Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 124: The Beginning of Exaggeration
"I am back."

"It's so early, isn't there a dinner party?"

Hearing her boyfriend's voice, Izumi Sakai, wearing an apron and holding a long spoon, trotted from the kitchen to the door.

"There is indeed a dinner party, but I want to go home early today."

For no apparent reason, Masato Takeshita wanted to go home early today, so he handed over the hosting of the dinner to Takamasa Kamoto and others.

"Oh, I see. Have you eaten yet?"

The girl thought her boyfriend would be back in a few hours and didn't prepare dinner for him.

"No."

"Then wait a moment, I'll make a steak."

"okay."

Steak is one of the simplest Western dishes to prepare, and it tests the quality of the beef more than the cooking method.

The quality of beef at Takeshita Masato's home is naturally very good, basically 5A or 4A quality.

However, the young man does not like beef with too much fat, so the family mainly eats Omi beef and Matsuzaka beef as a supplement.

"The price of beef has gone up a lot recently."

Izumi Sakai took out some fresh beef from the refrigerator while chatting with her boyfriend.

"Oh, really? How expensive?"

"Some time ago, the better Matsusaka beef was only 1 to 8 yuan per kilogram. Now the better ones have risen to to yuan, and the best ones cost yuan."

"It's OK. Prices are generally rising now, so it will probably be even more expensive."

Although the current price increase is outrageous, it has not yet reached its peak.

It won’t take too long, just a few months and it’s estimated to rise to at least 10 yen.

So many speculators made so much money during the bubble that they didn't care about rising food prices.

It's just a few hundred thousand yen, just a drop in the bucket, it will come back if the stock price goes up a little bit.

Instead of paying attention to prices, it is better to study stock financial reports.

This is the downside of rampant speculation.

People will not appreciate money that is not earned through hard work.

"Ah, it's going to go up again. What about ordinary food?"

“I guess they will all go up.”

"Then the daily necessities of ordinary people will have to increase a lot."

"Yeah, there's nothing we can do about it. This is the way the world is."

After World War II, Japan was in ruins. If it wanted to develop, it could only be export-oriented, which meant giving priority to light industry and selling $1 shirts.

The export-oriented economic policy has earned Japan countless money.

But now the market situation has changed.
Japan has begun to become wealthy and cannot rely solely on the US market; it also needs to expand its domestic demand market.

There are two main ways to expand domestic demand.

First, drive the increase of domestic demand market through technological progress.

This is the best option, but it takes too long and is unlikely to be effective in a short period of time.

Politicians in capitalist countries are extremely short-sighted and have no time to make long-term plans.

Compared to the illusory technological research and development, it is better to just muddle along.

Second, the government flooded the market with money through the central bank and then carried out large-scale public construction.

A large number of ski resorts and theme parks in Japan are the products of this infrastructure policy during this period.

This method is quick and effective.

Short-sighted politicians naturally choose to increase their country's domestic demand by building infrastructure.

Isn’t it just that prices have gone up?
These are the inevitable costs that must be paid in the process of economic development.

As for the citizens who suffered heavy losses due to the flooding, they were simply ignored by the Japanese government.

"Hey, I don't know what to do in the future if I'm so exaggerated now?"

Izumi Sakai was influenced by Masato Takeshita for a long time and also had his own insights into economics.

She was very afraid that Japan's current madness would bring the country into the abyss.

In fact, many Japanese people sensed this during the bubble era.

But everyone thought they would be the final winner, so they ignored the risks. "It doesn't matter, there will always be a way out when the time comes."

Masato Takeshita wished that the bubble crisis would cause greater damage and cause greater harm to traditional enterprises.

In this way, he, as a promoter of new technology, can reduce the constraints from the chaebols and create a world of his own in Japan.

"Yeah, too."

Thinking of Japan's previous economic recession, Izumi Sakai couldn't help but have more confidence in the country and the government.

Although Japan experienced several economic crises after the war, it quickly recovered each time.

Even if Uncle Sam tried his best to stop it, he couldn't stop the rise of Japan's economy.

The girl believed that this time it would be the same.

"Okay, your steak."

"It smells delicious, I'll start eating."

Masato Takeshita was already very hungry. When he saw the steak being served on the table, he immediately took out his chopsticks and started eating.

That’s right, chopsticks.

We are all family, so we can do whatever is convenient for us.

“It’s delicious. It’s really tasty.”

"It's not that good, it's too exaggerated, do you want to try this?"

Izumi Sakai was much more gentle. He cut off a small piece of beef with a knife and wanted to feed it directly to the young man.

"Okay, I'll try it."

Masato Takeshita doesn't know about others, but he feels that the Matsushita beef is very greasy, so he can only eat three or two pieces.

However, Matsusaka beef is really great, and the feeling is especially obvious when you eat the first piece. It melts in your mouth and leaves a lingering fragrance on your lips and teeth. It is a top-notch enjoyment.

Of course, that’s the first one.

From the third piece onwards, Masato Takeshita only felt bored.

"It's just as delicious, eat more."

"Ok, I know."

The girl knew her boyfriend's eating habits very well, so she didn't cut another piece just because of his compliment.

After dinner, Masato Takeshita suddenly proposed.

"How about we go to Roppongi?"

Masato Takeshita wanted to see if the Japanese were going crazy.

"Roppongi, great!"

Roppongi is located in Tokyo's Minato Ward and is home to TV stations and foreign embassies. Therefore, the nightlife here is very rich, with countless bars, nightclubs, and discos.

This is also the place where the legendary 100 million taxi ride for a few minutes happened.

Of course, this is most likely fake news.

But at the peak of the bubble, there were definitely a lot of people who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take a taxi.

Neither of them were the type to hang out at bars, but rather to visit a few TV stations.

"I see. Television stations are also very hard-working."

“Normal, easy jobs are always the minority.”

Most of the menial jobs pay very little, with the exception of a few slacker jobs.

The employees of TV Asahi are naturally equally busy as they want to make money.

After visiting TV Asahi, the two decided to go home.

On the way, the girl looked at the crowd surrounding the taxi.

I couldn't help but sigh quietly: "How exaggerated! I have to tip in advance when taking a taxi."

"It's really exaggerated. There are too many rich people."

In Roppongi today, it has become impossible to get a taxi without a tip.

I can only say that Minato-ku is worthy of being called the city, always at the forefront of Japan's economy.

If you want to observe the economic changes in Tokyo, this is the best choice.

(End of this chapter)