Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 437 Take it!

"Oh, one last thing I'd like to add."

Masato Takeshita, remembering that he would be inspecting the other factories next, immediately looked at everyone with a serious expression.

"Today's meeting will be kept confidential for now, and the investigation will have to wait until I leave China."

He didn't want any accidents to happen, as other factories in the Xinghai Group might have similar problems.

"Yes, please rest assured, Chairman."

After the meeting, the young man immediately continued to inspect the factories under his control.

Sure enough, many factories located in small towns or of slightly smaller scale have similar situations.

The supervisory personnel neglected their duties and colluded with the main managers.

Accommodation, meals, work clothes, safety facilities... all became places where they were greedy for money.

"It's shocking, it's shocking, it's almost completely rotten."

Takeshita Masato shook his head, looking at a vice president of Xinghai Group's China region with great distress.

"Gao Feng, from now on you will be in charge of the company's monitoring department. Make sure to reduce similar incidents."

"I... understand!"

Gao Feng was overjoyed. He never expected that he, a vice president who ranked low, could suddenly become one of the top three big shots in China.

But he reacted quickly, immediately standing up happily and bowing in response.

"Yes, I hope that when I visit next time, the factories, big and small, will be completely renovated."

"Please rest assured, Chairman, when you inspect next time, there will definitely be no situation where workers live in rooms with more than ten or twenty people, and the workers' meals will also be improved."

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

After a brief inspection of Xinghai Group's factories in China, Masato Takeshita quickly returned to Japan.

Under Kalinsky's combined pressure and persuasion, Bandai finally agreed to Starsea Entertainment's acquisition offer.

This is a business deal worth nearly two billion US dollars, and as the chairman, he naturally has to go back to sign and stamp it.

"Welcome, welcome! From now on, we're family."

After signing the contract, Masato Takeshita took the initiative to shake Makoto Yamashina's hand, his face full of smiles.

"Greetings, Chairman. It is an honor for our company to become a part of Xinghai Group."

Makoto Yamashina changed his tune quickly, his face showing an even more excited expression than Masato Takeshita.

He had long wanted to break free from Bandai and allow Bandai to take a step forward under the leadership of another company, and now his dream had finally come true.

Now that they were family, Masato Takeshita naturally saw no need to keep things hidden any longer.

He looked at Kalinsky to the side and said, "Kalinsky, show President Yamashina our Bandai Toys development plan."

After Bandai merged into Seikai Entertainment, Makoto Yamashina continued to serve as president of Bandai and was also appointed as the seventh vice president of Seikai Entertainment.

This is a tradition at Starsea Entertainment: the president of a subsidiary automatically becomes the vice president of the company.

"OK!"

Kalinsky readily presented his early childhood education toy design proposal, which included a market plan for early childhood education toys and various data.

It clearly states that early childhood education toys have become a market that cannot be ignored.

However, the giant toy manufacturers have long neglected this area, resulting in the early childhood education toy market being flooded with products from cheap small manufacturers.

These things are not safe, and as soon as Bandai enters the market, it can easily dominate it.

Is there really such a large market for early childhood education toys?

Looking at the data above, Yamashina Makoto still seemed somewhat skeptical.

Toys are supposed to be for playing, so how are they being linked to education?
"Yes, the market for early childhood education toys is huge. Because playing is human nature, and toys can teach while having fun."

Instead of blocking, we should guide. Since children naturally love toys, why not use toys to educate them?

Although developed countries in Europe and America have not yet formed a similar awareness, there is already a similar trend.

"Yes, I know."

Yamashina Makoto still had a vague understanding, but he decided to obediently follow his superiors' instructions.

After all, Kalinsky is the true master in the toy industry.

Before joining Sega, he worked for three different toy companies. Each time, he spearheaded the company's revival or significant growth in the toy industry.

This applies to Barbie dolls, and also to various transforming toys.

If it weren't for being tired of the backstabbing and infighting in toy companies, and feeling that the toy industry is too easily replicated and has too low a ceiling, then it would be a different story.

Kalinsky will never enter the gaming industry, nor will he give up his position as president to become a branch manager at Sega.

After presenting a generous gift to Bandai, the two sides did not discuss the toys further.

Today marks the signing of the contract and the formal completion of the acquisition agreement, as well as the day Bandai joins the Xinghai family.

Both sides naturally wanted to celebrate, so they headed straight to the Prince Hotel banquet hall.

Masato Takeshita didn't like to say too much. After exchanging a few polite words, he started the banquet directly.

"Mr. Yamashina, I believe Bandai will soon see a greater recovery."

"Yes, I believe it too. Early education toys are a stroke of genius. No wonder Xinghai Group is developing so fast. The media is right."

Although Naoharu Yamashina has retired and handed over the company to his son, he has never lost his sensitivity to the toy industry.

When he heard the words "early education toys," he immediately realized that this niche industry had great potential.

This could be a new driving force for Bandai's development, and it might even allow it to surpass Hasbro and Mattel.

This made him, who had previously felt somewhat resentful, realize that joining Xinghai Entertainment was indeed a good thing.

If Bandai rejects Starsea Entertainment's acquisition offer, the group will inevitably acquire other toy manufacturers. This acquisition of early childhood education toys by other manufacturers will likely soon threaten Bandai's monopoly in the Japanese toy industry.

"It's all thanks to the hard work of our employees that we've been able to develop so quickly. I have indeed made contributions, but not as exaggerated as the media portrays."

Masato Takeshita dared not admit the media's exaggerated praise of him.

Even if many things in it are correct, we can't let small things cause us to lose sight of the bigger picture and hurt the feelings of our employees.

After Yamashina Naoji, Yamashina Makoto naturally took over the baton and took the initiative to step forward and talk to the young man.

This time, however, their conversation mainly focused on games.

As for toys, Makoto Yamashina didn't even look at them.

He had always dreamed of transforming Bandai into a game company, and now he has finally realized his dream.

After communicating with all of Bandai's top executives, Masato Takeshita finally had some free time.

He walked up to Kalinsky and said casually in a low voice.

"What do you think about moving some of Bandai's factories to China? Labor is cheaper there, which would help us capture the low-to-mid-end market."

"I have the same idea; the conditions in China are just too good."

Masato Takeshita's deep affection for China profoundly influences every employee of the Xinghai Group. Therefore, Kalinsky had long harbored the idea of ​​establishing a contract manufacturing plant in China.

However, he hadn't been in charge of Xinghai Entertainment for very long, so he hadn't developed any romantic feelings for it yet.

"Okay, it's good that you understand. But we can't put everything in China; our products need to maintain a certain degree of localization."

Xinghai Group is not an American giant and must maintain a certain market share in terms of production.

In this way, we won't be bothered by all sorts of monsters and demons.

As for smaller issues, such as environmental protection, no company can avoid them; the only option is to donate.

Besides the factory construction, Masato Takeshita also brought up tamagoyaki.

"You need to pay close attention to Bandai's newly released Tamagotchi electronic pet. It's already a huge hit, so the company needs to do more promotion and increase production." "Don't worry, Chairman, I'll have someone put in charge of that tomorrow."

Kalinsky was very impressed with Tamagotchi because it was this little thing that disrupted his acquisition plans.

The acquisition, which was supposed to be completed next year, was completed in less than a month at the chairman's request.

Yes, time is really tight.

Starsea Entertainment spent an additional $1 million on this.

However, Kalinsky felt it was worthwhile because his research revealed that this little gadget had become incredibly popular among students and was showing signs of spreading into the wider community.

The extra money Xinghai Entertainment spent is probably equivalent to half a year's profit for Tamagotchi.

"Yes, the sooner the better. If the product is too simple, similar imitations will quickly appear on the market. Besides, this thing relies on novelty, and after a while, nobody will play with it anymore."

"Does the chairman mean that Tamagotchis will soon become unpopular?"

Kalinsky immediately grasped the key point and looked at the chairman with some surprise.

"Yes, this thing won't last long."

Masato Takeshita nodded, then smiled and gave his reasons.

"The gameplay is too simplistic and relies heavily on the Japanese tendency to follow trends. When people start chasing fashion trends, that's when toys become niche products."

The Japanese are incredibly enthusiastic about trends, but they also give up on them just as quickly.

Taking music as an example, last year Being-style singers were all the rage, but this year they are showing signs of fading from popularity.

As for next year, Izumi-sensei had no choice but to release a compilation album.

It's worth noting that when a singer releases a greatest hits album, it's a classic example of a decline in their career.

This is basically announcing to everyone that I'm going to start rehashing old ideas.

"Understood, I will control toy production next year."

"No need to be so extreme. The hype is far from over. I estimate that the halo of popularity will not dissipate until the end of the year."

"Understood, then I will control production in the second half of the year."

"Yes, that's good."

Masato Takeshita certainly doesn't want Bandai, which he's taken over, to have a huge inventory of Tamagotchis next year.

We can sell a little less, but we can't have millions or tens of millions of dollars worth of goods that go unsold.

Of course, we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Therefore, being cautious from the second half of next year is the best decision.

If Tamagotchi is a shooting star that bursts onto the scene instantly and burns out just as quickly, then Gundam is the old ox that continuously nourishes Bandai.

This is the foundation of all generations, so the young man said in a slightly serious tone.

"The Gundam IP is the foundation of Bandai. We need to invest more in Sunrise and let them produce more good films."

"I know, and I'm most optimistic about Sunrise."

Kalinsky was also a master at advertising toys, helping his former employer dominate the toy industry.

Even Hasbro's Transformers IP and promotional methods emerged under his influence.

A man who values ​​animation promotion so much wouldn't neglect the development of Sunrise like Bandai did. They had the potential to become Toei, but always lived in its shadow.

"Okay, then let's strive to make Sunrise the strongest animation company in Asia."

"No problem, we will definitely do it."

Kalinski has no confidence in surpassing Disney. But he is currently very confident in becoming the Disney of Japan.

Because there are no decent large-scale animation companies in the whole of Asia.

The only two somewhat competitive animation studios, Shanghai Animation Film Studio and Toei Animation Film Studio of Japan, are among the best of the worst.

Both Starry Sea Animation and Sunrise will achieve breakthroughs under his leadership.

"By the way, you should also pay attention to the development of 3D technology; we also need to develop 3D animation."

"But 3D animation is very expensive, so it's better to focus on animated films."

In the 1990s, Japan possessed world-class 3D technology.

However, the technology is mainly used in games, not at all in animation. The young man is preparing to be a pioneer, competing with companies like Pixar.

"3D animation? Great!"

Although he didn't understand the development trends and types of 3D animation, that didn't stop Kalinsky from keeping it in mind.

For him, no task assigned by the chairman was ever wasted.

He doesn't understand it yet because he's not quick-witted enough.

After explaining everything, Masato Takeshita left.

Today's main character is Bandai, so we can't just ignore it.

Bandai's acquisition signaled that nothing major would happen to the Xinghai Group in 1996.

Masato Takeshita simply gave all his employees in Japan a Japanese New Year holiday three days in advance.

Next year will be a turbulent year, and employees will find it difficult to maintain the peace they have now.

Take some rest now, consider it compensation for the future.

……

"Xiaohui, Chinese New Year is coming soon, what gift do you want?"

"Dad, Dad! I want to go to Disneyland. My classmates say it's so beautiful there."

The little girl was very excited and hoped that her parents would take her to the amusement park.

"No problem, what else?"

Although the young man was indifferent to amusement parks like Disneyland, he dared not ride thrilling rides such as roller coasters, drop towers, or pendulum swings.

But since his daughter liked it, he naturally had to go with her.

He is still happy to fulfill his children's requests for small things in life.

"Well, also, I want to buy a few more Tamagotchis and give them to my classmates."

"Okay, is ten enough for Dad?"

"Yay! Daddy's so great!"

With that, the little girl planted a deep kiss on Takeshita Masato's cheek.

Then, jumping up and down, she said, "Hehe, now Ninoko and Saki will have Tamagotchis to play with too!"

Tamagotchis are really hard to find these days.

Not only are students snapping them up, but many female office workers also like to buy one for virtual pet ownership.

It is estimated that its popularity will reach an even higher level after a period of time.

Bandai and Seikai Entertainment have launched a new round of promotion for Tamagotchi.

Many big-name female celebrities also unintentionally play with Tamagotchi when they appear on TV shows.

At that time, scalpers from all over the country will start entering the market.

You can buy a Tamagotchi and easily resell it for several times its original price.

I wonder if underground criminal gangs will also start buying this stuff and hyping it up.

There probably will be. Isn't joining a criminal organization all about making easy money?

(End of this chapter)