Koei Tecmo: Have Baby, Get Big Cash Prize!

Employees get $20,000 bonus for third child and beyond.

2009-06-03 01:52 / Anoop Gantayat / Comments

I'm not sure where, but I once heard that if current trends continue, Japan will have a population of exactly 2 by the year 2050.

Since I plan on being here past then, and since my boy "Oichi" down in Osaka (he did a big summary of a huge Arcadia interview with a top fighting game player that you really should check out) is probably here until then, that means there won't be any actual Japanese people around in 41 years (Oichi is not actually Japanese -- it's just a code name).

Will Oichi and I reluctantly have to find a way to repopulate the land ourselves? Not if Koei Tecmo has anything to say about it!

Mainichi.jp reported yesterday on a new program from Koei Tecmo that hopes to fight Japan's dwindling birth rate. As of June 1, the company is rewarding employees with a cool $20,000 for every child they have starting with their third.

That's $20,000, and all you have to do is get someone pregnant!

For the third time, that is. A first child will get you just $1,000. A second child will get you $2,000.

Koei Tecmo -- known in some circles as "Kotec" -- is a newborn of its own, having just been formed as a merged entity of Tecmo and Koei. Prior to the merger, each company had a policy of giving a $1,000 gift per child.

Those Koei Tecmo employees who plan on getting to work immediately should note that the $20,000 offer is only valid as long as you do not name your child Tomonobu.

(That's a joke -- don't e-mail me.)