Tokyo Vice: Who Started The Fire At Meicho In Season 2?

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Tokyo Vice season 2, episode 6.

One of the biggest and longest-lasting mysteries in Tokyo Vice season 2 is who started the fire in the Meicho office. The seemingly random fire occurred in Tokyo Vice season 2, episode 1, destroying the Yoshino tape and all of its copies after initially being discovered by Jake Adelstein. The tape held visual evidence of Polina’s death on a luxurious boat that was owned by Tozawa. Tozawa wisely registered the Yoshino under his mistress Misaki’s name, creating a degree of separation between him and the scandalous yacht. The Yoshino was used by the Tozawa clan and its VIP associates.

Tokyo Vice season 2, episode 6 follows the unfolding aftermath of the shocking death of Oyabun Ishida, as Jake, Katagiri, Samantha, and Sato try to navigate a whole new playing field with the rise of Tozawa. Jake and Katagiri work diligently to identify the assassins, one of whom they discover to be an inexperienced member of the Hinushima-Kai named Shinjiro. The Hinushima-Kai was a yakuza clan that worked alongside the Chihara-Kai before Katagiri and Superintendent Nagata raided and arrested them in Tokyo Vice season 2, episode 3. Shinjiro turns out to be the yakuza that spared Katagiri’s life.

Eimi Suspects That Baku Started The Fire In The Meicho Office

After learning of Baku’s potential association with Tozawa from her journalistic colleague and romantic interest Shingo, Eimi starts to suspect that her boss Baku started the fire in the Meicho office. Baku is the lead editor at Miecho and is one of the most plausible people who could have started the fire, especially considering that no one had suspected him before Shingo and Eimi. Baku has had a long and documented history of supporting right-wing interests, which draws similarities to Tozawa. Baku is one of the only people who would have had access to the evidence room at Meicho as well.

Eimi has yet to bring the possibility of Baku’s betrayal to the surface, but no other plausible culprits have come up throughout the season. Baku also notably doesn’t address the subject and doesn’t seem too bothered by the fire or the fact that the undeniable evidence against Tozawa has been destroyed. Someone on the inside at Meicho must have been the one to destroy the Yoshino tape and its copies. Considering that Tozawa often bribes and threatens people to gain leverage, Baku is a pretty clear candidate to have started the fire and gotten away with it.

Baku Is Allegedly On Tozawa’s Payroll & Destroyed The Yoshino Tape

Shingo brings to Eimi’s attention the fact that Tozawa has been paying Baku for quite some time through right-wing political funding. This could easily be a guise for what Tozawa is really paying Baku for, which is to essentially suppress all matters at Meicho that have to do with Tozawa’s business and crimes. At the end of Tokyo Vice season 2, episode 6, Jake becomes outraged after Tin Tin wrote an article that implicated Samantha in Ishida’s murder, arguing with him that the piece should have focused more on Tozawa than Samantha. Baku noticed Jake’s outburst but did not intervene.

If Baku did start the fire at Meicho, he’s doing an excellent job of keeping his face throughout Tokyo Vice season 2. He has not actually done anything suspicious that would implicate him in the destruction of evidence other than neglecting the issue altogether. Through the process of elimination, however, it’s hard to imagine who else at Meicho would have a vested interest in carrying out such a task for Tozawa, unless, of course, he had been able to threaten or bribe that person as well. Baku could ultimately prove to be a red herring in the case of the Yoshino tape.

Why Meicho Executive Ozaki Encourages Eimi To Go After Tozawa

At the end of Tokyo Vice season 2, episode 6, an executive at Meicho named Ozaki pulls Eimi aside and encourages her to keep following her lead on Tozawa. It’s unclear how much Ozaki knows and whether he is also involved in Tozawa’s plans, but his surface-level support of Eimi’s pursuit doesn’t necessarily make him innocent either. Ozaki could be using Eimi to expose Tozawa, which would effectively put her and her family in danger, in order to get Tozawa’s grip off of Meicho. Whoever destroyed the Yoshino tape should face justice in future episodes of Tokyo Vice.