noveltune Chapter 18 The Two-Faced Janus
Chapter 18 The Two-Faced Janus
As the sun dipped westward, the light in the tea room changed from a bright golden yellow to a richer amber hue.
The Tokyo map, spread out on the low rosewood table, now seemed to have transformed into a battleground.
Shuichi sat up straight, placing his hands neatly on his knees. He looked at his daughter, who had just turned twelve, across from him. The tenderness he once held for a child was gone, replaced by the solemnity one would show when facing a master strategist.
"First and foremost, there's the land."
Satsuki picked up a red drawing pencil.
Her hand was steady, the pen tip hovering over the most crowded and expensive central area on the map—Chiyoda, Chuo Ward, and Minato Ward.
"Father, I just said I wanted to 'build a palace,' but that's for the future. A palace built on foam is too fragile."
Satsuki flicked her wrist, the pen tip avoiding the core Marunouchi area that had already been divided up by the big conglomerates, and landed on the edge of Ginza and the depths of Akasaka.
"We have a large-scale urban development plan for Roppongi in the future, but it's too early now. The property rights there are complicated, and there are countless holdouts. If we get involved, the demolition alone could cripple our cash flow."
She drew two heavy circles at the locations of Ginza 7-chome and Akasaka Mitsuki.
What we need to do is be a 'vulture' and a 'makeup artist'.
Shuichi frowned slightly, struggling to process these new terms: "Makeup artist?"
"Yes. There are many buildings like that on the market now—in excellent locations, but because they were built in the Showa 30s, the facilities are outdated, the appearance is tacky, and because the original landlords were bad at managing the property, they are burdened with a lot of debt."
Satsuki pointed to the red circles.
"We need to leverage our cash advantage to acquire these properties at low prices, especially those owned by small and medium-sized enterprises that are facing export losses due to the appreciation of the yen and urgently need working capital."
"After buying it, I won't dismantle it."
She held up one finger and shook it.
"We only do renovations. We replace the facades with the most fashionable glass curtain walls, install the fastest elevators, and hang expensive abstract paintings in the lobby. We transform them from 'Cinderella's' into 'Princess's'."
"And then?" Shuichi pressed, "Sell it?"
"No, it's for rent only, not for sale. To be precise, it's not for sale for the time being."
Satsuki answered decisively.
"In the next two or three years, rents in Tokyo will rise to an astronomical figure that you can't even imagine. We can use the rent to cover the bank interest, then use these buildings as collateral to borrow more money from the bank, and then buy even more buildings."
"However, there is a key point here."
Satsuki raised her head and stared intently at Shuichi.
"These older buildings typically have very low floor area ratios. To significantly increase their value, certain 'rules' need to be broken."
She touched the tip of her pen to a spot on Akasaka.
"For example, a 20-meter height limit in an area could be specially approved to be increased to 40 meters. Or land that could only be used for residential purposes could be changed to commercial land."
Xiu paused for a moment, then immediately understood.
This is precisely his field.
"I understand." Shuichi tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "The Urban Planning Bureau of the Ministry of Construction, and several key members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. As long as the political donations are in place, plus my influence as a member of the House of Peers, getting a few 'special' approvals won't be difficult."
"That's exactly right."
Satsuki smiled with satisfaction.
"This is how power is monetized. The Saionji family can do what ordinary businessmen can't. That's our premium."
She continued sketching on the map.
"By 1988 or 1989, when all the fools in Japan think 'Tokyo land prices will rise forever,' when those insurance companies and agricultural cooperatives have hundreds of billions of yen in their hands and don't know what to do with it..."
"We then package these 'princess' items together with that shockingly high price and sell them to them."
Xiu Yi felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this.
They buy junk stocks at low prices, use privileges to enhance their credentials, collect rental income, and finally cash out at high prices.
This is a perfect closed loop.
He had no doubt about the accuracy of his daughter's prediction of when to cash out. In his eyes, Satsuki now seemed to be some kind of divine will, destined to lead the Saionji family to the top.
"Next, it's here."
Satsuki's finger moved to a quiet spot in Azabu-Juban, Minato Ward.
"We're going to open a club here, in that old house we just bought."
"A club?" Shuichi was somewhat surprised. "We already have shops in Ginza..."
"This isn't one of those nightclubs where you have to drink with hostesses."
Satsuki shook her head, her expression becoming somewhat mysterious.
"I want to build a 'Showa era Rokumeikan'."
"No signboard, no new customers. Membership fee is 100 million yen, and you must be recommended by two directors. Even if you are rich, if your background is not clean or your taste is not up to par, we regret that we will not accept you."
She looked at her father, her voice lowered, carrying a hint of seduction.
"Father, think about it. In this era where nouveau riche are everywhere, what do those who truly hold power, and those newly rich who are eager to whitewash their identities, lack most?"
Shuichi pondered for a moment: "What's missing... something that will make them feel different from others?"
"That's right. What they lack is a 'sense of class'."
Satsuki snapped her fingers.
"Although the Saionji family is not as powerful as before, our surname is still the best brand. What we are selling is not alcohol, but 'threshold'."
"Here, members of the Takeshita faction can have secret talks with tycoons like Yoshiaki Tsutsumi; elites from foreign investment banks can exchange intelligence with bureaucrats from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. And us…"
Satsuki smiled slightly, like a spider guarding the center of its web.
"We are the house. All the intelligence, all the inside information, all the connections will converge in our hands."
"This is the real 'social currency'."
Shuichi took a deep breath.
He was completely captivated by this idea. It wasn't just about making money; it was about rebuilding the Saionji family's influence in both political and business circles.
"I'll take the chairmanship," Shuichi volunteered, his eyes gleaming with a long-lost ambition. "I'll let those old friends know that the threshold for the Saionji family is higher than ever before."
Satsuki nodded and rolled up the map halfway.
Then, she took out a sample of fabric from the side. It was high-grade silk produced by the Saionji Textile Factory, with a smooth and cool feel.
"Now that we've talked about the glamorous side, let's talk about the 'dirty and tiring work'."
"Saionji Textile".
Shuichi looked at the piece of fabric, somewhat reluctantly: "Should we still sell it?"
"No. We need to make it 'play dead'."
Satsuki took a world map out of her bag, crossed the East China Sea with her finger, and pressed it heavily onto a vast continent.
China.
"Father, do you know what's happening over there right now?"
Shuichi hesitated for a moment: "I heard they're doing 'modifying G and opening F'? But they're really poor over there..."
"It's precisely because it's poor that it's full of opportunities," Satsuki interrupted him. "There are countless young people there, and endless cheap land. The wages there are only one-twentieth of those in Japan, or even less."
"We're going to secretly move all the low-end garment production lines from the Nagoya factory there."
"In Japan, we only retain the highest-end 'Nishijin weaving' and 'Yuzen dyeing' to maintain the dignity of being a supplier to the Imperial Household. The rest are all 'Made in China,' labeled with our new brand, and then resold back to Japan."
Shuichi was somewhat puzzled: "But everyone likes to buy designer brands these days, these cheap clothes..."
Just because you don't like something now doesn't mean you won't like it in the future.
Satsuki looked at her father, her eyes becoming deep.
"Father, the bubble will burst one day. When that day comes, land prices will be halved, wages will shrink, and those who are waving money around to buy Armani now will be scrambling to buy Uniqlo... no, even cheap clothes like these."
"What we need to do is prepare cotton-padded coats in advance before that cold winter arrives."
"Let's call this brand 'S-Style'. Simple, durable, and affordable. That's its only motto."
Shuichi fell silent.
Although he couldn't imagine what that "winter" would look like, he chose to trust his daughter's intuition.
On one hand, there's the "Deer Pavilion," a place of revelry at the peak of the bubble; on the other hand, there are "cheap clothes" prepared for the lower classes.
This is simply...
"Two-sided Janus".
Shuichi suddenly blurted it out.
"What?" Satsuki tilted her head.
"Janus, the two-faced god from Roman mythology." Shuichi looked at his daughter with a hint of awe in his eyes. "He looked at the past on one hand and the future on the other. He looked at heaven on one hand and hell on the other."
"The current Saionji family is this god."
Satsuki smiled.
"A very good metaphor, Father."
She pushed the last document in front of Xiu Yi. It was an authorization letter for a Credit Suisse account.
Finally, there was that sum of US dollars.
"Three hundred and fifty million US dollars. Don't take a single penny of this money back to Japan."
"Why?" Xiu asked. "The country needs money everywhere right now."
"Because the yen is appreciating," Satsuki explained. "Right now, one dollar can only be exchanged for 210 yen, and maybe next year it will only be exchanged for 150 yen. If we exchange it back now, we will lose out on the exchange rate difference."
"Moreover, there's gold everywhere in America."
Her fingers tapped lightly in the air, as if selecting prey. Her past life's experiences had led her to study countless classic American investment cases, and now, the number of excellent investment plans in her mind was simply innumerable, to the point where she was struggling to choose which one to pick.
"Hollywood film studios are currently struggling with a lack of funds. In those garages in Silicon Valley, there's a group of bespectacled young people coding, holding the keys to the next century in their hands."
"We want to be their angel investors. We want to buy companies that seem worthless now, but will change the world in the future."
"For example, that small company called 'Microsoft,' I heard they're going to go public next year."
Satsuki mentioned the name casually, as if she were talking about a roadside ramen shop.
"As long as we buy these, even if Japan sinks, the Saionji family can be reborn on the other side of the ocean."
Xiu Yi let out a long breath.
He felt his brain was already overloaded.
Transformation into real estate, clubs, and textiles; overseas mergers and acquisitions.
These four sectors, like four enormous pillars, supported a business empire that exceeded his wildest imagination.
And the one who orchestrated all of this was none other than his 12-year-old daughter, who was sitting in front of him, drinking tea with her head down.
"I see."
Xiu Yi stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.
Fresh air rushed into the room, dispelling the stale sandalwood scent.
"Satsuki, do you know?" Shuichi looked at the ancient well in the courtyard, "I used to think that as long as I protected this well and this house, I would be doing right by my ancestors."
"But now I realize that true preservation is about offense."
He turned around, looked at his daughter, and his gaze was firm.
"I'll finalize the permit for that land in Akasaka this week. If the old factory manager in Nagoya dares to object to going to China, I'll make sure he takes his pension and gets out of here."
"As for that 'Rokumeikan'..."
Shuichi straightened his tie, a confident smile befitting a member of the House of Nobles appearing on his face.
"Give me a list. I'll make sure that the most powerful people in all of Tokyo are proud to have a membership card."
Satsuki stood up and gave her father a perfect curtsy.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Father."
She looked up, a sweet, coquettish smile on her face, the kind a daughter would give her father.
"By the way, Father."
"Um?"
"I want to go to Akihabara this weekend."
Xiu was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.
We were just talking about a multi-billion dollar business, and now we're off to that place full of electrical parts. He's still just a kid at heart.
"Go ahead." Shuichi waved his hand, his tone indulgent. "Have Fujita take a few more people with him. If you want to buy any game consoles or Walkmans, you can just buy the store."
Satsuki blinked.
"It's not about buying anything."
"I'm going to collect a small... allowance."
Shuichi didn't ask any further questions. In his view, that five million yen of "secret stash" was indeed just pocket change compared to the current family fortune.
But what he didn't know was...
In that little shop called "Itakura Shokai," the plumber in overalls has ignited a frenzy among children all over Japan this October.
That's not pocket money.
Satsuki has already secured her ticket to another vast empire—the entertainment empire.
"Well then, get out of class is over."
Satsuki said softly.
She gently rolled up the map on the table.
It was as if they held that coming era of madness in the palm of their hands.
Outside the window, the sun is setting.
In the tea room of the Saionji family, the monster known as the "Saionji Zaibatsu" has opened its eyes.