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Chapter 6 – The Ootori Zaibatsu

It was difficult to learn about the Ootori Zaibatsu just from the readily available information at home.
With my knowledge from the game as a foundation, I had to rely on stories from the people in the mansion, records I found while “exploring”—not just wandering around as a spoiled little girl—and my own deductions.

My ancestor from five generations ago, Ootori Genichirou, used funds from his time in the mafia, along with the wealth and connections he gained during the Meiji Restoration, to expand his business and establish a zaibatsu in the early Meiji period.
By aligning himself with the Choushuu faction, he managed to integrate into the new government and found moderate success as a political merchant.

By then, my great-grandfather, Souichirou, had already come of age, and together they worked to expand the Ootori Zaibatsu.
However, the family’s reputation was far from stellar due to several negative factors: their obscure origins, involvement in the opium trade, ties to the underworld in the continent, and the simple fact that they were an upstart family.

On top of that, they occasionally resorted to underhanded tactics, leading to strained relations with certain other zaibatsu.

Their position was similar to that of Mitsubishi or Yasuda, zaibatsu that rose to power after the Restoration, but they were never treated as equals.
The new government, unable to outright eliminate the Ootori clan, granted them the title of viscount—likely as both a reward for their contributions during the Restoration and as hush money.

It really makes you wonder just how many of the Meiji government’s dirty secrets the Ootori family knew…

However, since the Ootori family did not receive any government-run factories or mines through privatization, their position becomes clearer.
That being said, the lack of privatization deals was supposedly because the game designer found it too troublesome to alter historical facts, as stated in an interview.

The fact that this world follows the same logic feels rather unreasonable.

Later, my great-grandfather, Souichirou, went from being the head of the conglomerate to a seat in the House of Peers and then the Privy Council.
As a politician on par with the nation’s elder statesmen, he held significant political power.

Meanwhile, my grandfather, Kiiichirou, was highly regarded for his military achievements, which led to the Ootori family’s noble rank being elevated to that of a count.

At the same time, they managed to secure key development rights in northern Karafuto, proving their shrewdness.

However, my grandfather Kiiichirou was known in certain army circles as a brilliant strategist from a young age, particularly excelling in covert warfare.
Perhaps due to his background in cavalry, he also had connections with influential figures in Manchuria.

I looked into this further, but I couldn’t find any relevant information within the estate.
Nothing similar appeared in the game either.

Even now, Ootori Trading has a large branch in Shanghai, which only reinforces the depth—and the dubious nature—of the Ootori family’s ties to the continent.
If their secrets are hidden beyond what I could uncover while exploring the estate, then there are undoubtedly connections they cannot afford to make public.

However, my memory recalls hearing the term “Ootori Daren (Fontaren).”
Even if it was said in front of an ignorant young girl, it was still rather careless.

Setting that aside, my grandfather Kiiichirou continued to serve as an officer in the Imperial Army, but during the Siberian Expedition, it seems he was involved in some actions as part of the Ootori family.
For me to uncover the truth, my future spouse would likely have to become either the head of the family or the leader of the conglomerate.

And now, the family is on the verge of turmoil.
The Great Kanto Earthquake left the conglomerate’s leader severely injured and hospitalized, while my father, Kiiichi, who was next in line as family head, was killed.

The issue here is that, while I am the eldest daughter, I have neither an older nor a younger brother.

This has solidified the path where the one I marry will become the next head of the family.
The same situation occurs in the game, where I must struggle to marry a scion from another conglomerate to restore the family and rebuild the financial empire.

And yet, in the game, my efforts were thwarted by the protagonist and the charming bachelors she pursued—so I think I have every right to be upset.

Regardless, the Ootori family is in turmoil. Had the Great Kanto Earthquake never happened, things would not have been perfectly stable, but the situation would have progressed without major issues.

Although the conglomerate leader, Ryuujirou, was hospitalized due to his injuries from the quake, both the family head and the retired elders were still alive.
There would have been plenty of time to plan for the next generation and beyond.

After all, I am still just a three-year-old.

“Kiiichi’s wake will be tomorrow night. The funeral will be the day after. Both will be held privately. Also, we will decide on our future course of action after hearing an update on Ryuujirou’s condition in the hospital.”

The family head, Kiiichirou, conveyed this plan in a calm and measured tone near the end of breakfast.

Everyone had been waiting for these words.

As proof, those who had already finished eating stood up and left the dining hall to begin their daily activities.
It had only been one day since the Great Kanto Earthquake.

In that sense, the fact that we were able to have a peaceful breakfast like this felt somewhat unusual.

My great-grandfather, Souichirou, spent his time in a separate Japanese-style house except for meals. My great-grandmother had already passed away.

My grandfather, Kiiichirou, was occupied with military duties during the day.
My grandmother, Tamako, was present for meals but often secluded herself in her room.

Although she came from a noble family, it was from a rather unremarkable courtier lineage, so it seemed she had complicated feelings about marrying into a family of upstarts.

My granduncles and uncles mostly lived in separate houses, and the women of the family had married into other households.
While there were rooms for them to stay in at the estate, they were not used on a daily basis.

However, from what I overheard from the adults, each of their homes and estates had suffered significant damage.
It seemed that other families within the clan were in a similar situation as well.

I was worried about my cousins—the future romance options in the game—whose safety remained uncertain in my original master’s memories.

They were of the same generation as me, but at this point in time, none of them were here.

In the game, due to the family’s financial troubles and the need to consolidate properties, they all ended up living in this mansion.
However, it seemed that was not yet the case at this point.

Then there were the servants who worked at the estate.
Their numbers were considerable—if I included everyone from the head butler serving the family head down to the lowest-ranked attendants, there were around thirty of them.

Since this was an era where convenient household appliances were still scarce, it took this many people to maintain the luxurious lifestyle of nobility.

After that, I took every chance I could find to wander through the mansion under the guise of playing hide-and-seek or going on an “exploration.”
It was all to gather even a little more information.

I would not be attending the wake—only the funeral.

And since everyone was busy with various matters, as long as they knew I was somewhere within the estate, they allowed me to move about rather freely.
Of course, my actions had an excuse, but in reality, they were nothing more than an escape from reality.

To me, my father was just a figure from my memories, yet this body still pulled at my soul in ways I couldn’t quite define.

So, I busied myself with something—anything—to distract from that feeling.

And precisely because I understood that, I continued doing what I felt I needed to do.
Meanwhile, aftershocks from the Great Kanto Earthquake kept coming.

Rather than feeling afraid, I had grown numb to them, becoming accustomed to the tremors.
So, on the day after the disaster, I refrained from exploring the mansion and spent the day reading in my room instead.

It wasn’t until about a week later, when the aftershocks had finally settled, that I was able to resume my hide-and-seek and explorations.

By that time, my father’s wake and funeral had both concluded.
At the funeral, I found myself crying again, but this time, I was fully conscious. 

I could clearly feel emotions like sorrow.
It felt as though my body—or maybe my soul—had started to connect with something.

Since everyone was still busy dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake, as long as I behaved myself, I was essentially left to my own devices.

So, I devoted myself to exploring the mansion.
I “discovered” all sorts of things in my grandfather’s room, in what functioned as a shared study or library, and in the various workrooms.

Of course, anything truly important or confidential was kept behind locked doors, inside locked desks and cabinets, or even secured in safes.

But the information I was looking for wasn’t the kind of thing that had to be kept hidden from everyone.
I simply wanted to know—how much of this world, this family, and this mansion was the same as the game?

And how much of it matched the time period from my past life?

From what I could tell, the family structure was almost identical to what was depicted in the game.
The biggest difference was that, due to the earlier time period, many people were still alive.

After all, when the game began, my great-grandfather and several others had already passed away.

Even when they appeared, it was only in flashback episodes.

On the financial conglomerate side, I managed to find a genealogy chart and organizational diagram of the affiliated companies.
It was handwritten by someone, and surprisingly easy to understand.

From this, it became clear that the Ootori Conglomerate was large enough to warrant such a detailed chart.

“Founded in 1869 as Ootori Shachu, it now operates as a holding company called Ootori Kaisha. In other words, this is the core of the conglomerate in this era.
But while the family is based in Tokyo, the conglomerate’s real headquarters seems to be centered around Hiroshima. 

Oh, right, it was the same in the game. 

Whoa, they already have trading branches in New York and London at this point? 

Even in Frankfurt?”

With that, I continued my efforts to grasp the overall structure.

Here is a rough outline of the chart:

Core Companies (Note: The left side of “→” represents the original name at the time of founding, and the right side represents the current name.)

Under the Control of the Sou Family

• Ootori Kaisha (Main body of the conglomerate, holding company)
• Ootori Shoten → Ootori Ginkou (Institutional bank)
  • Ootori Securities
  • Ootori Insurance
• Ootori Real Estate
• Ootori Shoukai → Ootori Shouji (Mainly deals with petroleum and minerals)
• Imperial Newspaper (Minor newspaper, focused more on intelligence gathering than publicity)
• Ootori Kaizen → Ootori Shousen (Operates tankers and other vessels, but on a small scale)
• Ootori General Research Institute (Think tank and intelligence analysis)

Heavy Industry Sector (Expanded from the early 20th century to around World War I. The founding year is in parentheses.)

• Ootori Mining (1884) (Coal and some mineral extraction)
• Ootori Petroleum (1906)
  • Ootori Refining (1908)
  • Ootori Chemicals (1911)
• Ootori Machinery Industry (1919)
  • Ootori Automotive (Knockdown production of Ford vehicles)

Under the Control of the Kou Family

• Ootori Pharmaceuticals
  • Ootori Hospital (General hospital)
• Ootori Academy
  • Ootori University (Comprehensive university with many faculties, including medicine and engineering)
  • Ootori Academy (Elementary, middle, high schools, nursing school, and teacher training school)
  • Ootori Vocational School
  • Ootori Technical School

“The fact that their bank isn’t numbered—just as expected of a zaibatsu? Still, they’re involved in so many industries. Their strength in petroleum must be thanks to the North Sakhalin development, and the fact that they’re even making automobiles is probably due to my great-uncle Torasaburou’s influence.

Setting aside the pharmaceuticals and hospitals managed by the branch family, their unique scholarship system in school management is basically a system for training employees—or rather, to train retainers. Talk about outdated. But this is how they balance power between the main and branch families.

Even with this scale, they’re only considered a mid-sized conglomerate? Just how massive is Mitsubishi, then?”

As I busied myself with these thoughts, several days passed.

Glossary:

Holding Company: The key organization controlling the conglomerate, holding all the shares of affiliated companies. After the war, former institutional banks took on a similar role, distancing the conglomerate families from direct management.

Institutional Bank: A bank unique to prewar Japan, specifically serving the needs of a conglomerate. Many conglomerates did not have their own institutional bank.

“Bank Not Being Numbered”: Prewar Japanese banks were typically numbered in order of establishment, rather than being named after a region or conglomerate (e.g., First Bank). The Ootori Bank must have originally been one of these numbered banks before being renamed.