Tokyo Three Generations

According to the law, members of Congress can have three public secretaries (that is, secretaries whose salaries are paid by the state). However, members of Congress have many duties and it is impossible for them to have only three assistants. Therefore, members of Congress can also hire private secretaries at their own expense, with no limit on the number.

Many politicians hire their fellow villagers and relatives as secretaries to help them do things that can be done openly or covertly, and Kenji Sakura played this role.

In fact, his relationship with the Takasaki family is closer than that of ordinary "confidants" because his father worked for the old councilor Takasaki Jun for decades. After Takasaki Jun retired and passed his constituency to his son, his father continued to follow the Takasaki family. Currently, he holds an important position in the Takasaki family's "support group" and has been involved in almost all the ups and downs of the Takasaki family over the decades.

Decades of intertwined interests have made the Sakura and Takasaki families rise and fall together, forming a true core group. To put it bluntly, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them "vassals."

If nothing unexpected happens, several years later, Jun Takasaki will succeed his father as a member of the House of Representatives, and Kenji Sakura will also take over his father's position, continuing to assist Jun Takasaki as his most trusted confidant.

This is just the Takasaki family. Even more powerful political families can find ways to get their subordinates and secretaries into parliamentary positions, thus forming a strong faction. Japanese politics operates tacitly under the guise of democracy among these "lords" and "vassals".

The Takasaki family took advantage of a brief window of opportunity after the war to achieve a leap in social class, and then transformed into a part of the "system," comfortably occupying their strong constituencies and participating in national politics to divide the pie.

Is this fair? Of course not, but it exists openly and will continue to exist for the foreseeable future.

Jun Takasaki didn't think it was the right thing to do, but of course he wouldn't be foolish enough to refuse the gift of reincarnation—after all, how much better could other places be?

Because of this relationship, Kenji Sakura's attitude towards Jun Takasaki is somewhat subtle. He has both respect and even awe for the "young master," but he also unconsciously carries a sense of self-identity as an "older brother." After all, he has watched Jun Takasaki grow up, and they are closer than blood relatives.

His main task now is to help the young "young master" gradually mature and get used to all the explicit and implicit rules of the surface world and the inner world, so that Takasaki Jun can slowly grow into a future pillar of the country who can inherit the family business.

When he saw Takasaki Jun lost in thought, he hurriedly reminded him, fearing that the young master might lose his composure in such a situation.

"Kenji." Jun Takasaki, regaining his composure and seriousness, called out softly.

"What can I do for you?" Kenji Sakura asked quickly.

"Recently, regarding the Toyokawa family..." Jun Takasaki hesitated for a moment before asking in a low voice, "Are there any bad rumors circulating?"

A look of confusion flashed across Sakura Kenji's face for a moment. He didn't understand why the usually carefree "young master" would ask such a question. But soon, he subconsciously glanced to the side, clearly worried that someone was eavesdropping.

"So, it really exists?" Seeing the other person's reaction, Jun Takasaki had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on.

Since the topic had come to this point, Kenji Sakura didn't hide anything any longer. He smiled slightly, "Actually, it's nothing major, just some common troubles. Mrs. Mizuho passed away at a young age, and the Toyokawa Group didn't have time to properly dispose of its assets, which caused some turmoil within the family..."

Then, he continued to explain to Jun Takasaki in a low voice.

Logically speaking, with Mrs. Toyokawa Mizuho's father still alive, her death, though a sad and regrettable one, should have prevented any problems with the Toyokawa Group's capital situation. However, the Toyokawa family's situation was somewhat unusual.

For some unknown reason, the Toyokawa family has been unable to produce a son in recent generations. As a result, each generation has had a daughter inherit the position of head of the family, and then a son-in-law is brought in to continue the bloodline and help the head of the family manage the business.

Mrs. Mizuho's father, Toyokawa Sadaharu, and her husband, Toyokawa Kiyoyuki, both belonged to this category; essentially, neither of them had Toyokawa blood.

So even though her father and husband were both alive, the main assets and management rights of the Toyokawa family were all under Mrs. Mizuho's name, and the two of them were more like agents.

This is precisely why Mizuho Toyokawa's early death caused so much trouble.

Under Japanese law, the inheritance tax can reach over 50%. Therefore, in order to avoid the huge inheritance tax, large conglomerate families have adopted the method of "setting up a parent company and a series of subsidiaries and then cross-holding shares" to do everything possible to reduce the assets under the name of the business owner and solidify most of the capital between corporate entities.

By doing so, the business owner's family maintains firm control over the company's decision-making power through a network of cross-shareholdings among companies within the group, despite having a very low direct shareholding ratio.

For example, the Toyota family may only hold 2% of Toyota Motor's stock on the surface, but through cross-shareholding subsidiaries such as Toyota Real Estate and Toyota Industries, they can still maintain absolute control over the company.

The situation in the Toyokawa family is naturally much the same. Each member of the Toyokawa family (including Mizuho Toyokawa herself) owns relatively few stocks, which allows them to evade most inheritance taxes upon their death and achieve the perpetuation of their capital.

However, this also means that before the head of the conglomerate passes away, he or she needs to carry out a lot of work on the transfer of corporate legal person and equity so that the heir can take over everything.

But that's where things went wrong—Mizuho Toyokawa passed away in her forties. Although she and the Toyokawa family had entrusted lawyers to urgently handle the asset disposal procedures, it was impossible to complete everything in such a hurry. Moreover, the more troublesome problem was that because of her early death, her only heir, Ms. Shoko Toyokawa, was too young to handle the company's business affairs.

All the shares under Mizuho Toyokawa's name can be directly transferred to her name and then managed by her guardian; however, according to the law, those under the age of 18 are not allowed to serve as directors or representative directors independently. Therefore, she currently has no right to directly manage affiliated companies, and naturally cannot take over the operation of the conglomerate in her own name—even though she is indeed the undisputed sole heir and the next head of the family.

After hearing Kenji's explanation, Jun Takasaki finally understood the Toyokawa family's current predicament.

He thought for a moment, then asked again.

"Although Miss Toyokawa is still young, her father and grandfather are both alive and well, and she is the sole heir, so there shouldn't be any major problems, right? Anyway, the two elders can help her manage the company, and when she comes of age in a few years, everything will be under her control. Is there any competitor trying to take advantage of the chaos in the Toyokawa family to cause trouble? Even if there is, it shouldn't be a big problem."

The business world is like a battlefield. The Toyokawa Group is a large and powerful conglomerate, so it naturally has many enemies. With the patriarch suddenly passing away and the heir still young, rival conglomerates will certainly not be concerned with martial ethics and will take the opportunity to launch an attack to seize the Toyokawa Group's business territory.

However, in Jun Takasaki's view, this was not a big problem. After all, in highly rigid and conservative Japan, "the founding family controlling the company" was almost taken for granted by banks and investors. No one would question it, and it was even regarded as a guarantee of "stability". Therefore, some minor disturbances could not shake the foundation of the Toyokawa family.

During this transitional period, as long as the Toyokawa family remains cautious and focuses on consolidating its operations, it may suffer some financial losses, but it will not suffer any substantial damage. Once Miss Toyokawa comes of age and officially takes over the family business, everything will naturally return to normal.

“Outsiders aren’t really a problem, but insiders are a different story…” Kenji Sakura shrugged. “I heard there’s quite a bit of internal strife within the Toyokawa family right now…”

"Is that so?" Jun Takasaki was slightly surprised. "Didn't Mrs. Mizuho only have one daughter, Miss Shoko?"

“That being said, some collateral branches of the Toyokawa family have survived over the generations,” Kenji Sakura replied softly. “I’ve heard that these collateral members are currently causing trouble, questioning the management abilities of Mr. Sadaharu and Mr. Kiyotaka—”

"I see..." Jun Takasaki suddenly realized, and understood immediately.

Mizuho Toyokawa's death caused a major upheaval in the main family's succession, and these collateral relatives all jumped out to speak out.

Presumably, these members of the Toyokawa collateral branch are not questioning or denying Toyokawa Shoko's right to inherit the family and her future power as head of the family. Therefore, their target is not Miss Shoko, but her father and grandfather.

Further speculation suggests that their plan is probably to take advantage of the few years before Miss Xiangzi takes over the family business to extract as much profit as possible from the family business... If they could also take down Toyokawa Sadaharu and Toyokawa Kiyoko and then manage the company for a few years, that would be even more ideal.

"How exactly did they launch their attack on Mr. Teiji and Mr. Kiyoko?" Jun Takasaki had become interested, so he continued to ask, "Even if they wanted to use this as an excuse, they should at least have some pretext, right?"

"You're putting me in a difficult position," Kenji said with a wry smile. "I only heard some rumors secondhand. How could I possibly know such details? If I really knew, I would have already bought stocks."

His words made perfect sense, so Junya Takasaki laughed and stopped asking questions.

Although the initial intelligence was somewhat rough, it was enough for him to outline the general contours of the entire incident.

Why was Miss Xiangzi in so much pain and anger?

Partly due to his mother's passing, and partly due to internal family conflicts.

For a moment, he seemed to feel a little sorry for this young new head of the Toyokawa family.

Judging from her appearance and demeanor, she must have received the strictest education since childhood. Her manners and talent are impeccable. Such a young lady should not have to face the storms of the world at such a young age.

You can only blame it on bad luck.

So, after clarifying the problem, what's the next step?

— Jun Takasaki frowned slightly.

No matter how dramatic the internal strife within the Toyokawa family may be, it has nothing to do with me, an outsider.

Moreover, what ability do I have to influence the direction of a behemoth like the Toyokawa Group?

Although he is confident and proud, he is not arrogant enough to be this presumptuous.

Although Miss Toyokawa is pitiful, she is ultimately the heir of the Toyokawa family and the future controller of trillions of dollars in capital. What right do I have to pity her?

"Don't go looking for trouble," he thought.

Having made up his mind, he nodded to Kenji. "I'm going to take a rest."

3. Unexpected entry into the game

Funerals are often a time of immense grief for those involved, while outsiders remain indifferent.

Jun Takasaki has never liked crowds, and forcing himself to stand in the crowd for so long was really uncomfortable. So, taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching him, he went to the clubhouse's lounge to get some fresh air.

The luxurious clubhouse has various entertainment facilities such as a smoking room and a billiards room. However, at this special time of funeral, few guests would be foolish enough to entertain themselves here, and there would be no fine wine or snacks available. Therefore, the place is now deserted, which suits Takasaki Jun's needs perfectly.

Jun Takasaki walked past the pool table and coffee table to the window, breathing in the fresh air flowing in from outside. He casually took out his phone and opened the game he had been playing recently, while pondering when he could leave gracefully and complete his task for the day.

The deep red velvet curtains almost completely blocked out the sunlight, making the lounge appear dim and gloomy, which suited the somber atmosphere of the day perfectly.

Just as he was gradually letting his mind wander, a creaking sound came from the doorway, followed by soft, light footsteps, and then a loud slamming sound as the door closed.

Clearly, someone has already come in, and it should be a woman.

Jun Takasaki snapped out of his reverie and subconsciously looked toward the door in the distance. Then he froze, because what appeared in his sight was the deceased himself.

That's right, even though the other person has their back to him, he can tell who she is from her black dress and long blue hair.

Moreover, her current state was clearly terrible—she was leaning against the door, her shoulders trembling slightly, and although the two were far apart, her sobbing could still be faintly heard.

When the two of them were face to face just now, Miss Toyokawa appeared strong and calm. However, the way she is now hiding by the door and sobbing reveals the fact that she is still just a child.

Jun Takasaki could understand her feelings very well. She had just lost her mother and her family was still fighting amongst themselves. It was no exaggeration to describe her as "exhausted". Even adults might not be able to withstand this kind of pressure, so how could you expect it from a child?

So what should I do now? Should I go up and comfort her?

He felt a flutter in his heart, but reason prevented him from taking it any further.

What she needs most right now is to vent her emotions; disturbing her abruptly will only have the opposite effect.

Besides, the two of them don't know each other at all, and my sudden appearance would only cause her trouble...

So he didn't move or make any sound, just watched the crying girl from afar, waiting for her to recover from her emotional breakdown.

The silence was palpable, which made the girl's intermittent sobs sound all the more mournful.

A moment later, there was a sudden, urgent knocking on the door.

"Xiangzi, stop being so temperamental. Come out quickly, everyone is waiting for you outside." Then a voice came from outside the door.

Because of the distance, Jun Takasaki couldn't hear very clearly, but she thought that the only person who would dare to speak in such a tone was her father, Mr. Seikaku.

Despite her father's urging, Toyokawa Shoko remained stubbornly pressed against the door, weeping, and refused to open it.

After being urged several times, Toyokawa Kiyoshi was clearly getting impatient.

"Even in your final days, you won't let me have an easy time?" he suddenly blurted out.

Unexpectedly, these words further provoked Toyokawa Shoko, and she stopped sobbing quietly and burst into tears.

Then, she reached out and opened the door, and then hugged her father tightly with both hands.

"Dad...please don't go!"

His daughter's violent reaction clearly caught Toyokawa Kiyotaka off guard. He hugged her as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He was obviously worried about causing a negative impact.

"Xiangzi, everything has been discussed and agreed upon now." Then, he sighed and gently stroked his daughter's head. "Just consider this a vacation for me. Grandpa will take good care of you."

"You're lying!" Toyokawa Shoko raised her head, looking directly at her father, her eyes glistening with tears. "Grandpa already told me that he wants to adopt me and remove you from the family..."

"This old man, he told you so quickly!" Toyokawa Kiyoko's face twitched, looking somewhat at a loss.

But looking at his daughter's anxious and angry face, he suddenly felt a pang of sorrow.

"This is the best solution right now... Don't worry, even if I leave the family, I will still live a good life, and you will not be affected in any way. You can come to see me anytime you want."

"I don't want you to leave." Toyokawa Shoko stubbornly shook her head. "Mom has passed away, and I only have you left... No matter what happens, I don't want to be separated from you. Even Mom's spirit in heaven would never agree to this!"

Upon hearing his daughter mention his deceased wife, Toyokawa Kiyotaka's already low spirits turned even more dejected, and he was too exhausted to say anything more to his daughter.

Everything was already set in stone, and he was completely disheartened.

"Take good care of yourself..." In the end, he just lowered his head and gently patted his daughter's shoulder. "I believe that Mizuho will be watching over you from heaven. You will definitely grow up to be someone she can be proud of."

However, her father's advice failed to calm Toyokawa Shoko; her expression remained stubborn, and her eyes held a chilling determination.

"If you insist on leaving, then I will go with you. Wherever you go, I will go."

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Toyokawa Kiyotaka was furious upon hearing this. "I don't need you to stay with me. Just let me go and have some peace and quiet! You need to stay in the Toyokawa family and properly carry on the family business, understand?"

“If I just stay here all alone, what meaning does the Toyokawa family have for me? My family has already lost my mother, and I must protect what I have left…” Toyokawa Shoko answered softly but firmly, “Dad, if you want to leave, I will definitely go with you. The Toyokawa family can do whatever they want.”

"Is this something you should say...?" Toyokawa Kiyoko's hands trembled with anger. "The Toyokawa family is not something you can just throw away. You were born destined to become the chairman of Toyokawa Holdings and the president of the Toyokawa Kin-Mutual Association. That is your innate mission and a gift from your mother. You say you want to abandon it... Do you want your mother to not have peace even after death?"

Faced with her father's reprimand, Toyokawa Shoko's face turned ashamed. She was clearly ashamed of her irresponsible words, but even so, she stubbornly stared at her father.

She presented her father with a difficult choice: either stay or go together.

At this moment, Toyokawa Kiyoshi felt an unbearable headache. His wife's death had already cast a shadow over his life, and the various troubles that had been happening recently had left him overwhelmed. Now, his daughter's disobedience and lack of manners had only fueled his anger.

But deep down, he felt both immense relief and heartache at his daughter's filial piety.

It was this feeling of heartache that made him unable to bring himself to scold his daughter anymore.

"Stop talking nonsense, Xiangzi. Just do as your father and grandfather arrange. We will help you get rid of all the trouble... But if you dare to disobey me, then we father and daughter will not be able to get along in the future."

After saying this, Toyokawa Shoko was stunned. She never expected that her father, who had always doted on her, would say such heartless words—especially at her mother's funeral.

Toyokawa Kiyoshi himself felt that his words had gone too far. He glanced at his daughter, then sighed deeply, opened the door, turned and left, leaving only one sentence behind.

"Hurry up and touch up your makeup, don't let outsiders laugh at you. You have an event you have to attend later. At this time, we absolutely cannot let outsiders think we have an opportunity to take advantage of you."

Toyokawa Shoko did not respond, but just stared blankly as her father left. Only when the door was slammed shut again did she lower her head and weep silently once more.

The silent weeping continued for a long time until it was interrupted by a slightly hesitant greeting from behind.

"Feel sorry……"

Toyokawa Shoko's body suddenly trembled.

She instinctively turned around quickly and looked in the direction of the sound.

Faced with the girl's terrified gaze, Jun Takasaki quickly waved his hand in an attempt to calm her down.