At dusk, in Minato-ku, Tokyo, in front of the Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation headquarters.
A middle-aged security guard raised his head and looked at the sky in the distance. In the gaps between high-rise buildings, the sky was glowing red, and the places where the clouds overlapped were faintly dark and purple, which was quite magnificent.
But the clouds are so dark red, it might rain at night, right?
But for a security guard, rain is a good thing. On rainy days, there are fewer people and less things to do. He looked at it for a few times and then forgot about it. He walked back to the security room in front of the gate, picked up the cup and took a sip of hot tea.
He suddenly felt a little comfortable. Although he was just a small security guard, he was still very satisfied with his job.
At this time, being able to have a stable and formal job is a blessing that not many people can ask for.
Almost three years ago, in early 1992, the Japanese bubble economy, a term he had read in the newspapers, suddenly burst. Land and houses were worthless. Many companies went bankrupt inexplicably, and even banks closed.
In several stores, you have to queue up to go to the rooftop and jump off the building overnight, and the park is crowded with homeless people who look dull.
Now, although the number of homeless people has begun to decrease, the economy is still sluggish, and corporate layoffs have become a daily routine. It has become the so-called Great Depression, and it is very difficult to find a serious job.
The good times are over.
Before the bubble economy burst, there was a shortage of people everywhere. Many companies were vying to find a job. I even heard that some graduates from prestigious schools were tricked by big companies into staying in hot spring hotels as soon as they submitted their resumes. They had delicious food and drinks, and were coaxed.
I was deceived into signing a lifetime employment contract, for fear of being abducted by another company...
As for the formal employees of big trading companies and banks, I heard that it is even more comfortable. Even an ordinary employee can live a life of luxury and dissipation. He goes to public relations clubs every night, drinks as much champagne as he can, eats steaks until he vomits, and even
Neither of these will work:
Have you spent all your entertainment expenses this month? Have you properly connected with your customers?
Not spent? Waste! Are you motivated?
What? It doesn’t cost much to treat customers to drinks and Japanese food all the time? Are you keeping up with the trends of the times? Are you insulting your customers or your company?!
Go and re-invite immediately and show the courage of a first-class company in the world's largest economic power!
Damn it, these newcomers really have no enterprising spirit at all. How can they buy the United States like this?
…
This is almost a regular joke in newspapers. Although it is a bit exaggerated, at that time, if you drank too much at night and needed a taxi, you had to stand on the roadside with a 10,000-yen bill between your fingers and shake it vigorously, otherwise the taxi driver would not bother to pay attention to you.
For those who pay high prices, ordinary prices can no longer satisfy them.
It was such a crazy, dreamlike era, and looking back almost three years later, it was hard to find a job, as if everything that had happened before was fake, and Japan was suddenly teetering on the edge of destruction.
It was really like a firework that suddenly exploded into a dazzling brilliance, and then with a "wow" sound, only ashes remained...
Could it be that Japan’s potential was exhausted in that national carnival?
No, no, this is only temporary. The newspaper said that this situation will last until the beginning of next year at most, but now that it is the end of the year, I don’t feel that it has gotten better. What is going on?
The security guard thought about the past, and felt a little sigh in his heart. He was also a little confused. He was in his forties and had completely experienced the golden age of Japan's economic development and the happy era of expanding personal assets. Although he had never gone to college, he had no knowledge.
He is limited and does not understand why a good economy suddenly collapsed, but this does not prevent him from feeling regretful about what he has lost and feeling confused about the future.
Of course, the collapse of the bubble economy has basically not affected the TV station. He is still in a state of being better than the worst and more than the worst. Only then can he sigh in a leisurely manner. This is probably due to the sadness of the death of a rabbit and the empathy of others.
Many of my old friends are doing very poorly, and many of them can no longer hold on and have left Tokyo and gone directly back to their hometowns.
He was sitting in the security room at the gate, lost in thought, his eyes instinctively paying attention to the badges of people entering and exiting vehicles. Suddenly he saw a person without a badge walking towards the gate, and he quickly picked up his spirits. He didn't know how long this situation would last.
In the Great Depression environment at that time, you could not afford to lose your job, your family had to eat, and your children had to go to school. You absolutely could not make any mistakes.
But as soon as he stood up, he recognized the person. He breathed a sigh of relief and greeted directly from the window with a smile: "Qianhara-san, are you here again?"
He had met this person not long ago. His name was Rinto Chihara. He wanted to sneak into the TV station four or five days ago, but he happened to be stopped by the man on duty. But this person was very interesting. He was not embarrassed or angry, but he started chatting with him.
Originally, he didn't want to talk to this young man, but this man gave people a very special feeling.
He is twenty-two or thirteen years old, with slightly messy short hair, fair skin, handsome appearance, bright eyes, soft eyes, and a calm expression. He seems to have a good personality, but when he doesn't smile or speak, he is inexplicably annoying.
I feel that he has a hidden edge and should not be insulted lightly. It is best not to yell at him.
This was probably a natural temperament. The security guard couldn't tell for sure, but he certainly didn't get angry and chase him away at that time.
Over the next four or five days, this Chihara-san came around every day and basically became familiar with the security guard who was on duty in front of the door. He even invited guests twice at the izakaya and drank two small drinks. Everyone felt that he was a pretty good guy.
He is a nice person who speaks well and is very kind to others. He is also willing to talk about trivial matters in security work, and especially likes to listen to the gossip inside the TV station.
It's just that even if you're a nice person, you can't let him in. Tokyo Broadcasting System TEB is one of the four major commercial TV stations in Japan. It has two major program production bases, one of which is in the headquarters. There are about 478 studios, including many.
Most of the programs are live broadcast. If someone breaks in, it will be a broadcast accident, and no one can bear the responsibility.
After saying hello, the security guard saw Chihara Rinto walking over, and he quickly said something ugly, but he couldn't put on a sinister face, so he could only smile and say: "I still can't let you in today, Chihara-san, don't be offended.
"
He suspected that Chihara Rinto was chasing stars. Such people were not uncommon, but Chihara Rinto spoke and behaved very calmly and calmly. He did not seem like the kind of person who would be crazy about chasing stars.
A bit confusing.
Qianhara Rinto was stopped again, but he was not angry. He nodded and said hello to several other security guards, and then smiled and said: "I won't embarrass you, Maekawa-san, I just want to wait for someone here... Murakami
Is the lady off work?"
"Ms. Murakami? No, her show doesn't end until seven o'clock, and she usually can't come out until a quarter past seven." This is not a secret, and the security guard Kenichiro Maekawa didn't hide it, and asked enthusiastically: "Are you looking for her?
Do you want me to make an internal call and ask for you?"
He has never been able to figure out why Qianhara Rinto always comes here, and why he always likes to inquire about some internal gossips in TV stations. Now he is somewhat familiar with them. He thinks that they are not bad. He is obviously a cultural person but he does not look down on them.
These little security guards will help if they can.
But Qianyuan Rinto knew very well. He had gathered information from these security guards, made a plan, and was well prepared. It was time to go to the real master to ask for help. He was asking for help, not others begging him, so it was better not to disturb them.
It's better to work normally, but if you call and get rejected out of hand, that's not good.
He smiled and said, "No, Maekawa-san, I'll just wait at the door."
After confirming that the person he was looking for was not gone, he felt relieved and chatted with Maekawa for a few more times. Then he stood by the door and waited, thinking about what he would say later.
Hope everything goes well...
It’s really unlucky to travel to an era where it’s hard to even find a job. No wonder there are so many otakus in Japan who prey on the elderly. It turns out that the roots are here!