Watada-gumi

The Watada-gumi is neither the oldest nor the largest Yakuza organization in Neo-Tokyo, but by virtue of its position in the Watada-rengo it is the most influential across the globe. This is the type of Yakuza organization you used to hear about on the Sunday morning trid flicks—old, suit wearing businessmen who challenge you more often with a stare than with a sword. For several generations, the majority of the members of the Watada-gumi have been university-educated scions of Yakuza families; newer members are rarely initiated unless they possess outstanding skills, demonstrate unshakeable loyalty, and serve unquestioningly for years.

Organization

The Watada-gumi is a tiered hierarchy with the Oyabun, Hanzo Watada, at the top. You can bet your last nuyen that Ryumyo is in the chain of command as an informal advisor, followed by Watada’s wakagashira, Ken Muratomi, and his senior kobun. These underbosses in turn have kobun under them overseeing specific aspects of Watada business and operations, either in Chiba or abroad. These “younger brothers,” or lieutenants, are in charge of the least-ranked kobun (senior enlisted men or those with special skills) and the kumi-in, or rank-and-file enlisted men.

Territory

The Watada run Chiba, and have done so for longer than I’ve been alive. Watada House is the public face of the gumi in the district, and handles most of the gumi’s legal and quasi-legal activities. It isn’t surprising to see government officials streaming in and out of the restaurant located on the ground floor.

Principal Operations

The Watada-gumi pretends to be legitimate and believes their own lie. Their ill-gotten assets are invested in legitimate corporations and businesses, mostly medical technology providers and implant research in and around Chiba, with substantial holdings, suppliers, transportations, and secondary markets worldwide, approximating a vertical monopoly of these goods in Neo-Tokyo. All of the senior kobun hold positions as CEOs, CFOs, COOs of unrated holding firms and micromanufacturing companies.
They take great pains to obfuscate their illegal cash cows, but look no further than the organ harvesting labs on Aiko Street for proof of their metahuman and organ-trafficking operations. They dabble in industrial espionage and limited white-collar crime—especially medical and life insurance fraud—to support their legal and quasi-legal activities.
With their resources, the Watada-gumi possesses the largest and most well-equipped non-megacorp- or government-affiliated black clinics in Neo-Tokyo, able to produce and install beta-grade bioware and cyberware. This pervasive control and availability of high quality implants benefits the Watada-gumi in other ways: a near-lock on the implant technology used to transform prostitutes into “dolls” for bunraku parlors, and a larger percentage of heavily augmented members–resulting in an escalating “Chrome Race” as rival Yakuza factions try to match the quantity and quality of augmented Watada.
Citizens of Chiba continue to rely on the Watada-gumi for traditional quasi-legal Yakuza activities, including protection (street crime in Chiba is far lower than white collar crime or industrial espionage), gambling, and fi nancial aid in times of distress.

Parent Organization

Watada-rengo