Ambassador Togo looked puzzled as he skimmed the document Henry had handed him: “Japanese Culture Testbed and 24-Hour Animation Channel.” He could hardly believe that a descendant of a founding family had summoned him over something as trivial as a children’s animation business. But Henry’s next words pierced straight through his unsuspecting heart.
“For this project, I intend to publicly secure a foreign-currency loan of one billion dollars from the Japan Industrial Bank. Of course, the official purpose of the loan will be ‘support for the normalization of U.S.-Japan diplomacy and the export of cultural content.’”
Togo’s eyes flew wide as if they had spasmed.
“One billion dollars...!”
It was by no means a small sum. Japan was currently raking in astronomical amounts of dollars from the American market with [Toota] and [Shoni] at the forefront, and the U.S. Treasury was tightening its grip on Japan day after day, demanding that those stacks of dollars be returned to the United States. On the surface, it might have seemed that Japan was overflowing with dollars to the point of not knowing what to do with them, but the reality was not so simple.
“Mr. Devenger, as you know, the situation in the Middle East is at its worst. With oil prices skyrocketing due to the second oil shock, the dollars we earn are being sucked straight into the coffers of oil-producing nations. On top of that, with the central bank pouring dollars into the market to defend the weak yen, withdrawing a massive sum of one billion dollars all at once would require even the Japan Industrial Bank to make an agonizing decision.”
Togo’s words were not exaggerated in the slightest. On the outside, Japan was a magnificent surplus nation, but internally, rising energy costs were draining its available dollars. Of course, it was also mixed with a great deal of theatrical overstatement intended to reduce the backlash against Japan’s massive trade surplus.
“My people have yet to conduct due diligence, so we haven’t been able to calculate an exact figure. That is why I mentioned one billion dollars symbolically. This morning’s report says three hundred million dollars would be enough, so what I want is, precisely, a ‘credit line account’ that makes a one-billion-dollar loan possible.”
Henry smiled leisurely. It was a psychological tactic: first deliver the shock of one billion, then mention three hundred million so the other party would think, “That much might be manageable.” The tearful life-negotiation skills he had personally learned in his previous life as a student, while being taken for a ride by the Yongpal-i hyungs haggling over graphics card prices in Yongsan Electronics Market, were now shining in a diplomatic negotiation inside a grand mansion in New York in 1979.
“This graphics card is hard to get these days, so you’ll have to pay 1.3 million won... What? How much do you have? Nine hundred thousand? Hold on... Sigh, stop wandering around. I’ll make a special deal and give it to you at the price it came into our shop for, so next time, sell our store’s stuff for us. The wholesale price is a little over 990,000 won, you know? I’ll give it to you for 990,000.”
Henry had gone there thinking of the 890,000 won price he had seen in an article, only to borrow money from the friend who came with him and end up buying it for 990,000 won—a teeth-grinding memory that had etched itself into his soul.
“To think that memory would be useful like this. This is what you call living education.”
“Even so, three hundred million dollars?! But for our banks to extend such a large dollar loan to a mere private business owner...”
“A mere private business owner, Ambassador? Isn’t the credit carried by the name ‘Devenger’ higher than Japanese government bonds? I’m saying I will use that money to acquire Japan’s failing [Tokyo 12 Channel] and animation production companies and turn them into an ‘American forward base for Japanese culture.’ What reason would the Japanese government have to oppose that? If anything, you should welcome me as a savior who has appeared to stop the hammering in Detroit and soothe anti-Japanese sentiment in the U.S. Congress. And this will be the ‘first collaboration’ between you and me—or between the Japanese government and the Devenger family.”
Henry paused for a moment, lifted his teacup, and lightly moistened his lips. In that brief silence, Ambassador Togo tried to weigh the significance of Henry’s proposal.
“I believe the most expensive asset in business is not money, but ‘trust.’ If this transaction gives us confidence that we can trust each other, the next step will become easier. Even if we cannot erase the image of ‘Japan, the barbaric economic invader’ from Americans’ minds, we can at least neutralize it by dressing Japan in the clothes of a ‘refined and attractive cultural ally.’ With my help, it is not impossible.”
Henry pushed the proposal for the “Japanese Culture Testbed and 24-Hour Animation Channel” across the table toward Ambassador Togo once more.
“As you will see if you examine it in detail, my goal is to acquire manga and animation companies in Japan to fill the programming schedule of the broadcasting station I will establish in the United States. This is not a deal that benefits only me. In Japan, you may promote it as a ‘large-scale attraction of foreign capital and investment,’ while in the United States, I will place my name out front to break through the wall of media hostility toward Japan. In short, I am offering to become a bridgehead for Japanese culture. And on top of that...”
Henry locked his gaze firmly onto Togo’s wavering eyes and drove the point home as if hammering in a wedge.
“You may lend it in dollars, but I will execute the funds in yen. Ambassador, think carefully. I am not asking you to hand over the precious dollar cash that Japanese banks are holding right now. I am saying that I will remit those dollars, which existed only on the books, back to Japan, convert them into yen, and use them to save Japanese companies struggling with financial difficulties. As stated in the documents, even if I acquire them, I will not install American managers. They will be composed of Japanese managers and employees, just like ordinary Japanese companies. Only later, when entering the American market, will there be a headquarters in name alone.”
Ambassador Togo turned the pages of the proposal with trembling hands. In Togo’s judgment, Henry’s proposal was not a simple investment, but a massive “Trojan horse.” A golden carriage bearing the signboard of an American founding family, carrying Japanese culture straight into American living rooms.
“To sell Japanese culture through American hands, and those of a Declaration of Independence family at that...”
In Togo’s eyes, there could be no more perfect shield. If Japanese companies stepped forward directly, Americans who smashed cars while denouncing economic invasion would surely go wild over animated films aired on a channel run by the Devenger family. Even if it began as simple animation, once such works accumulated, they would play a decisive role in renewing Japan’s negative image. Bright, positive content watched by children had a high chance of becoming the front line of national cultural promotion.
The conditions of employment succession and maintaining a Japanese management system would be the strongest weapons for persuading the conservative bureaucrats of the Ministry of Finance, and the loan condition of “dollar-denominated, yen-executed” funding was an attractive loan deal that would have not only the Industrial Bank but even commercial banks rushing in headlong. People said no one knew how long the weak yen would continue, but among the higher-ups, predictions had quietly been circulating that the yen’s weakness would go on. In such a situation, the books would be denominated in current dollars while execution would be in yen, and the enormous foreign-exchange gains would be enough to dazzle anyone.
Togo swallowed dryly. Henry’s gaze was brimming with confidence, and outwardly, he was a young entrepreneur with powerful drive, but the words he spoke were the voice of a sweet savior.
“...Certainly, Mr. Devenger, your proposal is extraordinary. It would stimulate domestic demand without any outflow of foreign currency and even secure a lobbying channel for diplomacy with the United States. However, no matter how difficult the management situation may be, it will not be easy for the Japanese government to permit the ownership of a broadcasting station to be transferred to a foreigner.”
“I understand your concern very well. You’re worried that I might manipulate public opinion through your country’s broadcasting station. But I can give you a firm answer. My purpose is, from beginning to end, the launch of a ‘24-hour animation specialty channel’ in the United States. The station I acquire will have no news and no current affairs programs. I would be happy to state in the contract that it will air only animation. How much could animation possibly sway public opinion?”
Henry wore a pleasant smile, but inwardly, he let out a mischievous snicker.
“It absolutely can sway it. In the future, people even protest while waving pirate manga flags, don’t they? This is what they call ‘soft power.’ Besides, it may seem like child’s play now, but in twenty years, American kids who grew up watching these cartoons will be handing over dollars to buy Japanese character toys. And if I take the lead in that? It won’t be imports, but exports.”
“Hmm... Certainly, if conditions are attached for animation-only programming at [Tokyo 12 Channel], which is struggling financially, there may be a possibility. However, opening a credit line account for such an enormous sum as one billion dollars, as well as the issue of ownership by a foreign-capital corporation, are matters beyond my authority as ambassador to the United States. I must report to the home country at once and obtain firm answers from the Ministry of Finance and the governor of the Industrial Bank.”
“Of course. But you had best hurry. I am thinking of presenting the same offer to Italy and France, which also have strengths in animation. If I end up joining hands with them, Japan will lose forever the golden time slot to occupy America’s living rooms.”
Here, Henry put his acting skills to their fullest use. As if he were in no hurry whatsoever, even the way he set down his teacup carried an arrogant composure.
His attitude suggested that this proposal was merely one of many fishing rods he had cast, and that even if it was not Japan, other options he had already “pinpointed” were lined up in wait. That invisible pressure weighed heavily on the air in the study. Henry’s eyes were saying, “Honestly, I don’t care if it’s not you guys. I’ll just go with whoever contacts me quickly.”
Under that leisurely pressure, Togo finally shot up from his seat. It was a hasty movement, unlike his usual cool-headed diplomat self. Togo’s eyes trembled faintly as impatience seized him. The instinct that, the moment he let this heaven-sent opportunity slip away, not only Japan’s national interests but also his own entire career would suffer repeated demerits, was urging him on fiercely.
“I will return to the embassy at once and send a top-secret cable. Mr. Devenger, I sincerely hope that your ‘testbed’ succeeds.”
As Ambassador Togo gathered the documents and hurried out of the study, a heavy silence settled beyond the closed door. Bart, who had been watching the conversation from the corner while holding his breath, approached with an incredulous chuckle.
“Henry, lately I really find myself seeing you in a new light. Since when were you such an eloquent speaker? To think you would try to draw out a one-billion-dollar credit line with nothing but the name ‘Devenger’...”
Henry leisurely took a sip of tea and smiled faintly. The heavy authority and dignity he had been acting out as the head of the family fell away, and his natural, relaxed smile emerged.
“You may not know this, Bart, but Japan is still a country where remnants of the emperor and aristocracy are deeply rooted. To them, the ‘head of the Devenger family’ is bound to feel far greater than ‘Henry, the American.’ And we prepared several devices to make them feel that way, didn’t we?”
“Ha, if you’d become a con man, you would have made it big. From the front-page article in [The Time], to the high-handed search orders you gave the people at the main gate post, to that indifferent attitude you instructed the butler Timothy to take. I thought you were going to have a major fight with the ambassador. I never imagined he’d be so moved by your demands that he’d rush out like that.”
“The Japanese are complicated. If we had welcomed him courteously in keeping with the invitation, he would have been grateful on the surface, but inwardly he would have looked down on our family and put forward additional conditions. But if you display overwhelming power and press them down like this, they instead submit before that authority and feel relieved.”
Henry’s rhetoric contained insights into human nature acquired through hellish corporate life in 2026. It was a negotiation technique closer to the know-how of workplace tyranny, honed through office life, pushing the other party’s psyche to its limits and clouding their judgment. In truth, Henry did not know any method other than this. He had been an ordinary office worker who had never formally learned diplomacy or negotiation!
Fortunately, Henry judged that this would work well on Japan at the present moment, and that judgment proved correct.
This method of using authority might be a prejudice against Japan in the future, but this was the 1970s. It was an era that plainly revealed why the stereotype had arisen that Japan maintained a typical stance of being weak before the strong and strong before the weak.
“Seeing it now, it really does seem that way. Still, what bothers me is, as I said earlier, isn’t the condition of a ‘dollar-denominated loan with yen execution’ far too favorable to them? Anyone can see that you are willingly taking a loss.”
“Let’s talk about that later, after some time has passed. From what I can see, Japan’s weak yen is not likely to last all that long.”
Henry set down his cup, rose from his seat, and walked to the conference room window. His eyes gleamed sharply as he watched the ambassador’s procession of cars receding into the distance.
“They have no idea that, ten years from now, this will be the condition they look back on while weeping tears of blood. On top of that, the excellent IPs created through the blood and sweat of Japan’s geniuses will be sucked right into my [Enjoy] and broadcasting station... And when, in just a few years, that weak yen ends with the Plaza Accord? Thanks for the meal!”
Henry chuckled inwardly as he imagined the future that would unfold if this proposal worked.