Chapter 420 Family Inheritance
The reason why Shirakawa Feng held this traditional birthday ceremony for Xiao Qingkong and the others was not only for celebration, but also for another meaning.
The guests at the banquet were informing all levels of local society that he, Baichuan Feng, acknowledged that the children were the direct descendants of the Baichuan family.
Especially as the eldest son, Shirakawa Haruzora, his identity is more symbolic.
After this birthday party, at least the locals in Akita will recognize the legitimacy of Shirakawa Haruka in a certain identity.
The glass of wine drunk by many executives of Shirakawa Holdings is more than just a symbolic meaning.
Although Japan’s “family” culture was also formed under the influence of Confucianism and Buddhism, it is somewhat different from China’s “family” culture.
Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan has absorbed a large amount of Western civilization and formed a new modern governance system.
This system has remained unchanged for a long time, allowing Neon to maintain a very stable social structure until now.
It has both a traditional and conservative side and a modern and civilized and open side.
The "one dynasty for all eternity" system of licking the emperor is still passed down from generation to generation, while people's thinking has changed to a more open level to varying degrees.
However, this change has not shaken the perception of "family" culture, and the strong will to keep the family business going has become a social consensus.
In the "family" culture, the survival and inheritance of "family" is very important.
As a family business that is an extension and expansion of the "family", its survival and business inheritance are also placed in a very important position.
At the same time, the class solidification created by Neon’s closed environment also provides an important breeding ground for the survival of family businesses.
In later generations, we often see some sushi restaurants that have been open for dozens or even hundreds of years, with the owners passing down the business from their grandfathers to their grandchildren.
If you talk to them about these topics, you may even be surprised to find that as modern young people they are not averse to inheriting their ancestors' business.
In the eyes of the Japanese, it is natural for sons to inherit their father's business and pass it on from generation to generation.
The spiritual conservatism and law-abiding character of ordinary people may even make them regard their ancestral heritage as the only noble cause.
It is also because of these reasons that Neon’s family businesses have been passed down for dozens or even hundreds of years.
Similarly, Shirakawa Holdings can be considered a family business.
It is not without reason that the media calls it the "Shirakawa Zaibatsu".
Whether it is the general public, other chaebols, or even Shirakawa Kaede himself, they all acknowledge this statement.
As mentioned before, this is a social consensus in Neon.
If Baichuan Feng wants his family business to be passed down for a long time, he also needs to abide by certain ancient traditions.
But Shirakawa Holdings is different from a sushi restaurant. It cannot be simply handed over to one's son and everything will be fine.
The inheritance of a family business, especially a large-scale family business, is actually a cold and heartless thing.
Just look at the inheritance system of traditional chaebols and you will know that there are countless methods such as adopting sons, marrying sons-in-law, etc.
All goals are set up for the purpose of family inheritance. Blood ties and the happiness of children are all things that can be sacrificed.
Of course, this measure is only taken when the eldest son is incompetent.
Otherwise, it is a common consensus among Japanese people that the eldest son inherits the family business.
Just like what Yamori Hiroshi sang in the song "I'm Crying", it has become a luxury for the protagonist to go to Tokyo to work hard with his girlfriend.
Because as the eldest son in the family, he needed to stay in the countryside to inherit his parents' land and then be a farmer for life.
People may feel sympathy when hearing such a story, but they also think that it is natural.
This is the case with the eldest son. While he has inheritance rights, he also has his own obligations.
Although Xiao Qingkong is still young, legally speaking he is the eldest son of the Shirakawa family.
As long as he grows step by step in the future, he will be the first-line successor after Baichuan Feng.
This is the consensus of society and the consensus of everyone under Baichuan Holdings. Baichuan Feng also needs to respect everyone's ideas.
Of course, things are not absolute. If the eldest son is unable to handle the responsibility in the future, he can also re-designate the heir.
For example, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi of Seibu Group was born to a concubine, but because of his outstanding ability, he was designated by his father as the heir to the family.
However, this did not prevent Baichuan Feng from holding a formal birthday ceremony for Xiao Qingkong.
Because with the support of modern elite education, the growth of the next generation is inherently much superior to that of most ordinary people.
The offspring raised in such an environment can be said to be far superior to ordinary people in terms of insight, ability, and knowledge.
So to some extent, the next generation of heirs of the Shirakawa family is already clear.
In addition, the reason why Neon’s “home” culture is said to have a cold connotation.
It is also extremely ruthless and cruel in the inheritance system between biological children.
Unlike the Chinese system of equal division among brothers, Neon adopts the "single son inheritance system".
The so-called single-son inheritance system means that the family business will only be passed on to one member of the descendants, and the other members will be "kicked out."
This approach may seem ruthless, but the purpose of doing so is, firstly, to prevent internal strife, and secondly, to avoid the weakening of family strength due to division.
The equal division of property often leads to the inability to expand the scale of business activities, and small businesses will be squeezed out and acquired in the competition.
The news of the Aomen gambling king's children fighting over the family property is still vivid in our memory. There has also been a property battle within the Samsung family.
Its excitement is no less than that of some palace dramas, but the final result is basically that all parties end up with scars.
There is no doubt that this is not conducive to the continuation and expansion of family businesses, and to some extent will weaken each other's strength.
But this rarely happens in Neon, and the root cause lies in the "monochromatic inheritance system".
Under normal circumstances, the eldest son bears this responsibility, while the second son and others are not considered.
When the eldest son's inheritance is likely to endanger the family's interests, the father may propose to sever the father-son relationship and expel him from the family, and have the second son or other sons inherit instead.
Although the Japanese law has clearly abolished the system of primogeniture.
However, many families still adopt this practice in order to ensure the long-term competitiveness of their companies.
Especially the traditional chaebols, they have a tacit understanding on this point.
So what will Shirakawa Kaede do? Will he still implement the "single son inheritance system"?
To some extent, this is true, but not entirely.
After all, although the monogamous inheritance system is ruthless, its advantages are also very obvious.
First, clarify the property rights. When the property rights of a family business are clarified, there will be no disputes and less harm!
Second, it is individualistic. The property rights of family businesses are individualized. The concentration of power in the hands of one person is more conducive to the implementation of decisions and avoids meaningless disagreements.
Third, wealth growth is incremental. Compared with most Chinese family businesses where the property is divided equally among the sons, the single-son inheritance system avoids the division of property rights, is conducive to the expansion of the scope of property rights, and lays the foundation for the development of corporate property rights.
Of course, risks and benefits coexist. Once something goes wrong with the family heir, the impact on the family business will be very obvious.
Therefore, the selection of successors is done with great care, and when problems arise, the successor is abolished without mercy.
It has to be said that it is this cold and ruthless inheritance system that has enabled a large number of family businesses in Japan to continue for hundreds of years.
But Baichuan Feng is from China after all, and he always has the warmth of a father when it comes to his children.
He wanted the Shirakawa family to continue to grow and prosper, and he also wanted his children to be able to display their strengths in their own world instead of having their talents destroyed like vassals or victims.
So what should he do? Shirakawa decided to "separate the business" to a certain extent.
The existing Shirakawa Holdings will still be inherited by Qingkong in the future, but Shirakawa Feng will also vigorously support the career development of other children without damaging Shirakawa Holdings.
For example, if Yokohisa, born to Keiko Matsusaka, has any ideas in the future, Shirakawa Kaede doesn't mind sending him out to set up his own company.
He will also provide certain help in terms of resources, but as for how far it can develop in the end, it depends on each person's luck.
However, the family is not allowed to compete with the same industry. Separate business development is the long-term strategy.
Of course, it's still early, and Baichuan Feng is still young. In the future, he will have enough energy to educate his children.
However, due to the traditions of Japan, he had to make some things clear in advance.
Shirakawa Kaede did not stay in Akita for long. After his child's first birthday, he took a look around his property and returned to Tokyo .
After all, it is the center of neon, and the stage here is better than most cities in the world.
After returning to Tokyo, Shirakawa Kaede put other things aside and discussed something with the leaders of Shirakawa Electric, HAL and SIC.
That is the possibility of establishing a communications operator.
In today's era, Neon's communications sector is still a government-monopolized industry, and the Neon Telephone and Telecommunications Commune is a product of this monopoly.
It exists as a peripheral group of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and its establishment funds are entirely provided by government agencies. It can be regarded as a national public institution with a legitimate origin.
But just recently, Shirakawa Kaede heard some inside information that the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications was discussing the possibility of liberalization and privatization of communications.
The news came from a senior executive of the Telephone and Telecommunications Corporation. He and Shirakawa Kaede had a personal relationship and had communicated with each other before at the Kasumi Hall and the Royal Court.
After probing the situation a little, Baichuan Feng's mind immediately became active.
According to internal sources, the preliminary review has been passed, and if nothing unexpected happens, the liberalization and privatization of communications is almost certain.
In this case, there is no need to hesitate. Of course, it is better to strike first.
It just so happens that Shirakawa Electric is developing its own pager. Isn't this the opportunity?
If you just make pagers, you will only make money from selling products.
But if telecommunications operators are included, this profit will be magnified many times in the future.
After internal discussion, everyone felt that communications was a blue ocean industry with great potential for the future.
The "Draft Telecommunications Business Law" released by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in November gave Shirakawa Kaede a shot in the arm.
In principle, private companies are allowed to enter the electrical communications industry, but the prerequisite is subject to review, and in the coming period they will only be operated on a trial basis to see social feedback.
However, this did not pose a problem for Shirakawa Kaede. Soon, a company called Japan Unicom Communications Co., Ltd., abbreviated as NUCT, was established under Shirakawa Holdings.
It’s not that Shirakawa Kaede didn’t want to think of Telecom Communications or Mobile Communications, which are more recognizable names.
It was because when he submitted the name of Nippon Telecom, it was rejected.
The reason is that the name has a high degree of overlap with Nippon Telecommunications, so it was not adopted.
Later, Shirakawa Kaede had to settle for the second best option and submitted the name of Japan Mobile Communications.
However, it was still rejected. The reason this time was that the name had already been registered by someone else.
Shirakawa Kaede checked and found out that TWJ, Toyota Motor, Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power jointly invested to establish Japan Mobile Communications, abbreviated as KDDI.
Damn, it turns out that everyone is the uncle's party and has been waiting here in advance.
As expected, communications is a hot business and anyone with some ability wants to get involved.
There was no choice but for Shirakawa Holdings, which was a step late, to take the name "Japan Unicom".
