, "But what you said reminds me that Governor Ishihara is indeed keen on 'disguising himself as a civilian' to cover up his political views. But the news about him wearing a 'Patek Philippe' watch when being questioned a few weeks ago seems to be still available in old newspaper folders, right?
Of course, he is a wealthy writer and can buy and wear whatever luxury goods he likes. But if he wears a watch worth tens of millions of yen on his wrist, he can't say that he is a commoner. "

The reporter was not convinced and continued to argue: "'Commoner consciousness' is a concept, which does not mean that you cannot be called a 'commoner' if you wear luxury goods. Besides, what position do you have to say about Mr. Ishihara?"
Everyone knows that you are one of the richest writers in China and even in the entire East Asia. You own a large amount of real estate in Yanjing alone, and even a manor as big as the Forbidden City!

Do you think you are no longer one of the 'common people' but have become an 'elite', or as you Chinese say, 'above all others'?"

Then he smiled contemptuously and said, "Isn't China's motto 'equality for all'? How come you don't even understand such a simple concept as 'equality of personality'?"

Zhang Chao was stunned when he heard this. The reporter's question made him feel that the interview had just gotten to the point, so he nodded and said, "First of all, I agree that what you said about 'civilian consciousness' is a concept of 'equality for all', which has nothing to do with the specific wealth or lifestyle one has."

The reporter raised his head proudly, but when he saw that the smile on Zhang Chao's face had not changed at all, he suddenly felt a little uneasy.

Zhang Chao said slowly: "'It is meaningless for women to live without reproductive ability', and 'Old women are the most harmful thing brought by civilization', these two sentences are said by Governor Ishihara, right?" (Indeed, I didn't make it up)
The reporter restrained his smug look and said cautiously, "This happened a few years ago. He was sued by a women's group for this, and the Tokyo District Court has ruled that he does not need to pay compensation or apologize."

Zhang Chao sneered, "The Tokyo District Court ruled that the Tokyo Governor does not need to pay compensation or apologize for his remarks that hurt women. This is a wonderful cooperation!"

The reporter tried to argue: "Our administrative and judicial systems are independent of each other. Governor Ishihara cannot influence the judge..." But his voice became softer as he spoke. Obviously he knew that this was okay to coax children, but bringing up the past would not be a good thing for either Ishihara or the judge.

Zhang Chao said: "So Governor Ishihara has never apologized for these two sentences? This means that they are sincere."

The reporter asked, "You...what do you want to say? Is this related to the "civilian consciousness" just now?"

Zhang Chao's expression suddenly became solemn, and his tone became serious: "Of course it is related. If Governor Ishihara were here, I would like to ask him, is his wife, Ms. Ishihara Noriko, still able to have children now?"

There was a buzz of discussion among the reporters, mixed with uncontrollable laughter.

The reporter who had just asked the question looked pale.

Zhang Chao still spoke in a solemn tone: "As far as I know, Ms. Ishihara Noriko is nearly 70 years old this year, and her fertility is definitely gone. I don't know why Governor Ishihara still allows her to live so 'meaninglessly'.

And how old was Governor Ishihara's mother, and how many years of "meaningless" life did she live?
The reporter still insisted: "What Governor Ishihara said about 'women who have lost their fertility' and 'old women who are harmful to civilization' is just a joke. When people say these things, they certainly don't think about their wives or mothers..."

Zhang Chao immediately asked, "Okay, if you don't include your wife and mother, then does that include your queen? Does it include the members of the House of Representatives, the heads of local cities, and the 'old ladies' of the chaebols such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Sumitomo?"

The reporter was speechless and didn't dare to respond at all.

Zhang Chao paused, and his tone became full of sarcasm: "It seems that in Japan, power and money can make 'old women' pregnant!"

Then he changed the subject and asked, "If we don't include the royal family, the parliamentarians and the chaebol families, who are the remaining people? Can you tell me?"

The reporter didn't dare to answer. Instead, he tried to shrink back as much as possible, fearing that Zhang Chao would see him.

Zhang Chao was not interested in hunting down such a small shrimp, but said: "This situation reminds me of a Japanese movie I watched many years ago, "The Ballad of Narayama" - I even looked up the English name of this movie, otherwise I really couldn't have posted this voice message.

"Everyone here, have you seen it, too?" The reporters looked at each other in bewilderment. "The Ballad of Narayama" is a classic film shot by the great director Keisuke Kinoshita in 1958. It has won numerous awards. Even if the reporters have not seen it, most of them know what it is about.

Zhang Chao said: "The Ballad of Narayama" says that there was a custom in a primitive mountain village in ancient Shinshu, Japan. Due to food shortages, when an old man reached the age of 70, he would be carried to Narayama by his relatives to wait for death according to traditional customs.

Look, isn't it very similar to the two "slips of the tongue" of Governor Ishihara? They are both based on "uselessness" or "usefulness", which determines a person's life or death.

But I would like to ask everyone, why does this custom only exist in mountain villages, while daimyo, samurai, merchants... don't have to send 70-year-old people to the mountains to die?"

Seeing that still no one responded, Zhang Chao sighed and said, "So when Governor Ishihara blurted out these two sentences, he didn't consider himself a 'commoner' at all.

The 'old ladies' he was referring to were the wives and mothers of ordinary people, and definitely not the 'noble ladies' in the royal family, parliamentarians, ministerial heads, or chaebol families - his wife and mother were naturally included in the list of 'noble ladies'.

That is why Governor Ishihara was able to say those two sentences without any psychological burden and feel no guilt afterwards.

He did not consider himself a commoner at all, and even thought that he was not of the same species as them. This is why he unscrupulously cut social welfare for women, children and young people when he was the governor of Tokyo.

After all, only those expensive engineering projects can become the subject of transactions between "high-level Japanese"! "

Immediately, a perceptive reporter asked, "Are you accusing Governor Ishihara of having problems with his political integrity?"

This time it was Zhang Chao's turn to sneer and say, "It is the Tokyo District Court's business to accuse or try him - but you have overlooked the most important detail of The Ballad of Narayama that I just mentioned..."

The reporters were stunned: "What details?"

Zhang Chao laughed and said, "According to the custom in ancient mountain villages, an old man would be sent to the mountain to die when he was 70 years old. In the context of Governor Ishihara's words, if a woman loses her fertility, there is no point in living.

In other words, if Governor Ishihara were to become the head of that mountain village, the women would probably only live to the age of fifty at most.

Mr. Japan Business News reporter, do you still say that Ishihara is a person with "common people's consciousness"?

The other party was already silent as a mouse, so he didn't dare to say a word.

Zhang Chao's tone became brisk again: "I think this is Mr. Ishihara's third sin - arrogance. No matter how well he hides it, he can't wash away the strong and sour smell of 'superior' in him - not to mention that he doesn't hide it at all.

The ones who covered up for him were some of you and the media you represent. You packaged Governor Ishihara as a model of success through "struggle," but ignored the tears of young people, the weak, women, and children buried along his path.

This is probably why he can get away with it every time he shouts. When the Japanese economy was booming, his cuts might not have had much impact; but in today's tough times, office workers huddle in their workstations eating cold lunch boxes, and full-time housewives calculate their husbands' unemployment benefits...

His clamor was his suicide note to the Heisei era. So I am here to apologize to the broken lives of the bubble generation on behalf of Governor Ishihara, and to atone for turning Tokyo into a monster that devours the dreams of ordinary people. "

The reporters at the scene were desperate - if their Chinese counterparts were the same when facing Zhang Chao - this one-on-one interview eventually turned into a solo dance by Zhang Chao, and he threw the most difficult questions to them.

Zhang Chao's words, when put together, can be called a brilliant article, which is definitely enough to attract people's attention, but no one can predict what consequences will be caused if the full text is published.

Because the angle of Zhang Chao's speech was a bit tricky, as a Chinese, he did not dwell too long on criticizing Ishihara's militarist remarks. It seems that he also knows that ordinary Japanese people are neither interested in it nor like to listen to it.

Most of the time today, Zhang Chao sometimes stood from the perspective of a writer, exposing the hypocrisy and evil in Ishihara Shintaro's nature; at other times, he stood from the perspective of tens of millions of ordinary people in Tokyo, criticizing the bias in Ishihara Shintaro's administration.

This will simply stir up the people's growing dissatisfaction with economic stagnation, high unemployment and declining welfare benefits.

It would be fine if the Japanese media had detonated the incident themselves, but how could a "foreigner" like Zhang Chao be the one to do it? The president of the newspaper would probably be called in by the bigwigs to be reprimanded, not to mention a small reporter like me.

Everyone is here to grab the news, not the smoking grenades!

At this time, a reporter from the Asahi Shimbun asked timidly, "Zhang Chao-san, your speech... is very powerful and contagious. But if, I mean if, Governor Ishihara is in danger of his life after reading your speech, will that cause you a lot of pressure?
Although you said that Governor Ishihara agreed with your statement that "world literature is losing Tokyo" and fell down with a lot of apologies to literature and the people. But after all, he is a 75-year-old man. Is such criticism too harsh? "

Zhang Chao was silent for a while, then asked, "It is said that Governor Ishihara is a good friend of Yukio Mishima?"

The reporter didn't know why Zhang Chao asked this question, so he could only answer as cautiously as possible: "Ah, yes, Mr. Ishihara seemed to have said so... maybe it would be more appropriate to say that he is a fan."

Zhang Chao said: "I don't want to comment on Yukio Mishima's position today. But I think Governor Ishihara can learn from Mishima in one thing - he never betrayed the words he wrote or said, and he practiced his 'aesthetics of death' with his life.

Governor Ishihara calls himself a "samurai", so how could he be afraid of the sword of his opponent? Even more, how could he be afraid of death?
Therefore, if Governor Ishihara believes that he should apologize, he must be able to accept his current fate calmly. After all, lying in the ICU and listening to the heartbeat monitor may be a more cruel punishment than death.

If Governor Ishihara feels that he does not need to apologize, then he will naturally scorn what I said. After all, while lying in the ICU listening to the heartbeat monitor, he can still think carefully about how to "duel" with me again after being discharged from the hospital.

I apologized for him only after I fully understood him. As for age... When Governor Ishihara scolded the old woman for "living meaninglessly" and "harmful to civilization", he didn't seem to care about her age, right?

Or does "respecting the elderly" only become a principle of speech when "superiors" like Governor Ishihara are criticized? "

reporter:"……"

Zhang Chao smiled and continued, "I originally wanted to collect the 'Seven Deadly Sins', but it seems a little too late now." After saying that, he raised his head and looked at the door at the end of the conference room.

Everyone followed his gaze and saw that the door of the conference room was wide open. A dozen people in suits lined up in two rows, pushed through the crowd, and headed towards Zhang Chao.

(End of this chapter)