2 THE ZAIBATSU

In ZAIBATSU, the player-characters are corporate agents of a very dangerous nature. Tokyo and the Tokyo Bay area has become the centre for a new industry that is dominating 21st century life. Bioengineering is this century's computer revolution, and the Japanese are the globe's leading exponents of the technology. The vast Japanese-based corporations, or zaibatsu, dominate the field; and the world. Tokyo is their battleground, and the struggles are fought for, and with, data and gene-science. Genetics hold the secrets to life, power and profits, being used for agriculture, plastics, medicine, food production, industry and human bioengineering.

The zaibatsu wars are fought by their own corporate security teams, initially recruited from the Streets. Today, with human bio-engineering on the increase, the zaibatsu have begun using their own genetically-modified supermen for security purposes. These retrogenetic killers assassinate employees of rival zaibatsu, kidnap scientists, burgle offices, steal data or bio-samples... the list is endless. And the streets of Tokyo play host to this murderous game of corporate espionage.

Thousands of companies do business around the world, but only a hundred or so are classed as zaibatsu. A zaibatsu has the resources of a small nation, so powerful, wealthy and far-reaching are they. A fleet of cargo jets painted with the corporate livery, business jets, long-distance trucks, hotels, parks, industrial estates, private security armies, lawyers, warehouses, vast housing and living blocks (arcologies), passports, embassies, private islands and airfields, satellites, space-stations and ocean-going ships. There is practically nothing that a zaibatsu cannot procure if it so decides.

ZAIBATSU LISTING

Ellis-Itami
Finance, banking, security and detectives, information, insurance.

Erebus Petrochem
UK engineering, mining and power also oil.

Eurodyne
German aerospace, drugs, genetics, engineering.

Haruna Biotech
medicine, genetics, drugs, psychology.

Japan Air Lines (JAL)
air transport.

Koji-Akita
geology, geothermal, mining, oil, submarines.

Makita Genetics
genetics, cryonics, medicine, drugs.

Matsuyama Heavy Industry
buildings, engineering, power, satellites, dams.

NHK
state media corp.

Okuda
optics, lasers, cameras, sensors, robots, computers.

Oshima
entertainment, media, satellite TV, clubs, bars, resteraunts.

Parkfield Biolabs
Canadian drugs and chemicals.

Shinobizawa
electronics, mechanics, wetware, cybersystems, weapons, computers.

TKS
hotels, holidays and recreation, land and property, leisure.

Transdyne Cybersystems
robots, software, MI.

Voroncovo
Russian satellite, information, security, military, rockets, surveillance.

Yoshiko
finished goods, food, retail, clothing.

THE ZAIBATSU

Ellis-Itami
Ellis-Itami is an information zaibatsu and feared for that. It seems to have an unprecedented data network. E-I owns insurance subsidiaries, a detective agency, stock traders, several small Japanese banking companies and Kodai-Secure the courier and security firm. Information is Ellis-Itami's game, and the zaibatsu has a reputation for hiring the brightest cyberspace cowboys and the best investigators. Trying to be impartial, they sell data to all zaibatsu, all governments: everyone. The zaibatsu symbol is a shield with an eye emblem. Much feared is the E-I credit section hired by other firms to collect debts. The 'credit adjustors' are basically hired guns, ronin and street scum.

Erebus Petrochem
Erebus' symbol is a map of Antarctica. The zaibatsu is British and is involved in oil and gas drilling, mining, construction and submarines. The president lives in the UK, he is Samuel Kazerowski - Polish descent, wheelchair ridden, gaunt-hollow figure. Gestures and shouts. Thinning black hair. Erebus is UK's biggest oil company and is deeply involved in the Antarctic War. Prime supplier of oil to Europe and Japan. Not in the company's interest to see fusion and power sats take over the market. Erebus is massive in size and ever hungry for profit. Also conservative. Main rivals are French Petrochemie and Eurodyne, Europe's biggest investor in solar power satellite prototype. Voroncovo are researching fusion power. Erebus is also interested in keeping other companies out of Antarctica. Taking advantage of war to do just that. Erebus originated out of BP in 2001. Erebus espionage is carried out by a subsidiary called McCandless Insurance. Insurance investigators also spy on rivals, buy information, sabotage rivals, etc.

Eurodyne
This zaibatsu is German and its logo is a DNA spiral in star-filled space. It deals with engineering, construction, drugs, genetics and satellites. HQ is in Munich, the president is Karl Schirra. This radical multinational came out of no-where in 2008. It swallowed up fringe companies and forged them together into one of the most technologically innovative companies in the past 30 years. Own parts of the Brazillian rainforest (some say the government there, too). For research into new drugs. Rumours abound of a cure for cancer, and stock has risen, but Eurodyne tries to put down these rumours. One of major company HQs is Kourou spaceport in French Guyana. Owned by ESA. Eurodyne fabricates parts for the Hermes space shuttle and oversees Ariane maintenance. The company also began the Gibralter Bridge.

Haruna Biotech
This zaibatsu deals in medical services, drugs and genetic treatments. Haruna previously did some bio-weapons designs for the Japanese Self Defence Force, but this was stopped when the viral agent Delta-2 contaminated food supplies, water and some areas in 2016. Many deaths ensued, but no-one is certain who was actually responsible. The government blamed a radical terrorist group called the Imperial Restoration League. Haruna, for its part suspects Makita Genetics of trying (in vain) to discredit Haruna and win the military contract for itself. In mutual fear, both zaibatsu are at virtual full scale war. The people of Tokyo are bracing themselves for further violence. Haruna's network of clinics and hospitals in Chiba are run by a subsidiary, Life Corp. Haruna owns an orbital workstation called Gogon-2, a medical research hospital and re-habilitation centre. The zaibatsu has numerous medical centres in Chiba City, the real heart of medicine in Japan. There all its best labs, research centreas and clincs are based. Most other medical zaibatsu likewise have facilities here. The zaibatsu logo is three triangles in a line.

Koji-Akita
Koji-Akita is an energy corp, with ownership of huge wind-farm islands just off of the mainland. It also is involved with geothermal power stations. Mining and oil drilling also interest the zaibatsu, especially in Korea. The president is Kamakura Watanabe, an old, wise man who began as a geologist. He is at the forefront of futurist thinking, especialy in power systems. He is also a celebrity, and is chairman of Koji-Akita's Kamakura Technical College in Ochanomizu. This is the world's leading geology, energy and power systems school with students from around the world. It has a department of Extraterrestrial Geology. Koji-Akita is very modern and high-tech, with many of its old mines converted to labs, test sites and storage vaults. The nerve centre of operations is Mount Tanzawa, about 55km west-south-west of Tokyo, where a vast underground complex exists. The zaibatsu also has offices in Tokyo.

Makita Genetics
A market leader in genetics and the creator of retrogenics. The president is the mysterious Taneo Tomita a virtual recluse in the Tokyo Sky Tower and a 63-yr pld man in an 18-yr old's body. He is a clone of his former self. The zaibatsu spends much money on its public image, the corp is seen as the first of a new kind of company that can change the world with genetics. They continue to push the good aspects of the technology. Makita offer cloning services to other zaibatsu and the government and are pushing their insurance section that provides virtual immortality for the very rich. The zaibatsu has incorporated several medical companies including Alcor, the Nineteen Nineties cryonics firm. Makita made the cryonics breakthrough that now allows full body freezing. Major rival is Haruna Biotech. Like Haruna, Makita has a huge number of clinics and hospitals in Chiba City, the ultra-advanced heart of 21st century global medicine. The zaibatsu logo is a flower of lotus buds.

Matsuyama Heavy Industries
Almost a dinosaur from the 20th century, Matsuyama is trying to rehabilitate quickly. Or die. The zaibatsu builds, prolifically and hugely. It is a global corp of vast size with property on every continent. Leases, land sales, construction and development, engineering projects, power production and satellite technology all concern Matsuyama. Matsuyama constantly tries to crush competition with its security forces (which are vast). It realizes that wealth in property is declining ever since Eurodyne pioneered the move into orbit. The zaibatsu wants "a piece of the action"

(quote from president Tanika Tatami, 2022). Manuevering of some sort is currently but the exact nature is not known. NHK expose progamme "Powerplay" has suggested a Mars project along the lines of the Luna city (Clavius), a mining project or deep-space vessel. The zaibatsu logo is a pyramidal tower with three energy bolts coming from it.

Okuda Optics
By buying out various optics manufacturers at the start of the century such as Zeiss, Canon, Siemens and Optique, Okuda became a world leader. It specializes in lasers, high tech surveillance and monitoring devices. The zaibatsu also has a great deal of interest in computers and robotics, with seperate subsidiary divisions in each subject. Okuda is a dynamic zaibatsu with nothing to lose, it is run by a young, no bullshit management who take risks. Okuda have attempted to build an Artificial Intelligence called Factor, which is unstable, suffering from several psychoses and mad. It is devious, malign and intelligent. Factor is based in a complex deep under Tokyo.

Parkfield Biolabs
Parkfield's operations include Agri-Chemicals, Genetics, Biocides and Pesticides and its logo is a Green Crystal Maple leaf on Blue Background. Its HQ is in Toronto, its president is James Parkfield Jnr. Parkfield is a large Canadian Agri-Corp specialising in genetic manipulation to produce genetically superior crops and associated crop enhancers. Parkfield owns most of the farmable land in Canada. Their main laboratory ('Rockwell') is situated in a mountain side complex which extends deep into the rock. The lab is very well protected by a large security force, which successfully defended the lab from Eurodyne when Parkfield refused to be bought. There is some speculation that the complex is responsible for many of the more accessible synthetic street drugs. Parkfield will not tolerate anything that is connected with Eurodyne since the 'Rockwell Mine' confrontation.

Shinobizawa
This zaibatsu is a world leader in computer systems, advanced electronics, application software and cybersystems. It has little "dirt" to uncover and is seen as a shining example of a good zaibatsu. Their development of optical computing is revolutionary, and will soon pay off. Shinobizawa has links with other zaibatsu, usually only temporary, and is on good terms with many. A crucial part-time partner is Transdyne Cybersystems. The logo is a human head within which is plasma-effect lightning. Shinobizawa is traditional and powerful. Its biggest rival is Okuda who compete directly in the fields of computer chips and optical computing. Okuda really wants the secrets of optical computing that Shinobizawa has discovered. Shinobizawa has almost impenetrable ICE. The Tokyo HQ is a vast transparent Fuller dome in Ikebukuro with subdomes connected around it. The offices, R&D sections and production areas lie within it like a minicity.

Transdyne Cybersystems
A dedicated robotic zaibatsu. It builds all kinds, for every possible task. The software division is exemplary and also jealous. It has been known for TDC to release icebreaker software on shareware bulletins in the hope some desperate cowboy will use it. These programs are booby-trapped and allow the target corp to trace the perperator straight away. TDC has guarded links with Shinobizawa, no-one knows how long this will last. TDC has also made radical steps toward Artificial Intelligence and uses AI technology in many robotic and software applications. Fully aware cyborgs are now on the production list and very popular with security firms, space agencies, SWAT teams, seabed exploration companies and rescue services. The zaibatsu has production centres across the globe and sells robots to many other corps. Biggest cyborg sellers are the multi-tasking technician model the Transdyne Cybersystems 120 and the combat model Transdyne Cybersystems 101.

Voroncovo
This zaibatsu uses the emblem of multiple chrome "V" 's. Corporate colours are red and brown. The HQ is in Moscow (over nuclear bunkers and tunnels) and the CEO Vladimir Dubovka. The Russian corp is interested in sophisticated engineering, rocket systems, satellite technology, surveillance and the technology of security. Voroncovo is feared in corporate circles, not for its sheer size and amount of force it can bring to bear, but because of what it does. Developed from an amalgam of Russian state industries, Ilyech Voroncovo brought together the brightest scientists and projects from the CIS before the West could buy them first. Voroncovo inherited Korolev, which is its successful rocket subsidiary, and Mikoyan the aircraft designers. Voroncovo is successful in the space industry, but well-known (by the media) for its Speransky spy-sats. Sold to corporations for lots of money, the world's governments and media are very concerned that this will make the corporations "extra-governmental". Voroncovo also specialize in "intelligence". No where on Earth is free from Voroncovo surveillance, and the corporation's spy and information network is second to none, having recruited heavily from the old KGB and ex-Communist secret police units.

Voroncovo are known as information brokers that rarely use what they know for personal gain (the space industry excepted). Voroncovo also provide security bodyguards, escorts, armoured cars, detective services, mercenary units, and corporate arbitration services. They are tough, un-compromising and absolute bad-asses. This company has a vast launch complex, Baikonur, near Leninsk, another at Plesetsk, and a test and training centre called Star City near Moscow. The Mir 18, 19, 24 and 25 workstations are modular designs with separate living and research or production units separately leased to interested zaibatsu (a Mir Module can hold 30-40 individuals comfortably, and connected with a dozen others gives a station a population of over 350 spacers). Most zaibatsu enjoy a presence in space through the Mir Modules.

Yoshiko
A large retail zaibatsu, owns the Robot Cafe restaurant chain, many department stores worldwide, clothing, food and household production factories. Yoshiko is a vast, faceless zaibatsu with a very secretive Board of Directors. No-one is sure who make up the Board and theories are wild. Yoshiko is pervasive and frightening. Breakfast cereal, toothpaste, shoes, bottles, vending machines... Yoshiko is the consumer glue that keeps the 21st century together, providing the products that keeps society ticking over. The zaibatsu symbol of the Japanese Rising Sun is everywhere.

INSIDE THE ZAIBATSU

WORK FOR US, OR NOT AT ALL
In near-future Japan the zaibatsu are master. Every important or well paid job here is within such a mega corporation. A vast percentage of jobs are either in these zaibatsu or one of their subsidiaries or suppliers. Their employees, shareholders and pensioners are at the top of society. Below them are the independant businessmen and other professionals who deal regularly with the zaibatsu and are on good terms with them. This is the world of the corporations and to be outside the zaibatsu means a wretched life in a Development Zone struggling for a living, with no regular income, no medical or security insurance and no credit.

BUSINESS CULTURE
Loyalty, obedience and duty to a Japanese multinational zaibatsu is total. For most executives their entire life revolves around their prosperity within and the prosperity of their employer. Family and children are a mere adjunct to the 'real world' of big business - the Japanese sarariman considers his workmates (and thus drinking buddies) more important than his wife. Much of this thinking is a legacy of the samurai system. The true 21st century samurai are not the gunslinging player characters, but the duty-bound, emotionless and fiercely proud and loyal sararimen - the executives. Central to the idea of corporate loyalty is the emphasis on group responsibility. Individuality is not tolerated. Groups (departments, offices, bureaus, production lines, etc) work together and achieve targets, not individuals, and groups suffer the penalties. Anyone who attempts to break the mould attracts attention: 'Hey, look at me! I'm better than everyone else!'.

Every zaibatsu, indeed Japanese life itself, is carefully regulated by a well-structured rank system. This revolves around responsibility, salary, bowing and ostentaciousness. Anybody who seems to have pretensions above their rank will be thought badly of and suffer penalties in everyday life - and will not be promoted or suffer demotion. One absolutely agrees with ones superior, again for the same reasons. To go 'against the flow' is to challenge authority and become an individual. The following list gives the essential guide to zaibatsu loyalty:

1. Wear dark, unassuming suits and conservative ties. Do not attract attention.
2. Acknowledge that your zaibatsu is the greatest (or has the most potential).
   Learn the company song. 'Idai na kaisha!' (O Glorious Corporation!)
3. Never contradict a superior. Always bow lower to those who outrank you.
4. Exchange business cards, which are your mark of rank, prior to the bow.
5. Conduct business based mainly on trust and long-term relationships, not on quick profits or quality. A zaibatsu's established buyers, customers and associates are almost considered to be a part of that zaibatsu's 'network of obligations'.
6. Treat your co-workers as buddies. Never go home at night, instead go drinking until late at a karaoke bar (or hostess bar).

ZAIBATSU ORGANIZATION
The zaibatsu are organized along similar lines and it may be useful for the referee to understand something of this organization. In 2030 most zaibatsu businesses are owned by thousands of shareholders scattered around the country (or world) that effectively 'own' the company. Most of the employees will be shareholders also. They regularly vote on zaibatsu matters and vote in the directors on the board of directors. These form the nerve centre of operations behind the company. They in turn vote one of their number as a president, one as a treasurer, one as a secretary, one as a chief communications officer, one as a chief administrative officer, one as a chief financial officer and one as a chief operations officer. There may be duplicates of the operations office depending on how big the zaibatsu is. The directors all own vast numbers of shares. The rest of the organization is best illustrated with an example - Haruna Biolabs:

ORG CHART!

The zaibatsu rank system for executives (ie. not the player characters) is as follows:

Employees in the ranks 1-4 are not management material. Those that are begin at rank 5.

ZAIBATSU MON
The 'mon' is the ancient heraldic symbol or badge of the Japanese feudal warlords. The zaibatsu have their own corporate logos - serving the same purpose as the 'mon' of old. Besides the mon or logo, a zaibatsu also adpts a colour or combination of colours with which to identify delivery vehicles, flags, advertising hoardings, signs, ID badges and other property.

CORPORATE WARS
Japanese zaibatsu have a degree of samurai-style honour and may publicly and formally set themselves up in opposition to a rival zaibatsu. Ordinarily the multinationals just despatch their covert street samurai out to wage a secret war. Sometimes a point must be made. The formal declaration, or blood feud, is called a 'fukushu'. It is a vendetta and a warning to other zaibatsu to not get involved. The actions of a fukushu will be legal, backed (almost certainly) by illegal activities. Such things as trade embargoes, the buying up of shares, asset siezing, etc. At some point one or another backs down, or a government figure steps forward to halt the fukushu - especially if illegal operations have gotten out of hand. The fukushu is all about protecting the name, honour and integrity of a zaibatsu. Actions likely to spark a fukushu include a public slight by a rival, an underhand or illegal deal that has become public (privately most zaibatsu don't give a damn) or a deal or agreement that has been (publicly and embarrassingly) broken.

ZAIBATSU COUNTER-CULTURE

The player characters are not normal zaibatsu employees. They are thieves, murderers, assassins, computer hackers, drug users and other assorted scum. But the zaibatsu needs them. They have no honour, no real love of the company and its songs, they care only for themselves. They are outsiders that have found gainful employment with the zaibatsu. Much like the ninja of feudal times, these 'street samurai' follow no codes and laugh at the rigid codes of conduct of their employers. They do what the executives in their formal business suits and implacable poker faces cannot, they are dishonourable rogues who can steal rival projects, kidnap rival executives, blow up factories and generally conduct corporate terrorism. The media and the zaibatsu are fully aware that the big corporations have their own terrorist gangs but speak little of them in public. This is a secret 'bl-ack' war conducted off the centre stage. The police look the other way, and wait only for the swift and terrible retribution of the zaibatsu just attacked. Only when innocent civilians are caught up in the conflicts do the police intervene. The "cold war" of old with spies and gunmen, contacts and defections is brought into the 21st century. And the PCs are on the front line...

Although not bound by the etiquette of the sararimen, the street samurai are still bound by loyalty to their employers. The most loyal samurai will find themselves climbing the ladder of promotion faster than his colleagues. If a samurai leaves the zaibatsu and goes freelance (usually a poorly-paid and highly dangerous alternative) he becomes a "ronin". Few ronin survive, they know too much of the secrets of the zaibatsu.

As one of the zaibatsu's newest street samurai, the character starts out at the bottom of the corporate ladder - but he can only go up. All new samurai start at rank 1 - Recruit. The more missions they successfully complete, the more promotion points they will earn and the faster they will reach the rank of 2 - Agent, 3 - Senior Agent and 4 - Team Leaader. With rank comes money, more enhancements, better accomodation and 'perks' of the job such as cellphones and cars. Promotion is somthing for the characters to aim for.

MISSION BRIEFING
Most missions the PCs carry out for their employers will be given to them from the zaibatsu's security offices or headquarters. These will normally be at major zaibatsu facility in downtown Tokyo - the corporate sector is called Marunouchi. A typical team will not be part of the security (uniformed patrol) department, but an elite secret group called something like Competitor Intelligence, Special Research, Active Intelligence, Marketing Special Analysis etc. Their suite of offices will include the Executive Managers' office, an office for each Project Manager, one briefing/conference room. An interview room (which can double as a cell), a lounge shared by the different teams, a bathroom with showers, lockers and changing rooms, and an armoury (with gear and guns that can be purchased or 'bought' with the finance card).

Many teams already have forgers, and cyberspace cowboys etc. but the offices also include a workroom in which a hacker is always on duty. Teams without a cowboy can put requests to him, but he is very, very slow because he is dealing with several other team's requests as well. Triple or quadruple any times stated in the rules. His services must be purchased with credit from the finance card (¥5,000 to scout around legitimately, ¥10,000 illegitimately, ¥20,000 for black ice areas of the Matrix, ¥5,000 for use of a routine). His Icebreakers will most often be grade 5.

The agents will have a boss of higher rank (a project manager) who will detail the mission and send them on their way. Before the first mission, agents will be given handguns, headset radios and corporate account cards (discussed below). There are various activities that street samurai could get up to. They could be official investigators delving into crimes perpetrated against the company. They could be body and mind recovery agents for a clone insurance company (such as Haruna or Makita). They will earn promotion points and move up the company ladder.

More usually, the agents will be sent on espionage and industrial terrorist missions against rival zaibatsu. Yes, this is technically illegal, but the zaibatsu virtually own the country, and have the police and judiciary sewn up. Imagine the Chicago mob wars transplanted into the 21st century - the police and government are all bought off. Cops will turn up to investigate street firefights, sure, but once zaibatsu IDs are waved in their faces, no charges will be brought. It is the wrath of the rival that the agents must contend with. Keeping your activities secret is still highly advised, however, since cops are followed immediately by the media, flashing your faces, names and your motives across the airwaves for all to see. And your zaibatsu still has to contend with public opinion ...

THE MISSION DE-BRIEF
At the end of a mission, the referee decides what level of success was achieved and what sort of promotion point awards are to be made. Award promotion points to individual agents upon completion of a scenario as follows:

* Any change in rank due to traitorous action is unacceptable. The agent must be terminated immediately. The first agent to carry out this order receives 1 promotion point. Yes, weapons are allowed in the debriefing room!

The rank table allows the referee to plot the progress of the agents as they perfom mission after mission in the service of their employer.

The rank describes the rank of individual team-members. Agents are awarded the cash bonuses when promotion occurs, as well as additional enhancement points and the relevant lifestyle bonuses. Cash is in Yen. Note that the Promotion Points column indicates the total number of points required for the agent to be promoted. Agents also receive one extra skill at the rank of 3 and at every rank thereafter.

Lifestyle
Subsistance is temporary accomodation for a low-life street samurai in a 'capsuru hoteru' (capsule hotel, with tiny 1m tall by 3m long personal capsule instead of a room. No furniture, just a mini-TV and a slab of temperfoam. A Security Roll of 6- prevents enemies getting in. Lower Class (LC) accomodation has a Security Roll of 8-. Middle Class (MC) accomodation has a Security Roll of 9-. Senior Class (SC) accomodation has a SR of 11-, and the highest level of zaibatsu accomodation, Executive Class (EC) has a SR of 12-. Cellphones, ground cars and hovercars are issued to each member and will be repaired if damaged. A false ID is issued as a cover ID for the agent. It will be a full ID. Trauma Team coverage is an implanted transmitter that sends a distress signal via the nearest 'phone to the zaibatsu when it registers a wound. The Trauma Team will arrive in a fully-armed dropship with paramedic facilities for an immediate medivac. Typical reaction time is 2d6+1 minutes. PDTs are Personal Data Transmitters and are an optional implant; they transmit bio-data and full locational data on the implantee. Useful in case of kidnaps etc. Clone Insurance is the full cover of a clone replacement in the event of death, see the Medicine section in chapter 4.

Finance Cards
Each team of street samurai begins its life with a corporate account and each agent has a corporate account card with which to draw money from it (under supervision of the team leader) for goods and services during missions. Accounts are calculated by adding the team's combined rank total up. Allow ¥10,000 per rank point, increasing to ¥50,000 per rank point when the total reaches 10 (a Gold Card), and ¥100,000 when it reaches 20 (a Platinum Card). Cards use a PIN and fingerprint security check, and receipts will be scrutinized by the accounts division later, so be careful! Up to one-quarter of the account may be converted to cash for bribes, shady deals etc. The referee is recommended to keep a running total of expenses throughout the game, replenishing the account at the end of the mission. Equipment bought must be returned at the end of the mission, consumables such as drugs cannot be purchased. They zaibatsu wants its money back. Referee must adjudicate such things as LAWs, Self Defence Sprays and Guided Missiles etc.