Chapter 491 Heisei
Just after the New Year on January 7, the longest-reigning emperor in history finally took away the era name Showa.
Instead, the word "Heisei" was written on a whiteboard held up by Chief Cabinet Secretary Keizo Obuchi.
Although Yu Ren passed away, to later generations it was just a simple sentence.
However, as the first king to step down from the altar, his departure had an immeasurable impact on Neon at that time.
First of all, on the morning of January 7, Shirakawa Kaede received a call and was informed of the news.
There was also a regulation from the cabinet that was conveyed to him.
From the 7th to the early morning of the 9th, all entertainment activities, TV programs, festival celebrations and other projects in Neon were suspended.
What does this mean? This means that all business activities in Lujiao Resort will be suspended for two days.
Regardless of how much damage such regulations would cause, Baichuan Feng had already hurriedly boarded a plane back to Tokyo.
Yuto's death is a big deal in Japan, and as a player in the game, Shirakawa Kaede must be present.
Just like Lujiao lost billions by closing its business for two days, this is a force majeure factor and everyone in the country must comply with it.
Moreover, closing business for two days is actually considered short, as the cabinet requires citizens to observe mourning for a week.
At this moment, all TV stations began broadcasting special memorial programs, with the exception of NHK's educational channel.
To be honest, Shirakawa Kaede really wants to turn on the TV to see if Tokyo TV is broadcasting cartoons.
After all, the death of the Emperor has nothing to do with the destruction of the world, so Tokyo TV should not make a fuss about it.
Of course, he could only ridicule it silently in his heart. After all, Japan was in a state of national solemnity right now.
According to his understanding, all annual college football games, football games, horse racing, sumo wrestling and other activities have been suspended because of this incident.
Activities such as artists' public performances, program advertisements, and business operations have also entered a dormant state.
Because there were no entertainment activities during the New Year and no TV programs to watch, many people had to go to video stores to rent movies.
Because there were so many people going there, the video stores here in Tokyo were once packed with people.
After arriving in Tokyo, Shirakawa Kaede heard an interesting story. Because they were dissatisfied with the TV station's repeated broadcast of the news of the emperor's death, thousands of people called NHK and asked to "watch programs other than the emperor."
It can be said that people’s lives have been greatly affected because of the cabinet’s grand funeral activities.
However, some people are dissatisfied, while others go to the other extreme because of Yuto's departure.
It is rumored that as the news of Licking Emperor's death spread, many people actually died for him.
Most of these people are middle-aged and elderly people, and they are also extremely stubborn conservatives.
Baichuan Feng just laughed at the news and ignored it. These feudal scums did not deserve any sympathy.
The first thing Shirakawa Kaede did after returning to Tokyo was to order business adjustments to all companies under Shirakawa Holdings.
All previously arranged New Year promotions and advertisements will be cancelled.
All of these are part of the regulations during the funeral period and all major companies must comply with them.
Although Shirakawa Kaede knew that Yuto would not live long, he would most likely die in early 1989.
But he didn't know the exact time, so many activities were arranged normally before.
Although it has to be withdrawn now, the loss is not that great.
The most fortunate thing is that Subaru’s advertisement was aired ahead of time. If it was released this month as originally planned, the popularity would have been reduced by half.
In fact, the inconvenience caused to people by the critical illness of the Licking Emperor started last year, and it may have even lasted longer.
In official terms, "The emperor's appearance has changed dramatically, and the people need to be cautious and self-disciplined."
The so-called self-restraint means stopping, canceling or postponing competitions, events, festivals, reducing entertainment programs, etc.
Because the entire society is involved, self-discipline is bound to be excessive, which also causes great inconvenience to people's lives.
For example, when Licking Emperor vomited blood last September, every day’s newspapers reported on Yuto’s health condition.
His temperature, pulse, and blood pressure were plotted on a chart and published daily, just like the weather forecast.
Television stations will also intersperse news broadcasts in regular programs, just like earthquake reports.
In addition to these, the consumption tax promulgated last year was also suspended and its introduction was halted because of this incident.
As for the entertainment industry, the impact is even greater. The wedding ceremonies and revealing banquets of entertainers have been postponed.
Yoshimoto Kogyo has canceled 87 performances since the self-imposed abolition.
Sporting events, activities, celebrations, shrine festivals, school athletic meets, business events, etc. have all been postponed or cancelled.
Even at the end of the year, many people were doubting whether this year's red and white ceremonies could be held as scheduled.
The music in stores on Christmas Day no longer plays the cheerful melody of "Jingle Bells".
There are even more taboos to be avoided in advertisements broadcast on TV. Words such as "congratulations", "birthday", and "congratulations" are not allowed to appear.
At that time, Nissan was forced to stop broadcasting because its advertisement contained words such as "great joy" and "success".
This was the so-called self-restraint when the emperor was critically ill. It is no exaggeration to say that it almost brought the entire Japanese society to a standstill for a period of time.
This also shows how great the feudal influence of Japan is. Despite the seemingly civilized appearance, the interior is still corrupt and outdated.
Now that Yuto is finally dead, although no one says it, they are actually relieved in their hearts.
After all, it is too tiring to practice self-discipline all the time, and it also brings great inconvenience to people's lives.
Now it is easier to just kick my legs. According to the announcement, basic life will be restored in two days.
After the burial at the end of next month, he will be fully recovered.
Once you are buried in the ground, who will remember who you are? The earth will continue to rotate without you.
So even though life is a bit hard now, it will pass if we just bear with it.
From the beginning of January to the end of February, Shirakawa Feng, as a member of the class, also participated in various sacrificial activities.
The coffin was placed on the 8th, the imperial mausoleum was built on the 17th, the coffin was moved on the 19th, and the ceremony was held on the 21st.
On February 21, envoys from various countries came to pay their respects. On the 23rd, the imperial mausoleum was completed. On the 24th, it was rainy and the body was buried.
When the motorcade passed through Sakurada Gate, two young men rushed into the motorcade and shouted: "Oppose licking the imperial system!!"
Although they were quickly subdued by the police, Baichuan Feng still secretly praised the "warriors" in his heart, saying that they had the potential to become the male gunner of the Japanese server.
The interesting thing doesn’t end here. As the captain of the United States, Old Bull also attended the funeral.
After he finished his condolences, an American reporter asked him.
"When you paid silent tribute to the coffin of Hiroto Tinghuang, as an American pilot who had escaped death from the attack of the Japanese soldiers, what were your feelings at that time?"
Old Bull replied, "It would be a lie if I said I didn't think about my comrades who died with the plane."
It is not known whether what Bush said is true or false, but never underestimate the filthiness of politicians.
After all the guests had paid their respects, the funeral of the Emperor came to an end.
In the afternoon, with the official burial of the coffin, the funeral ceremony that lasted for more than a month finally came to an end.
It wasn't just Shirakawa Feng who breathed a sigh of relief; all the people of Japan felt a little relieved.
To be honest, the existence or non-existence of the Licking Emperor does not actually affect their lives, so everyone is annoyed by the occasional self-restraint before.
Now that the Licking Emperor has finally left, the carnival can continue.
What carnival? A carnival from the neon golden age, of course.
Speaking of the bubble era, which year had the craziest neon lights?
The answer is now, in 1989, the last year before the bubble.
If God wants to destroy someone, he will make him mad. This sentence is the most true portrayal of Neon in 1989.
Just after the funeral of the Licking Emperor, a piece of news came from overseas in March that caused a collective climax in the Japanese media.
It is reported that Ryohei Saito, the president of Daishowa Paper Industry Co., Ltd., purchased two paintings by Renoir and Van Gogh for US$160 million at Christie's auction house in London, Britain, at the beginning of this month.
Among them, Renoir's painting was worth 78.1 million US dollars, and Van Gogh's posthumous work "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" was worth 82.5 million US dollars, which set the highest price in the history of oil painting transactions at that time.
Two years ago, Van Gogh's famous work "Sunflowers" was also bought by Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance Company from Japan for US$39 million.
Did you notice the two words "Yasuda"? Yes, it is a member of the Yasuda family in the Fuji Group.
An insurance company spent a fortune on art? Yasuda explained that it was to celebrate the company's 100th anniversary.
They plan to ship "Sunflowers" back to Japan, have it toured and eventually be displayed at the Togo Seiji Art Museum on the 42nd floor of the company's headquarters building.
Baichuan Feng was speechless for a moment at this reason .
In fact, it just wants to spend money. There is no celebration at all. It is just an excuse.
At that time, this transaction by Yasuda Insurance attracted the attention of media around the world, after all, it was the highest record for the auction of Van Gogh's works.
However, Yasuda's complacency did not last long, and now the limelight has been replaced by a little-known papermaking company.
The single work was sold for $82.5 million, more than double the previous record. The key painting was also created by the same person, which was simply not worth the money.
There is no doubt that this move by Daishowa Paper Industry has once again attracted widespread coverage from the world's media.
The West said he distorted the international art market, while Japan interviewed him like a hero.
But no matter what, Daishowa Paper Industry has made a name for itself. It was originally unknown, but it has begun to gain some fame internationally.
Stimulated by Yasuda and Daishowa Paper, professional institutions such as art galleries in Japan were also overwhelmed.
These art galleries launched an unprecedented "major change" and began to spend huge sums of money to purchase large quantities of Western art.
In addition, banks in Japan have also begun to vigorously encourage customers to take out loans to purchase art.
Major banks have been promoting Western art as an excellent collectible that will appreciate in value.
With their success, many Japanese companies and businessmen also began to spend a lot of money to buy paintings.
Under such information bombardment, even Fujitsu's Michiyoshi Mazuka felt itchy.
When he called Shirakawa to discuss this, Shirakawa asked him if he liked art.
As a result, Mazuka Michiyoshi replied that it was not the case. He just wanted to buy two paintings and wait for them to appreciate in value in the future.
After all, facing the booming art market, the investment mentality and speculative energy are indeed hard to resist.
This means that Michiyoshi Mazuka really wanted to buy these high-priced artworks for investment purposes.
At the suggestion of Shirakawa Kaede to wait and see, the hot-headed Mazuka Michiyoshi gave up his intention to enter the art market.
What a joke, you don’t understand art, why would you buy those paintings?
All the magical things made Shirakawa Feng dazzled. At the same time, he had already obtained the sales data of Subaru's Legacy in the first three months of its launch.
