Kigyo-zoku
Megacorporate citizens identify with their corporations
almost as strongly as they do their nationality. They get paid in
their corp’s scrip, spend it in their corp’s stores, and wear their
corp-brand clothes to their corporate schools. Even those not
fortunate enough to work directly for a megacorp are bombarded
and seduced by constant commercials, corporate sports teams, and
corporate theme parks and trideo shows. It should come to no
surprise, then, that Neo-Tokyo is rife with Kigyo-zoku (corporation tribes).
Most Kigyo-zoku start in high school or younger, as children and young adults associate with the children of their parent’s business associates or with other children whose parents work for the same megacorp. Teenagers profess their loyalty by shopping in their corp’s stores and wearing their fashions, or may be sponsored by the megacorporations themselves. The megacorps oft en encourage these “fan clubs,” and competing megacorps have been known to strike out against kabozoku to cause their rivals to lose face. By the same token, Kigyo-zoku’s relations with each other are dependent on the perceived relationship between their corps. Most of the low-level “gang violence” in Neo-Tokyo is actually Kigyo-zoku quarreling over news reports of corporate espionage, defections, or a drop in stock price.
Most Kigyo-zoku start in high school or younger, as children and young adults associate with the children of their parent’s business associates or with other children whose parents work for the same megacorp. Teenagers profess their loyalty by shopping in their corp’s stores and wearing their fashions, or may be sponsored by the megacorporations themselves. The megacorps oft en encourage these “fan clubs,” and competing megacorps have been known to strike out against kabozoku to cause their rivals to lose face. By the same token, Kigyo-zoku’s relations with each other are dependent on the perceived relationship between their corps. Most of the low-level “gang violence” in Neo-Tokyo is actually Kigyo-zoku quarreling over news reports of corporate espionage, defections, or a drop in stock price.
Something like 60 percent of all megacorporate officers were in a Kigyo-zoku during their school-age years. Many still retain the old ties with their former gang-mates and do a bit of social networking to help each other up the corporate ladder. Naturally, they encourage their kids to join too.
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
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