“Don’t look for a culprit. Create one.”

“Don’t look for a culprit. Create one.” is the maxim Lemon claims as his own, and a concise statement of the strategy he proposes to Tangerine: rather than discover who is responsible, choose someone on the Shinkansen and make that person appear responsible. The phrase turns the search for a culprit into an act of fabrication, offering a way to manage the consequences of their failed assignment.

Origin and Meaning

Lemon presents the line as a pop quiz, first asking Tangerine to identify its author. Tangerine guesses Thomas or one of his friends; Lemon corrects him, insisting that the saying is his. Its apparent form as a memorable quotation gives way to a practical instruction: select an available person on the train and assign them the role of culprit.

The Plan It Names

The maxim emerges after Tangerine warns Lemon not to let their “friend from the neighbourhood hear.” Lemon’s suggestion changes Tangerine’s expression, and Tangerine concedes that the plan is “Not bad,” while doubting that Minegishi will believe it. The exchange makes the saying less a general principle than a proposal tailored to their immediate predicament.

Stakes and Limits

Lemon frames the plan as a response to two failures: they let Minegishi’s son die and lost the bag. If they can present Minegishi with a supposed killer, Lemon reasons, that achievement might count for something despite the botched job. The missing bag remains a separate problem: they could claim the invented culprit disposed of it. Lemon acknowledges that this would not solve everything, but hopes that making someone else appear responsible could recast the whole chain of events. The maxim’s force lies in that substitution of a constructed explanation for an unresolved failure.