Novelist's interviewing skills (Book review: Saburo Shiroyama, "Nezumi: Suzuki shoten yakiuchi jiken (Mouse: Suzuki Store burning incident), Tokyo: Bungeishunju co., ltd., 1975. [Paperback edition, 1975. 42th printing of the paperback edition, 2010.])

This book describes the rise and fall of Suzuki Shoten, a trading company that once surpassed Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi. However, less than a century has passed since the name Suzuki Shoten, a trading company, disappeared in 1927. The name Suzuki Shoten may not ring a bell. How about Nissho Iwai (now Sojitz), Kobe Steel, Ltd., Teijin Limited, and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries ......, when you hear that these companies were derived from Suzuki Shoten?

As the subtitle tells us, it is a very dangerous company because it was the target of a 'burn-out'. The public image of Suzuki Shoten seems to have been generally bad. However, more than 40 years after the company's demise, the management team at the time was still adored by the employees of the past. The author, Saburo Shiroyama, detected an unusual atmosphere in this divergence between the external and internal image of the company.

Born in 1927, the author also had no direct knowledge of Suzuki Shoten. But in the early 1960s, when the author began his research^*1, there were still many people alive who were related to Suzuki Shoten and the burning incident. In addition to interviews with these people, this book attempts to get a closer look at Suzuki Shoten in its early days, while referring to the truth behind the burning incident through the historical documents of the time.

The author "must have met a total of 300 people involved" (Shinroku Komatsu, Commentary, p. 359). The stories spun out of these interviews take the form of non-fiction novels, but the descriptions are accompanied by analysis, just like those of a researcher. The author was a university economics lecturer before devoting himself to writing^*2, which reminds us that he has a researcher's temperament at the origin of his writing.

To begin interviewing the people involved, the author picked up a research book. This book is about the rice riots that led to the burning down of the Suzuki Store^*3. The author criticises the fact that it is not clear that "Suzuki bought up all the rice. So they were burning down".(p. 23) This is a criticism of previous research, as is the style of the article.

Especially questionable are the authenticity of the testimonies of those involved, which have been put into printing on the basis of research by students. It is not difficult to imagine that a researcher's sense of smell must have been activated, as if there were some unrevealed truths there. The story of the Suzuki Shop burning incident begins with the author's inquiries to these witnesses.

In both the novel and the research, the selection of targets for interviews and the questions to be asked are based on the plot drawn up by the interviewer. Without a plot, it is impossible to select targets and to decide on the questions to be asked. So, there are many aspects of the interview itself that have to be arbitrary. But, for better or worse for the interviewer, it is also the interview that corrects the plot, which is full of prejudice.

Sometimes, testimonies can cause the plot to fall fragilely apart. However, there are quite a few reporters and researchers, even those who are required to state the facts, who are unable to update the plot based on the results of their interviews^*4. Their usual method is to induce answers that are in line with the plot, or to discard testimonies that deviate from the plot. They are also said to write according to the original plot, even if they do not get testimonies^*5. This is fatal.

In this respect, the author's interviewing skills are remarkable. Of course, the interviewing skills here include the ability to elicit testimony and the number of people to be interviewed. But what is more important is the ability to check the testimonies obtained. This is because people lie, whether they realise it or not. And even more so when it comes to memories from several decades ago. Although there is a difference between a novel and research, it is no exaggeration to say that what distinguishes this book from previous studies is the ability to conduct interviews.

It is not only testimonies that can be obtained from interviews. Every action, such as speech and gesture, is also a valuable clue when examining testimonies. Attention to these actions makes it possible to put them into writing, even if the testimony is not what is expected. The author's attention to even the slightest actions of the witnesses is an evidence of the fact that he looks through all kinds of historical documents and interviews in order to elicit their testimonies. As a result, the book also helps us to understand the numerous characters in the book.

The author's ability to peer into testimonies is also shown without regret in his reading of the documents. He carefully reads newspapers and other historical documents of the time, compares them with historical documents of the same period, points out discrepancies, and refers to the background to the publication. The book then describes the process by which the image of Suzuki Shoten as a bad man was created. If I were to make a slight criticism, it would be that there are not many descriptions of the Suzuki Shoten side on the day of the burning. There may have been very little in the way of witnesses or historical documents.

Nevertheless, the truth of history, which comes to light after a careful and prepared review of testimonies and historical documents, is seen in this book. The pursuit of historical facts is neither novel nor study. The truth can only be seen with an eye free of preconceptions. There is no doubt that this book has renewed the image of Suzuki Shoten, which had long been shrouded in a bad image.

By the way, what does the "rat" in the title refer to? I would like you to pick up this book to find out. I would like to conclude my review of this book by pointing out that I think there is something more hidden here than the truth of the burning incident that the author wanted to convey to the reader.