Traveling through the Tokyo bubble era

Chapter 951 Jedi Counterattack
July 11th, Wednesday.

The Nanhai Hotel in Shenzhen at dusk.

Hideki Hanyu is making a call using a dedicated international long-distance line.

On the other end of the phone was a man with an American accent.

The call between the two was extremely brief, consisting of only exchanging greetings.

Then the man said, "It's a pleasure doing business with you."

Hideki Hanyu responded in kind, "It's a pleasure working with you."

Then the call was disconnected.

After ending the call, Hideki Hanyu returned to his hotel room and was immediately surrounded by Lizhi, who was wearing a sexy nightgown.

However, he had no interest in flirting with women at the moment.

It wasn't because I was busy all day in Shenzhen, but because the advertising war in Japan, after three weeks, has finally reached its final battle.

Starting yesterday, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which had rebounded from its lows, suddenly saw a large number of unusual transactions.

Following closely behind were several large listed companies that were exposed for revenue fraud.

Unfortunately, this is also the time when Japanese listed companies release their second-quarter financial reports.

As several listed companies whose stock prices "bounced back" in the stock market released their financial reports, people found that their operating conditions were not as good as expected.

The most important reason is that accounting rules are both the key to its success and its downfall.

In the accounting rules that help build up the bubble of neon stories, stock price increases are also included in revenue, and everyone cross-shares, constantly profiting by stepping on each other's stock.

But as the economic bubble burst and stock prices fell continuously, this part of the profit bubble was directly squeezed out, and many Japanese companies were stripped of their fig leaves.

The exposure of revenue fraud scandals, coupled with disappointing financial reports from major listed companies and a sudden sell-off by overseas speculative capital, triggered a chain reaction that immediately brought the Japanese stock market, which had just bottomed out and was rebounding, to a standstill.

On Monday, investors continued to enter the market as momentum continued.

However, these people all became the bagholders for the speculative funds' sell-off.

Of course, some astute individuals also secretly joined the sell-off.

However, by Tuesday, the rebound in the Japanese stock market had completely ended, and the Nikkei index began to plummet at the opening bell.

Looking at that ghastly green color, even the slowest person would realize what had happened. After all, the crash six months ago was still fresh in their minds, and the stock market plunge had only just ended.

Panic began to spread among investors, and the confidence that had just been built up in the stock market collapsed completely in an instant, plunging the Japanese stock market into another free-for-all.

In just one day, the Nikkei index plummeted by 6%.

Today, looking at the continued plunge in the stock market, no one in Japan talks about the stock market bottoming out and rebounding, or returning to its bubble-like glory.

The disaster that occurred six months ago has been repeated in Japan not long after.

The entire Japanese media was in a state of mourning, and even the ongoing advertising war had lost its appeal.

If it weren't for the protest groups backed by the cloud computing group, who were still protesting outside Dentsu and government departments, probably no one would remember that this incident even happened.

According to Hideki Hanyu, those popular suicide "hotspots" in Japan will definitely be busy for a while in the future.

The actress recruitment department of Xidu Group must be very happy now.

After all, ever since Xidu Group launched its 18+ pay channel, its business has skyrocketed, and it's facing a severe shortage of both male and female actors.

If it weren't for the Japanese stock market crash, the bankruptcy of many Japanese families, and the large number of Japanese women choosing to enter the adult entertainment industry, the Xidu Group would have been really short of actors.

Now, another wave should be able to solve the actor problem for Xidu Group.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, Japanese women are still too unacceptable of adult film actresses. Many would rather work as hostesses in nightclubs than make adult films.

Thinking about this, Hideki Yuzuru felt he should learn from the practices of the Japanese underworld in another timeline, which produced a flagship figure like Ai Iijima.

He hadn't considered doing this before, naturally because with Japan's booming economy and everyone making money easily, there wasn't much enthusiasm for going into business.

But the situation is different now. The Japanese stock market bubble has burst, and the real estate bubble is about to explode, plunging the entire country's economy into a prolonged period of stagnation.

However, over the years, ordinary Japanese people have developed habits of vanity, comparison, and high consumption. When it comes to money, ordinary people are willing to do anything.

With rampant lending, the rise of female escorts and male gigolos, the rapid development of compensated dating, and the rise of adult film actresses as celebrities, various shady industries will soon lead to an era where poverty is mocked but prostitution is not.

This is why, when you look at the state of ordinary Japanese people in later generations and then look at the spirit and energy of Japanese people during their peak in the 1980s, it feels like two different races.

After considering ending his inspection tour, Hideki Yuzuru went to the Xidu Group to learn about his work, but then he remembered his real business.

Regarding the brief rebound and subsequent plunge in the Japanese stock market, Hideki Hanyu did not know when it began or when it would end.

But in this time and space, the brief rebound and subsequent plunge in Japan had to be in line with his plan, so he naturally did some behind-the-scenes maneuvering.

For example, exposing revenue fraud scandals at critical moments, or amplifying financial reports that ordinary people wouldn't normally care about through media means.

Or perhaps they could join forces with international speculative capital to launch another devastating attack on the Japanese stock market.

It seems that the results are quite good.

With his help, it's time for Storm Advertising to launch a "last-ditch counterattack" in Japan's advertising war.

Thursday, July 12th.

The plunge in the Japanese stock market continues.

In this sudden stock market crash, countless investors suffered huge losses.

Among them, the most gloomy and desolate is definitely Japan Broadcasting Corporation.

At an impromptu investor meeting held at Fuji Television.

One of them said dejectedly, "If we keep falling, we're finished!"

Inside the meeting room, some people who heard this looked mocking and gloating.

But looking around, these were only a minority; most people, like the speaker, were dejected and their faces were full of sorrow.

As for why, the reason is quite simple.

The frustrated individuals were either those who had previously signed a mortgage agreement to exchange their shares for those of the white knights, or those who had used their shares as collateral to secure loans to buy back their shares through introductions from those individuals.

If the stock price keeps rising, these people will certainly make a fortune.

But no one expected that this spectacular rebound of the neon story, which seemed poised to return to glory, would end so suddenly and so unexpectedly.

"Why don't we go talk to them? They've been helping us before, and they certainly wouldn't mind helping us again this time."

Then someone else made a suggestion.

Upon hearing this, the others chimed in with their agreement.

After some discussion, the group decided to send a representative to negotiate.

The representative set off, while the rest watched the market plummet, their hearts sinking lower and lower.

At this point, they all understood that even if those people were willing to help them, their losses in the stock market were already unavoidable.

However, when the representatives sent to negotiate returned, they brought them less than good news.

“They do not agree to release the mortgage, and the bank also expressed its hope that we will fulfill the contract.”

Upon hearing this, a chorus of groans erupted in the conference room. The representative then continued, "However, they offered a different suggestion: they are willing to buy back our shares at the current share price."

In an instant, many people at the scene were moved.

After all, although the stock market is falling, the stock prices are still higher than before the rise. Selling them can not only stop the loss, but also make a small profit.

Before anyone could agree, those who hadn't suffered losses in the stock market downturn voiced their opposition.

"You can't sell. Don't you understand the consequences if so many shares fall into the hands of outsiders?"

Some people disagreed, saying, "What kind of impact could it have? Could it be more serious than losing money?"

"If Japan Broadcasting changes hands, it means that Fuji Television has lost control, and the group will absolutely not allow this to happen."

The group mentioned by this person is naturally the Fuji Sankei Group.

From the perspective of their original relationship, Fuji Television and Fuji Sankei Group both belong to Japan Broadcasting Corporation.

However, after many years of development, although Nippon Broadcasting still controls Fuji Television, Fuji Sankei Group has already engaged in complex cross-shareholding with Nippon Broadcasting.

The details are unnecessary to elaborate on, but simply put, while Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) cannot control Fuji Sankei Group, it can control Fuji Television.

Fuji Sankei Group also indirectly controls Fuji Television through very subtle means via neon broadcasting.

But once Japan Broadcasting Corporation changes hands, Fuji Sankei Group will never be able to control Fuji Television again.

The person who was refuted said somewhat angrily, "Even if we don't sell, if the stock market keeps falling like this, our shares will still have to change hands when the contract expires."

Immediately, someone chimed in, "Yes, if the group doesn't agree, then please have the group buy our shares."

The man also emphasized, "It has to be the current price."

Then the man stopped talking. After all, too many investors had lost money in the stock market crash, and he was just a representative of the group; he had no right to make any promises.

"I will report this matter to the group."

After saying that, the investment meeting ended abruptly.

On the surface, these investors appeared to be wary of the group and did not immediately agree to the conditions for selling shares, deciding to wait for the group's response.

However, while some people care about the group, others don't give the group face. Therefore, after the meeting, some people started trying to contact the previous white knight.

Regardless of how the investors of Nippon Broadcasting react, let's turn our attention back to the advertising war between Storm Advertising and Dentsu.

With the statements from the four television stations, Storm Advertising's business has been directly plunged into difficulties.

Although TV Tokyo collaborated with Storm Advertising under the guise of neutrality, its influence on the overall situation was minimal due to its low viewership ranking.

Brands interested in signing with Storm Advertising will naturally not choose to cooperate with Storm Advertising if their advertisements cannot be exposed on television media.

In addition to Storm Advertising, Cloud Entertainment's business has also been greatly affected by its confrontation with the TV station.

The artists have completely disappeared from mainstream programs.

The programs and dramas produced by Cloud Entertainment, music promotions, movie promotions, and peripheral marketing have all disappeared from television programs, although Cloud Satellite TV can make up for it.

However, in terms of the scale of influence, the gap between pay satellite TV and free terrestrial TV is still too significant.

Moreover, by competing against three television stations at once, Cloud Entertainment's exposure in Japan instantly decreased by more than half, which is an immeasurable loss for an entertainment media company.

In the short term, cloud-based entertainment can still hold its own thanks to its strong foundation, while television stations will also suffer some losses.

But the Japanese market is ultimately too small. Television stations are the upstream of the industry, and the exposure that the cloud platform doesn't want will eventually be filled by other companies in the industry.

Therefore, everyone thought that the final outcome of this confrontation caused by the advertising war would definitely be that Cloud Entertainment would back down and Storm Advertising would concede defeat to Dentsu under pressure from its parent company.

As Friday arrived, the Japanese stock market continued to decline.

As investors in the company watched their stocks plummet along with the overall market, they urged the group to provide a response while simultaneously contacting the white knights who had helped them.

As the saying goes, "Husbands and wives are like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly away separately."

If this is the case for married couples, how much more so for investors who only have a business relationship with each other?

When it's time to make money, everyone's happy.

But once it comes to losing money, everyone will just compete to see who can run the fastest.

Meanwhile, Fuji Television's management, unaware of these changes or perhaps aware but not paying attention, finally succumbed to pressure from Dentsu and the forces behind them after seeing Cloud Entertainment disappear from the other three television stations for a week without causing any major changes.

They rejected the lobbying efforts of the cloud computing group and announced their stance on the advertising war on Saturday, July 14th.

Fuji Television will continue to fulfill its advertising contract with Dentsu.

This simple sentence proves Fuji Television's choice.

At this point, all five major Japanese commercial television stations, except for TV Tokyo which remained neutral, had sided with Dentsu in the advertising war.

Just as it was the weekend and everyone had temporarily forgotten about the stock market crash because the market was closed, the media and the public's attention were focused on the advertising war.

At this point, everyone felt that because of the fact that the four major civilian television stations had taken sides, Storm Advertising had lost this advertising war and had no hope of turning the tide.

Even at this time, Dentsu's public image and reputation remained unchanged.

But the public is forgetful, and their anger will soon dissipate over time.

As for the brand owners, they wouldn't care about Dentsu's reputation if they were only concerned with making a profit.

At this time, the media were speculating about when TV Tokyo, which was still maintaining neutrality, would announce the team.

When will Cloud Entertainment, the dominant force in Japanese entertainment media, bow down to the four major television stations?

Although everyone knows perfectly well that Cloudwise is fighting against the four major civilian television stations for the sake of Storm Advertising.

However, on the surface, neither the TV station nor Dentsu, due to the strength of the Cloud Group, tacitly avoided linking Yunshang TV's confrontation with Storm Advertising.

Therefore, as long as the Cloud Group is willing to bow down to the TV station and secretly apologize and compensate Dentsu, this matter will eventually be temporarily dropped.

Whether Dentsu will be liquidated in the future depends on Cloud Entertainment's attitude.

Then, all weekend, everyone was speculating whether TV Tokyo would side with Dentsu first, or whether Cloudwise would back down first.

But after waiting all weekend, no one made a statement.

When Monday arrived, and everyone's attention was drawn to the continued decline in the stock market, no one knew that a tremendous change, which could be described as earth-shattering, was quietly taking place in the Japanese media industry.

July 17, 1990.

Amidst widespread despair in Japan due to yet another stock market crash, Yuzuru Investment, along with several other investment institutions, suddenly announced that it had acquired a 64% controlling stake in Nippon Broadcasting, officially completing its takeover of the company.

As the saying goes, "a single stone stirs up a thousand waves," and the public was in an uproar over this news.

Anyone familiar with Neon Broadcasting System (NHK) and Yuzuru Hanyu Investment knows about the relationship between these two companies, Fuji Television, and the Cloud Group.

With Neon Broadcasting falling into the hands of Yuzuru Hanyu Investment, it's as if Fuji Television has fallen into the hands of the Cloud Group.

The implications of this, especially given the fierce competition between Storm Advertising and Dentsu Advertising, are self-evident.

On the same day, Nippon Broadcasting Corporation announced the removal of the president of Fuji Television and appointed Koichi Minato, the former president of Unsun Satellite Television, as the new president.

Upon assuming office, Hoichi immediately announced that Fuji Television would suspend all cooperation with Dentsu due to Dentsu's negative scandals.

Upon hearing this news, everyone realized that this advertising war was not Dentsu's comeback against all odds, but rather Storm Advertising's desperate counterattack.

(End of this chapter)