Itō was rather surprised when he received GS's invitation. He had no idea what a triad Boss wanted with him.
As general manager of Daimaru Department Store's Hong Kong Island company, Itō enjoyed considerable social standing. He and street gangsters lived in entirely different worlds.
"Do I really need to meet someone like that?" Itō asked dismissively.
"LS is now Hongxing's Boss in Causeway Bay. All of Causeway Bay is his territory, much like the Yamaguchi-gumi in Japan. I think you'd better meet him and hear what he has to say," suggested the deputy manager in charge of administrative affairs.
"Since you put it that way, I'll go meet him," Itō said with some arrogance.
Japan's economy had begun taking off in the seventies, and the eighties were its golden decade.
In 1978, America's per capita GDP had passed ten thousand dollars. Japan's per capita GDP had also passed ten thousand dollars in 1983, while Hong Kong Island's current figure was only half Japan's.
Although they had yet to reach the peak of "selling Tokyo could buy all of America," the Japanese had already shaken off the shadow of their defeat in the war and were beginning to show signs of going wild.
The clearest sign was the condescending arrogance of people like Itō.
No offense to anyone in particular, but everyone here except America is trash.
That afternoon, Itō and his deputy manager arrived at a Causeway Bay teahouse right on time, only to run into Mitsukoshi Department Store's manager, Takemura Shigesho, at the entrance.
Both parties paused in surprise, not expecting to see the other there, then exchanged quiet greetings.
"Takemura-san, do you know what this LS from Hongxing wants with us?"
"I hear he's just unified Causeway Bay. I imagine that's given him quite a bit of