REIWA JIGOKUHEN - Chaotic Disturbance of Reiwa Era

Chapter 29 - Communication

Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo: Prime Minister's Office

"Uhh, the ham countermeasures?"

The office of the deputy head of the task force. Muto, who received the proposal, asked with squinted eyes.

"Certainly meat will be a valuable commodity in the future... but why is this?"

"It's not that ham, Deputy Director."

Tatsuaki Akizuki, a member of the task force secretariat, laughed jokingly. He was from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

"Ahh... you're joking? My bad, my bad."

Muto tugged the bridge of his nose several times. It relieved some of the eyestrain.

Ham, in this case, means amateur radio. The word also refers to the public security police, who seem to be destroying North Korean organizations and undercover agents that they have scouted out beforehand, but they are not really involved at the moment.

"So, what's the problem with amateur radio?"

"Nowadays, amateur radio operators are communicating with foreign countries in various ways. During the war, amateur radio was sealed off everywhere, so there is almost no response..."

"You are saying that there is a risk of information leakage?"

"Yes. We cannot make that determination on our own."

"I see."

Muto craned his head a little.

The fact that private communications are unilaterally transmitted to the military of a belligerent country is not a very pleasant state of affairs. However, Japan had already deciphered almost all of the Allied radio communications, and its superiority was unassailable. In addition, even if some information was leaked, it would not seem to have much effect. For example, it is real that their mainstay fighter jets fly above Mach 2, but no one would believe it if an amateur radio operator told them. On the other hand, if they believed it for some reason, that might be the time to establish communication.

"Certainly, this is an agenda that requires multifaceted analysis, including various defense and diplomatic issues."

After prefacing his remarks with that, Muto continued.

"In my opinion, however, I think it is okay to leave it alone to some extent. After all, they don't know us at all, and they think we are still the same old Japanese Empire... that something is wrong, and it might be to our advantage just to arouse such suspicions. Moreover, we can understand exactly how it was communicated and evaluated."

"On the other hand, isn't it possible that they could misinterpret some information?"

"In that sense, any information that is originally sent out is probably suspect information."

Muto sniffed a bit, thought for a moment, and then spoke in a somewhat joking tone.

"After all, in the current situation, it is impossible for two people who know each other to communicate with each other across the border."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ota Ward, Tokyo: Hotel adjacent to Haneda Airport Terminal

"Is this really Haneda...?"

General Okamura, wearing cloth-polished round glasses, took another look outside from his hotel room. Haneda was a hub for civil aviation and, after the outbreak of the war, for transporting personnel to various locations, and there were quite a few transport planes here. However, in front of him were dozens of huge planes, each of which was so large that it could carry bombs equivalent to 100 heavy bombs, resting on its wings. Moreover, Colonel Kurihara told him that all of them were passenger and cargo planes. Furthermore, it was said that every citizen takes an airline flight at least once a year for work or sightseeing. A society with a super transportation network of that magnitude... that was as far as Okamura was thinking before stopped. He might pass out like Nishiura, the chief of staff.