In 2004, a "special" guest came to Alibaba's headquarters.
She is Ma Yun's dream lover, Junko Xiaolu.
Ma Yun excitedly said: "Without her, there would be no Alibaba, and there would be no Ma Yun today." ”
Over the years, ma yun traveled to Japan again and again to find her. Curiously, as an actor at the time, most people in Japan had never even heard of this person.
It was not until after 2000, when Ma Yun went to Japan for the sixth time, that he found this goddess that he never forgot through some friends in the Japanese film and television industry.
Your youth, my youth, Ma Yun's youth are the same
The reason why Ma Yun has been "fond" with her for many years is because of a Japanese drama called "Volleyball Women".
"Volleyball Girl" is a youth memory of many post-60s and post-70s generations, this TV series is adapted from a manga, filmed in Japan in 1979.
Its main story is a group of girls who persevere and fight tenaciously for the dream of volleyball, overcome various obstacles, and finally rush to the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.
Yumiko Araki is the heroine of it, Junko Oga.
In the play, Junko Koga's optimistic, youthful and lively image has won the love of many audiences.
The reason why such a Japanese TV series was introduced at that time was because of a major event in the mainland sports world.
In 1981, under the leadership of Yuan Weimin, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the overall championship of the World Cup volleyball tournament for the first time. Affected by this, the Love of Volleyball in China has never been higher.
Taking advantage of this boom, in 1983, the Japanese drama "Volleyball Girl" was translated and introduced to China and broadcast on the CCTV hit theater.
As soon as this drama was broadcast, it caused a fierce response throughout the country. Nowadays, many people have not heard of this drama, but in that year, the popularity of Junko Xiaolu, the heroine of "Volleyball Women", was no less than the top of the entertainment industry now.
Like many young people now, Ma Yun also chased stars when he was young, and he also had idols.
He once confessed that Junko Fawn was his idol. There was a time when he even regarded it as his "first love" and "dream lover".
However, in Ma Yun's view, the meaning of idols is that you have the good qualities that I want to learn, and when I feel afraid or want to give up, I am full of strength when I see you.
Ma Yun was born on September 10, 1964, and is a standard post-60s generation.
When the drama "Volleyball Girl" was screened in China, Ma Yun was experiencing the first blow in his life.
In 1982, Ma Yun took the college entrance examination for the first time, and he scored only 1 point in mathematics. Ironically, his first choice for the college entrance examination was Peking University.
Ma Yun was deeply shocked, and went to a hotel with his cousin to apply, unexpectedly, reality gave him a heavy blow again.
My cousin was successfully hired, but he was rejected. The reason for the refusal is particularly hurtful: bad looks.
Failing the college entrance examination and being frustrated in finding a job, Ma Yun was decadent all day. The father, Malay Fa, saw that it was not a problem for his son to continue to be depressed like this, so he bought a tricycle and asked him to ride it to deliver books to the magazine.
In those days, Ma Yun rode a bulky tricycle in the hot sun, shuttling through the streets. Sweat soaked his clothes, and miraculously, the idea of "try again" burrowed into his head.
In 1983, Ma Yun took the College Entrance Examination in World War II.
Lady Luck still did not take care of him, and after scoring 19 points in mathematics, he fell behind again.
Parents think that Ma Yun is not learning that piece of material, euphemistically said, it is better to learn a craft, and have a skill to eat in the future.
Ma Yun himself thinks so. He decided to give up college altogether, and then rode the dilapidated tricycle, repeating manual labor day after day.
Just at this time, "Volleyball Girl" was introduced to China.
Ma Yun saw junko fawn on the screen for the dream of volleyball, who never gave up. Her courageous, lively and cheerful personality deeply infected this young man who was full of frustration at the failure of the college entrance examination.
"If you can't do it once, you can do it twice; if you don't do it twice, just do it again, and the result can be worse?"
In 1984, Ma Yun took the college entrance examination for the third time under the opposition of all people.
This time, he scored 89 points in mathematics, but the total score was 5 points away from the undergraduate admission line.
Just when Ma Yun thought that this college entrance examination was a free "escort run", an exciting news came:
That year, the enrollment index of English majors in Hangzhou Normal College did not meet the standard, and Ma Yun was admitted with excellent English results.
Since then, Ma Yun's life has completely changed.
After graduation, he founded the English Translation Agency, founded the Chinese Yellow Pages, and founded China's first Internet company, accumulating more and more social experience, and the road of life became wider and wider.
As the saying goes, on the road of life, each stage has each stage of the dilemma, until Ma Yun successfully founded Alibaba, he still has to face a lot of setbacks and bumps.
Whenever this happens, Ma Yun will revisit "Volleyball Girl" and let Junko Fawn help her "one arm".
"Whenever I wanted to sell Alibaba, she gave me the motivation to keep going." Ma Yun has repeatedly expressed his "love" for Junko Fawn in public.
Therefore, later, when The Alibaba founded by Ma Yun had a start, his first thought was to find Yumiko Araki, the actor of Junko Kogo, and thank her in person.
In order to find her, Ma Yun traveled to Japan 6 times. However, in Japan, no one knows who Junko Oga is.
Ma Yun's star-chasing journey
At first, Ma Yun did not know what Junko's real name was, although there was a cast list in the TV series, but Junko's name was somewhat special.
Araki is made up of Katakana in Japanese, and Ma Yun has read it many times and doesn't know which Kanji Araki Yumiko is.
What is even more strange is that japanese locals have never seen the drama "Volleyball Girl", let alone the name "Junko Oda".
Isn't "Volleyball Girl" a Japanese drama? Why hasn't anyone in Japan heard of it?
Originally, the 1980 Olympics were hosted by the Soviet Union, which at that time was in a state of rigidity in relations with the United States, mainly Japan, and other countries.
"Volleyball Girl" is a sports drama based on the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games as Beijing, and it was naturally boycotted by countries such as the United States and Japan.
Although the production team of "Volleyball Girl" and Japanese television have already signed a contract, after the government issued an order, the screening time of "Volleyball Girl" was also moved from the golden eight o'clock file to the early morning.
The low ratings directly led to the release of "Volleyball Girl" in Japan, and it was completely hidden in the snow.
In order to recover the loss, the film team that produced "Volleyball Girl" directly applied its plot, only changed the names and backgrounds of the characters in the play, and launched a basketball version of "Slam Dunk Master".
With the disappearance of "Volleyball Girl" in Japan, many Japanese people did not have the opportunity to know the heroine Junko Oga.
And Ma Yun has only gone to find the actor of the heroine in the play after 21 years, which is undoubtedly a needle in a haystack.
It was not until after 2000 that Ma Yun went to Japan for the sixth time, and through some friends who worked in the Japanese film and television industry, he painstakingly found Yumiko Araki, the actor of Junko Oga.
At this time, Yumiko Araki is no longer young, nearly 40 years old, and the first half of her life experience is more difficult than the plot of "Volleyball Girl".
At the age of 16, Yumiko Araki debuted on the show "The First Horipro Artist Selection Team". After his debut, he released the song "Crossing on the Shore", which sold 44,000 copies in Japan.
I thought that after filming "Volleyball Girl", Yumiko Araki would usher in the peak of her career. Unexpectedly, it was unfortunately hidden in the snow.
Ma Yun, a young boy in China, changed the trajectory of his life because of Junko Fawn taking a brave step, while Yumiko Araki herself, who played Junko Fawn, has been ups and downs ever since.
In 1983, the 23-year-old Yumiko Araki chose to quit the show business and marry Andahara, a well-known Japanese musician at the time, and have a child.
I thought I would live a stable and happy life after marriage, but fate is like this, what you want to get, but it does not let you get.
A week after Yumiko Araki and her husband were married, her mother-in-law fell ill, and the two had to take care of them at their mother-in-law's bed before they even had time to finish their honeymoon.
Husband Yuhara saw everything that Yumiko Araki did, and under her careful care, the mother-in-law was out of danger of life, but fell ill with Alzheimer's disease.
Once, the mother-in-law actually told her son Yubara that Yumiko Araki would not give her food and brought home a strange man, in fact, the strange man in her mouth was Yuhara.
Faced with such accusations, Yumiko Araki secretly wiped away her tears somehow. Whenever this happens, she will tell herself: I have played Junko Fawn, and I want to be as tenacious as she is and do my best to take care of this family.
Where there is giving, there is a reward. In 2003, before her mother-in-law died, she held Yumiko Araki's hand and said, "You have worked hard all these years, thank you." You will be happy in the future. ”
From her mother-in-law's illness to her mother-in-law's death, Araki Yumiko worked hard to take care of her for 20 years, and her feelings for her mother-in-law are very deep. When she was able to marry Yuhara, it was her mother-in-law who single-handedly brokered it.
I thought that after the death of her mother-in-law, Yumiko Araki would be more relaxed, but she found a malignant tumor during a physical examination.
Constantly being hit, Yumiko Araki completely lost her confidence in life, and she thought of dying.
However, looking at her lively and lovely son and gentle and considerate husband, she did not want to give up hope so easily.
"Like Junko Fawn, go forward!"
Adjusting her mood, Yumiko Araki set off again. Eat and take medicine on time every day, insist on exercising, keep a happy mood, and after half a year, she went to the hospital for review, and the malignant tumor became benign.
Things that are too bad to be bad are the beginning of getting better.
Yumiko Araki, who has regained her confidence in life, shares her years of experience in caring for her mother-in-law on a nursing show called "Mentally Prepared Caregiving". A television commercial for detergent was also followed.
At this time, Ma Yun also found this "goddess" who had given him infinite hope.
Yumiko Araki was very surprised, she did not expect that there were still people who remembered "Junko Oda", and even worked hard to change their fate because of "Junko Oda".
Bump into youth
In September 2004, at the invitation of Jack Ma, Yumiko Araki came to China for the first time and visited Alibaba's headquarters.
At that time, countless people were obsessed with "Xiaolu Junzi", and she was the youth mark of many post-60s and 70s in China.
Now, knowing that "Junko Xiaolu" herself has come to China, countless fans want to see her and fulfill their youthful dreams.
On December 10, Yumiko Araki was invited to be a guest on the CCTV program "Art Life", and on that day, the audience was full of people.
"I didn't expect that so many people in China still remember 'Junko Xiaolu', thank you!" In the future, I will definitely make unremitting efforts for the friendship between China and Japan! ”
There is a link in the show where some fans of "Junko Fawn" are invited to sign a volleyball.
When Yumiko Araki took the volleyball with the fan's name signed, she couldn't hold back any longer, tears welling up her eyes.
Yumiko Araki's life was changed by Jack Ma's relentless search, and since then, she has been committed to Sino-Japanese friendly relations.
In 2014, Yumiko Araki, as a messenger of Sino-Japanese friendship, participated in the recording of the Spring Festival Gala on Beijing Satellite TV.
Thanks to her continuous efforts, in 2018, Tokyo held the "Weibo Japan Heroes Association", and Yumiko Araki was honored to receive the "China-Japan Friendship Contribution Award".
In 2021, Yumiko Araki sang the theme song of "Volleyball Girl" at the Shanghai Grand Theatre in China.
On that day, countless 60s and 70s came to the scene and heard familiar songs and melodies, and many people present could not cry, and they sighed infinitely: "I experienced the joy of reuniting with my youth for a long time!" ”
Yumiko Araki on the stage was even more excited, and she looked at the enthusiastic Chinese fans and was very moved: "Thank you for your love for Junko Oga for many years, I am honored for this." Coming to China again and again over the years, I feel everyone's enthusiasm. I have long regarded China as my second home. ”
In order to better communicate with Chinese fans, Yumiko Araki, who is over 60 years old, taught herself Chinese and opened a Weibo account.
During the Beijing Winter Olympics, Yumiko Araki posted news on Weibo many times to cheer for the Winter Olympics.
In order to facilitate chinese fans to read, she very thoughtfully put the Chinese in front. She also carefully replied to the comments of fans.
Although she is no longer the youthful and lively fawn Junko she was then, she still has the qualities of Junko Fawn who loves life and bravely moves forward.
Junko The fawn, played by Miko Araki, accompanies Ma Yun through difficult years;
When Ma Yungong became famous, he also added a force to her life.
This is the so-called "power of idols"!
Nowadays, many young people are chasing stars, in fact, chasing stars is not spending money, let alone pursuing, but getting a positive energy from it, and using this positive energy to tell themselves: You see, there are such beautiful people in the world! Can I try it and try to get closer to him?