The 152nd Episode : Japanese ambassador's residence
[September, 1999 Lima, Peru]
The work of the day was over and we were to go for dinner. I had unexpected meeting at the end of this day. Approx. 15 sales persons of our distributor were in the meeting room. The president asked me to have a lecture for them, answering their question, advising how to sell the products… etc. They asked me a lot of questions and it was over late.
It’d been already dark outside. Fernando, the president, and myself were heading for a restaurant by a car driven by his assistant. The car turned right and left again and again. They seemed to have lost the way to the restaurant. But there were any lights of that and wandering in the residential area with few streetlights.
Then the driver stopped the car suddenly and shouted “here, here” pointing out the left side. In the direction, there was a big building in the darkness without any lights. What? “What’s that?” “You must’ve remembered this is the Japanese ambassador’s residence where was a shoot-out 2 years ago.”
Attack and occupy of Japanese ambassador’s residence by the terrorists happened on 17th December, 1996. Peruvian police plunged on 22nd April, 1997, 4 months later. The incident finally came to an end after a shoot-out with the perpetrators. Such a spectacular end came as 3 hostages were victims and all the 14 perpetrators were shot dead. The president of Peru at the time, who decided the plunging, was Mr. Alberto Fujimori, 2nd Japanese Peruvian.
Shoot-out in the quiet and exclusive residential area!? It’s very unthinkable in Japan! Not possible! Guns are very very special equipment in Japan, that can be dealt by only the authorised and licenced persons. But they are not special ones here in Peru, but anybody can use easily. It is, however, up to the users’ ethics whether they pull the trigger or not.
I don’t remember what restaurant we went for dinner after that.
