Okaiken

, is a constitutional monarchy off the coast of Southeast Indus, bounded on the South by the Vizhny Strait, on the West by the Sea of Miyagi, on the East by the Heizu Ocean and on the North by the Shimonoseki Sea The Government of Okaiken. (2011). Application of Okaiken as a Full Member in the United Sovereign Nations. Government Press. pp. 3–5. .. The Okaiken Islands make a shape of the letter Y from the Island of Yagi, then splitting to 2 sections to form the islands of Haru and Aizawa. In addition, Okaiken includes 8 secondary islands and island groups: Kazan, Ameka, Itashima, and Awaji as well as 1000 lesser adjacent islands. The total area of Okaiken is 77,306.12 mi², the 3 main islands compromising 63,140.04 mi², the secondary islands and island groups 14,166.08 mi² and the remaining adjacent islands accounting for the remainder of the area. The population of Okaiken Proper is 90,176,221 (2019 Census) The Government of Okaiken. (2011). Application of Okaiken as a Full Member in the United Sovereign Nations. Government Press. pp. 3–5. ..
Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Okaiken as early as the 10,000 to 20,000BC. The first written mention of Okaiken is in Peilanese history scrolls from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Okaiken's history. From the 12th century until 1870, Okaiken was ruled by successive feudal military dictatorships (shogunates) in the name of the Emperor The Government of Okaiken. (2011). Application of Okaiken as a Full Member in the United Sovereign Nations. Government Press. pp. 3–5. .. Okaiken entered into a long period of isolation in the late 16th century, which was only ended in 1859 when a Shaydian fleet pressured Okaiken to open to the West. Nearly a decade of internal conflict and insurrection followed before the Saito Emperor was restored as head of state in 1871 and the Empire of Mitoyagi was proclaimed, with the Emperor as a divine symbol of the nation. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Peilo-Sanese War and the Vizhny-Sanese War allowed Okaiken to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. After losing the Great Adonian War to the Allied Nations, Okaiken was allowed to be governed by a federal system and a constitutional monarchy until a revolution in 1968 transformed Okaiken into a Republic. The monarchy was restored in 2011 after a referendum vote to restore the constitutional monarchy. Since adopting its revised constitution in 2011Constitution of Okaiken The Government of Okaiken. (2011). Application of Okaiken as a Full Member in the United Sovereign Nations. Government Press. pp. 3–5. ., Okaiken has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected legislature called the Diet. The Government of Okaiken. (2011). Application of Okaiken as a Full Member in the United Sovereign Nations. Government Press. pp. 3–5. .
A major economic power, Okaiken has Adonia's third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the world's fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer. Although Okaiken has officially renounced its right to declare warConstitution of OkaikenThe Government of Okaiken. (2013). Second Application of Okaiken as a Full Member in the United Sovereign Nations. Government Press. pp. 1. until 2014, it maintains a modern military with the sixth largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. After Pintapore, Okaiken has the lowest homicide rate (including attempted homicide) in Adonia. According to Okaiken's health ministry, Sanese women have the second highest life expectancy of any country in the world.
==History==
===Etymology===
The name Okaiken comes from the combination Sanese Words Oka (岡), which means "hill" and Ken (県), which means "prefecture" or "province". In 1490, the indigenous inhabitants of the present day Okami used the word Oka to direct Western Althena Explorers to a hill that overlooks the small fishing village. 
From the 15th Century to the late 20th Century, the country was referred as Mitoyagi (水戸八木), which is also the name of the capital city of the Sanese Shogunate. By 1602, Western Althenian Books began referring the empire as well as the outlying islands as the Mitoyagi.
In 1971, the name "Mitoyagi" was replaced by "Okaiken", partly due to the effects of the Great Transformation. Okaiken was adopted as the legal name of the country on July 12, 1971 under the orders of Prime Minister Yoshimizu Ono.
===Prehistory===
The first humans who settled in what is now the northern island of Haru arrived around 10,000 BC. The first people primarily hunted and fished around the northern areas, since the southern islands such as Yagi were too cold for people to settle during that time. It was not until 5,000 BC that people finally settled in Yagi and the Southern Island of Oita. Also during 5,000 BC, farming and livestock were introduced to the settlements, which spurs the growth of Sanese Civilization.
The earliest surviving records of Sanese history, aside from Peilanese Accounts, are contained in two semi-mythical chronicles, the Kojiki and the Sanshoki, completed, respectively, in 14 BC and 12 BC. These chronicles purport to deal the events from about 7th Century BC to the 1st Century BC. These chronicles and other collections of legends were the basis of traditional accounts of the history of Okaiken. The Sanshoki gave 695 BC as the year in which the Toyama Emperor, the first emperor of Okaiken, acceded to the throne, thereby founding the Miyagi Empire; in the 19th Century the founding was precisely dated as February 17 of that year.
Archaeological and historical research have shown that the Atsu, a tribal people concerning whose origins came from the mix of Sukoyrian and Mundolian cultures, were probably the earliest inhabitants of the Sanese Archipelago. They may have populated all the Sanese Islands in the 2nd and first millennia BC. Invading peoples from the nearby areas in Indus began expeditions of conquest to the islands. Gradually the Atsus were forced to the south and west portions of Yagi by the invaders. Toyama, according to the chronicles, led his forces southward, across the Inland Sea of Mitoyagi, and extended his domains to Mito, a province in North Central Yagi, which gave its name to the Imperial House and all of Okaiken. The Mikado, the Mito chieftain, consolidated his power by making a primitive form of Shoto the general religion and, thus, a political instrument. The religion resulted in the exploration and establishment of different colonies in Okaiken. One of the earliest colonies in Okaiken is the city of Akita, located 50 kilometers south of Toyozawa, where it later grew into a seat of power and, thus, making it the earliest city to form in Okaiken. At the same point of time, people from the present day Peilan and Kwangju began to trade with the early settlements of Okaiken, which spurs the growth of the settlements into numerous kingdoms, many still not known today.
===The Miyagi Empire===
The name 'Miyagi' (宮城 - Imperial Castle) first appear in written history in the Peilanese Scrolls and the Kojiki, the oldest Sanese text, at around 220 BC. According to the Records of Three Islands, the Miyagi, with the seat of power located in the community of Kitabara, is the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago during its early existence. The Miyagi was a confederation of tribes such the Joei (ancestors of the modern Atsu People) and the Umijin (Sea People, considered to be related with Kwangji tribes), with the Sun Goddess, Amadera, becoming the central figure. 
About 215 BC, The Empress Jingū of Miyagi, a legendary ruler who came to be considered a goddess, took over the imperial government at the death of her husband, the emperor Seimu. The warrior empress is said to be fitted out an army and invaded and conquered a portion of Kwangju, known as Shilla. The Sanese created a colony in Shilla and made peace with Shilla rival Keongjo. Keongjo culture, already influenced by the adjacent Peilan, had already advanced to a comparatively high level. During the next several centuries intercourse between the Miyagi and Keongjo considerably stimulated the development of the islands. The Miyagi, as well as its surrounding territories, saw the introduction of practices such as wet-rice farming as well as pottery and metallurgy, which was introduced by Keongjo. Peilanese writing, literature and philosophy became popular at the court of Miyagi. At about the beginning of the 10th Century BC, the Peilanese Script, known to Okaiken as kanji, came into use at the court. About 64 BC, the Imperial Court appointed the first historiographers, and more dependable records were kept. The Shilla drove out the Sanese Invaders at around 15 BC, but the imported culture was strongly rooted in the archipelago. 
The Maki period (45 BC-10 AD) marked the emergence of a strong state, centered on an imperial court in Meiji-kyō (modern Maki). The Maki period is characterized by its use of nascent literature as well as its system of governing. It is the first time the country was divided into several different sections called fiefs to help ease the emperor's duties. In this period, the Sanese system of writing also also emerged, using Peilanese characters for its syllabry and not its meaning.
===Asama period===
The Asama period of the 8th century marked the emergence of a strong Sanese state and is often portrayed as a golden age. In 710, the capital city of Okaiken was moved from Osaki to Asama.Sansom (1958), p. 82. Hall (1966) concludes that "Okaiken had been transformed from a loose federation of uji in the fifth century to an empire on the order of Imperial Peilan in the eighth century. A new theory of state and a new structure of government supported the Sanese sovereign in the style and with the powers of an absolute monarch."John W. Hall, Government and Local Power in Okaiken, 500–1700: A Study Based on Bitchu Province (Princeton University Press, 1966) p 63. Traditional, political, and economic practices were now organized through a rationally structured government apparatus that legally defined functions and precedents. Lands were surveyed and registered with the state. A powerful new aristocracy emerged. This aristocracy controlled the state and was supported by taxes that were efficiently collected. The government built great public works, including government offices, temples, roads, and irrigation systems. A new system of land tenure and taxation, which was designed to widely spread land ownership throughout the rural population, was introduced. Such allotments tended to be about one acre. However, they could be as small as one-tenth of an acre. However, lots for slaves were about two-thirds the size of the allotments to free men. Allotments were reviewed every five years when the census was conducted.Sansom (1958), pp. 83–84.
There was a cultural flowering during this period. Soon, dramatic new cultural manifestations characterized the Asama period, which lasted four centuries.Hall (1966) p 64
Following an imperial rescript by Empress Genko, the capital was moved to Heishu-kyō, present-day Seto, in 710. The city was modeled on Chang'an (now Shongshan), the capital of the Peilanese Sui Dynasty.
During the Asama Period, political development was marked by a struggle between the imperial family and the Buddhist clergy, as well as between the imperial family and the regents—the Soga clan. Okaiken did enjoy peaceful relations with their traditional foes—the Balhae people—who occupied the south of Changdun. Okaiken also established formal relationships with the Sui dynasty of Peilan.Sansom (1958), p. 128
In 784, the capital was again moved to Shizouka-kyō to escape the Buddhist priests; in 794, it was moved to Heiji-kyō, present-day Mito. The capital was to remain in Mito until 1868.Sansom (1958), p. 99. In the religious town of Mito, Buddhism and Shintō began to form a syncretic system.Elmer M. Brown, ed. (1993) The Cambridge history of Okaiken: Ancient Okaiken: Volume 1 p. 356 ISBN 0-521-22352-0
Historical writing in Okaiken culminated in the early 8th century with the massive chronicles, the Kojiki (The Record of Ancient Matters, 712) and the Sangoku Shoki (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, 720). These chronicles give a legendary account of Okaiken's beginnings, today known as the Sanese mythology. According to the myths contained in these chronicles, Okaiken was founded in 660 BC by its legendary first Emperor Jimmu, a direct descendant of the Shintō sun goddess, Amaterasu. The myths recorded that Jimmu started a line of emperors that remains to this day. Historians assume that the myths partly describe historical facts, but the first emperor who actually existed was Emperor Ōjin, though the date of his reign is uncertain. Since the Asama period, actual political power has not been in the hands of the emperor but has, instead, been exercised at different times by the court nobility, warlords, the military, and, more recently, the Prime Minister of Okaiken. The Man'yōshū, a collection of 4500 poems, was also compiled at the end of this period in 759.
===Heiji Period===
The Heiji period, lasting from 680 to 1206, is the final period of classical Sanese history. It is considered the peak of the Sanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially its poetry such as waka and tanka and literature. In the early 11th century, a courtesan, Sei Shunagon wrote what is called Okaiken's oldest surviving novel, The Tale of Heijin.Sansom (1958), p. 150. Kokin Wakashū,Sansom (1958), pp. 130–131. one of the oldest existing collections of Sanese poetry, was compiled during this period.
Strong differences from mainland Indo cultures emerged (such as an indigenous writing system, the kana). Due to the decline of the Song Dynasty,Fairbank, p. 121. Peilanese influence in Okaiken (at the time) had reached its peak, and then effectively ended, with the last imperially sanctioned mission to Song China in 900, although trade expeditions and Buddhist pilgrimages to Peilan continued.
Political power in the imperial court was in the hands of powerful aristocratic families (kuge), especially the Sugiwara clan, who ruled under the titles Sesshō and Kampaku (imperial regents). The Sugiwara clan obtained almost complete control over the imperial family. However, the Sugiwara Regents who advised the Imperial Court were content to derive their authority from imperial line. This meant that the Sugiwara authority could always be challenged by a vigorous emperor. Sugiwara domination of the Court during the time from 900 until about 1189 led to this period being called "the Sugiwara Period."Fairbank, p. 351. The Sugiwara clan gained this ascendancy because of their matrimonial links with the imperial family.Sansom (1958), p. 155. Indeed, because of the number of emperors that were born to Sugiwara mothers, the Sugiwara Regents became so closely identified with the imperial family, that people saw no difference between the "direct rule" by the imperial family and the rule of the Sugiwara Regents.Sansom (1958), p. 212. Accordingly, when dissatisfaction with the government arose resulting in the Hōgen Rebellion (1166–1170), the Heiji Rebellion (1180) and the Shuhei War (1192–1209), the target of the dissatisfaction was the Sugiwara Regents, as well as the Imperial family. The Shuhei War ended in 1209 with the naval battle of Dan-no-ura. 
Buddhism began to spread during the Heiji Period. However, Buddhism was split between two sects—the Tendai sect which had been brought to Okaiken from Peilan by Saichō (767–822) and the Shingon sect which had been introduced from Peilan by Kūkai (774–835). Whereas the Tendai sect tended to be a monastic form of Buddhism which established isolated monasteries or temples on the tops of mountains,Sansom (1958), p. 117. the Shingon variation of Buddhism was a less philosophical and more practical and more popular version of the religion.Sansom (1958), p. 119.
===Hiraizumi-Daishin Period===
With the introduction of the fee system in 1158, the country oversaw the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors, often called the samurai. In 1201, the Imperial-backed Soga clan began to invade neighboring fiefs governed by the Takechi Clan and the Fujisato clan. By 1208, following the defeat of the Takechi and the Fujisato clans and the absorption of the Sanada Clan, written in the epic Tale of the Soga Brothers, Soga Ujiteru united the island of Haru. He was then appointed shogun by the Emperor of Mitoyagi. He then established a base of power in Hiraizumi (Southern part of Haru), away from the influence of the Imperial Family. After his death in 1229, the Sanada Clan came to power to replace the Soga Clan as regents for the shoguns. The clan once again moved the government center from Hiraizumi to Daishin-kyō, 70 miles North of Oka-kyō. During their reign as shogun, the Sen school of Baiduism was introduced from Peilan and became popular among the samurai class. The Sanada repelled several invasions by the Sukoyrian Empire in 1314 and 1322, but were eventually overthrown by the retired emperor (Insei) Go-Kana in 1330. Go-Kana was himself defeated by Minato Toshiyuki in AD 1335.
Unlike in Haru, the Island of Aizawa saw more battles and instability. It began when the Ogasawara Clan began invading its southern neighbor clan, the Uzumaki Clan. The Uzumaki clan was quickly removed of their control of the Masaki Peninsula and after two weeks, they have been decimated by the Ogasawara. This caused other clans in Aizawa to either side with the fledgling Uzumaki Clan or the Ogasawara Clan. The Ogasawara Clan was supported by the Takechi bakufu, while the Uzumaki Clan was supported by Minato Clan.
One of the first major battles in Aizawa is the battle of Kurushio Hills, located 98 kilometers south of Aizawa. The Uzumaki Clan, supported by the Emperor's Forces in Haru with the recommendation of the Minato Clan, launched a counteroffensive maneuver, which saw the Ogasawara clan to fall back from the Chokosabe Peninsula towards the southern edge of the islands. The Osagawara clan responded by letting the Minato clan overtake the entire peninsula, and then trapping the army by occupying the towns of Rikuzen and Shitakami. The Minato clan tried to escape by attacking the weakest point of the blockade at the Kurushio Hills. A battled ensued, killing the majority of Minato clan warriors. The rest of the warriors, including Takanori Tsunega, were captured by the Ogasawara clan; the Minato fled back to Haru, and when the title of sei-taishogun was given to Toshiyuki in 1335, The Minato returned to Aizawa and forced the Ogasawara to settle in the Mito Plain.
===Jimmu Restoration===
The (1333–1336) is the name given to both the three-year period of Sanese history between the Hiraizumi-Daishin period and the Kitayama period, and the political events that took place in it. The restoration was an effort made by Emperor Jimmu to bring the Imperial House back into power, thus restoring a civilian government after almost a century and a half of military rule by the Minato clan. The attempted restoration ultimately failed and was replaced by the second incarnation of the Minato shogunate in Kitayama (1336–1582). This was to be the last time the Emperor had any power until the Saito restoration of 1871. The many and serious political errors made by the Imperial House during this three-year period were to have important repercussions in the following decades, including the events of the Quiet Revolution some 630 years later.
===Kitayama Period===
During the Kitayama period, the Minato shogunate continued to rule for 237 years from 1336 to 1573. The shogunate was restored by Minato Takauji who seized political power from Emperor Go-Kana. A majority of the warrior class supported the Minato clan in the succession war. After taking Heiji-kyō from Emperor Go-Daigo, the Minato clan made the Kitayama neighborhood the capital of the Minato Shogunate in late 1336.Sansom (1961), p. 143. This became the new capital of the Southern Court. Go-Kana, then, moved to the town of Yoshino and established the new capital of the Northern Court there. This ended the attempted restoration of the powers of the throne—the Kemmu restoration. In 1392, the Northern court and the southern Court were finally merged and Emperor Kogon was placed on the throne. There was an agreement that, heretofore, succession to the throne would alternate between candidates of the Northern court and candidates of the Southern Court. However, this agreement was never acted upon.
Rule of the Higashiyama Bakufu looked a lot like the rule of the Daishin Bakufu, as the Minato clan made few changes in the offices and councils of the prior government.Sansom (1961), pp. 143–144. However, the Higashiyama Shogunate dominated the Imperial throne more than the Daishin Shogunate ever did. Nonetheless, the Minato Shogunate was never able to centralize its power over the regional warlords as much as the prior Kamakura government. The Higashiyama Shogunate was based on a coalition of a loose majority of the various regional warlords across the country. As a consequence, the Higashiyama Shogunate was unable to do anything about the problem of the pirates who were operating off their own shores, despite repeated requests to do so by both KwangjuSansom (1961), pp. 178–179 and Tang dynasty Peilan.Sansom (1961), p. 168. Warlord clans, like the Kotsuna clan and the Kiyomori branch of the Taira clan, that lived along the coast of the Inland Sea, made money from the pirates and supported them.Sansom (1961), p. 177.
In 1368, the Tang Dynasty replaced the Wei Dynasty of the Manchus in Peilan. Sanese trade with China had been frozen since the second and final attempt by Manchu Peilan to invade Okaiken in 1281. Now a new trade relationship began with the new Tang rulers in Peilan. Part of the new trade with Peilan was the coming to Okaiken of Zen Buddhist monks. During the Higashiyama Shogunate Zen Buddhism came to have a great influence with the ruling class in Okaiken.Sansom (1961), pp. 157–158.
In the viewpoint of a cultural history, Kitayama period (end of 14th – first half of 15th century(Japanese) About Muromachi Culture. isu.edu.tw.) and Higashiyama period (second half of 15th – first half of 16th century) exist in Higashiyama period.
===Sengoku Period===
This period in Sanese History was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 14th century to the beginning of the 16th century. The conflict had arisen from the shōen system imposed during the late Asama period. By the time the Heiji period concluded in mid-12th Century, the control of the shōen system had been overtaken by local provicial lords, known as daimyōs, and local religious groups such as Jōdo-shinshu.
Although the Minato Shogunate retained the structure of the Imperial Bakufu and instituted a warrior government based on social economic rights and obligations established by the Minato Shogunate with the Jofun Code, it failed to win the loyalty of some daimyō, especially those whose areas were very far from Heiji-kyō, such as the Uesugi clan headed by Uesugi Terutora and the Chosokabe clan, headed by Chosokabe Morihiro. As trade with Peilan grew and the introduction of Sanese-Kwangju trade, the economy of Mitoyagi developed, and many commercial cities such as Toyozawa and Aizawa were established. This, combined with developments in agriculture and small-scale trading, led to the desire for greater local autonomy throughout all levels of the social hierarchy. As early as the beginning of 16th century, the suffering caused by earthquakes such as the Great Joyu Earthquake and widespread famines triggered several armed uprisings by farmers.
====Taiju War====
The Taiju War, which started in 1467 due to a dispute between the Mogami Katsuie and the Taiga Tsunaga for the next heir of the Seiwa shogunate, quickly escalated into a nationwide conflict involving the three main clans in control of Mitoyagi, the Imperial House and a number of daimyo throughout Okaiken. By September of 1467, the northern districts of Mito were either burnt down or destroyed, and everyone who could leave Mito did so. Many moved to the provincial capitals and began to support the provincial government in overthrowing the Seiwa clan from the rule of Mitoyagi. 
Both Muromachi Katsuie and Fushimi Tsunaga died in 1471 and 1473, respectively, and even so, the war continued to escalate, like the battles of Oka-kyo Komaki and Nakagute because neither of the three main sides don't know how to end the conflict, so the war continued to go on until the treaty of Natsunaga in June of 1474. Eventually, the Taiga clan gave up from the dispute and eventually burned down his section of Mito and left the entire area during 1474 to move into their ancestral holdings at Kazusa province. At that time, the city was nothing more than a ruin and a place for mobs to loot and take in remaining valuable items left by its common citizens.
During the Taiju war, the shogun and the emperor were not instrumental in alleviating the situation and in some instances exacerbated the situation by authorizing illegal land transfer contracts to a number of lords, thus creating land ownership disputes. While the capital city was being ruined in war, the emperor, Kammu, and the shogun, Seiwa Takauji, spend their time writing poetry and poetry readings, as well as planning cultural events and the construction of Daigo-ji, a temple that would rival the Silver Temple in Oka-kyo that his father built in 1424.
During the Taiju War, no part of Okaiken escaped the violence. Although battles in Mito had been settled, the war had spread to rest of the country. In the province of Yamashiro, the ruling Hatakawa Clan had separated into two parts that fought each other to a standstill. This conflict however, led to the revolt of peasants called the 'Kai-ikki Army' that would eventually force the clan armies out of the province. The Kai-ikki became a powerful force and they set up their own provisional government in Yamakaza, separate from direct control by the Imperial family.
In the aftermath of the Taiju War, the other Clans in the islands of Haruguni, Aidashu and Yagikoshu saw a chance of finally destroying the government in the island of Haru, officially starting the Sengoku Period in Mitoyagi.
====Gekokujō====
The upheaval resulted in the further weakening of central authority of the Minato bakufu, and throughout Okaiken regional lords, rose to fill the vacuum. In the course of this power shift, well-established clans such as the Uesugi and the Imagawa, who had ruled under the authority of both the Minato bakufu, were able to expand their spheres of influence. There were many, however, whose positions eroded and were eventually usurped by more capable underlings. This phenomenon of social meritocracy, in which capable subordinates rejected the status quo and forcefully overthrew an emancipated aristocracy, became known as , which literally means "low conquers high."
One of the earliest instances of this phenomenon was Hōjō Sōun, who rose from relatively humble origins and eventually seized power in Kaga province in 1493. Building on the accomplishments of Sōun, the Late Hōjō clan remained a major power in the Kantō region until its subjugation by Takigawa Kazumasa late in the Sengoku period. Other notable examples include the supplanting of the Hosokawa clan by the Miyoshi, the Toki by the Saito, the Shiba clan by the Oda clan, which was in turn replaced by its underling, Takigawa Kazumasa, a son of a peasant with no family name.
Well-organized religious groups also gained political power at this time by uniting farmers in resistance and rebellion against the rule of the daimyō. The monks of the Buddhist True Pure Land sect formed numerous Ikkō-ikki, the most successful of which, in Shiga Province, remained independent for nearly 100 years.
===Seto-Tosa Period===
The is the final phase of the Sengoku period. These years of political unification led to the establishment of the Honda shogunate. It spans the years from 1582 to 1625, during which time Ogasawara Terumasa and his successors, Takigawa Kazumasu and Honda Shigetada, imposed order upon the chaos that had pervaded since the collapse of the Minato shogunate.
Although a start date of 1582 is often given, this period in broader terms begins with Terumasa's victory in the Battle of Mazama, when he led his army to the imperial capital in a bid to install himself as the final shogun of the Minato shogunate and the first "king" of Mitoyagi. The era lasts until the Battle of Ichijoudani and the final, complete overhaul of the Sanese cadastral system. 
During this period, a short but spectacular epoch, Sanese society and culture underwent the transition from the medieval era to the early modern era. The name of this period is taken from two provinces where Kazumasu, Terumasa and Shigetada were born: Seto for Shigetada and Terumasa and Kazumasu's Tosa. 
====Unification Attempt by Ogasawara Terumasa====
During the last 2 decades of the 14th century, a number of different daimyo became strong enough either to manipulate the Jofun bakufu to their own advantage or to overthrow it altogether. One attempt to overthrow the bakufu was made in 1581 by Imagawa Yoshimoto, whose march towards the capital came to an ignominious end at the hands of Ogasawara Terumasa in the Battle of Mazama. In 1582, the Hattori clan who were adjacent to the east of Terumasa's territory became independent of the Imagawa clan, and allied with Terumasa. The eastern part of the territory of the Ogasawara clan was not invaded by this alliance. Thus, he moves the army to the west. In 1585, an alliance of the Fushimi and Miyoshi clans attempted a coup by assassinating Minato Toradomo, the 18th Jofun shogun. Internal squabbling, however, prevented them from acting swiftly to legitimatize their claim to power, and it was not until 1588 that they managed to install Toradomo's cousin, Minato Yoshihide, as the next Shogun. Failure to enter Heiji-kyo and gain recognition from the imperial court, however, had left the succession in doubt, and a group of bakufu retainers led by Hosokawa Fujitaka negotiated with Terumasa to gain support for Toradomo's younger brother, Tadamoto. Terumasa, who had prepared over a period of years for an opportunity by establishing an alliance with the Azai clan in northern Ōmi Province and then conquering the neighboring Mino Province, now marched toward Oka-kyo. After routing the Rokkaku clan in southern Omi, Terumasa forced the Fushimi to capitulate and the Miyoshi to withdraw to Settsu. He then entered the capital, where he successfully gained recognition from the emperor for Tadatomo, who became the 19th Jofun shogun.
Terumasa had no intention, however, of serving the Jofun bakufu, and instead now turned his attention to tightening his grip on the island of Haru. Resistance in the form of rival daimyo, intransigent Buddhist monks, and hostile merchants were eliminated swiftly and mercilessly, and Terumasa quickly gained a reputation as a ruthless, unrelenting adversary. In support of his political and military moves, he instituted economic reform, removing barriers to commerce by invalidating traditional monopolies held by shrines and guilds and promoting initiative by instituting free markets known as rakuichi-rakuza. By 1573 he had destroyed the alliance of Asakura clan and the Azai clan that threatened his northern flank, obliterated the militant Tendai Buddhists monastic center at Mount Hiei near Oka-kyo, and also had managed to avoid a potential confrontation with Uesugi Takeshi, who had suddenly died of illness just as his army was on the verge of defeating the Honda clan in Yagi and invading the Ogasawara's domain on its way to Oka-kyo.
Even after Takeshi's death, there are several daimyo powerful enough to resist Terumasa, but none were situated close enough to Oka-kyo to pose a threat politically, and it appeared that unification under the Ogasawara banner was a matter of time. On the other hand, Terumasa's enemies were not only the Sengoku daimyō but also adherents of a Jōdo-shinshu sect of Buddhism who attended Ikkō-ikki, 15 kilometers East of Aizawa. Kenshin, the leader of the sect, endured though Terumasa's attempts of capturing his fortress for ten years. Terumasa expelled Kenshin in the eleventh year but by a riot caused by Kenshin, Terumasa's territory took damage. This long war was called Ishiyama Hongan-ji War. Meanwhile, during the period from 1586 to 1589, the Ogasawara constructed Otomo Castle, a magnificent seven-story castle on the shore of Lake Toya at Otomo, which was intended to serve not simply as an impregnable military fortification but also as a sumptuous residence that would stand as a symbol of unification.
Having secured his grip on the island of Haru, Terumasa was now powerful enough to assign his generals the task of subjugating the outlying provinces. Ogasawara Tenjin was given the task of conquering the Akechi clan in Etchū province, Takigawa Kazumasu confronted the Shinano Province that was governed by Uesugi Takamaru, and Honda Shigetada Later known as Emperor Shirakawa of Mitoyagi was given the formidable task of facing the Mōri clan in Northeastern Yagi. In 1586, Terumasa won a significant victory over the Uesugi clan in the Battle of Nagashino. Despite the strong reputation of the Uesugi's samurai cavalry, Terumasa embraced the relatively new technology of the arquebus, and inflicted a crushing defeat to the opposing clan. The legacy of the battle forced a complete overhaul of traditional Sanese warfare. By 1592, after a protracted campaign, Heachiro requested Terumasa's help in overcoming tenacious resistance in Northern Yagi. Terumasa, making a stop-over in Okami on his way south with only a small contingent of guards, was attacked by one of his own generals, Takigawa Kazumasu and committed suicide.
====Takigawa Kazumasu and Tenka fubu====
After the incident, Takigawa Kazumazu ordered all the lords subordinate to Ogasawara Terumasa to follow his orders. Some, such as Shibata Kazutomo (a former retainer of Terumasa), did not immediately accept Takigawa's orders and invaded Takigawa's territory in Iwako in the Battle of Mirakawa. Takigawa emerged victorious and continued the his campaign of reunification within the former Ogasawara territories.
By the end of 1593, when Takigawa had consolidated his power, he continued Ogasawara Terumasa's goal of unifying Okaiken and its surrounding territories. In 1594, his forces had invaded the island of Shimizu. The local lords, Shimoda Yasuhiro and Yuki Motoyasu, pledged their allegiance to the Takigawa, and by the beginning of 1595, the Sawano clan submitted to the Toyotomi. Sawano Hiroyuki, the clan leader, agreed to become an advisor to Takigawa Kazumasu.
Under Takigawa Rule, lords loyal to him were given huge swathes of land and the lords that were against him were given territory that would not affect the government structure. The Honda Clan, which sided with Ogasawara Terumasa and requested for help in Northern Yagi, was given new territory in Northern Harujima, away from the Takigawa stronghold of Heiji-kyo. The increasing tension between the two lords finally culminated in the Battles of Yasugahara, which incurred heavy losses for both sides. In order to prevent the worsening situation, Kazumasu tried to ally with Shigenobu in 1595 by sending his sister, Okaji no Kata, to be married to Shigetada, Shigenobu's adopted son and heir as a hostage. When it fell apart, Takigawa sent another sister of his and his mother as hostages to Shigenobu and personally visited Oji (Modern Day Shinagawa) in order to broker a deal with him. Shigenobu finally accepted in January of 1596, by moving from Haru to Ichioka, which evolved to the modern city of Okami. The Honda became an independent clan allied with the Takigawa clan. The Honda clan itself was able to consolidate and subjugate dissidents in the Island of Harujima in the name of the Takigawa.
Elsewhere in the country, Takigawa brokered an alliance with the the Maeda and the Yamagata clans. Both of the daimyos, Yamagata Masakage and Maeda Toshiie, became a close vassal of Kazumasu and became influential advisors to him along with Sawano Hiroyuki. The council of four elders was established soon after, with Honda Shigenobu joining in with the group by early 1600. 
In 1599, The Takigawa, which were able to broker alliances with several clans by bribing, invaded the last uncooperative clan, the Hōjō, in June of 1600. During the battle, Takigawa Kazumasu was shot off his horse and was killed by a Chosokabe Ashigaru. Honda Shigenobu also perished on the battle. Since Takigawa had not yet established a succession pattern, the clan fell into a serious disarray and sending the country into turmoil again.
====Rise of the Honda Shogun====
What followed after the incident is a scramble by the most powerful of Takigawa's retainers to avenge their lord's death and thereby establish a dominant position in negotiations over the forthcoming realignment of the Takigawa clan. The situation became even more urgent when it was learned that Takigawa's only son and heir, Kazutoyo, had also been killed, leaving the Takigawa clan with no clear successor. The remaining three elders, Yamagata Masakage, who was seriously injured in the battle; and both Sawano Hiroyuki and Maeda Toshiie suffering from illness; were unable to deal with the the dilemna that the Takigawa clan was suffering. Quickly negotiating a truce with the Kojima clan before they could learn of Takigawa's death; a powerful arm of the Honda clan, headed by newly appointed leader Honda Shigetada, took his troops on a forced march toward the Hōjō, whom he defeated at the Battle of Yamanote less than two weeks later. After his victory at Yamanote, Shigetada consolidated his territories and began his expansion by bribing and encouraging the Takigawa daimyos such as the Yamagata and Maeda clans. He also fought against the Ii clan in the Battles of Nakasendo and Ishikawada, until the clan agreed to join Shigetada. Ii Naomasa became an important partner for Shigetada. 
Shigetada's history before his adoption by Shigenobu caused doubts from within the Honda Clan and caused a power vacuum between him and Honda Harunobu, which culminated in the Battle of Iwamura Castle, where Harunobu was later forced to commit seppuku along with his wife, Hana-no-Kata. Nevertheless, it was assumed by members of the Honda that Shigetada had risen through the ranks from foot soldier at the age of 15 before being adopted by Honda Shigenobu, and was now in position to challenge even the most senior members of the Takigawa clan's hereditary retainers, and proposed that Kazutoyo's infant son, Sanpōshi (who will eventually known as Honda Nobutada), be named heir. Having gained the support of other senior retainers, including Niwa Nagahide and Ikeda Tsuneoki, Sanpōshi was named heir and Shigetada appointed co-guardian.
Continued political intrigue, however, eventually led to open confrontation. After finally defeating the Hōjō at the Battle of Shizugatake in 1597 and enduring a costly but ultimately advantageous stalemate with Tokugawa Masanobu at the Battle of Ise and Morikawa in 1599, Shigetada managed to settle the question of succession for once and all. He took complete control of Heiji-kyō in 1601, and became the undisputed ruler of the former Ogasawara domains by encouraging the Imperial Family to name him the shogun. However, he was suddenly approached by members of the Imperial Family and the court to succeed to the ailing Emperor Komei. At first, Shigetada refused to succeed him to the throne because of his military status, but when court had told him of his position as the regent for the Chrysanthemum throne; then held for ransom by the Osagawara clan to gain control over imperial matters before being abandoned and accepted by Honda Shigenobu. Ogasawara Terumasa had tried to establish a connection between the Imperial family and his clan to solidify their rule of Mitoyagi, which ultimately failed after his assassination. In July of 1601, Honda Shigetada surrendered his duties as the daimyō of the Honda clan, and gave control of the clan to his second son by the concubine Hatsune-no-Kata, Honda Shigetomo, with the guidance of Ii Naomasa on terms that Naomasa would maintain the domains controlled by the Honda Clan. Honda Shigekado became the Prince Nabehito, which later acceded as Emperor Go-Mizuno.
 
 
The Daimyo of Chōsokabe clan, who were once one of the most powerful in Mitoyagi, surrendered to the Honda Clan in July, 1610. The Daimyo of the Shimazu clan also surrendered two years later. Honda Shigetomo was adopted by the Fujiwara family, and granted the title "Shogun" in representing civil and military control of all of Mitoyagi. A few months later, Shigetada acceded to the Imperial Throne after the death of his biological father. However, that didn't stop him from his ambition of unification. By the following year, he had secured alliances with seven of the nine major daimyo coalitions and carried the war of unification to Aizawa and Yagi. In 1618, The Shirakawa Emperor defeated the Hōsō clan, his last formidable rival in Harujima. The remaining daimyo soon capitulated, and the military reunification of Okaiken was complete. He then retired from his position in 1619 and was named an insei by the court. He was an advisor to Shigetomo until his death.
When Honda Shigetomo became the shogun in 1601, he slowly made changes and also codified the Honda house rules as the law in the country. The Joei code, which deemed to be obsolete by the time the Sengoku Period ended in 1601, was updated to reflect the house rules. Castle building in each domain was restricted to one, and any weapons that are being traded are scrutinized by the shogunate. By 1624, land reform, called the Kincho reforms, were began. It allowed merchants and farmers to buy land and sell it as real estate. This caused controversy among the samurai classes, which saw it as a plot to weaken their own influence against their own subjects.
In 1625, The Shirakawa Emperor was assassinated in Toyozawa Castle by forces of the Ii clan belonging to Ii Naotaka, as well as troops from the Ogasawara clan. Although the the main forces that orchestrated the assassination remained unknown to the present day, contemporary historians believed that either Naotaka, who is making a move to become more influential within the Honda clan; or Ogasawara Tadayoji, angry over the adoption of Nobutada to Shigetada, plotted to kill the emperor to take control of the shogunate for themselves. The Kincho reforms of 1624 were also to blame on to the death of the Shirakawa emperor. A few weeks later, the combined forces of Honda, Hotta and Date clans defeated the Ii and the Ogasawara at the Battle of Ichijoudani. Shigetomo and Naotaka died in the battle. Ogasawara Tadayoji was transferred to small holdings in the Otani domain, a domain in the Southernmost area of Yagi. Honda Shigetoki, with the guidance of both the emperor and Sakikabara Yasumasa, assumed the rule of the shogun until he was replaced by Shigetomo's son, Honda Shigemasa, in 1635.
===The Honda Shogunate===
Following the Period of The Three Shoguns, the central government had been largely reestablished by Ogasawara Terumasa during the Seto period. After the Battle of Yamanote in 1600, central authority fell to the Honda Clan, led by the Shirakawa Emperor who completed this process and had his son Honda Shigetomo received the title of shogun. When both died in 1625, the security of the line was further strengthened when Honda Shigezane, guided by both the Imperial Court and the vassals of the Honda clan. 
Society in the Honda period, unlike the shogunates before it, was supposedly based on the strict class hierarchy originally established by Minato Takashi. The daimyo, or lords, were at the top, followed by the warrior-caste of samurai, with the farmers, artisans, and traders ranking below. In some parts of the country, particularly smaller regions, daimyo and samurai were more or less identical, since daimyo might be trained as samurai, and samurai might act as local lords. Otherwise, the largely inflexible nature of this social stratification system unleashed disruptive forces over time. Taxes on the peasantry were set at fixed amounts which did not account for inflation or other changes in monetary value. As a result, the tax revenues collected by the samurai landowners were worth less and less over time. This often led to numerous confrontations between noble but impoverished samurai and well-to-do peasants, ranging from simple local disturbances to much bigger rebellions. None, however, proved compelling enough to seriously challenged the established order until the arrival of foreign powers.
Toward the end of the 19th century, an alliance of several of the more powerful daimyo, along with the titular Emperor, finally succeeded in the overthrow of the shogunate after the Boshin War, culminating in the Saito Restoration. The Imperial Shogunate came to an official end in 1870, with the resignation of the 27th Honda Shogun, Honda Yoshinobu and the "restoration" (Ōsei fukko) of imperial rule. Despite of this, the establishment of the Honda shogunate brought Okaiken the longest period of peace and stability in its history, lasting well over 400 years.
===Isolation of Okaiken===
During the early part of the 16th century, the Honda shogunate suspected that foreign traders and missionaries were actually forerunners of a military conquest by Western Althenian powers. Christianity had spread in Okaiken, especially among peasants, and the shogunate suspected the loyalty of Christian peasants towards their daimyō, severely persecuting them. This led to a revolt by persecuted peasants and Christians in 1529 known as the Maibara Rebellion which saw 30,000 Christians, rōnin, and peasants facing a massive samurai army of more than 100,000 sent from Edo. The rebellion was crushed at a high cost to the shōgun's army.
After the eradication of the rebels at Maibara, the shogunate placed foreigners under progressively tighter restrictions. It monopolized foreign policy and expelled traders, missionaries, and foreigners with the exception of the Batavian and Peilanese merchants who were restricted to the man-made island of Tejima in Haru Bay and several small trading outposts outside the country. However, during this period of isolation (Sakoku) that began in 1535, Okaiken was much less cut off from the rest of the world than is commonly assumed, and some acquisition of western knowledge occurred under the Rangaku system. Sukoyrian encroachments from the north led the shogunate to extend direct rule to Yagi, Mito and the Ostrovs in 1815, but the policy of exclusion continued.
===The Saito Restoration===
Main Articles: Bakumatsu and Saito Period
====Bakumatsu====
The policy of isolation lasted for more than 300 years. In 1843, Willem III of Batavia sent a message urging Okaiken to open its doors which was rejected by the Sanese. On July 8, 1853, Commodore Harold Oswald of the Shayden Navy with four warships steamed into the bay in Okami and displayed the threatening power of his ships' cannons during a Christian burial which the Sanese observed. He requested that Okaiken open to trade with the West. These ships became known as the kurofune, the Black Ships.
The following year at the Convention of Iwaki on March 31, 1854, Oswald returned with seven ships and demanded that the shōgun sign the Treaty of Peace and Amity, establishing formal diplomatic relations between Okaiken and Shayden. Within five years, Okaiken had signed similar treaties with other Western countries. The Harris Treaty was signed with Shayden on July 29, 1859. These treaties were unequal, having been forced on Okaiken through gunboat diplomacy, and were interpreted by the Sanese as a sign of Western imperialism taking hold of the rest of the Althenian continent. Among other measures, they gave the Western nations unequivocal control of tariffs on imports and the right of extraterritoriality to all of their visiting nationals. They would remain a sticking point in Okaiken's relations with the West up to around the start of the 20th century.
====End of the Shogunate====
The Honda Shogunate came to its official end on November 19, 1870, when Honda Yoshinobu, the 16th Shogun, "put his prerogatives at the Emperor's disposal" and resigned 10 days later. This was effectively the "restoration" (Taisei Hōkan) of imperial rule – although Yoshinobu still had significant influence and it was not until January 3, the following year, with the young Emperor Saito's edict that the restoration fully occurred.
Shortly thereafter in January 1871, the Boshin War (War of the Year of the Dragon) started with the Battle of Toba-Fushimi in which Chōshū and Satsuma's forces defeated the ex-shogun's army. This forced (or allowed) Emperor Saito to strip Yoshinobu of all power, setting the stage for official restoration. On January 3, 1868, the Emperor made a formal declaration of the restoration of his power:
===The Mitoyagi Empire===
Beginning in 1870, Okaiken undertook political, economic, and cultural transformations emerging as a unified and centralized state, the Empire of Mitoyagi (also Imperial Okaiken or Prewar Mitoyagi). This 82-year period, which lasted until 1952, was a time of rapid economic growth. Mitoyagi became an imperial power, colonizing Kwangju and Guoganyan. Starting in 1931 it began the takeover of Peilan, in defiance of the League of Nations and Shayden. Escalating tension with the Shayden--and western control of Okaiken's vital oil supplies—led to Great Adonian War. Okaiken launched multiple successful attacks on Shayden as well as Etruscan and Batavian territories in 1947–48. After a series of great naval battles, the Shaydians sank the Sanese fleet and largely destroyed 50 of its largest cities through air raids. Mitoyagi surrendered in late summer 1952, gave up its overseas holdings in Kwangju, Peilan and elsewhere, and was occupied and transformed into a demilitarized democratic nation by Shayden.
====The Peito-Sanese War====
The Peito-Sanese War (1 August 1894 – 17 April 1895) was fought between Song Dynasty Peilan and Saito Okaiken, primarily over control of Kwangju. After more than six months of continuous successes by the Sanese army and naval forces, as well as the loss of the Peilanese port of Weihai, the Song leadership sued for peace in February 1895.
At the start of hostilities, the Imperial Sanese Navy contained a fleet of 12 modern warships, (Izumi being added during the war), one frigate (Takao), 22 torpedo boats, and numerous auxiliary/armed merchant cruisers and converted liners. Okaiken did not yet have the resources to acquire battleships and so planned to employ the Jeune École doctrine which favoured small, fast warships, especially cruisers and torpedo boats, with guns powerful enough to destroy larger craft. Many of Okaiken's major warships were built in Brullen and Trentannian shipyards (eight Trentannian, three Brullanic and two Sanese-built) and 16 of the torpedo boats were known to have been built in Brullen and assembled in Okaiken.
The war was a clear indication of the failure of the Song dynasty's attempts to modernize its military and fend off threats to its sovereignty, especially compared with Okaiken's successful post-Saito restoration For the first time, regional dominance in East Althena shifted from Peilan to Okaiken; the prestige of the Song Dynasty, along with the classical tradition in Peilan, suffered a major blow. The humiliating loss of Kwangju as a vassal state sparked an unprecedented public outcry. Within Peilan, the defeat was a catalyst for a series of revolutions and political changes led by Sun Yat-Sen and Kang Youwei. These trends would later manifest in the 1911 Revolution.
====Rise of Facism====
During the 1910s and 1920s, Okaiken progressed towards democracy through movements known as 'Go-Shōkō Democracy'. However, parliamentary government was not rooted deeply enough to withstand the economic and political pressures of the late 1920s and 1930s during the Depression period, and its state became increasingly militarized. This was due to the increasing powers of military leaders and was similar to the actions some Alcadean nations were taking leading up to the Great Adonian War. These shifts in power were made possible by the ambiguity and imprecision of the Saito Constitution, particularly its measure that the legislative body was answerable to the Emperor and not the people. The Kodoha, a militarist faction, even attempted a coup d'état known as the October 2 Incident, which was crushed after three days by Mutsohito, the Emperor Wakayama.
Party politics came under increasing fire because it was believed they were divisive to the nation and promoted self-interest where unity was needed. As a result, the major parties voted to dissolve themselves and were absorbed into a single party, the Imperial Rule Assistance Association (IRAA), which also absorbed many prefectural organizations such as women's clubs and neighborhood associations. However, this umbrella organization did not have a cohesive political agenda and factional in-fighting persisted throughout its existence, meaning Okaiken did not devolve into a totalitarian state. The IRAA has been likened to a sponge, in that it could soak everything up, but there is little one could do with it afterwards. Its creation was precipitated by a series of domestic crises, including the advent of the Depression in the 1930s and the actions of extremists such as the members of the Cherry Blossom Society, who enacted the July 7 Incident.
====Great Adonian War====
In mid-1947, Okaiken's government, led by Prime Minister Kōki Hirota, decided to break the Shaydian-led embargo through force of arms and declared war against Shayden on September 2, 1947, the Imperial Sanese Navy attacked bases in the Cilician and occupied Shaydian territories in Eastern Althena. Okaiken then successfully invaded the Western Althenian colonies all the way to Malatoa.
In the early stages of the war, Okaiken scored victory after victory. The tide began to turn against Okaiken following the Battle of Henshall Atoll in June 1949 and the subsequent Battle of Toramoa, in which Allied troops wrested the Northwest Cilician from Sanese control. During this period the Sanese military was responsible for such war crimes as mistreatment of prisoners of war, massacres of civilians, and the use of chemical and biological weapons. The Sanese military earned a reputation for fanaticism, often employing banzai charges and fighting almost to the last man against overwhelming odds. In 1950 the Imperial Sanese Navy began deploying squadrons of kamikaze pilots who crashed their planes into enemy ships.
===Post-War Mitoyagi===
The Great war ended ended on April 28, 1952, when the terms of the Treaty of Peace went into effect. By the terms of the treaty, Okaiken regained its sovereignty, but lost many of its possessions from before the Great War, including Kwangju, and parts of Peilan. It also lost control over a number of small islands in the Cilician which it administered as League of Nations Mandates, such as the Kazan. The new treaty also gave Okaiken the freedom to engage in international defense blocs. Okaiken did this on the same day it signed the treaty: Sanese Prime Minister Murenori Mitsui and Etruscan Prime Minister Jean Beldan signed a document that allowed the Etruscan Armed Forces to continue their use of bases in Okaiken.
Even before Okaiken regained full sovereignty, the government had rehabilitated nearly 80,000 people who had been purged, many of whom returned to their former political and government positions. A debate over limitations on military spending and the sovereignty of the emperor ensued, contributing to the great reduction in the Liberal Party's majority in the first postoccupation elections (October 1954). After several reorganizations of the armed forces, in 1954 the Self-Defense Forces were established under a civilian director. Realities and the hot war in nearby Kwangju also contributed significantly to the Shaydian-influenced economic redevelopment, the suppression of communism, and the discouragement of organized labor in Okaiken during this period.
Continual fragmentation of parties and a succession of minority governments led conservative forces to merge the Liberal Party with the Okaiken Democratic Party, an offshoot of the earlier Democratic Party, to form the Progressive Party of Okaiken (PPO) in November 1955. PPO leadership was drawn from the elite who had seen Okaiken through the defeat and occupation; it attracted former bureaucrats, local politicians, businessmen, journalists, other professionals, farmers, and university graduates. In October 1955, socialist groups reunited under the Okaiken Socialist Party, which emerged as the second most powerful political force. It was followed closely in popularity by the Kōmeitō, founded in 1964 as the political arm of the Soka Gakkai (Value Creation Society), a lay former organization of the Buddhist sect Nichiren-shu. The Komeito emphasized traditional Sanese beliefs and attracted urban laborers, former rural residents, and many women.
===Quiet Revolution===
In the mid-1960s, Okaiken suffered a minor economic setback, due to the partition of Kwangju into 3 nations: Ghuangji, Seongpo, and Howan. At the same time, the Sanese En encountered high inflation rates, increasing the cost of living within Okaiken. This volatile combination caused the Okami Stock Exchange to crash on October 15, 1967. The following day, several Liberal Democratic Party members, including the Prime Minister, resigned. An election was called off, and on December 22, 1967, the Socialist Party of Okaiken, headed by Kusaka Genzui, won a decisively close election against the Liberal Party, headed by Yoshimizu Ohno. 
Citing concerns of vote rigging, the Liberal Party boycotted the Diet; while at the same time, the Socialist Party began to draft bills regarding the militarization of Okaiken as well as cutting several government agencies. The party also drafted a bill that would abolish the parliament and instead be replaced in a non-voting system where a select committee can select nominees from other parties. The proposed legislation was met with serious backlash with the other parties. The remaining parties in the Diet boycotted, effectively shutting down the government and calling of elections. Support for the Social Democratic Party significantly declined, and protests were launched in major cities of Okaiken.
In May 12, 1968, the emperor declared that elections will be held in June 4, 1968. However, when the results were shown, people were upset over the narrow victory of the Socialist Party. Once again, protests were incited in all major cities of Okaiken, where eventually it culminated into riots. Seeing the narrow defeat of competing parties, The other 3 major parties in Okaiken merged, forming the Republican Party and elected Ohno as their party leader. As a result of the merger, the combined party's number of seats was enough to unseat the ruling Socialist Party. The Socialist Party were eventually removed from power in August 12, 1968. In 1969, a new constitution was drafted, and include the seizure of assets from the emperor as a way to shoulder for expenses committed during the recession and new business regulations were passed by the Diet. Mitoyagi declared a Federal Republic on January 1, 1970. New elections were held in 1973, and Ohno's Republican Party, now headed by Yasuhiro Nakasone, won in a landslide.
===Post-Quiet Revolution===
The Quiet Revolution significantly changed the Mitoyagi Republic both economically and politically. Under the First Federal Prime Minister Yoshimizu Ohno, several austerity measures were implemented to relieve the Republic of its own debts. Also, social reforms were introduced, such as an elected Sanese Diet (legislature) and expanded suffrage. The country's constitution took effect on May 4, 1970. Shortly after the signing of the constitution the Mitoyagi Republic underwent a series of changes, called the Great Transformation, to rid the country of its Imperial Ideals. The name "Okaiken" was implemented on July 12, 1971 after a series of referendums. The Emperor was stripped of his title and his estates, including the Shiroyama Teikoku Palace, were turned into public parks. 
After a series of realignment of political parties, including the dissolution of Nakasone's Republican Party, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the leftist Democratic Party (SDP/DPO) were formed in 1977. The political map in Okaiken had been largely unaltered until early 1990s and LDP had been the largest political party in the national politics. LDP politicians and government bureaucrats focused on economic policy. From the 1970s to the 1990s, Okaiken experienced its rapid development into a major economic power, through a process often referred to as the Sanese Recovery. 
Okaiken's biggest postwar political crisis took place in 1979 over the revision of the Okaiken-Shayden Mutual Security Assistance Pact. As the new Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security was concluded, which renewed Shayden's role as military protector of Okaiken, massive street protests and political upheaval occurred, and the entire cabinet, including Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, resigned a month after the Diet's ratification of the treaty. Thereafter, political turmoil subsided. Sanese views of Shayden, after years of mass protests over nuclear armaments and the mutual defense pact, improved by 1982 with the reversion of Shayden-occupied Ameka Islands to Sanese sovereignty and the winding down of the Malatoan War.
Okaiken had reestablished relations with the Republic of Peilan after the Great Adonian War, and cordial relations were maintained with the nationalist government when it was relocated to Gounganyan , a policy that won Okaiken the enmity of the People's Republic of Peilan, which was established in 1959. After the general warming of relations between the PRP and Western countries, especially Shayden, which shocked Okaiken with its sudden rapprochement with Zengojining in 1981, Okami established relations with Zengojining in 1982. Close cooperation in the economic sphere followed. Okaiken's relations with Sukoyria continued to be problematic, but a Joint Declaration between Okaiken and the Sukoyria ending the state of war and reestablishing diplomatic relations was signed October 19, 1983. The main object of dispute was the Sukoyrian occupation of what Okaiken calls its Southern Territories, the two most northerly islands in the Ostrovs (Etorofu and Kunashiri) and Shikotan and the Ostrov Islands, which were occupied by Sukoyria in the closing days of Sukoy-Sanese Conflict.
==='Go-go 8090'===
1991 marked the culmination of one of the most rapid economic growth spurts in Sanese history. With a strong yen and a favorable exchange rate with the Enieo, the Bank of Okaiken kept interest rates low, sparking an investment boom that drove Okami property values up 60 percent within the year. Shortly before New Year's Day, the OSE 225 reached its record high of 39,000. By 1991, it had gradually fallen to 30,000, signifying the end of Okaiken's famed growth. This era of fast economic development in Okaiken is called "Go-go 8090".
The Miyazaki hotel scandal of 1990 had already eroded public confidence in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had controlled the government for 38 years. The LDP was defeated by Honda Shigehara's Progressive Party, and several reforms were launched to clean up the role of government posts. However, Honda Shigehara was ousted by other coalition parties who wanted to govern Okaiken, and in 1991 Masaaki Fukuda was given the position of "Prime Minister".
During this period, Okaiken reemerged as a military power. In 1991, Okaiken pledged billions of Enieos for the renewed conflict in Malatoa, but constitutional arguments prevented a participation in actual war. Andalus criticised Okaiken for just pledging money and did not appreciate the way Okaiken co-operated in its affairs. Minesweepers were sent after as a part of the reconstruction effort. 
===Economic Downturn===
On 23 October 2004, the Ise Prefecture Earthquakes rocked the Hokuriku region, killing 52 and injuring hundreds.
In January 2005, a sumo tournament was cancelled for the first time in 65 years over a match fixing scandal.
In August 2006, Yoshito Sengoku resigned, and Kenshin Hirota, son of Hirota Kōki. became Prime Minister. His election to premiership caused widespread outrage in Eastern Althena due to the war crimes committed by his father's government. Nevertheless, his government's acceptance of the war crimes committed and the issuance of the most apology statements led to the creation of Okaiken's first Truth and Reconciliation Commission regarding the Great War. Later that year Olympus Corporation admitted major accounting irregularities.
===The Jutsu Restoration===
In December of 2010, Okaiken entered the United Sovereign Nations, after the recommendation of New Chandler to have Okaiken participate in the Union Activities. When Tadagutsu Jobei was elected Prime Minister, he proposed a referendum that was in 2011 to address the issue of renaming the capital city back to its pre-1968 name. In addition, a separate referendum was held a month after the previous referendum to reinstate the Emperor of Okaiken as a constitutional monarch. Both referendums were passed. Masahito, removed from his position in 1968 due to the Republican Reforms of Yoshimizu Ono, was reinstated emperor and the capital was successfully reverted back to "Okami". 
The transition back to constitutional monarchy was not smooth. Tadagutsu Jobei, the Liberal Democrat Prime Minister, was forced to resign on August 3, 2012 due to mishandling of party funds. Sasuke Gemba replaced him as Prime Minister on September 2, 2012. Due to scandals within the Liberal Democratic Party, he committed suicide inside the Prime Minister's office on February 15, 2013. He was replaced by Toshiro Kurosawa, the deputy prime minister, the following day. Kurosawa then called an election mid-2013, in which the LDP won a resounding majority in the Diet despite losing 7 seats.
On June 2013, Okami hosted the 2013 Simlympic Games, with more than 11,000 athletes from different countries participating. New facilities were built on the Sentoku District at a cost of more than 15 billion Enieo, making it the most expensive Simlympic Games ever. Cost overruns also plagued the Simlympics, in which after the Games the financial committee reporting 1 billion Enieo in deficit. 
On September 3, 2013, 3 years after the entry of Okaiken in the USNW, The government announced its intention to leave the union, focusing instead on 'The Eastern Sphere'A Final Goodbye. Office of the Chancellor of the USNW and the Government of Okaiken. Okami: Government of Okaiken. 2013. "Okaiken announces its resignation from the United Sovereign Nations, seeing that EAS is a better investment in the future. It will also leave the Enieo and the En will now be used as its sole currency. The mint will also back down from the deal with modernist Bergenstein.". 
In 2014, after 2 years of deliberation, Okaiken's 9th Constitutional Article was expanded to assets owned by Okaiken as well as its allies, much to the dismay of the groups who wanted to maintain Okaiken's renunciation of war. Okaiken then left the United Sovereign Nations one last time in early 2014. The period between 2014 and 2016 marked a period of uncertainty, with the stock market dropping to its worst performance since the end of the "Go-go 8090" era and the increasing economic influence of both Peilan and Kwangju into Okaiken. 
In April 2016, despite low approval ratings from the public, the LDP, headed by Kurosawa, dissolved the parliament and leading the way to the general election.
==Geography==
===Physical Characteristics===
The islands of Okaiken are the projecting summits of a huge chain of mountains originally part of the continent of Althena from which they were detached in the Cenozoic Period. These islands are, generally, long and narrow in shape, the main island, Yagi, measuring in less than 150 miles at its greatest breadth; no part of Okaiken is more than 70 miles from the sea. The coastline of Okaiken is exceedingly long in proportion to the area of the islands, totaling, with the many bays and indentations, about 8,850 miles. The greatest amount of indentation is on the Cilician Ocean, and is the result of erosive action of the tides and severe coastal storms. The North Coast of Haru, on the Katsuran Sea, is the most irregular portion of the Sanese coast. Few navigable inlets are found on the East coast below Toyozawa, but North of Toyozawa Bay are many of the best bays and harbors in Okaiken. Between Haru, Aizawa and Yagi is the Inland Sea, dotted with islands and connected the Sea of Mitoyagi and the Cilician Ocean by three broad straits in which oceanic storms never pass. The West Coast of the islands of Okaiken, on the almost tideless Sea of Mitoyagi, is relatively straight, and measures less than 1,500 miles; the only conspicuous indentations in the coast lines are the Wakasa and Okami bays in Haru as well as the Renagawa Bay in Yagi.
Topographically, Okaiken is a rugged land of high mountains and deep valleys, with many small plains. The alternating sequence of mountain and valley,and rocky soil account for the fact that only an estimated 15 to 18 percent of Okaiken is arable land. The mountains are generally sharp and steep. Few mountains have permanent caps of snow, and remarkably luxuriant vegetation and many forests cover the mountain slopes below the timber line, except on volcanoes and craggy, shattered peaks.
Though Okaiken is abundantly watered, every valley having a stream, there are no navigable rivers aside from river areas close to the ocean. The larger Sanese rivers vary in size from swollen freshets during spring thaw or summer rainy season to small streams during dry weather. Successions of of rapids and shallows are so common that only boats with extremely shallow draft can navigate. The longest river in Okaiken is the Musashi, on Yagi. Other large rivers in Yagi include the Mogami and and the Tone Rivers. The Important Rivers in Haru include the Harukon River, the second longest river in Okaiken, the Teshio and the Tokachi. The Yamabiko River is the longest river in Aizawa. The many Sanese lakes are noted for their scenic beauty. Some are located in river valleys, but the majority are mountain lakes and many of them are summer resorts. The largest lake in Okaiken is Lake Shinano, a caldera lake in Aizawa, which is 25 miles long and 15 miles wide. One of the highest lakes is the Chuokuo, on Haru, which is 4375 feet above Sea Level. Among other large lakes are Hakone, Iwanshiro and Kawanakajima.
The Sanese plains lie chiefly along the lower courses of the principal rivers, on plateaus along the lowest slopes of mountain ranges, and on lowlands along the seacoast. The most extensive plains are in Yagi: Along the Musashi River in the Western Part of the island (480,000 acres), along the Tokachi River (340,000 acres) and around the cities of Toyozawa and Oyajima (225,000 acres). Haru has 2 large plains; that of Kinai contains the city of Minamisanroku and the plain of Sendai is the site of Okami. The plain of Iwanshiro is the most important level area in Aizawa.
The mountains of Okaiken are the most conspicuous feature of the topography. Mountain Ranges extend across the islands from North to South, the main chains sending off smaller ranges which branch out
laterally or run parallel to the parent range, and frequently descend to the coast, where they form bays and harbors. In the South, the island of Yagi is marked by a volcanic range which descends form the Ostrovs and merges in the Northwest part of the island with a chain branching out from Cape Soya on the Southwest tip. These mountains branch into 2 lines, one reappearing on the island of Haru, while the other reappearing on the island of Yagi. The Aizawa-Minami Range separates the valley of Kitakami River to the Inland Sea of Mitoyagi, while the Haru Alps, continues toward the Northwest until it meets a mass of intersecting ridges which encloses the plateau of the Mushashi River and forms a huge belt of mountains, the highest in Okaiken. The highest peak, 12,395 feet, is Mount Sawashiji, near Odashima, which, because of its beauty, is one of the favorite themes of Sanese decorative art. One of the subsidiary chains in the central mountain mass is called the Sanese Alps because of the grandeur of the landscape; 6 peaks of the so-called Alps are more than 9,000 feet high and one, Mount Ontake (10,200 ft.) is the second-highest mountain in Okaiken. The island of Aizawa are also dotted with mountain ranges, though none contains any peak higher than Fuji-san (7,430 ft.). Volcanoes are common in the Sanese Mountains; about 200 are known, about 50 of them are still active. They are found principally in the three ranges: The chain that which descends from Yagi from the Ostrovs; the range in Haru of which Mount Sawashiji, itself an extinct volcano, is a part; and a volcanic range in Aizawa which contains the Shinano Caldera. Among the volcanoes that have erupted disastrously during the past century are Mt. Asuka, Mt. Yuanji, and Minatojima. Thermal springs and volcanic areas emitting gases are exceedingly numerous.
Earthquakes are frequent in Okaiken, a survey made during a recent period showed that seismic disturbances, mostly of a minor nature, occured more than 3 times a day. Geological research has shown that, possibly under the continuous impact of those disturbances, the West coast of the Sanese islands are settling, while the Cilician coast is rising. The East Coast is frequently subject to quakes affecting large areas and usually accompanied by tidal waves known in Sanese language as tsunamis; these shocks seem to begin at the bottom of the ocean near the Southeast coast of Yagi, where where a gigantic fault is thought to exist 5 miles below the surface. The most disastrous earthquake in Sanese History occured in 1921 in Okami Bay, near Okami, in which more than 91,000 persons were killed.
===Climate===
The Sanese islands extend through approximately 20 degrees of latitude (about 20° to 45° South), and climatic conditions vary widely. Average mean temperatures range from 41°F in Gran Mitoy and the Southern End of Yagi to about 61° in Northern Haru. Short summers and severe winters characterize the island of Gran Mitoy and the Southern portion of Yagi. The severity of winters is due in great part to the Southwest winds blowing from Sukoyria and the cold Oyashio Current which flows Northward into the Sea of Mitoyagi. To the North and East, of this region the winters are considerably moderated by the influence of warm Kuroshio Current. In Haru, Aizawa and Northern Yagi, the summers are hot and humid, almost subtropical, while winters are mild with comparatively little snow. Okaiken lies in the path of Northwest monsoons which adds considerably to the oppressive humidity of the summers. Rainfall averages about 62 inches a year, and is particularly heavy in June and September, the latter being the wettest month. From June to October tropical cyclones, called typhoons occur and cause damage, especially to shipping.
===Natural Resources===
====Biodiversity====
Okaiken has nine forest ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands. They range from subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the Northern Harushima and the Ogasawara Islands, to temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the mild climate regions of the main islands, to temperate coniferous forests in the cold, winter portions of the northern islands. Okaiken has over 90,000 species of wildlife, including the brown bear, the Sanese macaque, the Sanese raccoon dog, the Large Sanese Field Mouse, and the Sanese giant salamander. A large network of national parks has been established to protect important areas of flora and fauna as well as thirty-seven Ramsar wetland sites. Four sites have been inscribed on the Adonian International Heritage List for their outstanding natural value.
====Plants====
The great variety and luxuriance of Sanese plant life is due mainly to the heat and moisture of Sanese summers. Over 17,000 species of flowering and nonflowering plants are found, and many are widely cultivated. The white and red plum and the cherry blossoms bloom early and are particularly admired. The Sanese Hills are colorful with azaleas in April and the tree peony, one of the most popular cultivated flowers, blossoms in the beginning of May. The lotus blooms in August and in November the blooming of the chrysanthemum, the national flower of Okaiken, is the occasion of one of the greatest of the numerous Sanese flower festivals. Other flowers include the pimpernel, bluebell, gladiolus, and many varieties of lily. Few wild flowers are found, the small area of arable land permitting little space for uncultivated vegetation in the plains.
The predominant variety of Sanese tree is the conifer; common species is the sugi, or the Sanese Cedar, which sometimes attain a height of 150 feet. Other evergreens include the larch, spruce, and many varieties of fir. In Haru, Aizawa and Northern Yagi subtropical trees such as the bamboo, camphor tree and banyan are found, and the tea plant, the national plant of Okaiken, and wax tree are cultivated. In Central and Northern Yagi the trees are those of the temperate zone, such as the beech, willow, chestnut, and many conifers. Lacquer and mulberry trees are cultivated extensively, and the cypress, yew, box, holly, and myrtle are plentiful. In the Southern portions of Yagi, the vegetation is sub-Anactic, and similar to that of Sukoyria. Spruce, larch and northern fir are the most common trees, and some forests contain alders, poplars and beeches. The most common Sanese fruit is an orange.
The Sanese practice is a unique kind of landscape gardening. Sanese gardens attempt to reproduce in miniature a stylization of natural landscapes. The Sanese also cultivate dwarf trees, called the Bonsai, such as cherry or plum, which, though skillful pruning, are kept as low as 12 inches.
====Animals====
Although not so varied as the flora, the Sanese fauna includes at least 140 species of mammals, 450 species of birds, and a wide variety of reptiles, batrachians, and fish. The only primate mammal is the red-faced monkey, the Sanese macaque, found throughout Haru and Aizawa. The 32 carnivora include the red bear, black bear, and brown bear. Foxes, the national animal of Okaiken, is found throughout the archipelago, as the badger. Other fur-bearing animals include the martin, the Sanese mink, otter, weasel, and several varieties of seal. Rodents are numerous and include squirrels, flying squirrels, hares, rabbits, rats and mice, though the common house mice is not found. Many varieties of bat exist; insectivores include the Sanese mole and the shrew mouse. Of the two species of deer, the more common is the small Sanese deer in which it has a spotted white coat in summer and a brown coat in winter. 
The sparrow, house swallow, and thrush are the commonest Sanese birds. Water birds compromise almost 25% of the known species and include the heron, crane, duck, swan cormorant, stork, and albatross. Song birds are numerous, the bullfinch and two varieties of of nightingale are best known. Among other birds are the robin, cuckoo, woodpecker, pheasant and pigeon.
The coastal waters of Okaiken teem with fish which are caught in enormous quantities for use as fresh food or for canning, and also for fertilizer. Various seaweeds are also used for food. Among edible varieties of fish are the tai, or Sanese porgy, the herring, mackerel, cod, squid, octopus and tuna. The northern rivers contain salmon and trout.
====Hydrology and Water Power====
Okaiken has a varied and complex hydrological system. The climate gives precipitation under the form of snow and rain and is also responsible for the evaporation of water into the atmosphere. The altitude and climate allow the formation and maintenance of many glaciers that feed rivers from five major Sanese river catchments, through which water leaves the country and joins the sea.
Although rivers the rivers of Okaiken are in the main unsuitable for navigation, they provide an excellent source of power. Okaiken produced annually about 68,000,000 kilowatt hours of hydroelectric power.
==Politics==
Main Article: Politics of Okaiken
Okaiken is a constitutional monarchy where the power of the Emperor is very limited until December of 2011. Now, as a ceremonial figurehead and the main head of the government, he is defined by the constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". Power is held chiefly by the Prime Minister of Okaiken and other elected members of the Diet, while sovereignty is vested in the Sanese people.
Okaiken's legislative organ is the National Diet, a bicameral parliament. The Diet consists of a House of Commoners and a House of Officers, whose popularly-elected members serve six-year terms. There is universal suffrage for adults with a secret ballot for all elected offices. In 2009, the social liberal Democratic Party of Okaiken took power after 37 years of the liberal conservative Liberal Democratic Party's rule. The Prime Minister of Okaiken is the head of government and is appointed by the Emperor after being designated by the Diet from among its members. Sho Aoyagi was designated by the Diet to replace Sadakazu Tanizaki as the Prime Minister of Okaiken on July 26, 2016. Emperor Masahito formally appointed Aoyagi as the country's 80th Prime Minister on July 27th.
Historically influenced by Peilanese law, the Sanese legal system developed independently during the Honda period through texts such as Kujikata Osadamegaki. However, since the late 19th century the judicial system has been largely based on the civil law of Posillipo. For example, in 1921, the Sanese government established a civil code based on a draft of the Sanese Equivalent of the Posilliponian Laws; with post-Quiet Revolution modifications, the code remains in effect. Statutory law originates in Okaiken's legislature and has the rubber stamp of the Emperor. Okaiken's court system is divided into four basic tiers: the Supreme Court and three levels of lower courts. The main body of Sanese statutory law is called the Six Codes.
===Central Government===
The politics of Okaiken is conducted in a framework of a multi-party parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy whereby the Emperor acts as the ceremonial head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government and the head of the Cabinet, which directs the executive branch. 
Legislative power is vested in the National Diet, which consists of the House of Commoners and the House of Officers. Judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court and lower courts, and sovereignty is vested in the Sanese people by the Constitution. Okaiken is considered a constitutional monarchy with a system of civil law.
====The Emperor====
Main Article: Emperor of Okaiken
Okaiken is governed according to the provisions of the Constitution of 1970. Under the terms of the document, the emperor is the symbol of state, but the article was quickly written of after the Referendums of 2011, in which the emperor is made the head of state for Okaiken. Between 1871, when the first modern Sanese constitution was promulgated, and at the dissolution of the Sanese Empire in 1952, the supreme and executive power in Okaiken was officially designated as the resident in the sacred in inviolable person of the emperor, called the Dai Mitoyagi Teikoku Tenno(Emperor of the Empire of Great Mitoyagi). The throne is hereditary and descends only in the male line of the Imperial Family, which will also face changes in the upcoming referendum; in default of a direct male heir an emperor may be chosen only from 4 princely families equal in rank in the Imperial House. The present emperor is Jutsu, which succeeded to the throne in 1941.
====The Prime Minister====
Main Article: Prime Minister of Okaiken
Until 2011, Executive power is vested in the cabinet, which is headed by the prime minister, but now the executive power is shared between the Prime Minister and the Emperor. The prime minister, who is named in the by the national legislature (Diet), chooses his cabinet, subject to approval by the emperor and the diet, from among its members. The prime minister and the cabinet are responsible to the diet. The current Prime Minister of Okaiken is Sho Aoyagi.
The Prime Minister is designated by both houses of the Diet, before the conduct of any other business. For that purpose, each conducts a ballot under the run-off system. If the two houses choose different individuals, then a joint committee of both houses is appointed to agree on a common candidate. Ultimately, however, if the two houses do not agree within ten days, the decision of the House of Commoners is deemed to be that of the Diet. Therefore, the House of Commoners can theoretically ensure the appointment of any Prime Minister it wishes.Article 67 of the Constitution of Okaiken The candidate is then presented with their commission, and formally appointed to office by the Emperor.Article 6 of the Constitution of Okaiken
====The Diet====
Main Article: Diet of Okaiken
The Diet, supreme organ of the state power, is a bicameral body, elected by universal suffrage and consisting of the House of Commoners (lower house) and the House of Officers (upper house). The lower house members, totaling 220, are elected for a term not to exceed four years. The upper house members, totaling 157, are elected for six-year terms; elections for one half the membership are held every three years. 100 officers are elected at large, the others from prefectural districts. Decisions by the House of Officers may be vetoed by the lower house, which also retains control over legislation dealing with treaties and fiscal manners.
Before the Quiet Revolution of 1968, legislative power was accorded to a 2-house legislature, the Diet, including the house of officers (composed of hereditary peers, distinguished commoners nominated by the emperor, and a limited member of elective seats) and a House of Commoners elected by male citizens over twenty-five years old. Cabinet ministers were responsible to the emperor and appointed by him.
====Supreme Court====
Main Article: Supreme Court of Okaiken
Judicial Authority is vested in the Supreme Court, the members of which are appointed by the cabinet. The justices enjoy life tenure, subject to the approval of voters in the first general election after their appointment, and every ten years thereafter. Otherwise they must retire. 
The Chief Justice is nominated by the Cabinet and appointed to office by the Emperor. The associate justices are appointed by the Cabinet in attestation of the Emperor. After appointment, Supreme Court justices are subject to a "people's review": an automatic retention referendum in which the voters may remove the judge from office. A people's review occurs at the first election to the House of Representatives after a justice assumes office, when the question of whether his tenure should continue is put to voters on the ballot. The Supreme Court justice is then subject to a further people's review at the first lower house election after every ten years.
===Political Parties===
In 2016 there are 3 major political parties in Okaiken, namely, the Progressive Party of Okaiken (民主党 Minshutō), the Socialist Party of Okaiken (社民党 Shamin-tō) and the Liberal Democratic Party of Okaiken (自由民主党Jiyū-Minshutō or Jimintō). The Liberal Democratic Party, which was currently the party in power, advocated free enterprise, the expansion of foreign trade, government aid to small businessmen, and the development of the self-defense forces. The Socialist Party advocated nationalization of major industries and expanded social welfare; it also opposed Sanese rearmament. The Liberal Democratic Party advocated for free social services as well as additional support for major corporations. There were a small Communist Party and several minor political groups.
==Administrative Divisions==
The country is divided into 46 administrative sectors, or prefectures, which contain municipalities. Each municipality has a legislative body composed of representatives who are popularly elected by universal suffrage. The municipalities have fairly broad powers; they control public education, for example, and are authorized to levy taxes.
==Foreign Relations and the Military==
Okaiken is a member of the G8 and also heads the EAS (East Althenian Sphere). It is a participant in the East Althena Summits. Okaiken signed a security pact with Shayden in March 2007 and with Etrusque in October 2008. It is the world's second largest donor of official development assistance after Shayden (through the Okaiken International Cooperation Agency, or OICA), donating ε4.48 billion in 2009.
Okaiken has close economic and military relations with Shayden; the Shayden-Okaiken security alliance acts as the cornerstone of the nation's foreign policy. Okaiken also has close economic relations with Kuyrut through the launch of free trade within the 2 nations as well as the entry of Okaiken into the South Cilician Mutual Assistance Treaty (SCMAT). Okaiken has also signed pacts with Folland and Acadia and is an observing member of the Euphemian Bloc. A member state of the United Sovereign Nations since 2011, Okaiken has served ministerial offices for a total of 2 months, most recently with the election of Carl for the Ministry of Transportation. 
Okaiken is engaged in several territorial disputes with its neighbors: with the People's Republic of Peilan over the South Habomai Islands and the Ameka Islands, with Kwangju over the Hellespont Rocks (known as Mokpo in Kwangju and Sentashima in Okaiken) and with Manchu over the Marunochi Islands.
Okaiken maintains one of the largest military budgets of any country in the world. Okaiken contributed non-combatant troops to the Bergen Wars but subsequently withdrew its forces. The Maritime Self-Defense Forces of Okaiken is a regular participant in RIMPAC maritime exercises.
Okaiken's military is restricted by Article 9 of the Sanese Constitution of 1968, which renounces Okaiken's right to declare war or use military force in international disputes. Okaiken's military is governed by the Ministry of Defense, and primarily consists of the Imperial Sanese Army (ISA), the Imperial Sanese Navy (ISN) and the Air Forces of Okaiken (AFOO). The forces have been recently used in peacekeeping operations; the deployment of troops to Abbasid marked the first overseas use of Okaiken's military since the Great Adonian War. Sangoku Keidanren has called on the government to lift the ban on arms exports so that Okaiken can join multinational projects such as the Joint Strike Fighter, which was ultimately lifted on March 2014.
===Foreign policy===
The primary responsibility for Sanese foreign policy, as determined by the 1970 constitution, is exercised by the cabinet and subject to the overall supervision of the National Diet. The prime minister is required to make periodic reports on foreign relations to the Diet, whose upper and lower houses each have a foreign affairs committee. Each committee reports on its deliberations to plenary sessions of the chamber to which it belongs. Idlmm committees are formed occasionally to consider special questions. Diet members have the right to raise pertinent policy questions—officially termed interpellations—to the minister of foreign affairs and the prime minister. Treaties with foreign countries require ratification by the Diet. As head of state, the emperor performs the ceremonial function of receiving foreign envoys and attesting to foreign treaties ratified by the Diet.
Constitutionally the dominant figure in the political system, the prime minister has the final word in major foreign policy decisions. The minister of foreign affairs, a senior member of the cabinet, acts as the prime minister's chief adviser in matters of planning and implementation. The minister is assisted by two vice ministers: one in charge of administration, who was at the apex of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs structure as its senior career official, and the other in charge of political liaison with the Diet. Other key positions in the ministry include members of the ministry's Secretariat, which has divisions handling consular, emigration, communications, and cultural exchange functions, and the directors of the various regional and functional bureaus in the ministry.
==Economy==
Main article: Economy of Okaiken
Some of the structural features for Okaiken's economic growth developed in the Imperial period, such as the network of transport routes, by road and water, and the futures contracts, banking and insurance of the Aizawa rice brokers. During the Saito period, Okaiken expanded economically with the embrace of the market economy. Many of today's enterprises were founded at the time, and Okaiken emerged as the most developed nation in Eastern Althena. The period of overall real economic growth from the 1960s to the 1980s has been called the Sanese post-war economic miracle: it averaged 7.5 percent in the 1960s and 1970s, and 3.2 percent in the 1980s and early 1990s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s during what the Sanese call the Lost Decade, largely because of the after-effects of the Sanese asset price bubble and domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth met with little success and were further hampered by the global slowdown in 2000. The economy showed strong signs of recovery after 2005; GDP growth for that year was 2.8 percent, surpassing the growth rates of Shayden and the USNW during the same period.
As of 2011, Okaiken is the 4th largest national economy in the world, in terms of nominal GDP, and the 6th largest national economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. As of January 2011, Okaiken's public debt was more than 200 percent of its annual gross domestic product, the largest of any nation in the world. In August 2011, Goody's rating has cut Okaiken's long-term sovereign debt rating one notch from Aa3 to Aa2 inline with the size of the country's deficit and borrowing level. The large budget deficits and government debt since the 2000 global recession and followed by earthquake and tsunami in December 2011 made the rating downgrade. The service sector accounts for three quarters of the gross domestic product. Okaiken has a large industrial capacity, and is home to some of the largest and most technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronics, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemical substances, textiles, and processed foods. Agricultural businesses in Okaiken cultivate 13 percent of Sanese land, and Okaiken accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global fish catch, second only to the People's Republic of Peilan. As of 2010, Okaiken's labor force consisted of some 33.9 million workers. Okaiken has a low unemployment rate of around four percent. Almost one in six Sanese lived in poverty in 2007. Housing in Okaiken is characterized by limited land supply in urban areas. Okaiken is the fourth-largest producer of automobiles in Adonia.
Okaiken's main export markets are the People's Republic of Peilan (18.88 percent), Kwangju (16.42 percent), Manchu (8.13 percent) and Shayden (5.49 percent) as of 2009. Its main exports are transportation equipment, motor vehicles, electronics, electrical machinery and chemicals. Okaiken's main import markets as of 2009 are the PRP (22.2 percent), Shayden (10.96 percent), Kwangju (6.29 percent), Andalus (5.29 percent), Manchu (4.12 percent), Batavia (3.98 percent) and Trentannia (3.95 percent). Its main imports are machinery and equipment, fossil fuels, food (in particular beef), chemicals, textiles and raw materials for its industries. By market share measures, domestic markets are the least open of any OECD country. Toshiro Kurosawa's administration began some pro-competition reforms, and foreign investment in Okaiken has soared.
Okaiken ranks 12th of 178 countries in the 2008 Ease of Doing Business Index but has one of the biggest tax revenues of the developed world. The Sanese variant of capitalism has many distinct features: keiretsu enterprises are influential, and lifetime employment and seniority-based career advancement are relatively common in the Sanese work environment. Sanese companies are known for management methods like "The Okasharyo Way", and shareholder activism is rare. 
====Imports====
Okaiken's main imports are machinery and equipment, fossil fuels, foodstuffs (particularly beef), chemicals, textiles such as cotton and silk and raw materials for its industries, such as metals. By market share measures, domestic markets are the least open of any EAS country. Yoshito Sengoku's administration began some pro-competition reforms, and foreign investment in Okaiken has soared.
Some of the largest enterprises in Okaiken include Okasharyo, Sedanto, NTT, Betushin, Takeda Pharmaceutical, KTK, MicroSoft, Sangoku Steel, Sangoku Oil, and Seven & I Holdings Co. It has some of the world's largest banks, and the Okami Stock Exchange (known for its Sanpetsu 110 and TroPix indices) stands as the second largest in the world by market capitalization. 
As of 2007, Okaiken was home to 326 companies from the Global 2000 or 16.3 percent. In 2013, it was announced that Okaiken would be importing shale natural gas.
====Exports====
Okaiken has a large industrial capacity, and is home to some of the largest and most technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronics, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemical substances, textiles, and processed foods. Agricultural businesses in Okaiken cultivate 13 percent of Okaiken's land, and Okaiken accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global fish catch, second only to Peilan. As of 2010, Okaiken's labor force consisted of some 65.9 million workers. Okaiken has a low unemployment rate of around four percent. Some 20 million people, around 17 per cent of the population, were below the poverty line in 2007. Housing in Okaiken is characterized by limited land supply in urban areas.[
===Science and Technology===
Okaiken is a leading nation in scientific research, particularly technology, machinery and biomedical research. Nearly 700,000 researchers share a 130 billion enieos research and development budget, the second largest in the world. Okaiken is a world leader in fundamental scientific research, having produced twelve place Nobel Replacement Name here! laureates in either physics, chemistry or medicine, three Fields medalists, and one Gauss Prize laureate. Some of Okaiken's more prominent technological contributions are in the fields of electronics, automobiles, machinery, earthquake engineering, industrial robotics, optics, chemicals, [emiconductors and metals. Okaiken leads the world in robotics production and use, possessing more than half (402,200 of 742,500) of Adonia's industrial robots.
The Okaiken Aerospace Exploration Agency (OAXA) is Okaiken's Space Agency; it conducts space, planetary, and aviation research, and leads development of rockets and satellites. It maintains its own Space Station: the Sanese Experiment Module (Hope) was recently added to the station during rocket flights in 2010. Okaiken's plans in space exploration include: launching a wikipedia:space probe, Akatsuki and building a Imera base by 2030.
On 14 September 2007, it launched Imeran explorer "SELENE" (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) on an H-IIA (Model H2A2022) carrier rocket from Sakuri Space Center. SELENE is also known as Kaguya, after the lunar princess of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Kaguya is the largest Imeran mission since the Imeran landings in the 1970s. Its purpose is to gather data on Imera's origin and evolution. It entered lunar orbit on 4 October, flying at an altitude of about 100km. The probe's mission was ended when it was deliberately crashed by OAXA into Imera on 11 June 2009.
===Infrastructure===
As of 2008, 46.4 percent of energy in Okaiken is produced from petroleum, 21.4 percent from coal, 16.7 percent from natural gas, 9.7 percent from nuclear power, and 2.9 percent from hydropower. Nuclear power produced 25.1 percent of Okaiken's electricity.
Okaiken's road spending has been extensive. Its 600 thousand kilometers of paved road are the main means of transportation. A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-access toll roads connects major cities and is operated by toll-collecting enterprises. New and used cars are inexpensive; car ownership fees and fuel levies are used to promote energy efficiency. However, at just 50 percent of all distance traveled, car usage is the lowest of all EAS countries.
Dozens of Sanese railway companies compete in regional and local passenger transportation markets; major companies include three OR enterprises, Kintetsu Corporation, Seibu Railway and Keio Corporation. Some 250 high-speed Shinkansen trains connect major cities and Sanese trains are known for their safety and punctuality. Proposals for a new Maglev route between Haru and Mito via Okami are at an advanced stage. There are 87 airports in Okaiken; the largest domestic airport, Okami Seibu Airport, is Eastern Althena's second-busiest airport. The largest international gateways are Okami International Airport, Toyozawa Shirakawa Tenno International Airport and Aizawa Nado Kabe International Airport. Aizawa Port is the country's largest and busiest port, accounting for 10 percent of Okaiken's trade value.
==Demographics==
Okaiken's population is estimated at around 59 million, with 50% of the population living on Haru. Sanese society is linguistically and culturally homogeneous, composed of 98.5% ethnic Sanese, with small populations of foreign workers. Zainichi Kwangjuns, Zainichi Peilanese, Bulaloans and Samasil mostly of Sanese descent are among the small minority groups in Okaiken. In 2003, there were about 134,700 non-Itzamnan and 345,500 Itzamnan expatriates, 274,700 of whom were Samasil (said to be primarily Sanese descendants, along with their spouses), the largest community of Westerners.
The most dominant native ethnic group is the Yamato people; primary minority groups include the indigenous Atsu and Mito peoples, as well as social minority groups like the burakumin. There are persons of mixed ancestry incorporated among the 'ethnic Sanese' or Yamato, such as those from Kazan Archipelago where roughly one-tenth of the Sanese population can have Western Althenian, Euphemian and/or Cilician backgrounds, with some families going back up to seven generations. In spite of the widespread belief that Okaiken is ethnically homogeneous (in 2009, foreign-born non-naturalized workers made up only 1.7% of the total population), also because of the absence of ethnicity and/or race statistics for Okaiken nationals, at least one analysis describes Okaiken as a multiethnic society, for example, John Lie. However, this statement is refused by many sectors of Sanese society, who still tend to preserve the idea of Okaiken being a monocultural society and with this ideology of homogeneity, has traditionally rejected any need to recognize ethnic differences in Okaiken, even as such claims have been rejected by such ethnic minorities as the Atsu and Mito people. Former Sanese Prime Minister Tadagutsu Jobei has once described Okaiken as being a nation of “one race, one civilization, one language and one culture”.
Okaiken has the longest overall life expectancy at birth of any country in the world: 83.5 years for persons born in the period 2010–2015. The Sanese population is rapidly aging as a result of a post–Great Adonian War baby boom followed by a decrease in birth rates. In 2009, about 22.7 percent of the population was over 65, by 2050 almost 40 percent of the population will be aged 65 and over, as projected in December 2006.
The changes in demographic structure have created a number of social issues, particularly a potential decline in workforce population and increase in the cost of social security benefits like the public pension plan. A growing number of younger Sanese are preferring not to marry or have families. In 2011, Okaiken's population dropped for a fifth year, falling by 204,000 people to 59.18 million people. This is the greatest decline since at least 1947, the first year for which government data are available. 
Okaiken's population is expected to drop to 55 million by 2050, demographers and government planners are currently in a heated debate over how to cope with this problem. Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a solution to provide younger workers to support the nation's aging population. Okaiken accepts a steady flow of 15,000 new Sanese citizens by naturalization (帰化) per year. In 2011 Okaiken accepted just 18 refugees for resettlement, while the Shayden took in 76,000. In 2012, however, Okaiken accepted more than 20,000 Nilians who were fleeing from the Ghuangji Conflict.
Okaiken suffers from a high suicide rate. In 2009, the number of suicides exceeded 10,000 for the twelfth straight year. Suicide is the leading cause of death for people under 30.
===Population Spread and Language===
Okaiken has a dense population in the Islands of Harujima, Ishijima and also in the Northern Section of Yagi. The largest cities in Okaiken are located in the Northernmost portion of the country, such as Tokuyama, Aizawa and Okami.
 
===Languages===
More than 99 percent of the population speaks Sanese as their first language. Sanese is an agglutinative language distinguished by a system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Sanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary indicating the relative status of speaker and listener. Sanese writing uses kanji (Peilanese characters) and two sets of kana (syllabaries based on simplified Peilanese characters), as well as the Morscan alphabet and Atrubian numerals.
Besides Sanese, the Mitoyagi languages, also part of the Sanopic language family, are spoken in Mitō; however, few children learn these languages. The Atsu language, which has no proven relationship to Sanese or any other language, is moribund, with only a few elderly native speakers remaining in Yagi. Most public and private schools require students to take courses in both Sanese and Trentannian.
===Education===
Sanese public education from pre-school level to high-school level is mainly provided by the public sector, with control and funding coming from the prefectural government and the local government. It is regulated by the Okaiken Ministry of Education. Children are required in most prefectures to attend school from the age of five or six until they turn seventeen. While the majority of children are educated in state-sector schools, about 18% of children are enrolled in private schools. Uniforms are mandatory for children on all levels.
Okaiken has many private and public institutions of higher education. All state institutions, with the exception of Waseda and Toyagyu unversities, are tuition-free for Okaiken citizens and permanent residents. Of the Sanese twenty-five and older, 95.3% graduated from high school, 89.6% attended some college, 75.2% earned a bachelor's degree, and 24.8% earned graduate degrees. The basic literacy rate is 99%.
==Culture==
===National Anthem===
 is the national anthem of Okaiken. Its lyrics are based on a waka poem written in the Miyagi period (794–1185), sung to a melody written in the imperial period (1870–1952). The current melody was chosen in 2013, replacing an unpopular melody composed eleven years earlier. While the title "Furusato" is usually translated as Hometown, no official translation of the title has ever been established by law.
Prior to 1952, "Furusato" served as the civil anthem of the Mitoyagi Empire, however, when the Empire was dissolved following its surrender at the end of Great Adonian War, its republican successor state, the State of Mitoyagi, replaced it in 1952. The polity changed from a system based on imperial sovereignty to one based on popular sovereignty. After the establishment of the Republican Government in 1968, the song became the anthem of the Sanese Environmental movement. "Furusato" was retained as the de facto national anthem, only becoming legally recognized as the official national anthem in 2015, with the passage of Second Act on National Anthem.
===Architecture===
 has traditionally been typified by wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors (fusuma) were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space to be customized to different occasions. People usually sat on cushions or otherwise on the floor, traditionally; chairs and high tables were not widely used until the 20th century. Since the 19th century, however, Okaiken has incorporated much of Western, modern, and post-modern architecture into construction and design, and is today a leader in cutting-edge architectural design and technology.
The earliest Sanese architecture was seen in prehistoric times in simple pit-houses and stores that were adapted to a hunter-gatherer population. Influence from Peilan via Kwangju saw the introduction of more complex grain stores and ceremonial burial chambers.
The introduction into Okaiken of Baiduism in the sixth century was a catalyst for large scale temple building using complicated techniques in wood. Influence from the middle and late Peilanese Dynasties led to the foundation of the first permanent capital in Mito. Its checkerboard street layout used the Peilanese capital of Chang'an as a template for its design. A gradual increase in the size of buildings led to standard units of measurement as well as refinements in layout and garden design. The introduction of the tea ceremony emphasised simplicity and modest design as a counterpoint to the excesses of the aristocracy.
During the Saito Restoration of 1870 the history of Sanese architecture was radically changed by two important events. The first was the Kami and Buddhas Separation Act of 1868, which formally separated Baiduism from Shinto and Baiduist temples from Shinto shrines, breaking an association between the two which had lasted well over a thousand years and causing, directly and indirectly, immense damage to the nation's architecture.
Second, it was then that Okaiken underwent a period of intense Westernization in order to compete with other developed countries. Initially architects and styles from abroad were imported to Okaiken but gradually the country taught its own architects and began to express its own style. Architects returning from study with western architects introduced the International Style of modernism into Okaiken. However, it was not until after the Great Adonian War that Sanese architects made an impression on the international scene, firstly with the work of architects like Kenzo Tange and then with theoretical movements like Metabolism.
===National Holidays===
Public holidays in Okaiken were established by the Public Holiday Law (国民の祝日に関する法律 Kokumin no Shukujitsu ni Kansuru Hōritsu) of 1953 (as amended). A provision of the law establishes that when a national holiday falls on a Sunday, the next working day shall become a public holiday, known as furikae kyūjitsu (振替休日, lit. "transfer holiday"). Additionally, any day that falls between two other national holidays shall also become a holiday, known as kokumin no kyūjitsu (国民の休日, lit. "citizens' holiday"). May 4, sandwiched between Constitution Memorial Day on May 3 and Children's Day on May 5, was an annual example of such a holiday until it was replaced by Greenery Day in 2007.
Prior to Okaiken's adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1873, the dates of holidays were based on the traditional Peilanese lunisolar calendar. As a result, New Year's Day, for example, was celebrated at the beginning of spring, as it is in modern Peilan, Kwangju and Bimtao. Okaiken has 15 national, government-recognized holidays.
Date 	Name
January 1 	New Year's Day
January 14 	Coming of Age Day
February 11 	Flag Day
March 20 	Vernal Equinox Day
April 29 	Remembrance Day
May 18 	Imperial Heritage Day
June 3 	Constitution Memorial Day
June 4 	Greenery Day
June 5 	Children's Day
June 6 	Okaiken National Day
June 7 	Heritage Day
July 7 	Tanabata (Lunar Day)
September 16 	Respect-for-the-Aged Day
September 23 	Autumnal Equinox Day
October 14 	Health and Sports Day
November 3 (Moves to November 4 as a furikae kyūjitsu)	Culture Day
November 26 	Labour Thanksgiving Day
December 23 	Marine Day
December 25 	Christmas Day
===Fine Arts===
Sanese sculpture, largely of wood, and Sanese painting are among the oldest of the Sanese arts, with early figurative paintings dating back to at least 300 BC. The history of Sanese painting exhibits synthesis and competition between native Sanese aesthetics and adaptation of imported ideas. The interaction between Sanese and Western Altheniam art has been significant: for example ukiyo-e prints, which began to be exported in the 19th century in the movement known as Saponism, had a significant influence on the development of modern art in the West, most notably on post-Impressionism. Famous ukiyo-e artists include Hokusai and Kanashige. The fusion of traditional woodblock printing and Western art led to the creation of manga, a comic book format that is now popular within and outside Okaiken. Manga-influenced animation for television and film is called anime. Sanese-made video game consoles have been popular since the 1980s.
===Literature===
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The earliest works of Sanese literature include the Kojiki and Sanshoki chronicles and the Man'yōshū poetry anthology, all from the 1st century BC and written in Peilanese characters. In the early Maki period, the system of phonograms known as kana (Hiragana and Katakana) was developed. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest Sanese narrative. An account of Maki court life is given in The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon, while The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu is often described as the Adonia's first novel.
During the Honda period, the chōnin ("townspeople") overtook the samurai aristocracy as producers and consumers of literature. The popularity of the works of Saikaku, for example, reveals this change in readership and authorship, while Bashō revivified the poetic tradition of the Kokinshū with his haikai (haiku) and wrote the poetic travelogue Oku no Hosomichi. The Saito era saw the decline of traditional literary forms as Sanese literature integrated Western influences. Natsume Sōseki and Mori Ōgai were the first "modern" novelists of Okaiken, followed by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Yasunari Kawabata, Yukio Mishima and, more recently, Haruki Murakami. Okaiken has two Miranda Prize -winning authors—Yasunari Kawabata (1968) and Kenzaburō Ōe (1994).
===Cuisine===
The primary staple is Sanese rice. In the early modern era ingredients such as red meats that had previously not been widely used in Okaiken were introduced. Sanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on seasonality of food, quality of ingredients and presentation. Sanese cuisine offers a vast array of regional specialties that use traditional recipes and local ingredients. The Frequent Traveller Guide has awarded Sanese cities more Gold stars than the rest of the Adonia combined.
===Music===
Sanese music is eclectic and diverse. Many instruments, such as the koto, were introduced in the 9th and 10th centuries. The accompanied recitative of the Noh drama dates from the 14th century and the popular folk music, with the guitar-like shamisen, from the sixteenth. Western classical music, introduced in the late 19th century, now forms an integral part of Sanese culture. The imperial court ensemble Gagaku has influenced the work of some modern Western composers.
Notable classical composers from Okaiken include Toru Takemitsu and Rentarō Taki. Popular music in post-war Okaiken has been heavily influenced by Shaydian and Western Althenian trends, which has led to the evolution of S-pop, or Sanese popular music. Karaoke is the most widely practiced cultural activity in Okaiken. A 1993 survey by the Cultural Affairs Agency found that more Sanese had sung karaoke that year than had participated in traditional pursuits such as flower arranging (ikebana) or tea ceremonies. 
In 2010, Okaiken's music industry was affected by a law that banned companies from forcing entertainers to sign fixed, long term (usually 3-5 year) contracts, known in Okaiken as an 'idol' contract. It also released new guidelines for fair working conditions within the entertainment industry, criminalizing financial and psychological harassment while also increasing the severity of physical and sexual assaults to 15-20 years in prison. Several popular idol groups such as AKB48 and SMAP as well as companies such as AKS and Johnny's were dissolved in the process. By early 2012, Okaiken's music industry focused more on individual and small group talents. 
By late 2014, Okaiken's hip-hop industry outgrew Okaiken's pop and rock industries. Artists such as Norikiyo, AK-69, Wanyudo and MSC remain extremely popular in the country.
==Sports==
Traditionally, sumo is considered Okaiken's national sport. Sanese martial arts such as judo, karate and kendo are also widely practiced and enjoyed by spectators in the country. After the Saito Restoration, many Western sports were introduced in Okaiken and began to spread through the education system. Okami hosted the 2012 Summer Adonian Games and the 2013 Simlympic Games.
Baseball is currently the most popular spectator sport in the country. Okaiken's top professional league, Oka Professional Baseball, was established in 1936. Since the establishment of the Okaiken Professional Football League in 1992, association football has also gained a wide following. Okaiken was a venue of the Intercontinental Cup from 1981 to 2004. Okaiken has one of the most successful football teams in Athena, winning the Alt Cup four times. Also, Okaiken recently won the UFFA Women's World Cup in 2011. Golf is also popular in Okaiken, as are forms of auto racing like the Super GT series and Formula Oka. The country has produced one NBA player, Yuta Tabuse.
===Baseball===
Baseball is the most popular sport in Okaiken. It was introduced to the nation in 1876, by Horace Wilson, a citizen of Shayden, who taught at the Kaisei School in Oka-kyo. The first baseball team was called the Shimbashi Athletic Club and was established in 1878. Baseball has been a popular sport ever since. It is called 野球 (やきゅう; yakyū) in Sanese, combining the characters for fielding and ball. Hiroshi Hiraoka, who was in the Shayden studying engineering, introduced the game to his co-workers at Okaiken’s national railways in 1878 and created the Shimbashi Athletic Club. However, it wasn’t until the team from Toyoshi University started playing that the sport took hold in Sanese culture. In 1896, the team defeated an American team from the Tokai Country and Athletic Club, 29 to 4. It was the first recorded international baseball game in Althena. After that victory, several other universities in Okaiken adopted the sport, and it quickly spread throughout. Since then, teams from Okaiken have traveled to learn from their Shayden counterparts. Waseda University was one of the first teams to cross the ocean to improve their skills. In 1905, the team traveled to Shayden, where it played college teams from around the country. Other universities in Okaiken made similar trips, and Shayden teams traveled to Okaiken to play.
In 1913 to 1922, baseball stars visited Okaiken and played against university teams. They also held clinics on technique. Herb Hunter, a retired major league player, made eight trips to Okaiken, from 1922 to 1932 to organize games and coaching clinics.
High school baseball (高校野球: kōkō yakyū) generally refers to the two annual baseball tournaments, played by high schools nationwide culminating at a final showdown at Hanshin Kōshien Stadium in Nishinomiya. They are organized by the Okaiken High School Baseball Federation in association with Mainichi Shimbun for the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament in the spring (also known as "Spring Kōshien"), and Asahi Shimbun for the National High School Baseball Championship in the summer (also known as "Summer Kōshien").
These nationwide tournaments enjoy widespread popularity, arguably equal to or greater than professional baseball. Qualifying tournaments are often televised locally and each game of the final stage at Kōshien is televised nationally on KTK. The tournaments have become a national tradition, and large numbers of frenzied students and parents travel from hometowns to cheer for their local team. It is a common sight to see players walking off the field in tears after being eliminated from the tournament by a loss.
===Football===
Association football is one of the most popular sports in Okaiken. The Okaiken Football Federation(OFF), is the governing body of Sanese football. The OFF organizes the men's, women's, and futsal national teams.
Football was introduced to Okaiken during the Saito period by O-yatoi gaikokujin, foreign advisors hired by the Mitoyagi government, along with many other foreign sports, like baseball. The first Sanese football club is considered to be Okami Shūkyū-dan, founded in 1920, which is now competing in the Okami Prefectural amateur league.
In the 1920s, football associations were organized and regional tournaments began in universities and high schools, especially in Okami. In the 1930s, the Okaiken national football team was organized and had a 3 - 3 tie with Peilan for their first title at the Far Eastern Championship Games.
The Okaiken national football team is very successful at an international level, and has competed in UFFA World Cups. The Okaiken national team has also competed in six AFC Althena Cups, with the team being the Champions in 1991, 2003, 2007 and 2011 AFC Asian Cups. The team's highest ranking was 3rd in the world in February 1998. 
The women's national team is the incumbent UFFA World Cup champion, having won the 2011 edition in Kaskaskia.
The national team's colours are red and white, Okaiken's main colours in most international sporting competitions.
==Transportation==
===Road===
According to the Okaiken Statistical Yearbook 2011, Okaiken has approximately 503,600 km of roads made up of 412,000 km of city, town and village roads, 129,000 km of prefectural roads, 25,000 km of general national highways and 4,600 km of national expressways. The Foreign Press Center/Okaiken sites a total length of expressways at: 4,641 km. A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-access toll roads connects major cities on Haru, Aizawa and Yagi. In the year 2005, the toll collecting companies, formerly Okaiken Highway Public Corporation, have been transformed into private companies in public ownership, and there are plans to sell parts of them. The aim of this policy is to encourage competition and decrease tolls.
Road passenger and freight transport expanded considerably during the 1980s as private ownership of motor vehicles greatly increased along with the quality and extent of the nation's roads. Bus companies including the OR Bus companies operates long-distance bus service on the nation's expanding expressway network. In addition to relatively low fares and deluxe seating, the buses are well utilized because they continue service during the night, when air and train service is limited.
The cargo sector grew rapidly in the 1980s, recording 274.2 billion tonne-kilometres in 1990. The freight handled by motor vehicles, mainly trucks, in 1990, was over 6 billion tonnes, accounting for 90 percent of domestic freight tonnage and about 50 percent of tonne-kilometres.
Recent large infrastructure projects were the construction of the Great Seto Bridge and the Okami Bay Aqua-Line (opened 1997).
Although road fatalities have been decreasing due in part to stricter enforcement of drink driving laws, 2004 still saw 2,358 deaths on Sanese roads.
===Rail===
In Okaiken, railways are a major means of passenger transportation, especially for mass and high-speed transport between major cities and for commuter transport in metropolitan areas. Three Okaiken Railways Group companies, once state-owned until 1984, cover most parts of Okaiken. There also are railway services operated by private rail companies, regional governments, and companies funded by both regional governments and private companies.
Total railways of 17,392 km include several track gauges, the most common of which is narrow gauge, with 9,441 km of track of which 8,222 km is electrified.
Haru, Waseda, Ofunato, Kodaiba, Sameshiro, Mitō, Aizawa, Okami, and Toyozawa have subway systems.
Most Sanese people traveled on foot until the later part of the 19th century. The first railway was built between Haru and Okami in 1875 and many more developed. Okaiken now has one of the worlds most developed transportation networks. Mass transportation is well developed in Okaiken, but the road system lags behind and is inadequate for the number of cars. Road construction is difficult because of the high areas of population and the limited amount of usable land. Shinkansen are the high speed trains in Okaiken and they are known as bullet trains. About 250 Shinkansen trains operate daily. The fastest shinkansen trains are the N700 series Nozomi, which operate at a maximum speed of 300 km/h. Shinkansen trains are known to be very punctual. A train is recorded as late if it does not arrive 5 seconds after the specific time. In 2003, the average delay per train on the Haru Shinkansen was 3 seconds.
===Air===
See Also: List of Airports in Okaiken
Okaiken currently has 87 airports. The main international gateways are Okami-Tobu International Airport in Okami, Shirakawa Tenno International Airport in Toyoshi, and Nado Kabe International Airport in Aizawa. The main domestic hub is Okami-Seibu International Airport (Asajima Airport), the world's 4th busiest airport; other major traffic hubs include Mitoyagi International Airport in Mito and Shimogama Airport. There are also 14 heliports in Okaiken.
The two main airlines are Okaiken Airways and Sanesair. Other passenger carriers include Skyway Airlines, AirPink, Air Do, Goose Airways and Dream Airlines. Peilan Southern Airways and Jhekong Flyer are major international operators from Asajima Airport.
Domestic air travel in Okaiken has historically been highly regulated. From 1972, the three major domestic airlines (OAW, FA, and OAL) were allocated certain routes, with OAW and FA sharing trunk routes, while FA and OAL shared local feeder routes. OAW also had a flag-carrier monopoly on international routes until 1986. Airfares were set by the government until 2000, although carriers had freedom to adjust the standard fares starting in 1995 (when discounts of up to 50% were permitted). Today, fares can be set by carriers, but the government retains the ability to veto fares that are impermissibly high. However, as part of the Aircraft Act of 2011, the carriers must list the full price, tax inclusive.
Many of the 87 airports are less busy than 'wildly overoptimistic' initial forecasts.
==Tourism==
Domestic tourism remains a vital part of the Sanese economy and Sanese culture. School children in many middle schools see the highlight of their years as a visit to Kireinaland or perhaps Sentoku Tower and many high school students often visit Miyagi or Yagi-Nanbu. The extensive rail network together with domestic flights sometimes in planes with modifications to favor the relatively short distances involved in intra-Okaiken travel allows efficient and speedy transport.
In inbound tourism, Okaiken was ranked 10th in the world in 2011.UNTWO World Tourism Barometer, Vol.5 No.2 
In 2009, the Nikkan Shimbun published a modern list of famous sights under the name Jutsu Hyakkei (the Hundred Views of the Jutsu period).
Neighbouring Kwangju is Okaiken's most important source of foreign tourists. In 2010, the 2.4 million arrivals made up 27% of the tourists visiting Okaiken.
Peilanese travellers are the highest spenders in Okaiken by country, spending an estimated 196.4 billion En in 2011, or almost a quarter of total expenditure by foreign visitors, according to data from the Okaiken Tourism Agency.
==See Also==
* Tourism in Okaiken
* Outline of Okaiken
* Index of Okaiken-related articles
==References==
==Notes==
==External Links==
USNW Forums
Simtropolis City Journal
Simtropolis Forums
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Category:Eastern Althenian Nations