Chapter 587 The First Meeting at the New Headquarters

Monday, February 10, 1992, 9:00 AM.

Tokyo, Odaiba, Saionji Tower’s top-floor Conference Room No. 1.

Outside the anti-glare floor-to-ceiling glass windows facing north-northwest, the winter sun filtered through thin clouds, shimmering on the waters of Tokyo Bay.

Looking down from a height of five hundred meters, the unjoined steel girders of the Rainbow Bridge, cargo ships moving slowly through the port, and the dense clusters of grayish-white buildings in Shinagawa and Marunouchi in the distance looked like a miniature diorama laid out beneath their feet.

This was the first time since Saionji Tower’s commissioning ceremony and handover on January 10 that the heads of Saionji Group’s core divisions had truly gathered together in this new headquarters.

Just past nine in the morning, quite a few people were already seated in Conference Room No. 1 on the upper level of Saionji Tower.

A dozen black metal nameplates lined both sides of the long table, on which meeting materials, fountain pens, and water glasses were neatly arranged. Near the wall, several secretaries responsible for taking minutes sat with heads bowed, checking over today’s agenda.

However, compared to those thoroughly prepared documents, the people present today were far more noteworthy.

Managing Director Gondo of Saionji Construction, President Itakura of S.A. Entertainment, Yoichi Tsuchiya in charge of the group’s financial business integration, and leaders from various major business divisions…

Some among them had worked together for years, while others were formally meeting for the first time today.

After all, Saionji had expanded far too rapidly in recent years.

Its subsidiaries ranged from food, logistics, construction, and retail all the way into finance, semiconductors, telecommunications, and cultural entertainment.

Even within the same group, their day-to-day operations rarely crossed paths.

Moreover, in the past few years, each had maintained separate office locations.

Matters that needed discussing were usually handled directly by telephone or fax. Major cross-departmental projects were coordinated by Endo or the Group Coordination Office.

A gathering like today’s—convened by the top executive level to bring all major business division heads into one room to discuss the group’s overall operations—hadn’t happened in a long time.

What was more, this was the group’s first senior executive meeting since Saionji Tower was officially put into service.

“This really is something…”

Seated in his place, Itakura gazed out the window at wintertime Tokyo Bay, unable to suppress an exclamation.

When he had visited Odaiba in the past, it was still a massive construction site.

Sitting here now and looking out through the giant glass curtain wall, even buildings that used to seem terrifyingly tall looked quite diminutive.

“Is this President Itakura’s first time up here?”

Someone nearby asked.

“We just finished moving our offices yesterday.”

Itakura pulled his gaze back, speaking with a touch of emotion:

“I didn’t feel much before moving in. Only when taking the elevator up this morning did I suddenly realize that I’m actually going to be working in this building from now on.”

“Then you’d better get used to it soon.”

Gondo, sitting across the table, set down his teacup.

“There was a line in the elevator lobby downstairs again this morning.”

“Again?”

“Same yesterday. The finance division and trading company people arrived at about the same time, crowding in front of more than a dozen elevators.”

Gondo shook his head.

“We originally anticipated that passenger flow would increase gradually as departments moved in phases. Who knew employees from some subsidiaries would show up half an hour early on their very first day?”

Itakura was a bit surprised.

“That enthusiastic?”

“Mainly afraid of being late.”

Gondo glanced at him.

“A lot of people are coming to Odaiba for the first time and have no idea how long the shuttle bus actually takes.”

Hearing this, several people wore resigned expressions.

Before they could continue chatting, however, the conference room door was pushed open.

Endo walked in first.

Following right behind him was Shuichi Saionji.

The last person to enter was a young woman dressed in a dark formal business suit. Carrying nothing in her hands, she merely straightened her cuffs slightly as she reached the door.

“Good morning, everyone.”

Satsuki looked up toward the room.

Almost simultaneously, the people along the table rose to their feet.

“Good morning, Milady.”

“Miss Saionji.”

A flurry of greetings sounded.

Satsuki nodded to the room and walked straight to the head seat before sitting down.

Shuichi took the seat to her right, while Endo sat on the other side.

“All right, please be seated.”

She raised a hand in gesture.

Once everyone was settled back into their seats, the secretarial staff closed the conference room doors.

The first senior executive meeting at Saionji Tower officially commenced.

…

Endo was the first to report.

“First, regarding the operational status of the new headquarters.”

He opened the file in front of him.

“As of yesterday afternoon, Phase One of the relocation has been largely completed, with roughly 6,400 employees successfully transitioned to their new workstations. Aside from a few departments still conducting equipment calibration, all office systems have resumed normal operation.”

“However, actual operations over the past three weeks have also brought to light several issues requiring adjustment.”

Endo paused briefly, turning to the next page.

“First is vertical transportation. Between 8:30 and 9:00 AM, employees from various departments arrive in concentration, causing wait times at some transfer lobbies to exceed twelve minutes. In addition, due to the large indoor-outdoor temperature difference in winter, a noticeable chimney effect has appeared in the elevator shafts, necessitating the recalibration of elevator doors and air pressure control devices on certain floors.”

“To address these issues, the General Affairs Department, in coordination with Saionji Construction, has completed a first round of equipment adjustments, and SIS has re-optimized the zoned elevator dispatching algorithm. Starting next week, staggered commuting schedules will be implemented for finance, trading, distribution, and other major business divisions across different time slots.”

“The second item is internal management.”

Endo placed a new report on the table.

“In the past, each subsidiary operated separately, and intra-group information exchange was largely conducted via dedicated communication lines and documentation systems. Now that key management departments are concentrated in the same building, interpersonal contact has increased significantly, and public cafeterias, meeting zones, and rest facilities are seeing mixed use by different business divisions.”

“To prevent unauthorized dissemination of trade secrets and internal materials, the General Affairs Department has restructured access privileges across office areas. SIS has integrated the employee ID system with elevator access control; regular employees can only enter their respective departments and common areas, while floors involving financial trading, group strategy, and core R&D require independent authorization.”

“Furthermore, the Special Oversight Office will conduct regular, independent inspections of privilege enforcement and abnormal access logs to prevent these rules from becoming mere formalities in practice.”

Having said this, Endo looked up at the attendees.

“The above adjustments have all been incorporated into the headquarters’ routine operational budget and do not require additional special appropriations. According to current arrangements, the second round of operational testing is expected to be completed within this month.”

Satsuki nodded gently after listening.

“Mm, thank you for your hard work.”

At least so far, this skyscraper built at enormous expense had not caused her any major headaches after being put into service.

As for those minor operational issues, leaving them to subordinates was fine.

However, Endo was not finished yet.

“Besides this, there is one issue that cannot currently be solved through internal management alone.”

He opened the final set of materials.

“Employee transit.”

“The group has deployed dedicated shuttle buses and coordinated certain public transport and road-use arrangements with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The daily commute for the first batch of relocated employees is essentially assured, but as other business divisions and surrounding office buildings come into service, transit demand is expected to rise sharply this year.”

“In particular, Odaiba is not yet connected to the Greater Tokyo rail transit network. In inclement weather, water transit is vulnerable to disruption, and surface roads lack adequate alternatives.”

“The General Affairs Department has proposed increasing bus frequency, adjusting shuttle stops, and extending evening operating hours, which can meet near-term demand. However, in the long run, relying on these measures alone is clearly insufficient.”

Endo closed the file.

“Therefore, regarding Odaiba’s rail transit construction and the group’s future transportation business development, we recommend adding this to today’s special agenda.”

Satsuki glanced at the meeting materials.

“Very well.”

She picked up a fountain pen and made a mark in the corresponding spot.

“Then we will follow the agenda and discuss it together later.”

“Understood.”

Endo nodded, then turned to the next report.

“Next is the business performance of each division.”

…

After Endo’s briefing concluded, the meeting moved to division performance reports.

First was financial operations.

“General Manager Tsuchiya will now report on the integration of the group’s securities business.”

Hearing his name, a middle-aged man seated near the middle of the long table stood up and bowed slightly toward Satsuki at the head of the table.

Yoichi Tsuchiya.

Half a year ago, his business card still read Representative Director and President of Sanyo Securities.

Having worked at Nomura Securities for over a decade before taking the helm at Sanyo Securities, this veteran securities executive had made a decision in June of last year that caught Sanyo’s entire management off guard.

He had actively sought an acquisition of Sanyo Securities by Saionji.

To secure a face-to-face negotiation with Satsuki, he had even brought company executives and lawyers to wait by the gates of Gakushuin University for over an hour.

Back then, Sanyo Securities was far from being in unviable straits.

But Tsuchiya had already realized that with the collapse of the bubble economy, the Japanese securities industry’s old model—relying on proprietary trading gains, corporate relationships, and expanding retail branch networks—would likely be impossible to sustain.

Rather than waiting until the company fell into dire straits to seek a way out, it was better to proactively join a more powerful financial system while Sanyo’s clients, licenses, and talent still held substantial value.

As it turned out, his decision back then was exceedingly wise.

After months of due diligence and equity transfers, Saionji had secured operational control of Sanyo Securities.

And Tsuchiya had not departed with a handsome retirement payout after handing over the company, as some acquired company presidents had in the past.

Quite the contrary.

Today, not only did he continue to serve as president of Sanyo Securities, but he had also been formally appointed as general manager of Saionji Group’s securities division, overseeing the domestic consolidation of the group’s securities business and the preparations for the new securities firm.

While Sanyo Securities’ old corporate trade name was temporarily retained, the unified name to be used going forward had already been decided.

Saionji Securities.

For Tsuchiya, the significance of this shift was clearly far more than just acquiring a new major shareholder.

In the past, what he managed was merely a securities company of limited scale.

Now, what lay before him was Saionji’s colossal corporate client network, its overseas financial operations, and the group’s steadily expanding information and computing infrastructure.

If he could truly integrate these resources, he might have the opportunity to accomplish things he would never have dared dream of back at Sanyo Securities.

“As of the end of January this year, the primary operational integration of Sanyo Securities has been largely completed.”

Tsuchiya opened the report before him and began his presentation.

“In accordance with prior plans, we first conducted a thorough review of our affiliated finance companies, proprietary holdings, and special institutional clients. Currently, most assets requiring adjustment have been revalued, higher-risk proprietary positions are being disposed of in batches, and new business with legacy clients that fail to meet group screening standards has been halted.”

“Regarding personnel, core institutional sales teams, securities trading desks, and clearing and settlement personnel have all been retained. Regional branch offices have undergone business re-evaluations, and certain branches with chronic losses and lack of strategic value will be phased out once client transfers are complete.”

He turned a page.

“Next is systems integration.”

“At present, Sanyo’s original trading and settlement system has completed Phase One upgrades and is undergoing data interface testing with SIS. The group plans to complete integration of unified customer relationship management, risk monitoring, and financial reporting systems in the first half of this year, gradually establishing collaboration mechanisms with S.A. Investment’s overseas operations.”

“Additionally, regarding the formal reorganization into Saionji Securities, the legal department has completed the primary proposal. Taking into account existing institutional clients and continuity of securities business, we recommend temporarily retaining Sanyo Securities’ existing legal entity, unifying under the new trade name only after necessary corporate procedures and regulatory filings are finalized.”

“Based on current progress, completion is expected in the second quarter of this year.”

At this point, Tsuchiya paused briefly.

“As for the next operational phase, we intend to gradually pivot business priorities toward institutional securities services, corporate financing, and underwriting, while retaining the essential retail client network.”

“In the past, Sanyo Securities constantly sought to expand its branch network to compete with major brokerages like Nomura and Nikko. But looking at it now, continuing down that path no longer makes much sense.”

“Saionji itself possesses an extensive roster of corporate clients along with mature overseas financial operations. What we truly need to do is convert these resources into stable securities business, rather than continuing to pour massive funds into fighting over retail brokerage business that is increasingly difficult to profit from.”

Tsuchiya set down the report.

“That concludes the current status of the securities division’s integration. All tasks are proceeding within the designated budget, and there are currently no matters requiring supplementary funding.”

The conference room fell quiet for a moment.

Then, Satsuki nodded slightly.

“Very good.”

She glanced at the integration schedule outlined at the end of the report.

“Continue moving forward according to this plan, then.”

“Understood.”

Tsuchiya bowed slightly and sat back down.

Satsuki said nothing more.

She was quite satisfied with Tsuchiya’s performance.

At least based on the past six-plus months of work, this brokerage president who had taken the initiative to seek her out at Gakushuin had indeed proven her good judgment.

And looking back now, what was gained from acquiring Sanyo Securities seemed to exceed even her initial expectations.

After all, while a securities license was valuable,

someone who truly knew how to run a securities firm and was willing to acknowledge their past misjudgments was equally hard to come by.