I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 60: Literary Salon? It’s just a cesspool where a bunch of so-called writers are in collusion and shit together! (Request)

The word salon comes from the Italian word “Salotto”, which is the transliteration of the French word “Salon”. It originally referred to the luxurious reception room in the homes of French upper-class people.

The reception room at that time was private. It was a private place used by the host to receive like-minded friends, where they could speak freely and without restraint.

But salon culture is not popular in Japan, and writers actually prefer cafe culture.

In 1911, the French-educated painter Kuroda Seiki opened Japan's first formal coffee shop "Cafe Printemps" in Ginza, modeled after the Parisian style. It instantly became a gathering place for writers such as the great writer Mori and Ogai.

Since then, Japanese writers have developed the habit of gathering in various cafes to chat and exchange ideas, which has been preserved to this day.

So when Kitagawa Hide followed the bald executive director to the Noma family's mansion in Bunkyo Ward, he knew that this so-called literary salon probably did not have any writers of real caliber.

There is a very strange phenomenon in literary circles all over the world——

A high status does not mean high level.

Kitagawa Hide felt even more helpless when he thought that he would probably have to stay here tonight and chat with a bunch of grandparents who had high status but no real power.

It’s better to take this opportunity to eat more good food, then go home early and hug your little wife to speed up the progress of the strategy!

With this in mind, Kitagawa Hideya, who had changed into a new tuxedo, walked into the living room of the villa.

In his previous life, Kitagawa Hide was an ordinary literary youth from an ordinary middle-class family. The largest house he had ever seen was a self-built house on his own rural homestead. It had three rooms on the foundation and a small courtyard in the front. It was known as "Tangchen Xiaoyipin".

When he saw the Noma family's mansion, he felt like he had really seen the world. The living room alone was ridiculously large, decorated extremely luxuriously, and the walls were covered with all kinds of valuable calligraphy and paintings.

The Japanese are deeply influenced by the neighboring Eastern countries, and they particularly like to post some Chinese characters and calligraphy and paintings at home to show their style.

However, those are Japanese idioms, and the meanings of the Chinese characters are completely different from those next door.

For example, there is a painting here that says “Beauty in All Eight Directions”. This Japanese idiom does not mean that there are beauties standing in eight directions around you, but that no matter from which direction you look at this person, she looks like a beauty.

The meaning is similar to the Chinese word "八面玲隆".

It also refers to the kind of good person who doesn't offend anyone.

This is quite consistent with the characteristics of Noma's merchant chaebol family.

This is the case with Kodansha, which they control. It has good relations with the official Ministry of Education, other publishing houses, many universities, and even the Academy, and has mastered the essence of businessmen.

In the center of the huge and luxurious living room, there was a large round table, piled with all kinds of exquisite food like a Western aristocratic party. Servants and maids dressed in Western maid outfits and small suits were coming and going, holding trays filled with various high-heeled glasses filled with foreign liquor.

The room was already full of people, most of them were over 50 years old, men in tuxedos and women in evening gowns. When the old men and women talked, they occasionally uttered some poor English words, which made Kitagawa Hide laugh.

Among this group of people, the older ones probably experienced World War II, and the younger ones have basically come all the way from the post-war surrender era. It can be said that they are filled with the "shame culture" after the defeat in their bones.

People of this age are also the ones who most advocate Westernization in Japan at this stage and who like to lick the feet of the American father the most.

No wonder a communication salon for the Japanese literary community is organized like a Western dinner party.

"Teacher Kitagawa, please come this way. Managing Director Noma would like to introduce you to some seniors in the literary world." The bald managing director lowered his posture even more, looking like the security guard at the gate of Kodansha facing him.

There is a group of wealthy people in Japan's upper class who have a morbid worship of the great figures in the literary world, a bit like those famous and profitable artists who have to shoot a historical drama to prove their status.

In other words, in Japan, many of the most high-end things, such as the Taiga dramas in film and television, the academy in academic research, and various top awards in the entertainment industry, are closely related to literary masters.

Those who control the top of the ecological chain naturally have no shortage of power, money and fame.

He led Kitagawa Hide to a side hall, where there were obviously fewer people gathered, but it was obvious that their status was completely different from the group outside. They were here to avoid being disturbed, rather than having to stay in the corner.

The appearance of Kitagawa Hide's young face immediately attracted everyone's attention. The old men and women stopped talking, cast aggressive glances at him, and looked him up and down.

"Is he the new writer Kitagawa Hide who wrote 'Hear the Wind Sing'?" Shintaro Ishihara walked over with a smile and asked first.

After hearing "Listen to the Wind Sing", the faces of the old men and women suddenly turned ugly. The group of people who were talking loudly over there also looked over, with strong hostility in their eyes.

"Hmph, huh." The bald, hunchbacked old man at the innermost position immediately made a disdainful sound, and his nasal cavity seemed to be blocked. The harsh nasal sound made Kitagawa Xiu want to slap him a few times to help him correct it.

"Yes, Mr. Ichiko, Mr. Ishihara, and everyone else, this is our newly signed Mr. Kitagawa Hide." The bald managing director greeted them one by one, then turned around and whispered to Kitagawa Hide.

Kitagawa Hide noticed that the first person he introduced was not the guy who was speaking, but the hunchbacked old man who snorted at him. He immediately realized that this old man had a very important status.

Ichiko Sadatsugu, Dean of the Faculty of Letters at Kyoto University, and Fellow of the Academy of Letters, these two titles alone are enough to scare people to death.

Oh, that’s not right. It seems like he is the old guy who tried hard to refute the fact that I did not create a new school of thought at the University of Tokyo?
And this, isn’t it Shintaro Ishihara who kept criticizing me in the newspapers and said he would never give me the award?
This guy's right-wing behavior was notorious in Kitagawa Hide's previous life, such as supporting the Taiwan Province, denying the Holocaust, visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, etc., and letting his younger brother "fight real troops". Just standing there made Kitagawa Hide feel like he smelled a foul odor.

In fact, he doesn't have much patriotic sentiment. He is just a small person. His goal after traveling through time is to make some money and live a happy life with his beautiful wife.

But there are still some basic bottom lines in life. Kitagawa Hide doesn't even look at people without bottom lines.

The remaining few are also well-known in the current Japanese literary world, such as Natsuki Ikezawa, who is also a judge of the Akutagawa Prize, and Nobuhiro Ikejima, the editor-in-chief of the "Literature World" editorial department.

Beichuan Xiu had heard of some of these people in his previous life, but after listening to them all, it seemed that none of them were good people.

Come to think of it, considering the nature of this salon, it would be strange if a literary giant with real talent and character would come!

"Hello, teachers." Kitagawa Hide thought that after all, they were people hired by General Manager Noma Airi. Although he didn't want to make too many friends, it was not good to just give them a sour face, so he bowed slightly and greeted them.

"Heh, we are not worthy of receiving greetings from the founder of the 'Kitagawa Hide' school." Ichiko Sadaji opened his mouth with sarcasm, acting in a condescending manner.

It fits Kitagawa Hide's stereotype of him.

As soon as he opened his mouth, he was like an old hermaphrodite.

"Haha, Mr. Ichiko is just like that. Don't mind it, brother Kitagawa." Shintaro Ishihara actually spoke up to smooth things over for him.

The sweaty bald executive manager beside him also nodded and bowed: "Teacher Ichiko, Teacher Ishihara, and all the teachers, this time, Executive Director Noma invited you all in the hope of dispelling some of the misunderstandings you have about Teacher Kitagawa."

"Please go to the private room inside for a detailed chat. I have prepared tea, cakes and small gifts. I hope you will come, teachers." He made a gesture of invitation.

Shintaro Ishihara seemed to be a lobbyist who had been informed in advance. He smiled and said something to the few people, then turned around and patted Kitagawa Hide on the shoulder, whispering: "Kitagawa, you must seize this opportunity that Ai Li has created for you."

Kitagawa Hide stepped back and looked at the bald executive director, ready to ask for an explanation: "Um, Executive Director Hikaru Hanamori, where is Executive Director Noma? What's going on now?"

"Oh, sorry, Mr. Kitagawa. The managing director has an important meeting and won't be here." The bald managing director pushed him inside. "This literary salon is mainly to get all the teachers to agree to support you in winning the Akutagawa Prize for the first half of the year and to immediately clear up everyone's misunderstandings."

She didn't show up again? Kitagawa Hide remembered that when he first signed the contract, it was Noma Airi who was in charge, and it seemed that there was a vacancy left for her.

There are many things that happened in the past few days, including going to the mall to buy clothes just now, saying that Noma Airi customized a private plan for me, and this literary salon
But what does it mean that people don’t come?
It's okay if he comes once or twice, but if he never comes, is he really that busy?
Kitagawa Hide always felt that he couldn't breathe smoothly in this ghost place, as if he was out of place.

But when I saw the beautifully presented food outside, I thought about it and decided to hold back and go in to take a look.

Then I entered the so-called private room, which turned out to be another smaller living room.

To be honest, he was stunned again.

Are chaebol families really that rich? !
It's just a villa that is not permanently inhabited, but it covers such a large area in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, where land is extremely expensive.

Although the value of land plummeted after the bubble burst, the value of a place like this and a luxury house like this would not drop much.

How many hundreds of millions of yen would it cost? I'll have to check the house prices when I get home.

After all, I came here to plagiarize some articles. If I become a great writer in the future, it shouldn’t be too much for me to live in a mansion of this level!

Inside the private room, a group of old men and women were sitting on the tatami, and a dozen pretty girls in kimonos were quietly waiting at a small low table.

Some of them were responsible for taking clothes, some were responsible for pouring wine, some were responsible for picking up food, and some just fanned themselves or played little tunes with the shamisen or something.

The sudden change in style made Kitagawa Hide a little uncomfortable.

Shintaro Ishihara was the last to arrive at the table.

The bald executive pulled Kitagawa Hide to kneel down beside him.

So I don't have a place?!

Kitagawa Hide was stunned for a moment, and before he could react, Ishihara Shintaro poured wine for Ichiko Sadaji, and then said with a smile: "Teacher Ichiko, Kitagawa's novels are not that bad. I think the Akutagawa Prize should be awarded to him this time."

"Yes, that's what our editorial department means." Ikejima Shinpei followed with a smile, "Although Mr. Kitagawa's writing is too much about youth romance, it still has a certain literary quality. We agree with your point of view and do not encourage young writers to learn this style, but we still have a positive attitude towards Mr. Kitagawa who has already established his style."

Kitagawa Hide almost couldn't help but scold him after hearing this.

What does it mean to endorse a view that discourages learning?

After "Ball" was serialized, it seems that it was you, "Bungei Shunju" who shamelessly found a large number of new and old writers to imitate it poorly, resulting in countless youth romance pure literature appearing on the market overnight!

"Ishihara, are you really determined to give him the Akutagawa Prize for the first half of this year?" Ichiko Sadaji took a sip of sake and frowned, "I think I said I don't think much of this novel."

Bullshit! You old dog clearly said to Professor Takeuchi at that time, "He is a genius who wrote a novel for the first time."

Kitagawa Hide could hardly bear it anymore.

This old man is too hypocritical!

You like to cook based on what you see, right?
"Yes, I understand what you mean, Mr. Ichiko. But I think that I, your young disciple, should be given a small chance. He does have some talent." Shintaro Ishihara nodded.

"Your disciple?" Ichiko Sadaji looked up at him, and his wrinkled chrysanthemum-like cheeks finally showed a different expression.

A question mark immediately flashed across Kitagawa Hide's head.

"Yes, I have promised Ai Li that I will accept Kitagawa Hide as my disciple." Ishihara Shintaro nodded, picked up the wine pot and poured a glass of sake for Ichiko Sadaji, "Please do this for my sake."

"A newcomer from the Ishihara faction?" Ichiko Sadajiro took a sip of sake.

Kitagawa Hide really couldn't help it this time!
Japan has a so-called "master-apprentice culture" in all walks of life, which is in line with their spirit of craftsmanship.

But this master-disciple culture is not as beautiful as it seems. Instead, it is somewhat twisted and disgusting.

Because its root is the Japanese "predecessors and juniors" culture.

When Japanese people get together, you often hear older people say to younger people: "おれはお前の先弩だ" (I am your senior).

This sentence has two meanings. One is that I am your senior, you have to respect me and listen to me; the other is that I am your senior, if you have any problems, just come to me and I will definitely help you.

But in reality, predecessors often only do the first point and subconsciously ignore the second point.

The master-apprentice culture that has evolved from this is even more distorted and perverted.

For example, the master of a ramen restaurant does not need to pay his apprentices a salary, and he provides them with food and accommodation, and you should be grateful and cry.

After an apprentice completes his studies, whether he can open a noodle shop is up to his master. If you do not respect your master and are disobedient, being banned from the industry is the minimum punishment.

In the master-apprentice relationship between geishas, ​​all the money earned by the young geishas must be handed over to the mama-san, and they must also be managed by the mama-san.

In the sumo world, there are even bizarre examples where the father-son relationship is first severed and then becomes a master-disciple relationship. The reason is that the master-disciple relationship has a stronger sense of hierarchy than the father-son relationship.

The relationship between master and apprentice in the literary world is even more confusing.

There is no need to say much about male masters and female apprentices, or female masters and male apprentices. Generally, the old take care of the young, and many of them are actually like academic tycoons, making the apprentices work for the master for free.

There is a more appropriate and down-to-earth saying, which is to let the apprentice serve as a "gunman" for the master!
"Teacher Ishihara, you seem to be mistaken. I have never thought of becoming your disciple." Kitagawa Hide straightened his back. This time he really couldn't help himself. "Or rather, General Manager Noma is mistaken. I actually have never thought of becoming anyone's disciple."

When he said this, his eyes were fixed on Ichiko Sadajiro, and his meaning was obvious.

After hearing this, he finally understood what a literary salon was.
It's just a cesspool where a bunch of so-called writers are in collusion with each other and all shit together!
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(End of this chapter)