Sumith Prasad
The second season of Max’s crime drama series ‘Tokyo Vice’ begins with Hiroto Katagiri discovering the dead body of Jin Miyamoto, a vice squad detective who had been helping the former to bring down Shinzo Tozawa. The death unsettles Katagiri and Miyamoto’s superiors, who decide to punish the senior officer by demoting him from his post as a detective in the organized crime division to a desk job in the department. Miyamoto’s death is also a warning to Katagiri by Tozawa, who wants the detective to stop trying to hunt him down. The vice squad officer dies right after he meets with Tozawa, in which he tries to convince the Yakuza boss that he is still the latter’s ally! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Miyamoto is Killed by Tozawa
Miyamoto becomes one of the most well-regarded detectives in the vice squad with the help of Tozawa, who provides him with enough leads for him to build a reputation. The officer’s ambition and greed pave the way for the unholy alliance between the cop and the Yakuza boss. After Katagiri finds him trying to garner the supposed evidence that incriminates Tozawa, the former confronts Miyamoto. The confrontation acts as a wake-up call for the corrupted detective, who decides to team up with Katagiri to help him bring down the Yakuza leader.
Even after Tozawa offers him an opportunity to get out of their alliance, Miyamoto returns to him to continue working for him as a mole in the police department, hoping to garner enough incriminating pieces of evidence against him. The mistake the detective commits is trying to tarnish the reputation of Katagiri. Miyamoto tells Tozawa that Katagiri is also a corrupt officer who works for Hitoshi Ishida of the Chihara-kai clan. His efforts to present a tarnished picture of Katagiri convinces Tozawa that the former’s intentions are not what he has been saying.
Tozawa knows that absolutely nothing can tempt Katagiri and make him vulnerable enough for him to be corrupt. The detective is the most honest and incorruptible officer the Yakuza boss has ever seen. He may also know that Ishida is a man of principles to blackmail or force Katagiri to work for him without any provocation. This conviction makes him realize that Miyamoto is lying to him to remain in his inner circle. Katagiri and Miyamoto’s secret meetings help Tozawa connect the dots and understand that the vice squad detective has joined hands with the organized crime officer.
Tozawa then kills Miyamoto and keeps his dead body in a room in a hotel by making the death seem like a case of a methamphetamine overdose. His men plant a syringe with methamphetamine in between the fingers of Miyamoto, along with a photograph of the officer discussing with Katagiri in a café. The photograph is a warning to Katagiri, making it clear that Tozawa has been watching everything the detective has been planning to bring him to justice. The photograph indicates that Tozawa will not mind killing Katagiri if he continues to pursue the former.
More than anyone, Katagiri understands the intentions behind Miyamoto’s murder and the photograph. That’s also the reason why he settles in a “prison” where he records the complaints of citizens as a punishment. To avoid the fate of Miyamoto, for the sake of his family, Katagiri listens to individuals like the one who believe that Yakuza stole his cat all day long. By murdering Miyamoto, Tozawa makes it evident that he can be utterly merciless if one tries to trick him, which is bad news for Jake Adelstein, who bravely sleeps with the former’s mistress Misaki at the end of the sophomore season’s second episode.
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