Chapter 258: Academic Tyrants
"Okay, since Mr. Nagata has personally invited me, I will definitely be there to meet with you seniors."
"Then I look forward to seeing you, Mr. Shirakawa."
After hanging up the phone, Baichuan Feng crossed his arms and began to think carefully about this unexpected call.
Nagata is the chairman of Keio Group. Keio and Shirakawa Electric have been cooperating for a long time and the cooperation is becoming increasingly close.
Of course, Baichuan Feng would not refuse the industry exchange meeting that he personally invited him to attend.
But this gathering was a little special, especially the people who attended it.
Meiji, are we finally seeing the tip of your iceberg?
…
A week later, a black Toyota Century stopped in front of a villa in the central district.
Shirakawa Feng, dressed in a suit and tie, got out of the car and quietly looked at the unique courtyard in front of him.
The layout style of flowers, plants and green plants is very much in line with the wabi-sabi aesthetics of traditional Japanese courtyards.
However, the interior architecture has many modern and open designs based on tradition.
It loses the mystery of ancient times, but has more modern brightness and openness.
"Shirakawa-san, long time no see." Nagata Makoto, also dressed in formal attire, stood at the door to greet him personally.
"You are too polite, Nagata-san. As a senior, you are making Shirakawa feel uneasy."
Nagata Masaru is not only the chairman of the Keio Group, he is also a senior of Shirakawa Kaede in the same school.
If their relationship was closer, perhaps Baichuan Feng could call him senior brother.
"Today we are only talking about business, not seniority."
Nagata shook his hand vigorously, then raised his arm and gestured behind him, "All colleagues are here, please come in, Mr. Shirakawa!"
"Please!" Shirakawa Kaede and Nagata Masashi walked hand in hand towards the tall building in the middle of the courtyard.
The first thing that catches your eye when you enter is the spacious and bright hall with a long table in the middle.
At this moment, there were nearly twenty guests sitting on both sides of the long table.
They were of different ages and appearances, but they were all wearing formal attire.
Shirakawa Kaede and Nagata Masaru had just entered the room, and everyone who was discussing stopped talking and looked over here.
"Pa pa" Nagata clapped his hands twice to attract everyone's attention. "Everyone, let us welcome Shirakawa Kaede to join this Meiji Alumni Exchange Meeting!"
Clap, clap, clap~ As soon as Nagata Masaru finished speaking, there was warm applause from the audience.
We have all heard of this younger but more talented junior fellow student, and meeting him today just satisfies some of our curiosity.
That’s right, Shirakawa Kaede was attending an exchange meeting privately organized by Meiji alumni today.
All the participants were graduates of Meiji University and were also engaged in business.
Everyone gets together to exchange ideas in the industry and share what they have.
The reason why Shirakawa Kaede accepted Nagata Masaru's invitation was because all the participants were from the industry.
If you count carefully, you will definitely find colleagues who have intersections with your industry.
These are resources, these are connections.
When the applause died down, Baichuan Feng also bowed.
"I am Shirakawa Kaede, a junior who entered Meiji University in 1978, majoring in business administration. I am now the president of Shirakawa Electric and the chairman of Shirakawa Holdings. I would like to ask for your guidance."
There is no doubt that Baichuan Feng is the youngest here, because everyone else has graduated and he is the only student still in school.
However, despite this, no one ignored him. When Baichuan Feng saluted them, they all politely returned the salute.
It is indeed an alumni gathering, but the capital behind each other is the only criterion for measuring strength.
"Mr. Shirakawa, please!" After everyone greeted each other, Nagata gestured to Shirakawa Kaede to sit in the first few seats at the top.
Seeing the empty seat, Baichuan Feng's expression changed.
He glanced around and saw that everyone at the table had no problem with it. So he bowed again and then sat down in the vacant seat.
"Shirakawa-san, let me introduce you to my colleagues."
As soon as Shirakawa Feng sat down, Nagata Masaru, who was sitting at the top, raised his hand and gestured to another middle-aged man next to him.
"Kazuo Ogawa, Chairman of Tokyu Group. His businesses include transportation, real estate, retail, and hotel and resort services."
Tokyu Group is a behemoth with a total market value of over 2 trillion yen.
In addition to those introduced by Masaru Nagata, Tokyu is also involved in food processing, tourism shopping, engineering construction, etc.
This is a veritable giant conglomerate that spans multiple fields and has influence throughout Neon.
Shirakawa Kaede politely bowed to Ogawa Kazuo, who also nodded with a smile.
"Hiroto Takei" At this time, Nagata Masaru began to introduce another middle-aged man next to him, who was over fifty years old.
“Founder of Takei Bussan, Tokuma Shoten, Chichi Publishing, and Osaka and Chubu Yomiuri Shimbun.”
Well, here comes another big shot. Real estate, hotels, golf courses, and so many other assets under his name.
At the same time, it has a huge influence in the media publishing industry, but most of its industries are located in Kansai.
Still the same, Baichuan Feng saluted humbly .
"Kitano Takanobu, Chairman of Stanley Electric. Auto parts supplier, electronic components supplier."
Baichuan Feng's expression changed. This was somewhat related to his Baichuan Electric.
"Takagi Sadanami, President of Morinaga Confectionery. Production and sales of food and dairy products."
"Takasaki Hideo, President of Nitto Electric. A raw material processor that mainly provides intermediate materials to the electronics, automobile, and pharmaceutical industries."
…
"As for me, I'm Tadashi Nagata, the chairman of Keio Group. The business I run is roughly similar to Tokyu."
At the end, Nagata Masatsugu briefly introduced himself.
However, although his introduction was simple, Shirakawa Kaede knew that Keio Group was a giant comparable to Tokyu.
Its business scope is even wider than Tokyu, but the two companies have a close relationship, and their combined power is even more astonishing.
It took Nagata Masaru more than half an hour just to give the introduction.
These people sitting here may seem insignificant, but each of them is either a group chairman or the president of a large company.
From real estate to industrial manufacturing, to news publishing, to food processing, everything is available.
After the introduction, Nagata Masaru did not immediately announce the theme of the party.
Instead, he straightened his collar, rolled down his cuffs, and sat up straight.
Many seniors in the industry also had solemn expressions and stood up straight.
Infected by the atmosphere, Baichuan Feng also unconsciously looked serious.
"Shirakawa-san, have you ever heard of the academic clique?"
The first words that Nagata said instantly made Shirakawa Feng concentrate.
Academic cliques are a powerful organization with an even longer history.
Ordinary people can hardly feel its existence, but it affects the lives of the general public all the time.
Only when you stand at a certain height can you notice its elusive figure.
Hearing Nagata Masaru's question, Shirakawa Kaede first nodded, then shook his head.
As for the academic cliques, the only influence he felt now was the one coming from the Meiji University level.
For example, his own Shirakawa Electric has been supported by it, competing with Sony's Walkman and AutoNavi's handheld game consoles.
He clearly felt the support from the legal community.
At the same time, when Shirakawa Electric was in its early stages, students who graduated from Meiji also gave him strong support.
This is Baichuan Feng's most obvious feeling about the so-called academic cliques, but to say that he truly understands it.
Baichuan Feng is still far from it, and at this moment he only has a vague understanding at best.
Therefore, he only knew the basics of Nagata Masaru's problem.
Nagata Masaru was not surprised by Shirakawa Kaede's reaction. He withdrew his gaze with a serious look.
"The history of academic cliques is too long. So long that it is closely related to the establishment of various ruling dynasties.
Let us think about it from a different perspective.
Shirakawa-san, what do you think is ruling Neon behind the scenes?"
Baichuan Feng, who was cueed, took a deep breath. Is it necessary to talk about such a big thing right at the beginning?
Seeing Nagata's meaningful gaze and the serious faces of the people sitting below, Shirakawa Feng felt waves of shivers on his skin.
"Politicians, bureaucrats and academic elites."
Nagata Masaru answered the question without waiting for Shirakawa Kaede to speak.
“I won’t talk about politicians and bureaucrats here, so let’s talk about the academic cliques.
Where does the political mutual trust among officials, bureaucrats, businessmen and scholars come from under Japan's complex system and bureaucracy?
The so-called "academics" are academic leaders who are responsible for providing theoretical policy support to relevant departments with related interests.
The integration of officials, bureaucrats, businessmen and scholars can achieve political mutual trust through the intricate "alumni relations" and ultimately form a political, economic and academic system in which everyone can work together.
This is the academic clique, and this is also the greatest significance of its existence.
Take the University of Tokyo as an example, it has a huge influence in the political world.
The company’s current status is not achieved simply because one of its alumni holds an important position.
The most important thing is the alumni organization that supports each other. Only the mutual efforts of many alumni can form tremendous energy.
The alumni organization of the University of Tokyo in the political world is called the Akamon Clan.
Baichuan Feng's face was calm, but his heart was surging inside, and the veil of the world was lifted a little bit again.
"The Chimen Clan's influence mainly extends to senior bureaucrats, academia, politics, the legal community, and the financial community.
The Tiemen clan also graduated from the University of Tokyo, but their main influence is in the medical field.
So besides the University of Tokyo, do other universities have their own academic cliques?"
Although Nagata Masaru did not answer immediately, Shirakawa Kaede had already read the answer from his eyes.
"Keio University: The Mita clan, whose alumni are spread across the accounting, legal, political and financial sectors, is one of the oldest academic clans in Japan.
The Consulting Club is a social club composed of industrialists who graduated from Keio University.
The Three or Four factions were organized by graduates of the Keio University Medical School, and their influence is concentrated in the medical field.
Waseda University, the Inado clan. Publishing, media, politics, and law.
Hitotsubashi University is like the Rusui clan. Kobe University is like the Ryosho clan. Their influence is concentrated in the financial world.
Japanese universities, Sakura clan. Politics, business, and film circles.
Central University, Baimen Clan, political and legal circles. And the Mingqi Clan, which is an alliance of several normal universities, has a great influence in the education sector. "
Every time Nagata Masaru said a name, Shirakawa Kaede's heart sank a little.
The world is too big and there are too many hidden things.
"Then," Nagata Masaru turned his gaze to Shirakawa Kaede again, "Does Meiji University have its own academic clique?"
Baichuan Feng's body gradually tensed up and his breathing became slightly rapid.
