I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 202 The dreamlike moment is coming
The next day.

In August, Paris, France is still experiencing a mild summer breeze, and the temperature of over 20 degrees is most suitable for tourists.

After lunch, Kitagawa Hide and his companion followed the translator to the busy 2nd arrondissement of Paris. Even though it was lunchtime, there were still many pedestrians walking on the street, especially in the well-known luxury stores, which were almost full of people.

"Six years ago, Tokyo, before the bubble burst, was even more prosperous than here." Looking at the grand scene on the streets of Paris at this moment, Rena Saito, who had experienced that decadent period in college, couldn't help but sigh.

At that time, the Japanese were either on vacation abroad or visiting various tourist attractions in the country.

In just one year, hundreds of golf courses were built.

No matter you are a student or a corporate slave, you would be embarrassed to see people if you don’t have a few hundred thousand yen in pocket money.

At that time, Japanese tycoons were clamoring to buy Los Angeles, USA, and they actually did so, with each person investing over 100 million yen overseas.

The richest man in Japan at the time, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, who was in the real estate business, had assets worth 1 trillion yen and was also recognized worldwide as the world's richest man. Although he became heavily in debt within a few months of being the richest man, it also indirectly reflected how crazy Japan was at the time.

Kitagawa Hide had never experienced that era, and the remaining memories in his mind were all painful and distorted, which he had long since forgotten.

The translator girl next to them was also touched by this incident, so she started chatting with Saito Rena.

As the two chatted, the express train arrived at the Drouon Restaurant.

This restaurant was opened by Charles de Rouen, a French Alsatian, in 1880. After a generation of hard work, it quickly became a favorite dining place for the "aristocratic class" in Paris.

In that era, Drouin Restaurant had hosted world-renowned artists such as Renoir, Rodin, Pissarro, Rosny, Monet and others.

Since 1914, when the Goncourt Prize was first linked to the Restaurant Drouen, the two have never been separated.

The current restaurant's head chef, Antoine Westermann, was formerly the head chef of a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Strasbourg.

Once when he was interviewed by a newspaper reporter, he admitted that he admired those writers very much.

He told reporters: "When those people from the Goncourt Academy and future winners discussed literature, I would prick up my ears and eavesdrop.

You know, they also comment on the food we cook.

Food and literature both bring similar enjoyment to people.

These literary critics are also good at food reviews!
And when they talk about food, I feel an inexplicable sense of pride.

Being able to cook for these writers is something we chefs dream of!

Without the Prix Goncourt, the Restaurant de Rouen would be at best a good restaurant in Paris.

However, with the cooperation of the Goncourt Prize, our restaurant has become a world-famous literary restaurant!"

As the chef said, the restaurant usually has low customer traffic because the dishes are too expensive.

And because today is the award ceremony of the Goncourt Prize, there are more diners and tourists visiting!
Although they could not attend the award ceremony held on the second floor, they were able to see countless well-known literary masters in person, so the trip was worthwhile!

Kitagawa Hide and the other two mixed in the crowd and walked into the restaurant.

There are countless Asian faces here, and occasionally he can hear someone calling "Teacher Kitagawa" in Japanese, which really scared him.

It seems that book fans in the literary world are not much less fanatical than fans of celebrities.

There were actually people who traveled all the way from Japan to Paris to witness him walk into the Drouon Restaurant to attend the awards ceremony!
The three of them took out their invitation letters and, after a simple security check, successfully squeezed out of the crowd and headed for the sparsely populated second floor.

When they got here, they became the only three Asian faces left in the whole audience, which attracted a lot of people's attention.

Apart from her height, which is a bit of a disadvantage, Rena Saito's figure and appearance are comparable to those of a movie or TV star. After all, the former beauty of the Tokyo University's literature department would be just as successful even overseas.

She wore an elegant low-cut off-shoulder evening gown, holding the arm of the tall and handsome Kitagawa Hide. With the help of her nearly 10cm high heels, she managed to barely reach above Kitagawa Hide's shoulders.

There is a ceremonial platform at the outermost part of the salon on the second floor, and the backdrop is covered with advertisements and logos of various luxury sponsors.

In France, literature can be openly linked with business, and it will not be criticized as vulgar, but will be regarded as a manifestation of success and romance. The two were greeted by a tall blonde beauty. She was the off-site host, responsible for interviewing the people who came to the award ceremony and letting them adapt to the environment here so that they would not cause any problems due to shyness.

Who makes many writers have strange personalities and eccentric personalities!
The blonde beauty was very capable in her business. She praised Kitagawa Hide while introducing the process of the award ceremony, and then sent someone to lead them into the official venue.

The literary award ceremony held by the French is completely different from that held in Japan.

The one in Japan was more like an academic exchange meeting and lecture, with rows of neatly arranged chairs below and all the judges sitting on top. The atmosphere was rather serious and formal.

The Goncourt Prize ceremony is more like a dinner for the upper class, a bit like the Oscars.

I heard that the pro-Western Japanese particularly like this tune and have proposed many times to westernize Japanese things in order to make their citizens more fashionable and advanced.

This is exactly the biggest taboo for the classical masters in Japanese literary world.

They angrily denounced those people as the "remnants of the Meiji Restoration" who did not uphold their own country's culture but instead focused on learning from foreigners. Damn it!
It is hard to say who is right or wrong in this matter. Anyway, the classical school and the Western school are fighting each other in Japan and neither of them is willing to give in.

However, both groups of people highly praise and flatter Western literary awards.

Some "upper-class writers" can just win a fake award overseas, brag about it when they return home, and receive all kinds of praise from the media.

The three of them sat down at their round table. Saito Rena had seen similar scenes countless times on TV and in novels. When she worked at Kodansha, she had also heard her predecessors mention the award ceremonies for overseas literary awards.

She had fantasized countless times about being able to sit here and take part. Now that she actually sat here, she felt extremely excited and her hands began to tremble uncomfortably.

Just like she had said to Kitagawa Hide before.

No matter who the Goncourt Prize is awarded today, the fact that they are invited to sit here has already greatly elevated their status in the Japanese literary world!

Shizuko Kawaide has also hinted to her many times that by the end of the year, she will most likely be promoted to deputy editor-in-chief of "Wenyi".

By then, she will be one of the only two female deputy editors-in-chief of a major publishing house in the Japanese literary world, just like Ms. Touma Reiko!
Now with this experience, the younger Saito Rena is fully expected to surpass the fifty-something Toh Reiko and become one of the most famous female editors in the history of Japanese literary world!

Soon many invited writers arrived one after another.

Most of them were the classic combination of editors and authors, but they were all local bosses. Each round table was full and the signs above showed that these people had extraordinary backgrounds, and they were all from large publishing houses in France.

In contrast, Kitagawa Hide's place seemed very deserted, with only three people sitting there, and the lonely "Japan Kawaide Shobo Publishing" sign seemed like it would fall down at the slightest breeze.

This also attracted a lot of attention to them.

And I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Kitagawa Hide always feels that the ten very serious old men and women on the stage seem to be staring at him?
Those should be the judges from the Académie Goncourt, right?
Yesterday, the translator girl specifically explained that those who can serve as academician judges must meet at least one of the following three conditions:

1. Won the Goncourt Prize
2. He/she must have a high status in the French literary world and must be one of the representatives of contemporary French literature.
3. Member of the French Academy
These conditions are more stringent than those of the Akutagawa Prize jury. No wonder the Goncourt Prize is so authoritative in France.

Doesn’t Kitagawa Hide remember provoking them?

He took another look and found that they were indeed staring at him, and he began to feel uneasy.

It seems that the Japanese had a bad reputation overseas in the 90s?
We were too arrogant during the bubble era and now we have shrunk like a quail, a bit like a clown, and are despised by many foreigners.

I don't think I will encounter any nationality or racial discrimination here.
To be honest, Kitagawa Hide doesn't bother to care about the reputation of Japanese people overseas.

He has not been integrated into this country at all!
Fortunately, the academicians seemed to have no ill intentions. After noticing that Kitagawa Hide had noticed their gaze, they all smiled and returned the greetings, very kindly.

Rena Saito's nervousness came back again.

She didn't have the big heart and skills like Kitagawa Hide, and her hands began to tremble.

When she turned around, she saw that Kitagawa Hide's tie seemed to be crooked, and she subconsciously reached out to help him fix it without thinking.

At this moment, several reporters wandering around the periphery immediately raised their cameras and started taking pictures of the two of them!
Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena were stunned and turned their heads away with a smile in response.

These French guys!
It seems that you not only pursue romance, but also like to pursue gossip?

(End of this chapter)