I am a literary giant in Japan

Just as Kuroda Keiki and Norihiko Kiyomiya happily brought the copy of "The Old Man and the Sea" back to the Imperial Palace, outside the headquarters building of Yamaichi Securities in Minato Ward, a man named Koike Toshimatsu was so desperate that he wanted to commit suicide.

In mid-April 1897, Koike Kunizo, a native of Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, founded the "Koike Kunizo Store" after obtaining a broker license from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In the years that followed, "Koike Kunizo Shoten" underwent several name changes and was eventually named "Yamaichi Securities Co., Ltd." (commonly known as "Yamaichi Corporation").

Starting from 1980, Yamaichi Securities took advantage of the bubble economy and rose to become the top of the four major securities companies in Japan.

Until the early 90s, many people achieved financial freedom by purchasing stocks recommended by Yamaichi Securities.

Toshimatsu Koike, a 39-year-old ordinary corporate employee, is one of those lucky ones.

However, the wealth brought by stock speculation is like an illusory bubble in the bubble era, which will burst at any time.

At the end of last year, Yamaichi Securities was exposed for self-stock speculation (i.e., buying and selling the company's stocks through its second- and third-tier companies to create false transaction records and drive up the company's stock price);

Secretly deal with the Soya-kai (a Japanese underworld organization that threatens company executives with sex scandals and then uses them to buy a large amount of company stocks to secretly control a company);
The debt is as high as 3 trillion yen;
A series of economic and operational issues such as using retail investors' funds to "compensate" large clients' stock trading losses.

Then retail investors like Xiaojian Lisong finally realized that this super enterprise, now ranked fourth in Japan, was rotten to the core!

After the truth was made public, relevant financial regulatory agencies quickly intervened in the investigation.

Under strong pressure from public opinion, 11 members of Yamaichi Securities' management resigned and the president was arrested.

Not long after, the head of the customer reception room, Hiroko Ichiro, was killed on his way home, and the wife of the company's consulting lawyer Okamura Isao was inexplicably raped and then killed at home.

"You were being vague on the phone, but we just can't withdraw the money. What else do you have to say?"

"Sir, please don't worry. We will contact you again. Please forgive us. We will definitely contact you within today."

"Can you return the money to me today?"

"Sir, please wait patiently for a while, our staff will contact you as soon as possible."

This was a repeated conversation between employees of branches across Yamaichi Securities and their customers after the company’s bankruptcy.

Countless people like Koike Toshimatsu, who were tired of hearing this kind of rhetoric, flocked to the headquarters building of Yamaichi Securities in Minato Ward.

They held banners, shouted slogans, marched together, and even tried to storm the company building.
"Give us our money back!" The roars of Koike Risong and others shook the sky.

However, no matter how angry they are, Yamaichi Securities, one of the four largest securities companies in Japan, declared bankruptcy today.

The new president, Masahei Nozawa, who had just taken office for less than three months, officially announced the company's "voluntary closure" at a press conference in the morning.

He kept bowing and apologizing to the media and TV viewers, but it could not change the fact that Yamaichi Securities became the largest company to go bankrupt in post-war Japan.

Tens of thousands of employees lost their jobs on the spot, and funds totaling over 5 trillion yen that originally belonged to nearly million people disappeared!

The 1000 million yen savings that Koike Toshimatsu's family relied on for their survival was also lost.

He still has a large mortgage and car loan to pay off, and the company will cut his salary in the near future. His wife is a housewife with no income. His eldest son has just started high school, and his youngest son is at a critical moment of going from primary school to junior high school.
The distraught Koike Risong was angry and desperate, but in the end he chose not to stay here and waste time.

Police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department have come over with explosion-proof shields to maintain order, and if nothing unexpected happens, the firefighters' high-pressure water cannons will be ready soon.

He didn't want to catch a cold in late January when it was freezing cold - nowadays public and national hospitals are full every day, private hospitals are terribly expensive, and medical expenses are simply not an extra expense that an ordinary family can afford.

After squeezing out of the crowd, the further you go outside, the fewer people there are.

Koike Toshimatsu turned into a 7-11 convenience store and searched his body, leaving only a 500 yen and three 100 yen coins.

The money was enough for him to buy a crab cheese shrimp rice ball, a Kyushu avocado tuna rice ball, and a cup of steaming black coffee.

Just as he reached out to take the rice ball, he suddenly saw a stack of brand new "Literature and Art" on the counter of the convenience store.

Toshimatsu Koike hasn't read a serious literary magazine for many years.

When he was in high school and college, he was a core member of the literary society and dreamed of becoming a self-sufficient writer with income from royalties.

Ageing and the beatings from society have made him lose everything.

After that, the only magazines I read regularly were SQ magazines like "anan", which claimed to let "all the female idols in Japan take off their clothes".

Countless memories were brought back, but Koike Toshimatsu still reached out for the rice ball.

Maslow's need theory tells him that when a person has to face the most primitive survival crisis, all other pursuits will become
"A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

Just as Koike Toshimatsu was about to pick up the rice ball, the slogan on the cover of the latest issue of "Wenyi" suddenly caught his attention.

His eyes were fixed on these words, and his soul seemed to tremble.

"A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

Koike Toshinari repeated this to himself several times, and suddenly he felt something in his heart was touched.

"Customer?" The convenience store manager couldn't help but ask when he saw him standing motionless in front of the counter like a frozen sculpture.

There have been a lot of customers with dull eyes and who seem to have lost the meaning of their lives coming recently.

Maybe it has something to do with the Yamaichi Securities that went bankrupt nearby.

"Customer? Do you want to buy rice balls and coffee?" Seeing that he still didn't respond, the manager added another sentence.

Koike Risong was awakened by this, looked up at him, and nodded subconsciously: "Yes, I"

He was halfway through saying his words when he suddenly got stuck.

Because it was difficult for him to take his eyes off the book "Literature and Art".

The old fisherman on the cover and the thought-provoking slogan were really something he couldn't ignore.

"Excuse me, how much does a copy of Literature and Art sell for now?"

Koike Toshinari clenched the coins in his pocket and asked as if possessed by a ghost.

The store manager smiled and replied, "The original price is 750 yen per book. But Mr. Kitagawa subsidized the price out of his own pocket, so you only need to pay 600 yen."

If a book costs 750 yen, after buying "Wenyi", he would only have 50 yen left, which is not enough to buy the most ordinary 100 yen seaweed rice ball.

But if it's 600 yen, I'll only have 200 yen left.

"Okay. Then please give me a copy of Literature and Art, and two 100 yen seaweed rice balls, thank you!"

Koike Toshimatsu gritted his teeth, spent all his remaining 800 yen, and bought a copy of "Baijutsu".

He just couldn't resist that cover and that line.

It was like returning to the time when he was pursuing his literary dream. He wanted to know what story that sentence came from!
"Okay, a copy of Literature and Art, and two seaweed rice balls. I'll heat them up for you. A total of 800 yen!"

The store manager respectfully handed him a copy of "Literature and Art".

Koike Toshimatsu took the magazine, found a seat by the window, and immediately tore open the cover and started reading.

I think the last time I read a literary magazine was when I was a junior in college. At that time, the five major publishing houses were competing fiercely.

Now I heard that Mr. Kitagawa defeated the other four companies on his own and even acquired "Gunzo" which had "kicked him out" in the past?
When Koike Toshimatsu flipped through "The Old Man and the Sea" and discovered that this was the new book written by the young "number one in the world", this information immediately surged through his mind.

Then he was shocked to find that this serialized novel seemed to be the second half, and the first half should be in the previous issue!
"Damn it. I haven't bought any literary magazines in a long time. How could I have forgotten this?"

Koike Toshinari regretted it a lot. Buying another copy of "Bungei" would cost another 600 yen, and he was penniless. If his wife saw him spending a day's living expenses on such a thing when he got home, she would definitely be furious.

"Guest, your rice balls and coffee are ready."

The store manager's voice suddenly rang out.

Koike Toshimatsu looked up and found that his nori rice ball had been replaced with a more luxurious tuna rice ball, and there was also a cup of hot coffee.

In addition, the store manager was holding a previous issue of "Literature and Art" in his hand, and was looking at him with a smile.

"Guest, if you haven't read the last issue, the story will be incomplete."

The store manager handed him the book "Literature and Art".

"Yes, but..." Koike Risong looked at him, feeling a little uneasy and nervous.

Japanese society seems polite and harmonious, but the distance between people is very large.

He didn't know how long it had been since he felt this kind of warmth from a stranger.

"I bought this magazine myself, so I don't have to pay for it. By the way, the instant coffee is also a package I saved myself, not a product from the store."

Toshimatsu Koike was the only customer in the store during this time period. His every move after entering the store, as well as his subsequent struggles and decisions were all seen by the store manager.

The store manager is a big fan of Beichuan.

Last year, Mr. Kitagawa supported ordinary people in the "Spring Struggle", so this year when the "Spring Struggle" was warming up, all the employees in the store went to work for the union, leaving him alone, but he was not angry.

Even when he was starving, Koike Toshimatsu still chose to satisfy his spiritual needs first, and it was obvious that he was attracted by Mr. Kitagawa's "The Old Man and the Sea".

What's the harm in giving such a person a little help within one's ability?
Mr. Kitagawa wrote at the beginning of the second half of The Old Man and the Sea: "I would like to dedicate this book to all the fighters who would rather be destroyed by life than be defeated by life."

The middle-aged man in front of me was obviously such a person.

The other party has said so, and you still care about these things, your emotional intelligence seems too low.

Koike Toshimatsu stood up and bowed solemnly, thanked the store manager for his kindness, and then started reading "The Old Man and the Sea" from the first book "Wenyi".

In January 1998, the story of the old fisherman Santiago began to become popular across Japan.

This "unremarkable" novel did not make as much splash in the Japanese and global markets as Knut had expected.

On the contrary, shortly after the completion of "The Old Man and the Sea", overseas translations such as the English, Latin American, and French versions that were released simultaneously all sold at astonishing sales volumes.

The stubborn old man fought against the sea, the sharks and the fate, and his unyielding character moved wave after wave of readers at home and abroad.

Soon after "The Old Man and the Sea" was released in the western United States, it was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, the highest award in American journalism.

In France, "Reading", the most famous magazine in the pure literature market, recommended it as the most ideal book to collect at the beginning of 1998.

Subsequently, under the operation of the Chanel Group, the French version of "The Old Man and the Sea" sold 48 copies in 53 hours, breaking the historical record set by "Remembrance of Things Past"!

This is the third overseas-style novel written by Hideo Kitagawa. His first two novels, Remembrance of Things Past and One Hundred Years of Solitude, have also been widely praised by overseas readers.

Kitagawa Hide, the "number one" in Japanese literary world, the youngest finalist for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and a recognized great writer in the world literary world, what are the limits of his writing?

This doubt lingers in the minds of countless literary leaders.

"Teacher Beichuan, do you have time now?"

On the balcony of the villa opposite, Shimamura shouted at Kitagawa Hide at the top of his voice,

"If we have time, I would like to continue talking to you about Niigata Prefecture."

That day, the two were interrupted in the middle of their conversation by Kuroda Keiki and others. Half a week passed, and during this period, Shimamura visited several times but failed to meet Kitagawa Hide.

Today, he finally saw Teacher Beichuan at home, and he quickly waved and greeted him.

"Ah, please wait a moment, I'll ask Sister Jingzi to call you later."

At this time, Kitagawa Hide was reviewing the cover letter that Saito Rena wrote for him. When he heard Shimamura's voice, he immediately replied loudly.

"Okay, then you go ahead and get busy!" Shimamura nodded contentedly.

When he heard Keiko Oyama's name, the desire that had just been extinguished in his heart began to burn again.

For some reason, this beautiful mature woman who was eight years older than him would always arouse his passion from time to time, just like when he first met Komako and Ye Zi in Niigata Prefecture.

Kitagawa Hide smiled at him in return, then continued reading the long letter of self-recommendation.

"What a jerk Saito is." Kitagawa Hide looked at the cover letter which had at least 10,000 words and felt a little amused.

Perhaps it was because the cover letter she had worked so hard on last time was rejected by Ichiro Tanizaki and others, which deeply hurt her. This time, even though Saito Rena knew that her cover letter would not be rejected again, she still wrote tens of thousands of words in great detail.

She wanted to write her self-recommendation letter starting from the time Kitagawa Hide was born, which shows how deep the resentment in her heart was.

The letter highlighted several representative works of Kitagawa Hide last year:

The representative work of Japanese literature: Norwegian Wood

Representative works of overseas literature include One Hundred Years of Solitude, Remembrance of Things Past and The Old Man and the Sea

After much consideration, she felt that it would be more appropriate to submit "Norwegian Wood" for the Nobel Prize.

Kitagawa Hide read it over and over again, and finally decided not to change a single word and let it meet the judges of the Swedish Academy in this form!
Because Ichiro Tanizaki and others were disqualified as nominees, the people who were eligible to nominate in the secret invitation letter sent by the Nobel Prize Council this time were Hide Kitagawa, Osamu Takeuchi and Fumio Niwa.

As for the organization responsible for the nomination, the Japan Literature Society, it is not an exaggeration to call it the Kitagawa Literature Society now.

The person who blocked his recommendation quota will never appear again in the future, unless he blocks himself.

After stuffing the cover letter back into the envelope, Kitagawa Hide shouted downstairs: "Sister Keiko! Could you please go next door and call Shimamura?" (End of this chapter)