Entrepreneur

Some people might say that the downfall of Fusao Negishi was due to unsettled postwar conditions, or to his own greed. But Negishi himself would probably maintain that it was due to his wife's petulant desire for a vacation in the country.

When Japan launched the Greater East Asia War, Negishi, a skilled mechanic who had saved a little money, decided to go into business on his own. Soon, he owned six factories in Tokyo, making communications parts for the Japanese army. Negishi took off his overalls, moved with his wife and three children into a fine residential district. He invested some of his profits in miscellaneous real estate, including a pleasant country inn located in picturesque Chiba county, near Tokyo.

When the war began going against the Japanese, Negishi's bubble burst. Heavy Allied bombardments smashed most of his factory equipment. By war's end, the Negishi Manufacturing Co. was reduced to one dilapidated repair shop. For a while Negishi kept on trying to find orders. But times were bad. He grew disgusted, retired to his country inn in Chiba, where he found pleasant company in the inn's manager, a lissome 23-year-old girl.

Then Mrs. Negishi was heard from. He had left her and the kids behind in sweltering Tokyo and she, too, wanted a vacation in verdant Chiba. Wearily, Negishi returned to Tokyo to see what he could do about his wife's wish. With him was a 17-year-old youngster (the brother of the girl at the inn) who happened to be a pickpocket by profession. One day, when Negishi wondered aloud how he would ever pay for his wife's holiday, his companion advanced an idea. In one day, the pair lifted 800 yen ($2.20) from passengers on the Tokyo subway. Negishi acted as lookout while his young friend exercised his skill. Next day, both were arrested by a plainclothesman on Tokyo's pickpocket squad. Cried the culprits in unison: "We have failed." Said the detective to Negishi: "If you have no more brains than to do this sort of thing, better go back to being a mechanic."

Last week, Negishi was in jail and Mrs. Negishi was still longing in vain for a vacation in the country.

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