| Type | Multinational Tech Conglomerate, Global Spy Network |
| Location | Tokyo, Japan (Branches throughout the world) |
| Owner(s) | Nemuro Nishitsu |
| Featured in | The Destroyer |
The Nishitsu Group (aka the Nishitsu Conglomerate and the Nishitsu Corporation) is a multinational conglomerate from the 1971 novel series The Destroyer, having first appeared in the 1989 novel Blue Smoke and Mirrors as a major antagonist.
Overview[]
The Nishitsu Group is a powerful conglomerate operating from the bustling city of Tokyo and overlooking the Akihabara district—a place to which it has made significant contributions.
Nishitsu originally began as a cheap radio shop which through perseverance and solid investments, slowly became a successful electronics firm during the days of the transistor revolution. By the early seventies they had subsidiaries manufacturing cars, computers, VCR's and other highticket items. Over its 40 years of existence, it became one of the most influential electronics companies in the world. It eventually branched out into global telecommunications and military equipment, giving it a foothold into almost every major field of industry.
However, its image as a leading tech developer and altruistic corp is a facade used to mask the true secret intentions of its founder, Nemuro Nishitsu, who uses his company to influence political affairs on a global scale through cyber warfare, espionage and weapons development.
Nishitsu's puppeteer operations would eventually draw the attention of the secret U.S. government organization known as CURE, serving as a formidable and dangerous adversary for the agents of CURE, especially for the agent, Remo Williams who has had to personally confront Nishitsu and risk his life to thwart their megalomaniacal agendas.
Thanks to its many offices and factories, the Nishitsu Group has a presence in virtually every developed nation in the world.
Staff[]
Founder[]
- “I understand that I fought for my nation and my emperor and I have returned to find my people have lost their manhood.”
- ―Nemuro Nishitsu's view on his homeland
Nemuro Nishitsu is the ambitious founder and CEO of the Nishitsu Group who is renowned for his strategic and scientific genius. Having once been a humble and loyal soldier in service to his country, he became disillusioned following WWII, believing that his homeland and emperor had become weak, motivating him to better himself and aspire for greater ambitions, becoming one of the world's leading industrialists in order to control the world and mold it in his ideal image of what it should be.
Mr. Nishitsu in his youth was a steadfast Japanese soldier who carried an unshakable conviction: the emperor was divine. As World War II raged, he clung to this belief, even as the monsoon rains pummeled his helmet and resolve during the Burma campaign in 1942. Amidst the relentless fighting against British and American forces, Nishitsu's faith remained unwavering. Even when his regiment was captured by British forces in 1944, his faith remained ever strong and was determined to survive and continue fighting by any means, retreating into the unforgiving jungles, determined to fight on, even if he stood as the last Japanese soldier standing. Survival became his sole purpose, adopting many of survival skills from the primates he observed and killing enemy soldiers by any means he could. However, his one man campaign ended when malaria took its toll on his health, leading to his capture by British forces.
British soldiers transported him to an internment camp, where he gradually regained strength. Among fellow POWs, whispers circulated—the unthinkable rumor that Japan had surrendered to the Americans after a decisive blow, and upon his release and return home, he discovered the rumors were true. For Nemuro Nishitsu, this revelation along with the defeat of his homeland, the perceived weakness of his compatriots and sight of his destroyed hometown shattered the very foundation of his unwavering faith in the emperor's divinity.
By 1950, Mr. Nishitsu wallowed over the change that had befallen his country and his hatred reached its peak when an American bureaucrat, who nearly ran him over, demanded restitution for getting in his way, and not even the policemen of his country defended Nishitsu as he had everything taken from him. On that fateful day, Nishitsu wondered where the rage of his fellow countrymen had gone, as they had been humbled by defeat and occupation.
Though Nishitsu became embittered by Japan's defeat, his convictions to change the world would not waver, and he gradually transformed his misfortunes into a fortune. He would go on to establish a successful radio business, leveraging American transistors and markets. As the business diversified with American microchips, Nishitsu's bitterness waned as he went to establish one of the largest conglomerates in the country. He gained recognition as a key contributor to country's postwar economy, a friend of the emperor, and even received the prestigious Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure. Becoming regarded as "the old man with power," eventually finding contentment... at least for a time. When the emperor passed away, the bitterness resurfaced, reminding Nishitsu of the tumultuous past and spurred him once more to pursue his original ambition, to control the world and restore the rage of war.
Others[]
The Nishitsu Group is one of the biggest employers in Japan and in many developed nations where it has a foothold, with a workforce that numbers in the millions, from laborers, scientists and engineers. However, for Nishitsu's more sinister operations, they employ a secret army made up of thousands of skilled soldiers and ninjas whose training was personally over seen by Mr. Nishitsu, and they are not only deadly warriors but are equipped with the latest in weapons technology from Nishitsu, as well as traditional armaments, like the katana and shuriken, which serve as symbols of Mr. Nishitsu's national pride.
Nishitsu also maintains a vast spy network overseen by hundreds of intelligence agents operating in every major Nishitsu branch and are used to gather and manipulate information in government affairs.
Appearances[]
- Blue Smoke and Mirrors (1989)
- Shooting Schedule (1989)
- Engines of Destruction (1996)
Trivia[]
The Nishitsu Corp. logo from Hill Street Blues
The Nishitsu P.A.N.D.A.
- Eight years prior to Nishitsu's debut in The Destroyer, a similarly named corporation that was also a defense contractor called "Nishitsu Corp." appeared in the 1981 television series Hill Street Blues in the episode "I Never Promised You a Rose, Marvin".
- Although IMDB lists the Nishitsu in Hill Street Blues as a reference to the one in The Destroyer books, this is not possible, as the Nishitsu Corporation in The Destroyer would make its debut after Hill Street Blues.
- Within the episode, Nishitsu Corp. was contracted by the city's government officials, after some encouragement from Lt. Hunter, to design a six million dollar police tank dubbed the 'P.A.N.D.A.' to help put an end to the rampant crime in the city's "Sniper Alley". Unfortunately for Hunter, when he took the representatives of Nishitsu Corp. out for dinner in Little Tokyo whilst showing off the new tank, he not only wrecked several cars while trying to park the vehicle, but he even left the keys in the ignition, leading to the tank's subsequent theft by one of the local gangs who then stripped and gutted the vehicle and threw away its remains in the east river.