Then, the bad news snowballed.
Every day brought more anxiety, and Fusajiro found himself waking in the middle of the night from nightmares of losing everything—his money, antiques, properties, and land—all gone. He would awaken feeling utterly powerless.
Finally, the latest report arrived. Opening theGlobal Tis, the front-page headline struck him like a bolt of lightning.
"SEC Reports Hans Pharmaceuticals' Total Collapse: Stock Plunges to $0.43, Down 260x from Its Peak. Experts Say Recovery Is Impossible, Leaving Investors Penniless."
"The hardest-hit victims are several financial investnt firms that heavily purchased Hans Pharmaceuticals shares. Their combined losses are estimated to exceed $400 million. Many of these funds reportedly ca from Japanese investors."
Fusajiro's eyes bulged.
His chest tightened, his breathing beca labored, and dizziness swept over him. The world seed to spin.
He slowly collapsed.
By the ti his family found him, Fusajiro was gone.
While grieving their father's death, the Abe family was struck by an even harsher reality: their father had mortgaged the entire family's assets to financial firms. Following the investnt failure, they would soon be evicted from their ho.
What would beco of the once-glorious Abe family? Were they destined for the streets?
The Inoue Family
Inoue Yuichiro, in his forties, was the son of a WWII veteran who had served as a colonel in the invasion of many Asian countries. His father had plundered wealth, resources, and antiques during the war, which the family used to live comfortably after his death on the battlefield. Yuichiro even founded his own trading company.
When Japan's investnt craze began, Yuichiro joined the frenzy on a friend's recomndation. He mortgaged his valuables, real estate, land, and even his company, raising over $400,000 for investnt.
For a ti, he was lost in dreams of great wealth.
Today's newspaper shattered that dream. Learning that the financial firms had failed, Yuichiro leaped to his feet in panic. "Impossible! This can't be true!"
Refusing to believe his investnt was gone, he rushed to the investnt company for answers.
Arriving there, he found hundreds of people gathered outside the firm, with more arriving by the minute.
"Bring out your manager and explain if our investnts are truly lost! Did you put everything into Hans Pharmaceuticals?" soone shouted angrily.
"I want my money back! Return my investnt now!" yelled another.
"Where's the manager? Get them out here to explain!" The crowd grew increasingly agitated.
But no matter how angry they beca, the firm's Japanese security guards stood firm, barring entry to the building. None of the Arican financial managers made an appearance.
Soon, a few journalists arrived, capturing the chaos with caras and video recorders.
That night, ABC Japan aired a report on the incident:
"Collapse of U.S.-Based Hans Pharmaceuticals Sparks Panic in Japan: Investnt Firms Face Massive Losses."
"Several Japanese financial firms heavily invested in Hans Pharmaceuticals shares, resulting in failed investnts. Angry citizens gathered outside the firms' offices, demanding the return of their money, leading to unrest."
"To maintain order, the U.S. Far East Command deployed soldiers to patrol the streets, dispersing the crowd."
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"When interviewed, representatives of the investnt firms expressed regret, stating that they, too, suffered massive losses—far greater than those of the individual investors."
"As for refunds, that's out of the question. All investors signed contracts agreeing to the terms of managed investnts, where gains and losses are borne by the investors. Before investing, we clearly reminded everyone:'Investnts carry risks; caution is advised when entering the market.'We urge investors to remain calm."
The Scene at Tōnichi Bank Headquarters
Suddenly, a commotion broke out below the building. Soone pointed to the rooftop and shouted, "Soone's about to jump! It looks like President Tōjō!"
A crowd quickly gathered, craning their necks to see the figure standing on the seventh-floor rooftop.
Though it was far, they could make out his face—it was indeed Tōjō Kotarō, the president of Tōnichi Bank.
"What happened to the president?" soone asked.
"It seems he failed in his investnts. Rumor has it he raised several million dollars and invested them in those Arican financial firms. Now, the investnts failed, and the losses are impossible to cover."
"Is the president going to commit suicide?"
"It looks like it."
At that mont, several senior executives rushed out of the bank building. The vice president looked up and shouted, "President, please calm down! It hasn't co to that yet!"
Tōjō glanced down, his gaze hollow and empty.
Whoosh!
He leaped.
"Aahhh!"
Screams erupted from the crowd below.
Thud!
A pool of blood quickly ford in front of the bank's main doors. The once-dignified president of Tōnichi Bank now lay in a grotesquely twisted position, surrounded by splattered blood.
He was motionless.
Dead.
In life, no matter how powerful or admired you are, death reduces you to nothing but rotting flesh. Onlookers stared at the scene, feeling only disgust and fear.
The vice president stared at Tōjō's lifeless body, not with sadness but with a mix of anger and frustration. Grinding his teeth, he cursed silently:
"You took the easy way out, leaving this ss for to clean up. What am I supposed to do now? You selfish bastard!"
A Wave of Suicides
In the following days, Japan's suicide rate skyrocketed.
So hanged themselves.So inhaled gas.So jumped from buildings.So drowned in the sea.
Body recovery teams worked tirelessly.
Governnt Crisis Talks
The widespread panic naturally alard the Japanese governnt. The Pri Minister and Cabinet mbers held an ergency eting to discuss counterasures.
This investnt craze had touched nearly every corner of society, involving tens of thousands of people and billions of dollars.
To put things in perspective, Japan's total foreign exchange reserves amounted to only $400–500 million. It was only thanks to the efforts of Hardy's special envoy to Japan—revitalizing the economy through industrial and entertainnt ventures, along with logistics support for the Korean Peninsula conflict—that Japan's economy had shown any signs of recovery.
"Do you think those investnt firms were involved in Hans Pharmaceuticals' fraud?" one cabinet minister speculated.
The coordinated buying of Hans Pharmaceuticals shares by these firms did seem suspicious.
"I think we need to investigate these firms to determine whether they engaged in fraudulent activities. If they did, we might be able to recover so losses for the affected investors," another minister suggested.
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