Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 419 The Media's Seizing Opportunities

The two-hour Q&A session finally came to an end, and even though Masato Takeshita didn't want to see the disappointed looks in everyone's eyes, he had no choice but to announce the end of the speech.

However, before leaving, he emphasized it again.

"Everyone must remember that if you want to get into a better company and get a better position, you must learn more about computer technology."

"Whether in the research field or the software application field, major companies have a great need for it."

Masato Takeshita's words were not directed at students of the University of Tokyo, but rather at students of ordinary high schools who were about to watch the video, as well as students of key universities that were not Imperial Universities or the two top private universities.

The difficulty Japanese university graduates face in finding employment mainly refers to these individuals.

After all, no matter when, top university students, as long as they are not too picky, may find it difficult to get into top-tier companies, but they can still get into ordinary large companies.

Just like students from Tsinghua and Peking Universities in China, as long as your grades aren't too bad, you can basically get into any company at the provincial key university level.

"Alright, that's all for now. See you next time, my friends, for the future of Japan!"

After speaking, Masato Takeshita bowed slightly, then opened the door and entered the back of the venue.

Before he left, the president of the University of Tokyo, Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, was already waiting behind him. When he opened the door and entered, the president quickly stepped forward to greet him.

"That's very well said. The future belongs to the electronic and information age. To achieve something, you must understand computer technology. At the University of Tokyo, we plan to focus on promoting this course in the first and second years of the academic year."

"I was just sharing my feelings, and I don't deserve such praise from Principal Yoshikawa. But learning more computer skills is never a bad thing."

Japan was quite strong in the computer field in the 1990s.

We truly fell behind the times in the mobile internet era after 2007.

that time,
In the field of news and publicity, Twitter has almost completely devoured it; in the field of video publicity, Niconico has been beaten to the point of barely surviving by YouTube... Even in the most basic field of communication and chat, South Korean companies dominate.

It can be said that Japan suffered a complete defeat in the mobile internet era.

Japan still has a chance to correct its mistakes, so Masato Takeshita should naturally make more efforts.

If only the Seikai Group remains in the internet sector in Japan, the pressure from all sides will be immense.

Foreign powers will target you, and domestic capital will not let you off the hook either.

It should be understood that the willingness to give to friendly nations is not unique to the Chinese, but a common characteristic of all humankind.

Because if it's owned by outsiders, there's a chance to take it back if things change in the future. But if it's owned by someone close to you, then there's really no chance.

In other words, Xinghai Group can stand out in the internet age, but it cannot be the only big tree.

Only in this way will all forces, both domestic and foreign, feel at ease.

After his lecture at the University of Tokyo, the young man went on to give lectures at Kyoto University, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and his alma mater, Waseda University.

He also uses different speaking styles for different universities.

For example, Kyoto University places great emphasis on basic disciplines, and boasts the highest number of Nobel laureates in the sciences in Japan.

Therefore, at this university, Masato Takeshita mainly talked about the importance of having interdisciplinary thinking so as to make greater progress in basic fields.

For example, Hitotsubashi University is the top-ranked humanities university in Japan.

His main point was to warn students that they should be cautious when choosing a career in banking.

Japanese financial companies are generally not doing very well right now, and if something goes wrong, they are likely to lay off employees.

If you encounter a graduate with average abilities, their later life may be ruined.

It's important to know that major Japanese companies generally value recent graduates and can be extremely ruthless towards unemployed graduates from prestigious universities.

Unless you have top-notch abilities in every aspect, you won't have a chance to rejoin a new, large company.

For most skilled individuals, the final destination after unemployment is a small or medium-sized company.

As for my alma mater Waseda University, I naturally have to issue a warning and also urge everyone to learn more about computer technology.

Masato Takeshita's speech quickly spread.

The journalists immediately became excited and flocked to the Xinghai Group headquarters building.

"Chairman Takeshita, could you please explain why you are so pessimistic about the financial industry?"

"Chairman Takeshita, have you discovered some serious problems in the banking industry?"

"President Takeshita, do you think the economic recovery is just an illusion?"

……

Faced with a barrage of questions from reporters, Masato Takeshita had no choice but to stop and answer them one by one.

He didn't want to leave the reporters with an impression of arrogance and rudeness.

"I am indeed not very optimistic about the financial industry. As for the collective reasons, everyone can collect relevant data from local insurance companies, banks, and securities companies."

"I have reservations about the banking sector, mainly because major banks have too many bad debts. When the bad debts decrease, then banks will still be the best financial assets."

"As for whether the economy is recovering, that's a matter of opinion. I'm not sure myself, and I want to observe for a few more years."

The Japanese economy is indeed recovering with the help of China and Southeast Asia.

Unfortunately, China is still very weak in the economic field, and the crisis in Southeast Asia has been amplified by American capital.

All of Japan's struggles are destined to be castles in the air.

The reporters were even more excited after hearing Masato Takeshita's answer.

The reports that the chairman of the Xinghai Group is pessimistic about Japan's financial industry will definitely make tomorrow's newspapers sell like hotcakes.

They immediately asked more detailed questions, wanting to know more.

"Chairman Takeshita, could you explain why you are not optimistic about the financial industry?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know much about this either. If I had to explain in detail, it's mostly based on intuition."

After saying that, Masato Takeshita gave an apologetic smile.

"Um, I'm sorry everyone. Let's talk about it another time. I have a lot of things to do today."

Just a quick reminder, this is his absolute limit.

If we go into more detail, what if a bank run occurs?
Japan's economy cannot withstand too much turbulence right now. He also doesn't want to become a scapegoat for Japan's financial collapse.

Although Masato Takeshita only said a few words, the reporters still treated it as a treasure.

People went to great lengths to find out the inside story of the financial industry and then attributed the relevant data to young people to increase its authority.

Meanwhile, the news headlines were increasingly exaggerated.

In short, Japan's financial industry is doomed and strong reforms are necessary.

While some followed Takeshita Masato's criticisms, others naturally supported him.

On that very day, numerous newspapers, backed by financial companies, boasted about their own companies' progress.

For example, Changxin Bank bought several pages in newspapers such as Dubuis to boast about its success abroad.

Shanyi Securities, one of the four major securities firms, also couldn't sit still and bought a lot of space to promote itself.

In short, the financial industry is indeed experiencing problems.

However, the problem lies with small and medium-sized companies; large companies are still quite safe.

If you don't want your assets to go down the drain, then put all your money into a large company.

It can only be said that large Japanese companies are quite flexible in their opportunistic thinking. By leveraging the criticism of young people, they directly turned a bad thing into a good thing.

After all, in the minds of the Japanese, there are indeed no large companies going bankrupt in Japan; it is mostly small and medium-sized enterprises that go bankrupt.

It can only be said that the mindset of workers in China and Japan was very similar in the 1990s.

One question is, how can state-owned enterprises go bankrupt on such a large scale?
One point is that large corporations simply don't go bankrupt.

However, with the impact of economic globalization, both ideas eventually collapsed.

No matter what kind of business it is, poor management will lead to bankruptcy, unless it holds an irreplaceable position in the national economy.

For example, when China's four major state-owned banks faced bankruptcy, the state bail them out.

For example, Japan's top banks were rescued with massive capital injections from the Japanese government.

However, in this process, top companies must also avoid becoming the chickens that the government warns the monkeys to scare.

For example, Lehman Brothers, which came later, was killed by the US government as a warning to Wall Street.

Masato Takeshita's warnings and the propaganda from major banks like Chōshin Bank quickly influenced the Japanese public.

"Honey, how about we deposit our money in a big bank?"

"I told you not to be greedy for interest. Fine, then deposit it in a big bank."

As early as last year, on the day Hyogo Bank went bankrupt, the husband was very worried about the family's assets stored in the bank.

He wanted to deposit his money in a large bank, but his wife strongly objected, coveting the higher interest rates offered by smaller banks.

This time, finally someone was able to persuade them.

that's nice!

Faced with the promotions of large banks and securities companies, small and medium-sized financial companies will naturally not sit idly by.

They chose different distribution methods to reassure their customers.

For example, helping customers with housework or chatting with them.

Yes, chatting with customers is a primary responsibility of sales positions in small and medium-sized banks.

This method is very effective, especially when targeting elderly customers.

After all, the elderly are prone to emotional deprivation. They are willing to do anything, not just deposit money in the bank, but also buy insurance and health products.

They longed for someone to talk to them, and because of this, countless elderly people were deceived in life.

Of course, the most powerful counterattack is to raise interest rates.

Big banks offer very low interest rates, almost to the point of being nonexistent.

Small and medium-sized banks are different; they generally don't have rates below 3%.

This interest rate is nothing in China and the US, but it's a fixed rate in Japan.

As for those with higher investment levels, most of them have already gone bankrupt and simply can't continue operating.

The world doesn't revolve around one person, and the tumultuous distrust of small and medium-sized financial companies will soon come to an end.

Takeshita Masato was not surprised by this and continued to attend to his own business.

For example, increase support for Xinghai Mailbox and begin large-scale support for the global development of QQ Chat.

The latter, in particular, must be promoted with maximum effort to prevent other chat software from taking over the domestic market first.

"Xinghai Internet Cafe has been a great help."

Looking at the updates on the development of QQ chat in various language regions sent from China, Masato Takeshita couldn't help but feel fortunate.

Internet cafes can quickly accumulate seed users for QQ chat, thereby realizing the dream of dominating the national market.

At least the markets in China, Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Western Europe have been fully covered by QQ chat.

As long as no mistakes are made in QQ chat, it will be very difficult for newcomers to catch up.

"Keep up the good work, and make sure to cover Latin America and the CIS region as soon as possible."

"Yes, President!"

Faced with his chairman's demanding requirements, Yoshinori Shimada immediately gave an affirmative response.

He is now filled with a sense of crisis because after QQ Chat established a company, he is no longer the only candidate for president.

Naoto Kawada, who is in charge of building servers around the world, is also a strong competitor.

He cannot back down; he must demonstrate leadership.

"Also, we can't stop making small innovations, such as custom avatars, file upload and download functions, copy and paste functionality, image upload functionality, screenshot functionality..."

"In short, we must develop QQ into the world's most commonly used chat and communication tool."

"Whether it's daily communication or work-related communication."

Masato Takeshita originally wanted Yoshinori Shimada to launch a QQ group function, but after thinking about it, he didn't say it.

QQ groups are a killer feature; they must be used in the most critical moments.

"Yes, Chairman, we will definitely develop QQ into a world-class chat software."

Yoshinobu Shimada was full of confidence because the resources provided by the Xinghai Group were too abundant.

How could a typical company possibly expand globally so quickly?

Even if you have the money, it's difficult to do that.

Because talent needs to be accumulated, recruitment needs to be done little by little.

QQ chat is different; resources such as money, talent, and publicity are readily available, and the transformation can be completed quickly.

This is how we were able to launch multilingual versions around the world just over a month after its release.

Like Yahoo, which won't enter the Chinese market until next year.

As for those smaller countries that are not as good as China, many of them do not have their own language versions of Yahoo even in the 21st century.

"Yes, that's exactly the kind of momentum we want. If any competitors emerge, beat them to a pulp."

QQ chat will be a core asset of Xinghai Group, and is expected to make an unparalleled contribution to its publicity efforts.

Even if they abandon applications like search, Xinghai Group will not give up on it.

"Understood, please rest assured, Chairman, but we need more financial support."

He understood the chairman's determination, so after bowing and making his promise, he immediately asked the youth for more funds.

The expenses on servers and networks are too high, and QQ is now struggling to keep up.

"No problem, the account will have $3000 million this afternoon."

Masato Takeshita originally planned to aim for a small goal in one go, but considering the scale of QQ, he ultimately chose to be more conservative.

The continuous, small-scale financial support is now more suitable for QQ's development.

"Yes, thank you, Chairman!"

For the next period of time, Xinghai Group will focus on QQ chat, but Xinghai Email cannot be neglected.

After discussing the global promotion of QQ with Yoshinori Shimada, the young man then approached Shuichi Wada, the person in charge of the email service.

How many users does the email service have now?

"English users have exceeded two million, and Japanese customers have exceeded 70."

"A very good result. I believe we can become the world's number one email provider within a year."

In order to maintain the rapid development of Seikan Mail, Masato Takeshita did not launch any spam campaigns or include any advertisements in the mailbox.

And even if the number of people increases, he will try his best to reduce such situations.

Xinghai Group is not short of money; what it wants is a greater degree of control over the internet world.

Once you have more control, there will be plenty of opportunities to make money.

The original QQ was like that; it didn't have any ads, but that didn't stop it from making a fortune from them.

(End of this chapter)