Land of the Rising Mickey
Page 2 of 2
On to 1961... Takahashi had risen to become president of Kenzai... but Edo had a new job for him... Urayasu.
Takahashi didn't want it (who would?), but his respect and friendship for Edo made it impossible for him to refuse. The moment Edo decided that Takahashi was the man for the job, it was out of Takahashi's hands.
Takahashi recalled his response to Edo's "request" -
"Why me?" he said, "I don't like that (land reclamation). I don't want to do that".
"Please don't say that", Edo replied.
Takahashi repeated, "Why me? I have no experience".
Edo responded, "I know that. You're not that smart, but you can drink a lot, so you can take the local fishermen and politicians to dining bars and talk to them".
Edo introduced Takahashi to OLC president Kawasaki Chiharu. Kawasaki hired him on the spot and Takahashi was given the responsibility of bringing the various fishermen's cooperative associations and politicians on board.
For some more background on Kawasaki, Takahashi, and Edo see my article The Grandfather of Tokyo Disneyland.
• • •
Takahashi to the Rescue
But before he began his negotiations, Takahashi made a discovery that sent the parties
involved in OLC into a near panic -
Note: First, I should point out that, in Japan, personal seals are small rubber stamps which bear an individual's name. They're registered with the city government and they're required for official documents and contracts. They serve much as the same purpose as signatures do in the U.S. and elsewhere.
In a phone call to the property department at Keisei Railway, Takahashi asked them to check on the progress of the transfer of O-sankaku's deed over from Fujio to OLC. During that check it was found that the seal on the deed itself was different from the impression which OLC had on file. It was not the same contract which OLC had agreed to, but an amended version which Fujio had drawn up unbeknownst to OLC!
After some investigation, Takahashi found that the amended deed was, of course, part of Fujio's plan to sell O-sankaku out from under OLC.
Takahashi recalled, "Fujio was a jerk. He made himself out to be a rich man and he made the fishermen trust him. He was planning to sell O-sankaku to someone, but I found out".
Takahashi personally confronted Fujio and forced him to transfer the title over to OLC. Not an easy task. The deed was in Fujio's name, and at that point he had no legal obligation to transfer it. (How Takahashi managed to convinced Fujio to sign that deed over is information which I am not privy to.)
But the fishermen weren't happy. Despite Fujio's bribery conviction, etc., they still trusted him more than they trusted OLC. When they got word that the deed had been transferred to OLC, they did what they do best - A group of them stormed unannounced into Kawasaki Chiharu's office and scared the hell out of him...
Marc Borrelli
Tune in on July 2nd for the forth and final installment in the saga of Urayasu's fishermen.
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-- 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 June 25, 2001.