I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 87 Breaking the record! Breaking the record! Breaking the record again! (2?)
In August 1995, Tokyo was in a state of ice and fire.

On the one hand, the maximum daytime temperature has been rising steadily, from an average of 7 degrees in July to an average of 25 degrees. On the other hand, we are constantly suffering from frequent thunderstorms and small typhoons. People have to carry a folding umbrella with them when traveling, or simply put on a raincoat.

Otherwise, it may be sunny now, but it may be rainy the next second, soaking you like a drowned rat!

There are two other events in August that are being closely watched by all Tokyo citizens.

One is the "Murayama Statement" released by the Prime Minister's Office on August 8.

On August 8, facing reporters and flash cameras from the five major TV stations, Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama delivered an official speech on historical issues, expressing deep remorse and sincere apologies for Japan's colonial rule and aggression.

He admitted that in a period not too distant in the past, incorrect national policies led Japan onto the path of war and put the Japanese people in a crisis of survival.

Due to its colonial rule and aggression, Japan caused great damage and suffering to the people of many countries, especially those in East Asia. In order to avoid repeating such mistakes in the future, he faced this historical fact without any doubt and once again expressed his deep reflection and sincere apology.

This is the first time in fifty years that senior Japanese politicians have responded positively to Japan's inhumane acts of aggression during World War II, and have reviewed and apologized for them.

Unfortunately, Tomiichi Murayama is a poor guy who was forced to take over and bear the blame between two economic crises. He will step down tragically on January 1 next year.

The Socialist Party that supports him is currently the strongest force against the Japanese right wing. Although it has become increasingly worse and has been repeatedly crushed by the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party, it is also the party in Japanese politics that is closest to Kim Jong-un and the faction next door.

But no matter what, the Socialist Party is still in charge, and no one can stop Tomiichi Murayama from publicly admitting the acts of aggression and apologizing for his mistakes.

Just two weeks after Murayama's speech, Tomiichi Murayama, who was staying in the Prime Minister's office in the official residence, was fully confident that his actions would cause an uproar in all sectors of society.

However, the fact is that the Murayama Statement only gained some attention on the day it was released and for about a week afterwards, but was soon completely overshadowed by another incident.

The secretary who had hurried to buy a newspaper for the Prime Minister came back.

He knocked on the office door and said, "Mr. Murayama, I have bought the newspapers you requested."

"Bring it in."

Tomiichi Murayama is 71 years old this year. He knows that he does not have much time left, so he always pays attention to changes in the political landscape and searches for all possible weapons to deal with right-wing elements and parties.

He knew that once he fell, the gap between Japan's left-wing forces and the right-wing forces was too great, and they would surely collapse as well.

That is why he chose the fiftieth anniversary of the post-war surrender to make such a shocking speech.

Unexpectedly, it seems that all sectors of society have more important things to worry about?
"Sir, these are today's and yesterday's copies of the famous newspapers such as the Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, and Toren Keizai." The secretary handed over a stack of newspapers respectfully, and then stood aside waiting for new instructions.

Tomiichi Murayama lined up the pile of newspapers and quickly scanned them, squinting his eyes to search for major events that had overshadowed the heat of Murayama's speech.

All that came into view was "No Longer Human".

Since its release in early August, this pure literary novel titled "No Longer Human" first experienced a short period of sluggish sales, and then its sales soared like a rocket.

The Yomiuri Shimbun and Oricon Corporation carried out a cross-border collaboration, setting aside a special area in the literature section to introduce to readers the sales changes of "No Longer Human" in August.

Oricon has specially produced many charts to allow readers to clearly and intuitively feel the abnormal, or almost perverted, sales growth of "No Longer Human".

On the first day of printing, the total sales volume of major bookstores in Tokyo was about 1 copies.

The next day, the total cumulative sales suddenly jumped to about 9.1 copies, and was in a serious out-of-stock state. The books sold the next day were basically snapped up by readers between 6 pm and midnight.

This shows that most of these people who suddenly come to buy books are office workers, and 6pm is their time to take a break after get off work.

But Oricon could not explain the reason for this strange phenomenon.

Subsequently, at the end of the first week of August, the cumulative total sales of "No Longer Human" in the Tokyo area successfully exceeded 8 copies. Oricon stated that this is the first time in fifty years that a pure literary novel has achieved sales of over 25 copies in the first week!

This is a brand new record.

The previous record holder was "Hear the Wind Sing" written by Hide Kitagawa, which sold 10.4 copies in the first week.

Worried that the general public didn't realize how outrageous this record was, the Yomiuri Shimbun columnist wrote a few hundred words in a press release to explain how horrible this record was and how popular No Longer Human was.

".No one would deny that "Hear the Wind Sing" was the best-selling physical book in the first half of 1995? Do you know how many copies it sold in the first month? The answer is 28.1 copies. And now, the first week sales of "No Longer Human" have exceeded 25 copies!"

Such a comparison made even Tomiichi Murayama, who knew little about pure literature and the publishing industry, gasp.

Then, in the second week of August, everyone thought that the popularity of "No Longer Human" would gradually fade. After all, no matter how popular a book is, it cannot escape the "first week rule."

Generally speaking, after a book sells well in the first week, sales in every week thereafter should be slightly worse than in the first week. The first month of sales is the peak period of the book, and after that, it will enter a long period of slow growth.

But the fact is that "No Longer Human" has set a new record again.

The sales volume in the second week increased instead of decreasing, jumping to 26.7 copies, directly breaking the sales record it had just set.

What's even more outrageous is that because no one expected the sales to "grow in reverse", something that only exists in novels, the distribution department of Kawaide Shobo did not have enough stock. Selling 26.7 copies was not the limit of "No Longer Human", but they did not have time to print it!

After two weeks of hot sales, it happened to be Tomiichi Murayama's Murayama Statement, which attracted public attention for a few days, giving Kawaide Shobo some breathing room.

Several other newspapers reported the incident in detail, but they all seemed to be rumors, saying that the machines in Kawade Shobo's printing factory were smoking and there was no time to print, so they had to temporarily ask other publishing houses for help and ask their printing factories to help print "No Longer Human".

This sounds like a fantasy.

Regardless of whether it is true or false, newspaper readers and concerned citizens love to read such anecdotes. After many newspapers discovered this situation, they began to report various secret news about "No Longer Human" and Kitagawa Hide.

Newspaper sales also continued to rise thanks to this popularity, but the Murayama Statement, which should have been the most discussed by the public, lost its popularity and became a foil.

"Politics is a private game between politicians. What does it have to do with us?"

This is the true reflection of what is in the hearts of the people.

If there is a war somewhere, they will marvel at it that day. If the international situation has changed, they will discuss it casually at the dinner table that night, and then that’s it.

But for something like "No Longer Human" which is very close to their lives, they will never get tired of discussing it until the media completely gives up on the craze.

The third week of August just ended, and Oricon pointed out that "No Longer Human" should have accumulated enough word of mouth and the fermentation level had almost reached its peak, so there was a direct surge in sales this week.

"39.8 copies sold in just one week? That's amazing." Murayama Tomiichi's hands were shaking as he held the newspaper. "Ozawa-san, if the price of a copy is 5000 yen, how much sales did it generate?"

"Sir, the cumulative sales in three weeks are about 92 copies, which is about 46 billion yen." The secretary at the side did the math in his head, then trembled, unable to believe the number.

"Oricon's data is always exaggerated to attract attention. Such a hot-selling novel must have invested a lot of operating costs, so the real data is definitely not that high. But even so." Murayama Tomiichi gently put down the newspaper in his hand and said with emotion, "With a 30% discount, the sales volume should be at least 600,000 copies."

"Yes, if it's 30 copies, that would mean sales of 300 billion yen." The secretary nodded in agreement, "I heard from my colleagues in the Ministry of Finance that Kawaide Shobo's annual sales are about 1200 billion yen, ranking at the bottom of the five major publishing houses. The top-ranked Shinchosha has annual sales of about billion yen, but Shinchosha hasn't had such a best-seller in decades. This book is really amazing!" "I see. Ozawa-san, have you read this book?" Murayama Tomiichi became more interested in "No Longer Human".

Japan's publishing industry has long been monopolized by the chaebols. Like newspapers and magazines, they are mouthpieces used by the chaebols to speak for themselves.

These official parties also have their own newspapers and magazines, but their influence cannot be compared with that of these paper media tycoons.

The best way to improve one's own newspapers and magazines is to invite well-known writers to write under their real names, but those people are very careful about their reputation. They are either unwilling to get entangled in party struggles or simply look down on you. The few literati who are connected with political parties are basically like Shintaro Ishihara, who have political and chaebol backgrounds and naturally belong to factions.

Unfortunately, the Socialist Party has absolutely no resources in this area of ​​literature.

Parties that are close to China and North Korea are naturally unpopular in this country and will always be suppressed by all parties.

This Kitagawa Hide is an emerging writer. Maybe we can ask him to help write one or two articles.

"I'm sorry, sir, I haven't read Mr. Kitagawa's book yet." The secretary saw that the prime minister was interested in Kitagawa Hide and bowed quickly, "But I have heard some interesting stories about this book."

"What's the anecdote?"

"It is said that this book directly criticizes the previously arrogant Aum Shinrikyo, and clearly calls on the public to resist the cult and redeem themselves."

The secretary immediately told him all the news he had just heard today. The Prime Minister seemed to want to hear good things from him, so he picked out things that suited the Prime Minister's wishes.

"And now the influence of this book has spread to many universities in Tokyo. Many schools have spontaneously organized anti-cult clubs, which has caused a lot of noise."

"Anti-cult?" Murayama Tomiichi narrowed his eyes and suddenly became more interested.

It was he who personally ordered the arrest of Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult.

The Tokyo subway sarin gas attack in March shocked the world, but even so, many people in the political arena openly jumped out to defend Asahara Shoko, saying that the incident should not be entirely blamed on him and that it was a stupid thing his subordinates did on their own.

These people have been blinded by the political donations from the cult!

Fortunately, Tomiichi Murayama and his cabinet took a firm stance and arrested Asahara Shoko directly.

However, five months have passed since the incident and the trial at the court has been obstructed by various issues, making it impossible to convict these thugs.

"No Longer Human" gave him a glimmer of hope in extinguishing the cult.

"By the way, I heard that Mr. Kitagawa will go to the University of Tokyo in September to give a public literature appreciation class." The secretary added, "Sir, should I follow up on this matter?"

"Hmm, September?" Murayama Tomiichi pondered for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Go buy me a copy of No Longer Human first. After you finish reading it, I'll think about what to do next."

"Yes!" After hearing what he said, the secretary realized that the matter was basically settled, and immediately searched his mind for his circle of connections in the University of Tokyo.

Fortunately, I graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Tokyo, so I should be able to contact many junior students there.

"Peter Cat" Jazz Café.

Kitagawa Hide has not hired any staff yet. There are currently two and a half full-time employees in the store, namely the boss Kitagawa Hide, the boss’ wife Agatsuma Yumeko, and the cute British shorthair fat blue cat Pete.

As the end of August approaches, the University of Tokyo is about to start the school year. My wife Yumeko, who is a model student, has become busy again. She has to go to school to participate in various activities almost every day and has no time to take care of the business here.

Anyway, business was very bad, so Kitagawa Xiu ignored her and watched the store every day with Pete in his arms. Sometimes there was not a single customer in the whole day.

After that night, their relationship took another small step forward. Kitagawa Hide finally enjoyed the "facial cleanser" and successfully conquered the upper body of his young wife!

Then, just when he was in high spirits and was about to draw his gun to fight, it got stuck again.

He could clearly feel that his little wife was neither afraid nor unwilling, but had a vague concern.

She was no longer as reserved as she was when they first started living together, and she no longer resisted Kitagawa Hideya.

But Kitagawa Hide could feel that the lost "football" still did not run back on its own.

He knew that if he tried to break through by force, his little wife would definitely cooperate and obey him.

But he didn't want his second brother to control his eldest brother at this most important moment in his life.

Take your time and look again. There must be something you have overlooked.

In order to better run the store, he simply moved his computer to the lobby. When there were no customers, he would type away at work on a book or prepare handouts for his lectures at the University of Tokyo. During breaks, he would stop and think about how to advance his relationship with his young wife.

To be honest, this matter really stumped Kitagawa Hide, who had no experience in love.

He has been scratching his head these days, unable to figure out the problem. He has decided that if he still can't solve the problem by August, he will go find friends who may be more experienced in this area to answer his questions.

By the way, the 20th has passed, and I don’t know how the sales of “Group Portrait”, which serializes “A Wild Sheep Chase”, are doing.

By the way, the royalties should have been deposited into my account, right? That was the bad thing about the 90s. There were no smartphones or apps, and I had no idea how much money I had now.

Kitagawa Hide looked at the screen and saw that he had written nearly 20 words of "I Am a Cat". He calculated that it was about time to start the new serialization and haiku promotion.

He was also not very clear about the specific sales situation of "No Longer Human". Kawaide Shobo has been very busy recently, and Saito Rena has been missing for 24 hours and cannot be contacted at all.

However, the busier she is, the better the response to "No Longer Human" will be. Even if the sales volume is not as high as the 90 copies exaggerated by Oricon, it should be much less.

It's not like I'll really get rich overnight!
As Kitagawa Hide was thinking about it, he suddenly became energetic. If he really became rich, he would delay buying a mobile phone, a car, and a luxury house!
He still hasn't forgotten Noma Airi's mansion in Minato Ward!

Just then, the wind chimes hanging on the gate rang.

Pete, who was yawning on the cushion, suddenly woke up and looked towards the door with Kitagawa Hide.

"Welcome." Kitagawa Hide hurriedly left the computer desk. It was so hard to get a guest here, so he had to cheer up and receive him!
"Kitagawa? That's great. I was worried that you weren't in the store."

Saito Reina, wearing a floral dress, long hair draped over her shoulders, and light makeup, walked into the cafe while talking.
"The three-week total sales data table of "No Longer Human" is out!"

"Congratulations, Beichuan! You may have created a new historical record that will never be broken again!"

It seems that many readers think that my romance writing is rather contrived?
Scratching head.

In fact, the progress of the strategy for my little wife is one of my real experiences.

Maybe it’s because the writing is not good enough, so you guys just have to make do with it and read it.

The plot of "No Longer Human" is expected to come to an end this month. Please subscribe. Thank you!
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(End of this chapter)