America: My Time

Chapter 985 An Unusual Cocktail Party

Chapter 955 An Unusual Cocktail Party
John's aggressive investments in Japan have drawn considerable discontent, but the Japanese are powerless to stop him, unable to intervene and forced to watch helplessly as he expands his territory. This situation naturally unsettles and frightens those in Japan with ulterior motives, even fostering resentment. Unfortunately, this time they lack the strength, ability, and courage to target John's investments again.

Back then, these guys in Japan, with the help of Yoshiaki Tsutsumi of Seibu, schemed against John, targeting John's investments in Japan. This not only prevented John from suffering losses but also allowed him to escape unscathed. Those who took the opportunity to acquire John's assets, however, were badly scammed. Now, they dare not act rashly. Most importantly, John has changed significantly. If they dare to do so again, they are likely to face a retaliation from John. After all, Japan also has considerable assets in the United States, and more importantly, they rely on overseas resources for many things. John is a resource tycoon, forcing them to bow down!

If the Japanese were to turn against John at this point, the consequences would be severe. These Japanese are known for their ability to tolerate anything to protect their own interests, let alone something as trivial as this. However, having learned of John's global reach, they also became wary of his research institute in Japan.

A closer look at John's strategic plans in the oil and chemical industries shocked the Japanese. Japan was just one part of the picture, not as important as they had thought. Taiwan, South Korea, the United States itself, China, and Europe were all no less capable than Japan in scientific research, and each had its own division of labor, clearly a well-planned strategy.

John's current strategic layout in various fields is a source of pressure and even a threat to Japan. This is not just about one or two industries, but many. With the sudden rise of Taiwan's semiconductor chip industry, the pressure on Japan is significant, and the rapid development of South Korea is also putting pressure on Japan.

ASML's forced relocation from Europe to Taiwan has been a relief for them, otherwise it would have put pressure on Canon and Nikon. ASML's R&D has surpassed theirs and is on a fast track, while Nikon and Canon are mired in difficulties. In the field of semiconductor chips, Japan has lost, and lost in every aspect. They have no chance to compete. From lithography machines to semiconductor chips, they have been completely surpassed by the Bell Labs group. In CPU and GPU chips, they have been completely defeated by Nvidia, and in memory chips, they are lagging behind ASUS and Samsung. How can these guys in Japan not be anxious, worried, and vigilant?

Unfortunately, Japan's current economic situation can no longer support their frenzied investment in research and development. Moreover, what they are competing for is not only semiconductor chips, but also other things. Although quantum mining has not made any amazing achievements in smelting, with the technology from Russia back then, they have completely caught up with many of Japan's technologies. At least in automobiles and shipbuilding, there are no problems. Precisely because these areas are no longer a barrier, automobiles and shipbuilding are also putting pressure on Japan. Most importantly, John's shipyard in Taiwan already had good technology. Now that he has absorbed the technology from Russia, he has made further progress. Moreover, John's shipyards in Taiwan, China, and South Korea have all made qualitative leaps, which naturally makes Japan worry.

These major shipyards are currently flush with orders. Not only do they have orders for John's shipping companies, but they also have orders from Middle Eastern tycoons. It's fair to say that any project John's shipyards can handle, the Middle Eastern tycoons are willing to cooperate with. This is the result of their mutually beneficial dealings, and it gives John a solid backing. As for the Middle Eastern shipyards, while they do have some orders, these are mostly orders that the other three major shipyards can't fulfill, or smaller orders that are only given to them.

John knew how miserable Ermao would be in the future, so he naturally wouldn't focus his energy on Ermao's development. All he wanted was profit. Once it reached a certain point, he could completely abandon everything about Ermao and sell it to others. But there were still decades to go, so there was no rush. John had plenty of time to plunder Ermao.

In the petrochemical field, although John is still developing, this area is the most deeply hidden and the most scattered. Even the Japanese have no way of knowing how much progress it has made. As for the communications field, it goes without saying. It is precisely because they understand John's current situation that the Japanese are so worried.

As night fell, the cocktail party prepared by that old guy Akio Morita began. Although it was supposed to be an exchange for Japanese media and entertainment, it wasn't just people from the media and entertainment industry who came. John had long understood this. How could he not know what Japan was like now? Moreover, John was well aware of how much pressure these people in Japan were under. Besides, the first Friendship Song Festival had just ended not long ago, and the buzz hadn't died down yet; people were still talking about it.

When John and Momoko Kikuchi arrived, Riko greeted them again, which was not unexpected. After entering the party, John saw many unfamiliar faces. These people were not from the media and entertainment industry; they were clearly from other sectors in Japan. Perhaps these people wanted to gauge his attitude! John couldn't help but sigh at this situation. He couldn't understand the thinking of these Japanese people. Why couldn't they say things face to face? Why did they have to be so secretive? It was not pleasant at all, and it was a complete waste of time and energy. John certainly didn't have that much time to get entangled with them.

However, this party did indeed bring together all of Japan's media and entertainment companies, and even some small companies that weren't very well-known participated. After all, with the bursting of Japan's real estate bubble and the economic stagnation, the entertainment industry experienced significant growth, with both record labels and television seeing remarkable development.

Now, the Japanese record industry is entering a boom period, emerging from its previous ice age. Selling a million records is no longer a difficult task, something that hasn't happened in the past few years. As a result, many people want to get involved and share in the profits, especially those from the dark forces, who are becoming even more unscrupulous.

“John, let’s go over there and talk. Let’s all sit down and chat about the development of media and entertainment in Japan. To be honest, a lot of people are eyeing Elite Entertainment, Universal Music, and Phoenix Records right now!” In the midst of the conversation, John and the old guy Akio Morita soon arrived at a corner of the party.

Representatives from major Japanese record labels, large agencies, television stations, and film companies are already seated here. In contrast, there are not many people from the newspaper industry, since the matters to be discussed are not of great concern to them, so no one from that sector is involved.

After a few formalities, the exchange quickly began. Akio Morita, the old man, didn't rush to speak. Although he was the organizer, he left everything to others. After all, it concerned the interests of many people present, and Akio Morita didn't want to be the bad guy or take on the pressure for these guys.

"Mr. John, what do you think of the media and entertainment industry in Japan today? Will the current environment affect us?" Soon, someone stepped forward and asked John directly. This guy seemed very polite, but his words were not so simple; he had quite a bit of scheming behind them.

"The influence of the broader environment on media and entertainment has always been present, and I believe everyone should have noticed this long ago. After all, everyone has felt the changes in the past two years, with both television stations and record companies experiencing astonishing transformations. As for my own perspective, I am very optimistic about the Japanese record industry. I believe it will soon enter a period of rapid growth. Japan's economy is currently stagnant, and public sentiment has also been affected, so entertainment is actually more likely to flourish at this time. To be honest, many industries in Japan are currently affected, but the entertainment industry will not; on the contrary, it will advance even further. Of course, this is just my personal opinion!"

John made no attempt to hide anything about this matter, and directly stated his true thoughts. After all, even if he wanted to hide it, it would be useless. Everyone present was not stupid; they were well aware that the entertainment industry in Japan was rapidly developing and expanding.

Unfortunately, these guys discovered it a bit too late; John had already completed his plan. However, what these guys valued most was the development of records and television. As for the development of comics, games, and animation, they were powerless to do so, since these markets had long been dominated by industry giants.

Throughout Phoenix Comics' development, Japan has seen numerous attempts to challenge its dominance, but all have failed. They couldn't defeat Phoenix Comics, even lagging far behind in animation. Only in gaming does Japan hold a certain advantage, as its domestic game developers have a deeper understanding of the Japanese market. However, in the global market, they are lacking and lag behind, as they don't possess the influence of Legendary Entertainment or Phoenix Media. Similarly, in peripheral merchandise, these Japanese companies are far inferior to Phoenix Media and Legendary Entertainment. They lack their powerful sales channels and low costs, making it impossible for them to compete. Such a gap is not easily bridged.
(End of this chapter)