Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 348 Taking it one step at a time

The relocation of the hospital went smoothly, and Xinghai Life quickly identified several locations in 12 wards of Tokyo.

This time, Masato Takeshita has more time and plans to personally lead the team on a tour.

"Let's go, let's take a look at the place we've chosen."

In response to their respective presidents' requests, Hiroaki Kobayashi, president of Seikai Life, and Junichi Uchida, president of Seikai Architecture, who was poached from Sekisui Construction, responded in unison.

"Yes, President!"

Since the Xinghai Group originated in Daejeon-gu, he decided to start his investigation there.

"This place looks nice; the environment is elegant, and there are many factories nearby."

"This place is just as good; all of our Xinghai Group's factories are located here."

"This is the first time I've ever seen such a large open space. If a hospital were built here, it could surely become an authority in the field of orthopedics in Japan."

What diseases are doctors near the factory best at treating?

Orthopedics should be the first choice, especially in the area of ​​finger or limb reattachment, where they are the most authoritative.

In addition, the emergency and burn care services at hospitals near the factory are usually quite good and of an authoritative level.

This is also a major characteristic of the hospital; the more patients there are in the vicinity, the better the hospital becomes at treating those types of diseases.

For example, if a Chinese doctor wants to learn how to treat gunshot wounds, then going to the United States is definitely the right choice.

If doctors in southern China want to learn how to treat fractures and other diseases, then the Northeast is the best place to go.

Of course, what netizens talk about most is the unique medical care of the Sichuan region, with its proctology and dentistry departments ranking first in China.

After inspecting three or four plots of land, Takeshita Masato was very satisfied with them all.

This is also a major characteristic of Daejeon Ward: there are factories all around, so the hospital never has to worry about business.

It was noon soon, and after having done their rounds, Masato Takeshita, led by the secretary-general, arrived at a rather nice restaurant.

Because we had made a reservation in advance, the food was served very quickly.

After the meal, there was tea time, so the group continued to chat about work while drinking tea.

"So, where do you think would be a better place to put it?"

When asked by his own chairman, Hiroaki Kobayashi frankly shared his thoughts.

"If I had to choose, I would place it near our factory in Daejeon. That way, we won't lack customers in the beginning."

The young man thought for a moment, then nodded and replied, "Hmm, that makes sense. Having our own employees treated in our own hospital can minimize the burden on each other."

Japanese workers are more meticulous than Chinese workers, but the probability of mechanical injuries is still very high. Matsumoto Ken alone spends a lot of money on workplace injuries every year.

Yes, Matsumoto Manufacturing was later renamed Matsumotoken.

There are no other factors; it's just that names like Matsumoto's family aren't prestigious enough and lack the most important prestige of luxury goods.

If you want to sell a concept, you have to come up with a good name.

After determining the first location, the largest open space and the best-looking location were then listed as the second and third options, respectively.

This is also a common practice for businesses; they don't put all their eggs in one basket.

After a brief discussion about the land purchase plan in Ota Ward, the group found a place to rest for a while before heading to their next stop, Meguro Ward.

This area is not a traditional wealthy district in Tokyo, but it has convenient transportation and a relatively developed education system, making it a good place to open a hospital.

However, Meguro Ward is relatively small, so there weren't many plots of land to choose from. In the end, after looking around, the group chose a location that bordered Setagaya Ward.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Let's go to the restaurant for lunch first, and then go straight home."

"Yes, President!"

Site selection requires careful consideration; two districts a day is already the limit. Any more than that, and there's a risk of making mistakes.

Besides, looking after land is also physically demanding.

The young people had to personally walk around and observe every piece of land that could potentially be used to build a hospital. Even if they couldn't be thorough in every aspect, they needed to have a basic understanding.

The group spent a week and worked an extra day, visiting 12 districts.

After three more days of preparation, Xinghai Group finally announced its intention to purchase land on a large scale.

As for what he intends to do with the land purchase, he will keep it a secret for now. Masato Takeshita plans to announce it after everything has settled down.

If he announces that the land is for hospital construction and attracts the attention of conglomerates, he won't be able to buy such a good location.

As for the remaining 11 wards, they are all relatively underdeveloped areas of Tokyo, making it easy to buy suitable land for building hospitals.

"I am Takeshita Masato. Are you Toyoshima-senpai?"

"Yes, that's right, our company does have this plan."

"Yes, we are prepared to use 5000 billion yen to complete the acquisition."

"No problem, we can forget Toyoshima-senpai, no matter who we forget."

"I, I have time anytime. Brother Fengdao is welcome to visit my humble abode."

"No problem, welcome, welcome. It's been a long time since we last met, let's get together sometime."

"Well, see you tomorrow."

Just as Masato Takeshita hung up the phone with a smile from Industrial Bank, the phone rang again immediately.

This time, it was Yokota Fumio, Vice President of Changxin Bank.

After all, 5000 billion yen is a huge sum of money at any time. It's something to be scrambled for even on ordinary days, but even more so now in the post-bubble era when banks are struggling.

If a unit of land in their possession can be sold, they can recover more funds, thereby reducing the risk of a mortgage crisis within the bank.

Although everyone believes the government won't let banks fail, what if something unexpected happens?
Furthermore, even if the government helps bail out the market, it is still necessary to ensure the healthy operation of the company.

A stable company means more bonuses and benefits for everyone. Poor company performance will result in a significant reduction in profits.

The simplest example is the contrast between Daiichi Real Estate Company before and after the bursting of Japan's bubble economy.

Before the bubble burst, every employee at First Realty received numerous benefits.

Two 7-day overseas trips per year are the most basic perk, and golf team building activities every two weeks are commonplace.

The benefits for employees on business trips are incredibly generous. They stay in 4-star or 5-star hotels and eat expensive and famous local delicacies.

After the real estate bubble bursts, it won't work. Overseas travel will become domestic travel, and the duration will be reduced from 7 days to 3 days, or travel benefits will simply be canceled.

As for business trips, the better ones are 3-star hotels, while the ordinary ones are not star-rated. Meals are either hotel buffets or local affordable food.

In short, everything must give way to saving money.

Every major bank in Japan has members of the Inaka faction, though some hold higher positions than others.

Therefore, Masato Takeshita didn't have time to rest all day, constantly returning calls to these bank executives.

Those who were slightly less capable kept contacting Hiroaki Kobayashi, trying to find a roundabout way to achieve their goal.

The two welcomed everyone; those they were close to would meet beforehand for a meal, while those they weren't so close to were invited to a public meeting the following Wednesday.

Xinghai Group isn't here for charity; they need enough competitors at the meeting to secure suitable land at a lower price.

The following afternoon, Masato Takeshita personally came downstairs to greet him.

"Hello, three seniors! I didn't expect you to come together."

"Good afternoon, junior Takeshita. Faced with such a large business deal, we naturally want to maximize our advantages."

Akio Toyoshima did not hide anything and frankly stated his purpose in doing so.

He wanted to leverage the three men's early connections to acquire as much land as possible.

It's important to understand that this deal involves much more than just buying a few plots of land.

The loans needed to purchase the land, as well as those needed for future construction, will all be packaged and given to relevant banks. He plans to finance everything from buying the land and building the hospital to subsequent equipment and labor costs through loans.

The smartest choice is to use other people's money to build your own career.

Getting something for free is the most exciting thing.

Uno Noriyuki, a middle-aged senior colleague who has been promoted to the position of general manager of Industrial Bank and will succeed Toyoshima Akio in the future, chimed in with a smile.

"That's right, we won't ask for more. How about the transaction share of 3 plots?"

"If the prices are not too different, everything is fine."

"Don't worry, we will definitely offer the best price."

Akio Toyoshima took over the conversation again, his tone full of confidence.

Industrial Bank had previously invested too much in land, which made things difficult for them. They would be very willing to sell some of their land, even at a low price.

At worst, we can lose more money on the land, and then make it back through loans or something similar.

"Yes, I have great confidence in my seniors."

After a few words and a simple agreement were reached, the office environment became much more relaxed.

Ichiro Haneda, who had been silent until now, started to speak and took the initiative to talk about land-related matters.

"Is this huge area going to be used to build skyscrapers?"

"No, skyscrapers are too expensive and too ostentatious, they're not suitable for our company."

Xinghai Group still needs to crawl forward; the 21st century is the perfect opportunity to showcase its strengths.

"That's it."

Haneda Ichiro nodded subconsciously, then changed the subject and continued asking.

"Oh, so what kind of model do you plan to use for the land purchase?"

"There's no point in keeping this a secret," Masato Takeshita said bluntly.

"After a period of investigation, we selected 40 plots of land in 12 districts. However, we will not buy them all, but only 12 of them."

"Therefore, we will choose the plot of land that has the best overall performance."

At this point, the young man paused briefly, waiting for the three senior students to process the information before continuing.

"As for the land purchase method, it will be conducted through a closed auction, which is beneficial to everyone."

The biggest advantage of closed auctions is that banks are unaware of each other's bids, so prices tend to be close to the banks' acceptable limits.

Of course, the covert bidding also made it easier for Xinghai Group to conduct underhanded operations.

Because Xinghai Group conducts auctions anonymously, the bids from the participants will not be disclosed.

"The hidden auction is good, but where are those 40 plots located? Can we take a look first?"

"Of course, please wait a moment."

Masato Takeshita smiled and agreed, then quickly handed over a dozen maps from his desk to Akio Toyoshima.

"The large map is a map of the 23 wards of Tokyo, and the smaller maps are maps of each ward. We have marked the locations on each map."

"OK, I understand."

The three of them looked at the map carefully, and after a while, Akio Toyoshima sighed.

"Xinghai Group is indeed meticulous in its work; the land it chose was not in a residential area."

"There's no way around it, those holdout residents are just too difficult to deal with."

Once a country becomes wealthy, holdout households will become a problem in land matters.

Masato Takeshita didn't want a hospital to take decades to build.

Of course, one can also choose to complete the land acquisition by satisfying the demands of holdout residents.

However, if Xinghai Group does this, it will create an opportunity for more greedy people, thus defeating its original purpose of saving money.

As for cooperating with criminal elements to forcibly demolish homes, the young man never even considered it.

His own thinking wouldn't allow it, and neither would the Xinghai Group.

"So, how many of those parts can Industrial Bank handle?"

"Since there are no residential buildings, there shouldn't be any problems."

Akio Toyoshima was very confident because Masato Takeshita had chosen either vacant land or small- to medium-sized company factory buildings.

Everyone's eager to sell vacant land right now. As long as you contact the owner, it's basically a done deal.

As for the factories of small and medium-sized companies, it's even easier.

Small and medium-sized companies simply cannot compete with large banks. If they are blocked, they will not be able to sell their goods.

"As expected of Industrial Bank."

"No, we help each other out."

Three senior students from Industrial Bank asked questions, and the young man answered them. The afternoon passed quickly.

"Let's go, we've already made a reservation for a restaurant nearby, we can get busy tomorrow."

"Okay, that's troublesome."

"You are welcome."

While responding politely, Masato Takeshita quickly put away the map on the table and handed it to Akio Toyoshima.

"Senior, take this map back for reference first."

"Okay, thanks."

Akio Toyoshima smiled and nodded, then carefully placed the map away.

He didn't plan to rest after dinner; he was going to hold a high-level meeting that night.

He could have had someone send it back right now, but he was worried about his subordinates making mistakes, so he decided to do it himself.

Of course, Industrial Bank's advantage is only one day.

Every morning, all the major banks in Tokyo receive this map.

Whether they come or not is not important; the competition must be started first.

The following afternoon, Masato Takeshita summoned Hiroaki Kobayashi to his headquarters office.

Have all the maps been sent to the banks?

"Yes, I and several vice presidents personally visited them and have already handed over the information to the presidents of the various banks."

"That's good."

Takeshita tapped the desk with his finger with satisfaction, then casually asked.

"How long do you think it will take for the bank to complete the intermediary work?"

"It shouldn't be long before everyone hopes to sell the land as soon as possible."

Japan's negative GDP growth last year truly alarmed countless people. This was a scene unseen for decades since the war, and it also accelerated the pace of land sales by various parties.

Companies that own large amounts of land are especially eager to sell them off.

However, there are more sellers than buyers, resulting in an ever-increasing supply of land on the market. Even in Ginza, a representative of Japanese commerce, land prices are steadily declining.

Once panic takes hold, it cannot be changed in a short period of time.

The downward trend in Japan's real estate market will take a generation to dissipate.

(End of this chapter)