Tokyo Swindlers, a novel that is the basis for a new Netflix Japan series, is a contemporary Japanese crime thriller that, according to the publisher, unravels an intricate web of deception and greed inspired by recent land-fraud scandals. “Grieving the tragic loss of his family, Takumi is drawn into a real estate swindle masterminded by notorious land scammer Harrison Yamanaka. The target is an unprecedented $70-million property. Detective Tatsu, nearing retirement, discovers Harrison’s strange connection to Takumi’s past. As the high-stakes fraud unfolds, the convergence of motives leads to a shocking outcome in this intense game of deception versus truth.” Following is an excerpt republished with the publishers’ permission:
The property in question was a plot of land in southwest central Tokyo located near Ebisu Station. Its area was a little less than a tenth of an acre. The sales price of some 700 million yen had already been agreed upon with Mike Home. The price per tsubo [3.3 squre meters or 35.6 square feet] was just under 7 million yen, quite a bargain when one considered the per-tsubo market price in the area was over 10 million yen.
The Shimazaki house was a two-story vacant building constructed more than fifty years before. The trees and plants in the garden were unkempt and overgrown. Despite its universally desirable prime location in the heart of the capital, there had been no complicated circumstances regarding rights, as the antiquated edifice, unmortgaged, had been inhabited by a lone elderly person.
The owner’s unwillingness to sell the land notwithstanding, the property was constantly on the radar of real estate agents specializing in this part of the city.
The news that Ken’ichi Shimazaki had moved into a senior citizens’ home had not reached Takumi and his fellow swindlers until the end of the previous year, some six months later. Immediately they began scurrying about, making meticulous preparations and disseminating bogus information in every direction. Two months thereafter, they received word through a real estate broker that Mike Home was interested in buying the property.
Posing now as the seller’s agent, Takumi had launched negotiations, urging Mike Home to make the purchase, pointing to the substantial discount and hinting that there were many other potential buyers. Using a surreptitiously made duplicate key to show the property for inspection, Takumi was quickly able to conclude a sales contract and move toward settling the account that very day.
The real estate company’s major focus was on the development and sale of studio apartments intended for investment. Launched seven years before, it had grown rapidly and now had more than sixty employees. Originally a real estate brokerage, it had evolved into a sales agency and exclusive wholesaler. This was the first time it was to develop its own properties.
Tokyo Swindlers by Ko Shinjo, translated by Charles De Wolf. Shueisha, publication date November 12, 2024. Print $18.95, ebook $9.95
The goal was to be listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and undertaking in-house development was a steppingstone in that direction. With that in mind, Mike Home had for some time been looking in Tokyo for a suitable condominium site but had been unable to find one in the heart of the city, where competition was fierce and where there was already a surfeit of development. So, when news got out that Ken’ichi Shimazaki’s prime site in Ebisu was for sale, it was no wonder that Mike Home would be most eager to pursue the deal.
If, for example, one were to construct a condominium on the site – based on an 80% building-to-land ratio, 400% floor-area ratio, 45-foot frontage road, and maximum-permitted 130-foot height – one would likely end up with 300-square-foot studios for single persons as well as some thirty larger units for families, all conforming to local ward regulations, even including the common areas. Here where the market rental price was over 20,000 yen per tsubo, an annual rental income of over 90 million yen could be expected when the property was fully occupied, and, after deducting expenses, the annual rental income would settle in at around 80 million yen. Assuming a yield of 3.5%, the condominium’s appraised value would thus be more than 2 billion yen.
The president might well have been painfully aware of an either-or: all the various benefits that a signing of the contract would bring on the one hand versus, on the other, the losses the company would incur if the effort were to fail. The lack of any apparent sign of caution on his part concerning the confirmation of the documents’ authenticity strongly suggested a desire to avoid upsetting the would-be seller in any way that might cause him to cancel the transaction.
Takumi, who had unknowingly been holding his breath, slowly exhaled through his nose. At this point, all that was left to be done was to transfer the remaining funds.
As per the contract, this was a bilateral transaction between the buyer and seller. The balance of nearly 600 million yen – the deposit and the interim payment having been deducted – was to be transferred from Mike Home’s account to Ken’ich Shimazaki. Of course, the money would not be transferred to the account of the real Ken’ichi Shimazaki, who was utterly unaware that his house was being sold.
Through various tricks, including the forging of a driver’s license, Takumi and his team had set up a fictitious bank account, with different Chinese characters representing Shimazaki’s name. The down payment and interim payment had already been transferred to that account, all without arousing the slightest suspicion at Mike Home.
Ko Shinjo was born in Tokyo in 1983. He made his debut in 2012 with Narrow House, which won the 36th Subaru Literature Award. In 2020, Shinjo’s book Jimenshitachi – which has been adapted into Netflix’s live-action Tokyo Swindlers – was nominated for the 23rd Haruhiko Oyabu Prize.
Charles De Wolf, a resident of Japan for more than 40 years, is a translator of fiction and nonfiction as well as scholarly works. His English-translated works include In Pursuit of Lavender by Akiko Itoyama, ME by Hoshino Tomiyuki, and the forthcoming Eclipse by Hirano Keiichiro. He is currently a professor emeritus at Keio University in Tokyo, where he held faculty positions for more than 20 years.