“Kasumigaka-san, let’s talk what will you do first after you have become the Chief-Editor of this newspaper?” Haru asked.
Kasumigaka Eichi looked at Haru for a while and knew that it was his time to talk about his idea. “I have thought for a while about creating a website for this newspaper. We can be the first one in this country and turn our loss into profit in the near future. I’ll also post your news about how you have taken this newspaper company to create hype.” He wanted to have good content and he was wondering when Haru was going to take out his plan.
Everyone seemed to agree when they heard that the Chief-Editor wanted to use Haru to create hype for the newspaper.
16 years old buying a newspaper company? This will become big news! Especially, when the appearance of their boss is similar to an idol or an actor on the television. They were sure that there were a lot of females who decided to buy their newspaper.
Haru nodded and said, “That’s good, but that’s not enough.” He took out something from his suitcase and gave it to each of them.
“What is this?” Kasumigaoka Eichi asked.
“This is a novel. I thought I’d publish it in the newspaper later,” Haru said.
“Novel?” They were surprised when they knew that Haru had prepared a novel.
“Young Boss, did you write this novel by yourselves?”
Haru nodded and said, “Yes, I am also a novelist. Try to read first and give me your opinion.”
They nodded and looked at the title of the novel. “Dragon Zakura?” They felt that the name of this novel seemed to be very fierce, but they had decided to read the story since it was created by their Young Boss.
Dragon Zakura is a story about a private high school (Ryuzan) in which lawyer Kenji Sakuragi, a former biker, is sent to close down. His business is on the rocks due to his biker background being made public in a scandal-magazine. Sakuragi gets the idea of turning the school around instead of closing it, thereby resurrecting his career. He goes for an outrageous goal: getting 5 students from this no-hope highschool into Tokyo University, the top university in the country. He persuades the director to back him, then gives a rousing speech to the entire school to announce the special class. “You’re all losers and you’ll stay losers for the rest of your lives! Because you’re too lazy to use your brains and you haven’t figured out that society is run by clever folks who make sure they always win and you always lose. If you don’t like that prospect, study! I’ll give you a goal: get into Tokyo University!” he shouts to a stunned, silent crowd.
Everyone seemed interested when they read that this novel was a story about someone who wanted to make someone enter the most prestigious university in this country. They couldn’t take away their eyes and had to admit that it was an interesting story about how a lawyer wanted to make a delinquent enter Tokyo University.
Kasumigaoka Eichi nodded and said, “Boss, this novel is good! Let us publish our novel in the newspaper!” His eyes seemed to be excited when he thought this story could be read in their newspaper. He was sure that this newspaper company would become popular soon with this novel.
“That’s my plan, but I have heard that this newspaper is being sold twice?” Haru asked.
“Yes, our newspaper is a daily newspaper and we’ll print our newspaper in the morning and in the evening. Though we’ll only publish your novel once a week,” Kasumigaoka Eichi said.
“In the evening? So is it aimed more at commuters and office workers?” Haru asked.
Kasumigaoka Eichi nodded and said, “Yes, we want the people in this town to be able to know the news as soon as possible. We’ll post your news this evening too.”
Haru nodded and thought for a while. He knew that the evening newspaper was targeted for commuters and office workers. He wanted to create his newspaper for the evening to be more interesting. He thought about the culture of the office workers in this country and said, “Say, do any of you usually come together to eat and drink after work?”
“….” They felt that this question was a bit strange, but they nodded. It was usually their culture to come together with their co-workers to go to the pub, food stall, or a bar.
“What do you think about creating a section in the evening edition to recommend a place to eat and drink after work?” Haru said.
“…..” They opened their eyes wide and said, “That’s a good idea!” They felt that this idea was feasible and they could imagine the office worker who bought their newspaper and the food business owner who wanted them to make a recommendation in their place.
“This is a good idea. We can start this project right away!” Kasumigaoka Eichi said.
“Yes!”
Kasugamioka Echi looked at Haru and asked, “So what’s the title of this project?” He had to admit that this young man really had a lot of good ideas.
Haru thought for a while and said, “How about “Salaryman’s Journey”. It’s a story about tired and lonely salarymen who have worked in the company for a decade. He has a hobby to visit a lot of shops to eat and drink since he doesn’t like the lonely feeling in his house. He comes to a lot of shops at night then when he is satisfied with the food and drink….. He would say….”
“うまい! (Umai! or it’s good)…. Silently while gulping his beer right to his throat…”
Gulp!
They had to admit that they wanted to drink a cold beer when they went home later and the background story was very cool for them.
“Ok! Let’s do this! Let’s create this newspaper to become the most popular in this country!” Kasumigaoka Eichi was excited.
“Yeah!!!”
Kasumigaoka Eichi looked at Haru and said, “Boss, you should talk to everyone to make them calm down since most of them will be worried when they know that their new boss is a teenager.”
Haru nodded and said, “Let’s go. I’ll go back after this then.”
They nodded and followed him to start his speech to every employee in this newspaper company.
The employee of this newspaper was worried when they knew that their new boss was only a teenager in his 16 years. They were worried that this teenager didn’t know anything and would cause a lot of trouble. They were wondering which rich family let their children play with a people’s life and decided to buy a newspaper company on a whim. They became worried, but then they saw a group of executives of this newspaper company along with their news boss.
Haru stood up along with the executives of the Tokyo Shimbun.
Everyone wasn’t sure, but Haru’s presence alone made them unable to look away from him.
“Hello, everyone, my name is Kasugano Haruka. As you can see, I am the naughty teenager who has decided to buy this newspaper company…”
They wanted to laugh, but they held it since they knew that Haru was their new boss. They knew that they needed to be respectful of him.
Haru smiled and said, “Enough the joke, I am sure that all of you are worried about your job, right? I am sure that a lot of people are going to doubt my ability to manage this company.”
“…..” They were silent, but these powerful words made them sweat profusely.
Haru still had a gentle smile on his face and continued his speech. “You don’t need to worry… I’m not planning to manage this company but decided to believe in Kasugamigaoka Eichi as the new Chief-Editor of Tokyo Shimbun to manage this newspaper company. Please give him warm applause…”
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Everyone’s eyes seemed to brighten when they saw Kasugamigaoka Eichi since his popularity was quite good even though he had been laid off.
“First you can believe in my words that I won’t try to lay you off…..”
They seemed to sigh in relief when they heard Haru’s words.
“Since I am planning to make this newspaper to become the highest circulation newspaper in this country and I need all of you here to help me to do that. Few of you might doubt it, but that’s alright since you only need to watch.”
“Watch me reform the newspaper industry in this country!”
Haru opened his arms wide as if he was the king of the world.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Thunderous claps could be heard in this office and everyone was excited when they heard the last words of their new boss. This country when people were always modest and told people to be low-key, but this arrogant gesture and confident words made everyone feel reassurance and confidence in their newspaper company.
Haru wouldn’t stop here and since he had decided to embark on this journey then he would do it until the end.
