Tokyo Tycoon, Start as a Writer

Chapter 57: A hero who rises against the times, the savior of the industry

At night, Ginza is brightly lit.

As long as you have money, you can find spiritual comfort and massage here to restore your physical and mental fatigue.

Men with money love to go to Ginza, and this phenomenon is also one of the creative themes that literati are interested in, so Japanese literati love to go to Ginza whether they have something to do or not.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Naoto Oguri followed Editor-in-Chief Yamada's car and arrived at Ginza Sanchome.

I looked up at the place in front of me.

This is a high-end restaurant called "Arashiyama".

Judging from the name, it is related to Arashiyama in Kyoto, and the owner is said to be a geisha from Kyoto.

Because of its elegant style and the fact that the owner is a round-faced beauty with an elegant temperament, this place has gradually become a favorite gathering place for many first-class writers.

The interior of the store is decorated in the style of a Kyoto farmhouse, with hostesses in kimonos coming in and out in groups of three or four.

Their sweet laughter, an unintentional bow and nod, and their soft and beautiful figures all make people feel happy.

"Come in, Oguri." Editor-in-Chief Yamada led the way.

Naoto Oguri followed him in and entered a private room in the style of a farmer's house.

There is a stove at the entrance, black and smooth pillars, a white paper door, and a natural door lamp.

There were already several people in the box.

Toshio Tachibana, who was dressed in a suit and looked gentle and polite, was the organizer of this party.

Apart from him, the other four people... When Naoto Oguri looked at them, he was shocked.

Those people are the permanent judges of the Akutagawa Prize!
The most important among them is a veteran writer named Keisuke Takahashi.

Dean of the Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, and permanent member of the Cultural Committee.

Although his works are controversial because they often involve topics such as sex, race, and interracial marriage, they have always been bestsellers.

With qualifications, real power and confidence in achievements, such people play an important role in the literary world.

"Yamada, please sit down. Don't just stand there like an idiot. And, Mr. Oguri, congratulations on your promotion." Tachibana Toshio raised his hand and greeted him with a very friendly attitude.

Naoto Oguri nodded and sat down in the empty seat.

As the organizer of tonight's party, after seeing that everyone was present, Tachibana Toshio slowly talked about the recent crackdown by the Ministry of Culture on emerging writer Mishima.

"Humph!"

Talking about this, Takahashi Keisuke immediately showed disdain: "A guy who doesn't take the rules seriously at all is a disgrace to the literary world."

Almost everyone loves the story of the inferior overthrowing the superior.

Unless it is the one being overcome.

In a society that values ​​seniority and rank, acts of rebellion by the lower classes will never be tolerated by the upper class.

Keisuke Takahashi has a lot of seniority and is currently the most direct beneficiary of the senior-senior system. What he dislikes most is these restless young people.

The older generation of Japanese people of high status consider this more important than anything else.

After all, they all started out as humble juniors, and they finally made it to the top and can finally become seniors. Of course, they must do their best to maintain this relationship of hierarchy.

"Teacher Takahashi is absolutely right," Chief Editor Yamada quickly replied, indignantly, "This kind of person dares to drag our entire publishing house to offend the Ministry of Culture for a little bit of money. He is so selfish."

Naoto Oguri drank silently without saying a word.

“Besides, he became famous thanks to online marketing, and his works sold well. Now he seems to really think of himself as a great writer. He dares to print 10 copies of his first book. He really doesn’t know his own limitations!” Editor-in-Chief Yamada said with an unhappy look on his face.

"10 copies? Haha..." Keisuke Takahashi laughed disdainfully.

In this era, traditional literature is gradually declining. Most new writers' single-volume works have a first print run of only 5000 copies. Even an old-fashioned writer like him who has a good reputation and a large readership only dares to print 2 copies.

How could a mere island like Mishima dare to print 10 copies?

Do you really think that others are all crazy fans and will buy your book just because they see your face?
joke!

Takahashi Keisuke said with disdain and sarcasm on his face, "He started this unhealthy trend of using Internet marketing to sell books. If he succeeds again, who knows how many people will imitate him in the future. He will ruin the entire literary world."

"To curb this evil trend, we can only rely on you teachers." Tachibana Toshio raised his glass, looked at the four Akutagawa Prize judges, and toasted them alone. There are 9 permanent judges for this year's Akutagawa Prize, and 4 of them were won over by him.

He had also met three of the other five in private. With the Tachibana family's wealth and government connections, it was only a matter of time before he could impress them.

"Don't worry, Junxiong. For your father's sake, I will definitely not let this guy continue to be so proud..." A bald judge with a big belly laughed.

"Also, about the Akutagawa Prize."

"For a guy who can only write about love affairs, whose works have no depth and whose marketing is more important than his ability, to win the Akutagawa Prize is a disgrace to us and to Mr. Akutagawa!"

"There's no way he can win the prize while I'm here!"

"Come on, cheers!"

While the banquet was going on, another group of people arrived.

This group of people are officials from the Ministry of Culture.

In this incident, the Ministry of Culture was undoubtedly the defeated party.

After the incident, there were of course some people in the Ministry of Culture who were dissatisfied... As officials, they were overthrown by a newcomer and felt completely embarrassed.

Since you are so uncooperative, let's just not cooperate with each other in the future.

There was a vague consensus within the Ministry of Culture that any resources and preferential policies for supporting literature would no longer be given to Mishima.

No matter how outstanding a person is, he must understand what the rules are. Anyone who dares to break the rules will be severely punished by the rules - this is the consensus of all upper-class people.

The sales of the single volume plummeted and he missed out on the Akutagawa Prize. This is the end of this troublemaker!

During the whole process, Naoto Oguri didn't say a word, and it was not his turn to speak here.

The daughter of one of the judges was preparing to make her debut and wanted to submit her manuscript to Xinchao. She wanted him, the editor, to help polish it, so they asked him to come over just to sit in.

Listening to their plan, Naoto Oguri was secretly shocked.

These are all well-known predecessors in the literary world. When they collectively target a newcomer, their accumulated fans will certainly not remain indifferent. At that time, Mishima will probably face another round of negative article bombardment.

Can this time's "Tide of Tide" be able to turn danger into safety like "Dancing Girl" and have such high quality that even the haters have nothing to say?
It's very suspenseful. In short, it's very suspenseful.

How high can the quality of a happy ending work written in a short period of time just to satisfy the Ministry of Culture be?
■

In the same restaurant, a dinner was also going on in another private room.

In the farmhouse-style box, Editor-in-Chief Matsushita sat with his back to the alcove. This was the bureau he organized, so he sat in the main seat.

There was a long dining table below, with Kiyoaki Matsueda and Midori Kobayashi sitting on one side.

Opposite are the marketing managers of Kinokuniya and Tsutaya, two of Japan's largest physical bookstore chains.

"Mr. Mishima is really young and promising..."

"Yeah, and he's so handsome, no wonder he's the savior of the entire industry..."

"This is a toast to Mr. Mishima."

“You’re welcome~”

Tonight's gathering was proposed by the marketing managers of two bookstores.

In the Internet age, traditional literature as a whole is declining.

The link in this industry chain that has been most obviously impacted is the physical bookstores at the sales end.

The bookstores on the street are either closing down or going bankrupt, and those that are lucky enough to still be alive are struggling to survive.

What is more desperate than the current difficulties is that the future will be even more desperate.

Now, after waiting for so long, a savior finally appeared.

If Mishima could soar to fame, the entire publishing industry would benefit.

The heads of traditional bookstores could no longer sit still and they all contacted Xinchao through various connections, hoping to get a share of the first release of Chao Sao.

(End of this chapter)