There have been a fair number of comparisons
between Okumura’s Palace and Amazon over
the last couple of years, probably as a result
of allegations of “unsafe, grueling conditions
at warehouses,” which yeah, that’s probably
an accurate comparison. However, there is
an individual who fits Okumura’s profile
much moreso than Jeff Bezos. Which is what
we’re going to explore here today.
For those of you who need a brief reminder
of what this arc was about because you’ve
blocked it from your memory, then allow me
to remind you. Kunikazu Okumura is the CEO
of Okumura Foods, the company that owns the
restaurant Big Bang Burger. The company winds
up being mired with scandals due to their
rather excessive work hours and lackluster
safety conditions, none of which seem to phase
Okumura. He gets onto the Phantom Thieves
radar during the height of their popularity
when he climbs to the top of the request boards
on the Phan Site, after the stuff with Futaba
and Medjed. While initially reluctant to actually
target Okumura, the Phantom Thieves eventually
get on board with taking him down after they
meet his daughter Haru and agree to change
his heart to escape an arranged marriage with
this abusive asshole.
In his palace, we see his neglect for workers
on full display, where they appear as robots
within his cognition. Not only that, but they
are also shown breaking down and being transformed
into fuel at points throughout the palace,
indicating to us that he views his workers
not as people, but as disposable drones who
are to be discarded when they outlive their
usefulness. We also learn throughout the arc
that Okumura is not just a ruthless businessman,
but also has political aspirations and plans
to “ascend” to the world of politics.
OKUMURA: Regardless, I shall soon set sail
into the political realm. To the upper echelons
of the world! To utopia! My name shall be
etched in the annals of history!
Of course, those aspirations are short-lived
as Masoyoshi Shido, the game’s main antagonist,
has him assassinated as he sees Okumura as
both a threat to his own political aspirations
and a means by which to lure the Phantom Thieves
into a trap. The arc ends with Okumura keeling
over dead during a press conference and the
popularity of the Phantom Thieves plummeting.
Okumura’s character is modeled after the
real-life story of Miki Watanabe, the self-made
owner of Watami, which owns a series of Japanese-style
pubs throughout the country. Just like with
Okumura, his company was mired with scandals,
being known as a “black kigyo”, or “black
company,” a term used in Japan for companies
with strenuous work conditions. According
to author Ryu Nitta, “The general image
of a ‘black kigyo’ is an employer with
a low-wage structure, long working hours,
power harassment of employees and so on. But
to me, the term means companies in which the
owner has no desire to reward workers, and
which engage in illegal practices with premeditation.”
As one might expect with a reputation like
that, Watami was voted as the worst place
to work in Japan in 2012 and 2013.
These conditions lead to legal action against
the company on February 14, 2012 when the
Kanagawa Prefecture Labor Standards Office
classisified the 2008 sucide of 26-year-old
employee Mina Mori, who had only been at the
company for two months, an instance of karōshi,
which translates to death from overwork. Mori
was found to have worked an average of 140
hours of overtime per month, well in excess
of the 80-hour threshold that the office deams
to make karōshi “more likely to occur.”
The matter was eventually settled out of court
in 2015 to the tune of 133 million yen, the
equivalent of just over 1 million US dollars
at the time.
Just like Okumura as well, Watanabe also had
his own political aspirations where he ran
for the governorship of Tokyo in 2011, taking
inspiration from the New York mayorship of
billionaire Michael Bloomberg, saying things
like, “He raised tax revenue and lowered
expenses, he knows how to raise money and
spend it.” Based on that quote you can probably
deduce that his platform was largely built
around fixing Japan’s financial issues,
which would be correct. According to Watanabe:
“There was no management sense in politics.
If you keep borrowing more than what you bring
in, the result, obviously, is bankruptcy.
There was no sense of an impending crisis.
To earn five million yen in income, take out
seven million yen in loans and to say one
lives on 12 million yen is unbelievable from
a management point of view. It’s impossible.
But that’s the kind of approach politics
has taken up to this point.”
Despite his best efforts, however, this run
wasn’t to be, as he came in third place
with only 16.8 percent of the vote.
That wasn’t the end of his political aspirations
though, as he ran for office again in 2013,
this time seeking a seat in the House of Councillors
under the conservative-leaning Liberal Democratic
Party, or LDP.
It was during this time that the parents of
Mori brought the scandal to light and demanded
that the LDP drop him as a candidate. Watanabe
responded through his secretary saying he
had no intention of withdrawing from the election.
That wasn’t the end of it, as during the
same month a 73-year-old woman drowned in
the bath at a Watami operated assisted-living
facility in Osaka, the second such instance
to occur for the company in two years, and
somehow despite all of that, Watanabe managed
to the election and get a seat in the House
of Councillors. So unlike Okumura, this guy
managed to actually get into office. You know
it’s wild with the kinds of things you can
get away with and still get elected. I mean,
that’s what the game implied too with Okumura.
Shido wouldn’t decide to off a guy like
this if he wasn’t a viable candidate who
could rival him. It’s very likely that Okumura
would have gotten into office had he not been
taken out by Akechi.
But anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this video.
It’s a bit of a different video, but I thought
it could be a bit of fun to explore how this
game that I love draws inspiration from real-life
events and people. If you would like to see
more videos like this one, make sure to hit
that like button and subscribe so you don’t
miss when that happens. If there are any characters
you’d like to know about specifically, be
sure to let me know in the comments down below.
But, until next time guys. Peace!
