Jack Ma indicated that he feels comfortable living in Japan, to be precise in Tokyo. It has been proven that the founder of Alibaba has been there for about half a year. As is known, Jack Ma has not appeared in public for a long time since criticizing the Chinese government's financial system in 2020.
In Tokyo, Jack Ma is said to have a hobby of taking hot baths, or traveling regularly to the United States and Israel, for whatever business. He also hangs out in the Ginza and Marunouchi areas.
For his convenience, Jack Ma brought a personal chef who prepared his favorite food, as well as his own security guard to protect him. The question is, why did he choose Japan?
This can only be answered by Jack Ma himself for certainty. But according to the Japan Times we quoted, reports of Ma being in Japan, which does not have a formal extradition treaty with China, have fueled speculation he is hiding and avoiding China's crackdown.
But Jack Ma also has history and ties to Japan, having a business and personal relationship spanning more than 20 years with SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, who was one of Alibaba's early investors. This relationship apparently made Ma like Japan.
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"Jack has always loved the best Japanese food and the best Japanese food in Japan can always be found by Son," said David Wei, former CEO of Alibaba.
In 2008, Alibaba and SoftBank formed Alibaba.com Japan as a joint venture, as one of Alibaba's first steps towards realizing its global ambitions. In 2018, Ma visited Japan and was greeted enthusiastically.
Even though SoftBank reduced Alibaba's stake in August this year, Jack Ma and Son seem to remain close. Perhaps that was one of the main reasons Ma was comfortable in Japan.
At the Tokyo 2019 Forum, the two talked about their partnership. "We're both a little crazy," Son said. "Jack isn't really interested in money," he added, to laughter from the audience.
"In the last 20 years (we have become) friends, partners and soul mates in our cause," Ma said.
However, as quoted by us from the South China Morning Post, a related source said that Jack Ma so far has no plans to live abroad permanently.
His mission, apart from personal enjoyment, is also to study agricultural technology. Previously on visits in Spain and the Netherlands, Jack Ma visited academics for the same mission.
Indeed, Jack Ma is said to have promised the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to help the farmers in his country. In Japan, Jack Ma reportedly visited the Aquaculture Research Institute at Kindai University.