Tokyo Swindlers: Is Detective Shimomura Tatsu Dead? Character, Explained

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Tokyo Swindlers on Netflix dives into the fascinating world of land swindlers. This skilled group of con artists is exceptional at forging documents, identities, and even fake landowners to sell properties that aren’t theirs. Among these individuals is Harrison and his team, who have mastered the art of deception. But there’s Detective Shimomura Tatsu, who is always on their trail. Despite his efforts, he has never managed to catch Harrison and his group. The question remains: will Shimomura finally succeed, or will Harrison discover his plans and take care of the detective once and for all? Let’s explore this thrilling cat and mouse game further in this article.

Spoilers Ahead


Why did Tatsu San want to get hold of Harrison? 

The series Tokyo Swindlers reveals that during Japan’s era of rapid development when the real estate market was booming and the country was transforming into a developed economy destination, land fraud became rampant. This widespread issue seemed kind of inescapable and persistent. At the start of the series, we see a case involving a Shimbashi landowner whose remains are found in an old apartment building. Reports and authorities think this might be the work of the notorious land swindler, Harrison Yamanaka. He was a land shark in the 80s and kept committing one land fraud after another until he was arrested when his involvement in a multi-tenant business scam got exposed. Detective Shimomura Tatsu was hot on his trail and wanted to gather every bit of information while Harrison was in jail. Sadly, due to a lack of evidence, Harrison was released. This was during Japan’s bubble economy. After getting out of jail, Harrison kept a low profile and did business in secret until the dot-com bubble happened. He started thriving in his fraudulent business again and sold land for millions of yen. This brought him back into the limelight, along with his team of imposters, document forgers, brokers, informers, and legal analysts. But once again, even though the authorities knew Harrison was the mastermind, they never had enough evidence to catch him.

Detective Tatsu had almost forgotten about Harrison until one day he learned about a plot of land in Ebisu, Shibuya City. The land belonged to a man named Shimazaki Kenichi. A man named Maki from the company named Mike Homes was tricked by Harrison’s team into buying the land for 900 million yen. They faked identities and passed through the interview process with Mike Homes. The truth eventually came out and exposed how they deceived everyone, for which Mike Homes almost went under, and they had nothing to do except ask for police help. But Harrison never showed his face, so it couldn’t be traced back to him, and the money had already been laundered through overseas accounts. Imagine the difficulty for a police detective like Tatsu to catch these people. Tatsu was about to retire. He had already separated from his wife, and they lived like roommates. He had nothing left, so before leaving his work life behind for good, he wanted to catch Harrison and solve this crime as his final project. Even though his higher-ups didn’t give him permission to solve this crime, he got involved in this on his own.


Was Tatsu able to take Harrison into custody? 

When Tatsu started investigating Harrison’s shady business, he kind of knew it was a lost cause. After all, a guy who had deceived people over and over again would likely get away with it again. But he didn’t expect things to turn against him when he started looking into Harrison. When the Ebisu land scam was exposed, Tatsu tried to gather as much information as he could. There was a new recruit on his team named Kuramochi, and together they dug deeper into the issue. Even though their boss, Heba, didn’t want them to investigate, they did it in secret. They discovered that a man named Inoue had sold the land to Mike Homes. After checking Inoue’s previous apartment, they found out he got a letter from his father from prison and they learned about his real identity: Takumi Tsujimoto. Takumi worked for Harrison and became a land swindler himself after his father’s business collapsed due to a land scam.

Tatsu interviewed Takumi’s father in prison, where he was serving time for the arson that killed Takumi’s son, wife, and mother. This made Tatsu sympathize with Takumi and understand why he got involved in this shady business. They also found out about a man named Aoyagi from Sekiyo House who might fall for Harrison’s scam. Aoyagi was about to buy the land of an old Buddhist temple through Abiru Holdings, a company acting as the middleman between Harrison and Sekiyo House. After the Ebisu case, Tatsu and his team became cautious. They saw how Hayashi, a man who helped Harrison with the deal, was killed by Harrison. Tatsu knew Harrison was up to something big. He wanted to collect enough evidence to stop the land deal from going through and prevent more scams that ruined innocent people’s lives for millions of dollars. Before the meeting to sell the Buddhist temple land, Tatsu waited in a cafe to eavesdrop on Takumi and his partner’s conversation. He hoped to learn their plans so he could arrest them all and finally put an end to Harrison’s schemes.

Even though Tatsu was determined to expose Harrison, Harrison was always just one step ahead. He found out about Tatsu’s investigation from his higher-up, Heba-san, who revealed to Harrison that Tatsu was closing in on him. Harrison saw Tatsu as a threat to his plans and knew he had to act fast. He was aware of how much Tatsu loved his family—his children and grandchildren, so he decided to eliminate this risk. Harrison made a plan to make it look like Tatsu had committed suicide. By pushing Tatsu off a building, he ensured that all the information Tatsu had uncovered about his shady business would be buried with him. This move not only protected Harrison from being exposed but also allowed him to continue his scams without interference. For the sake of his family, Tatsu sacrificed his life. He couldn’t bear the thought of his loved ones being hurt if he continued his pursuit. In the end, Tatsu’s quest for the truth led to his tragic death. Despite his efforts, Harrison’s schemes went untouched, and his deception carried on without a hitch.


Sutanuka Banerjee
Sutanuka Banerjee
Sutanuka, a devoted movie enthusiast, embarked on her cinematic journey since childhood, captivated by the enchanting world of the Harry Potter series. This early passion ignited her love for movies, providing an escape into the magical realms of cinema. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in media science, combining her academic pursuits with her unwavering passion for the silver screen.


 

 

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