The absurdity of the world (Book review: Seicho Matsumoto, Chuo ryusa (Centralized sandstorm), Tokyo: Kawade shobo shinsha co., ltd., 1968. [Paperback edition, 1968. Paperback revised edition, 1998. 4th printing of the paperback revised edition, 2009.])

Submitted by 恩田重直 on Mon, 04/25/2022 - 20:00
『中央流沙』

This novel about corruption in government offices related to sugar is by the well-known author Seicho Matsumoto. More than 50 years have already passed since its first publication, but the questions posed by the author in this book are still relevant to contemporary society. In this review, I will attempt to provide a reading guide to help you enjoy this book more, while referring to its relationship to the historical background of the time.

The book begins with a description of an official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry being entertained in Sapporo. Why Sapporo, one might ask, when the story is supposed to be about corruption in the sugar industry? The story does not take place in Sapporo, or Hokkaido for that matter, throughout the book, so Hokkaido, with its thriving agriculture and dairy farming industry, is certainly a natural destination for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry official's business trip. But is there any other reason why the brush had to be written from Sapporo?

Sugar is still associated with the Southwest Islands, along with sugar cane. However, sugar is not only made from sugar cane. It is also made from sugar beet, which has a shape similar to that of a radish. Hokkaido is one of the leading producers of sugar beet.

According to the commentary by Michitaro Tada at the end of the fourth printing of the paperback revised edition, this book is based on a serialised version that appeared from October 1965 to November 1966 in Shakai Shinpo, the organ of the Japan Socialist Party. Considering the period of serialisation, Okinawa, a major sugar cane production area, was under US occupation and there must have been high expectations for Hokkaido in terms of domestic sugar production. If this is the case, it makes sense that the series began in Sapporo.

It is also interesting to note that in September 1966, around the time of the serialisation, the Kyowa Sugar Corporation scandal was uncovered. This scandal revealed that a sugar company had received illegal loans and that part of the loans had been passed on to the political world. Although I do not know how this case relates to this book, I cannot help but feel that the author was prescient in that something similar was happening in the real world at the same time that a serialised novel about corruption was being published.

As the ''Commentary'' says, ''sugar has long been a source of financing for political parties'' (p. 255), sugar-related corruption did not begin at this time. Although I have not examined it closely, my intuition is that these corruptions were caused by the historical fact that Japan was import dependent on sugar. Again, as the ''Commentary'' points out, the background to this book, which is presumably set around 1960, is the liberalisation of sugar imports, which was due to take place in 1963.

In a situation where domestic production is small and imports are also limited by the government, the sugar companies have a motive to "get as many quotas as possible in the next three years or so when liberalisation will be achieved and make a profit" (p. 53), which turns into a bribe to the officials of the relevant government departments. In other words, the companies have an expectation of a stable income as long as they can get import quotas, and there is a calculation that they can get more than a bribe through the income that they can foresee in the future.

On the other hand, from the opposite perspective, officials receive a return for controlling the rights of interest. The returns are not only money and goods, but the returns are generated by rights that are insubstantial. So what is needed to hold those rights? That is extremely ambiguous. There are unspoken rules that cannot be explained rationally, dynamics peculiar to human society, and other absurdities that lie in the world. This book fully depicts them.

By the way, many of Seicho Matsumoto's works have been made into films. This book is also one of them. In Seicho Matsumoto's works, which have been bestsellers, this book has not had many editions and reprints, but still, as shown in the title, it has been published in a number of editions. If we examine the timing of these editions, we find that they are closely related to the film adaptation.

It was broadcast three times: in October 1975, a year or so after the paperback edition was published, in NHK's " Saturday Drama "; in August 1998, just before the revised edition was published, in the NTV network's " Tuesday Suspense Theatre "; and in December 2009, the same year as the fourth printing of the revised edition, in the TBS network's " Seicho Matsumoto 100th Birthday Special"※1. It will be interesting to see how the absurdity of the world depicted in this book will be portrayed in a film.
 

 

 

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