Selected Words from Aibou TV Season 3 Episode 9 - Undercover Investigation~Please find my boyfriend!(潜入捜査〜私の彼を探して!)

Starting from this episode, I will include and define several words which were used somewhere in the episode I posted earlier that day. As I watch through these Aibou episodes again, I am hoping to use this opportunity to better acquaint myself with the Japanese language, as the name of this blog "The Scaffolding" implies.

Though I looked up these words to better understand these episodes, I would be happy if any other viewers of the series find them useful.

I have asked, looked up, and collected these definitions from various sources including my family members, Google translate, the Wikipedia (English and the Japanese versions), and other various sources available on the Internet. Any mistakes in these entries are my own, and I apologize in advance if anyone finds these errors.

I considered including these word/definition pairs with the episode summaries but decided that it may be better to make separate blog entries to keep the summary posts short.

Words

setsubi kanriin(設備管理員) - equipment manager

kyokusa seiryoku(極左勢力) - leftist extremists

seiten no hekireki(青天の霹靂) - bolt from the blue, something completely unexpected

hanakin(ハナ金) - short for "hana no kinyoubi(花の金曜日)," similar to the English phrase TGIF(thank God it's Friday)

yakusatsu(扼殺) - death by strangulation

denka no hōtō(伝家の宝刀) - last resort

nicchi mo sacchi mo ikanakunaru(二進も三進もいかなくなる) - cornered, trapped

kajō bōei(過剰防衛) - excessive self-defense

Aibou TV Season 3 Episode 9 - Undercover Investigation~Please Find My Boyfriend!(潜入捜査〜私の彼を探して!)

Subtitle: Undercover Investigation~Please Find My Boyfriend!(潜入捜査〜私の彼を探して!)

Superintendent Onoda sends the Tokumeigakair pair on an undercover mission to investigate the disappearance of a police officer who was working undercover at an IT venture company Dr@gon using the alias Tatsuya Morimoto(森本 達也). He was investigating Seigo Kitagata(北潟 誠吾), the company president, for funding left extremist organizations. Shortly after the Tokumeigakari pair infiltrate the company, a package containing the missing officer's left arm is sent to President Kitagata from Morimoto himself. Why did Morimoto send his arm to the president and for what purpose?

Characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Seigo Kitagata(北潟 誠吾) - 42 year old president of an IT venture company "Dr@gon." His personal assets are worth several billion yen. He is rumored to have clandestine connections to far left groups.

Kōken Onoda(小野田 公顕) - The superintendent supervisor sends the Tokumeigakari pair on an undercover mission into the company Dr@gon to investigate the missing security intelligency officer using the pseudonym Tatsuya Morimoto.

Tatsuya Morimoto(森本 達也) - The pseudonym used by the employee who went missing about a month ago. In reality, he is an undercover public security intelligence officer(公安 kōan).

Kantarō Katsuragi(葛城 貫太郎) - He is a security guard in the building where Dr@gon's office is located.

Satoko Shitara(設楽 聡子) - Tatsuya's lover. She reported that Tatsuya was missing to the Moto-Azabu police station(元麻布諸).

Rokurō Kakuta(角田 六郎) - Superintendent Kakuta reels in Tatsuya's burned body while he was fishing with his subordinates Sergeant Ōki and Sergeant Komatsi.

Hajime Kameda(亀田 創) - The pseudonym Sergeant Kaoru used when he infiltrated Dr@gon.

Aibou TV Season 3 Episode 8 - Kidnapping Concerto(誘拐協奏曲)

Subtitle: Kidnapping Concerto(誘拐協奏曲)

 Inspector Ukyō and Sergeant Kaoru visit a company called Mail Order World Next Life(通販ワールドネキストライフ) to investigate a claim that another company, CharPlaza(キャラぷらざ) illegally sells products using the Mail Order World Next Life's image character. While the Tokumeigakari pair are in the company office listening to these claims, the current company president Shinichi Imai(今井 進一) receives a phone call from someone claiming that he or she has the former president Yūichirō Maeda(前田 勇一郎) hostage. Unless the company prepares a sum of five hundred million dollars, the kidnapper will kill former President Maeda. Mr. Maeda has been missing for seven years, and he was just legally pronounced dead. Inspector Ukyō suspects an inside accomplice. Who is the accomplice, and what is the truth behind this suspiciously timed kidnapping?

Other characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Shinichi Imai(今井 進一) - The current company president. He used to be called "Shinchan" by the former president. He was the company's managing director seven years ago.

Fusae Maeda(前田 房江) - Maeda's wife. She has been using company funds to help homeless people.

Mitsuo Honma(本間 実男) - Senior managing director. Seven years ago, he leaked the information that former president Maeda was having an affair, hoping to force Maeda to step down so that he would become the next company president.

Takeshi Iseya(井勢谷 隆) - Managing director who suffers from panic disorder. He was the accounting manager seven years ago. Since then he has refrained from ingesting anything with caffeine and has been cutting his own hair, letting his hair grow long in between these haircuts.

Keisuke Noro(野呂 啓介) - Secretary who joined the company after the incident seven years ago.

Taeko Sasahara(佐々原 妙子) - Largest shareholder, representative director, and Maeda's lover.

Yūichirō Maeda(前田 勇一郎) - Founder and former company president of Mail Order World
Next Life(通販ワールドネキストライフ) who vanished seven years ago. The former president was just legally declared dead in absentia when a kidnapper calls the company to tell the senior management that he or she has taken former President Maeda hostage.

Hamaguchi(浜口) - A member or the special criminal investigation clerk(特殊犯捜査係).

Aibou TV Season 3 Episode 7 - The Woman Who Eats Dreams(夢を喰う女)

Subtitle: The Woman Who Eats Dreams(夢を喰う女)

 Two recently-retired men are found dead from a single thrust of a knife. In both cases, a blank book was found near their bodies. What is the connection between the murders, and why were these men killed?

This episode was aired only once in Japan. After receiving complaints from librarians all over Japan that they would never give out patron information without a warrant, TV Asahi issued a public apology and never aired this episode again. This episode is even left out from the DVD collection. Episode 7 of Season 3 is considered a "missing" or "lost episode" from the Aibou series.

Other characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Akinori Yuasa(湯浅 昭則) - Former permanent secretary of finance who was murdered. He had a Setagaya South Public Library (世田谷区立南図書館) card in his possession.

Keigo Yao(八尾 圭吾) - Second murder victim, 67 years old. Former executive director of Tatsumi Development(タツミ開発) who came up with the company mascot Tacchan (see Season 1 Episode 9). He also had a Setagaya South Public Library (世田谷区立南図書館) card in his possession.

Nobuo Chinen(知念 信夫) - Born in Okinawa in 1946. He is the man who turned himself in to the police for Iwasa's murder. It turns out that he habitually turns himself in "confessing" to crimes just for attention. Later he approaches the police again with the murder weapon in hand...

Megumi Tsuijmura(辻村 めぐみ) - The "biographer" librarian who listens to old men's lives so that she can write their biographies.

Akira Ōtaki(大滝 亮) - A frequent patron of Setagaya South Public Library (世田谷区立南図書館). He always sits in one particular seat at a particular table in the library.

Naohisa Shimizu(清水 直久) - One of the men who is dictating his life to Megumi.

Yōichi Saeki(佐伯要一) - Librarian at Setagaya South Public Library (世田谷区立南図書館).

Shinshō Kokontei(古今亭 志ん生) - Rakugo performer who lived from 1890 to 1973. CSI Yonezawa returns Kokontei's autobiography "Slug Fleet(なめくじ艦隊)" to Inspector Ukyō.

Aibou TV Season 3 Episode 6 - The Third Man(第三の男)

Subtitle: The Third Man(第三の男)

 This is the first time we see Lieutenant Kōhei Jinkawa(陣川 公平). Although he is an accountant, he longs to investigate cases and has committed many wanted criminals' faces to memory. However, he misidentified and arrested two people by mistake, and as a result, was reassigned to the Tokumeigakari. On his second day working as a Tokumeigakari member, Lieutenant Jinkawa shows Inspector Ukyō and Sergeant Kaoru a copy of a wanted poster of a lady jewelry thief whom he thinks has moved into a room right across from his apartment. Lieutenant Jinkawa asks Inspector Ukyō if he would look into this situation and determine whether she is, in fact the thief in question. With no other cases to work on at the moment, Inspector Ukyō agrees, and the trio starts a stakeout at Lieutenant Jinkawa's apartment. Did Inspector Jinkawa finally identify the right person this time?

Other characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Kōhei Jinkawa(陣川 公平) - Police accountant who is too eager to do investigative work. He is demoted and sent to the Tokumeigakari department as punishment for arresting the wrong person by mistake twice. He comes from Neyagawa City(寝屋川市) in Osaka.

Yoshinobu Yagi(八木 吉伸) - Wanted criminal. Lieutenant Jinkawa mistook one man for this criminal.

Haruko Chiba(千葉 ハル子) - The woman the Tokumeigakari is investigating. She is a student at a student at a vocational school and works at the Tavern Enya(えん家).

Hiromi Ikeda(池田 宏美) - Haruko's coworker at Tavern Enya(えん家).

Yuri Matsuura(松浦 由里) - Haruko's coworker at Tavern Enya(えん家).

Hiromu Oda(尾田 ヒロム) - The son of the owner of the mansion where Haruko lives.

Kōta Fukuyama(福山 浩太) - Haruko's fiancée.

Aibou TV Season 3 Episode 5 - The actress~part 2~(女優〜後編〜)

Subtitle: The Actress~Part 2~(女優〜後編〜)

 This is the second episode of a two part mini-series.

Yūzuki Komine(小峰 夕月) made a surprise announcement to the public: she is going to marry Shinjirō Matsunaga(松永 慎二郎) even though her common law husband was murdered just a few days ago. The Tokumeigakari pair question the actress about Furuya's script's draft notes hidden under a newly pasted wallpaper. The most recent plot from those notes described a murder method eerily similar to the way Furuya was killed. Komine claims that Furuya was the only one who used that bathroom in the house, and she was never in there.

Unfortunately, the CSIs were unable to find any evidence that Komine was in that bathroom, so Inspector Ukyō uses a bit of trickery to convince Komine to admit that she pasted wallpaper over Furuya's notes in the bathroom, but she still refuses to admit that she murdered Furuya.

Inspector Ukyō and Sergeant Kaoru eventually uncover the shocking reason why Komine and Matsunaga murdered Furuya.

At the end of the episode, the Tokumeigakari pair return to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Superintendent Supervisor Onoda convinces Chief Inspector General Isao Kisanuki(木佐貫 功) to back off in exchange for assigning Kisao to replace Hideyuki Kagaya(加賀谷 秀之) as the prime minister's secretary.

Other character(s) appearing in the story

Kikuo Kaionji(海音寺 菊生) - Sergeant Kaoru's new boss.

Aibou TV Season 3 Episode 4 - The Actress~Part 1~(女優〜前編〜)

Subtitle: The Actress~Part 1~(女優〜前編〜)

 This is the first episode of a two part mini-series.

As a result of Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzaku's orders from the previous episode, Inspector Ukyō has been fired from his job.

Actress Yūzuki Komine(小峰 夕月), along with her lover and manager Shinjirō Matsunaga(松永 慎二郎), shoot and murder her common law husband Hikoroku Furuya(古谷 彦六), a screenwriter of mystery shows, by reenacting a part of the episode Furuya was currently writing.

Even though Inspector Ukyō is out of a job, he realizes that whoever broke into the Furuya residence oddly acted like a robber(someone who steals by force) and a thief(someone who just steals) during the break-in. Sergeant Kaoru reports this to his new boss Kaionji, who decides to hire Inspector Ukyō at the Kōjimachi West Police Department(麹町東署).

Can the Tokumeigakari pair recover and catch the actress and her manager?

Other characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Haruki Ōkōchi(大河内 春樹) - General Inspector Ōkōchi explains the situation to Sergeant Kaoru, that Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzaku still managed to land his final blow through Isao Kisanuki(木佐貫 功), who was hoping to use his connection to the Chief Cabinet Secretary to make his way into politics.

Kōken Onoda(小野田 公顕) - "Former" Superintendent Supervisor Onoda tries to get Isao Kisanuki(木佐貫 功) to reverse his decision to fire Inspector Ukyō, but Isao Kisanuki(木佐貫 功) tells Kyōyō Kachō(教養課長) Onoda that he won't be listening to Onoda, since his current position doesn't have much power. "Kyōyō Kachō" Onoda, however, tells Kisanuki that this was just a temporary measure and he will be returning to his former job as the Superintendent Supervisor.

Isao Kisanuki(木佐貫 功) - Chief inspector general(主席監察官) of the National Police Agency. He decides to go through with Inspector Ukyō's firing even though Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzaku was arrested in the previous episode.

Todoroki(轟) - Producer for the Central TV Station(中央テレビ)'s second production unit who insists that Furuya must have been close to finishing a script for the latest episode of a drama mystery.

Kikuo Kaionji(海音寺 菊生) - Sergeant Kaoru's new boss.

Aibou TV Season 3 Episode 3 - The Two-Headed Devil~a Chain of Vice(双頭の悪魔III〜悪徳の連鎖)

Subtitle: The Two-Headed Devil~a Chain of Vice(双頭の悪魔III〜悪徳の連鎖)

 This is the final episode of a three part mini-series.

The Tokumeigakari pair rush to find Aide Sawamura's murderers as the clock ticks closer to Inspector Ukyō's firing. Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzaku appears to have a solid alibi while Representative Hinako declines to reveal where she was at the time of the murder. Who else could have killed Aide Sawamura and why?

Other characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Keisuke Shikatebukuro(鹿手袋 啓介) - He leaves the hospital with Miwako at the end of the episode where Sergeant Kaoru was waiting...

Hinako Katayama(片山 雛子) - She refuses to answer where she was the night Aide Sawamura was murdered... until the Tokumeigakari pair corner Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzaku. She also receives a call from the man who attacked Shikatebukuro at the end of the episode.

Yokota(横田) - A member of the House of Representatives who supposedly had dinner with Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzaku at the time of Aide Sawamura's death.

Yonezō Setouchi(瀬戸内 米蔵) - He receives a letter from Komatsubara. After talking to Representative Hinako about the contents of the letter and thinking long and hard about the letter, he tears it up, later cursing and confessing that decision to Inspector Ukyō.

Yōichi Katayama(片山 擁一) - Representative Hinako's deceased father. He was former Minister of Justice Setouchi's good friend.

Takehiko Suzaku(朱雀 武比古) - The powerful Chief Cabinet Secretary has a solid alibi. Will he crush Inspector Ukyō and the Tokumeigakari?

Hideyuki Kagaya(加賀谷 秀之) - The prime minister's secretary. The Tokumeigakari pair question him after making little progress investigating Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzaku and Representative Katayama.

Kunio Ōyagi(大八木 邦生) - The prime minister's secretary.

Katori(香取) - The prime minister's secretary. Secretary Kagaya tells the Tokumeigakari pair that he was drinking with Secretary Katori the night Aide Sawamura was killed.

Hisashige Sawamura(沢村 久重) - Prime minister's aide who supposedly committed suicide but whose death is looking more and more like a murder.

Komatsubara(小松原) - He worked as a secretary for both Katayamas (father and daughter), but committed suicide at the end of the previous episode (repeated at the start of this episode).

Kikuo Kaionji(海音寺 菊生) - Sergeant Kaoru's new boss.

Kōken Onoda(小野田 公顕) - He calls Secretary Kagaya shortly after the Tokumeigakari pair drop by his residence and question him about his alibi.

Aibou TV Season 3 Episode 2 - The Two-Headed Devil~the Fallen Angel(双頭の悪魔II〜堕天使)

Subtitle: The Two-Headed Devil~the Fallen Angel(双頭の悪魔II〜堕天使)

 This is the middle episode of a three part mini-series.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzaku attempts to end the investigation into Aide Sawamura's death by demoting, firing, and putting pressure on those involved in the investigation.

In spite of those pressures, Inspector Ukyō continues his investigation, tracking down information about the wiretapping incident from Shikatebukuro to Teruyama and finally to the prime minister's secretaries. Once the secretaries confirm that the Prime Minister's Official Residence was wiretapped, Inspector Ukyō next investigates to determine if Aide Sawamura really committed suicide. Sergeant Kaoru, warned by General Inspector Ōkōchi that Inspector Ukyō is about to get fired, rushes back from his new post to help the inspector solve the case before the police department fires the inspector.

Along the way, they hear a surprising rumor - Representative Hinako is Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzaku's lover. When confronted, Representative Hinako denies this rumor, but questioning Representative Hinkako leads to the real culprit behind Shikatebukuro's stabbing. A shocking end concludes the middle part of the three-part story.

Characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Keisuke Shikatebukuro(鹿手袋 啓介) - Miwako is taking care of him during his stay in the hospital. He explains to Inspector Ukyō how he found out that the Prime Minister's Official Residence was wiretapped.

Hinako Katayama(片山 雛子) - She denies the rumor that she is Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzaku's lover, and is surprised to find out that one of her subordinates was involved in Shikatebukuro's stabbing because of this rumor.

Takehiko Suzaku(朱雀 武比古) - The powerful Chief Cabinet Secretary goes on a warpath, demoting and firing anyone who is reinvestigating his connection to Aide Sawamura's death.

Hideyuki Kagaya(加賀谷 秀之) - The prime minister's secretary.

Kunio Ōyagi(大八木 邦生) - The prime minister's secretary. He voices his suspicion about the official conclusion that Aide Sawamura committed suicide to the Tokumeigakari pair.

Hisashige Sawamura(沢村 久重) - Prime minister's aide who supposedly committed suicide.

Komatsubara(小松原) - He worked as a secretary for both Katayamas (father and daughter).

Kikuo Kaionji(海音寺 菊生) - Sergeant Kaoru's new boss.

Teruyama(照山) - Miwako's senpai at Teito Newspaper who keeps track of political news at the Prime Minister's Official Residence.

Kōken Onoda(小野田 公顕) - The Chief Cabinet Secretary demotes him for helping the former Minister of Justice Setouchi.