I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 289: Teacher Beichuan, I think you are truly the best in the world (two in one)

Kato Shuichi single-handedly started the topic of "Who is the 'number one' in Japanese literature, Kitagawa Hide or Tanizaki Ichiro?"

His book review also caused a great response in the literary world.

If readers think about it carefully, they will find that what he said is so true!

Looking at the history of Japanese literature, it seems that since the short-lived post-war era, it has indeed been on a downward spiral and has been falling out of touch with the world.

Thirty years ago, the person who was popular in Japan was Ichiro Tanizaki, who wrote "The Devil's Tattoo", and his conservative colleagues. Thirty years later, it is still this group of people who hold the right to speak and resources in the literary world!

Entering the late 90s, according to normal objective laws, the top literary figures should have slowly transferred power to the 60s and 70s generations, but the reality is that they are still controlled by people like Ichiro Tanizaki.

“The best in the world” will always be those seven people—if Kitagawa Hideo hadn’t appeared out of nowhere.

Some readers even think more extremely, thinking that if Mr. Kitagawa loses this competition for "the best in the world", Japanese literature will fall into a long dark period, just like Japan after the bursting of the bubble economy!
Of course, in reality, there are very few people who are concerned about Japanese literature and literary circles. Probably only real veterans like Takeuchi Osamu and Kimura Keiko would consider these things.

Most mainstream media and critics only focus on the battle between the two major publishing houses and the two "best-in-the-world" people.

The April issue of "Wenyi" created the most exaggerated first-day publishing data in a hundred years. This solid stick hit Ichiro Tanizaki and Shinchosha hard on the head. They are now like ants on a hot pan, anxious and helpless.

The media seized the opportunity and used the Internet to launch a national referendum, allowing the general public to decide who is the true "number one" in the Japanese literary world.

The first to initiate the vote was the Yomiuri Shimbun, and the Yomiuri Group put up a banner with the slogan - as long as you subscribe to all the daily issues of the Yomiuri Shimbun this week, you will get a chance to vote. Vote for the writer you support!
This thing is very similar to the Double Eleven and Double Twelve promotions next door, which use all kinds of moral kidnapping and fictitious demands to deceive buyers into spending.

But many people really fell for it!

There are indeed countless die-hard fans who are willing to buy the Yomiuri Shimbun to support their idols!
In this way, the Yomiuri Shimbun, which was the first to take the plunge, made a lot of money. Everyone in the editorial department was smiling and wished that the literary battle between Kitagawa Hide and Tanizaki Ichiro would never stop.

During this period, other newspapers and magazines also saw the business opportunity and followed suit.

The Asahi Shimbun, Tourenkyo and other newspapers have also launched voting activities, and have reduced the need to purchase a week's worth of newspapers to five days, three days, or even the same day!
Under the large-scale internal competition, in less than a week, some newspapers and magazines directly launched free voting - we also have a voting activity, you just need to write down the name of the person you support and send it in, and that's it!
The people at the TV station were relatively reserved. This kind of despicable money-making behavior was too cheap, so we waited. Why is this matter so outrageously hot?

No, no, we want to join in the fun too!

Soon, many TV stations sent interview teams to Kawade Shobo, hoping to take the opportunity to interview Mr. Kitagawa.

If Mr. Kitagawa is unwilling, his editor Ms. Saito Reina, or the president Kawaide Shizuko can be used to interview him. If that doesn't work, then his three disciples, his girlfriend, or even his classmates, friends, relatives, and die-hard book fans can all be used!
Wave after wave of people have given Saito Rena a lot of trouble. She used to dream of making a name for herself in the workplace, but after becoming a deputy minister, she suddenly realized that it was not that interesting.

Soon after, a bunch of people came out to take advantage of the popularity.

The well-intentioned group includes Tetsutarou Mori, Takuya Kimura, Shizuka Kudo, etc., while the malicious group includes Bungeishunju, opponents of the Ministry of Education, etc.

In short, the entertainment industry, sports industry, political circle, etc. have become a mess.

Even Izumi Sakai, who always likes to be an invisible person, showed up and wrote the lyrics, composed and arranged a slow rock song "The First in My Heart". There is a line in the lyrics "You are always the first in my heart", and her thoughts are self-evident.

Izumi Sakai's contracting company was so scared that they were sweating profusely, but they couldn't stop it. They could only hope that small fry like them would not suffer any consequences because of this.

Even more outrageous are the schools in Japan.

Primary school students will get angry with each other and stop playing together because of who they support;
Junior high school students will break up and end all contact because of differences of opinion;
High school students quarreled in clubs and classrooms every day, but their front was relatively unified, and the majority supported Mr. Kitagawa.
Things are even more complicated at university.

The academic school, led by higher education institutions such as the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University, unanimously supports Professor Kitagawa, while some universities with political foundation backgrounds mostly support Ichiro Tanizaki. Other schools follow the trend and support whoever is popular.

At this point, even Ichiro Tanizaki himself did not expect that his coming out of retirement was originally intended to curb the development of Kitagawa Hide and then let the people know that his skills are still as sharp as ever and that he is still the boss of the Japanese literary world.

As for really fighting to the death and determining who was absolutely superior, he was not that obsessed with it.

After all, he is already eighty years old. Who knows how many years he has left to live?

The baton of being the number one in the literary world will have to be passed on sooner or later. When a person dies, the light goes out. Many things cannot be absolute.

But now it's better.

He had been roasted over the fire.

It is not enough not to stand up and express your position publicly!
The capital interest groups and politicians behind him will not allow him to remain silent any longer.

4 month 25 day.

Ichiro Tanizaki, with white hair and visibly haggard, held a press conference to state his position with Shinchosha.

When facing the reporter's question, "Who do you think is the 'best in the world' between you and Mr. Beichuan?", he directly answered, "Me."

Then he also mentioned the murder of TEPCO OL Watanabe Yasuko.

He believes that Kitagawa Hide is just trying to attract attention, and we should trust the judgment of the judiciary and not vent the resentment of the "Spring Fight" on this place.

In this way, Ichiro Tanizaki's attitude and ass were completely exposed.

He had no way out.

Kitagawa Hide, the other center of the vortex, has been very relaxed recently.

His mind is now full of his marriage with Mengzi and the baby in his belly.

With current medical technology, it is actually possible to find out the gender of the child.

Kitagawa Hide doesn't care about sons and daughters, they are all his treasures anyway. If he feels that they are not to his liking, the worst that can happen is that he can just have a few more!

Instead, Mengzi prayed every day for the birth of a son so that the Kitagawa family's bloodline could continue smoothly.

Otherwise, if it's a daughter, she can only find a son-in-law in the future.

The data for the April issue of "Wenyi" is getting better and better, and the April issue of "Xinchao" is following closely behind.

At this time, Kitagawa Hide was watching TV in the living room. In the screen, Ichiro Tanizaki bowed 90 degrees to express his gratitude to the readers who supported him.

Outside the screen, Kitagawa Hideie's phone was bombarded with calls.

Everyone also hopes that Mr. Kitagawa will come out to hold a press conference and compete with Ichiro Tanizaki, and it would be best if he could make such a harsh statement.

Unfortunately, Kitagawa Hide was completely indifferent to this matter. Instead, he was more concerned about making money from money and the Asian financial crisis in 97.

I wonder how the big boss's business is doing. Could it be that he has made some investments secretly?
Kitagawa Hide has been reminding his friends indirectly these days and has asked my wife Rongji and his wife not to invest, hoping that everyone will not be ruined by the upcoming financial crisis.

Shizuko Kawaide heard it the most, so she should be more alert.

Mengzi beside me was clipping newspapers with her head down, looking very careful.

Kitagawa Hide came over to take a look and found that she was collecting voting results from various newspapers and magazines. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Yumeko-chan, how's your research going?"

At first, he was a little disdainful of the Yomiuri Shimbun's doing this.

The people are not fools when it comes to such blatant money-making.

Well, it turns out the fool is right next to me!

In order to participate in every vote, Mengzi's family subscribed to many newspapers and magazines, and finally even those on the Internet!
According to her, this is a matter of honor for the Beichuan family, so even if there is only one vote, that's fine!
"Many newspapers and magazines have already published the voting results! But everyone says that this vote is not complete, and there should be a second round. Some have not announced the results yet." Mengzi is actually not stupid, and she can see the money-making routines, but she is in the game and she no longer cares about so much.

"Among the 27 newspapers, 13 magazines, and 10 websites I have collected, you, my dear, have the upper hand in 36 of them, while Ichiro Tanizaki only has 14, and half of those 14 are controlled by Shinchosha."

Meng Zi was very proud and excitedly waved the clipboard in his hand. He rarely spoke so eloquently.

"There are too many other unauthoritative ones, and I haven't finished researching them. The Yomiuri Shimbun, which first initiated the campaign, also released data today. My dear got 971345 votes, and Ichiro Tanizaki got 970992 votes. It's so strange, why is the gap so small!"

"Idiot." Kitagawa Hide laughed. No matter what the actual voting situation was, all the announced results would be almost the same between the two.

Everyone likes to watch a fair fight. Who likes to watch a one-sided and boring fight?

The very popular LOL World Championship, in which the controversial match between the all-Chinese team and the five-time champion was played to a full five games, ended with the only legendary player suddenly breaking out, which was both reasonable and unexpected, taking over the game, and then the 3-2 comeback ending was ":".

This is what’s interesting.

The audience is satisfied, the team is satisfied, the players are satisfied, and the peripheral gamblers are also satisfied.

Just as Mengzi was about to ask why, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Kitagawa Hide held her down and ran over to look through the smart door lock screen. He found that those standing outside were Professor Takeuchi Osamu, Teacher Kimura Keiko, Jabami Rei, and a white-haired old man whom he did not recognize.

He immediately opened the door to greet her, and while saying hello his eyes fell on Jabami Rei, who was 1.7 meters tall with legs 1.2 meters long. Ever since he asked her to see her legs once, she started wearing hot pants and stockings all day long.

After entering the entertainment industry, Jabami Rei's appearance has become more prominent with the help of a professional team. She is completely different from two years ago. Sexy and cool, with a touch of charm, and has many works with good reputation, box office and ratings. No wonder she has gained a large number of loyal fans within less than a year of entering the entertainment industry.

Kitagawa Hide looked at her and asked, "What's going on?"

Jabami Rei stuck out her tongue and responded with "It's all up to you," then happily went off to play with Yumeko.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I hope it didn't disturb Yumeko's rest?" Takeuchi Osamu asked seriously.

Beichuan Xiu quickly shook his head and invited them in: "No, no, teachers, please come in."

"Excuse me. My name is Kato Shuichi. This is a souvenir. Please accept it." The white-haired old man handed a small bag to Kitagawa Hide.

Kitagawa Hide's expression was stern. Oh my god, it turns out that the culprit is here!
"Thank you very much! Teacher Kato." Kitagawa Hide took the gift and welcomed the three people into the living room.

Yumeko had gone back to her room to change her clothes, and the four of them sat down. Jabami Rei, who had nothing to do, took on the role of a maid, serving tea and water.

As the introducer, Takeuchi Osamu drank a sip of tea and briefly told Kitagawa Hide the cause of the incident.

It turned out that Kato had asked many TV stations before Monday, hoping to have a chat with Kitagawa Hide, but it seemed that no talk show was accepted by Kitagawa Hide.

After a while, he could only find Takeuchi Osamu through his friends in the industry. Takeuchi Osamu called Kimura Keiko and Jabami Rei and visited him directly.

"I came here this time because I want to discuss two things with Professor Kitagawa." Kato Zhoujie's expression was very serious when he spoke. At first glance, he was the typical traditional scholar who was very methodical in everything he did.

"Please speak." Kitagawa Hideya sat up straight.

He does not submit to any authority, but he will not inexplicably oppose all authority.

"First, I want to talk about the creative motivation and true intention of "The End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland". Second, I want to interview you." Kato Shuichi said concisely.

Beichuan Xiu nodded and said, "No problem, please go ahead."

"Okay. Then I'll ask Brother Takeuchi and Professor Kimura to be witnesses." Kato Shuichi took out a recorder, and Jabami Rei beside him also got a camera, "Can we record audio and video?"

Kitagawa Hide looked at him in confusion.

Kato added on Monday: "I hope to leave behind video and audio records. This interview is for writing the History of Japanese Literature. If it is inconvenient, I will put it away."

"If it's just literature-related and doesn't reveal my family information, then it's fine." Kitagawa Hide nodded, then glared at Jabami Rei who was filming, telling the sharp-tongued woman to stop filming.

Jabami Rei stuck out her tongue, smiled and didn't respond.

"Of course. Once the recording and videotaping are completed, Mr. Beichuan can check it and keep it on file after making any edits.

If we want to make it public in the future, we will ask for your opinion first." Kato Shu nodded.

"That's no problem." Kitagawa Hide straightened his clothes and sat up straighter.

It was also the first time that Jabami Rei saw him so formal and serious. She didn't expect that this guy would be so handsome when he was serious.

"I said something in that review about 'The End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland,'" Kato said straight to the point on Monday.

He doesn't like procrastination or euphemisms. He is straightforward and very serious about literary studies.

During the conversation, Kitagawa Hideya gradually relaxed.

Kato Shuichi is a typical historical recorder. When faced with works and characters, he tends to analyze them from the perspective of an observer, without any emotional color at all.

Some historians like to add a lot of subjective color, which makes the historical materials inaccurate. Many people are not happy to be recorded in such history books.

Seeing Kato Shuichi's attitude towards academic research, Kitagawa Hide felt much more relieved.

Kitagawa Hide is outspoken about "The End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland."

It was written just to satirize the highly developed capitalist society, to give voice to office workers and salarymen, and for Yasuko Watanabe.

It was just that in the process of writing, in order to avoid some unnecessary things, and also because I wanted to try a double-line narrative, I came up with this pattern and writing style.

As the story unfolds, the relationship between "The End of the World" and "Cold Wonderland" will deepen, and all mysteries will be solved.

Kitagawa Hide couldn't give spoilers about his own book, but after he gave a general idea, Kato Shuichi understood.

This will definitely be a groundbreaking work!
Thinking of "The Desire of a Fool", which is still trapped in love, relationships between men and women, and training, Kato Shuichi couldn't help but sigh.

Ichiro Tanizaki, Ichiro Tanizaki, when you wrote "The Devil's Tattoo" back then, you were also full of passion and unwilling to compromise for many things.

How come after thirty years you're back to your old ways?

After a simple ten-minute conversation, Kato Shuichi's position as "the best in the world" was confirmed.

After talking about books, the two talked about "History of Japanese Literature" and the interview.

“.In fact, the history of Japanese literature began in the Meiji era when Japan embarked on the path of leaving Asia and entering Europe. It was one of the important paths for Meiji Japan to construct its modern Japanese cultural identity.

This clear purpose gives the general narrative of Japanese literary history a lot of constructed color.

For example, one of its important characteristics is the "covering up" of Chinese literature, which has occupied a lofty position in Japan for more than a thousand years. Erasing the imprint of "Chinese literature" and constructing a Japanese literature centered on "Japanese literature" is one of the important measures for Meiji Japan to demonstrate its cultural soft power to the West.

This is extremely one-sided and wrong.

This is just like the conservatives in the literary world today who are trying their best to deny the new generation represented by you, which will only lead Japanese literature to a dead end. "

The more Kato Shuichi got to know Kitagawa Hide and the more he interviewed him, the more he felt the charm of this young writer.

This is what he has always hoped the future of Japanese literature will be like.

Unfortunately, this young man has been excluded and not accepted.

Kitagawa Hide smiled and said, "I don't really care about that, and I don't think anyone should take responsibility for that. The original reason I wrote the book was to pay off my debts. I had more than 100 million in debt.

After paying off my debts, I hope to have a home with my loved ones, a stable source of income, and then slowly become financially independent and live a carefree life.

After all these are achieved, I hope to benefit the people around me and bring them benefits to the best of my ability.

After all this is done, I will look at society, see the people who need help, and see if I can help.
In this process, I hope to slowly become the writer I like.

That's all. "

".Is that all?" Kato Zhoujie looked at him, a little dazed for a moment.

He knew many, many writers, both old and young, male and female.

But as long as we talk about Japanese literature and literary circles, there are countless ambitions and ideals.

Most writers want to become the best in the world throughout their lifetime.

All writers who have literary dreams also hope to push Japanese literature to new heights.

Only this young man.

Simple and straightforward.

"I just want money", "I just want a better life", "on this basis I will try my best to help those who can be helped", after I have all these, "I hope to become an excellent writer."

That's it.

In his dreams.

There is no "best in the world", no "Japanese literary world", and no "Japanese literature".

"Yes. That's all." Beichuan Xiu smiled, "I always feel that my personal ability is limited. It will probably take me a lifetime to achieve all of this."

Not only Kato Shuichi, Takeuchi Osamu, Kimura Keiko, Jabami Rei, but also Yumeko who came out were all stunned.

This sounds like a top billionaire saying "I don't know how to make money" or "I'm just an ordinary person", which is nonsense.

But when Kitagawa Hide said this, people felt very convinced.

"I see. Thank you for letting me get to know you again." Kato Zhouyi looked at him, paused for a long time, and said word by word, "Teacher Kitagawa, I think you are truly the 'best in the world'. If I can write this 'History of Japanese Literature', then the first sentence must be 'In 1972, Kitagawa Hide was born'!"

(End of this chapter)