Uchiwa Shogunate (TUE)

**Dev. Status** | Conceptual

## Background

### The Sun Rising in the Night

With the increased scientific advancement of the China as well as fastening the power of the ruling dynasty, the Empire of Japan, sometimes called "the empire of the rising sun", has seen this happening on the continent as large potential threat and started amassing army and resources and looking for help to the European powers. But when the Directorate was formed and their ideology and intentions became clear, the Japanese expelled all European and North American dignitaries, diplomats and merchants and, with no other world power left that seemed to be "friendly", went into self-exile and began the massive reformation and industrial revolution of their own to become such a power to defend itself for the future, seeing the war with all of its closest neighbors as a matter of time.

Making large army with the use of all available resources they got on the mainland, the Japan began a series of small expansions in the quest of new resources, trying to play by the diplomatic ways rather than military invasions. By these means they have acquired a portion of the Philippines and the northern islands around Kamchatka, but maintaining strict isolation from the major powers, and even more when their expansion phase was finished, turning into "zone of void" to any outside source for many decades. During this time Directorate considered many times military incursions, but with their already grand offensives against Russia and China and the literal unknown the Japan presented the monarchs feared they may join up with the other two, and the ferocity and skills of warfare the Japanese samurai were renowned for in fact scared them to no ends, every time this idea was propositioned.

It took a great deal of afford and research in the upcoming decades, but by the time of 1960s it was found out what was happening in the empire of the hidden rising sun. For the first two decades the empire was building its industry from the ground, gaining large financial and labor support from the imperial family and feudal lords, supporting the scientists, researchers and inventors to work on new technologies, industrialists to construct factories and facilities that will offer more working opportunities to common people, raising their wages to give them means to send their children into schools and give them education to in turn have more scientists, engineers and businessmen to repeat the whole process. The military was also growing. With a higher budgets at their disposal, new training regimens and reforms were taken into effect, making it a requirement for everyone, including women, to gain a basic training in the combat arts, employing the samurai senseis to share these knowledges to the common people while training their own elite professional warriors for the feudal lords and the emperor himself. However, one major issue has began rising in the process, and that there was not a unified leadership aside from the emperor, who did not had the complete lists of assets from each prefecture at his disposal. This lead into the similar state like during the Edo period, only less bloody.

### The Fight of One

Some of the alliances fought over the lands, some fought by their industrial mights, and some were employing shinobi to take out the key players of their opponents to gain supporters in other's camp and eventually take over the land. The situation was continuing like so for five decades until young samurai prefect took the initiative to make a change to this. His name is Mitsuharu Uchiwa. Th meaning of his name, "honey spring", has been a point of many jokes on the head of this man, but he never bothered himself by this, and by the time people started holding respect towards him. Being born in the samurai clan, Mitsuharu received rigorous training in the arts of combat, but along with that great talent in politics, economics and great charisma. This made him a good candidate to become feudal lord's advisor and liaison to his and other samurai clans. Serving faithfully to his master, Uchiwa earned himself a lot of respect, gaining allies and, by the time of his thirties, followers, accumulating power that did not exceeding feudal lord's, but was not indifferent.

In 1947 the feudal lord died, but in his testament and last decree he named 29-old Mitsuharu Uchiwa his successor. The lord having no offspring of his own, the Tottori Prefecture Council (his prefecture of birth) had no objections and Uchiwa clan gained control over the prefecture. Mitsuharu started a series of reforms that globally increased his standing, as well as started gaining more supporters and allies among the other feudal lords. His biggest advantage was when he fell in love and subsequently married a daughter and heir to the Akemomiji Zaibatsu (the largest conglomerate in the Japan), Nogiku Yasunari.

With this trump card of industrial potential Uchiwa had the capability to defeat all other opposing leaders in Japan as he could produce more weapons than them and overpower them. In 1952 Mitsuharu managed to unite the Japan under his rule, and one of his first acts was when he visited Imperial Palace and made an oath to the Emperor that he will always protect the Japanese people and culture from everyone, doing everything in his powers for the best of the Main Islands. The other act that followed was the formation of the Shogunate, picking the many former rivals in power and allies, as well as recruiting many experts in all fields of life and science, and began the long process of reformation to make the living of his territory the standard for all, as well as strengthening the military, particularly the infantry forces and navy.

### The Coming Empire

The discovery of nanomachines made the process of physical reformation of the Japan a much more easier and faster process, switching the wood and paper for paper-like polymers and materials, steel being assembled into shaped best fitted for the project, and the samurai swords and weapons were shaped by the nanomachines into the level of sharpness that not even a iron plate could stand against the blow. The development of new technologies, particularly the use of plasma-propelled Kinetic-burst weaponry which made the case of producing weapons and its ammunition a much easier task in terms of mass, making more than they would do with standard firearms and guns. The vector jets also greatly helped in the use of rockets and, making of flying machines as the spies in China found out was a new thing in the world. With that, the new Navy have created the new aircraft carriers, thought the voice of Traditionalists demanded that the large battleships shall stay in service.

The largest controversy have been the technology of "robotics". The Traditionalists only accepted it as a "supportive addition of working process in the factories", but anything else was by them "disruption of the traditional long forged by their ancestors" or the traditions of samurai, same with the tanks. Many discussions were made, taking it two years but finally in the end the opposing groups come into conclusions and compromises. The tanks were accepted into service as the Traditionalists couldnt dismiss their importance in the modern warfare as the world developed it, but the robotics are mostly used only in the factories, shipyards, and in medicine. The only military application is in the form of "Master Kenshi", a huge sword-wielding samurai mecha comparable to Paradoxbranch's King Oni. The preparations for the return of the empire of the rising sun were finally coming to its end.

## Behind The Scenes

* The Shogunate is meant to be the Empire of the Rising Sun from Red Alert 3 and PEQAN, as well as Shintai Society fan faction from PEQAN, made more traditional. Actual swordsmen samurai warriors, mechas using melee weapons, aircraft modeled more like animals.
* The unit list is heavily inspired by the Protoss from Starcraft game series. The units will be also taking inspiration from various Japanese anime, namely Gundam but also Naruto, Megaman etc. Some inspiration may be taken from the Shogun Empire from March of War.
* The symbol of Shogunate, here named "The Sun & Samurai Countenace", has several meanings.
	+ The "Uchiwa" (団扇, ファン) means in English "fan". It is a reference to war fan, a tool used by Feudal Japan officers to issue commands to his men.
		- Different pronouncing, "Uchiha", alludes to the Uchiha Clan from the Naruto manga series and all its major characters.
	+ The samurai helmet represents the traditional ways of the Imperial Japan.
	+ The sun represents both its connection to the Empire of the Rising Sun, but also to the connection to the Japanese sun god Susanoo.
		- Susanoo being a mythological brother of moon goddess Amaterasu, who is said to be the ancestor of all of the Japanese Emperors, furthers the connection between Uchiwa Clan and the Imperial family in Concordiatverse.