European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 29, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Fred Hiatt Washington Post the $2 million mystery of the Bamboo Loryst. Alter playing through the japanese psyche like a dark subplot to Tokyo political scandal has finally been solved but As so olten in Japan the solution seemed Only to deepen the mystery ii began april 11. When a Humble seller of grilled Chicken was rooting through an Urban Bamboo Thicket Lor some tasty shoot1 and stumbled across a wad of rolling Yon like any Good japanese he took the Money to the police. Carefully counting the crumbling Bills they calculated that the 39 year old poultry purveyor had picked up the equivalent of $1 million the Gojii Dorash came next a Gold Rush fever that brought hundreds of Money seekers swarming to the Grove in Kawasaki hoping lightning might strike twice and live Days later a part Lime labourer ,21. Who was actually Hunting for wild Cress tripped across $700.000 in yen the frenzy grew As hundreds More searched for a third instalment and the mystery of who would abandon Caily $2 million without even burying it. And then Lipil to claim the Cash when in was found seemed to obsess the nation even More than the news of the political scandal shaking the government. Indeed Many observers saw a connection Between easy Money Flo ving through the political world and the mysterious Cash of the Bamboo Forest it helped headline writers although not the outgoing prime minister that the it St character of Noboru Takeshita s name Means Bamboo and that to had received donations irom recruit co the information and publishing conglomerate Al the Center of the scandal. But As Japan s newsmen rushed Forward with theories to explain the Uncle Mcd Cache the dark Side of politics was but one Rich lode. Mystery writers were interviewed past murders rehashed fantastic scenarios constructed around drugs and gangsters blackmail and tax evasions the speculation in Many ways Rel Locton modern japanese anxieties fear that unaccustomed Prosperity is corrupting morals and dividing Rich irom poor old from Young. The average japanese cannot play Bamboo Thicket mystery grips Japan the Money game the yom Iuri newspaper said in an editorial and when these worlds collide such As they did in the Bamboo Thicket Public interest is  it seems that recently the Gap Between the average citizen and the Ullarich has vastly widened it continued and thai our society s View toward Money has become very  Many experts and nearly All japanese depicted themselves As experts on the subject guessed thai the Money was connected to soaring land or Stock prices that seem to to disrupting Japan s stable Middle class society. A mystery writer Kyuzo Kobayashi speculated that someone trying to extricate himself irom the Shady Side of the land business Hung the Cash away Only to to caught and murdered by gangsters also involved in land profiteering. While the press speculated and philosophize police methodically investigated. Paper wrappers around Iho Cash carried Dales and the names of several credit unions in the Kawasaki area outside Tokyo. Comparing the wrappers with Bank records police eventually focused on Iho president of a mail order business Katsuyasu Noguchi 46. Who had made sizable withdrawals two and three years ago. Finally Noguchi held a press conference and said yes. The Money belonged to him. Bowing deeply he apologized to the people of the world for the trouble he had caused. But Noguchi s explanation As provided to reporters and More fully to police was beyond  the yom Iuri said. Noguchi said he actually had earned the Cash in the Early 1970s, speculating in Stamps and other things. A thief had been stalking his office he told police so for years he carried the Money in the trunk of his car. When Japan began printing a new Type of Cash Noguchi exchanged the Money for new Bills. Ihus the wrappers indicating withdrawals two and three years ago. But he said his desire for the Money lessened As friends were murdered or committed suicide in business related matters. My View of life changed Noguchi told police. He resolved to give the Money away he said but acknowledging thai he had failed to pay taxes on the income he Leared a tax audit if he donated the Money in his own name. So he said in october 1987 he left $2 million in the Bamboo Grove hoping someone worthy would find it. He was relieved when someone recovered the Money he said. Ii he gels it Back he said he will donate Illo research Inlo children s diseases. Police said that they found the explanation puzzling but that they saw no basis for further criminal investigation. Tax authorities said they would investigate but income earned so Long ago would be beyond their reach. Seiei Sato the grilled Chicken seller who found the first chunk of Cash said he too was mystified by Noguchi s account but might be willing to Settle for a 20 percent finder s fee and go Back to serving Chicken Yak Ilori. It s troublesome he said. My head is already in a chaotic  the elderly owner of the Bamboo Grove said he did not care Aboul the Money but was not Happy that people were taking his Bamboo shoots. And the press and Public seemed to to waiting for a sequel to the mystery or at least another chapter. We feel said the yom Iuri editorial the disappointment we experience when Reading a very bad end to a detective  Over the past several weeks i have read one editorial Aller another dissecting the social Impact of Lucy on the Western world. The comments have ranged from a comic Genius who made television history loan intellectually deficient Ambilio less. Cunning and basically useless scatter brained housewife who lied and schemed and treated her husband  serious people of the world and you All know who you Are come out of the Laboratory and bring your scalpels with you. You cannot dissect humor or the people who make it. It s been tried. After you isolate the Surprise. The exaggeration the relevancy the irreverence the Absurdity and the creativity there will be nothing led under your Microscope but a colourless slice of life there Are those who have tried to mix Hindsight with humor. Was Jackie Gleason a chauvinist who eventually would have lost control and sent Alice to the Moon and ended up in the courts there arc those who would stir in the personal Page 16 the stars and stripes morality of a Star with his comedy and try to neutralize the Talent. Is John Belushi s gift diminished after Bob Woodward s Book there Are those who have tried to read social messages into humor that is just nol there. Was red Skelton in his baggy pants and secondhand Cigar really making fun of the homeless were Lucy and Ethel sending out the wrong message to children when they ate All that sugar in the Candy factory which nutritionists now know is bad Lor you Don t try to unlock the secret formula for laughter. Just sit Back and enjoy the Enigma of a few seconds when problems and pain were anaesthetized by a Carrot topped housewife setting fire to her nose. Just enjoy yourself. That s what humor is All about. I never dissected Lucy. I doubt if Lucille Ball did monday May 29,1989 either. Like Carol Burnett Goldie hawn and Mary Tyler Moore and anyone else who deals with humor Lucy threw inhibition to the wind. All great comedians give whatever it takes to extract from people the precious and rare gift of laughter which makes you feel Good and you Don t know Why. Frankly i Don t want to live in a world so serious that you see a 6-foot Rabbit called Harvey and Call the humane society. Or a world where Jay Leno and Johnny Carson can no longer Lake potshots at Washington without partisan groans. Or where the Cosby family in t standing around the commode putting a dead goldfish to rest without activists picketing outside. When the Day comes that you turn on your to set or open your newspaper and there is nothing there to make you smile Start worrying. That Means things Are so bad. Humorists and comedy writers can no longer put life in perspective. That s what Lucy did for me. C 1989ermoombock