America: My Time

Chapter 479 Opportunity
Chapter 479 Opportunity

The neon lights are crazy, Tokyo is crazy, that's John's feeling. As the madness erupts, it affects not only ordinary workers, but also the big bosses of the conglomerates. Under the lure of profits, they will inevitably make even more crazy decisions. Finance is so profitable, why bother to stick to manufacturing?

Although it was only a brief exchange with Akio Morita and a few others, John saw much more, a greater crisis. Human greed knows no bounds, and as the situation in Japan changes, the crisis will intensify, plunging the entire country into greater disaster and danger. Those powerful conglomerates and those who have profited are well aware of this, but they will not stop it because they are unwilling to relinquish their gains.

The bubble era was caused by multiple factors and was not entirely the fault of the Americans. While the Americans did participate in and drive the bubble era, the Japanese did not let this opportunity pass. The conglomerates were also pushing things along, and even the Japanese government was pushing things along. They all had their own calculations and plans, and whether they would ultimately succeed depended mainly on their respective abilities.

As the yen continues to appreciate and export pressures increase, will those Japanese guys come to him and sell him their counterfeit goods? John has to be wary of this. Moreover, from now on, he dares not believe in the so-called craftsmanship of those Japanese guys, because this so-called craftsmanship has been defeated by money. The whole of Japan has lost this spirit. All they have is greed, and the greed hidden in their hearts is being released wildly.

"Every man for himself!" When those conglomerates see boundless profits, what will they do? Naturally, they will do everything in their power to seize the opportunity and strive for profit, even if they know that there are dangers involved, and great dangers at that. But greed will drive them to move forward madly, ignoring the dangers.

These guys in Japan are like that now. They're just like the crocodiles on Wall Street. They know how crazy and dangerous their actions are, but driven by profit, they still do it, and they give it their all. That's the influence of greed. John observes that Japan is gradually moving in this direction. Once the whole society falls into this state, collapse won't be far off.

In less than a year, Japan underwent a dramatic transformation that shocked John. Only those living in this era could truly understand how crazy Japan was, with its vibrant nightlife captivating them with its boundless allure.

Back home, John couldn't help but sigh. On the way back, John had his bodyguard drive around the bustling areas of Tokyo, witnessing the crazy Japanese people, seeing them waving banknotes and fighting for taxis, and seeing the madness of these guys, each one seemingly immersed in that crazy hedonism.

This is not a normal society. Seeing such a crazy side, John also understands why so many artists fall into the madness of the bubble era. It's because their money is the easiest to be cheated out of. Even the 'elites' are caught up in it, not to mention the ordinary artists, whose desire for money is even stronger.

With the arrival of the bubble era, anything is possible. Perhaps the famous fortune teller, Onoe Seki, has already embarked on her path of madness. The Japanese stock market is currently booming. However, John's investment company has not participated in the stock market frenzy; they are only trading yen.

The madness has only just begun; what's more terrifying is yet to come. Moreover, the madness in Japan won't last long. Most importantly, there are far too many Wall Street crocodiles lurking in this place, and John has no desire or need to fight with these guys.

After John met Akio Morita, his life in Japan was no longer disturbed by outsiders. No one bothered him anymore, but the number of people paying attention to him never decreased. Unfortunately, they didn't discover anything. Now, John was only focused on the development of entertainment in Japan, accelerating the expansion of satellite television stations.

With the comprehensive expansion of Asia Television, its influence has spread throughout Asia and is now expanding into Europe and America. The entire Phoenix Group has also experienced remarkable growth, with animation and comics increasing their influence. The emergence of TV Tokyo's animation channel is a good start and will further advance the development of Phoenix Comics.

"Boss, we need more manpower, otherwise we won't be able to complete the layout of our animation IPs!" As the influence of animation continues to deepen, Phoenix Animation is also under pressure. The biggest problem is the lack of manpower. Originally, it was just to satisfy TV Tokyo, but now it has developed into an animation TV channel covering the whole of Asia. This requires too many resources, which Phoenix Animation cannot meet on its own. Outsourcing will affect its own interests.

“No rush. You can join forces with Legendary Entertainment. They also have their own animation company. If that still can’t meet the needs of the animation TV channel, then expand to China and establish our own animation company there!” John was also very envious of the animation talent in China, and now might be the opportunity.

“Data, I need accurate data to know how many shortcomings we still have. Also, contact Legendary Entertainment. If we're going to establish our own animation company in China this time, we need to proceed simultaneously. The costs in the US are too high; a lot of work can be moved to China!” Phoenix Group has vast IP resources, Legendary Entertainment also has considerable resources, and John also has a significant amount of IP resources. To fully utilize them, more manpower is needed. With the appreciation of the yen, costs in Japan are also increasing, and John has some ideas in mind: shifting production.

Comics produced in Japan cannot be exported, but comics destined for other countries can have their printing moved to China, which has a greater capital advantage. However, this is just John's idea, and whether it can be realized still needs to be investigated on-site.

Just as John had an idea in mind, he received another invitation from China. Although he still had some things to take care of in Japan, John put aside his problems there and went to China. However, this time John was not accompanied by any beautiful women, as they all had their own things to do.

Thanks to the deal with the Russians, Quantum Mining's steel mills have undergone a qualitative change, with many civilian steel products developing rapidly. John came here specifically for this purpose. Some civilian technologies obtained from the Russians have been repackaged and patented by Quantum Mining.

Quantum Mining now has its own steel research and development. After thoroughly understanding the Russian technology, it naturally wants to make a major transformation of its own steel company. The benefits generated by such a transformation are also astonishing, which led to this invitation. Steel is the backbone of a country, and no one dares to underestimate it.

Quantum Mining is essentially one of several steel companies in China. The benefits of a complete overhaul for China would be unimaginable, especially considering this is the 1980s. Therefore, China hopes that Quantum Mining will focus its core overhaul efforts within China.

In the 1980s, Russia was the world's largest steel producer, followed by Japan and the United States. They all possessed a great deal of technology. Now, Quantum Mining has benefited greatly from Russia and has naturally become a giant in the steel industry, thanks to its own iron ore mine, which is of high quality.

At this time, due to internal reasons, a lot of Russian research data was being leaked, and even weapons were being sold off in a frenzy. It is conceivable how chaotic their internal situation was. Because of long-term barter trade with Russia, many civilian technologies were acquired by Australian shipping companies.

Quantum Mining is also developing rapidly by taking advantage of such changes. With the research data from the Russians and its own research institutions, it is not difficult to master civilian technology. In particular, Quantum Mining has its own R&D team and steel company in Europe, so a lot of data can be quickly understood and turned into its own patents.

"Sure, we have no problem with that. As long as they can accept it, we can completely transform the steel plant here immediately and put it into full production. We can even enter the export market and compete with Neon Steel for the Southeast Asian market."

John agreed to China's request without hesitation. This would not affect his own interests and would be more beneficial to future development. After all, China had a cost advantage. If the transformation could be completed successfully, Quantum Mining would have the power to impact the steel market, and Bentley Motors also needed a lot of steel.

As for the funds for the steel plant's renovation, that's not a problem. The machinery needed isn't much either. Australian shipping has obtained a lot of usable machinery from the Russians, so there shouldn't be any major issues in that regard. Even if there are any shortcomings, they can be obtained from the Japanese, or even placed orders directly with the Russians.

Yes, that's right. Australian shipping companies can place orders directly with the Russians and get the goods they want from them. However, there are rules to bartering. It can't be entirely controlled by the Russians. Australian shipping companies also need to make their own demands. Otherwise, if they get some unsellable goods from the Russians, they would lose money.

Unfortunately, the Russians still have many restrictions on technology. At least there are many things that Australian shipping cannot obtain right now. After all, the Russians have not yet reached their most dangerous point!
(End of this chapter)