October 20 is the date of the last hearing of the Terai v. Kawamoto Expressway case.

Due to the important reference role of this case in subsequent class actions, various forces and groups in Japan are closely watching the progress of this case. As the case comes to its last hearing, the secretly surging forces finally cannot restrain themselves.

, gradually surfaced.

9 a.m., TV Tokyo.

A tense atmosphere filled the TV station hall outside the studio. The station director, deputy director, editorial director, and about thirty editors under his jurisdiction stood up from their workstations and stared at the screen. Technical staff were in the studio.

The equipment nearby was carefully adjusting the contrast between the sound and the picture. About twenty screens on the glass of the studio showed images of a hotel.

The picture of the hotel shows a huge conference hall, with a sign standing next to the stage.

The vigorous calligraphy on the sign already showed the extraordinary nature of the host of this meeting.

There are several big characters written in pen and ink:

"High-Speed ​​Company Joint Press Conference."

Suddenly, there was movement on the screen, and figures came to the stage one after another.

"Cut! Prepare to cut the screen!!!" When the station director saw the picture coming from the screen, he immediately waved his hand and ordered. The whole office hall suddenly became a little commotion. After receiving the order, the female host in the studio felt her throat tremble.

Shaking, as if a little nervous, he raised his head and said:

"Dear viewers, today is the last hearing of the first instance of the Terai v. Kawamoto Expressway case. Our station has received the latest news. A total of 11 expressway companies held a joint press conference at 9 o'clock at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Tokyo today to discuss the Terai case.

Jointly release a statement. Our station will bring the latest broadcast footage!"

…

Tokyo, Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

There are eleven signs on the table in the big banquet hall, which are printed on them: Kamino Expressway, Nagatomo Expressway, Akasawa Expressway, Fujisawa Expressway, Nasu Expressway, Ueda Expressway, Miyajima Expressway, Matsushima Expressway

, Konno Expressway, Shiratori Expressway.

These eleven expressway companies, together with Kawamoto Expressway, account for 86% of Toyo's expressway construction share. Almost all of Toyo's expressway design, construction and required large-scale machinery and equipment, as well as labor are all controlled by these dozen highway companies.

.They hold the lifeblood of almost the entire Toyo Expressway. The expressway, which has constant flow of traffic every day, relies on these dozen companies for its continuous operation.

Eleven men in suits walked onto the stage one after another. Their movements and gestures all exuded the unique aura of company leaders. The decisive temperament of running through shopping malls instantly became like a tide.

The invisible coercion almost made the audience breathless, as if they were in a barracks, facing the mighty general of the army.

As soon as these eleven men walked up the steps, the flash lights under the stage kept sounding. From left to right, these eleven men in suits are:

Kamino Ichiro, Chairman of Kamno Expressway, Yukashi Iwasawa, Chairman of Nagatomo Expressway, Nagakage Nishikawa, Chairman of Akasawa Expressway, Eita Fujisawa, Chairman of Fujisawa Expressway, Katsuri Nasu, Chairman of Nasu Expressway, Ueda, Chairman of Ueda Expressway

Yasuhiro, Miyajima Expressway Chairman Takagi Masanobu, Matsushima Expressway Chairman Imamura Yokohisa, Imano Expressway Chairman Shinbo Kazuo, Shiratori Expressway Chairman Shigemasa Shiratori.

The joint press conference of 11 highway companies officially began.

After Ichiro Kamino, chairman of Kamno Expressway, took his seat, he immediately stood up, holding a speech script in his hand. Facing the crowd of reporters in the hall, he coughed and said seriously: "Recently, we have noticed that some people have criticized the expressway company for its pavement.

Litigation was filed on the issue of maintenance obligations, and these lawsuits triggered subsequent class actions involving tens of thousands of people."

"In view of the significant impact of this case, it will have an extremely far-reaching impact on the determination of the expressway company's performance of maintenance obligations. Accordingly, expressway practitioners have no choice but to provide explanations on the issues related to this case for the judicial authorities to clearly observe.

"

"Next, we and eleven expressway companies jointly issued the following statement on the case of Terai v. Kawamoto Expressway."

Eleven expressway companies will issue a joint statement on the Terai case, which is almost unprecedented in Japan. Dozens of cameras in the banquet hall are all aimed at Kamino, and the content of his speech will be transmitted in real time to TV stations across Japan.

on the screen.

"We, the highway company, are willing to shoulder our social responsibilities and work hard to move forward. For the commercial roads owned by the highway company, we are willing to bear the liability for compensation for the unfortunate situation of accidents caused by unclear road debris. This is what our company should do

Responsibilities assumed.”

"However, in the case of Terai v. Kawamoto Expressway, the road involved is still owned by the Hachioji City Hall. If the judicial authority determines that our expressway company must still bear the responsibility for failing to perform maintenance obligations in a timely manner for the loan repayment toll road owned by the city hall,

Then this responsibility judgment is too heavy for us.

"The subject of maintenance obligations for the roads involved in the case should be Hachioji City Hall, not the expressway company. If the court decides that the expressway company should still bear the maintenance obligation for loan repayment toll roads, our expressway company's willingness to invest in the future will inevitably be frustrated.

We are no longer willing to jointly build highways with local municipalities."

"At the same time, we also want to draw public attention. Most of the spills on the road come from truck drivers. The ultimate responsibility bearers for the appearance of road debris should be these drivers who illegally carry goods. We implore the public to not only pay attention to road debris

The clean-up problem requires more attention to the root cause of the problem of illegal overloading in highway cargo transportation."

"Based on the above-mentioned main issues of this case and the ultimate responsibility bearer of road debris, we and other 11 expressway companies hope that the judicial authorities will clearly understand the above-mentioned issues and request the Shinjuku District District Court to make a fair and just judgment in this case in accordance with the law!"

The moment Kamino finished speaking, the other ten chairmen stood up from the stage and bowed deeply to the reporters present.

The joint statement of 11 high-speed companies was quickly disseminated through television stations, igniting public opinion and becoming an instant electronic news headline on major news portals.

Behind the words "asking the court to rule in accordance with the law", there is a sharp cold light hidden. Pressure groups began to put pressure on the court. The expressway company's attitude is very obvious: if the court rules that the Kawamoto Expressway should bear the responsibility for failing to fulfill its maintenance obligations, they will

The challenge will be completely thrown away. Eleven highway companies will collectively boycott the local city hall's road construction project and withdraw from the joint venture to repay the toll road. In an instant, the situation is turbulent and strange.

…

Tokyo Television Station.

The station manager outside the studio breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the program had safely completed the live broadcast of the joint statement of the eleven highways. He sat on the chair and shook his legs in a relaxed manner. Such an important news moment

, is the moment when the TV station cannot make any mistakes.

Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps outside the door of the TV hall. A TV station editor rushed into the hall. His steps staggered and his body directly hit the file bags on the desks of other colleagues. The information was immediately scattered on the floor.

However, it could not stop the editor, and he shouted loudly:

"Director! There is a new situation in Tokyo Bay!!! Cut the camera to Tokyo Bay!!! The Truck Drivers Federation, the Trucking Brotherhood, the Kanto Drivers General Union, the Freight Driving Workers Union, and the Solidarity Drivers Union, the five major unions will
Chapter completed!