America: My Time

Chapter 9 Phoenix
Chapter Nine Phoenix

"Good, very good, you all saw it, right? This is the difference between a genius and an ordinary person. While crushing the enemy, he brings huge benefits to himself. He truly gains both fame and fortune. Now, is anyone still worried that John will fail? Is anyone worried that he will stumble in business? Such a genius is fearless of any challenge. He has the ability to stand at the pinnacle of the times!" The old man in the family, who had been paying attention to John, was excited. His methods and his scheming were impeccable.

“John’s methods are indeed impressive, but they’re too risky. He’s even secretly pushing things along. It’s too crazy. And this time, it’s not just the guys on the surface who’ve jumped out. If some of the old guys get their eyes on John, I’m afraid he’ll have a hard time handling it. We need to prepare in advance!”

"No, no need. True geniuses grow through constant refinement. If an old guy makes a move, use him as a whetstone to sharpen John's edge. From now on, we'll just observe from the sidelines and let John carve out his own path. After all, he's in California, not New York. He's in manufacturing, not finance. He has enough cash flow, and the conglomerates can't do anything to him. They can't break the rules either!"

New York is dominated by conglomerates, but California is not, and Silicon Valley is even less so, at least not now. Although the power of conglomerates is strong, they cannot control everything. John now has his own talisman: a bestselling author and a true genius. This is a force that no one can underestimate!

After resolving the publishing crisis, John travels to Japan to have a deep conversation with cartoonists, share his ideas and thoughts, accelerate his expansion in Japan, and speed up his development in the Japanese industry. Now is the best time for the Japanese comics market to develop, and he can't afford to miss this opportunity!
Although he had many ideas in mind, the conditions and environment did not allow it. In Japan, whether it was animation, records, talent agencies, or even television stations, these were all markets that John wanted to enter, so that he could form a closed loop in the Japanese entertainment market!
John recalled seeing a loophole in the Japanese television network online. Although Japan restricted foreign investment in television stations, it did not restrict foreign-controlled companies from acquiring them. In the 1990s, when Murdoch tried to acquire TV Asahi, he was met with strong resistance from all sides in Japan. The same thing happened to Fuji Television in 2000!
The sooner you make a move to acquire a Japanese television station, the easier it will be and the less resistance you will face. The early 1980s was the best time, as television was in its early stages of development and was not highly valued by various forces. John hoped to complete the acquisition of a television station in the early 1980s, and the best target was TV Tokyo!
Mentioning TV Tokyo will bring a smile to anyone familiar with it! Among Japan's six major television networks, it's the poorest, so poor that even its competitors couldn't bear to see it suffer and offered to help! As long as TV Tokyo is still broadcasting anime, nothing major is likely to happen!
Because TV Tokyo was poor, it was the best and easiest acquisition target, and it wouldn't face resistance from any side in Japan. John had a clear understanding of Japanese entertainment; his years as a netizen had allowed him to accumulate a vast amount of data. Only by owning its own television station could the manga IP operate quickly. Without its own television station, it would inevitably be subject to others, an outcome he was unwilling to accept.

Media and television stations are not only something we need to develop in Japan, but also something we need to develop globally. North America, Europe, and Asia are all top priorities. Right now, we don't have enough funds to complete a global expansion, so we need to wait for the right opportunity!
From an overall perspective, the first things to address are the domestic market, Hong Kong, and Japan. The funds required for the US domestic market are too large, and acquisitions will not be initiated easily without sufficient funds. Therefore, Japan and Hong Kong have become the targets.

Before heading to Tokyo, a small talent agency was established in California. This was also part of his entertainment strategy, but the company was independent of the entertainment group and directly managed by John. In the US, he didn't intend for this agency to have a significant presence in the acting field; it was merely a sideline due to regulatory constraints. His main focus was on sports, modeling, and singing, while his acting career was outside the US, with Japan and Hong Kong being key areas of focus.

I don't have much capital right now, so I can't complete my layout in the TV station. But that doesn't affect my observation and understanding of the market. Only by making full preparations in advance can I seize the opportunity when it comes. Completing a layout in the media and entertainment industry is no small matter and requires extreme caution.

Even with a target in mind, one shouldn't make a hasty decision before truly understanding the situation. Acting rashly will inevitably bring huge hidden dangers and cause irreparable losses, just like the heavy price paid by Japanese giants Sony and Panasonic for their acquisitions of Hollywood!
Only by making thorough preparations and understanding the problems one will face after the acquisition and how to solve them can one carry out the acquisition. Otherwise, it will only waste one's time and money and lead the acquisition into a huge disaster! Because I understand all this, I am in such a hurry to go to Japan. Without personally experiencing the environment in Japan, how can one make the best response and perfectly control the company being acquired?

As the plane landed at Tokyo International Airport, John's eyes were filled with boundless fighting spirit. He saw the neon lights as his battlefield, his first battle in the business world, a battle he could not afford to lose! 1982 would be his most important year, a year he could not afford to fail, and a year that would lay the foundation for his career!
Registering the head office in the Cayman Islands is primarily for tax avoidance. Comic and animation companies aren't limited to Japan; they aim to expand globally. Registering in Japan would create numerous overseas tax hurdles. Furthermore, the Cayman Islands maintains a high degree of confidentiality regarding registered company operations. Shareholder identities, director lists, shareholding percentages, and company profits are all strictly protected by law. The public cannot access this information, and trust companies cannot disclose it arbitrarily. This provides significant future control over the company and makes it an ideal place to hide personal wealth.

Upon meeting with Taro Matsumoto, the head of Phoenix Animation, I shared my views, plans for the animation company, and outlines for over a dozen manga I had created with the company's manga artists in detail! My goal is to target the global animation market, so the scope must be broad, and I cannot allow my manga to be confined to the Japanese market!
John has made detailed plans for over a dozen comics, including Fist of the North Star, Dragon Ball, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Saint Seiya, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Chibi Maruko-chan, Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon, City Hunter, Ah! My Goddess, Parasyte, Cowboy Bebop, and The Simpsons, and there are no problems with the layout!
Phoenix Animation is not affiliated with Legendary Entertainment; it exists independently. Its parent company is Phoenix Group, which is also registered in the Cayman Islands. Before coming to Japan, John carefully considered the development of Phoenix Animation and believed that if Phoenix Animation became a subsidiary of Legendary Entertainment, it would be very detrimental to its future development and would have a serious impact. The best option was for it to exist independently.

Legendary Entertainment represents a deep strategic layout in the local media and entertainment market and should not be mixed up with the overall Asian strategy. In the early stages of business development, a clear division of labor is essential. Legendary Entertainment marks the beginning of localization, while Phoenix Group represents the Asian strategy. Only with a clear division of labor can both companies focus on full development and grow rapidly. As for whether a merger will ultimately occur, that decision will depend on changes in the broader economic environment.
Similarly, the game company being established is also registered in the Cayman Islands, also as a preparation for future tax avoidance. The game company's strategy is also global, not local! Tax issues are a very serious matter in the United States because the US tax authorities have their own armed forces. If you don't prepare in advance, you will pay a heavy price later!

The arrangements for Phoenix Animation were actually quite simple, mainly focusing on comics. Animation was just beginning; most of the time was being spent on comics. In order to cultivate its own animation talent, John had to contract out the Transformers animation to a Japanese animation company, using this opportunity to train the company's own staff. John didn't personally participate in all the negotiations; he delegated it to Matsumoto Taro!

After establishing Phoenix Animation Company, John did not rush to leave Japan or Tokyo. Instead, he chose to conduct detailed research on the Japanese cultural market, gain a deep understanding of its current state, and decide how to accelerate his expansion in Japan and where to start.

Over the course of more than ten days, with the help of my family and my own research on Japan, I gradually gained a clearer understanding of Japan's cultural and entertainment market!

At this point, John realized that he had underestimated the potential of the Japanese cultural and entertainment market. Today, the Japanese cultural and entertainment market is not only developing rapidly in the comic book market, but also in the animation market. Even light novels have considerable market potential, not to mention the record industry and talent agencies. In short, the Japanese cultural and entertainment industry is constantly growing. Only by truly coming to Japan and experiencing the atmosphere firsthand can one understand the strength and rapid development of the Japanese economy in the 1980s.

(End of this chapter)