noveltune Chapter 47 The Puzzle of the Entertainment Empire
Chapter 47 The Puzzle of the Entertainment Empire
In July 1987, Tokyo turned into a giant steamer.
The asphalt road surface softened under the scorching sun, emitting a suffocating smell of tar. Although the neon lights of Shinjuku's Kabukicho were turned off during the day, the decadent atmosphere, a mixture of alcohol, cheap perfume, and overnight garbage, was even stronger than at night.
This is a swamp of desire.
On the edge of the swamp, there was a drab three-story building.
Many of the exterior wall tiles have peeled off, revealing the black cement underneath. The first floor used to be a pachinko parlor, but now the roller shutter door is tightly closed, and it is covered with small "For Rent" and "Loan Sharking" signs.
This is the last legacy of the Okura family.
It was also the land that Masami Okura "sold off" to the Saionji family for a mere 50 million yen.
The second floor.
The house, long abandoned, was filled with a musty, musty smell. Sunlight streamed through the dusty windows, illuminating the dust particles dancing in the air.
"Ahem... Miss, is this place... really usable?"
Itakura pulled out a soaked handkerchief and wiped the sweat pouring down his forehead like a waterfall.
He was wearing an ill-fitting dark blue suit today, which made it hard for his large belly to breathe. As the owner of a small game shop in Akihabara, the most upscale place he had ever been to was a bar with a minimum spend of 5 yen; he had never seen anything like this before.
Since he took over Nintendo's stock on behalf of Satsuki last year, he has become a pawn on the periphery of the Saionji family.
Today, it seems this piece is about to be placed on the chessboard.
Satsuki stood by the window, holding a bottle of chilled Ramune soda in her hand.
The glass ball struck the neck of the bottle, making a crisp sound.
"Why can't it be used?"
Satsuki turned away, her back to the sunlight streaming through the window. Her face was hidden in shadow, making her expression impossible to discern.
"The location is in Shinjuku, just a five-minute walk from the station. Although it's on the edge of the red-light district, it's surprisingly quiet amidst the hustle and bustle."
"Moreover, this was the place where the Okura family made their fortune, so the feng shui here is quite good."
She raised her hand and tossed a heavy bunch of keys over.
"Smack."
Itakura caught it in a flurry, almost hitting his foot in the process.
"From today onwards, this place belongs to you."
"Huh?!" Itakura was so startled that her hand trembled, and she dropped the key. "It...it's mine? Miss, I don't have the money to buy it! Even if I sold my shop, it wouldn't be worth a fraction of this land..."
"It's not that I'm selling it to you, it's that I'm handing it over to you to manage."
Satsuki took a sip of soda, and the carbonation bubbles exploded on her tongue.
SA Entertainment.
"This is an entertainment company I registered in the Cayman Islands. You are the nominal president."
"This building is the company's headquarters."
Itakura's mouth dropped open, his jaw almost falling to the ground.
President?
He's a total shut-in whose biggest hobby is playing Famicom behind the counter. How did he suddenly become a company president who has to make a living in a dangerous place like Shinjuku?
"Young lady... I... I can't do it." Itakura was on the verge of tears. "I only know about game cartridges. I don't know how to manage a company, let alone how to deal with those... those people who frequent the red-light district."
"You don't need to understand."
Satsuki walked up to him, her black eyes staring directly at him with an undeniable sense of pressure.
"All you need to do is obey."
"Get rid of all those old slot machines on the first floor. Renovate it into a Live House with the best sound system and the most soundproof walls."
"The second and third floors will be converted into recording studios and rehearsal rooms."
"I'll have Endo transfer the money to the company account. As for the renovation team, I'll have someone from Saionji Construction do it."
"All you need to do is sit in the president's office and act like you know everything. Then, when it's time to stamp something, just stamp it."
Itakura looked at the bunch of keys on the ground.
It is the ladder to high society, and also the entrance to hell.
But he knew he had no choice. Ever since he took a share of the Saionji family's profits, his life had been marked with a three-pointed brow.
"Yes... I understand."
Itakura bent down and picked up the key as if he were picking up a hot iron.
"very good."
Satsuki nodded in satisfaction.
"Now, wipe your sweat. We're going somewhere."
"Where to?"
"Roppongi."
Satsuki placed the empty bottle on the windowsill.
"Go buy some 'goods'."
……
Roppongi in the daytime is like a dancer who hasn't removed her makeup yet, exuding a hangover-like exhaustion.
In the basement of an old office building, there is a small agency called "Starlight Talent".
It was called a firm, but it was really just an office of less than 30 square meters. The walls were covered with expired posters, featuring girls in cheap swimsuits giving stiff smiles to the camera. The corner was piled with clutter and a few empty wine bottles.
"I already said! Next week! I'll definitely pay you back next week!"
In the president's office, a bald, middle-aged man was gripping the phone, shouting in a hoarse voice.
"That horse was clearly the favorite to win...who knew it would fall! Give me a few more days, I'm in a serious relationship..."
"Bang!"
The office door was kicked open.
The middle-aged man was so startled that his hand trembled, and the microphone fell onto the table.
"Who?! A loan shark? I told you I have no money..."
He looked up, but froze.
Standing at the door was not a burly debt collector with a menacing face, but a fat man in a dark blue suit, sweating profusely.
Behind the fat man were two bodyguards dressed in black suits and wearing sunglasses (these were security personnel that Satsuki had specially lent to Itakura).
"You are... President Watanabe of Starlight Entertainment?"
Itakura glanced at the small note in his hand, trying to keep his voice from trembling. He remembered the words Satsuki had taught him before he left—be fierce, be ruthless, act like a nouveau riche who doesn't care about money.
"That's me." President Watanabe looked at the two bodyguards, swallowed hard, and asked, "What gang are you from?"
"We're here to deliver money."
Itakura desperately tried to recall how the young lady usually behaved. She walked into the office and slammed the heavy black leather suitcase she was carrying heavily onto the ash-covered desk.
"Click".
The latch popped open.
The silo lid was lifted.
Ten million yen.
One hundred neatly arranged Fukuzawa Yukichi sheets, bundled into ten bundles, lay quietly in the box.
In the dimly lit basement, the money shone brighter than any spotlight.
Watanabe's eyes widened.
He had never seen so much cash laid out in front of him in his entire life.
"This...this is..."
"Acquisition payment".
Itakura took out a contract and threw it on the pile of money.
"Ten million. We want to buy your agency. Including the license, existing artist contracts, and the lease on this run-down office."
"And of course, the chair you're sitting on right now."
Watanabe was stunned.
His agency was already insolvent, and the artists under his management were just underground idols who could only sing in front of supermarkets and were worthless.
"Once you sign, this ten million is yours."
Looking into Watanabe's greedy eyes, Itakura felt much less nervous, replaced by a sense of pleasure in controlling someone else's fate.
So this is what it feels like to be rich.
"I...I'll sign!"
Watanabe didn't hesitate at all. He grabbed the pen, his hand trembling as if he were shaking.
With this money, he could not only pay off his gambling debts but also enjoy a few days of carefree living in Ginza. As for the agency? That's something from some garbage dump; whoever wants it can have it.
"Swish swish swish".
The name is signed.
Watanabe pushed the contract over and reached for the suitcase with both hands.
"Snapped!"
Close the lid of the silo and press it down.
"Where's the seal?"
"Oh! Here! Here!"
Watanabe frantically rummaged through the drawer and pulled out the company seal, handing it respectfully to Itakura.
Itakura took the stamp and pushed the suitcase over.
"Get lost."
Watanabe, clutching his suitcase, didn't utter a single word, as if afraid Itakura would change his mind, and rushed out of the office as if fleeing.
The room fell silent.
Itakura looked at the dirty and messy office, and then at the unknown so-called "idols" on the wall.
He doesn't understand.
Why would a young lady spend ten million to buy such trash?
"Is the matter settled?"
A cold, clear voice came from the doorway.
Itakura quickly turned around and saw Satsuki standing in the shadows of the corridor. She was wearing a baseball cap pulled low and holding a cup of coffee she had just bought.
"It's done, Miss."
Itakura handed over the contract and seal.
"That Watanabe ran off with the money. I've also compiled the list of celebrities here; there are five in total, they're all here..."
Satsuki took the document, didn't even glance at it, and casually threw it into the nearby trash can.
"Huh? Young Miss?"
Itakura was dumbfounded.
"That cost ten million! Those celebrities..."
"Those are scrap."
Satsuki walked into the office and glanced disdainfully at the table covered in cigarette ash.
"I only wanted the 'operating license' shell when I bought this company. As for the people inside, keeping them is just a waste of their time."
"Terminate all contracts."
"All of them?!" Itakura felt her heart couldn't take it. "Then who do we sign? How can a shell company make money?"
Satsuki did not answer.
She took a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Itakura.
"This is the person we've been looking for."
Itakura took the note.
There were only a few lines of hastily written text above:
Location: Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, or a real estate company near the Shonan coast.
Target characteristics: Female, around 20 years old. Long hair, beautiful profile. Clear voice, somewhat like spring water.
Occupation: Could be a receptionist or a race queen.
"This is..." Itakura was completely bewildered. "How do I find this? It doesn't even have a name?"
"The name is not important."
Satsuki walked to the wall and instructed the security personnel to tear down a poster of a swimsuit idol. The wall plaster peeled off along with the poster, revealing the mottled cement behind it.
"The important thing is 'character'."
She turned around and looked at Itakura.
"Itakura, do you know what idols are these days?"
"Uh... Nakamori Akina? Matsuda Seiko?"
"They are 'commodities.' They are packaged, glittering stars that can only be looked up to."
Satsuki shook her head.
"But soon, people will get tired of the stars. Because the stars are too far away, too unreal."
"People are beginning to crave 'authenticity'."
"I long for that kind of voice, someone wearing jeans and a t-shirt, standing on the street, who can sing right into your heart. I long for that kind of person, like the girl next door, ordinary yet possessing a tenacious vitality."
She pointed to the note.
"Go find her."
"Cast a wide net. Go to every real estate agency in Hiratsuka City, and every racetrack in Shonan."
"You'll recognize her as soon as you hear that voice."
"That's a sound that can pierce through bubbles and strike the soul."
Itakura looked at the note in his hand. Although he still didn't quite understand it, he could hear the seriousness in Satsuki's tone.
"So... what happens after we find it?"
"Sign her."
Satsuki took a sip of coffee.
"No matter how much money is spent, no matter what means are used."
"Tell her we can make her sing. Not to please men, not to wear a swimsuit, just to sing."
"If she doesn't want to, tell her that there's a song called 'Don't Give Up' waiting for her in the future."
Itakura carefully tucked the note into his inner pocket.
Although he didn't know who the girl was or what the song was.
But he knew that anything the young lady set her sights on would eventually turn into gold.
"Understood. I'll take people to Kanagawa tomorrow."
"Um."
Satsuki glanced at the smoke-filled basement.
"Find a cleaner to tidy this up. It will serve as your contact point in Roppongi from now on."
"However, don't forget what I told you in Shinjuku."
"We don't make money from these scraps."
"We'll rely on that girl who's still selling houses in Kanagawa to win people's hearts."
Satsuki turned and walked outside.
"It's still a bit early, but let's be prepared... just make sure no one else signs it..."
Itakura followed behind and overheard Satsuki muttering to herself.
The sunlight outside was still blinding, and cicadas were chirping loudly in the trees.
But he suddenly realized that this summer was not just hot.
......
Note:
The historical prototype corresponding to this chapter:
The target we're looking for: Izumi Sakai (ZARD). Before her debut, she worked as a receptionist at a real estate company and also as a race queen. She was one of the most inspiring voices in Japan during the 90s, representing the courage that emerged after the bursting of the bubble economy.
SA Entertainment: The Saionji family's entertainment strategy is also a preparation for future money laundering and manipulation of public opinion.
A building in Shinjuku: a future pilot site for karaoke boxes and live houses.