In 2000, Ma Yun, accompanied by an assistant, went to Japan in a low-key manner.
After getting off the plane, he first bought a bouquet of flowers in advance, and then, with excitement and trepidation, went straight to a tea house in Tokyo.
After pushing open the door nervously, a woman with a good face immediately got up to greet her.
Seeing the person in front of him, Ma Yun burst into tears.
The "dream lover" who could only be missed through the screen, the woman who influenced him half of his life, Yumiko Araki, finally stood in front of his eyes, and he traveled to Andi six times in two years.
So, who is Yumiko Araki? What is the connection between her and Ma Yun? Why does Ma Yun always think of her?
It's both an idol and a motivation
Ma Yun was born in an ordinary family in Hangzhou, he was not a good student when he was a teenager, skipping class and making trouble was a common thing, and later he was forced to transfer schools because of fights.
Even so, his family supported him until high school.
In 1982, Ma Yun ushered in the first college entrance examination in his life, and the 18-year-old was always ambitious, and he confidently wrote "Peking University" on the college entrance examination volunteer.
The result is very full of ideals, and the reality is very bone.
When the college entrance examination results were released, the child who dreamed of going to Peking University was instantly dumbfounded, and his math score was only 1 point.
Although at that time, Peking University also admitted candidates with zero scores in mathematics, such as Zhu Ziqing, Wu Han and so on.
But it is clear that Ma Yun at that time did not have amazing talent.
After the first college entrance examination failed, Ma Yun and his cousin went to interview the waiter together, but the restaurant owner only hired a cousin of talents, and Ma Yun was eliminated miserably.
In this way, Ma Yun found several jobs in succession, but they were all turned away.
In desperation, he had to continue his path of reading.
In 1983, Ma Yun ushered in the second college entrance examination, this time still very "punching face", math scores only a little better than the last time, 19 points.
As with the last time, this time even the undergraduate threshold was not enough, let alone Peking University.
Falling off the list again, the disheartened Ma Yun once again went out to work, but still hit a wall everywhere.
After failing the college entrance examination twice in a row, Ma Yun was devastated in his heart, and he wanted to give up studying, but he met a person who changed his life's fate.
She is the heroine of the Japanese drama series "Volleyball Girl" - Junko Oga.
After the reform and opening up, the mainland's cultural undertakings have developed rapidly, and a number of foreign film and television works have been introduced, and "Volleyball Women" is one of them.
The play tells the story of a group of high school girls who are passionate about volleyball to form a women's volleyball team, go through setbacks, and thrive in hard trials.
In addition to celebrating friendship and youth, it also inspired the growth of a generation of young people at that time.
Among them, the heroine Junko Fawn is young and beautiful, facing difficulties and daring to fight for her dreams, and her image is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and she is regarded by many viewers as "first love" and "dream lover".
Ma Yun is no exception.
From the first sight of Junko Fawn, he felt that this girl was like a beam of light, driving away all the haze around him.
The strength of not accepting defeat in her body has become the driving force for her to keep moving forward.
In this way, in 1984, Ma Yun regained his strength and went to the college entrance examination hall for the third time.
After the results came out, although there was a significant improvement over the previous two times, it was still five points away from the undergraduate line.
Fortunately, Ma Yun's English score was very good, and he was eventually admitted to Hangzhou Normal University.
After being admitted to the undergraduate, Ma Yun cherished the opportunity to study more, did not slacken off, and worked harder and harder in life and work.
For the "Volleyball Girl" who once gave him a strong spiritual motivation, although he did not go to find relevant videos or posters to watch repeatedly, Junko Koga's voice and smile and her dedication spirit have been deeply rooted in his bones.
Since then, the spirit of "never giving up" has become one of Ma Yun's life creeds.
After graduating from university, Ma Yun began to start an Internet business, during which many similar companies closed down due to poor management.
But he persevered, and Alibaba grew bigger and bigger, becoming one of the leading companies now.
As Ma Yun said, the reason why he has achieved what he has achieved now is greatly related to the spiritual support given to him by his dream lover Junko Fawn.
Junko Xiaolu is no longer just an idol, she is more like a spiritual motivation for struggle, constantly inspiring Ma Yun to overcome all difficulties.
Finding the actor of "Junko Xiaolu" and personally expressing his love and gratitude to her has also become what Ma Yun wants to do most after his success.
Six trips to And from Japan in search of people
After success, Ma Yun continued to socialize, once went to Japan, and talked about his entrepreneurial experience with friends, and the first thing he remembered was Junko Xiaolu.
Successful people say that the wind is the character of rain, which is also reflected in Ma Yun.
So in 1997, he officially embarked on a journey to Japan to find people.
At that time, Ma Yun was not fully prepared, nor did he know the real name of junko Xiaolu.
Although the credits at the end of the TV series contain the names of the actors, what is special is that it is composed of the Japanese "hiragana" and "magna".
Ma Yun watched for half a day before he could barely recognize the three words "Yumiko".
After getting off the plane, Ma Yun went straight to Tokyo, the capital of Japan.
He thought that Tokyo was bustling with people from all walks of life, and that what he was looking for was a public figure, and there would always be one or two people who knew him.
In this way, Ma Yun held the poster of "Junko Fawn" more than a decade ago, and asked who the actress on the painting was.
Curiously, even after walking through the streets of Tokyo, no one knows about this actress who is well known to women and children in China.
Ma Yun was once very lost, and even wondered if his "dream lover" was no longer alive?
Moreover, what makes him even more puzzled is why the well-known "Volleyball Girl" in China is not known in Japan.
After returning to China, Ma Yun learned after inquiring from all sides that the TV series "Volleyball Girl" was actually hidden in Japan!
The reason is also very simple, at that time, the Western countries were boycotting Moscow, and this TV series happened to be the content of the Moscow Games that would shock volleyball.
In order not to offend the Western countries, the film was removed from the shelves, and the heroine naturally did not have much popularity.
After learning the reason, Ma Yun did not give up, but became more and more frustrated and courageous, and strengthened his determination to find his "dream lover".
After half a year, Ma Yun contacted the general director of "Volleyball Girl" - Hideo Tanaka, and embarked on a second journey to Japan with a personal translator.
Compared with the first time, this journey can be described as a fruitful one, and Ma Yun finally knows that the real name of the actor of "Junko Koga" is Yumiko Araki.
Hideo Tanaka also told Ma that after filming the TV series, Yumiko Araki did not choose to continue to stay in the show business circle.
"Volleyball Girl" was hidden in the snow, which was a big blow to her.
Her own efforts were disappointed, and her acting career went high and low again, leaving Yumiko Araki into a trough in her life.
Therefore, in the second year after filming the TV series, 23-year-old Yumiko Araki chose to retreat into the background and start the life of a husband and a godson.
At that time, she did not expect that her TV series would actually explode in China on the other side of the ocean, and even affect a generation of Chinese young people.
On this trip to Japan, although he did not find Yumiko Araki herself, Ma Yun still received a lot of valid information, which made him feel very happy.
In the following two years, Ma Yun traveled to Japan several times.
Finally, kung fu paid off, and in April 2000, with the help of a Japanese friend, Ma Yun successfully met his former goddess.
At that time, although Yumiko Araki was already a forty-year-old woman, her eyes were very clear, her whole person was full of vitality, and she still had the style of Junko Oga.
When they first met, the two talked happily and had endless topics.
But as the owner of a listed company, Ma Yun is entangled in official duties and cannot stay in a foreign country for a long time.
After a brief meeting, Ma had to return to China.
At the time of parting, Ma Yun burst into tears, and at the suggestion of the assistant, the two left contact information for each other.
Yumiko Araki was also touched, and she did not expect that after more than twenty years, fans on the other side of the ocean would remember her.
She thought it was just a short fan meeting, and it didn't make any waves, but what didn't make her think was that this would be the beginning of her return to the public eye.
Invited to China
In 2004, 44-year-old Yumiko Araki received an invitation from Jack Ma to come to China.
While visiting Alibaba, she also attended a fan meeting organized by Jack Ma.
As soon as he appeared on the scene, all the fans present immediately boiled over.
Unexpectedly, after more than twenty years, there are still people who remember themselves, and Yumiko Araki can't help but burst into tears and bow to the fans present to express her gratitude.
From the personal experience shared by Yumiko Araki, it can be seen that her life can be said to be as inspirational as Junko Oda.
After getting married at the age of 23, she retired from the circle and took care of her sick mother-in-law at home.
Although her mother-in-law tried her best to be difficult, she still did not give up, and this care was ten years.
The emperor paid off, and the mother-in-law expressed her recognition of her efforts before her death, and then died.
I thought that life could treat this strong girl kindly, but at this time, Yumiko Araki was diagnosed with a tumor.
The treatment process was painful, but she persevered with her perseverance.
After a year and a half of treatment, the good news finally came, the tumor turned benign, and it could be healed by surgical resection.
As your body gets better, so does your life.
Driven by Ma Yun, she returned to the public eye, and after the meeting, Yumiko Araki accepted many invitations from tv stations.
To thank chinese fans for her love, Yumiko Araki is actively committed to Sino-Japanese friendship activities and promises to come to China every year to participate in performances.
In 2014, she was officially selected as the "Sino-Japanese Friendship Ambassador" and used this status to come to China to participate in various literary and artistic activities.
Yumiko Araki confessed, "I like China very much, and China is my second hometown."
In 2020, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Shanghai invited Yumiko Araki to sing the classic song "Volleyball Girl".
Many of the audiences on the stage are post-60s and post-70s, and as soon as the music sounds, it seems to be back to the summer when they fought for the sports cause.
Now, Yumiko Araki is a 63-year-old grandmother.
She actively learned the traditional Chinese culture, opened a public social platform account, and learned to communicate with fans with simple Chinese.
In front of the screen, Yumiko Araki conveyed the sportsmanship of never giving up to the audience through film and television works, inspiring a generation of Chinese youth.
Privately, she has always insisted on facing the difficulties of life with positivity and optimism.
Perhaps this is the reason why even if she has been absent for many years, she can still be loved by the Chinese people.
Today, Ma Yun has become a household name entrepreneur in the mainland.
Presumably, he will always remember that in the low times of his life, Yumiko Araki's smile drove away the haze around him like light, making him insist on being himself and becoming a better person.
This may be the meaning of the existence of idols!