Chapter 146 Okonomiyaki

When the plane arrived, the two went through customs with HTV staff.

As soon as we passed through customs, we saw the Japanese side holding up a sign that said "Travel in Japan".

Shen Wenqi walked over quickly with the translator. There was a beautiful girl in the Japanese team that came to pick her up at the airport. She bowed and said in Chinese with a Taiwanese accent: "Welcome to Osaka. I am Masako Nakajima from TS TV. I will be your guide and liaison for Miss Yue's filming this time."

The Japanese side was really thoughtful in finding such a person.

"Let's go to the hotel near the airport first. Miss Yue needs to put on makeup and change her clothes."

"good!"

They got on a van arranged by the Japanese side and went to a hotel just a few steps away.

The room has been arranged. There is a gift bag on the table, and inside the bag is a brand new PN camera.

All TV station projects must be profitable. HTV contacted several Japanese companies that had entered Hong Kong. When PN Co., Ltd. heard that Yue Ning and Qiao Junxian were traveling together, they immediately asked for exclusive sponsorship and made an astonishing offer. Their only request was that Qiao Junxian take their camera to record the trip to Japan.

Hearing the amount of sponsorship they offered, even Yue Ning, who had made a fortune in his previous life, was shocked.

She recalled that in her previous life, when people talked about the economic bubble, they would inevitably compare it to Japan. Speaking of Japan during the bubble period, in the 1980s, in order to recruit talent, Japanese companies were so wealthy that they reimbursed travel expenses for interviews, gave luxury gift packages to employees upon joining the company, and employees did not use meters when taking taxis.

She always thought these were isolated cases to attract attention, until she saw with her own eyes how lavishly the company spent money.

No wonder Ishikawa and his team could just go to France to shoot Bladder Chicken without any hesitation, and they didn’t care whether the film was good or not.

When the domestic Internet was booming in my previous life, as long as you had a slightly decent project, you didn’t have to worry about not getting money, and you didn’t feel bad at all about burning other people’s money to subsidize it.

Yue Ning changed her clothes and the stylist put on makeup for her. Qiao Junxian changed his clothes, unpacked the sponsor's camera, put the sponsor's brand battery into the camera, and then picked up the camera to adjust it while facing the planes taking off and landing outside the window.

After Yue Ning put on her makeup, the two of them got into the car with the sponsor's logo painted on it again, starting this highly commercial trip to Japan.

The car entered the center of Osaka. The towering skyscrapers overlapped with the scene in her memory. This was the Osaka city at the end of 1979. It was about 60% to 70% similar to the Osaka she visited in her previous life. Many of the buildings were even new, so they looked very modern.

In her previous life, she chatted with Japanese friends, and they all missed the Showa era very much, even though some of them spoke about the Heisei era.

Who wouldn’t miss such a prosperous society?

Probably for the purpose of featuring this company, they specially chose a road that passed by their company building. Yue Ning looked up at the huge billboard, and Qiao Junxian used their camera to take a picture of the huge LOGO.

"Osaka held the World Expo in 1970, and many buildings were built during that period." Qiao Junxian pointed to a particularly stylish building, "That is..."

Qiao Junxian talked about the time when he and his family visited the World Expo when he was young. Yue Ning only remembered the scene of visiting the Shanghai World Expo in his previous life.

The two events are so similar in that both events took place during a country's rapid rise.

"I hope Hong Kong can also have the opportunity to bid for the World Expo. Like Osaka, it can develop so many internationally renowned brands." Qiao Junxian said with envy, but also worried that "Hong Kong has always been engaged in textiles, electronic assembly, and even small appliances like me, which are too replaceable. If there is no good planning..."

Yue Ning thought of the old families in Gangcheng in his previous life. In the end, all of them went into real estate and made a lot of money from the real estate development in Gangcheng and the mainland. However, in Gangcheng where the manufacturing industry had all gone, the well-developed financial industry was not accessible to the general public. There were fewer and fewer industries that could absorb a large number of jobs, and eventually even the catering industry in Gangcheng became more and more aggressive.

People from Guangdong like her who can speak Cantonese will be harassed by restaurant waiters when they go to Hong Kong.

"Sometimes a company can lead an industry in a city. Who says there are no big opportunities in small home appliances?" Yue Ning told him, "Don't forget, China has a population of one billion. A huge market means huge potential."

Yue Ning remembers that in her previous life, in 2010, Chinese people went to Japan to buy toilet lids. After 2020, her friend who made smart home appliances said that eight of the top ten sweeping robots in the Japanese market were from China, and that the sweeping robots they sold in Japan were 2-3 times the price in China. Japanese consumers wanted to come to China and carry them back. The friend said proudly, "The Chinese version of our sweeping robots is region-locked. Even if you buy them in Japan, the Japanese can't connect to the Internet."

"But I heard that China is very poor! They can't even afford to eat, how can they afford home appliances?" Miss Masako asked politely, but there was disdain in her gentle expression.

In her previous life, Yue Ning would have torn her apart as a green tea girl, but she can't do that now because China is really poor, really, really poor.

"Shall we go eat Okonomiyaki now?" Yue Ning asked the line.

Ms. Masako immediately added: "Yes! It's an Okonomiyaki restaurant that has been open for more than 30 years. The taste is very good."

Yue Ning asked with interest: "Ms. Masako, do you know the history of Okonomiyaki?"

"It was brought back to Japan from the Tang Dynasty by Kibi Makibi, an envoy to the Tang Dynasty. After development, it evolved from a snack to a dish with the addition of vegetables, becoming Monjayaki. After World War II, mayonnaise was added to form today's Osaka-style grilled food," said Masako Nakajima.

Yue Ning nodded and said, "That's true. As we all know, after World War II, Japan was extremely short of supplies, and many families didn't even have pots. In order to increase the feeling of fullness, people added whatever ingredients they could find into monjayaki, such as a lot of cabbage, or any other kind of ingredients, which led to the special free combination of Okonomiyaki. In fact, at the beginning, just like the potato pancakes I made when I was in the northwest, it was food to fill the stomach. With the reconstruction of Japan after the war, Japan's economy gradually recovered, and the food became more and more abundant. Okonomiyaki followed the footsteps of Japan's post-war revival and entered the store, becoming a representative dish of a big city like Osaka."

Masako Nakajima signaled the director to stop filming.

Masako Nakajima took out the manuscript and said to Director Gangcheng: "There is no such line."

"Then why not add it? I'm introducing the culture of Okonomiyaki. Feel how empty your line is. Isn't my line much more detailed?" Yue Ning asked, "Or do you think there is a line that is inappropriate?"

Masako Nakajima lowered her head to look at the manuscript again. Shen Wenqi said, "When we signed the contract, it was clearly stated that we would not shoot it exactly according to your last shoot. We must shoot it in a way that reflects Hong Kong's own characteristics. Our Mr. Cai meant that Miss Yue could change the script according to her wishes."

"OK."

Yue Ning looked up and asked Nakajima Masako: "What I said just now just happened to answer your question. Go ask your elders. I remember that after the war, Japan had to implement a rationing system due to food shortages. The daily food quota was 297 grams, and it was all sweet potatoes, soybeans, etc. There was almost no rice or flour, and there was no meat. On this basis, Japan redeveloped. It took ten years to exceed the pre-war level. It took another ten years for the gross national product to exceed that of the Federal Republic of Germany and become the world's second most powerful country. Today, Tokyo has become a well-deserved financial and commercial center in Asia. Japan can develop in this way, so why can't China, Japan's former teacher, develop in this way?"

"How is this possible?"

"Why not?" Yue Ning asked her.

"Japan has the successful experience of the Meiji Restoration."

"Does South Korea have it? Does our Taiwan Province and Hong Kong have it? Does Singapore have it? Aren't they all developed as well?" Yue Ning said to her, "What did Japan do for more than 1,300 years before the Meiji Restoration?"

"I hope you can succeed." Although there was some disdain in Nakajima Masako's eyes, she still said this.

"It's a historical inevitability," said Yue Ning.

Others may not have this confidence, but Yue Ning is someone who has witnessed China's development firsthand, so she has her own confidence.

Given her status, she really didn't need to bother with such a small clerk, but she still got stressed out.

They had arrived at Dotonbori. Masako Nakajima opened the car door, and Yue Ning and Qiao Junxian got out.

The camera was focused on Yue Ning. Behind him were a variety of store signs, each more exaggerated than the last. Yue Ning said, "Dear viewers, today I am in Dotonbori, Osaka, Japan."

She looked up at the chef's sign with a ferocious face, then turned to look at the giant crab, and then at the big puffer fish floating above her head. There were shop assistants around her loudly soliciting customers, and the whole street was bustling with activity.

"I heard that people go bankrupt when they come to Osaka. What should I do now that I have a hard time choosing?" Yue Ning said helplessly, "But we have already decided to eat Okonomiyaki. Then let our guide for this show, Ms. Masako, take us there!"

Masako Nakajima had that humble and gentle expression on her face again as she led them inside.

This street is about the same width as the street where Baohua Building is located, and is lined with restaurants. The store we are going to visit today has a different name, but the style of the store is similar to the Okonomiyaki restaurant that Yue Ning had eaten at in his previous life and which has been rated by Michelin for many years!

As you enter the store, the air is filled with the aroma of food grilling on the iron plate. Diners gather around the iron plate, and the sizzling sound is just what you’re after.

The production team had already reserved a seat, so they went upstairs together. Downstairs, the diners ate around the iron plate, while upstairs, four people sat at a table, each with a iron plate. Yue Ning and Qiao Junxian sat down face to face, and she took the menu and, according to the program arrangement, chose a traditional pork tamagoyaki and a fried noodle okonomiyaki.