Chapter 135: Kintetsu Group

"Brother? What's wrong? You look terrible!"
Su Hui was startled by his sudden change and reaction, and quickly supported him.
"Ah...no, nothing..."
Su Hao forced himself to calm down, took a deep breath, and barely managed to pull himself out of the dizzying sensation.
But cold sweat had already beaded on his forehead, and his heart was still pounding wildly in his chest.
This feeling...this sudden, intense palpitation and ominous premonition...was stronger than ever before!
"...Let's...not go to Japan."
"Huh? Why?"
"Let's go somewhere...far away. This time, I'll buy the plane tickets so you and Mom and Dad can experience first class."
"Wow! First class?! Really?! Brother, you're awesome!
Wait, wait, let me check right away...how about we go to America?"
Upon hearing about first class, her eyes lit up like two little light bulbs, instantly forgetting all about Japan and Kumamoto.
Excitedly, she started searching for new travel destinations, chattering away like a happy little bird.
But Su Hao was completely oblivious to his sister's cheerful voice.
Only one thought swirled in his mind:
'What exactly was that feeling...?'
***
Fanghuan Investment, Top Transaction Department.
"Knock knock—"
"Please come in."
The director's office door opened, and Liang Haiyuan walked in carrying a document.
"President Su, this was just delivered from the research department. It's the information about Japan you requested."
Su Hao took the document and quickly flipped through it.
Ever since his conversation with his sister, a strong intuition, like GPS, had firmly locked onto the Japanese market.
His intuition told him there was big news there!
"Japan is currently doing the same thing as the US, keeping interest rates firmly under control.
There are even rumors that they're planning to go straight for negative interest rates."
Liang Haiyuan added from the side.
Japan, once an Asian economic giant, is now running headlong down the path of low interest rates, shoulder to shoulder with the US.
Especially with the current Prime Minister Abe, who has been pushing his so-called "Abenomics," a series of actions that seem aggressive, but the result… well, so-so.
So the question is, why is Japan so stubborn, insisting on keeping interest rates so low, even at the cost of negative rates?
The reason is shockingly simple—that place has already exhausted its potential; it's reached its limit and can't be exploited any further!
Unlike in China, where ordinary people are desperately trying to get loans to buy houses, fearing they'll miss out on hundreds of millions if they're even a little late.
Young people in Japan are quite laid-back; they don't have that obsessive desire to "sell everything to buy a house, otherwise they're failures."
Furthermore, they lack any ambition to mortgage their entire savings to start a business and gamble.
Most people are like these laid-back youths, content with the status quo, going with the flow, living a life of "peace and quiet, detached from worldly affairs."
As a result, banks can't lend money, and there's no rush to buy houses, so interest rates naturally stagnate.
And house prices? They're even worse, declining year after year.
This is a stark contrast to the situation in China!
In China, as long as the location isn't bad, especially in a good school district, buying a house there is almost guaranteed to appreciate in value.
But in Japan, would you dare buy a house?
That's practically watching your money go down the drain; the price is highly likely to fall!
It's precisely this "buying a house is a guaranteed loss" curse that makes Japanese people even more wary of real estate, creating a vicious cycle.
“Here, there’s an invisible social pressure pushing people upwards, isn’t there?” Liang Haiyuan sighed.
“Getting married means buying a house, preferably in a good school district; kids have to get into top universities like 985 or 211, and after graduation, they have to get into a big company…
It’s like leveling up in a video game, one hurdle after another. It’s suffocating.
What about Japan?
The birthplace of the ‘lying flat’ culture, ‘Why climb? Isn’t lying down comfortable?’
They emphasize a life of non-competition.
This is the huge difference in social values ​​between the two countries.
Of course, this endless pressure of involution in China isn’t a good thing either.
Just look at the soaring statistics on youth mental health problems; it’s all forced by the social environment.”
Su Hao remained silent. He had seen these social phenomena too.
The pursuit of higher, faster, and stronger can certainly stimulate vitality, but everything in excess is harmful.
He glanced down at the investment recommendations provided by the research department, scrolling through them line by line, all marked with words like "not recommended," "high risk," and "bleak prospects."
The research department's conclusion was clear:
Investing in Japan now is not recommended.
Are you kidding? Even domestic companies in the island nation have lost confidence in their own country and are flocking overseas.
Where did the term "yen carry trade" come from?
It's because Japan has zero interest rates, making borrowing cheap, so everyone borrows yen from Japanese banks and then pours it into high-yield overseas markets to profit from the difference!
A sure way to make money without any investment, played with incredible skill.
"Tsk, not a single one of these is eye-opening..."
He patiently continued scanning the stock list line by line.
Suddenly—
"Hmm?"
His gaze, as if drawn by a magnet, fixed on one name.
"Kintetsu Group?"
The name...it has a rather unpretentious...rustic feel to it?
He quickly pulled up the company's detailed information.
Kintetsu Group is a long-established railway company in Japan.
Its main businesses include railway transportation, real estate development, and overseas investment—a true diversified behemoth.
Just look at the name—"Kintetsu"—a direct translation into Chinese, isn't it just "close to the railway"?
Simple, direct, and endearingly straightforward.
Seeing this, Liang Haiyuan also leaned over for a look:
"Ah, Kintetsu Group. They're quite well-known in Japan's railway industry.
However, as you know, the Japanese railway transportation market is basically monopolized by the behemoth, JR Group.
So Kintetsu hasn't had an easy time these past few years, and has had to desperately expand into other businesses—real estate, hotels, retail—getting involved in anything that makes money.
They also reportedly built Japan's tallest skyscraper, what's it called… oh, Osaka's 'Abeno Tower'."
But Su Hao's heart inexplicably began to race the moment he saw the words "Kintetsu Group."
That familiar premonition, like mercury seeping into the ground, enveloped him completely.
At first, it was faint, like a wisp of smoke, but as he delved deeper into the company's information, that feeling of "This is it!" grew clearer and stronger!
To give an analogy, it was like playing a treasure hunt game; the closer you got to the treasure, the more elaborate the visual effects and the more intense the controller vibrations—the "ding-ding-ding" sounds were practically slapping your face!
At this moment, Su Hao felt just that!
It was as if an invisible hand was guiding him, pushing him closer to some mysterious truth!
He immediately retrieved all the supplementary information about "Kintetsu Group," scrutinizing every word and punctuation mark with meticulous depth.
"…!"
Finally, amidst a dense mass of financial data and project reports, he found a precise key point!
'Corporate bonds issued by Kintetsu Group?'
(My darlings, I've posted all four chapters today, just refresh the page and you'll see them! Love you!)