Traveling Through the Tokyo Bubble Era

Chapter 980 Old Friends Reunion, Stunning Beauty

“These matters should be handled according to the opinions I wrote down.”

On September 4th, at the headquarters of Yuzuru Investment, in the chairman's office on the top floor, Hideki Yuzuru handed a stack of signed documents to Takeshi Honda.

The documents contain information about tasks that need to be handled in the near future, as well as the use of overseas funds.

With the end of the previous stock market rebound, the Japanese financial market has once again begun to plunge downwards, and Hideki Hanyu's funds, under the guidance of Eiichi Jinbo, continue to enter the market.

Holding large sums of liquid funds in your hands will only lead to their continued depreciation over time if you don't spend them.

Moreover, this money doesn't just go out without coming in; much of it generates profit after being invested.

Especially when you have a lot of money, making money often becomes very easy. Eiichi Jinbo's operations nowadays don't require any skills at all, because he is a major player who can control the market.

Therefore, even though Hideki Hanyu keeps investing, the rate at which his funds decrease is very slow, and they can even occasionally surge.

In addition to his own money, as Cornerstone Bank got on track, he also indirectly controlled a large amount of other people's money.

Hideki Hanyu originally founded Cornerstone Bank to more easily and covertly manipulate his overseas funds.

Unexpectedly, because Cornerstone Bank's performance was so good, it attracted a large number of customers in the past two years, which was a happy problem for Hideki Hanyu.

In this situation, Hideki Hanyu naturally had to take advantage of his foresight and invest in various places, making all sorts of acquisitions.

Energy and minerals, land and housing, sovereign wealth funds, government bonds, venture capital, finance and foreign exchange, share acquisitions...

In short, as long as Hideki Hanyu has any impression of an industry that has the potential to appreciate in value in the future, his numerous investment companies, disguised as businesses, will swarm in and attack from all directions.

To accomplish his plan, the team of employees responsible for these investments alone numbered over two hundred.

Some of these people were long-time employees who had followed him for a long time, while others were new employees who did not know he was the boss and had only signed contracts with an overseas investment company.

The former were only a minority, while the latter are now the vast majority.

However, whether it's the former or the latter, they will only be responsible for a portion of his business and will not know the exact scale of his overseas investments.

The only ones who knew the truth were a few trusted subordinates such as Eiichi Jinbo and Takeshi Honda.

Of course, in addition to overseas funds, Yuzuru Investment is also making various investments on the surface.

After all, Hideki Hanyu is making money at an incredibly fast pace. Even though he intends to share more profits with outsiders without losing control of the company, his wealth continues to grow at an alarming rate.

There's nothing we can do about it; his companies are all incredibly profitable.

After finishing his work, Hideki Hanyu was just waiting to set off for Switzerland for vacation with Haruko Naito.

Thinking back to yesterday's wedding of Yumiko Murayama, when Haruko Naito was still working, Hideki Hanyu took the initiative to call her.

"Has Haruko finished her work?"

Haruko Naito said wearily, "It might take another day."

Hideki Hanyu said nonchalantly, "It's okay, there's still plenty of time."

"Hanyu-kun is so good, I miss you so much, I want to..."

Haruko Naito started by saying a lot of sweet nothings, but towards the end she suddenly seemed hesitant and stammered.

Hideki Hanyu asked directly, "Haruko, if you have anything to say, just say it."

After hearing Hideki Hanyu's words, Haruko Naito finally spoke up, "After Yumiko learned that you were going with me, she wanted to ask if she could ride on your private plane and bring along some friends who are also attending the wedding."

“It’s nothing, just tell me directly. This hesitant manner is not like you at all.”

Hideki Hanyu's tone was somewhat surprised.

The heiress, from a wealthy family with ties to two major Japanese conglomerates, is exceptionally capable and decisive. She's capable of orchestrating a group acquisition of Fuji Television, yet she speaks of something as trivial as hitchhiking so cautiously.

"Hmph! If I wasn't worried that you'd refuse and make me lose face, I wouldn't even ask you."

Haruko Naito was clearly thinking of Hideki Hanyu, but she still deliberately made a coquettish attempt to defend herself, and her arrogant attitude of trying to save face amused Hideki Hanyu for some reason.

It's clear that this young lady is quite infatuated with him.

The scumbag immediately replied with a smile, "How could I refuse Haruko? You don't need to worry about this. Focus on your work. I'll contact Ms. Yumiko myself to find out the number of people."

"Then I'll leave it to Yuzuru-kun. I'll get back to work."

"no problem."

Hearing Haruko Naito hang up the phone as if fleeing, Hideki Hanyu smiled again.

However, instead of contacting Matsuzaki Yumiko, who had married and changed her surname, he arranged for his assistant to contact her and inquire about the number of people who would be traveling together on the plane the following night.

After finishing all that, Hideki Hanyu noticed that it was already sunset. With nothing planned for the evening and too lazy to go see his lover, he decided to call up some friends and head to a nightclub for drinks and entertainment.

As night falls, Tokyo's nightlife, seemingly unaffected by the economic downturn, enters a vibrant and bustling phase.

Inside a high-end private club in Ginza that emphasizes tradition and luxury.

Hideki Hanyu, who was hosting tonight, was the first to arrive.

Then, he was greeted by Yukio Tanaka, who was known for his active nightlife.

Mrs. Tanaka went to France to handle business related to Aier International and the LVMH Group.

Aiko Tanaka gave birth to her son, Teru Tanaka, last month and was taken back to her maternal family to recuperate and care for the child.

With no one to keep him in check at home, Yukio Tanaka was completely uncontrollable. On the very first day Hideki Hanyu returned to Tokyo, he invited Hideki Hanyu out to play.

Today, Hideki Hanyu finally took the initiative, so it would be strange if Yukio Tanaka wasn't eager to join in.

Following closely behind Yukio Tanaka were his two old friends, Shinsuke Itō and Shota Yoshioka.

Thanks to the guidance of Hideki Hanyu and Asako Hirohashi, Shinsuke Ito recently conducted a major overhaul of the "Cloud Photography Studio" he was in charge of.

He dismissed many incompetent people who were only good at holding positions but not doing any work, and sent senior executives from the group to manage administrative work, while he focused on technology. This can be considered a change in the chaotic atmosphere inside "Cloud Photography Studio".

After winning the advertising war, Shota Yoshioka chose to stay at the Tokyo headquarters to stabilize the base and deal with the remaining issues.

As for Storm Advertising's overseas business, it was handed over to subordinates.

Shota Yoshioka had just sat down when he spoke to Hideki Hanyu.

"Storm Advertising is preparing to manage its domestic and overseas businesses separately, and is now working on establishing a dedicated subsidiary for its domestic business."

"That's certainly the case. Japan's advertising market is completely distorted. Business relies on monopoly, not competition. It would be inconvenient to manage it in the same way as overseas business."

As a former advertising supervisor, Shinsuke Ito has a good understanding of the Japanese advertising market, so he immediately pointed out the crux of the problem.

Hideki Hanyu nodded in agreement and said, "That's the right thing to do."

But after saying that, he added with a joke, "But you also have to be careful, don't let us create a new Storm Ads that comes back and competes with headquarters one day."

As soon as Hideki Hanyu said this, everyone present burst into laughter.

After all, Storm Advertising now firmly holds the top position in the Japanese advertising market, suppressing the former hegemon Dentsu, precisely because of its rebellion.

Despite the laughter, no one was worried that what Hideki Hanyu said would actually happen.

They were all very clear about why Storm Advertising was able to successfully rebel.

What defeated Storm Advertising was the accumulated strength of the entire Cloud Group over many years, the strength of Hideki Hanyu to withstand the infighting from above, the desperate counterattack of Hideki Hanyu in the final acquisition of Fuji Television, and the power reversal after swallowing Hakuhodo.

If they rely solely on Storm Advertising, they'll likely be crushed by Dentsu the moment they defect.

Such a "miracle" created with multiple layers of support is extremely difficult to replicate.

With the end of Japan's golden age of economic development, Japan's entertainment and media industry has also lost the resources to nurture another cloud-based system.

In the future of the Japanese advertising industry, Storm Advertising and Dentsu, the former "child and mother" rivals, are destined to maintain a power imbalance for a long time.

Of course, there is another conspiracy theory now, which is that the defection of Storm Advertising to Dentsu was actually a charade staged by Dentsu and Storm Advertising.

In those conspiracy theories, Storm Advertising and Dentsu did this to further solidify Dentsu's monopoly in the Japanese advertising industry.

And this claim is not entirely unfounded.

Many people noticed that in this fierce advertising war, the top two companies went back and forth, seemingly tearing each other apart and using all sorts of tricks in the end, but in the end, neither side was hurt. On the contrary, the third company, Hakuhodo, which did not participate, was acquired.

Looking at the list of investors in Storm Advertising, a listed company, Dentsu is still the largest shareholder, holding 12% of the shares.

Many people suddenly realized that these two advertising companies, which appear to be competitors, are actually one and the same.

Even if one side loses in the advertising war, the damage is done within their own company.

On the contrary, Hakuhodo was affected by the war and was sold out by capital, becoming a subsidiary of Storm Advertising, which completely monopolized the entire Japanese advertising market by the Dentsu group.

This conspiracy theory has not only spread widely in the media and among the public, but has even led members of Storm Advertising and Dentsu astray.

This also made it exceptionally smooth for Storm Advertising to handle the post-battle recovery.

Dentsu made no effort to resist, completely surrendered, and handed over the fruits of victory.

After all, some Dentsu executives who believed in conspiracy theories felt that if Hakuhodo were to be defeated, they certainly couldn't easily admit defeat.

But Storm Advertising is different. Not only was it founded by Dentsu, but it is still considered a "subsidiary company" in which Dentsu holds shares.

Since they were on the same side, losing was acceptable, and giving up profits wouldn't be a loss. Fortunately, on the Storm Advertising side, Shota Yoshioka and his executives were clear-headed and didn't foolishly consider Dentsu as one of their own.

When reaping the rewards of their victory, Storm Advertising showed no mercy, taking everything that was rightfully theirs and even snatching up anything they shouldn't have while Dentsu was surrendering.

Inside the private room, the group chatted and laughed for a while. Tanaka Yukio, who arrived first, asked anxiously, "Hanyu-kun, Yoshioka-san and Ito-san have already arrived. Shouldn't we order some hostesses? If we're any later, all the beauties will have been chosen by others."

Hideki Yuzuru calmly replied, "What's the rush? There are still people who haven't arrived yet. As for the beauty, there's no need to worry. I already informed her before I came. Besides, it's still early."

No sooner had he finished speaking than there was a knock on the door of the private room from the outside.

Then, led by a waiter, Hideki Hanyu and his entourage appeared.

The bespectacled, chubby man in front of me is none other than Akimoto Yasushi, whom I haven't seen in a long time.

This guy was a seasoned pro; he apologized with a big smile as soon as he walked in.

"I am very sorry that I was delayed by work and kept you all waiting. It is my fault. I will punish myself with three drinks to express my apology."

As Akimoto Yasushi spoke, amidst the cheers of the others, he poured himself three glasses of foreign liquor and drank them down with gusto.

It's no wonder that Akimoto Yasushi was so humble; he simply couldn't afford to offend any of the people in the private room.

Although Yukio Tanaka is a rich playboy, his mother is the head of the world's largest luxury goods empire, and her influence on the media is beyond imagination. Anyone who makes a living in the entertainment industry would not dare to offend her easily.

Shota Yoshioka, a global advertising tycoon and the head of Storm Advertising, the dominant force in the Japanese advertising industry, is a figure to whom all talent agencies in Japan kneel and call him "father."

As for Shinsuke Ito, despite being frequently lectured by his partners and old friends, he can't even manage a "Cloud Photography Studio."

However, in terms of his status in the Japanese film industry, he is undoubtedly the flag bearer and leader of the young avant-garde, with members all over the Japanese film and television circle. He can be said to have a huge influence and can command a large following.

Even setting aside this identity, Shinsuke Ito is still one of the founders of the Cloud Group, and with the Cloud Group backing him, how many people would dare to provoke him?

As for Hideki Hanyu, there's no need for explanation at all.

The main reason why Hideki Hanyu invited Yasushi Akimoto was to help him.

As Japan's economy declines and the traditional idol craze fades, resources are concentrated in the hands of large agencies. Despite being able to obtain resources from the cloud-based system, Akimoto Yasushi's AKS agency is finding it increasingly difficult to operate.

Recently, Yasushi Akimoto has been trying to help his agency transform and move towards the film industry.

In another timeline, Akimoto Yasushi did indeed focus his career on film for a long period afterward, serving as a screenwriter and even directing several films himself.

The most famous of these is undoubtedly the classic horror film "One Missed Call," which was remade by Hollywood.

It has to be said that Akimoto Yasushi is indeed a polymath.

Throughout his career, from lyric writing, variety show production, screenwriting, writing, film supervision, and even business, he has achieved top success in everything he does, as if he had a cheat code.

Seeing that Akimoto Yasushi had finished his three cups of wine, Hanyu Hideki immediately called out to him.

"Akimoto-san, please sit down quickly. Yukio-san is getting impatient."

Akimoto Yasushi feigned surprise, "What is President Tanaka waiting for me for?"

"Hanyu-kun requires everyone to be present before he can order a female hostess."

Yukio Tanaka explained briefly, then quickly turned to Hideki Hanyu and asked, "Who's next after Akimoto-san? We're not waiting for Yanai-san, are we?"

"Yanai-san went overseas to discuss business and won't be coming tonight. Akimoto-san will be the last one."

After Hideki Yuzuru finished explaining, he called in the madam of the club.

Facing the seated Hideki Hanyu, the madam immediately knelt on the ground to fawn over him, holding out a roster for him to choose from.

In this day and age, we don't have the outstanding Photoshop skills of later generations, so filtering by photos first can save time in the selection process.

Ginza's nightclubs are known for their luxury and high-end atmosphere, especially these expensive private clubs, where the hostesses who provide services are naturally of a different caliber.

The female public relations staff listed on the roster have the lowest educational backgrounds among college students.

If you don't like young women, there are other types of female escorts, such as mature women, white-collar ladies, widows, and so on.

Hideki Hanyu looked around and found that there were quite a few beautiful women, but none of them really suited his taste. So he simply tossed the list to Yukio Tanaka next to him and let the lecherous guy choose.

Anyway, we'll wait for them to call us in later, and then we'll actually make our own selection.

He's treating everyone to drinks and entertainment tonight mainly to get together with old friends and chat; the women are secondary.

After noticing Hideki Hanyu's reaction, the madam immediately asked cautiously, "Is Chairman Hanyu dissatisfied with the hostesses on the roster?"

Hideki Hanyu said, "Yes, I don't really like any of them."

For Hideki Hanyu, who has been surrounded by beauties both at home and abroad, what kind of beautiful women haven't he seen? His threshold for appreciating beauty has long been raised.

The female escorts here are indeed quite attractive, with a wide variety of types, from slender to plump, and many of them are just as beautiful as those in the entertainment industry, but they still can't win over the scumbags who have "seen it all".

Upon hearing Hideki Hanyu's reply, the madam immediately stood up and spoke to Hideki Hanyu in a low voice.

"Mr. Yuzuru, we also have a group of newly hired female public relations staff who we believe you will like."

"Oh...who could make you so confident?" Hideki Yuzuru's interest was piqued by the madam's words.

The madam smiled ingratiatingly and lowered her voice again, saying, "Recently, there have been a lot of undocumented immigrants from Eastern Europe in Tokyo. We've picked out a few for ourselves, and the prettiest one of them was even snatched from the Xidu Group..."

The madam proudly recounted the club's achievements, completely unaware that the Xidu Group, which was competing with her for customers, was actually owned by Hideki Yuzuru.

However, Hideki Hanyu's focus was not on this, but on other parts of the mama-san's conversation, such as the fact that there were many undocumented immigrants from Eastern Europe.

As we all know, this period is the climax of the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe.

As early as last year, several small Eastern European countries, led by Lithuania, began clamoring to secede from their big brother. In March of this year, they officially announced their secession, but this was not recognized by their big brother.

Against this backdrop, the upper echelons of these small countries fought for power, leading to social unrest and unprecedented chaos in governance. This resulted in ordinary people, who were already living in poverty, becoming the world's largest source of human traffickers.

Young and beautiful Eastern European girls, deceived by various beautiful lies about freedom, believe they can escape their impoverished and backward homeland, but in reality they are trafficked to strip clubs and brothels around the world and forced into prostitution.

It can only be said that you reap what you sow. The seeds of how several Eastern European countries later became the world's womb, a base for pornographic films, a country of high moral standards, and a European money den were sown at this time.

Nowadays, even in Japan, which is not a major market for human trafficking from Eastern Europe, a large number of undocumented Eastern Europeans have emerged.

It is not hard to imagine the extent of the chaos in Eastern Europe and how rampant human trafficking had become.

For many, chaos represents opportunity and wealth.

Indeed, the world's major capital flows have been rushing toward Eastern Europe like hungry wolves smelling blood.

Hideki Hanyu, who was familiar with the present and future of that place, never intended to get involved.

He has no shortage of opportunities and ways to make money now. He's comfortable doing business honestly, so why risk taking a share of the shady side?

Now, what he cares about and is waiting for is the moment when, after the big brother truly falls, he, as a major capitalist, will completely lose his last shackles.

Bringing his thoughts back, Hideki Yuzuru continued listening to his madam.

The madam's tone shifted, and she said cautiously, "Although they've had medical examinations and we guarantee they're all healthy, they've just started working, their training period is too short, and they still have language communication problems, as well as issues with service..."

Seeing that Tanaka Yukio and the others had finished choosing their people, and the madam was still rambling on, Hideki Hanyu interrupted impatiently.

"You don't need to worry about these things. Just bring the person here. Whether I choose them or not is my business."

Upon hearing this, the madam quickly left the room with the names of the others who had been called to fetch them.

Before long, batches of female public relations staff who had been named were brought in, and after some selection, Tanaka Yukio and his group kept their favorites.

Seeing that Hideki Hanyu hadn't made a move, Yukio Tanaka asked curiously, "What are you waiting for, Hanyu-kun?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the madam led five female escorts dressed in distinctive Japanese sailor uniforms into the room.

The sailor uniforms aren't the point; the point is these female PR girls—all fair-skinned, beautiful, long-legged, and young white beauties.

If it's just a white woman, there's really nothing special about her.

Tokyo's vibrant nightlife is not lacking in beautiful white women who come to make money.

Interestingly, when the group walked in and stood before the crowd, their expressions revealed restraint, panic, fear, nervousness, and an undeniable awkwardness and naivety.

The seasoned veterans in the private room could tell at a glance that these were all newcomers.

And that's what interests men the most.

Yukio Tanaka immediately exclaimed, "Hanyu-kun is really cunning. He let us choose first, but you kept the best for yourself."

Hideki Hanyu shrugged. "Who told you to be so impatient?"

After saying that, Hideki Yuzuru pointed at one of the five girls in front of him and gave instructions to the madam.

"I choose her."

Although all five girls in front of him were beautiful, there are different levels of beauty. The one who wasn't chosen by Hideki Hanyu could only be described as an ordinary beauty, with her exotic charm adding a bit to her appeal.

However, the woman Hideki Hanyu chose was someone who would stand out even among beauties, a stunning beauty who would even make Hideki Hanyu's heart flutter.

If you asked Hideki Hanyu to describe her, you could only say she resembles a certain Eastern European who later developed her career in South Korea, Angelina Danilova.

(Reference image by Angelina Danilova)

(End of this chapter)