Chapter 108: Fortunately, I have your novel, so I can have no regrets

Chapter 108: Fortunately, I have your novel, so I can have no regrets

Chapter 108: Fortunately, I have your novel, so I can have no regrets

This wave of recommendations by Tomiichi Murayama directly brought "I Am a Cat" to the highest peak.

This was a press conference open to all Japanese citizens and attracted countless attention because it involved the trial of American soldiers who committed crimes in Okinawa.

The five major TV stations jointly broadcast the event live, with hundreds of millions of eyes watching intently.

After he said this, everyone immediately shifted their attention to "I Am a Cat".

The publicity effect is much better than what Kawade Shobo spent money to post posters at intersections and put up small advertisements at subway stations.

Moreover, Tomiichi Murayama also intended to give some of the credit for the successful trial of the US military to "I Am a Cat", which is equivalent to using political resources to promote Kitagawa Hide.

It's no less than the central bank next door stepping out to promote a certain novelist. While advertising, it is also hinting to other competitors that this person has a backer, I'm protecting him, so don't bother him!
Kitagawa Hide naturally accepted this enormous wealth, but he did not want to have close ties with the Socialist Party.

After all, the person who succeeded Murayama Tomiichi was Ryutaro Hashimoto from the Liberal Democratic Party faction. His personal political stance was neutral and he adopted a friendly policy toward his neighbors, which was consistent with Murayama Tomiichi in this respect.

However, the Liberal Democratic Party itself leans to the right and is very incompatible with the Socialist Party. Kitagawa Hide is involved in too many things and it is hard to guarantee that he will not be caught by others.

Such flattery and recommendations don't really matter. It's normal for politicians in Japan to flatter writers, and Tomiichi Murayama hasn't stepped down yet, so this will definitely be a big help now.

As expected, after this press conference, the sales of "Wenyi" suddenly soared, and Kitagawa Hide's other physical books also ushered in a sales explosion.

Then on November 11, the Naha District Court in Okinawa, Japan held the first public trial of the three American soldiers who had committed the crime.

Japanese prosecutors have filed charges against three American soldiers for murder, rape, and abandonment of corpses.

During the tense trial, whether the defendants had the intention to kill became the focus of debate. The plaintiff believed that the defendants could be convicted of murder and sought a life sentence for them.

The three U.S. soldiers admitted to the crimes of XX and abandoning the body, but refused to admit to the charge of murder. Moreover, the defendants had indifferent expressions at the trial and did not answer any questions from the prosecution.

However, this time, even with the support of capitalists, the media and many intellectuals, Tomiichi Murayama and his cabinet remained resolute and exerted tremendous pressure on the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defense, forcing the verdict to be completed that afternoon.

Naha District Court Presiding Judge Hisashi Shibata pointed out that the three defendants beat the victim with sticks and stabbed him with knives, which was clearly an attempt to kill the victim.

Moreover, as soldiers, they knew that such behavior might result in the death of the victim, but they did it anyway, so they were convicted of intentional homicide.

Even if they did not admit that they had the intention to kill from the beginning, the injustice of the victims whose lives were taken away was immeasurable, so the three were sentenced to life imprisonment and refused to be extradited back to the United States.

When this verdict came out, the whole nation cheered. It seemed that for the first time in many years, they did not have to bow their heads in front of their American father.

But because of this verdict, pressure from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, the United States, and other parties increased sharply, and the Socialist Party was on the verge of collapse. Tomiichi Murayama also knew that his term of office was about to end, and even his life might end with it.

But he had no regrets.

Instead, he wrote the sentence "I am fortunate to have your novel, so I can have a clear conscience" on a brand new November 1995 issue of "Wenyi", and then mailed it to "Peter Cat" to express his gratitude and admiration for Kitagawa Hide.

This matter was also exposed inexplicably.

The sales of "Wenyi" reached a real climax after the trial. In the last week of November, the daily sales exceeded 11 copies, and the voices calling for "I Am a Cat" to be published as a single volume became louder and louder.

It was also at this time that "Hear the Wind Sing" and "The Agarwood Literature Award Serial Murder Case" were completed and entered the distribution and release stage.

Kitagawa Hideki was busy analyzing market data and selecting the next novel to be serialized. After receiving the notice, he had to put down all his work and run back to the temporary shooting base.

There is no way around it. Japan's film and television industry is full of feudal superstitions and ritual demands. After the filming is completed, all crew members have to hold a grand closing ceremony under the leadership of the chief producer, otherwise it would seem like something is missing.

When Kitagawa Hide arrived at the filming base, everyone was happily packing up the venue and equipment, with happy smiles on their faces. It seemed that the filming was going very smoothly!

Shizuko Kawaide and Rena Saito also came to celebrate. Rena Saito had dark circles under her eyes and swollen cheeks, which was rare. This time she changed into a purple hip skirt, showing her charming and sexy qualities as a woman.

She had a bright smile on her face, and Kitagawa Hide judged that she was probably not "swollen" because of something bad, but just in case, he still chatted with her for a while.

"I was so excited after seeing the sales of Wen Yi magazine in the past few days that I couldn't sleep." Saito Rena answered truthfully.

Shizuko Kawaide on the side nodded in agreement.

They spend most of their time in the company and feel this deeply.

Especially the acting president, Shizuko Kawaide.

She has experienced the miserable sales of "Wenyi" in the first half of the year. Before Kitagawa Hideaki, the monthly sales had fallen to the red warning line of around 30 copies. If it continues to fall, the top five pure literature magazine publishers may become just four.

Shizuko Kawaide rarely shows her emotions or thoughts, so no one knows how heavy the burden is on her shoulders.

With the huge success of "Wenyi" released this month, she rarely smiled.

This also made her more determined to tie Kitagawa Hide to Kawade's study.

If Mr. Kitagawa really doesn't want to sign a writer's contract, we must find a way to make him put Kawade Shobo first among his partners!
The renewed popularity of "I Am a Cat" will inevitably attract the attention of other publishing houses.

Business is a business after all, and she can't say for sure that society won't come back to take advantage of her.

Now we can only hope that the film and television adaptation of "Hear the Wind Sing" fails miserably, while praying that "The Akuji Literature Award Serial Murder Case" will be a surprise.

Although it was not good for Mr. Kitagawa to think this way, as the film and television adaptation of his debut work failed and the copyright price would definitely drop a lot in the future, Shizuko Kawaide really had no choice.

If she becomes popular again, what will she do to keep people around?
Apart from money, it seems that I have nothing to show for myself.

But after this time, Teacher Beichuan should not be short of money anymore.

Shizuko Kawaide was lost in thought when suddenly several staff members carrying equipment came over. Rena Saito was so scared that she immediately reached out and pulled her aside.

The Japanese believe that women have strong yin energy and are prone to attracting bad things. The filming equipment of the crew is related to the lifeblood of the film and the crew. If it is contaminated with something, it may affect the release of the film.

Therefore, during the shutdown ceremony, women will stay away from the equipment, and acting president like Shizuko Kawaide is no exception.

Kitagawa Hide had heard similar urban legends before.

There was a film crew that didn't pay attention to these things, and then the equipment was invaded by evil spirits. After the film was released, there would always be strange ghostly shadows floating by at certain times, and some creepy but inaudible sounds would be made.

Naturally, the movie flopped at the box office.

It is said that the lead actor and screenwriter both committed suicide to apologize.
Kitagawa Hide has always kept his distance from these things, but since everyone else took them so seriously, he just followed suit and believed them.

Under the arrangement of Shunji Iwai, the shutdown ceremony went smoothly.

At the end, all the core members of the crew stood together and took a family photo as a souvenir.

Unfortunately, Jabami Rei, who played the literary girl in the film, was unable to make it because she was at Kyoto University. There was no Photoshop technology in those days, so she could only regretfully reserve a spot for her. After the photos were developed, Kitagawa Hide would take them to her.

"Is the filming going smoothly?" Kitagawa Hide and Iwai Shunji stood side by side, watching Saito Rena, Aso Mayumi and others chatting while discussing the completion status of the film.

Iwai Shunji immediately stood up straight and answered seriously: "Everything went smoothly. To be honest, I originally thought that it would be difficult for such an unprofessional crew to do such a professional job, but it seems that I was wrong."

"Oh?" Kitagawa Hide looked at him curiously.

"Everyone seems to have an inexplicable motivation and they all want to make this movie a success. Not only do they work very hard in their daily work, but many people are constantly rehearsing and memorizing lines before going to bed!"

Iwai Shunji recalled his experience over the past month with great emotion.
"In terms of atmosphere, this is the most comfortable crew I've ever been in since I started working. And the person who can make everyone so cohesive is you, Mr. Kitagawa!"

"You gave them a job and gave them hope, and they repaid you with unremitting efforts." Iwai Shunji said with tears in his eyes.

He is a pure filmmaker, so he is deeply touched by such pure things.

Kitagawa Hide originally thought of making this movie, firstly to avoid taxes legally, and secondly to strike back at the Akutagawa Prize that had disgusted him.

By the way, solve the problem of the sun being too dazzling.

Unexpectedly, the unexpected result was a great success and everyone really underwent a transformation through this.

Seeing the harmonious scenes before his eyes, Kitagawa Hide suddenly felt that it would not be unacceptable if the movie failed.

"By the way, how much did it cost approximately?" Kitagawa Hide asked in a low voice.

After Yumeko left, the financial power of the crew was handed over to director Shunji Iwai.

Iwai Shunji was very touched by this. After all, he was the supervisor and had control over the financial affairs. If he secretly deducted some money into his own pocket, no one would know about it.

Kitagawa Hide did this, which showed his immense trust in himself!

"Including everyone's pay, it's about 1000 million yen." Iwai Shunji answered, looking directly into Kitagawa Hide's eyes.

The average cost of shooting a movie now is about 5000 million yen. It is normal that the cost of shooting "The Akuji Literature Award Serial Murder Case" can be reduced to 1000 million yen because the plot requires fewer locations and has lower requirements.

This number was within Kitagawa Hide's expectations, but it still hurt.

And this is just the production cost. Distribution and promotion haven't even started yet. It's not like you can happily release the film once it's finished filming.

In Japan, cinema chains are basically monopolized by several giants like Toho. If you want to release a film, you have to go and negotiate with them, and you also have to pay several million yen in distribution costs and subsequent box office revenue sharing.

Not to mention publicity.

In this area, as long as you are willing to spend money, you can throw in any amount of money, it is a bottomless pit.

There is also another problem that is not that difficult - passing the review.

In Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is responsible for the review and release of films and television, but as long as it is not an AV, you will basically not be blocked from theatrical release. You just need to pay enough protection fee.

The more Kitagawa Hide thought about it, the more he felt that making a movie was indeed difficult.

It is so difficult for him to shoot a low-budget movie like this with the help of plagiarism and the huge sums of money he earned. No wonder those filmmakers have to seek investment in various ways and beg for help from the investors.

Every link requires money, money, money.

If the movie fails at the box office, it will be a huge blow.

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Hide suddenly became serious.

The idea that the film will fail at the box office is indeed not a good idea!
How can I attack?
Must make some money!
Take this seriously, Kitagawa Hide!

Kitagawa Hidetoshi asked Kawaide Shizuko for help with distribution and promotion. He had a general idea in mind, but he needed to rely on some of the other party's connections.

It just so happens that the boss might be unhappy because I gave the adaptation rights of "Youth Trilogy" to Kodansha last time, so I'll take this opportunity to treat her to a meal!
Kitagawa Hide gathered everyone who had finished their work and told them about the celebratory banquet that would be held in the evening.

Because there were so many people, no one wanted him to spend money, so after some thought, Kitagawa Hide thought of a very good place!
"Since Mr. Kitagawa has said so, then I'm sorry to bother you." Kawaide Shizuko had thought of treating Kitagawa Hide and getting close to him, but seeing that he had made up his mind, she had no choice but to nod and agree, while making other plans in her mind.

On the other hand, no matter what, after the closing ceremony, the filming of "The Akuji Literature Award Serial Murder Case" was officially over.

Saito Rena and others stood in a row and bowed to Kitagawa Hide to express their gratitude to him.

After all, without Kitagawa Hide as the chief producer, investor and screenwriter, they would not be able to gather here to make such an interesting movie.

Kitagawa Hideya quickly bowed in return to thank them for their hard work, then he waved his hand and had driver Kinoshita and others arrange vehicles to send the main creative staff to Adachi District in batches!
(End of this chapter)