Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 53: A tentative agreement

After watching Ogawa Eiji leave, Shuji Nakamura looked at the guy in front of him who believed in him more than he did with considerable confusion.

“Just because I developed red and green LEDs, do you think I have the ability to independently develop blue LEDs?”

Although he had not conducted any experiments on blue light LEDs, he knew that it would be extremely difficult to become the champion in the LED field.

This is the final step for mankind to achieve white LED light, and many top laboratories invest huge amounts of money in research and development every year.

I have nothing now, so you can imagine the probability of success.

"Of course." Masato Takeshita pointed at the shabby laboratory environment and said, "Nichia Chemical has basically nothing, but you were able to succeed in research and development based on nothing, just by reading books and watching videos. Aren't you worthy of my trust?"

Although red and green LEDs have been around for a long time, they are not a technology that a small company can master. Nichia Chemical's ability to master these two technologies is entirely due to Shuji Nakamura's strong hands-on ability and R&D strength.

You should know that Shuji Nakamura was the first college student recruited by Nichia Chemical, so the company did not have the equipment and environment needed for experiments before.

The laboratory equipment of Nichia Chemical was completely assembled bit by bit by Nakamura Shuji. During this period, he not only had to learn how to debug the equipment independently, but also had to independently complete the transformation and upgrading of the equipment on this basis.

It's as difficult as hell.

If it were an ordinary undergraduate, let alone completing the equipment upgrade by himself, he might not be able to use the existing equipment even if it was placed in front of him.

Nakamura Shuji looked at Takeshita Masato who was serious, and gritted his teeth: "Thank you! I will definitely live up to your trust and develop practical blue light LEDs."

He didn't expect that an outsider would think so highly of him, and even invest 50 billion yuan just for him, who was regarded as a prodigal son by the company's top executives.

Shuji Nakamura, a scientist who had been subjected to PUA from Nichia Chemical for many years, suddenly felt a sense of "a man should die for his friend".

He decided to devote everything he had to the blue light LED project, vowing to live up to Masato Takeshita's expectations.

Masato Takeshita looked at the stubborn middle-aged man in front of him and responded in a gentle tone: "Well, I believe you have the ability."

In his previous life, Shuji Nakamura was able to develop blue light LED at a cost of only a few hundred million yen despite the whole world being pessimistic about it, thanks to his unyielding spirit.

Now that this genius has the support of Takeshita Masato, he will receive more research and development funds. At the same time, the energy in him is becoming more vigorous.

I believe that research in this life will be more successful.

At the same time, on the other side, Eiji Ogawa hurried to the president's office.

"Father, do you know the purpose of Mr. Masato Takeshita's investment?"

Nobuo Ogawa sat on the chair and said calmly, "Are you talking about developing blue LEDs? I know about this. Even if I hadn't invested in it, if Shuji Nakamura had approached me alone, I would have chosen to agree."

Nichia Chemical's development has reached a bottleneck, and it wants to break through this bottleneck.

One direction is to improve the production line and reduce production costs; the other direction is to develop new technologies.

The transformation of the production line would cost a lot of money, which Nichia Chemical could not afford. Therefore, Nobuo Ogawa placed more hope on developing new technologies.

The fact that he kept Shuji Nakamura on is a manifestation of this philosophy.

unfortunately,

Although Shuji Nakamura was a genius and could even independently develop red and green LED lights without any assistance, Nichia Chemical's weak strength hindered the commercialization of his invention.

Nobuo Ogawa knew that this was not Nakamura's problem, but his own company's problem. People simply did not believe that a rural enterprise could develop an invention that could only be achieved by a large company.

Rural enterprises should take the low-end route and engage in the simplest raw material business.

Therefore, he always readily agreed to Nakamura Shuji's requests to purchase equipment.

Because he knew that Shuji Nakamura was a genius in the field of research and development, and it was very likely that he would invent new technology that could change the future of Nichia Chemical in a flash of inspiration.

"But, but..."

Nobuo Ogawa looked at his impatient son-in-law and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

"Ugh!"

My son-in-law is good in every other aspect. He is not only filial but also very smart and capable. But he is too short-sighted and has no long-term vision. He only knows how to focus on the small piece of land under his feet.

Nobuo Ogawa felt somewhat helpless about his son-in-law's choice, but it didn't show on his face.

He said calmly, "I know you are not happy about the company investing a lot of its profits into R&D. You think it's a waste of money. It's better to save the profits first and find an opportunity to upgrade the factory equipment."

"Both your and my ideas are correct, but we just choose different directions. Yours is more practical, with a higher success rate, but it's hard to achieve a breakthrough for the company. Mine is more dreamy, with a lower success rate, but once successful, I can gain hundreds or thousands of times the benefits."

Having said that, Nobuo Ogawa paused for a moment and moistened his hoarse throat.

"I don't want to convince you, and you can't convince me either. That's why I simply agreed to the external capital investment request."

“I want to develop both lines at the same time.”

"The majority of the funds raised this time will be used to support your factory renovation plan, and the rest will be used to support Mr. Nakamura's research and development. Since President Takeshita wants to bet that Mr. Nakamura has the ability to develop blue light LEDs, then we might as well follow suit and see what the results are."

"If it fails in the end, our Ogawa family's position in Nichia Chemical will be more stable. If it succeeds, we can also gain more profits from it."

At the end, Nobuo Ogawa stood up from his chair and asked calmly and domineeringly: "What do you think?"

"That's right, I understand."

Eiji Ogawa was very smart and quickly sorted everything out.

He no longer thought about stopping Nakamura Shuji's research and development. Instead, he excitedly asked his father-in-law, "Then I will go to the laboratory now and express the company's support for the blue LED project?"

Nobuo Ogawa nodded: "Well, go ahead."

"Yes, Father!"

After figuring out everything, Eiji Ogawa started heading to the laboratory at a faster pace.

He couldn't let Masato Takeshita perform a one-man show, he also had to show his presence. If Nakamura Shuji succeeded by chance, he could also share in the profits.

When Ogawa Eiji came back, Takeshita Masato pretended he knew nothing and did not make things difficult for him.

The county magistrate is not as good as taking charge now.

Masato Takeshita will leave soon, and Shuji Nakamura's research and development will still depend on the support of Eiji Ogawa.

(End of this chapter)