That afternoon, Masayuki Uemura boarded the train bound for Osaka.
Sharp's headquarters were located right there.
The train sped along the tracks, the scenery outside the window flashing backward. Masayuki Uemura flipped through the documents in his hands, his mind constantly calculating how to pry information out of those old foxes at Sharp.
Sharp's position in the liquid crystal field was beyond doubt, and Nintendo's cooperation with Sharp had also spanned many years. Yet in the business world there were no permanent friends, only permanent interests. Sega was now rolling in money, so Sharp leaning toward them stood to reason.
Upon arriving in Osaka, Masayuki Uemura did not go directly to Sharp's headquarters, heading instead to an izakaya first.
He had arranged to meet a section chief from Sharp's Panel Division there. The two were old acquaintances of many years.
After a few cups of sake went down, the topic gradually shifted to the main track.
"You folks at Sharp have really been stealing the spotlight lately." Masayuki Uemura filled the other man's cup to the brim. "That HR-TFT display has the whole industry staring at it."
The section chief picked up his wine cup and let out two dry laughs.
"The technology is a good technology, it's just that ramping up production capacity is absolute torture."
Masayuki Uemura picked up a piece of sashimi with his chopsticks.
"Word is that Sega has already received their finalized batch?"
The section chief's gesture of drinking paused for a moment.
"Uemura-san, your news is plenty well-informed." The section chief set down his cup and lowered his voice. "This matter is top secret internally."
"As expected." Masayuki Uemura felt grounded in his mind. "How much capacity did Sega take?"
The section chief shook his head.
"I can't get close to the specific numbers.