Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 430 Who is the most important?
"Here, this is a list of promising young talents I've discovered and their sources."

Takeshita Masato didn't give Matsuura Masato much time to think, and simply threw a character profile in front of him.

Some things become less useful the more you dwell on them.

Matsuura Masato took the list and muttered to himself as he looked at it.

"Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, and other new members of Disney's Mickey Mouse club?"

"The show disbanded in 94, and everyone was looking for opportunities to enter the film, television, and music industries?"

Before the Backstreet Boys rose to prominence, no one in the Western music scene had any faith in groups that specialized in singing teen music.

Therefore, Disney terminated its contracts very quickly when disbanding its shows.

But in a year or two, Disney will regret it immensely.

The success rate of teenage stars produced by this show is extremely high.

This is normal, though, since they were the result of Disney's selection process.

The only regret is that Disney made these child stars famous, but they were then cashed in by major record companies like BMG.

But Disney also learned from this experience and promptly signed record deals with second-generation teen idols such as Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez when they launched them.

good results.

Although it didn't reach the heights of the first generation, it still made Disney a fortune.

"That's right, Disney's management is rigid-minded and hasn't noticed the advantages of child stars at all."

Masato Takeshita made a brief complaint about Disney, and then began to discuss the list above.

"Britney and Christina, those two are more talented."

"Even if we release everyone else, we must reach an agreement with these two as soon as possible."

Britney Spears needs no introduction; she was a world-class superstar at the turn of the century.

Even if Xinghai Music gains nothing after signing her, it would be well worth it.

As for Christina Aguilera, although she is less accomplished than Britney Spears, she also has a very impressive resume.

She was one of the few new female singers at the turn of the century who could rival Britney Spears.

As for Justin, who formed the Superboys group, he is a wicked person.

First, he used the malicious creation of Britney Spears' scandal to promote himself, and then he deliberately ruined Janet Jackson's singing career, which the youth disliked very much.

After talking about the singers, Masato Takeshita turned his attention to the producers behind the scenes.

"Also, try to sign backstreet boys producer Max Martin. This young music producer is incredibly talented and belongs to the teen pop music genre."

Max Martin was the most important producer behind the Teen Pop music craze sparked by the Backstreet Boys.

He was the producer for a host of big names, including the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and Britney Spears, propelling them to the peak of their careers.

More importantly, even as the trend of teenage music fades, he is still not too far behind the times.

Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift have also occasionally been seen with him.

"Yes, I understand. I will definitely bring this producer into my fold."

No one understands the importance of music producers better than Masato Matsuura.

Because Starry Sea Music achieved rapid rise and became the number one music company in Japan thanks to a single music producer.

"Very good, that's the kind of spirit we need."

Takeshita Masato nodded in satisfaction, then made a suggestion in a low voice.

"By the way, I heard from others that a girl in the company named Ayumi Hamasaki has a lot of star quality and might be the next Namie Amuro."

"Keep a close eye on him and try to mold him into a new generation of pop idol."

Ayumi Hamasaki, who would later become a superstar singer who swept across East and Southeast Asia, was still relatively unknown at this time.

If it weren't for Matsuura Masato's discerning eye in his previous life, he might have been lost among the many figures in the Japanese entertainment industry.

"Ayumi Hamasaki? Okay, I understand."

Masato Matsuura carefully put away the photos of Ayumi Hamasaki, preparing to go see her performance style and listen to her voice tomorrow.

"Okay, that's all I wanted to say today."

"I won't bother you anymore. See you next time."

Having said everything he needed to say, Takeshita Masato was too lazy to linger any longer.

He got up decisively, ready to go home and spend time with his daughter.

"Yes, Chairman, please take care."

Matsuura Masato respectfully saw the young man off from the office building, watching him until he was quite a distance away before returning.

"Yin Cai, call a meeting."

"Is it all employees?"

"Yes, all employees."

"Yes!"

Seikai Music became busy due to Masato Takeshita's visit, while the young man himself didn't have much work to do.

He first spent some time at home with his daughter, and then, when she was resting, he called Haneda Ichiro to arrange a late-night snack.

"Okay, no problem, I'll wait for you."

Unlike Masato Takeshita, Ichiro Haneda has been extremely busy lately.

Even when it was almost 10 p.m., they were still working hard.

Finally, Masato Takeshita waited for almost half an hour at a barbecue restaurant they frequented before his friend finally arrived.

"What, is Industrial Bank busy lately?"

"What do you think? I don't believe you don't know."

Haneda Ichiro raised an eyebrow and gave his friend a disgruntled look.

"I really didn't know. What, you've been targeted by the Ministry of Finance?"

"It's not just us, it's the whole banking system."

The high non-performing loan ratio of Japanese banks has not only become a major problem for the banks themselves, but has also made the government somewhat apprehensive.

Everyone knows that if they keep playing this game, they'll eventually be exposed.

Therefore, the Kendo Prime Minister who took office this year wants to reform Japan's financial system and try to reduce bank bad debts.

But banks, no matter which country, have too many unspeakable aspects.

Therefore, recently, major Japanese banks have been busy covering up the truth.

"Oh, I didn't know that. I haven't been paying much attention to the Bank of Japan lately."

"Well, you're right, you really don't need to worry about these trivial matters."

Haneda Ichiro shrugged, took a big bite of the grilled meat, and vented his frustration from working overtime every day recently.

"It seems your company has quite a few things to cover up."

"How could it not be? Just look at our company's current market value."

Since the bursting of the bubble, Industrial Bank's market value has been declining.

Once Japan's number one, it has now fallen out of the top five in Japan.

There's no way around it; there are too many bad debts, and we simply can't sustain it.

Fortunately, with the help of Xinghai Group, the business situation wasn't too bad.

"Market value is all an illusion. The market value of Matsumoto Manufacturing has now dropped to around 5000 billion yen."

Yes, after the bubble burst, Matsumoto Manufacturing's market value has been declining.

Today, it has only one-third of its peak market value.

However, this also has many advantages, namely that the cost of repurchasing shares becomes very low.

Masato Takeshita increased his shareholding back to 40% for just over 1000 billion yen.

Even disregarding other factors, Masato Takeshita earned hundreds of billions of yen from Matsumoto Manufacturing stock alone.

Of course, the sharp drop in Matsumoto Manufacturing's stock price is also due to its shrinking profitability.

After the economic bubble burst, sales of Matsumoto Manufacturing's flagship product, the rolling suitcase, declined across its high, medium, and low-end product lines.

Especially for mid-to-high-end brands, sales have decreased by about 50%.

If it weren't for the support of patent fees, Matsumoto Manufacturing's stock price would have fallen even more drastically.

However, there is some good news. Matsumoto Manufacturing has secured a place in the luxury handbag market thanks to its trolley-style suitcase project.

Once China achieves great development, returning to its peak will not be a dream.

The young man's attempts to comfort him were ineffective, Ichiro Hata said, waving his hand dismissively.

"It's different. Our problems are much more serious than those of Matsumoto Manufacturing."

"Matsumoto Manufacturing might make a little less profit, but we're suffering huge losses."

Takeshita Masato ate a piece of meat, then put down his chopsticks and nodded.

"Indeed, that's true."

In fact, not only Japanese banks suffered greatly in the 1990s, but China did as well.

However, the Chinese government ultimately took over the debts of the Bank of China, while Japan did not do so with the same level of intervention.

Of course, it also depends on the amount of capital.

The Bank of Japan has lost too much money, and the government doesn't have enough to bail it all out.

Seeing his friend's thoughtful expression, Ichiro Hata slammed his hand on the table.

"Hey, why am I saying all this? We finally get together, let's eat meat!"

After saying that, he put two more pieces of roasted beef into the bowl and enjoyed the pleasure of eating meat.

He's been working overtime every day lately, which has really frustrated him.

"That's right, let's eat meat, let's eat meat."

Masato Takeshita also reached out with his chopsticks, enjoying the thrill of vying for the food.

After the two had eaten and drunk their fill, Takeshita Masato checked the time.

"Go home, or grab something to eat at another izakaya?"

"Let's go to an izakaya, I want to drink."

"Okay, no problem, I'll risk my life to keep you company today."

Seeing that his friend looked extremely aggrieved, Masato Takeshita decided to have a drink or two with him.

He doesn't like drinking, but that doesn't mean he can't drink.

Two or three bottles of beer, or two or three ounces of liquor, are no problem.

Besides, at worst, we can just drink some rice wine together; that can be considered as keeping each other company.

"Tell me, those idiots in Tibet Province, why are they checking the accounts for no reason? They've kept us busy every day."

"Even the funds had to be completely diverted from Southeast Asia, where the profits were much higher."

"It's really damn bad, all they do is mess around all day long."

Everyone involved in illicit activities harbors deep resentment towards government regulations.

Japanese banks' loans to Southeast Asia involve a lot of shady dealings. Employees, influenced by the overall company atmosphere, naturally also harbored resentment towards government departments.

Ichiro Haneda was in this state, wishing he could devour the Treasury.

"Stricter regulation is actually a good thing; the model you're playing now is too risky."

In fact, Japan's Ministry of Finance had a bit of a lucky break this time, almost unintentionally ruining the Americans' strategy.

Unfortunately, the Bank of Japan cannot give up the lucrative Southeast Asian market.

In the end, only some of the funds were withdrawn; the rest remained and continued operating secretly.

"You might be like that with Masato, but we simply can't do that."

“Right now, apart from Xinghai Bank, our company can’t find any other good companies to lend to.”

At this point, Ichiro Haneda suddenly lowered his voice.

"Users have to pay interest when they store their money with us, and even if it's a low interest rate, we still have to lend that money out at a higher interest rate."

"If you keep money in your hands and can't lend it out, you'll lose money."

Japan has not yet entered the era of negative interest rates, so banks have to pay depositors a large amount of interest every year.

However, given the current situation in China, it's simply impossible to find that many people who can provide loans.

Many banks can only watch helplessly as depositors' funds devour large sums of their wealth every day.

In this situation, banks naturally need to come up with some tricks to make money. Lending to Southeast Asian countries is a very profitable project.

In fact, this was true not only in Southeast Asia, but also in China at that time.

The Japanese lend money on a large scale, with interest rates far lower than those in the United States.

Of course, these loans are in Japanese yen, so they can basically only be used to buy Japanese products.

This is why many countries provide interest-free loans to underdeveloped countries.

The money I lend you can only be used to buy things from me.

The loan is indeed interest-free, but I can make money through manufactured goods.

"Indeed, good projects are hard to find."

With the internet industry still in its infancy and the semiconductor industry facing simultaneous pressure from the US, South Korea, and Taiwan, Japan is indeed severely lacking in good domestic projects.

Masato Takeshita was well aware of which projects were of high quality to Industrial Bank. However, the two banks' relationship wasn't yet at that level.

"Yes, it's so hard to find a job. These days, there's practically no good work besides civil engineering."

"However, the country doesn't provide much support for civil engineering right now, and I don't know what will happen in the future."

In order to ensure a soft landing for Japan after the bursting of its economic bubble, the Japanese government quickly launched a large-scale infrastructure development strategy.

The results were acceptable; at least the unemployment rate was kept below 5%.

But infrastructure can only act as a stimulant; it cannot play a fundamental role.

The Japanese government is currently short of funds, making large-scale infrastructure projects difficult to implement. Banks will also lose a significant portion of their revenue.

Ichiro Haneda is now somewhat troubled because he is trapped by his own company.

That's right, when the Japanese economy began to recover slightly last year, Ichiro Haneda spent a lot of money to buy shares in Industrial Bank.

They were hoping for changes in the Japanese economy so that their wealth could double again.

Unexpectedly, their wealth shrank by half.

But he was very unwilling to sell it like that.

I finally became a minor shareholder of Industrial Bank and gained some influence in the company.

If we sell it like this, wouldn't we be back to square one?

Those who have tasted the power find it difficult to return to their former selves.

"Don't worry, given Industrial Bank's position in China, it will recover sooner or later."

Industrial Bank has a very strong influence within the government. Even if the financial giants' banks go bankrupt, Industrial Bank will not.

Furthermore, Industrial Bank also has a very large influence in Japan.

If Industrial Bank were abandoned, Japan would immediately face an economic crisis with consequences far more severe than the later collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Of course, "youth" refers to the influence on Japan.

"Well, I appreciate your kind words. I just hope this wave will pass quickly."

Masato Takeshita didn't want to lie, so he comforted her while eating edamame.

Don't worry! Everything will be alright.

"If the sky falls, someone taller will hold it up; we'd better keep a calm mindset."

Haneda Ichiro shook his head speechlessly as he looked at his friend's extremely relaxed state.

"You're just a tall guy now, aren't you? Looking for something better while you're still ahead?"

"I can only barely be considered half a person; I'm far from qualified."

"Yeah, too."

Haneda Ichiro nodded in understanding, considering the current situation in Japan.

Being too young, no matter how famous you are, you can't become the core member.

"It seems that the Japanese banking system is starting to crumble."

Listening to my friend's rambling,
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(End of this chapter)