Michiko Arasaka (Kei's daughter)

Michiko Arasaka (荒坂 美知子), is the head of the Hato faction of the Arasaka Corporation and founder and CEO of Danger Gal. Unlike the rest of her family and corporation, she allied with the US government after the Fourth Corporate War. Michiko Arasaka is the daughter of Kei Arasaka, and granddaughter of Saburo Arasaka.

Most of her life was kept secret from the rest of the Arasaka family, especially her grandfather Saburo. Born in the United States, she held a dual citizenship for both Japan and the US, however her descent is pure Japanese. She also had access to many assets of the Arasaka Estate and a bodyguard, Kenichi Zaburo, one of Arasaka's top Solos and her personal bodyguard since she was four. By 2077, Michiko was on the board of directors of the Arasaka Corporation.

2000s
Michiko Arasaka was born in 2008 in Night City, United States, to Kei Arasaka and an American citizen mother of Japanese descent. Due to Kei's status in the Arasaka Corporation, she and her mother were kept secret and hidden in Night City to avoid them becoming a target. Kei also wanted to avoid Michiko from meeting her grandfather Saburo, who would be displeased that his granddaughter was half-American. At the age of four she was assigned a personal bodyguard, Kenichi Zaburo, a highly trained Arasaka Solo and the nemesis of Morgan Blackhand. Due to all this, Michiko had a sheltered early life, being unaware of her family's darker side and the company's schemes.

2020s
After the death of her father in 2023 during the Fourth Corporate War, Michiko was suddenly faced with her family company being hated as one of the instigators of the war, and being blamed for the Night City Holocaust after President Elizabeth Kress blamed the bombing on Arasaka, despite the fault lying on Militech and the United States. As a result of this, Michiko faced deportation to Japan despite being born in America.

To prevent this, Michiko, utilizing her youth, intelligence, and thousands of fans who believed in her innocense, traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Kress, to apologize for her family's participation in the conflict and to plead her case to remain an American citizen. Michiko's meeting had proved successful and she was able to remain in Night City and finish school. After turning 18, she dated Adam Smasher for some time.

After finishing high school, Michiko entered Stanford University, where she majored in criminology. When she graduated three years later, she started her own business as a detective and found the Danger Gal private investigation firm. On the surface, the firm specialized on cases for socially prominent clients for astronomical fees, while in truth they dismantled Arasaka operations in and around the United States. Also around this time, Michiko started to act perky and naive in public to hide her skills in criminology, being a staple of parties and events from New Hollywood to Europe.

In late 2020s, when Arasaka broke into three factions, a small group of the corporation chose Michiko as their figurehead in hopes of giving them legitemacy, and started the Hato 鳩 (Dove) Faction, even though she did not want to affiliate with her family and the corporation at the time. The faction was the liberal wing of the corporation, and unified those who sought deeper reforms. They were the least powerful among the three factions.

2030s - 2070s
Michiko married detective Marc Sanderson, her partner, after a "particularly exciting case", and took his surname. She kept her bubbly, enthusiastic act into her thirties, and was a constant sight at almost any important social gala. She also grew the Danger Gal into a highly succsessful firm with her cases, making headlines for two decades by 2040s. Michiko had grown into an elegant, lovely woman who could read a room like a book and yet never revealed anything to her suspects other than her happy, cheerful façade she kept up. Behind still was her loyal bodyguard Kenichi Zaburo, however he was not as visible to the public as he once was in her teens and no longer wore Arasaka branding.

At some point in the Time of the Red, Michiko heard the movement of the Arasaka nuke, which was salvaged from the Arasaka Towers after the Night City Holocaust by Samantha Stevens. She followed the group of edgerunners moving the nuke for some time but had to delay meeting them to deal with a group of Arasaka who wanted to capture and use the nuke for their gain back in Night City.

Finally catching up with the edgerunners, who were facing a panzer tank, she helped them by destroying it with her two attack AV-9s. She met with the group and explained to them the nuke's backstory, her girlish voice changing into a sharp staccato after being shown the trigger codes. Wanting to dispose of the nuke, Michiko offered them her help and followed their car with her AVs to their destination of Los Alamos Labs, wishing them good luck before returning to Night City.

At some point, Michiko became an official member of the board in the Arasaka Corporation, although her faction still held the least amount of power of the three. She also went back to using her maiden name.

After the death of her grandfather in 2077, Michiko, like the rest of the Arasaka board, was quick to accept her uncle Yorinobu as the new CEO, who wanted to sabotage the corporation from inside. In the memorial parade for Saburo during the Aratama Matsuri, she complied with her uncle's wishes.


 * Michiko attended the board meeting setup by Yorinobu at Arasaka Tower. The meeting was interrupted by her aunt Hanako, who brought V, a witness of Saburo's murder. The mercenary testified to the board of directors of Yorinobu's betrayal. Michiko was reluctant to believe V, until Hanako showed the board the engram of Saburo, who explained the situation and scolded them for their cowardice. Michiko asked Saburo for his orders, who told the board to follow Hanako's orders as if they were his own. Yorinobu's troops interrupted the meeting, killing all board members with the exception of Michiko who managed to hide behind one of the chairs. After V and other Arasaka soldiers handled the attackers, Michiko stayed behind with Hanako while V left to confront Yorinobu.

Development
Mike Pondsmith first mentioned Michiko Arasaka while in a Poland panel where he had a live session. Later, when asked about the scenario on Reddit, Mike answered it was known as "Michiko's Night Out."


 * The name of the scenario is "Michiko's Night Out." It involves the granddaughter of Saburo (Kei's youngest daughter) leaving the Arasaka compound on her 18th birthday in the company of her personal bodyguard, the super solo Kenichi Zaburo (Morgan's Arasaka nemesis). While she's out barhopping in Night City, she runs into (and causes) enormous amounts of chaos, culminating in a wild fling with --get this--Adam Smasher, the cyborg.
 * I ran this scenario for my own players and extended it over several months. It's a favorite of mine, because the external threats are far less troublesome that the ones the players bring with them to the table. And Michiko is a wonderful NPC to play--she's like Battle Angel Alita crossed with a mad Girl Genius. You will meet a somewhat older Michiko in the Time of the Red, and she might be showing up in 2077.
 * We're holding off on publishing [the scenario] since Michiko continues to exist in the 2077 timeline. Have to sort all that out first.

Upon release of the Jumpstart kit, it was finally made clear that Michiko had become a canon character in charge of a faction of the Arasaka Corporation and also had her own company, Danger Gal.

Trivia

 * Mike Pondsmith described Michiko as Battle Angel Alita combined with a mad Girl Genius.
 * Her name in Kanji appears to be 荒坂 美知子, according to a post by a Japanese CDPR forum moderator.