Hanajima

**The Empire of Hanajima** is a Japonic civilization that originated in the western half of the island of Honshū and absorbed the neighboring polities over time through a combination of war and economic absorption. The state is marked by a high degree of bureaucratization with different ranks & titles, and by the prevalence of Buddhist culture and scholarship. In fact, the country is the wellspring of Buddhism in the New World, and has been the spreaders of the faith into the rest of East Asia.

## Origins

The origin of the Empire of Hanajima lies in the small Flower Tribe, an undistinguished Jōmon village. With the arrival of Kinoshita Grace, in response to the attacks on the village from other tribes, she formed a militia and lead them on a divide & conquer strategy which saw the polity of Hanajima form from a series of tributary relationships and the advent of limited agriculture and a class system. These new changes brought reactionaries to attack her and the new religion she brought, and after defeating them, there was nothing in Kinoshita's way to keep her from wielding absolute power, as the technical heir of the deceased chief.

## Religion

The state religion of Hanajima is Mahayana Buddhism. The worship of various Buddhist deities, called Buddhas, Bodhisattva, and Deva, is a central part of the state ritual, along with the recital of Mahayana Sūtras such as the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, Lotus Sūtra, Śrīmālā Sūtra, and the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. Besides these texts, others such as the Jātakas and the Āgamas are also available and studied, but considered lesser and provisional teachings. The *Tennō* is often cast in the role of a cosmic Buddhist hero, one who is a world-conqueror, living god, or even a Bodhisattva on the way to Buddhahood.

Ancestor worship is one of the core focuses of ordinary citizens' daily practices. Ancestral altars are seen as necessary to propitiate ones' ancestors and to make sure that they have a pleasant afterlife. Foreign chieftains who agree to become part of the Hanajima state often have the *Tennō* perform rituals to consecrate their ancestors, to give their souls ranks in the imperial court, and to make prayers for them to be born in the Buddha Lands.

Besides Buddhism, the traditional animism of the Jōmon people remains practiced in many regions of the empire. The religion has no creed or defined dogma, but is centered around the worship of amorphous spirits called kamuy, who live in the natural world and can be animals, rivers, mountains, trees, etc. Some people can channel the spirits of kamuy and be endowed with magical powers. Animal sacrifice is common, since it is believed that kamuy will receive their meat in the spirit world and that the kamuy of the animal will be pleased to be released from the mortal coil. For the most part, human sacrifices are not unknown, but tend not to be practiced. Some elements of Buddhism have been absorbed by the folk religion, such as worship of Buddhist deities and the worship of ancestors.

## Government

The government of Hanajima is a power-sharing arrangement between four blocs - nobility, cities, monasteries, and villages - which recognize the *Tennō* as the arbiter of disputes between them. Whenever a *Tennō* dies and a new one is coronated, representatives from the four come to her and swear fealty and pledge to accept her judgements. Without the central authority, the state would fall apart, governors would not be able to trust each other, cities cannot enforce grain from villages, villages cannot enforce lucrative trade from cities, and monasteries cannot avoid the threat of heresy and the need for patronage.

Birth is the ultimate marker of status, one is born into the nobility or common classes, and with rare exceptions, one can never be promoted. The nobility is distinguished by being provided a surname, coat of arms, and a chart of genealogy. Inside the nobility, there is the divide between greater and lesser noblemen, the latter may be appointed to the role of court scholars, army captains, economists, etc. while the greater aristocrats are the only ones allowed to be appointed as ministers, governors, commanders, etc. The greater aristocrats also own vast estates in the capital, receive a stipend, and can marry into the royal family. To be the grandparent of an imperial ruler is one of the highest ambitions of the various greater clans, and something that they aim for, for both prestige and political power.

Villages have designated units of land that they are allowed to harvest and may not trespass onto other tracts of land, their social structure is largely egalitarian, with a headman elected by them who makes decisions for the village and speaks to the governor. The governors who administer the provinces are the go-between who collect taxes, corvee, and conscription during times of war, but they can be punished if they're caught privately taxing citizens.