Tatsumi Port Island
Thirty minutes from the heart of Tokyo via the 'Express Train by the Sea,' Tatsumi Port Island is a marvel of urban planning, utilizing artificial islands to expand Iwatodai City of the Chiba Region into the sea. Once the heart of the Kirijo Group's research and development with one of the largest chemical research laboratories in Japan, a terrible tragedy Ten Years Ago from a gas explosion forced them to relocate the facility elsewhere.
Now, Tatsumi Port Island has been rebuilt to keep industrial activities on shoreline within Iwatodai City proper and not tempt fate going forward by building new factories or plants in the heart of an urban area. Despite the Kirijo Group pulling their facility from the area, they've maintained their presence in the community with the construction of Gekkoukan High School and continue to invest in the area to this day.
Nevertheless, the community maintains healthy skepticism towards the Group despite their investment of numerous projects in the community due to the tragedy of Ten Years Ago, reflected in the orphaned children and grieving widows that still believe they were not given satisfying answers to the questions...
Why did this happen? Why did they have to die?
History of Tatsumi Port Island
Tatsumi Port Island is the brainchild of French urban planner Alaire Descoteaux in collaboration with the Nanjo Group to expand Iwatodai City into the sea, making it an ideal port for them and them alone. As a result, many streets within the city still maintain French names.
After board member Kouetsu Kirijo broke off from the group in order to form his own company, he and his associates made certain the separation remained amicable by making a premium deal for their stock options that included Tatsumi Port Island. To this day, Nanjo Group and Kirijo Group maintain close relations from his careful maneuvering.
It was in the years after that Kouetsu Kirijo became interested in Shadows and other facets of the occult after uncovering the mysterious Plume of Dusk. It was his belief that to research this was to uncover the truths of time manipulation and human existence itself, and through them take humanity to the limits of its potential.
To this end, he had an expansive chemical research laboratory built on Tatsumi Port Island in order to perform clandestine research upon these peculiar crystals. Instead, he discovered the prophecy of the Fall. As more and more of his fellows began to believe that the salvation of humanity would come through its obliteration, it was only a matter of time until things fell apart.
Due to the thoroughness of the coverup, few know precisely that what happened that day Ten Years Ago has any link whatsoever to the Tower that appears every night, looming over the city. The Potential after all, only started appearing in enough individuals in recent years for it to be noticed as quite the interesting coincidence. But some believe, and rightfully so that it isn't a coincidence at all.
And they aim to prove it.
Culture of Tatsumi Port Island
By day, the people of Tatsumi Port Island enjoy mostly normal lives for citizens of contemporary Japan. The majority of people living just off it are solidly middle class salary men and women who make their living from offices on both the mainland and the island, or blue collar workers making a living in the industrial sector or working at the port.
Living within 'mansions' within Iwatodai City is exceptionally common for families who moved here for their jobs. While these are usually 'middle class mansions' which are similar to Western apartment complexes, there are also 'mansions' which are more upscale condos. Housing is also available in a residential district that's formed around the Naganaki Shrine.
The investment of the Kirijo Group has made certain that most parts of Tatsumi Port Island have mostly kept up with modernization, but has also created an underlying threat of gentrification from the loss of both loved ones and prior opportunities in the area as more people move in to replace them. Redevelopment is common, and construction sites loom to create apprehension that more jobs and local businesses might be consumed by the threat of modernization.
Some individuals are homeless from this, while others are barely hanging on. These folk often hang out in the back alleys and bars that remain near the stations. Upstanding people try to avoid these places due to recent rumors of suspicious individuals and possible gang activity.
Nevertheless, so long as you don't look back there or at the people with Apathy Syndrome mumbling in the streets, folk here enjoy the options for both shopping and entertainment afforded to them at Paulownia Mall as well as the restaurants that have popped up around Iwatodai Station.
One common thread that affects so many people of the Port is how they've each been touched by death in some way. These people are grappling with the answer of how one moves on after losing someone precious to them.
Teenagers in particular are dealing with a crisis of their own mortality, learning just how vulnerable they are to losing everything, and the sense of futurelessness that results.
At night, the people enjoy a normal nightlife, with Club Escapade being a popular spot, aside from that period after midnight that most people spend sealed in a coffin during the Dark Hour. Shadows stalk Tatsumi Port Island during this time, looking for any unfortunate souls that have left the safety of their embrace.
Locations of Tatsumi Port Island/Iwatodai City
- Gekkoukan High School - A modern high school constructed by the Kirijo Group after the events of Ten Years Ago. It's an unspoken rule that the Group holds ultimate authority at this school, giving Mitsuru Kirijo, the student council president, more weight than most faculty. Some of the teachers can be somewhat strange, but the Kirijo Group maintains high educational standards!
- Tartarus - A massive, warped tower that erupts from the site of Gekkoukan High School each Dark Hour. The largest nest of Shadows in the world, the place is as mysterious as it is daunting to explore. SEES has made it their mission to explore this place so that they might understand the mysteries of how The Dark Hour came to be, and how it might be dealt with for good.
- Iwatodai Dorm - The dorm for members of SEES; a short walk from Iwatodai Station within Iwatodai City. It is a cozy dorm, with a co-ed ground floor and gender-segregated wings for the personal rooms. The top floor is an expansive command and surveillance center and the base of operations for their activities during the Dark Hour.
- Port Island Station - A hub for students traveling to and from Gekkoukan by monorail, Port Island Station has the 'Tatsumi Mall', the much more humble predecessor to the Paulownia Mall, as well as a movie theater and a multitude of smaller businesses that try to take advantage of the younger demographic. The back alleys, meanwhile, contain shot-bars, Mahjong parlors and other decrepit hangout spots of remnants of Port Island that survived the events of Ten Years Ago.
- Moonlight Bridge - Designed to look like a twin to Tokyo's Rainbow Bridge, the Moonlight Bridge is the main route from the mainland Iwatodai City to the commercial district of Port Island, Paulownia Mall, and the Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. Each and every day, it fields thousands upon thousands of people from both automobile and foot traffic. The dramatic events of Ten Years Ago concluded here, but precious few have any idea of that fact.
- Paulownia Mall - A recently built commercial hub that's a short walk from the Moonlight Bridge. There, students can enjoy a cup of coffee at the Cafe Chagall, dancing at Club Escapade, karaoke at Mandragora, and the latest arcade releases at Game Panic. It's got it all! Even an entrance to the Velvet Room for the discerning Persona User. It's named as such because the 'Kiri' character within the Kirijo name is the same as the Paulownia Tree.
- Naganaki Shrine - A well-kept shrine that students of Iwatodai City frequent in order to pray for better grades. A playground for children ensures this is a popular spot for the youngest of the current generation of latchkey kids, and benches offer rest to those who simply like to sit and contemplate the great questions of life. The Inari Shrine has frequent offerings of sushi. Only a true delinquent would steal an offering for the local gods, no matter who has a craving for it.
- Tatsumi Memorial Hospital - A hospital secretly funded by the Kirijo Group and based off of Port Island. While it offers the highest quality healthcare, the Kirijo Group hand picks it's physicians and nurses who are known for their discretion. Here supernatural maladies are treated by off-label medications and other experimental treatments. Whether people know it or not, everyone who checks in here is tested for the potential as a part of routine medical diagnostics.