Kazoku (FT)

The Kazoku is the informal term for the quasi-aristocracy in the New Greater Empire that dominates the Imperial government, economy and society in general. The Kazoku consist of a closely-linked community of powerful families with ties to the Imperial absolute monarchy, the military government, the megacorporations that dominate the Imperial economy, and many social institutions. It is not a stretch to say that the Kazoku are the true leaders of the Empire, though this is largely unknown beyond rumours within the Empire itself due to strong government censorship of the topic. Kazoku membership is typically hereditary, and to "become" Kazoku in the first place a family simply has to somehow amass enough clout in the cut-throat dealings of Imperial ultrahigh society, most famously displayed by the rise of the Arakawa family, a feat not commonly replicated.

The influence that the Kazoku hold over the Imperial government cannot be accurately observed due to the Imperial government's obfuscation of the matter, though it has been recognised that the Imperial Grand Marshal has always coincidentally been a member of a Kazoku family since the formation of the position with Grand Marshal Kitagawa Aki. An insular community, the Kazoku often loathe to admit new families to their ranks, as seen by the extremely hostile reception the Arakawa Family has received since their rise in recent decades. Most individual Imperial heroes, celebrities, and military-politicians are never able to reach the ultrahigh levels of Imperial society, if they become aware that there is a higher level at all, contented as they are at their supposedly-pinnacle positions. Internal conflicts and intrigue are common among the Kazoku, though the families often unite to face external threats to their power such as foreign megacorporations attempting to enter the Imperial markets.

Life in ultrahigh Imperial society is rarely observed by outsiders, but is potentially the closest to a post-scarcity utopia that any human in the modern day can experience. The inertia of the interplanetary scale of most megacorporations means that leadership of such entities requires little work unless the individual leader chooses to do so, giving such individuals essentially unlimited time and unlimited funds to pursue whatever they fancy. Some of the most visible trappings of the Kazoku are their massive private estates across the Empire, ranging from private archipelagos to fully private space stations and subterranean lunar retreats. Naturally, these ostentatious displays of wealth have earned the Kazoku the ire of many have-nots, both in the Empire and abroad. Not all of the Kazoku live this way, and those that live a more modest way of life can be almost entirely invisible, despite the vast power that they hold.

Within the Kazoku, there is an even smaller, controlling subgroup popularly known as the Kuge. The Kuge are extremely powerful and wealthy families with the distinction that they originate through unbroken bloodlines to the powerful families of the United Empire of Yashima on Old Ordis. Every Kuge family maintains meticulously-kept genetic records to prove their lineage to Old Yashima, with these records guarded as securely as the massive hoards of wealth that these families also hold. It is speculated that the modern state of the Empire, with its constant emulation of Yashiman culture and obsession with so-called Yashiman Values, is directly encouraged and driven by the Kuge, who seek to avenge Old Yashima by creating an unstoppable interstellar state in its image, with themselves at the centre. Kuge families also control the Yashiman Five, some of the largest and oldest megacorporations in the Empire and the Human Sphere in general.

Every Imperial Consort since the time of Emperor Yoshihide as been from a Kuge family. Though they do not officially acknowledge it, rumours hold that the Kitagawa Clan are the direct descendants of the Yashiman United Imperial Houses. This may be why multiple Kitagawas have married into the Imperial Royal Family despite their seemingly lower profile compared to the other Kuge houses.