Financial corruption

Author: [Japan] Takasugi Yoshio, translated by Li Chongmin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: In the early 1980s, Japan was at the peak of its rapid economic growth. Land prices soared, banks recklessly lent money, and stock and real estate investments went into a frenzy, causing social assets to inflate wildly. In 1990, the Japanese government implemented financial tightening. Subsequently, land and stock prices collapsed, non-performing loans surged, the bubble economy burst, and 200 trillion yen in assets vanished, plunging the Japanese economy into a prolonged period of stagnation. From 1993 to 1997, Tokyo's major commercial bank—Koritsu Bank—was deeply entangled in the aftereffects of the bubble economy. On one hand, gangsters resisted, the government exerted pressure, and the recovery of non-performing loans was extremely difficult. On the other hand, the bank's top management was incompetent, rogue shareholders threatened, and opaque financing increased. The protagonist, Takeuchi Tadashi, a courageous mid-level employee who took responsibility, survived in this tight spot, reluctantly acting as a pawn for the top management. He dealt with gangsters, investigated asset transfers by shell companies, and constantly put out fires, only to find himself burning himself—being ignored, suspected, threatened, and harassed, and nearly being sent overseas. Fortunately, thanks to his integrity and competence, he made friends with generous and righteous financial heavyweights, and finally drove out the bank's dictator, ushering in a period of stability for the bank.