Buzz
One day, a menacing stranger blocks your path. Then you realize you've been observed for a while...
'What's the longest surveillance you've conducted?' Kurokawa sits in the tent, gazing into the void, a cigarette dangling from his hand, pondering for a moment. 'Two days,' Kurokawa says with hesitation, as if uncertain of his own words. 'If you wait long enough, you'll eventually find the person you're looking for,' he says.
Kurokawa doesn't explain why he chose to interview in an abandoned tent in rural Shizuoka, a 40-minute walk from the bus stop through a tunnel. His company - also the subject of the interview - doesn't have an office. The tent he owns has only a few long chairs around a small table, plus a desk, leaving no room for anything else.
It's peculiar that Kurokawa wants to interview here. A café in Tokyo would be much more suitable. There's no shortage of better places than this. But the tent seems to make him more at ease. He sits back on the long chair and lights another cigarette.
Kurokawa's company has a method to find their 'targets': Gather some information about the subject such as workplace or home address, then sit and wait.
Surely you wouldn't want to see someone with a rough and somewhat stern face like Kurokawa park his car outside his apartment door. But he's not here to cause trouble. What he does is identify and corner his target into a corner and then... apologize.
Kurokawa is the founder and manager of Shazai-daikou - a company that offers apology services. The company was founded in 2014. Currently, Kurokawa manages a team of 120 'apology agents' scattered across Japan, from Hokkaido to Kagoshima. The company's operating method is very unique.
Kurokawa will receive apology requests via phone or through a form submitted on his website. It seems his customers are divided into two basic types: one is companies needing to apologize to angry customers, and the other is 'unfaithful' individuals needing to apologize to their spouses.
Customers need to explain the reason for the apology and specify the area where this action needs to be carried out. Most agents will come to the location to apologize in person, but a phone call can also be an option.
Depending on the case, Kurokawa will assign the task to the most suitable agent. That person will pretend to be an employee of the company needing to apologize or the former lover of the unfaithful spouse. With the information provided by the customer, the agent will begin the observation process.
When the target appears, the agent will use the most formal and extreme Japanese apology method. They will kneel down in a dogeza style to prostrate themselves before the target. According to Kurokawa, the target is often surprised to the point of always accepting the apology from the agent and not wanting to make a big deal out of it.
'This company is truly extraordinary,' Kurokawa remarked to himself.
Unlike in other countries, the idea of hiring someone to impersonate another person to apologize isn't too strange in Japan. Or at least it has become common enough to spawn several companies in the past few years offering this service.
However, Kurokawa feels proud to say that his company is the only one committed exclusively to the business of apologies. Other companies will bundle apology services with a range of other services.
'But a true professional will simply apologize,' the staunch Kurokawaist explained.
He spoke of the origins of these companies stemming from a movie called Shazai Oosama (The Apology King) released in 2013. The fictional film revolves around 'apology experts' with the main character making a living by teaching others how to apologize. This seems to have inspired Kurokawa to establish his company a year later.
'Many people lack wajutsu (the art of speaking). When they encounter trouble, they lack the ability to resolve things smoothly. But my employees are all very eloquent. Moreover, they are quite terrifying.' According to Kurokawa, becoming terrifying is the most important skill his employees acquire.
Leaning back, he rests against the small table in the abandoned tent: 'I know, I must look quite intimidating, don't I?'
Whether it's a rhetorical question or genuine curiosity, he emphasizes: 'Both I and my employees often resemble yakuza (Japanese mafia).'
To Kurokawa, a successful apology seems to be a blend of concession and menace.
Kurokawa asserts that his staff's apologies always succeed 100%. The recipients are often too frightened by those who resemble mafia members to do anything other than accept the apology.
Leaning back, he rests against the small table in the abandoned tent: 'I know, I must look quite intimidating, don't I?'
When asked how he finds these sweet-talking yakuza, Kurokawa says he doesn't seek them out; it's the other way around. People reach out to work with him through his website. He reviews their applications, arranges interviews, and assesses whether they have the necessary eloquence and skills.
All employees work full-time and are passionate about their job. Of course, this isn't volunteer work. With a significant workload, this acting contract brings in quite a profit.
'Regardless, they genuinely love this job. It's not your typical job. It requires a lot of confidence,' he says.
While accepting apologies for the mistakes of others, Kurokawa unexpectedly talks about a case where he felt he couldn't cross his own moral boundaries.
'There was an apology request I declined. It was from a surgeon who had operated on a patient, but the surgery was unsuccessful, and the patient died. They wanted someone to apologize to the patient's family. But how could we do that? We don't have anyone who can act as if it was their own fault. To go before the patient's family and pretend to be the surgeon who made the mistake. That's almost criminal,' he says.
His story serves as a fitting conclusion to the entire interview that day. Kurokawa smiles and stands up, his head almost touching the ceiling.
'Alright,' the man with the appearance of a gangster said, 'I'll take you to the bus station.'
Source: Tokyo Weekender
