Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 323 The Magical Use of Toilets

"Chambers-san, I'm going to trouble you again."

"No, President, you are too polite. Let's sit inside."

"Um, okay."

Xinghai Communications cannot complete the entire PHS process on its own. It needs cooperation, including the cooperation of Xinghai Technology in developing PHS phones.

Therefore, Masato Takeshita went to Xinghai Communications for inspection yesterday, and then came to Xinghai Technology early this morning.

As soon as he sat down in the president's office, he couldn't help asking, "What stage has the Xiaolingtong mobile phone entered now?"

"We have developed different models of prototypes, and we expect to have a suitable commercial product by January next year."

Xinghai Technology has successful experience in developing mobile phones, so its research on the Xiaolingtong mobile phone naturally went smoothly.

As soon as Xinghai Communications achieved results, we quickly came up with the supporting equipment.

"Is that so? Very good."

Masato Takeshita raised his eyebrows, then whispered, "Xinghai Communications plans to start installing base stations in March next year. I hope you two can have a pleasant cooperation."

As the saying goes, food and fodder must be sent before the army moves, and the same goes for PHS mobile phone services.

Xinghai Group needs to assist NTT in installing thousands or even tens of thousands of signal base stations in cities such as Tokyo and Osaka in advance, and then sell PHS mobile phones.

Only in this way can we achieve basic signal coverage in large cities and reduce the embarrassing situation of “Hello, hello, hello, no signal again”.

"Please rest assured, President. We will definitely cooperate with our good brother company's actions."

"Yeah, that's it."

After a brief chat, the two began to inspect PHS mobile phone related companies one by one.

The first stop was Xinghai Electronics, which was the design and development company of the Xiaolingtong mobile phone. Its positioning was similar to that of Xiaomi and Apple in later generations, which is what we often call a mobile phone company.

After arriving at Xinghai Electronics, the two were led by professionals to the stands related to Xiaolingtong mobile phones.

He casually pointed to a beautiful black phone and asked, "Is this the prototype produced by our company?"

“Yes, these are the prototypes we produced.”

Hasegawa Hidenori, the president of Xinghai Electronics, who was in charge of the introduction, quickly responded.

“What are the prices?”

“They are available at all price points, but they are generally cheaper than mobile phones.”

The president then gave the young man a detailed introduction to the factory price of the Xiaolingtong mobile phones after they were mass-produced.

The price is almost as high as that of a mobile phone, costing 10 yen, and is mainly suitable for places such as hospitals.

Japanese doctors are representatives of high salaries, so the prices of products developed for them are naturally higher.

The cheap one only costs 3 yen, which is suitable for ordinary people who don’t have much money but need to make calls outdoors.

And as time goes by, the cost can continue to decrease, and a few thousand yen will not be a dream in the future.

"That's great. We want to give users the right to choose."

"Hey, it's all thanks to the president's teaching."

Xinghai Mobile has the same strategy, producing all kinds of high, medium and low-end products, and Xiaolingtong is just following suit.

After a brief understanding, Takeshita Masato asked tentatively, "Can I use it?"

“Of course, the equipment is charged every day.”

Hasegawa Hidenori immediately took out a pager from the counter and handed it respectfully to his president.

"Thank you!"

The young man smiled and nodded, then started operating his Xiaolingtong cell phone.

The mode is similar to that of the Xinghai mobile phone, with the classic digital nine-square grid buttons, and English letters marked on each number. You can make calls and send text messages.

"Very good, the call quality is even better than that of a mobile phone."

"Yes, this is also one of the advantages of Xiaolingtong."

Xiaolingtong is an extension of the fixed-line telephone, so the call quality is very good and is comparable to mobile phones in the 4G era.

The only problem is that the signal is very poor in many places and difficult to get around.

"If possible, it would be better to add one or two mini-games, such as Snake."

Snake, an arcade game that appeared in 1976.

However, this game did not become really popular until 21 years later.

In 1997, Nokia brought this game to mobile phones, and Snake became popular all over the world following the footsteps of Nokia phones.

"Add mini-games? That might increase the cost a lot."

Adding games would require more memory, and the cost would likely increase exponentially, and Hasegawa Hidenori felt that this was not suitable for the low-cost PHS.

"Uh, I'm overthinking it. Let's put it in our new phone."

The earliest mobile phone game was a variant of Tetris that appeared in 1992, but it never made it to market.

Later, the company finally officially launched mobile games in 1994.

It could be the exchange of inspiration, or it could be the convergence of research and development.

In 1993, two companies also thought of adding games to mobile phones.

The first was Siemens, which also created a Tetris variant. However, the head of this company did not want to pay the copyright fee and ordered the R&D team to delete the phone.

The researchers didn't want their hard-earned inspiration to go to waste, so instead of deleting the game, they hid it on their phones.

Just like Contra 30 Lives, it requires specific instructions to operate.

Another is IBM, which developed a digital grid game that can be played with a stylus.

Then in 1994, three mobile games came out one after another.

At this point, the question of who will be the first to add games to mobile phones has become a hot topic among the three companies, and everyone wants to grab the honor of being the first.

"Put a game in your phone?"

"That's right. Whether it's Snake or Soviet Cube, it's up to you. I need to see that there are mini-games on our phones."

"As far as I know, Siemens and IBM already have similar products."

Masato Takeshita was a little annoyed that he had forgotten about mobile games.

If it had been completed as early as 1992, StarCraft Games would have been the undisputed first company to develop a mobile phone game.

But 1994 was not bad either, at least it was the first batch.

Hearing Takeshita Masato's instructions, Hasegawa Hidenori responded in an awkward whisper, "Well, I don't really understand games."

"It's okay, you can find professionals within the company. It's such a large company, I don't believe you can't find a few people who know how to program and play games."

Xinghai Technology is the largest subsidiary of Xinghai Group, currently with nearly 6 employees.

Xinghai Electronics is a core subsidiary of Xinghai Technology. Although its number of employees is not as large as that of Xinghai Manufacturing and Xinghai Wafer, it still has more than 1 people, and you can find staff in any department.

"Yes, I understand."

After briefly understanding the research and development of Xiaolingtong, the group came to Xinghai Chip.

This is similar to Qualcomm in later generations, and it is an enhanced version that solves all chip problems of Xiaolingtong mobile phones.

But the young man came here just to watch the fun, and soon went to the next stop, Xinghai Manufacturing, in confusion.

This is an assembly plant, serving the role of Foxconn in its previous life.

When he arrived here, Masato Takeshita did not ask about the products, but started talking about the workers.

“What is the median number of hours that workers work?”

If you want to understand the true situation of a company, the first data you need to grasp is the median, which can more objectively reflect the basic situation of the company's employees.

"The average working hours of employees are stable at 10 hours, which is the lowest among similar Japanese companies." Speaking of this, Xinghai Manufacturing President Yoshizawa Aoji could not hide his pride. Because similar Japanese companies generally work more than 12 hours.

Japan's popular manufacturing theory of squeezing out every last drop of water from a towel still dominates the society.

The young man was noncommittal. He asked again, "What about the average?"

"It's all the same. The time is stable at around 10 hours."

"Very good, I wonder if it can be lowered again?"

The 10-hour working time is indeed much lower than that of other Japanese companies and developing countries such as China, but it is obviously higher than that of similarly developed European and American countries.

He wanted to implement an 8-hour workday so that his employees could have a better life.

"This is unlikely in the short term. Our costs are too high, far less than those in Southeast Asia, China and South Korea."

Japan's manufacturing industry is barely surviving. The rising costs brought on by the appreciation of the yen have made it difficult for many companies to bear the burden, forcing them to build factories overseas.

Xinghai Group is also a typical case, with a large number of low-end industries moving overseas.

"We have to do it even if it's difficult. So, next year we'll set a goal to reduce workers' working hours to 9.5 hours."

"Hi!"

Hearing that the time was reduced by 0.5 hours, Yoshizawa Aoji breathed a sigh of relief.

It can be done in half an hour if you squeeze in.

This is also Masato Takeshita's countermeasures. If he reduces it a little bit every year, the ultimate goal can be achieved in four years.

After asking about the daily working hours, Masato Takeshita then asked about the weekly work situation.

"The company currently has a six-day work and one-day-off policy. Is the president planning to reduce it?"

"Well, it's still a bit long. We are a responsible large company and we need to give our workers enough time to rest. They need to spend time with their parents and family."

"But, but..."

President Yoshizawa was very anxious, thinking that this was a bit too much. If he kept doing this, he would probably end up in the red at the end of the year.

"I understand what you mean, so I won't do it for now. I'll make a decision when the time is right."

"Yes, President."

In 1993, the Japanese yen began its second appreciation after the Plaza Accord, and manufacturing profits fell again.

Masato Takeshita did not dare to significantly increase workers' wages at this critical moment.

On the one hand, they are afraid that similar companies may cause trouble for Xinghai Group, and on the other hand, they do not want their employees to be excluded.

You are already outstanding enough. If you are any taller, you will be treated with cold violence.

In a few years, when the yen depreciates, all industries in Japan are hit hard, and a wave of unemployment arrives with even greater ferocity, then if he raises workers' wages to European and American levels, he will only win praise from the whole society.

Because after the workers' remuneration is improved, factories need to recruit more people, which can reduce the number of unemployed people in the country and alleviate possible social crises.

"What are the median and average salaries for Xinghai Manufacturing?"

Masato Takeshita continued to ask, and Aoji Yoshizawa followed up with an answer.

"The median salary in our company is currently 412 million yen, and if you add in the bonuses twice a year, it's almost 530 million yen."

"As for the company's average salary, it is 437 million yen without bonuses and 563 million yen with bonuses."

“They are all above the national average.”

The average salary in Japan, including bonuses, is roughly over 400 million yen a year.

Xinghai Manufacturing is almost 100 million above the national average, which is already a very dazzling achievement.

"Very good, keep it up. We must always ensure the high salary level of Xinghai Manufacturing."

Naturally, he would not believe Yoshizawa Aoji's words, so he prepared to check the relevant information when he returned.

If there is any deception, the person will be fired immediately.

Of course, the young man also believed that President Yoshizawa would not do anything fishy about this matter. It was too easy to find out, and it was not hidden at all.

However, we should not completely overestimate human intelligence. Many corrupt officials in high positions only know how to make money in crude ways.

For example, Qu Moumou’s mother did not pay severance pay to the workers, which is simply disgusting.

For lunch, we naturally have our meal in the cafeteria.

"Give me a fried pork cutlet set meal and some greens."

"Okay, wait a moment."

When Masato Takeshita heard the familiar accent, he couldn't help but ask.

"Master, are you from the capital?"

But in the end he held back and decided it was better not to ruin other people's lives.

"What's over there?"

The young man randomly found an empty seat in the corner and looked towards where a group of people were.

"That's a free zone. The factory provides workers with an egg, a carton of milk or other drinks of the same price, and a piece of fruit for lunch and dinner."

"The fruit is usually an apple, or two oranges, or two bananas..."

The more Masato Takeshita listened, the happier he became, his eyes full of admiration.

"This is a good idea and worth promoting in all canteens across the group. It doesn't cost much, but it can improve workers' enthusiasm."

The Internet boom had not yet begun, and even white-collar workers found it difficult to have similar benefits.

The practice of having snack rooms in large companies in later generations originated from the war for talent that broke out among Internet companies in the late 1990s.

At that time, it was not enough for Internet companies to simply compare salaries, they also needed sufficient humanized services.

Places such as snack rooms and gyms gradually became popular during this period.

Then the young man turned his head slightly and looked at Chambers, "The idea comes from your company. I hope you can set an example."

"Yes, understand!"

Chambers looked solemn and decided to do his best.

Masato Takeshita was also unable to confirm whether what he saw in the cafeteria at noon was a staged photo.

So he thought of a trick. He found an opportunity to sneak into the toilet and then locked himself in the innermost cubicle.

Many people like to go to the toilet in groups and express their true thoughts in the toilet.

This is a trick he learned through "Yes, Prime Minister", and it is very useful.

"Kanei, would you like to have a drink tonight?"

"No, I want to go home early tonight. Next time, next time."

"Okay, I envy you for having a family."

Speaking of this, the man who wanted to go to the izakaya in the evening suddenly said.

"By the way, doesn't your daughter like apples? The apples in the cafeteria today are from Aomori, and they look pretty good to me. I don't like apples, so you can take them back."

"Okay, thanks."

"Small things."

After seeing off another group of employees who went to the toilet, he left the bathroom.

"Yes, he is a capable man."

Masato Takeshita is very happy now and is ready to find an opportunity to give Yoshizawa Aoji more responsibilities.

In addition, the canteen's fruit policy should also be changed. Two more varieties should be added every day to avoid similar situations.

(End of this chapter)