01x03 - Read the Air

[bunniefuu]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[IN JAPANESE] Any
problems in the bedroom?

Please stand up.

Turn your head and cough, please.

Again.

Good.

Please lie on your side.

All right.

Relax.

Now flex.

Good. Now lie on your back.

This may feel a little cold.

As always, no alcohol,
tobacco, red meat, stress...

♪ ♪

[LIGHTER CLICKS]

♪ ♪

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[IN JAPANESE] Sugita isn't scheduled.

He says it's pressing.

Tozawa-san...

in light of recent events...

perhaps we would all benefit
from a reconsideration

of our...

business model.

I'm thinking of your exposure.

As well as mine.

[STAMMERS]

We shall continue as we have.

I am grateful for your time.

Excuse me.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Oh, my God, Joshua Jacob Adelstein,

you have been holding out on me.

Mr. Philips says you once b*at up

some kid in his classroom.

- [LAUGHS]
- Is that true?

And you're right. He sucks.

I'm going to graduate
high school knowing

nothing about chemistry.

And Mom's, like, seriously freaking out.

Please call her more,
or I'm gonna lose my mind.

She's, like, batshit crazy.

Seriously, you... you smashed
this kid's face into his desk?

Do Mom and Dad know this?

[DOG BARKING]

Arigato gozaimasu.

♪ ♪

[DOORBELL RINGS]

[IN JAPANESE]
Tengu! Tengu! A Tengu is here!

What's wrong, Natchan?

I apologize.

Not at all. I am often
mistaken for a goblin.

May I speak with Detective Katagiri?

That would be difficult,
Mr... Adelstein,

as my husband is not home.

But I will tell him you came.

Do you expect him soon?

I apologize if you have traveled far.

Please, take the ice cream.

Natsumi! Ice cream!

Yay!

And the beer.

Thank you.

[DOOR SLIDES OPEN]

Hey.

[IN ENGLISH] Beer and sweets.

Let me guess.

The "Meicho" told you
this is how you recruit a cop.

I was just hoping that it
would get me through the door.

Last night, when you convinced that guy

just to hand over his g*n,

what'd you say?

- It's complicated.
- Hmm.

Is there... is there anything
else that you can give me?

- Give you?
- Yeah, I didn't write anything

about the other night, like you asked.

I helped you. Now can you help me?

It is late. Thank you for the beer.

Wait.

What do you really want, Mr. Adelstein?

[IN JAPANESE] I want to learn
how this city...

What's beneath the surface...
how it works.

Then I can write
what is actually happening.

But right now, I can't do that.

The truth is,
I don't know what I'm doing.

"A path opens to those who are honest."

Sit.

You sound like my dad.

A cop?

A coroner.

I have known some good coroners.

No, thank you.

[IN ENGLISH] At the bar, what was that?

Off the record.

Absolutely.

The roots of the yakuza run so deep,

we can never get rid of them,

so cops are encouraged to maintain peace

among the different gangs.

Tokyo has been stable
these last few years.

But now Shinzo Tozawa and his
men have come from Kansai

to try and claim
a local g*ng's territory.

That's what you saw.

A low-level move on Chihara-kai turf.

But you didn't tell the world,

so they can pretend it didn't happen.

Maybe they don't retaliate,
and peace can hold.

So I'm the one who kept the peace?

[BOTH LAUGH]

[IN JAPANESE] Cheers!

Oh! Listen up! Polina,
do that thing you do, please?

Sure.

Frog jump jump, three jump jump,

altogether jump jump, six jump jump...

[ALL CHEER]

Polina! You're better at it that we are!

Excuse me. Samantha-san, please.

Hai. Please excuse me.

[IN ENGLISH] Bye!

[IN JAPANESE] New customer. Wants you.

Hai.

This is Momo.

[SPEAKING JAPANESE]

[SPEAKING JAPANESE]

[IN ENGLISH] And a very
good evening to you.

If you're trying to impress me,
mission accomplished.

I'm Samantha.

Matsuo. A pleasure.

Matsuo.

Like Matsuo Basho?

You know Basho?

[IN JAPANESE] You kindle the fire...

and I'll show you something wonderful...

a big ball of snow.

[CHUCKLES]

[IN JAPANESE] "Sick
on a journey, in my dream,

staggering over withered fields."

Mm.

And he was dying when he wrote that.

Yes.

To old poets...

And new friends.

[TENSE MUSIC]

[SIREN WAILING]

[LAUGHTER, INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[IN JAPANESE] This is your turf w*r.

Who pays for this?

Who told you to serve Tozawa guys?

You expect me to ask the customers

which g*ng they belong to?

I called you when they wouldn't pay,

and then your guys wrecked my bar!

Oyabun says he'll give you
a month's protection for free.

Protection like this?

If I can't rely on Chihara-kai,
maybe I should ask Tozawa.

[YELPS]

[SIGHS]

Who told you to hit him?

He said he was going
to switch to Tozawa.

That was negotiating.

That assh*le would never switch.

He knows I'd k*ll him.

You having trouble?

With what?

What do you mean, with what?

With this. What we do.

No.

Bullshit.

You've been off lately.

Remember when I found you
in that arcade in Meguro?

You stank like fish guts.

Working sixteen hour days,
your life decided for you.

Like every other sucker in this country.

And what'd I do?

Huh?

I set you free, little brother.

Hai.

You want to go back, say the word.

I'm good.

And what happened there in the bar?

There's a time for talking
and a time for fists.

Learn to know the difference.

- How?
- Read the air.

Control yourself. Yeah?

Hai.

All right, we'll do the
pachinko place now, then...

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[INDISTINCT CHATTER, PHONE RINGS]

[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
Man sets himself on fire

with gasoline.

[IN ENGLISH] So many suicides.

Welcome to Japan.

And it seems like
they're all done in public.

- Why?
- So the landlord does not

sue your family
if you burn his building down

when you set yourself on fire.

- Seriously?
- It happens.

That's f*cking wack.

- Wack?
- Uh, bad.

"Wack" means bad?

- Yes.
- [LAUGHS]

I do not believe you.

You're wack.

- Get it?
- No.

[PHONE RINGS]

[IN JAPANESE] Meicho Shimbun. City Desk.

My paper wasn't delivered today.

Who's in charge over there?

Uh...

I am very sorry. What address?

What are you, a gaijin?
Put your supervisor on!

Maruyama-san.

How may I help you?

A woman now? After the gaijin?

Put a real employee on!

Women and gaijin are
all we have today. Thank you.

[IN ENGLISH] I need you to go
through these scrapbooks

for the last three years.

Find me any articles about single women

m*rder*d by... [PHONE RINGS]

Meicho Shimbun!

[IN JAPANESE] One moment.

Adelstein.

[IN JAPANESE] Of course.

Thank you.

What address?

[EXCITING MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[SIRENS WAILING]

♪ ♪

[IN ENGLISH] You stay behind
me, no matter what.

If you hear g*nf*re, hit the floor.

[IN JAPANESE]
Good morning, and thank you.

My name is Makabe.

[PEPPY MUSIC PLAYING]

♪ ♪

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Allow us to make amends
for the altercation

Nakamura caused at the bar last night.

We are also sorry the
Chihara-kai man was stabbed.

Here is the man who wielded the Kn*fe.

We have banished him
from the organization.

This is the document of proof.

Indeed, your man Nakamura owned the g*n

in violation of the Swords
and Firearms Control Law.

He did not, however,
own the b*ll*ts in it.

There were two b*ll*ts.

So I will be arresting two more men.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER, LAUGHTER]

You got some balls.

Katagiri-san.

That's highly irregular.

What your men did was irregular.

Drawing g*ns, in a Chihara-kai bar?

Start a w*r with Ishida

and you're starting one
with me and the TMPD.

Whatever Ishida is paying you,

we'll double it.

[TENSE MUSIC]

Say that again.

I regret giving Nakamura a b*llet.

I am very regretful of my actions.

Take them.

We thank you for your cooperation.

[PEOPLE CLAMORING,
CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]

Hey, this is totally harassment!

That's right! What are the charges?

Answer us!

Can I have one of those?

Thank you.

No quotes from what you heard up there.

The rest is yours.

The raid, the arrests on suspicion

of firearm possession,
investigation is ongoing.

An exclusive.

[IN ENGLISH] With my compliments.

[IN JAPANESE]
- One!

Two!

Three!

- The cops took three!
- [LAUGHS]

Man, they went for it.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Welcome.

One beer, please.

Yes. Right away.

[IN ENGLISH] Read it and weep.

It's not bad work.

Wow.

[IN JAPANESE]
"g*nshots in Kabukicho bar,

"three Tozawa-gumi men arrested.

"Around : a.m. on October th,

the Shinjuku Police..."

All right. We get it.

Come on, man.

Jake's scoop got published.

Hey!

[IN ENGLISH] How did you get
to go along with these police

on an office raid of Tozawa?

Here's the thing, Tin-Tin.

Please stop calling me that.

Should we stop calling him that?

No. We should not. [LAUGHTER]

Do you know what Baku said to me today?

"Even the gaijin writes better than you,

and he is half-ape, half-Jew."

I was a f*cking literature major.

First of all, I'm full Jew, but...

you're a great writer.

A really good writer.

[SPEAKING JAPANESE] So...

f*ck Baku.

f*ck Baku.

[IN JAPANESE] I endorse that sentiment.

Careful, man, that glass is cracked.

[COUGHS]

You hit it too hard.

- [LAUGHS]
- Oi!

Girls, thank you for your work.

What do we sell?

Hmm?

Do we sell liquor?

No, ladies, we sell dreams.

You go sell dreams. I'll sell
liquor and make commission.

- Huh?
- Hmm?

Number one this week, as usual, is Luna.

Show off!

Tell us your secret.

[IN ENGLISH] Shut up.

[IN JAPANESE] Samantha is number two.

Ooh.

They understand how to sell a dream.

[IN ENGLISH] Unlike some of you...

as we can all see
by this skinny envelope.

No table requests, no away-dates,

because you have the grace of a peasant.

You stink of desperation.

Hey.

Enough.

Polina.

I hate him. I hate that man.

Why didn't you tell me anything?

Is he still doing this sh*t?
Has he done anything else?

I do what he wants, or I'm gone.

Then f*ck him. Go do something else.

Do what?

I have no degree, no experience.

My visa expired.

And my family needs money.

And I am their money.

- Without this job...
- Listen.

Listen, you're gonna be okay.

I got you. Tell me next time.

Okay?

I'm gonna tell you something.

I'm gonna start my own club.

I have money saved, but I can only...

I can only bring a few girls.

Look at me. Tell no one.

[SPEAKING JAPANESE]

Is this Dolce & Gabbana?

Who f*cking cares?

[IN ENGLISH] Look, Malee.
Some dresses fell off a truck.

- I'll buy you one.
- Really?

Really? Really?

[IN JAPANESE] I'm not paying
that much for this.

Prices are non-negotiable.

You didn't pay a f*cking thing.

Listen, bitch, you pay what we say.

That's not right.

Hey!

Treat these ladies with respect.

She can't talk to me like that...

Unhappy girls means unhappy clients

means less money kicked up to Oyabun.

You think that's fine?

So shut the f*ck up.

Hai.

Ladies, our apologies.
Prices will be reasonable.

[SOFT INDISTINCT CHATTER, LAUGHTER]

[IN ENGLISH] None are right for you.

Oh, you know my style?

I know what will look good.

Come.

Try it on.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

It's not bad.

Sold. I'll take it.

It's not for sale.

Take it off, and bring it back.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[SCOFFS]

[LAUGHTER, INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[SPEAKING JAPANESE]

Come with me to host club tonight.

- I'm gonna go home.
- Please?

You should go home.

You don't want me to be happy?

I'll see you tomorrow.

Okay, fine.

- Bye.
- Bye.

Hey.

You got somewhere you gotta be?

- Hungry?
- Yeah.

- You want to get some food?
- Yeah.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

How'd you end up working at Onyx?

[POP MUSIC PLAYING]

This the interview part of the dinner?

I'm just curious about, you know,

how you ended up doing what you do.

Well, um...

I started teaching English,

and then I decided to do something

that gave me time
to pursue my interests.

Which are?

Which are...

f*cking Tokyo.

Bars, karaoke bars,

gorgeous onsens, way too much manga.

- f*cking love manga.
- Really?

Yeah. "Dragon Head"?

So good.

Do you know " th Century Boys"?

- Yeah.
- Hmm.

Do you listen to Kahimi Karie?

- Wait, she's f*cking amazing.
- So good.

- You...
- Really good.

"Elastic Girl,"
that's by far my favorite song.

Yeah, that album is super cool.

Yeah, it's like,
the beginning of that song

with the harmonica and the guitar...

rad.

- You listen to that?
- Yeah.

Wow.

Okay, ask me.

What?

Dude, you've been wanting

to ask since we sat down.

Don't be a p*ssy now, Mr. Meicho.

Mr. Big Hotshot Reporter Man.

Okay, fine, if you want me
to ask you, I'll...

- f*cking ask me.
- Are you a prost*tute?

Like, $ for a hand job.

$ for a blow job.

Grand for a threesome.
Three grand for...

Oh, my God. Wait, so those are...

That's... Those are the real numbers?

Do you think that I would give someone

a hand job for $ ?

Do I look a prost*tute to you?

- No.
- Is that what I look like?

Really sorry if that ruined
something for you.

[IN JAPANESE] You want
anything else? You done?

Two more beers. We'll be here a while.

[IN ENGLISH] I'm just really curious,

and I'm gonna keep digging

until you tell me some more about you.

Yeah, I know.

Okay. What do you want to do?

- Ex-pats origin story?
- Sure.

- Okay, let's do it.
- Let's do it.

Make it quick. seconds or less.

You go first. Ready?

- Okay.
- Go.

My father, who you just
wish would shut up

with the high expectations
and disown me already.

My mom can't accept
that my little sister

is not gonna try to k*ll herself again,

so every call she makes to me
is full of guilt.

So yeah, I think coming here
and trying to make

my own way makes a lot
of sense, don't you?

[WHISTLES] Whoa.

- Not bad.
- Go!

Dad's a judge turned politician,

assumed I'd follow in his footsteps,

expected me to go to law school,

work on his next Senate
campaign, so he's disappointed.

Mom's so hopped up on Vicodin,

I doubt she's noticed I'm gone, so...

yeah, I think making my own
way here makes a lot of sense,

don't you?

Come on.

That's a great story,

but that's not your story.

Tell me one real thing.

I haven't talked to my family
in four years.

[IN JAPANESE] Anything else?

We're still hungry. Surprise us.

We hope Chairman Tanaka
is in good health.

Yes. For a man of eighty,
he has extraordinary stamina.

As you may know,

the upcoming conference...

will include a number
of foreign dignitaries

visiting Tokyo.

So the TMPD would like
to keep things uneventful.

How many we be of assistance?

They didn't drink the tea.

Again.

Oyabun is f*cking us!

Damn it.

I apologize for my rudeness.

Any more talk of this, and I will punish

every one of you.

Your life, your future,
is protected by your Oyabun.

And you question his loyalty?

[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
Three Tozawa-Gumi men arrested.

[IN ENGLISH] Your last tape
was lame and short.

Seriously, what are you
spending time doing

instead of... oh.

Oh! You're getting laid.

I have lost you to "hide the sausage"?

Oh, wait. My bad.

It's still you we're talking about.

I know I made you laugh, pea brain.

Put down your book and call me
every now and then.

I need you, and I miss your face.

[SOFT MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[TOILET FLUSHES]

[IN JAPANESE] Hey, did you
remember to flush this time?

Shut up.

[LAUGHS]

[SIGHS]

Sato likes to f*ck in the bathroom.

He banged that gaijin bitch
from Onyx last night

last night in the toilet.

What the f*ck are you talking about?

I saw you disappear with her
in the back.

To sell her a dress.

[LAUGHS]

Yeah, I'd deny it too.

The bitch is filthy.

[LAUGHTER]

That true, Sato?

Hell, yeah it's true.

She's a whore. She'll f*ck anyplace.

Sato! You gonna take that?

You gonna let him say that?

All I'm saying is...

If I was lying,
he'd f*cking do something.

Oi.

You coming?

[TENSE MUSIC]

[LAUGHTER, INDISTINCT CHATTER]

♪ ♪

- [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
- Whoo!

[ALL CHATTERING EXCITEDLY]

♪ ♪

[GRUNTING]

[ALL YELLING AND CHEERING]

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

♪ ♪

That's enough!

Oi!

You're done now.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Forgive me.

You are no better than a wild beast!

You put one of your own
brothers in the hospital!

What were you thinking?

Do you want to lose your finger?

Forgive me, Oyabun.

Forgive me.

I cannot make up for your loss.

But perhaps...

I can bring you something better.

What do you mean?

[DOG BARKING]

Hello Katagiri-san.

Hello Tengu! Come plant with me!

[CHUCKLES]

Oh, hai.

[LAUGHS]

Jake-san, "he who does not
work, neither shall he eat."

Of course.

Why don't you set your bags down first?

Oh, hai.

[CHILDREN SPEAKING JAPANESE]

[LAUGHTER]

Beautiful.

- Mmm.
- Mmm.

Delicious.

Yummy.

Yummy, right?

[LAUGHTER]

Eat slowly!

It's falling apart!

How long will you stay
in Japan before you go home?

This is my home now.

Thank you. That was delicious.

Girls, your father is very brave.

- We know.
- We know.

And generous.

He did a very kind thing for me.

And I am very grateful.

[CHUCKLES]

[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]

[IN ENGLISH] Your article was good.

What you chose not to say, it was...

Edited brutally.

Then your editor is a man
of wisdom and discretion.

A woman, and yeah.

- She might be.
- Mm.

Where did you get this?

I witnessed a man light
himself on fire with them.

I already interviewed his wife.

He was being threatened.

[IN JAPANESE] "Isn't your
family ashamed of you?

Why aren't you dead?"

[IN ENGLISH] Another man was
stabbed for the same reason.

A loan-sharking business, right?

Yeah, but I cannot pursue it.

- Why?
- It's...

- complicated.
- Complicated?

- It is yakuza business.
- I figured.

But which family or group
within that family...

Almost impossible to know.

Why?

This logo. It's smoke.

These companies move constantly...

Change numbers,
open and close their stores.

So by the time a cop
or reporter finds an address...

It's gone. I know.

I... I saw.

[IN JAPANESE] So how do we find them?

And get them?

All companies get a registration number

when they're established.

No matter how many times
a company moves,

that number doesn't change.

The registration number.

With this you could dig
until you found the man

who started it.

[IN ENGLISH] I can be fired

if I share evidence with a reporter.

I'm sorry.

I need to put my daughters to bed.

[IN JAPANESE] Hey, tengu!

Hmm?

When my father was out,
I removed this from his drawer.

So he has not breached the
National Public Service Act.

But I am very ashamed!

Thanks for the doll!

Thanks.

[EXCITING MUSIC]

[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT
OVER P.A. SYSTEM]

♪ ♪

[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE

[WATER RUNNING]

May I leave a message for him, please?

Yes.

I can meet Detective Soma
anywhere, anytime,

at his convenience.

[IN KOREAN] When is f*cking dinner?

[IN KOREAN] Five minutes!

[IN JAPANESE] Sorry about that.

Ah. Ah, hai.

My name is Emi Maruyama.

Yes.

Thank you so much.

[IN KOREAN] Don't raise your
voice when I'm on the phone!

[IN ENGLISH] And then what did you say?

Oh, my God. No, I had an awful day.

I was with a realtor
for five f*cking hours,

up and down stairs all over Tokyo.

Nothing.

Oh, and you won't believe this.

They say I have to have a guarantor.

Pol, did you borrow my... Oh, no.

I found it. Here it is.

Sorry. I found it.

A guarantor... Uh, a man to say

that I'm good for it to the bank.

Uh, no, I'll be there soon.

Keep an eye on Malee for me.
Ciao, Polina bella.

[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]

[TENSE MUSIC]

[TRAIN RUMBLING]

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]

[IN JAPANESE] Good evening.

For two.

- Two?
- Yes.

- All right.
- Two beers, please.

- Okay.
- Thank you.

[DOOR CLICKS SHUT]

[FOOTSTEPS TAPPING]

Hello.

Welcome.

[IN ENGLISH] Everything all
right back there with that guy?

Which guy?

In the alley.

[IN JAPANESE] You're mistaken.

I was alone.

- [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
- Okay.

[IN JAPANESE] Where's Tin-Tin?

[IN ENGLISH] Running late.
He'll meet us at the cages.

I got something I want to show you guys.

What?

[IN JAPANESE] Thank you.

- [LAUGHTER]
- Pfft!

[IN ENGLISH] Strike!

- [LAUGHS]
- Okay, okay, okay.

[GRUNTS] f*ck.

[IN JAPANESE] I'm expecting
more out of you, American.

[LAUGHS]

[GRUNTS] Pss!

Man, you suck.

Pfft! [LAUGHTER]

[GRUNTS] [LAUGHTER]

[IN ENGLISH] No, the question is...

Is, who's the person behind these

scumbag loan-shark companies?

Who do you think it might be?

Well, I don't know,
but I think that we have

enough information in that folder

to give us a pretty good lead.

You could play for the Hanshin Tigers.

f*ck you very much.

[IN JAPANESE] You're welcome.

[GRUNTS] Whoa.

[IN ENGLISH] Hey!

Damn.

- [GRUNTS]
- Jesus, you ever miss?

What kind of American loves yakuza

but doesn't know how to swing a bat?

[HORNS HONKING]

[TENSE MUSIC]

[IN JAPANESE]
Two more swings and it's yours.

Not interested. Baseball is prosaic.

What can I do...

[IN ENGLISH] You're playing. Come on.

[IN JAPANESE] No.

Why not?

[IN ENGLISH] He doesn't know
how to have fun.

- Yeah, you don't.
- No, come on, no.

- Don't be a party pooper.
- What?

[IN JAPANESE] Who is Aderu-stein?

No one here with that name.

You come with us.

[IN ENGLISH] I'm sorry?

[IN JAPANESE] We're gonna
take a drive. Now.

[IN ENGLISH] I'm telling you,
I don't speak Japanese.

[IN JAPANESE] We told you
to come with us!

Who the f*ck are you?

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[IN JAPANESE] Okay! Okay!

Okay, I'll come!

Okay!

[GASPING]

My jacket...

- [IN ENGLISH] You okay?
- I'm good.

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[IN JAPANESE] Don't follow us.

♪ ♪