KHT, Nakagawa Corp's arch competitor, only learns about Nakagawa's fire fighting robots after these were installed by the Seoul fire-fighting department [KHT, section xi, Prologue]. Here, they're shown in Montreal, where the Bot Colony game was designed (Fire painting by Henry Fong).
Nakagawa Corp got its first major order worth $500,000,000 from China, announced in the Maicho Shinbun on March 14, 2010. Its robots would replace workers in the Chinese needle trade industry, making China even more competitive in the global market. (Embedded paintings by Henry Fong, Maicho Shinbun articles were translated into Japanese by Takako Kojima).
The move of Nakagawa Corp to Agrihan makes the MAICHO SHINBUN of November 20, 2018. Nakagawa needed to expand, but also wanted to be outside the reach of KHT's spies. The Japanese company resorts to blackmail to lease Agrihan for 99 years from the United States (Agrihan, vi, Prologue).
Jeff Philips, a robot cognition specialist who occasionally dabbles in while collar crime investigations, gets the call from Nakagawa while working in his garage [Mission, #56, Part II]. Ogata offers him the mission to find the missing robots sensors on August 30, 2021. Jeff has to pass tests qualifying him for the mission (omitted in the book, but forming the core of the Intruder episode), flies through Tokyo on September 1st and meets with Ogata in the evening. Jeff lands in Agrihan the next day, on September 2, 2021. (Garage painting by Henry Fong)
The house of Masaya Kuranari overlooking New Nakagawa. Masaya is the head of Nakagawa's sensor lab [Sensors, #26]. Masaya's house serves as a training ground for Jeff Philips in Episode 1, Intruder. Jimmy, who is not featured in the novel, is Masaya Kuranari's domestic robot. Jeff practices remote controlling Jimmy to put in place objects disturbed by the spy while searching for a secret prototype chip. Jeff also practices carrying out a complex investigation - in preparation for his mission on Agrihan. Mayasa's wife, Ayame, and the two kids, Takeshi and Hideki - are game characters absent from the novel. (House design by Snezhan Bodurov, painting by Henry Fong)
The spy first sees Nakagawa Corp's R&D center before he lands in Bot Colony on December 4, 2020 [ Arrival, #1]. (Snezhan Bodurov)
Nakagawa Corp saw robotic sensors as key to penetrating the home market, elderly care, etc. [Sensors, #28]. The elderly care segment was particularly attractive as Japan's population was aging. Jimmy, Masaya's domestic robot, is a precursor of the robot shown here.(Henry Fong: Old lady with robot)
New Nakagawa, Nakagawa Corp's R&D Center and staff housing, is visible on the north east tip of the volcanic Agrihan island. Agrihan is one of the smaller islands in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. The Agrihan Airport is in the center, and the Old Village is barely visible to its left. Nakagawa's logo was first used in the Nakagawa commercial (part of the Bot Colony cinematic trailer) next to 'Robots for a Better Life' - Nakawaga's slogan. (Island design and logo design by Snezhan Bodurov).
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