Kanetomi dynasty

Japanese corporate dynasty

*Mon* of the Kanetomi dynasty

Wadatsumi

* Inari

Hathor

* Hyperion
* Paradise

The **Kanetomi dynasty** (**金富朝**, *Kanetomi-chō*) is a powerful and wealthy Japanese family, originally from Nagoya, that rose to prominence in 2022 as a result of the formation of the Kanetomi Corporation from patriarch Kijūrō Kanetomi. Under the control of Kijūrō, the company quickly blossomed in power after usurping commercial space left behind by the collapse of several previous Japanese *zaibatsu*, allowing his company to immediately skyrocket ahead of competitors and consolidate itself as Japan's most premiere megacorporation. Through Kijūrō's two sons and one daughter, he was able to spark the beginning of the Coalition of Congressional Republics' most influential corporate family.

From 2050 onward, Kanetomi rose in Japanese (and eventually worldwide) influence, coming to blows numerous times on Earth with the Chen Wu Corporation and other foreign companies. Kijūrō's first son Ichirou would be given hereditary control of Kanetomi's Asian markets, while his second son Noboru would be in control of the European and North American markets. His only daughter, Mayumi, would expand the reach of the corporation into the stars, and would be instrumental in its expansions on Mars and throughout the Solar System.

Through the Third World War, Second Martian-Terran War, and the foundation of the Coalition, the Kanetomi family would increase in both size and power, eventually dwarfing even the Japanese Imperial family in popularity and influence over the Japanese national identity. Becoming one of the strongest megacorporations in human history, the Kanetomi Corporation would side with the Coalition in the Corporate Wars and cement itself as a firm ally of the interstellar government, thus conferring a future almost endless in business opportunity.

As of the end of the 27th century, the Kanetomi dynasty is the wealthiest individual family in the Coalition, with a combined worth of over one quadrillion Coalition Congressional Notes. Primarily through the Kanetomi Corporation, the dynasty is involved in numerous commercial sectors including financial services, manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and terraforming. They effectively own their own star system, Wadatsumi, and control multiple large estates on highly-populated worlds and stations such as Earth, Hyperion, Paradise, and Tellus. Currently, there are over 200 living members of the main Kanetomi line, in addition to hundreds more through its two cadet branches of the Hoshino and Hidaka clans.

They have been the primary target of anti-Japanese sentiments throughout the centuries - some incited for rival corporations' benefits - as a result of their wealth and continued financial support of various Japanese communities throughout the Coalition.

## Traditions

### Ethnicity

Adhering to traditional aspects of their clan culture, the Kanetomi often do not marry outside of the Japanese ethnicity. Those who do are seen as abnormal by other members of the dynasty, and although their children are not disinherited nor disallowed from Kanetomi wealth, they are still socially shunned.

### Religion

Many Kanetomi are Washin Buddhist, a school of Buddhism possessing heavy theological syncretism with Shintō. However, many dynasty members in the Hoshino clan are Christians as a result of their founder Keiichi (rechristened Joachim) and his conversion in 2253; the rest of the dynasty are mainly irreligious. Religion can disqualify one for disinheritance depending on the current patriarch, as those who differ from the Washin cultural mold are seen in an almost "foreign" light. A major internal restriction in the family is to not donate excessively to religious organizations, which was affirmed following Joachim's large donations to the Roman Catholic Church and his subsequent issues with the then-patriarch Masashi in 2259.

## Cadet branches

The Kanetomi dynasty has two cadet branches: the **Hoshino clan**, formed in 2247 following the Corporate Wars and the first split of the family in order to secure more assets from the Coalition government, and the **Hidaka clan**, formed in 2409 as a means to prevent a familial civil war over the inheritance of corporate positions at the time.

The Hoshino and Hidaka clans are bound by laws negotiated by Coalition representatives to be subservient to the main Kanetomi clan, with the Hoshino often being given paramilitary and security positions and the Hidaka managerial and administrative positions. However, in the event that the main Kanetomi line has no living heirs - as what almost happened with various assassination attempts during and after the Corporate Wars - both branches have equal footing in inheriting the corporate titles of the dynasty. To prevent active conflict within the family, it is always customary for the main Kanetomi line to appoint Hoshino and Hidaka as CEOs or CFOs of important subsidiary corporations.

However, a stipulation is that the Hoshino and Hidaka clans must collectively not surpass the size of the Kanetomi clan in familial population; those born beyond this artificial limitation are automatically disinherited from any and all titles and possibilities. This was done to limit the possible explosion of the population of the cadet branches overriding that of the main Kanetomi line, thus making problems of power.

## Estates

The Kanetomi dynasty owns several hundred estates, with most located on their "homeworld" of Inari in Wadatsumi. However, several Kanetomi properties also exist beyond the confines of the Wadatsumi star system; particularly, they own properties on the most influential of human colonial settlements, such as Hyperion, Tellus, and Paradise, in addition to ancestral property on Earth.

## Prominent descendants of Kijūrō Kanetomi

### **Prominent descendants of the main line**

* Ichirou Kanetomi, head of Asian operations before the Second Martian-Terran War
* Noboru Kanetomi, head of North American and European operations before the Second Martian-Terran War
* Mayumi Kanetomi, head of stellar operations before the Second Martian-Terran War
* Masashi Kanetomi, dynastic head during the Corporate Wars
* Yuudai Kanetomi, current head of the dynasty and Chairman of the Kanetomi Corporation
* Takao Kanetomi, current CEO of Kanetomi
* Shuji Kanetomi, current CFO of Kanetomi
* Kohaku Kanetomi, current COO of Kanetomi
* Isamu Kanetomi, current board member of Kanetomi
* Suzume Kanetomi, daughter of board member Isamu and member of the Scarlet Suns
* Philippe Frederic Kanetomi, *hāfu* Euro-pop celebrity in the European Federation

### **Prominent descendants of the Hoshino cadet branch**

* Joachim Hoshino, founder of the Hoshino clan and prominent Catholic
* Atsushi Hoshino, current Interstellar Coalition Terrestrial Army general
* Katsuro Hoshino, current CEO of Kanetomi Private Security Enterprises

### **Prominent descendants of the Hidaka cadet branch**

* Katashi Hidaka, current CEO of Kanetomi Motors