The Teiai (帝愛 lit. imperial love) Corporation is a criminal organization that operates on the facade as a financial consulting firm in the Kaiji series. Its president is Kazutaka Hyōdō.
The corporation's primary sources of revenue are issuing usurious loans, often with the intent to entrap the financially vulnerable, and hosting high stakes illegal gambling events that are secretly exclusive shows for Japan's sadistic elites.
When debtors cannot afford to make payments, they are sometimes offered the option to participate in these events. Otherwise, their choices are to sell internal organs or to work off the debt in Teiai's Underground Labor Camp. If a debtor fails to become financially solvent during an event, they are forced into one of the latter options. There are rumors that Teiai can sell debtors into sexual slavery, too. It could be argued that this claim is backed up by the vague threat Yūji Endō makes towards Kaiji Itō's mother and sister, along with a later comment about Kaiji being too old to be prostituted, but Yūji may have been toying with him.
According to Takashi Muraoka, another source of income for Teiai is criminal protection, as they are responsible for covering up multiple illegal and tax-evading businesses, charging hefty fees. His casino is one of the illegal businesses under Teiai's thumb. Kazutaka's wealth and connections allows the enterprise to operate above the law, letting them get away with kidnapping, slavery, torture, murder, and fraud, without the authorities ever becoming involved, most likely via bribery, blackmail, or some combination thereof.
The company possesses such a vast amount of debtors that they can be utilized for information and covert surveillance, as shown during the manhunt for Kaiji, Chan, and Mario Garcia. However, because a significant amount of the persons indebted to Teiai are incompetent, the results are rather unreliable.
Gallery
Live Action Adaptation
Trivia
- The headquarters of Teiai is never seen in the main series.
- In the live action film adaptations, the Starside Hotel is used as the headquarters of Teiai.
- There are two unnamed executives that have yet to make an appearance.