Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 336: Popularity Forced to Expand

Tokyo, Shinkage-ryu Dojo.

Lin Yuan and GAKKI-chan, who had just attended Sony's shareholders' meeting, returned to the dojo.

As a potential investor, Lin Yuan attended the board meeting, and GAKKI-chan accompanied him as a temporary assistant.

The topic of Sony's interim board meeting is related to Lin Yuan:

Two major events were Lin Yuan's investment in Sony and the establishment of a joint venture between Sony and Samsung to produce LCD monitors.

The meeting reached a consensus easily and both resolutions were passed smoothly.

This made Lin Yuan feel once again that he was very accepted in various circles in Japan.

Whether it was the kendo circle, the business circle, or the film circle, not only did they not exclude him as an outsider, they even gave him treatment far beyond that of the citizens to accept him.

Although Lin Yuan had expected this, he still felt a little uncomfortable.

The remaining two topics are about targeting the stock prices of MGM and Columbia Pictures, and after acquiring Columbia Pictures, establishing a film production division and handing over the "business guidance" to Lin Yuan.

Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei did not bring this up for discussion at the board meeting because it was still in the confidential stage and it was impossible to discuss it publicly at this time, otherwise it would alert the enemy.

It will not be until the stock price sniping war begins in October this year that Nobuyuki Idei will be officially put on the table for discussion.

In short, things on Sony's side are progressing very smoothly and have been initially completed successfully.

All that remains is to wait for Lin Yuan to return to New York and start working on fund allocation and shareholding matters.

In the Shinkage-ryu Dojo, Lin Yuan and GAKKI-chan sat down in front of the three swordsmen.

"I have a flight back to New York tonight. While there is still time, let's catch up on the progress of the 'Second World Kendo Tournament'." Lin Yuan said.

"Yes! Teacher, as of 12 noon today, the total number of registered people has exceeded 6000." Kamisawa Sai Naoki reported.

It’s been less than ten days since registration opened, and the number of registrants has already exceeded 6000. According to this trend, by the time the registration deadline comes, the number of registrants is likely to exceed 3!

You should know that in later generations, many cities in China like to hold international marathon running competitions, but there are only 20,000 to 30,000 people who sign up to participate.

Most of the registrations are from local citizens. The cost of participation is extremely low and anyone can sign up to run a short distance.

Lin Yuan’s kendo tournament is incomparable. The expected number of registrants is so high, which shows the popularity of the event.

"So many people? It seems to have exceeded my expectations." Lin Yuan was also quite surprised that so many people signed up.

"This is all thanks to you, teacher! Everyone was impressed by your skills and chose to sign up for the competition." Tsukahara Nobutomo said respectfully.

"Isn't it because of my sky-high bonus?" Lin Yuan thought the bonus was the most attractive.

"We added a requirement to state the reason for registration within 500 words on the registration page. We found that most applicants were attracted by the gimmick of the $1 million prize money when they first became interested in the kendo tournament.

"But most people said that it was the sword techniques you created that really made them decide to participate. Without the confidence these techniques gave them, they wouldn't have dared to participate," Liu Sheng Heguang explained.

Lin Yuan nodded. It seemed that his swordsmanship was indeed very attractive.

But he also knew that people on the Internet could say nice things for free, and what really attracted them was definitely the huge bonus.

Lin Yuan is not so narcissistic as to think that he is more attractive than money.

"I'd like to know the distribution of the origins of the applicants," Lin Yuan asked.

He was very concerned about which countries and regions the participants came from.

If most of them are Japanese, then this kendo tournament will not achieve Lin Yuan’s intended purpose.

After all, his original intention was to attract global attention through this competition, so as to achieve a wider impact. "Currently, there are 1698 Japanese applicants, accounting for 28.3%, while overseas participants account for 71.7%," Yagyu Heguang replied.

Lin Yuan was quite surprised to hear this answer.

Originally, Lin Yuan hoped that the proportion of overseas participants could reach 40%, and he would be very satisfied.

After all, if you want to participate, you have to fly to Japan from all over the world, which will cost a lot of money and time. The huge threshold will inevitably make people back off.

The result was 71.7%?

International friends are so awesome!

"Can I know the regional distribution of overseas contestants?" Lin Yuan asked.

"The highest proportion comes from the CIS region, reaching 22%, followed by Europe at 16%. The remaining major regions are: North America at 10%, Latin America at 6%, South Korea at 5%, and Southeast Asia at 2%." Liu Sheng Heguang replied.

This result was also within Lin Yuan's expectations. The CIS region, dominated by Russia, was nicknamed the fighting nation's base camp by domestic netizens.

People living in high latitudes tend to be taller and more powerful, making them very suitable for various fighting competitions, and they have always been frequent visitors to the arena.

Coupled with the economic recession in these places, locals are more willing to earn "hard-earned money" through fighting.

There are also many fighting enthusiasts in Europe and the United States, and it is normal that they together account for 26% of the total number of participants.

Although South Korea has a small population base, it was once colonized by Japan and has a relatively prosperous kendo culture. In addition, the short distance and low travel costs make it no surprise that it accounts for 5%.

"What about China?" Lin Yuan asked a concerned question.

"..."

Liu Sheng He Guang hesitated for a moment and then replied, "There are a total of four people who signed up, so the proportion can be ignored."

There really are only a handful of people who signed up...

Although the registration period is still long, the number of people will definitely increase later.

However, the number of participants in this first wave of registrations has already determined that there will be very few domestic participants.

Lin Yuan had already anticipated this result.

No one from the domestic traditional martial arts community would dare to come, and most of the amateur enthusiasts would be discouraged by the cost.

At that time, many people in China had never even taken a train, let alone taken a plane abroad.

You ask them to spend thousands of dollars on round-trip flights, plus the cost of accommodation and meals, which is really not a small expense.

Although Lin Yuan was disappointed with the result, he also knew that this was the objective reality. When the competition was held domestically in the future, the situation would naturally improve.

However, this kendo tournament may disappoint many Chinese people, as it will be difficult for them to see the contestants from their own country shine.

But Lin Yuan still felt he needed to do something, so he said, "Please take care of the four Chinese athletes who have signed up."

"Hmm?" Shangquanzhai was stunned for a moment, but immediately asked, "How do you want to be taken care of, teacher?"

"Oh, it's not about violating the fairness of the competition. Give them a free copy of the internal practice guide I wrote. Remember, don't leave any handle for criticism."

"Okay, I understand!" Shangquansai answered directly.

"The number of registrations for the competition has increased so much. I estimate that the final number of registrations may exceed 3. So we must consider the issue of expanding the competition." Lin Yuan raised the next question.

(End of this chapter)