Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 528 brought pressure.

Mori Building Co., Ltd. was founded by Mori Taikichiro in the 1950s. Mori Taikichiro had three sons: Mori Takashi, Mori Minoru, and Mori Akira.

The eldest son, Mori Takashi, is a professor at Keio University in Japan and was not involved in the family business. Therefore, after their father, Mori Taikichiro, passed away, the family business was inherited by Mori Minoru and Mori Akira.

However, Mori Minoru and Mori Akira had different philosophies on running the company, which led to serious disagreements:
In terms of the group's strategic direction, Minoru Mori is keen on bold urban redevelopment and is committed to neighborhood development, aiming to build "large-scale projects," such as the projects he is undertaking in Shanghai, China, and the development of Roppongi Hills. His younger brother, Akira Mori, on the other hand, prefers more economically conservative projects, focusing on the group's "business-oriented projects" and emphasizing corporate efficiency and asset structure optimization.

Regarding the group's investment style, Minoru Mori favored large-scale, high-risk projects, often investing with substantial debt. Akira Mori, on the other hand, was sensitive to the relationship between the financial market and real estate, especially during Japan's current real estate bubble. He advised halting land purchases and construction, focusing instead on the redevelopment of existing projects, and proactively liquidating non-performing assets.

For Sen Zhang, the Shanghai World Financial Center project is a large-scale non-performing asset!

When he learned that an investment company was willing to take over the Shanghai World Financial Center, Mori Akira was very willing to hand over the project.
However, Mori Minoru is very optimistic about the future prospects of China's real estate market, believing that there is great potential and that the current difficulties are only temporary.

Soon after, at the Mori Building board meeting, Mori Akira and Mori Minoru clashed violently. In the end, Mori Akira directly threatened, "If this doesn't work, then we'll split Mori Building in two and separate Mori Trust from Mori Building!"

Mori Trust is an industrial branch of Mori Building Co., Ltd., which manages and operates numerous properties, mainly concentrated in major cities in Japan such as Tokyo and Osaka.

Akira Mori has been wanting to dismantle the Mori Building for quite some time now...

Karuizawa, a summer resort in Japan, is located in the northwest corner of Tokyo, at the border of Nagano and Gunma prefectures.

Aaron and Norika Fujiwara came here specifically to enjoy their vacation at the resort hotel!

"With its cool climate and beautiful mountain scenery, it's no wonder it's Tokyo's backyard."

In the hotel bathtub, Aaron sipped champagne and admired the beautiful view outside the window.

Nestled in Aaron's arms, Norika Fujiwara lifted her damp hair and smiled. "This place is over 1000 meters above sea level, with cool summers and snowy winters, making it an ideal vacation destination for many wealthy people."

"Moreover, many wealthy people have acquired properties here!"

“Yes, you can buy a vacation villa here in the future,” Aaron said, stroking Norika Fujiwara’s sexy and alluring body.
"How's it going with the Asia Pacific Japan office?"

The agency that Norika Fujiwara worked for is now a subsidiary of Hong Kong's Media Asia Films and has been renamed Media Asia Japan!

"It's developing well; we've partnered with Asahi, Fuji TV, and TV Tokyo, participating in the investment and production of dramas."

"However, Media Asia Japan currently has relatively few artists. They have signed some young models and are training them, but they are all idol artists."

Media Asia Japan was originally a small talent agency. After it made money, it started investing in TV dramas. However, it is very complicated for Japanese artists to change their nationality, so the agency mainly trains new talents on its own.
In Japan, male idols are mainly concentrated in Johnny & Associates, making it difficult for other agencies to compete. Most of them are female idols!
Aaron put down his glass. "Take your time. Training people takes time, and you could also consider acquiring other smaller firms."

"At that time, movies in Hong Kong will also select actors from your team."

Norika Fujiwara nodded. "Yes, Media Asia is planning to cast me in a movie!" Aaron kissed Norika Fujiwara on the lips and then asked, "By the way, last year a Miyazaki Hayao animated film, 'Princess Mononoke,' was released in Japan. I think it grossed 180 billion yen at the box office, right?"

"Yes, it's the number one film in Japanese film history. Every film from Studio Ghibli is a masterpiece!"

"He's really impressive," Aaron was genuinely impressed with Miyazaki. At the current exchange rate of around 140 yen to US dollars, that's close to 1.3 million US dollars, but that's after the yen has depreciated.
Last year, the exchange rate of the Japanese yen to the US dollar did not exceed 120.

It's worth noting that Titanic only grossed 160 billion yen in Japan this year!
Norika Fujiwara rubbed against Aaron, "Not only that, Disney also bought the international distribution rights for 'The Princess of the Forest'."

Aaron smiled. He knew this because it was purchased by Miramax, a subsidiary of Disney. Otherwise, given Disney's track record, why would they pay attention to a Japanese animation?

Moreover, Miyazaki Hayao clearly knew what kind of person Harvey Weinstein, the head of Miramax, was, and specifically mailed him a samurai sword to prevent Miramax from arbitrarily editing "The Princess of the Forest".
Anyway, "The Princess of the Forest" hasn't been released in North America yet, and Miramax doesn't seem to care much about the film.

Japan's anime industry is number one in the world, with a large market for manga and animation, but the cultural differences between the East and the West are too great.
Getting American audiences to accept Eastern culture is no easy task!

Aaron stayed in Japan, waiting for Mori Minoru's reply, while also keeping an eye on the progress of the Universal Studios Japan resort in Osaka.

"Hmm, is Tokyo DisneySea also going to start construction?"

In a suite at the InterContinental Tokyo Bay Hotel, Aaron and Universal Studios Resort Chairman Tom Williams sat facing each other.

Tom Williams nodded. "We'll officially start work next month!"

Tokyo DisneySea, located next to Tokyo Disneyland Resort, is a marine-themed resort created by Disney Fantasy Studios.

This is also part of Tokyo Disneyland's preparations for the upcoming opening of Universal Studios Japan Resort in Osaka.

Just like the newly built Universal Studios Islands of Adventure near Universal Studios Orlando Resort, it's designed to compete with Walt Disney World in Orlando!

Aaron smiled. "It seems that Universal Studios Japan in Osaka put pressure on them!"

Universal Studios Japan in Osaka incorporates a large number of Japanese elements, making it quite different from the two Universal Studios parks in the United States.
Aaron never underestimated the differences between Eastern and Western cultures, and copying Universal Studios in Japan was absolutely unacceptable.

"Tokyo DisneySea is not small in scale, and it requires land reclamation first. The expected opening date for Tokyo DisneySea is 2001!"

Tom Williams continued to explain.

"Never mind them, let's wait for Universal Studios Japan Resort to open next year..."

(End of this chapter)