The Inside

**The Inside** (中 (なか) , *Naka*), also known as the *Illegally Occupied Sector*, is an urban region of Japan that has been abandoned and closed off by the Japanese government. Law enforcement has no sway there, and therefore laws are meaningless and anything goes.

## About

The Inside appears to be located in the southwestern end of Yamanashi Prefecture, and covers an area of 48.77 square km. It has a population of between 200,000 and 300,000. Formed around 1868, the harsh and lawless region has long-attracted criminals, gangs, warlords, and mercenaries, as well as a more vulnerable underclass of the homeless, the addicted, the trafficked, and the stateless. All manner of normally-illegal vices can be found and purchased there openly, including drugs, weapons, violence, and prostitution.

After effectively abandoning the area in 19XX, the Japanese government walled-off the Inside, and came to refer to it exclusively as the *Illegally Occupied Territories*. In order to disguise the truth and avoid mass panic, the government claims that a noxious gas has made it impossible for people to survive there. The government strictly controls who enters and leaves the Inside through a handful of access points through the walls, though numerous illicit routes in and out are known to exist.

The Inside is known for being a harsh kill-or-be-killed environment, full of thugs, drug dealers, brothels, and dilapidated buildings. Even the Yakuza shy away from it. The people who are unfortunate enough to live there must fight on a daily basis just to survive, and often have no education, no citizenship or papers, and sometimes not even a name. This makes it very hard for people from the Inside to leave and integrate into normal, lawful society. This 'survival of the fittest' mentality is partly a holdover from the the original purpose of the Inside: to serve as the sealed-off arena for an enormous human *Gu* ritual, on a much greater scale than the rituals Kanoh Agito and Lu Tian were subjected to.

While this original intent for the Inside seems to have failed, its destabilizing nature has benefited the Worm regardless by subverting law and order in that area of Japan.

The Other Tokita Niko revealed that of the districts, Rikuko is considered the worst of the lot. Whatever is going on in the district is apparently horrid enough that the Other Niko calls it "a place that makes people lose their hope in humanity". In contrast, Hachitaka is one of the Inside's 'nicer' districts.

## Districts

There are ten districts of The Inside:

1. **Ichiryu** (一 (いち) 龍 (りゅう) , *Ichiryū*; lit. *"One Dragon"*),
2. **Niko** (二 (に) 虎 (こ) , *Niko*; lit. *"Two Tiger"*),
3. **Rohza** (狼 (ろう) 三 (ざ) , *Rōza*; lit. *"Wolf Three"*),
4. **Shiki** (四 (し) 亀 (き) , *Shiki*; lit. *"Four Turtle"*),
5. **Goyu** (五 (ご) 熊 (ゆう) , *Goyū*; lit. *"Five Bear"*),
6. **Rikuko** (六 (りく) 蚕 (こ) , *Rikuko*; lit. *"Six Worm"*),
7. **Shichiohba** (七 (しち) 王 (おう) 馬 (ば) , *Shichiōba*; lit. *"Seven King Horse"*),
8. **Hachitaka** (八 (はち) 鷹 (たか) , *Hachitaka*; lit. *"Eight Hawk"*),
9. **Kumo** (九 (く) 蛛 (も)  Kumo; lit. *"Nine Spider"*)
10. **Tokita** (十 (と) 鬼 (き) 蛇 (た) , *Tokita*; lit. *"Ten Demon Snake"*)

## Notes & Trivia

* Gaoh Mukaku once tried to unite the Inside by martial force over the course of 30 years, but was unsuccessful despite his overwhelming strength.
* Himuro Ryo said there are two kinds of people who leave "The Inside": "People trying to change something" and "People trying to do something".

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chapter 155
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chapter 13 (Omega)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Extra Chapter: Boy
4. ↑ Chapter 228