Kirijō Group

"Two in harmony, surpasses One in perfection."

—Company motto since its founding 1984 CE.

An international business conglomerate, the Kirijō Group (桐条グループ, lit. Kirijō Gurūpu), also known as the K Group or simply known as KG, is one of the leading corporate names on Remnant and in Japan, rivalling Breton-Avery International, Gründer-Rosenthal, Apex Inc., Chasseur Solutions, and the Schnee Corporation. Founded by Kirijō Kōetsu in 1984 as his ambitions outgrew that of Nanjō United and thus left their employ, taking Kirijō Trading & Commerce with him. Recruiting Serizawa Financial and it's CEO: Serizawa Taishiro, as a business partner as well as the former CEO of Tachibana Aerospace, Kōetsu formed the Kirijō Group in late 1984 as the Cold War between Osea and Yuktobania heated up. Kirijō became the President of his new company whilst naming Robert Allan to be Chief Executive Officer and Serizawa, the Board of Directors Chairman. Rapidly expanding across the service sector, KG found itself having a large amount of spare funds and started involving itself in the arms and robotics industries, gaining the attention of the Japanese Ministry of Defense.

The Kirijō Group, as with other Japanese companies, struggled during the Lost Decade and bought up a number of struggling businesses to help the economy recover. As Germania fell under the control of the Fatherland Workers Party in 1993, Kirijō moved their assets in the central Europan nation out of country before VAP agents could seize them, as had happened during Aldous Brunn's coup against the Erusean government in the mid-80s. With the Cold War more or less entering a ceasefire as Yuktobania reorganized in the aftermath of the USSR's collapse, the Kirijō Group gained favor amongst Yuktobania's emerging oligarchs and businessmen for it's efficient transportation of resources and assets.

When the Faunus Rights Revolution broke out against the forces occupying Menagerie in 1996, Kōetsu, sympathetic to the plight of the Faunus and 'undesirables' exiled to the island chain, helped finance the rebels' fight against the fascist governments of Mantle, Germania, Hachure, Authoritarianist Vacuo, and Erusea, having heard some of the rumors coming out of Menagerie. This continued into the 21st Century as the conflict continued with no end in sight. When the Faunus War broke out in early 2001 CE, the Kirijō Group gained numerous government contracts to build weapons and equipment for the Republic of Japan's armed forces and that of the UN and the Allied Coalition, bringing millions of yen to the company. At some point during the war, a group of Japanese Marines, while operating in southern Anima, had discovered a strange artifact in the ruins of a Mistralian settlement. Not knowing what it was, they sent the feather-like object back to Japan in order for it be further studied, but with the war going and the full scope of the Berlin-Farbanti Axis's war crimes coming to light, it would collect dust until being acquired by Kōetsu Kirijō himself.