Keihins

Keihins are a fictional ethnic and cultural group used in speculative fiction and worldbuilding. The name is drawn from Keihin, a historical term for the Tokyo–Yokohama coastal industrial corridor, with the -ins suffix indicating people. In typical settings, Keihins inhabit a coastal megacity region along Tokyo Bay, spanning neighborhoods that correspond to modern Tokyo and Kanagawa prefectures.

Geography and society: Keihin communities are usually depicted in dense port districts and industrial zones. Social life centers on collective labor institutions—guild-like workshops, unions, and harbor associations—and a network of warehouses, shipyards, and factories. The rise of the megacity often shapes their political and economic dynamics, including struggles over resources, housing, and environmental policy.

Culture and economy: Keihins are portrayed as technologically skilled and adaptable, combining traditional maritime crafts with contemporary manufacturing and logistics. Culinary traditions, harbor festivals, and street markets feature in their cultural life, reflecting cosmopolitan influences drawn from long-standing trade routes.

Language and identity: In fiction, Keihins may speak a distinctive register that blends standard Japanese with port slang and loanwords from migrants and sailors, signaling urban identity and solidarity.

Governance and politics: In many stories, Keihin governance structures include municipal councils, neighborhood associations, or unions that exert influence across districts, sometimes interacting with corporations and state authorities in a complex urban politics.

Usage and reception: The term appears primarily in worldbuilding guides, role-playing games, and speculative novels and is not an established ethnonym in real-world anthropology.