Land of the Rising Mickey
Page 3 of 3
Kawasaki and Takahashi
When Takahashi met Kawasaki a week later at the headquarters of
Keisei Railway, Kawasaki said, "So you're Takahashi. Edo told me about you. I
heard you can drink a lot. Drink a lot and don't worry about money." It was official
- Takahashi had just been drafted into OLC. Edo and Kawasaki needed him to make friends
with Chiba's fishermen and politicians. His "negotiations" with the fishermen
would take place at the local bars ("dining bars" in Japan) which the fishermen,
for all intent and purpose, called "home".
Takahashi later said "OLC was basically only a company on paper when I joined. Honestly, I thought 'What a terrible company. What am I doing?' But I was asked by Edo, so I had to do it. I planned to quit the company as soon as the reclamation was finished."
The day after Takahashi first went to Keisei headquarters, a party was held at a restaurant in Ueno (Tokyo) to celebrate his arrival at OLC. Kawasaki had some entertainment planned for the evening. It was s slideshow he put together of his latest trip to Disneyland.
At that party Kawasaki told Takahashi, "I want to do this in this future. That is why we are reclaiming the land in Chiba." Again, it was May of 1961.
Years later, when recalling what Kawasaki had told him at the party, Takahashi said, "When I heard Kawasaki's story, I thought 'What is he thinking?'. Right now we're not even sure we can do the reclamation. I thought he was moving too fast. We still have to talk to the fishermen and make them understand and then we have to do the reclamation and then after that we have to buy that land from Chiba. So we don't know how long this might take. At that time I wasn't very interested in Disney. Even though Kawasaki explained a lot about it, I didn't think it had anything to do with me. My mission was the reclamation, so I felt that whatever happened on the reclaimed land didn't matter to me."
Soon after Takahashi's arrival, Kawasaki told him, "Even if top Keisei executives say something (to insult you), don't let it bother you. If someone says something, tell them to talk to me. We are going to make this company big - you and me".
Kawasaki's attitude deeply influenced Takahashi. Not only did Takahashi complete the land reclamation, he went on to earn the title "Father of Tokyo Disneyland", which was given to him by OLC. But that, and the sixteen years leading to 1977, are stories for another day.
1977
The park's master plan was complete. The name "Tokyo
Disneyland" was formally chosen. OLC began courting companies for sponsorships.
Negotiations between OLC and WDP would soon draw to a close. Kawasaki Chiharu resigned his
presidency of OLC.
He had no choice. Keisei Railway was hit hard by the 1973 oil crisis (referred to as the "oil shock" in Japan). By 1977, Keisei Railway was in deep financial trouble. He was forced to give it his full attention. And when he stepped down... all hope of a Disneyland coming to Chiba nearly left with him.
The timing was awful. Mitsui Fudosan was pushed from the shadows into the forefront of the negotiations with WDP, a position they weren't sure was worth the effort. OLC had been along for Kawasaki's ride. He provided the direction and the enthusiasm. The situation looked bad... until Takahashi Masatomo took the initiative. (Yet another story...)
A dreamer remembered
Kawasaki Chiharu passed away on June 6th, 1991...
An executive who worked with him described him this way, "Kawasaki always walked two steps ahead of people. He was the type of manager who chased dreams and romance. He created a big rose garden in Yazu Park. He was like that. There's no profit in it. If you did the math, that rose garden wouldn't have been built."
Reminiscing about the early days, Takahashi said, "At that time Kawasaki-san had his dream. He was a happy guy".
Tokyo Disneyland is known as "The Kingdom of Dreams and Magic"...
The dream was his.
Marc Borrelli
Special thanks to Mariko and Justin. Your help is very appreciated.
Discuss It
-- Marc Borrelli
Marc Borrelli has been visiting Disneyland in California for over thirty years and has had the opportunity to observe many of the Park's onstage and backstage workings. He is an entrepreneur who alternates between working obsessively and having way too much time on his hands. In the past few years he's spent much of that time exploring his hobby of trying to figure out just what it is that makes the people who design, build, operate, and go to Disney theme parks tick. He is now living in Tokyo, Japan and has turned his attention to the Tokyo Disney Resort and the unique culture in which it exists. He also created and maintains his Tokyo DisneySea Preview website.
Land of the Rising Mickey is normally posted on the first Monday of each month.
The opinions expressed by Marc Borrelli, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
© Marc Borrelli and LaughingPlace.com. All rights reserved
-- Posted May 7, 2001.