So, Guangdong. A corporate fiefdom in all but name, and one of the most content-packed entities in The New Order. A living nightmare for most, a gangster's paradise for others, and something different for all. It's not Japan, but it's not exactly China either. The "State" of Guangdong has its own existential crisis on what is
is and what it
should be, and the ones to drive this change are all at the top of the corporate world, taking the unpaid wages of the impoverished masses to line their own pockets and live life with extreme comfort.
For whatever reason, I choose to have Ibuka Masaru become Chief Executive in the aftermath of Yasuda's collapse and the Economic Wars. Why? Maybe it's something about my affinity for cassette futurism as an aesthetic. Maybe it's me wanting to see an even darker reflection of our own world within another. Maybe it's because I didn't feel like choosing between good things that shouldn't have to be mutually exclusive in a Sony campaign, despite there being
unofficial submods that remove aforementioned mutual exclusivity. Maybe because a Matsushita campaign sounded kind of dry despite how if I had to choose between air conditioning and a computer, I'd choose the air conditioner. But also for the fact that I wasn't ready for the bleakness of a corporatocracy taken over by Komai. Maybe... well, there's no concrete reason that I can think of, but I would say "all of the above" are factors in some form or another.
To put it mildly, things
suck in Guangdong. Not to the extent that they will in the Einheitspakt come late 1963, but not too far off. Workers are worked to death in godawful conditions for long hours and little pay for the benefit of the profits of the Big Four corporations (Sony, Matsushita, Fujitsu, and Yasuda), later the Big Five (Cheung Kong, Sony, Matsushita, Fujitsu, and Hitachi).The police force begins underfunded and as more of an auxiliary arm to the Kenpeitai, and both the Triads and the Yakuza run with limited to no oversight whatsoever, with even their leaders in semi-regular contact with the corporate titans themselves. It's a dog-eat-dog nightmare, all happening under the auspices of the Chief Executive and maintained with the ever-present Japanese presence. There's the Japanese at the top, the Chinese at the bottom, and the "Zhujin", the people of the Pearl River Delta that form a middle class of sorts, primarily consisting of those local to the area who often speak both Cantonese and Japanese. Things go from bad to worse once a Sphere-wide economic depression hits caused by the collapse of Yasuda, and though it's cleaned up relatively quickly the damage is done and a new corporate status quo forms in the process.
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In this case, Fujitsu Limited, chaired by Ibuka Masaru, became dominant, and Ibuka's vision for Guangdong would be implemented. The surveillance state would come into being, assisted by numerous computers and magnetic tape storage. Homes would be upended through re-zoning. The Triads would be beaten but not broken by the reformed and increasingly competent police which have come to sideline the Kenpeitai. Education would be reformed, and a great evil known as standardized testing would be implemented. Electronic infrastructure would be updated, the economy would be streamlined, and much more would change. Fujitsu would become the future, exporting computer mainframes and related technology not just across the Sphere, but even to neutral countries across the world, from Brazil to Italy to even Iberia, where their computers would be considered instrumental in Iberian efforts at counterterrorism and crushing separatism. In all, the "Silicon Years" (1964-1970) would be considered Guangdong's Golden Age, marked by high profits and high technology becoming prominent in many walks of life, from assisting in accounting to general management to collecting databases on all known dissidents. A true capitalistic nightmare with an outer shell of plastic, metal, and glowing lights.
The Oil Crisis which began in the autumn of 1970 hit much of the world hard. In Italy, the crisis exacerbated what would later become known as the "Years of Lead". In America, measures were taken by the Thurmond Administration to keep the oil flowing and industry moving, though failing to prevent a recession. In Germany, the stock market crashed in Frankfurt and led to a series of events which would well and truly kill the reformist cause, along with millions of armed slaves-turned-revolutionaries in Eastern Europe. Combined with the 1968 military coup which well and truly ended the last semblance of Japanese democracy, the Oil Crisis hit Japan hard though the Empire would inevitably endure, and would inch ever closer to all-out war with a resurgent China for the fate of the Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Perhaps one of the locations hardest hit by the Oil Crisis was Guangdong. The price of everything skyrocketed in short order, more so imported food. The situation was generally considered to be "in control", and things were slowly stabilizing albeit still very much shaky. The actions of Komai changed all of that, closing down some of Hitachi's industries in Guangdong. A hostage situation occurred, and then the riots broke out in late 1971, continuing through the winter and into the spring. Significant concessions were offered to one group of rioters and strikers (The Committee of Chinese Labor), and basic concessions were offered to another group (The Guangdong Federation of Tradesmen). Eventually, the situation would be resolved peacefully, to the surprise of most onlookers and those who knew the Chief Executive. Why Ibuka Masaru authorized negotiations with the two organizations remains a mystery to the public as of 1973, though it is to some of his credit that the situation did not spiral out of control. It is also to the partial credit of Lieutenant General Nagano Shigeto, who sought to send the IJA 23rd Army in to restore control and dissolve the corporate state. (It is rumored that he was within seconds of issuing the order to deploy before news that the riots ended reached him. Had the order gone through or had the rioting not ended then and there, it is likely that Guangdong as we know it would not have lasted as long as it did.)
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I honestly don't know what to say. My run was Ibuka's Reconciliation path, one which I enjoyed, especially towards the end. Granted, I didn't really enjoy being an evil bastard in the name of meritocracy or efficiency or making the dominant corporations even fucking richer than they already were, but I feel echoes of Wolfgang Schenck's struggles here, the theme of trying to redeem yourself after doing some awful things, and to atone for what has been done, and if said redemption can even be achieved. And if it's even worth trying to really come to terms either with one's bullheadedness or one's short-sightedness, or doing "what must be done" with terrible consequences, intentions damned.
I myself haven't done anything truly awful, though I have hurt other people and their feelings. I know I've disappointed a lot of people, my parents especially back then. Since a major incident which saw me removed from a Montessori school and, perhaps ironically, the onset of puberty, I've since not had those issues with violence. I've learned to live with regret not just for the things I've done, but for the things I didn't do. Certain classes in high school I should have taken, people I should've had the guts to ask out even if nothing would have come of it. Staying closeted even after finding out something really important about myself four years ago. It has been said that time heals all wounds, but those wounds leave scars. And while the differences are major, the pain is still weirdly relatable.
It's not the only theme I wanted to focus on. In many ways Guangdong, like many countries in TNO, feel like a dark mirror of certain aspects of our own world. And mind you, a lot of shitty stuff has happened and continues to happen IOTL as we're all aware. The ever-creeping erosion of privacy, the increasing militarization of the police at the deliberate expense of those without any power in society, the struggles between the interests of the worker and the interests of business... Even the Oil Crisis in a way feels reminiscent of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least in terms of societal upheaval more than actual confinement to quarters. I'm not sure what to say about any of it, but maybe I'm drawing parallels from nothing. I've just written a lot of gobbledygook and my brain's kind of melting at the moment.
Something else to mention, I did get somewhat attached to the characters and how their lives change depending on who the Chief Executive is. Not going to go over story specifics since those can be found in great detail on
the relevant TV Tropes pages.
So, Guangdong. I still have a save just after the Oil Crisis hits, maybe I'll find the guts to go through the Persistence Path just to see what happens. After that, it'll be a few months or longer before I touch Guangdong again. I need time to have it all wash away and avoid the repetition of the early game before I get back to it.
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Mechanically speaking Guangdong is fun. The Product Cycle is easy to master in terms of raising quality and popularity even with the drawbacks of certain methods. Corruption in an Ibuka run is ever-present and impossible to eliminate entirely without foregoing focus on other mechanics, even with the Anti-Corruption Ordinance*. Japanese and Chinese opinion doesn't matter... until you realize it influences corruption and GDP and other factors. Trying to get the police dominant across Guangdong is a long process but it's one that sort of works out.
*Yes, I actually bribed some LegCo seats for this one. The irony and the hypocrisy was not lost on me, and it was the only time I actually burst into laughter during this whole playthrough.
