Chapter 115: Turbulence in the Shadows

When Takeda Takanao heard the terms, he immediately frowned.

“But, President, this is an exclusive agency agreement for fifteen million boxes a year! With audio cassettes and the new factory’s video tapes combined, the annual procurement volume would exceed two billion yen!”

“Didn’t they previously complain that our remaining production capacity was too small and refuse to cooperate?” Takeda Takanao instinctively sensed that something was wrong. “Handing the entire market over to a single company is unacceptable! Why would Yuwa propose such a condition?”

“Because they are competitors of Henghe Trading! Once they realized that sufficient funding would allow us to get the new factory running smoothly and bring about a qualitative increase in production capacity, they began taking us seriously. President, I think we should give it a try. What time is it already? The end of the month is almost here. If the new factory cannot pay its workers on time and they all resign, then even with raw materials, we still won’t be able to produce anything!”

Takeda Takanao felt a headache coming on.

Yet the thought of placing all their products under the exclusive agency of a single company made him instinctively unwilling to agree.

“Let me think about it. Just let me think for a moment… Where is Shuta? Go and get him.”

After Kazuo Tanimura found Shuta Kimura and brought him back, the first thing he said was, “Shuta says the remaining raw materials can only support twelve more days of production at most! We are racing against every second now, President. How about I go to Henghe first? They know our situation very well. We can deliver the goods we have now and try to obtain their understanding regarding the remainder, so that they will waive the penalty for breach of contract.”

“How could that possibly work?” Takeda Takanao was torn. “They would have to scramble to find another supplier to make up the shortfall, which would cost them additional money. If we propose delivering only part of the order, they will certainly deduct a substantial penalty from the remaining payment. And that is without even mentioning cancellation of the contract. Even if you prostrated yourself before them and begged for forgiveness with complete sincerity, no one would assume that responsibility for your sake merely because of the money involved!”

“But this is the only way we can receive the ten-percent deposit and ease our immediate difficulties. Two hundred million yen would at least allow us to keep production going. We need the appearance of prosperity created by this new order to secure the next loan before the end of May. Time is not on our side, President!”

“I know all that! I know!” Takeda Takanao raised his voice under the pressure of Tanimura’s forceful argument. Then he turned to Shuta Kimura. “What do you think?”

“…I only understand production management.” Kimura looked at the two men and, after a long silence, managed to squeeze out that one sentence.

“Wait. Let’s wait until Goro returns and hear what new statement the bank has today!”

…

“Yuwa really is after Takeda Manufacturing!” Upon hearing the news, Kinoshita Hidekaze slapped the table and rose to his feet.

“It is still too early to say what this means.” The thin, middle-aged man sitting on the sofa remained impassive. “Takeda Manufacturing’s marketing director has been running himself ragged lately. They had already approached Yuwa Trading to seek cooperation back in the year before last. Who can blame Yuwa for having such a channel of contact with Takeda Manufacturing?”

“Before today’s contact, did Yuwa Trading ever take the initiative to approach Kazuo Tanimura?”

“Aren’t your people watching them closely? You know everywhere the senior executives of Takeda Manufacturing have gone and everyone they have met, don’t you?”

“The Inagawa-kai isn’t omnipotent!” Kinoshita Hidekaze did not bother to conceal anything before the middle-aged man. “Director Anzai, even through a telescope, all we can see is which restaurant he enters, and we can only start watching once he has gone in. If someone is already waiting inside, in a private room we cannot see into, how could I possibly know everyone he has met?”

“That is not the point!”

Zen'ei Anzai of Sumitomo said, “The point now is whether Mitsubishi knows what Yuwa is doing—and, if it does, how it will respond.”

“…Indeed.” Kinoshita Hidekaze calmed somewhat. “We have long suspected that Yuwa, as a newly ascendant conglomerate, might have designs on this round of national railway privatization and restructuring, and that it might have allies. Perhaps this matter will reveal something.”

“Is there any way to install a listening device in Takeda Takanao’s office?”

“Impossible!” Kinoshita Hidekaze shook his head. “They have been repeatedly refused loans, while many companies are preparing to acquire them. If I were in his position, I would be both troubled and suspicious in such a difficult environment. I am afraid Takeda Takanao himself is already getting closer and closer to the truth. He is a president loved by his employees, and the key figures in his company are fiercely loyal. In my opinion, we should have acquired them directly at a high price from the beginning. Why wait until the dispute over the Shiodome land became the bargaining chip that could determine the outcome before becoming as constrained as we are now?”

“Hidekaze! You have never reached that level, so you do not understand. Things are not as simple as you imagine. Do you really think the loans Mitsubishi extended to him were merely intended to support his investment in the new factory?” Anzai Zen'ei’s words carried a deeper meaning.

Kinoshita Hidekaze stared blankly for a moment. “You mean… this land had already attracted attention three years ago?”

“National Rail’s debts did not begin last year! Even the reason you were able to acquire this land so smoothly was that we cleared away a great many obstacles for you, was it not?”

Kinoshita Hidekaze remained silent for a long while. “But we are too passive now. Why did we not establish some connection earlier, so that we could influence Takeda Manufacturing now? Relying solely on acquisition negotiations, I am afraid…”

“How could there have been no connection?” Anzai Zen'ei said leisurely. “Why do you think the core raw material Takeda Manufacturing needs—magnetic powder—has suddenly been repriced upward on the grounds of a shortage, with payment demanded in full and in advance?”

At Anzai’s words, understanding dawned on Kinoshita Hidekaze. “…So we have a card in our hands as well.”

Anzai Zen'ei stood and said, “I came here today to tell you this and ask you to make some preparations. Before the end of May, before Takeda Manufacturing has to resolve the pressure of repaying Mitsubishi’s loan, this matter will already have entered its most heated phase. We must prepare both the funds visible on the surface and the forces operating in the shadows.”

“I understand.” Facing the director of the enormous conglomerate, Kinoshita Hidekaze wore an expression of deep respect. “Now that you have allowed me to participate in this matter, I will do everything in my power!”

“Rest assured. Once the Shiodome matter is settled, whether the land belongs to us or is handed over to the liquidation committee, your property will appreciate greatly. At that point, it will be developed by Sumitomo Realty. You will receive a substantial sum of cash and also become a director of Sumitomo Realty. Whether I can become an executive director will depend on the success or failure of this affair as well. I will not let you suffer.”

“Yes!”

After seeing Anzai Zen'ei off, Kinoshita Hidekaze returned to his office, where a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

But the smile quickly vanished.

Even though he would then be able to claim that he had secretly secured the land, he would still have been directly competing with Sumitomo’s efforts.

Once he had obtained it, the matter should not be too difficult so long as they could agree on a price.

Of course, that depended on whether he could obtain it at all.

For the moment, Sumitomo had restrained him from taking action. All he could do was mobilize the faction within the Inagawa-kai that leaned toward the second-generation leader to provide assistance from the sidelines, and offer Sumitomo financial support once victory was assured.

If he wanted to keep this card in his own hand, everything depended on Tao Dalang.

After all, the land in Most-Supreme Paradise Town was the foundation of Kinoshita Hidekaze’s power.

He made a phone call to Tao Zhiming.

“Yuwa may indeed have ulterior motives. Takeda Manufacturing has been in contact with them!”

…