Ginza Bazaar

Ginza Bazaar

File:Ku01 04 base.png

Owner

Kusari State Police

Location

D/E-6, New Tokyo

CLASS: Mitsukoshi

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 2150

Ginza Bazaar is a popular destination orbiting Planet New Tokyo, featuring amenities ranging from boutique shopping concourses and restaurants to art galleries and arcades. Ginza evolved from an ad hoc orbital market that sprung up following the devastating destruction of Roppongi Station. Seeing the potential to repair New Tokyo’s tarnished reputation and tourism trade, the capital planet’s district governments and proprietors of the original bazaar ships jointly funded the Ginza Development Committee. Across 834 AS, the Committee designed and constructed a permanent station they believed would become an unparalleled cultural and commercial attraction.

Ginza has already begun to draw crowds of visitors, largely due to subsidized shuttle services from Planet New Tokyo. Tokyo’s youth in particular have flocked to Ginza’s bars and arcades, where they can swap gossip, buy designer clothes and discuss politics. Despite booming demand for storefronts and sky-high rental prices, the station’s starboard wing is currently accessible by appointment only, having been rented by Kusari’s government to moor the liner Akasaka. The Akasaka serves as a replacement for Roppongi’s diplomatic quarter, housing the majority of Kusari’s foreign embassies.

Bribes & Missions Offered

Bribes

Samura Industries Kishiro Technologies Synth Foods, Inc. Universal Shipping Kusari State Police Farmers Alliance

Missions

Kusari State Police Kishiro Technologies Samura Industries

Commodities

Imports

Commodity Price Robotics 18$ Gin 66$ Liberty Ale 52$ Rheinbier 55$ Rum 57$ Stabiline 116$ Vodka 81$ Whiskey 38$ Black Market Pharmaceuticals 115$ Slog 154$ Food Rations 38$ MOX 40$ Basic Alloy 10$ Construction Machinery 33$ Pharmaceuticals 27$ Hull Panels 33$ Consumer Goods 25$ Cardamine 192$ Consumer Goods 197$ Artifacts 219$ Consumer Goods 224$ Xeno Relics 205$ Gaian Wildlife 342$ Holotainment Bands 136$ Pineal Amulets 82$ Tobacco 64$ Vacationers 53,876$ Wine 75$ Hypnotainment Bands 194$ Xenobiotic Filters 53$ Nox 191$ Consumer Goods 196$ Passenger Cabin (Liberty) 37,875$ Passenger Cabin (Bretonia) 50,959$ Passenger Cabin (Rheinland) 38,605$ Passenger Cabin (Gallia) 51,672$ Passenger Cabin (Omega) 81,398$ Passengers (Omicrons) 76,747$ Iron 31$ Alien Organisms 18$ Hessian Tears 230$ Wildcat Gold 243$ Diamonds 227$ H-Fuel 75$ Shigeakiki 183$

Exports

Commodity Price Deployable Mining Container 50,000$ Oxygen 2$ Water 2$ Hangar Provisions 250$ Sake 25$ Luxury Food 48$ Kyushu Rice 13$ Luxury Consumer Goods 106$ Synth Paste 40$ Cigars 162$ Tea 37$ Passenger Cabin (Kusari) 10,120$ Fire Pearls 53$

Ships sold

Ship	Class	Price

News

[835 AS] Ginza Bazar draws crowds

GINZA -- 835 -- The newly opened Ginza Bazar has proved to be an immediate hit. Funded by a combination of local proprietors and the New Tokyo Development Committee, Ginza aims to rekindle the tourism trade that was badly damaged in the aftermath of the Roppongi terrorist attack. Boasting a free shuttle service to Planet New Tokyo and a wide range of concourses and restaurants, the Bazar has been an instant hit with New Tokyo’s youth. Kusari’s government has also rented a wing of the station, and has relocated foreign diplomatic staff there, from their temporary offices on Planet New Tokyo.

[833 AS] Kyushu Faces Rising Temperatures And Falling Profits

Kyushu, the key to Samura's monopoly on the organically-grown food industry, has faced rising ocean temperatures lately, owing to a vast temperature surge in the mantle plume underneath its largest ocean. This has been compounded by the resultant eruption of several underwater volcanoes, releasing enormous quantities of greenhouse gases into the planet's atmosphere. Partially as a result of the geological activity, the equatorial monsoon season produced some of the strongest tropical storms ever recorded on Kyushu since its colonisation. These storms devastated the world's agricultural sector as they blew through the most fertile tropical lowlands, destroying as much as 20%% of the planet's annual crop yield, on top of damage to infrastructure and tragic loss of human life. Many rural communities are reported to be struggling, with some farming communities still remaining flooded ghost towns even a month after the worst of the storms abated, though smaller-scale tempests still rage around the equator. A Samura spokesperson outlined the company's intent to restore the planet and its communities to full productivity by the middle of next year, despite the ongoing circumstance.

[832 AS] Battleship Matsuda Meets Its Demise!

It had long been rumored that the grand Battleship Himeji had not been lost in the Tohoku system as previously thought; That it had been brought back and given a second life by the unlawful elements that are the antithesis of the Kusari state. This rumor had been proven true as the Kusari Office of Intelligence reported movements of a Meiji-class Battleship in the Kyushu system, deploying Golden Chrysanthemum fighter wings that seemed to deliberately target Kusari patrols in the northern part of the system. Immediately upon learning of this, Battleship Matsumoto and its battlegroup were redeployed from Hokkaido, and within two days were poised and ready to face this new threat. Only a short few hours later, a patrol of fighters reported a warship with the transponder reading Battleship Matsuda operating in the relative open, heading for but not yet reaching the relative safety of the Seiran Dust Cloud. Matsumoto itself departed with its escort to confront the Chrysanthemum battleship, close to the edge of the nebula. Within minutes of it coming into sensor range, bomber and fighter squadrons from both sides closed in and opening salvos were exchanged between the battleships. It didn't take long before the KNF's preparation was shown to be well worthwhile; their superior numbers whittled down or otherwise preoccupied the Chrysanthemum's fighter force leaving a variety of openings in the Matsuda's defensive cover for KNF bombers to exploit. While the Matsumoto was withstanding a heavy beating from the guns of its older sister, it was plain that the Matsuda was slowly being whittled away as its shields began to fail and the very same engine design flaws that had rendered it immobile in KNF service were now exploited by bomber wings to once again cripple the warship. After several more minutes, the Matsuda's escape pods began to eject from the ailing battleship, picked up by Chrysanthemum fighters as they fled deeper into the Seiran dust cloud. It didn't take long thereafter for the ship's powercore to falter and fail completely, culminating in a vast explosion that reportedly almost turned night to day on the dark side of Planet Kyushu, if only for a split second. Matsumoto itself sustained moderate damage in the engagement, relatively untouched by Chrysanthemum bombers however still suffering the ill effects of Matsuda's anti-capital weaponry. Despite its damage, it remains deployed in the Kyushu system to continue the blockade of the cardamine trade and to serve as a show of force to any who would challenge the might of the Emperor.

[831 AS] Gate corps clash over 'Blackout'!

ABBEVILLE -- 831 AS -- EFL's 'Resilience Taskforce' today reported its findings on The Blackout, claiming to have gathered forensic evidence that proved the cause as Ageira negligence. A spokesperson claimed that the destruction of the Dublin Jump Gate by Molly separatists had created a hyperspace feedback loop that was propagated and amplified through the Ageira gate network. Ageira disputed this finding in their own press release, calling EFL 'fantasists' and countering that their own scientists had narrowed the cause to a rare 'hypernova' stellar event that originated outside the Sirius sector. Both corporations claim that network-wide hardware safeguards have been implemented that would prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Independent researchers have sharply criticized the corporate announcements, accusing both of self-interested misdirection. Professor Sophia Nagel from Heisenberg Research Station called EFL's accusation 'incoherent' and the hypernova explanation 'nonsense' that did not explain the characteristics of the 'Blackout Pulse'. Despite multiple different Pulse recordings being widely disseminated across the neural net, public efforts have so far failed to triangulate its source.

[831 AS] Pulse phenomenon linked to Blackout

AMES RESEARCH STATION -- 831 -- Independent researchers have announced that a hyperspace pulse of unprecedented strength was detected moments before The Blackout, destroying many of the sector’s most sensitive and finely tuned observatories. Surviving data about 'The Pulse' has been widely shared across the neural net in recent days, prompting mass speculation. Professor Katsuma Oster of Ames Research Station described the signal as “astounding”. “These readings are unprecedented, as if reality itself were struck like a gong.” House authorities have remained tight lipped, refusing to share their own observatories' data.

[831 AS] 'Blackout' causes jump network failure

MANHATTAN -- 831 AS -- Two days ago Jump Gates failed simultaneously across Sirius, freezing commerce and neural net access across the sector. When communications resumed 31 hours later, the news broke of Bretonia's loss of the Dublin system. This twin shock has plunged markets into chaos, prompting fears of sector-wide economic recessions. Interspace estimates that the stoppage alone caused billions of credits in losses. Gallia immediately accused Liberty of causing the outage, claiming the destruction of Dublin's Jump Gate instigated a cascading failure in faulty Ageira infrastructure. Ageira has sharply refuted the allegation, claiming such a systemic effect would be physically impossible.

[828 AS] Birds of a Feather

STUTTGART -- 828 AS -- Many ex-LWB remnants took up the Imperial cause during the Civil War, hoping for a government that would expel Synth Foods from Rheinland. They were left feeling betrayed when these promises were abandoned. Lacking resources, the fighters looked abroad to find support. They found Kusari’s Farmers Alliance, who fight a near identical battle against the Liberty corporation. The Alliance has provided leadership, funding and resources to relaunch anti-Synth operations in Rheinland as a wing of their own organization. It remains to be seen how this united Farmers Alliance will impact affairs on the wider stage, as the security forces of both Rheinland and Kusari are already strained by internal conflict and crime.

Rumors

Kusari State Police

We’ve recently had a rash of vandalism cases along the main concourse. Windows broken and graffiti, usually targeting stores selling foreign goods, or restaurants serving Synth products. It’s almost certainly Hogosha work, but we can’t nail them for it because the security cameras suspiciously fail during the incidents. When I figure out which tech they’ve paid off, I’m going to break his ankles. Ginza’s starboard wing is a high security zone. It’s been reserved for use by the Kusari government as a diplomatic quarter. There are many embassies that were relocated aboard the Liner Akasaka, and support offices for the foreign diplomats’ staff in the storefronts nearby. We maintain a heavily armed KSP precinct house there to make sure no dignitaries are disturbed by uninvited intruders. I hear the Ministry of Trade and Economy will soon announce the commercial deployment of a ship-mounted Jump Drive! This is thrilling but terrifying news. The Boorman Treaty created neutral buffer zones in the Independent Worlds. The ability to hypothetically bypass these zones will inevitably result in militarization as the Houses adapt to the possibility of attacks directly into their core territory. I hope my superiors have considered all the ramifications. Ginza is almost entirely composed of shops, restaurants and other customer-facing services. As a result, we’re one of the most densely crewed stations in Kusari. Fortunately, so far we’ve had the visitor numbers to turn a healthy profit, but some worry that is mostly driven by the novelty of what we offer. As soon as the district governments tire of subsidizing the shuttles, or young people decide the Bazaar is no longer fashionable, we may struggle. Many of the visitors to Ginza are local youths or foreign tourists. It is a relatively quiet and pleasant posting, mostly providing directions to lost visitors. There are some Hogosha bosozoku aboard however -- pickpockets and bag snatchers mostly. HQ is keen to make sure that nothing scares the tourists away, so there’ll be no leniency for Hogosha targeting foreigners here. Despite being a tourist attraction, a lot of serious diplomatic work also happens at Ginza -- the Kusari government has rented the station’s other wing for that purpose. Dignitaries frequently meet on this side however, probably hoping to blend into the crowd and avoid the listening ears likely hidden all over the Akasaka. Even when pretending to be tourists, most of them stick out. Yesterday I noticed Liberty’s regional security chief having an affair with Rheinland’s deputy economy attaché. I work at the Liberty embassy as a Kusari liaison. It is difficult work, as the relationship is currently... strained. There are multiple troubling issues that have been worsening for many years now. Regrettably, Liberty has become accustomed to dictating terms to the other Houses, and is struggling to adjust to a status quo where this no longer applies. We do not want conflict, but we will do whatever is required to assert our independence. The Ginza Development Committee is made up of the original proprietors who founded the orbital bazaar, and representatives from Planet New Tokyo’s district governments. Of course, both keiretsu also believe they are secretly running the show. I suspect the chairman is merely humoring them while pursuing whichever course makes the most commercial sense for the facility, and best nurtures the tourist trade. Liberty has imposed security checkpoints in Galileo and announced sanctions to cut off Kusari’s supply of Superconductors. This mirrors their aggressive posturing in the direct lead-up to the Hudson War with Rheinland. Our analysts hope this is only a negotiating tactic to coerce concessions in Kusari’s domestic, economic and technological policies, rather than something more sinister. Despite this, the KNF is preparing for the worst.

Interspace Commerce

After Interspace withdrew insurance coverage from Kusari, Samura moved to launch its own service. They’re now tripping into the same pitfalls Rheinland did during the Hudson War. For one, we won’t share proprietary Universal Ship Identification data with them, so their assessors are constantly subject to fraudulent claims and tariff evasion. Anonymous insiders have also hinted that they grossly misjudged the capital investment required to underwrite shipping on this scale. Interspace believes there is a cover-up going on with the Roppongi investigation. It’s no secret that Samura wields the Farmer’s Alliance like a weapon when it serves their interests, even if we can’t prove it. Then they were unexpectedly granted the clean-up contract, despite being completely unqualified for it. I’m here to closely monitor the case, and independently dig up any clues that might have been overlooked... or concealed. If we ever uncover evidence linking Samura to the attack, there will be hell to pay. The loss of Roppongi was the worst terrorist attack in Kusari’s history, killing several ambassadors and hundreds of crew and visitors. Kusari is slow-walking the investigation, despite the outrage abroad. Now there’s been a failed Alliance attack on Deshima Station, too. Interspace had already suspended insurance coverage in Kusari after Roppongi, but clearly further coercion is needed. Liberty is threatening to impose sanctions on Kusari unless they take concrete steps to eradicate the Farmers Alliance altogether.

Synth Foods, Inc.

Synth Foods and Kishiro have entered into Paste supply agreements with many restaurants here, allowing them to feature exclusive and premium flavors. These are proving to be very successful -- nearly 80%% of young consumers prefer our brands over Kyushu offerings. Moving forward, Synth will likely use Ginza to market test localized Kusari products. The product branding benefits from the fashionable setting and free exposure. While Ginza Bazaar is looking like a profitable market for Synth Foods, there is one significant issue. Neko’s Onigiri. It is by far the most popular restaurant at Ginza. Despite repeated -- and increasingly generous -- offers for a supply contract, Hina Sakuraoka remains disinterested. Whatever we propose, she replies that she simply likes things the way they are. Synth Foods is certain that Samura funds the Farmers Alliance movement. The Kusari government was forced into taking token action against the terrorists after the Roppongi attack, but has never been willing to open an investigation into Samura's complicity. This is not surprising, given that many government officials are still on Samura's bribe list. We're pushing Liberty hard to put pressure on Kusari to take action. It's only a matter of time before they're forced to act.

Hogosha

The Hogosha are the guardians of Kusari’s society, against both foreign threats and disturbers of the status quo like the Blood Dragons and Golden C. The Hogosha would like to secure voices on the Ginza Development Committee, to ensure the market holders here remember the importance of traditional Kusari values. When they forget, the Hogosha are of course on hand to remind them. There is an Interspace detective prowling around this station, trying to talk to anyone that might know something about the Roppongi blast. This task is fruitless. Anyone with sense realizes there is nothing further that should be known. If this detective continues to disturb the peace and besmirch the reputation of honorable Kusari investigators, we will be forced to teach him the error of his ways. The Hogosha have a profitable relationship with Ikebana Home and several other proprietors here. We supply the most aesthetically pleasing Artifacts to artisans who work them into distinctly Kusari sculptures. Some academics object to this practice, calling it vandalism. I say these paperweights serve a greater purpose as the centerpiece of a wealthy Samura executive’s office, than they would sitting in a dusty university archive.

Kishiro Technologies

Ginza is a striking mix of modern and traditional influences, where local Kusari can rub shoulders with well-traveled foreigners, and locate a range of goods from across Sirius. Kishiro has been keen to steer the Ginza Development Committee towards this kind of approach. It represents a roadmap for progressing responsibly towards an open and forward-looking Kusari. We must embrace the future rather than clinging to a stagnant past. Kishiro has acquired the supply contracts for dozens of the stores aboard Ginza, including most of the restaurants. Following the Deshima Agreement of 833 AS, Kishiro became Synth Foods’ primary distributor in Kusari. I suspect this was largely motivated by damaging Samura while an opportunity presented itself, given that Shinagawa had otherwise been contemplating divesting our external shipping fleet. In years past, I would visit Roppongi while off-duty. When I saw women wearing thick, garish lipstick, I wondered if they were secretly Chrysanthemums trying to hide the stains that drugs apparently leave on their lips. Allegedly Interspace would let them dock to go shopping. Mind you, I still see such lipstick here on Ginza too. Perhaps this is simply a Libertonian fashion they are copying?

Samura Industries

Samura operates the passenger shuttles that move commuters and guests between Planet New Tokyo and Ginza. The contract is a relatively small one, but heavily subsidized by the district governments and Ginza Development Committee. It makes sense that the Committee should favor Samura; we are after all, also committed to the tourism trade’s recovery by dismantling Roppongi’s unsightly wreckage. Soon that unpleasantness will be nothing but a memory. While visiting the station, more than once I have had some impudent Interspace gaijin sneer at me and mutter absurd accusations. I welcome him to do so again; I have friends in high places who can make his life very difficult indeed. Those Liberty foreigners should learn their place. They are in Kusari -- we do not bow to their demands. Samura was an early backer of the Ginza Development Committee. As a result, we have an understanding with the appropriate decision makers, and influence over rental decisions and policy changes. Samura sees directing Ginza’s operations as a means of directing Kusari’s youth in a more reasonable direction by controlling their interests. We’ve made some initial concessions on outside influences to appear “hip” with the younger demographic, but soon enough we will subtly set a more traditional agenda.