Traveling through the Tokyo bubble era

Chapter 804: Yoshiaki Tsutsumi Seeking Cooperation
With a sharp brake sound, the Lamborghini Gallardo S, like yellow lightning, stopped at the door of a luxury hotel in Shinjuku.

This is the address where Mitsui & Co. held the reception.

It is also one of the hotels under Mitsui & Co.

But it is not the Garden Hotel series that Mitsui is most well-known for in later generations.

After all, it would take more than ten years for Mitsui's first Garden Series Hotel to open.

However, hotels are not the focus of Hideki Hanyu, as he has little interest in the hotel industry.

For those with big capital, the hotel industry, which has strong replicability, a simple operating model, and the ability to create working capital in a timely manner, is of course one of the best investment options.

But for Hideki Hanyu, who is familiar with the future and has no shortage of investment directions, the construction cost of a hotel is high and there is really no need to waste money on it.

It was only after seeing this hotel that he remembered that Mitsui & Co. had always been interested in the several plots of land in Tokyo that he owned.

Those were the lands that he was determined to keep even though he knew the real estate bubble was about to burst.

Mitsui's initial idea was to buy it at a high price, but after being politely rejected many times, he turned to cooperative development.

Hideki Hanyu thought about it for a long time and felt that cooperation was not impossible, but the timing was not right, so he kept finding various reasons to delay.

Until now when the stock market crashed, although Mitsui is a large company with overseas assets to support it, it was inevitably affected by the stock market decline.

Therefore, in recent times, according to reports from Hanyu Real Estate's subordinates, Mitsui's people have not come to discuss cooperation for some time.

It seemed that he could be at peace with this matter for a while.

I don’t know if anyone will bring up the past now that I’m here.

After all, the land he owns is still extremely valuable even if the real estate bubble collapses.

After all, no matter what the economic environment is, the demand for certain locations is there, which is an objective fact.

The bursting of the Japanese economic bubble has had a profound and significant impact on the Japanese economy.

But it will take a very long time for this crisis to spread to ordinary people in Japan.

In another time and space, the stock market bubble burst in 1990, and the real estate market collapsed a year later.

But even in this situation, Japan's luxury consumption reached its highest level in history in the mid-1990s, accounting for nearly 70% of the world's luxury consumption at one point.

This rise in luxury consumption continued until the late 1990s, and only began to decline in the early 21st century.

It can be seen from this that although Japan's economy suffered a severe blow, the people's consumption habits continued for a long time.

Of course, with the economy in a downward trend and a large number of consumer loans thriving, you could say that the Japanese are just trying to be rich by spending tomorrow's money to enjoy today.

But for money-making capital, as long as they can make money, they don’t care what is behind the money.

This is why companies such as AI International, LVMH, Dior, Supreme, and Lamborghini Automobile Group, all owned by Hideki Hanyu, regard Japan as their most important market, and their annual marketing and promotion expenses also top the list of other countries in the world.

In order to meet the needs of the Japanese luxury goods market, several major luxury brands controlled by Hideki Hanyu have even launched Japanese product lines to produce products exclusively for Japanese consumers.

On the surface, this behavior seems to value Japanese consumers and allow them to buy the products they want as quickly as possible without having to wait.

But in fact?
In fact, it is just a precise way of taking advantage of others. They are afraid that if they sell slowly, Japanese consumers will switch to other companies, and they will lose money.

After all, "stupid people with lots of money come quickly" is the label of Japanese consumers in this era.

Let me add that the products specifically for consumption in Japan are not produced in Japan, but are manufactured by Chinese factories.

While my mind was spinning with thoughts, Hideki Hanyu had already opened the car door and got out.

Throwing the car keys to the hotel receptionist, Hanyu Hideki came to the passenger side, opened the door and motioned Sato Kyoko to get out.

The woman looked a little strange at this moment.

Being targeted by a big shot like Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, she should have been feeling anxious and uneasy.

But since she was taken away and protected by Hanyu Hideki's men, she felt relieved, but at the same time, she had other thoughts.

Even though she knew very well that Hanyu Hideki helped him because he was asked by an old lover.

Today, when Hideki Hanyu really brought her to attend the reception of Mitsui & Co., he was ready to help her solve her problem.

As Kyoko Sato looked at the handsome man standing next to her, she couldn't help but have one of the three greatest illusions in life.

"He likes me?"

Once this illusion is born, it will inevitably spread within a woman's heart.

Come to think of it, when she first came into contact with Hanyu Hideki because of Kamiya Eiichi, she also had the idea of ​​getting close to Hanyu Hideki.

But unfortunately, Hideki Hanyu ignored her.

This made Sato Kyoko give up the idea.

But for Hideki Hanyu, no matter in the past or now, he has no interest in the woman next to him.

Led by the reception staff, Hideki Hanyu quickly arrived at the banquet hall where the reception was held.

It is magnificent and luxurious in style, and it looks really grand, with a sense of extravagance from the bubble era coming across.

When he arrived, all the senior executives of Mitsui & Co. came to greet him.

After all, Hideki Hanyu is now considered a member of the Mitsui Group because of his relationship with Tohoku Energy. They have been working together for many years, so naturally their relationship is special.

Of course, when these bigwigs from the Mitsui Group received Hanyu Hideki, they also treated Sato Kyoko, who was beside Hanyu Hideki, with due courtesy.

As for the fact that they didn't know Sato Kyoko, no one cared at all.

After all, Hideki Hanyu has a reputation as a playboy, so it is normal for him to show up with a strange beauty.

What's more, they value Hideki Hanyu, not Kyoko Sato.

But in Sato Kyoko's eyes, these superficial courtesies, under the influence of her own illusion, seemed to become a kind of recognition of her.

And deep down, she also longed for this kind of recognition.

After all, she came to Tokyo from her hometown to develop and did her utmost to pursue success in order to achieve a class leap and become a member of the so-called upper class like she is now.

Thinking of this, the woman's action of holding Hanyu Hideki's arm unconsciously became a little more intimate.

Hanyu Hideki doesn't care about this at all.

Anyway, as long as he completes what he promised to Kamiho Eiichi, he will have nothing to do with this woman.

After the meeting with the top executives of Mitsui & Co., he had more social events on site. After all, he was now someone that many people wanted to curry favor with.

But unfortunately, many people who come to talk to him are of no value to him.

He was just killing time by socializing while waiting for tonight's target to show up.

Soon, the person he was waiting for appeared.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, a tall man wearing glasses, appeared at the reception with his female companion.

The identity of his female companion also surprised Hanyu Hideki.

It was Sayuri Yoshinaga, whom he had just met not long ago and who was cheated out of a large sum of money by Sato Kyoko, who was by his side.

"Tsk tsk... He is indeed Yoshiaki Tsutsumi. He directly brings out other people's wives as his female companions. I am still far behind him."

When seeing Yoshiaki Tsutsumi and Sayuri Yoshinaga appear together, Hideki Hanyu clicked his tongue, feeling inferior to him.

But Kyoko Sato, who was beside him, did not have the same mentality as Hideki Hanyu.

As she watched Yoshiaki Tsutsumi and Sayuri Yoshinaga heading straight for them after dealing with the Mitsui executives, her body trembled involuntarily and she lowered her head, too scared to look them in the face.

After all, she knew very well in her heart that if it weren't for Hideki Hanyu's protection these days, Tsutsumi Yoshiaki would have made her pay a heavy price under the influence of Sayuri Yoshinaga.

"Ti-san, I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

Facing Yoshiaki Tsutsumi approaching, Hideki Hanyu took the initiative to greet him.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi shook hands with Hanyu Hideki enthusiastically, "President Hanyu, good evening. It's not surprising to see you at Mitsui's reception."

There is a hidden meaning behind Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's words.

But after that, he pointed at Sayuri Yoshinaga beside him and introduced her, "Yoshinaga-san, you should be familiar with President Hanyu."

Hanyu Hideki smiled and said, "Of course. Yoshinaga-san is such an excellent actor. Yunshang has always been looking forward to working with him, but unfortunately there has never been a suitable opportunity."

“Thank you for the compliment, President Hanyu.”

When facing Hanyu Hideki, a big shot in the circle who is 17 years younger than her, Sayuri Yoshinaga's expression and tone were very respectful.

However, as she spoke, her eyes involuntarily fell on Sato Kyoko, who was next to Hanyu Hideki.

She never expected that the woman whom she had just asked Yoshiaki Tsutsumi to teach a lesson would appear next to Hideki Hanyu.

Noticing Sayuri Yoshinaga's gaze, Hanyu Hideki naturally put his hand on Sato Kyoko's waist and introduced her, "Ms. Sato, you are my female companion tonight."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi nodded slightly and greeted her, not taking Kyoko Sato seriously.

Even now, he didn't know that this was the person who helped Yoshinaga Sayuri deal with him.

On the other hand, after Sayuri Yoshinaga said, "Hello, Miss Sato," her face turned unhappy.

After saying hello, Hideki Hanyu pretended to say goodbye and leave.

But Yoshiaki Tsutsumi took the initiative to speak, "President Hanyu, if we have time later, how about we chat?"

Hanyu Hideki replied, “No problem.”

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi said, "I'm going to go see some old friends first."

Then the two of them said goodbye to each other with their female companions.

Hideki Hanyu and Kyoko Sato wandered around the banquet hall casually, socializing with people they knew and didn't know.

He was not in a hurry, but Sato Kyoko beside him was a little anxious.

I asked Hanyu Hideki carefully, "Hanyu-san, why didn't you tell Yoshiaki Tsutsumi about my identity just now?"

Hanyu Hideki chuckled and said, "There are some things that I take the initiative to tell him, and he takes the initiative to come to me to explain, which is completely different."

Seeing that Sato Kyoko wanted to say more, Hanyu Hideki frowned and said, "Okay, since I promised to help you solve the problem, I will definitely do it, but the premise is that you don't bother me so much that I lose my patience."

"I'm very sorry." Sato Kyoko quickly apologized.

At the same time, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, who had finished his social engagements, finally came to find Hanyu Hideki to discuss serious matters.

As for what we want to talk about, of course it is related to the Seibu Group.

After the total collapse of the Neon stock market, the Seibu Group was inevitably affected.

A large amount of Seibu Group's fixed assets do not seem to have depreciated, and Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's net worth has not changed much, but fixed assets and working capital are two completely different concepts.

Whether the Seibu Group invests in commercial real estate, resorts, ski resorts, hotels, amusement parks, or large shopping malls, all of them are heavy assets that require a large amount of capital investment.

The Japanese economy has been booming in recent years. The Seibu Group has been attacking all over the country, investing heavily in construction both in Japan and overseas, and using funds very sparingly.

The profits earned by the Seibu Group itself are just a drop in the bucket for the group's expansion.

Therefore, the funds needed for the expansion of the Seibu Group were obtained through financing from the stock market in addition to bank loans. And because of what Hanyu Hideki said at the beginning, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi used his status as the world's richest man to the extreme in terms of borrowing and financing.

So when the stock market crashed, Seibu Group's already tight cash flow suddenly encountered huge problems, and it was even more serious than in another time and space.

Therefore, when Yoshiaki Tsutsumi went to see Hideki Hanyu, he only wanted to say two things.

First of all, regarding the cooperative Elf Park project, Seibu Group’s construction payment may have to be delayed, and Elf Entertainment will need to advance the payment.

The second is that he wants Hideki Hanyu to help solve some of the Seibu Group's capital turnover problems.

In the former case, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi planned to use the shares of Spirit Park as a condition of the transaction to make Hideki Hanyu agree to advance the payment request.

In the latter case, it is impossible for Yoshiaki Tsutsumi to ask for money directly. After all, even if Hideki Hanyu could guess it, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi would not directly state the difficulties of the Seibu Group.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi plans to propose several projects to cooperate with Hideki Hanyu in order to gain his support.

As for why Yoshiaki Tsutsumi wanted to talk to Hideki Hanyu about this matter.

On the one hand, he knows that Hanyu Hideki has sufficient cash flow.

After all, the industries under Hideki Hanyu include people's livelihood, energy and other industries of Northeast Energy, the game industry of Elf Entertainment, and the entertainment and media industry of Yunshang Entertainment.

They are basically not affected by the stock market crash and economic downturn.

The second aspect is that although it seems to the outside world that Hideki Hanyu belongs to the Mitsui Group, in fact, except for Tohoku Energy, other companies are relatively independent and not affected by the big conglomerate.

Therefore, when seeking help from Hideki Hanyu, there is no need to worry about being coveted by big conglomerates and thus inviting a wolf into the house.

Of course, even though Yoshiaki Tsutsumi found countless reasons, he still felt uncomfortable asking Hanyu Hideki for help.

After all, in Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's cognition, Hideki Hanyu used to be his younger brother for a period of time.

Now that the elder brother is asking the younger brother for help, it is really embarrassing.

If not, he would not have found so many reasons and excuses when asking for help.

With this feeling in mind, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi began to look for Hideki Hanyu.

Seeing that Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's social event was about to end, Sayuri Yoshinaga finally found an opportunity to tell Yoshiaki Tsutsumi about Kyoko Sato.

"Tsutsumi-san, actually, President Hanyu's female companion today is the investment manager I mentioned before, Sato Kyoko."

Sayuri Yoshinaga had never expected that when she told Yoshiaki Tsutsumi about this, his face instantly turned extremely ugly.

The next moment, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's voice, filled with suppressed anger, rang out.

"Damn it! Why didn't you tell me earlier!"

Sayuri Yoshinaga had no idea why Yoshiaki Tsutsumi was angry. She could only look terrified and stammer, "I... I... I wanted to say this just now... I'm sorry..."

After all, after all these years of contact, she knew very well how Yoshiaki Tsutsumi treated her.

He seemed to have feelings for her, but in fact he just treated her as one of his many playthings.

So if she really offended Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, or ruined his plans, making Yoshiaki Tsutsumi unhappy, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi would not be polite when dealing with her.

So even though she didn't know why Yoshiaki Tsutsumi was angry, she was still scared instinctively and apologized immediately.

"Idiot, what's the point of saying this now!"

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi stopped and frowned.

After learning that Hanyu Hideki's companion tonight was Sato Kyoko, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi guessed that Hanyu Hideki brought that woman here on purpose.

He also deliberately did not reveal Sato Kyoko's identity when introducing her, and did not mention at all that he had previously dealt with Sato Kyoko for Yoshinaga Sayuri.

Hideki Hanyu is waiting for him to take the initiative to speak up about this matter and solve this problem.

This younger generation, who is younger than he was when he inherited the family business, is indeed not a simple guy.

Moreover, compared to a few years ago, Hideki Hanyu has made obvious progress in both sophistication and means.

In the past, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi might have ignored Hideki Hanyu's cleverness.

But the situation is special now. He knows that Hideki Hanyu did it on purpose, but he has to go along with the other party's plan.

Thinking of this, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi squeezed Sayuri Yoshinaga's hand tightly, and while the woman was enduring the pain and not daring to scream, he pulled Hanyu Hideki who was not far away from her towards her.

"President Hanyu, do you have time to talk to me in private?"

Looking at Hanyu Hideki, although Yoshiaki Tsutsumi tried his best to suppress his emotions, there were still problems with his facial expression management, and his expression gave a feeling of displeasure no matter how you looked at him.

Facing Yoshiaki Tsutsumi like this, Hanyu Hideki still put on a friendly smile and pointed to the corner of the banquet hall.

"Of course, Ti-san, please."

"please."

The two of them left together, while Sato Kyoko and Yoshinaga Sayuri stayed where they were.

After Yoshiaki Tsutsumi left, Sayuri Yoshinaga dropped her cautious expression and spoke to Kyoko Sato in a tone of pretended surprise.

"I didn't expect that you would hook up with President Hanyu."

"There are many things you haven't thought of. I advise you to be polite to me. Otherwise, you can let Mr. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi deal with me, and I can let Mr. Hanyu deal with you."

Now that Hideki Hanyu is no longer around, Kyoko Sato immediately starts to use the tiger's skin to pull up a big banner and bully others.

After hearing this, Sayuri Yoshinaga wanted to get angry, but she had to swallow her anger because she was intimidated by Hanyu Hideki's power.

After all, she still hasn't figured out what the relationship between Sato Kyoko and Hanyu Hideki is.

So she didn't dare to take the risk, and finally said "I don't want to bother with you", then turned around and waited for Tsutsumi Yoshiaki to come to the side.

At the same time, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi did not mention anything about Kyoko Sato, but told Hideki Hanyu about the difficulties of the Elf Park project and expressed his hope that Elf Entertainment would advance the funds.

After listening to this, Hanyu Hideki's smile gradually disappeared and he frowned.

“Tisang, the Elf Park project is now more than two-thirds complete. The proportion of capital that Elf Entertainment needs to contribute is already very low, and there is not much remaining construction payment to be paid according to the contract.

In this situation, we suddenly have to ask Elf Entertainment to advance the money. First of all, the funds must far exceed our share, and secondly, we have not prepared this money in advance. "

Of course, all the reasons given by Hideki Hanyu are just excuses.

He had no interest in Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's proposal.

Now the Neon stock market has begun to collapse, and the Seibu Group is also having cash flow difficulties. Wait until the real estate market goes sideways and then collapses directly, and then the banks and large companies will all go bankrupt.

The Elf Park project, which is already being delayed due to lack of funds, will only fail faster by then.

Under such circumstances, Hideki Hanyu would have to be a fool to take the initiative to help the Seibu Group solve its problems.

In the face of Hanyu Hideki's evasion, Tsutsumi Yoshiaki, who had been prepared, put forward the conditions, "I can transfer a certain proportion of the park's shares according to the advance payment."

"Let me think about it."

Hideki Hanyu pretended to be hesitant, but it was still just perfunctory.

He has been plotting against Yoshiaki Tsutsumi for so long, and what he wants is not just a few shares of the Elf Paradise, he wants it all.

Having said that, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi didn't want to continue to argue. He changed the subject and mentioned to Hideki Hanyu the matter of investing in Seibu Group's real estate project.

When Hideki Hanyu heard this, he immediately realized that the cash flow problem encountered by Seibu Group was probably more serious than he had imagined.

In another time and space, after the collapse of the real estate bubble, the Seibu Group was forced to sell a large amount of land and real estate in order to survive.

Later, I finally breathed a sigh of relief after betting successfully on the Nagano Winter Olympics.

As a result, in this time and space, the crisis facing Yoshiaki Tsutsumi and the Seibu Group broke out so early.

We already need external help now, and once the real estate bubble collapses, we will probably be doomed to another fate.

Maybe by then, the situation will be even worse than in another time and space.

Thinking of this, Hanyu Hideki thought rapidly in his mind. Although Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's Seibu Group could not escape its doom, this old guy did have a lot of things that interested him.

For example, retail companies, such as Seibu Department Store, and shares of some entertainment and media companies that it controls, etc.

If he could get these things through cooperation, then in addition to the Elf Paradise, he could also cooperate with Yoshiaki Tsutsumi.

Thinking of this, Hanyu Hideki looked at Tsutsumi Yoshiaki in embarrassment.

"Tisang, of course I am willing to cooperate with you, but the cooperation project you mentioned involves a huge amount of money and the content is very general. We are just talking about it here and it is definitely impossible to finalize it."

Seeing that Hideki Hanyu did not refuse, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi immediately extended an invitation.

"Since President Hanyu is interested, how about we find a place to discuss it in detail tomorrow? I wonder if President Hanyu has time?"

"No problem." Hanyu Hideki agreed readily.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi was immediately delighted and said warmly, "Then let's meet at noon. I will host President Hanyu at the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa."

Hanyu Hideki replied, “Of course.”

At this time, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi seemed to remember something, glanced at Kyoko Sato who was waiting not far away and said.

"I didn't know about the relationship between Ms. Sato and President Hanyu before, so there was a small misunderstanding between us. Tomorrow, President Hanyu can bring Ms. Sato with him, and I will apologize to Ms. Sato in person then."

It is a rare person for Yoshiaki Tsutsumi to take the initiative to bow his head, apologize to Kyoko Sato, and take the responsibility on himself.

Originally, it was Hideki Hanyu who asked Yoshiaki Tsutsumi to deal with the matter, but now it was Yoshiaki Tsutsumi who apologized. Hideki Hanyu knew he had to quit while he was ahead.

After all, he had no relationship with Sato Kyoko, so it was good enough that he could help settle the matter. How could he really take the other party to ask Yoshiaki Tsutsumi to apologize?

So Hanyu Hideki immediately said politely, "Since the misunderstanding has been resolved, there is no need to apologize. I will not take her with me tomorrow."

"In that case, I won't force President Hanyu."

After saying this, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi glanced at Kyoko Sato in the distance, his eyes thoughtful.

"Then see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

After making an appointment to meet the next day, the two said goodbye to each other.

Hideki Hanyu came here originally to meet Yoshiaki Tsutsumi. Now that he has met him, while helping Kyoko Sato solve her troubles, he also got an unexpected gain.

Therefore, he did not plan to stay any longer, so he found the senior management of Mitsui & Co., said goodbye and prepared to leave.

Who would have thought that just as he was saying goodbye, a hotel waiter suddenly came hurriedly and whispered something in the ear of a senior executive of Mitsui & Co.

Then the senior executive looked at Hanyu Hideki and asked in a strange tone.

"President Hanyu, there is a guest outside the banquet hall without an invitation, who said he is here to look for President Hanyu."

"Looking for me?"

Hideki Hanyu had a strange expression.

But then he seemed to remember something and said to everyone, "Sorry, I have to excuse myself. I'll go see what's going on."

After saying that, he took Sato Kyoko and walked towards the door.

(End of this chapter)