Tokyo's bubble economy: From literary giants to great entertainers

Time always flies when you're focused.

When Shuichi Kanbara looked up from his desk again and stretched his aching fingers, the sky outside the window was already filled with stars.

"It's time for dinner, but I don't know if we have any ingredients at home."

Hideichi Kambara stretched, closed his notebook and put it in the drawer, then put on his slippers and went to the kitchen.

The kitchen was excessively clean, and it didn't even have that typical kitchen smell. But after bending over and searching for a long time, he only found a carton of expired milk and half a portion of leftover tuna belly from who-knows-when in the refrigerator.

"No wonder he's a top performer in the workplace, but a complete loser in life..."

A helpless smile tugged at the corner of Kanbara's mouth. But it wasn't a big problem; Suzuki Honami didn't seem to have expected him to cook for himself, and had specifically left a spare key behind when she left.

"If I remember correctly, there seems to be a supermarket at the intersection near the subway exit around noon."

"But speaking of which, having me, a semi-stranger, at home at this hour without even calling to check on me, are you too busy to have time?"

"kindness..."

"I'll prepare two portions of the ingredients for dinner."

With this in mind, Shuichi Kanbara didn't dawdle. He put on a black sports hoodie, grabbed the key to the front door, put on his shoes, and went out.

.

"Aren't you really coming to an izakaya with us, Honami?"

"No, I have some things to take care of at home. You guys go ahead."

Near the Shimokitazawa subway station, Honami Suzuki waved gently to her colleagues and turned to walk into the alley leading to her home.

Tokyo in March still carried the damp chill of late winter; the midday sun was slightly warm, but the morning and evening winds were still chilly. It was late at night, and the evening wind howled past, ruffling the stray hairs on her forehead. She unconsciously shrank her neck and shoved her hands deep into her trench coat pockets.

"I didn't expect it to go on this late. I wonder if the little guy has had dinner yet..."

"Bring him some oden, I haven't had any either."

Walking down the alley, Honami Suzuki hid her nose and below in her high collar, her big eyes blinking in the dim streetlights.

She's not the type to take care of others, or to put it bluntly, she's a complete idiot when it comes to life, unable to even take care of herself. Since coming to work in Tokyo, she's either been eating at the company cafeteria or grabbing something quick and easy outside.

Some elders have said that she lacks the traditional virtues of a woman, but she has her own explanation: as an ordinary person, do you know how difficult it is to gain a foothold at Asahi TV? Moreover, she has become Asahi TV's top reporter through her own unremitting efforts, step by step!

As a workaholic, she has always been very proud of this achievement.

As for cooking and such, just use money to solve it... that won't work.

"What the hell?"

"【My blind date has taken a liking to me, so I'm taking a day off tonight φ(>ω<*)】"

"???"

After winding through the alleyways, Suzuki Honami arrived at the familiar oden shop, hoping to enjoy a delicious meal. However, upon seeing the notice on the shutter door, a gust of cold wind blew by, and she froze instantly.

Over the years, whenever she worked too late, she would grab a bite to eat here, and naturally, she became familiar with the owner over time.

But to her utter surprise, the oden owner who always answered the topic of marriage with "dating and marriage will affect your career" and "it's normal for people in their forties and fifties not to get married"—making her feel "I'm not alone"—actually went on a date!

"If you're not going to open the door, then don't open it. Why did you have to make a date?"

"This guy must be showing off!"

"Hmph, whatever, who cares!"

Honami Suzuki was grumbling fiercely, but the next second, her stomach betrayed her by making a "groan".

"..."

Hungry, lonely, and cold.

The breakdown of an overworked adult can happen in an instant.

Honami Suzuki remained silent until she returned to her apartment and opened the door, her face bearing a withered, zombie-like expression.

—Today's work also didn't go smoothly. The interview was scheduled to start at 2 pm, and I rushed over without even having lunch, only to find out that the president of the company had suddenly changed his schedule.

The team, carrying their equipment, was just about to buy boxed lunches by the roadside when they received a notification from their TV station superiors about another interview assignment, but it was in the suburbs. Then they got stuck in traffic on the overpass, enduring the ordeal in the car on empty stomachs. By the time they arrived, the interviewee had already left. And then, unexpectedly, their car broke down on the way back...

"The horoscope on TV this morning clearly said that Leo women would have good luck today..."

"So, astrology doesn't really work for women over thirty after all...?"

"Hmm? What's that smell? It smells so good."

In the entryway, Honami Suzuki was taking off her high heels, a small handbag hanging from her wrist. Her delicate nose twitched slightly—the air was filled with the pleasant and rich aroma of soup.

"This is...my home?"

Honami Suzuki blinked her big eyes, instinctively preparing to go back and check the house number.

Just then, a boy wearing an apron came into her view.

"Hey, Aunt Suzuki's back!"

"Hey, Shuichi-kun?"

.

Ten minutes later, beside the coffee table.

"Sukuni, Shuichi-kun's noodles are so delicious."

With the evening program playing on TV, Honami Suzuki put down the soup bowl that was almost bigger than her face and sank into the sofa without any regard for her image.

She turned her head and looked at Shuichi Kambara, who was eating noodles and watching TV beside her, her eyes full of satisfaction after a good meal.

Since her ex-husband passed away, she hasn't had a proper meal at home in a long time. Of course, for a career woman who is completely devoted to her work, she has never cared where or what she eats—work is her staple food.

However, after a busy and hungry day, it's nice to come home to a bowl of hot noodles.

This feeling was surprisingly warm.

Moreover, Shuichi Kanbara was much more mature and composed than she had imagined. She had thought that taking care of a young boy who had experienced such a major change would be troublesome, but she never expected that she would be the one being taken care of.

He's quite an interesting little boy.

Honami Suzuki became somewhat interested in casual conversation. "Speaking of which, Shuichi-kun, there aren't many days left until the start of the semester, right? Have you taken care of everything at school? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No need, I already took care of it yesterday."

"Oh my, Shuichi-kun is quite efficient." She smiled, then seemed to remember something, "Speaking of which, Shuichi-kun is in the Directing Department of the Film Department at Nichigo University, right? With investment tightening across the country right now, it's not easy to find a job in this field."

Honami Suzuki turned to the side, glanced at the empty soup bowl, and pondered for a moment: "Our TV station has added a weekend evening program, and we're currently short of some on-set assistants. Although the pay is low and it's tiring, having your resume on TV Asahi will definitely help you in the future."

"So, if you think you can handle this hardship, Auntie can try to ask around for you."

"Huh?"

Shuichi Kambara turned his head, his mouth still full of unchewed noodles, his eyes filled with surprise.

Nichigo is the abbreviation for the Faculty of Arts at Nihon University, and the Department of Film Studies is the same as the Department of Movies.

This university has a very large influence in the fields of film and animation art, and is well-known in the world. Famous people such as Kinji Fukasaku, the director of "Battle Royale" in my previous life, Yoshiyuki Tomino, the father of "Gundam", and Gosho Aoyama, the author of "Detective Conan", are all graduates of this university.

However, Japan is currently facing an economic crisis, with all sectors contracting, and capital is particularly cautious about the entertainment industry. To put it bluntly, it's true that Japan's film department and directing program are very strong, but it's also true that finding a job in Japan right now is difficult.

If you can get into TV Asahi while you're still a student, even if it's just a contract job doing odd jobs, your resume will far surpass that of your peers. Not only will you have an advantage when looking for a job after graduation, but you might also use it to open doors to small directing teams while you're still in school, gradually building up your network and experience.

Shuichi Kambara had no reason to refuse such a good thing.

However, this matter is still far from being finalized. Seeing that Suzuki Honami didn't seem particularly confident in making this happen, he thanked her and didn't delve deeper into the topic. Instead, he thought about how to steer the conversation towards the literary weekly.

As Japan's largest news conglomerate, the Asahi Group owns not only Asahi Television, but also numerous serialized novel magazines such as Weekly Asahi and Bungei Asahi.

Honami Suzuki is currently a top reporter for TV Asahi. If she helps introduce one or two editors to review the manuscript, there shouldn't be any major problems.

But he had just organized his thoughts into words.

"Beep beep beep—"

The cell phone that was charging next to the sofa rang, and Honami Suzuki crawled over to answer it.

"Moxi Moxi, Hayakawa, what's wrong..."

"What?! Multiple young children have been poisoned by food in a residential area in Shinjuku?! I know, wait a minute! I just got my pen." With that, she pulled out her notebook from under the coffee table, sketching as she walked quickly toward the bedroom with her phone tucked under her shoulder.

"...On call 24 hours a day."

"This kind of work is really exhausting. Forget it, I'll try submitting it myself tomorrow."

Shinbara Shuichi opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't speak. He just shook his head with amusement, then got up to clear the dishes. He had just received his salary today, and his accommodation had already been arranged, so he wasn't in a hurry.

Moreover, he had read quite a few Tokyo-style novels in his previous life.

"I remember that really popular novel called 'What's the First'. The opening scene shows the protagonist fooling the editor, and then he successfully takes off..."

"How about I try it tomorrow?"