Special Talk! Shohei Manabe and Chihuahua Sasaki, “Our Blood Record of Reporting on the Underworld

Enraging the Yakuza

Chihuahua: “ You do your own interviews, but when you hear from people in the underworld, there must be a lot of trouble.

Manabe “ When I first started the serialization of “Ushijima-kun,” it was terrible. When I was interviewing yakuza and semi-gres, they all came from the top. I was called to a cabaret club and made to get drunk, only to wake up to find no one there. When I woke up, no one was there, and they had left me the money and made me pay 200,000 yen. At the time, all of my royalties had gone to pay for drinks for the interview (laughs).

Chihuahua “That’s pretty hard. ……”

Manabe “ There was also a time when I went to a rural area to do an interview and offended the local yakuza. We had no intention to do so, but during the interview process, one yakuza became furious, saying, ‘They have ruined my reputation. It is said that he once killed a man with a sashimi knife, and he even had a terrifying nickname.

Chihuahua said, “ That’s too scary. How did that go down?”

Manabe “ I sent him many letters of apology and managed to get him to meet with me, so I went there in the height of summer wearing a suit and apologized in person. When I talked to him, he understood the situation, but if I had left the dispute unresolved, of course I would not have been able to draw it in the manga. It was one of the worst episodes in my experience. Chihuahua, did you ever encounter any trouble while conducting interviews in Kabukicho?”

Chihuahua : “ Actually, I haven’t experienced much trouble myself. However, I have the feeling that I have come into contact with a great variety of people in the course of my coverage. For example, there was a girl who was taking a class while waiting at a soapland because her university lecture was remoted due to the COVID-19 crisis. It was interesting to hear that she was in a hurry when the phone rang in her room just as she needed to speak.

Manabe: “ He’s tough (laughs).”

Chihuahua “ I am also interested in middle-aged men, and I once went undercover to a dating cafe to interview one. There was a man who said he wanted to buy me for 20,000 yen, and I asked him why 20,000 yen. I asked him why he wanted to buy me for 20,000 yen. He was dissing me so badly, but he said he wanted to buy it, so I was intrigued to know what he was thinking (laughs). I would like to write about what middle-aged men have to deal with someday. Do you have any themes or subjects that you would like to draw on in the future, Mr. Manabe?”

Manabe: “ Right now I am interested in ‘wealthy people. I talked to a man who owns 40 buildings, and he looks like an ordinary man. He doesn’t dress up in brand-name clothes, and he splits the cost of meals.

Chihuahua: “ That’s totally different from the general image of a rich man, isn’t it?

Manabe “ Yes. On the other hand, there are people who gather girls at an abandoned school in the countryside and let them have an athletic meet in the nude. It’s interesting.”

Chihuahua: “ I look forward to reading it in manga form. In terms of future subjects, I am interested in ‘overseas migrant workers. Perhaps because of the recession in Japan, it is becoming more and more common for girls to go abroad to make a living. There are girls who can speak English well who spend two months visiting American brothels, make a lot of money, and then come back home.

Manabe: “ After the shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, I have a feeling that I want to depict what people in their 40s and 50s are going through. However, I still cannot depict subjects that are beyond my limits. It is difficult for me to depict subjects that I cannot fully understand, such as religion.

The duo’s pursuit of realism in their coverage of the underworld will continue in the future.

From the August 12, 2022 issue of “FRIDAY