Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 87 The Industrial Revolution at 43 Degrees North Latitude

Hokkaido, Tokachi Plains.

This is the largest single arable land in the Japanese archipelago. Unlike the narrow, patchwork-like paddy fields on Honshu Island, which are fragmented by mountains, the horizon here is stretched straight by nature.

A convoy of black Mercedes-Benz vehicles sped along National Highway 38.

On both sides of the road, the newly thawed black earth stretched to the horizon. In the distance, the snow-capped mountain range was still covered with white snow, reflecting a dazzling, cold light under the almost transparent azure sky.

The scenery outside the car window was monotonous yet magnificent.

Utility poles are sparse, and houses are hard to find. The view is filled with windbreaks and circular silage towers that stand on the wasteland like giant totems.

"If I didn't look at the road signs, I would have thought we were in the American Midwest."

Amy pressed her face against the car window, her breath condensing into a white mist on the glass. Looking out at the vast, unsettling wilderness, her eyes held a mixture of fear and excitement about the unknown.

"This place is so big...so big that it makes me feel like an ant."

Satsuki sat on the other side of the back seat, holding a thick land survey report in her hand.

"That's ten wins."

She turned a page of the document, the paper making a crisp sound.

"43 degrees north latitude. At this latitude lies the world's most fertile black calcareous soil. As long as seeds are sown, this land will produce crops like crazy."

The convoy turned onto a newly paved gravel road.

The tires crunched over the stones, making a "crunch crunch" sound.

A row of huge, silver-gray metal domed buildings appeared ahead, standing out starkly against the open field. That was the newly built "S-Farm First Base" of Saionji Foods Co., Ltd.

The convoy came to a stop.

As soon as I opened the car door, the biting cold wind, mixed with the earthy smell and unmelted snow, relentlessly rushed into my collar.

In front of the warehouse, two rows of employees wearing uniforms with the words "S-Farm" printed on them were already lined up and waiting.

Leading the way was Hayakawa, the president of Saionji Foods. He quickly stepped forward and opened the car door.

"Young Miss, you must be tired from your journey."

Beside Hayakawa stood a burly, dark-skinned middle-aged man. Unlike the others, he wasn't reserved; instead, he wore an oil-stained baseball cap and stared sharply at Satsuki.

Kohei Otsuka, the chief technical advisor of S-Farm, is also the legendary "madman" who was ostracized by the mainstream agricultural community because of his radical advocacy for mechanization.

"Mr. Otsuka."

Satsuki got off the carriage, ignoring the mud on the ground, and walked straight up to him, extending her hand.

"It seems you're adapting well."

Otsuka took off his gloves, revealing his large, calloused hands, and grasped Satsuki's hand.

"Money makes things easier."

His voice was hoarse, with a rugged quality unique to Hokkaido.

"As long as the funding is in place, there's nothing I won't adapt to. Ms. Saionji, the 'toys' you gave me are all set up."

Instead of leading the way himself, he picked up the walkie-talkie hanging around his neck and pressed the call button.

"Attention everyone, open the position."

With a dull hum as the motor started, the massive hangar roller shutter door slowly rose.

The heavy shadows dissipated, revealing the steel behemoth lurking deep within the warehouse.

Amy gasped.

Those were ten brand-new John Deere 8850 heavy tractors, painted bright green.

These American monsters, with V8 turbocharged engines and tires taller than an adult male, are almost never seen in the fields of Japan. They sit there silently, their exhaust pipes pointing to the sky, like a fully equipped armored force, exuding a breathtaking industrial beauty.

Behind the tractor were a hydraulic reversible plow, a precision seeder, and even a huge combine harvester.

"This is... what we use for farming?" Amy looked up at the huge rubber tire, feeling that the Kubota tires she had seen before were just toys.

"This is a weapon."

Otsuka took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, but did not light it; he simply held it to his nose and sniffed it.

"In Japan, ordinary farmers use small tractors with 20 horsepower, which take two whole days to plow one hectare of land. But this monster has 370 horsepower."

He pointed to the pilots who were already sitting in the cockpit, wearing earmuffs.

"It only takes two hours."

"One machine, with one driver, can do the work of a hundred farmers."

Satsuki walked over to Otsuka and looked at the machines.

"This is the first secret to how Saionji Foods can keep prices so low."

She turned around and faced the vast, black wasteland in the distance, a landscape that had been leveled.

"Scale effect".

"The reason why agricultural products are expensive in Japan is because the land is too fragmented. Everyone is tending to their own small plot of land, which is inefficient and costly."

"But here, I bought three hundred hectares of land and connected them into a huge canvas."

Satsuki stretched out her hand, drawing an arc in the air.

"Here, agriculture is no longer a craft that depends on the weather."

"It's industry. It's an assembly line. It's standardized production."

"But..." Amy pushed up her glasses and asked, "Isn't just having a fast machine enough? I've heard that fertilizers and seeds are very expensive in Japan, and that's the main expense."

"Good question."

Otsuka picked up a handful of fertilizer granules from the ground and handed them to Amy.

"Little girl, do you know what this is?"

"fertilizer?"

"This is diammonium phosphate." Otsuka sprinkled the fertilizer back onto the ground. "If you bought it at a regular agricultural supply store, this bag would cost five thousand yen."

"Because that's the price set by the agricultural cooperative (JA)."

Otsuka's tone carried a hint of sarcasm, a reflection of his deep-seated loathing for that massive bureaucracy.

"In this country, farmers are slaves to the agricultural cooperatives. You have to buy the expensive seeds and fertilizers designated by the agricultural cooperatives, and use the cooperatives' high-interest loans to buy agricultural machinery. With all these layers of exploitation, how can the potatoes not be expensive?"

"but."

President Hayakawa interjected at the opportune moment, pulling a customs declaration form from his briefcase.

"This batch of fertilizer was purchased directly from the United States and Canada through the overseas channels of Saionji Trading Co., Ltd."

He pointed to the numbers on the receipt.

"The landed price is only 40% of the Japanese market price."

"That's the second secret."

Satsuki continued.

"De-agricultural cooperativeization".

"We don't need to go through those bloodsucking intermediaries. We have our own fleet, our own logistics, and our own procurement channels."

"From seeds to fertilizers, from feed to pesticides, S-Farm has created a closed loop that is completely independent of Japan's existing agricultural system."

Otsuka looked at Satsuki with a complicated expression.

When Hayakawa approached him, he didn't believe it. He couldn't believe anyone would dare to openly challenge the authority of the agricultural cooperatives on Japanese soil.

But when those ships of cheap imported fertilizer were delivered to the warehouse, and when those huge John Deere tractors roared into the farm, he believed it.

This girl, who is only a teenager, is really going to topple this pyramid.

"Mr. Otsuka."

Satsuki looked at the technical advisor.

"I don't want ordinary potatoes. I want potatoes that cost only half the market price."

"With these machines and these cheap raw materials, can you do it?"

Otsuka grinned, revealing a set of teeth stained yellow from smoking.

"half?"

He raised the walkie-talkie in his hand and pressed the button.

"Attention all personnel, start the engines."

"Boom—!!!"

At a command, the engines of ten heavy tractors roared simultaneously. Black smoke billowed from their exhaust pipes, and the deafening roar of their turbines echoed through the sky, causing even the frozen ground beneath their feet to tremble slightly.

The sound didn't sound like plowing a field; it sounded more like an armored division launching an attack.

Amidst the deafening roar, Otsuka turned to look at Satsuki and shouted:

"Boss, you're underestimating industrialization!"

"Just one-third! I guarantee it!"

He waved.

The steel torrent began to move. Huge rubber tires crushed the hard frozen ground, and hydraulic reversible plows cut into the earth that had slumbered all winter, stirring up waves of black soil.

They formed a long, single-file line, advancing towards the vast expanse of black earth, leaving trails of black scars against the backdrop of the white snowfield.

sunset.

The golden-red afterglow shone on the Tokachi Plain.

Satsuki stood on the edge of the field, the wind ruffling her hair. She didn't speak, but simply watched the machines operating in the distance.

She bent down and picked up a handful of black soil from the ground.

The soil is moist and fertile, exuding the fragrance of life, and also the scent of money.

She loosened her grip, letting the soil drift away in the wind.

In the distance, the huge shadow of machinery stretched long, very long across the black earth.