Empire of Japan (CN)

National flag of the Empire of Japan.

## Description

The Empire of Japan (大日本帝国) is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans an archipelago of 14,125 islands, with the five main islands being Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Tokyo is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto.

Japan is ruled by the Greater Japan Patriotic Party, or the Aikokuto (大日本愛国党) a right-wing political party in Japan. Led by Hideki Serizawa, Japan has a highly militaristic government. This transforms the nation into a corporate police state, where law is strictly enforced. Crime is nearly nonexistent in Japan, especially in the capital city. Felons who commit their first crime are never seen again the next morning.

## History

### **Hideki Serizawa - Early Years**

Hideki Serizawa was born and raised in a low-income area in Okinawa. His family could not make enough money during his younger years. However, unlike his family, Hideki was angered by the government's lack of action towards his village. At the age of thirteen, he attempted to send a message to the government to fix the village's poor condition. Unfortunately, this was ignored by the government, angering Serizawa.

Growing up and finally being able to move out of Okinawa, Hideki Serizawa became further intrigued by politics and studied the history of the Empire of Japan that ended in 1945. He then, was able to gain leadership of the Aikokuto. Serizawa became more fond of Japan, its people, and culture, and started political social media pages in 2013.

### **2021 Japanese Elections**

Gaining the support of millions of Japanese in 2021, Hideki Serizawa ran for Prime Minister. Serizawa won the election against Shinzo Abe, which made him the Prime Minister of Japan. However, Shinzo Abe expressed great appreciation for Serizawa because of his dedication in politics, and sharing similar political beliefs. As a result, Serizawa invited Abe into the party and appointed him as the head of government and cabinet for Japan.

Not only had the Aikokuto let Shinzo Abe join, but several former members of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan voluntarily joined the Aikokuto, creating a powerful, conservative, and strongly anti-communist front which nearly united the entire country of Japan. Hideki Serizawa became the most popular prime minister in Japan, doing everything that the Japanese people wanted him to do. Emperor Naruhito had also expressed admiration towards Serizawa, and both are considered to be very close friends.

### **South Korea**

South Korea and Japan have had bitter relations ever since the end of World War II, especially during the time when Park Geun-hye was president. She had expressed strong hostility towards Japan, which angered Serizawa before his leadership of Japan. Serizawa had stated at least eight times, "We deeply apologize for every war crime that had taken place in Korea," but Geun-hye just wanted an even deeper apology. It was at this point when Hideki Serizawa traveled to South Korea himself to spead nationalist Korean propaganda. Hwan Pyeong, a devout Korean nationalist, made this his chance. He rallied 2,300 Korean nationalists to start a coup against Park Geun-hye at the capital city of Seoul. Geun-hye was found and was imprisoned by the nationalists. Pyeong became the new president of South Korea, vowing to retake North Korea and reunite the country under his government. Hwan Pyeong accepted Serizawa's apology regarding WWII, and relations were established. Together, South Korea and Japan created the East Asian Coalition for Freedom and Prosperity.

### **EACFP**

The East Asian Coalition for Freedom and Prosperity, also known as the Tokyo Alliance, was created by Hideki Serizawa and Hwan Pyeong to combat communism in Asia. Soon, many other liberals, conservatives, nationalists, monarchists, and fascists would join the EACFP cause. The Philippines was the first to join, followed by Taiwan, the Empire of Vietnam, Thailand, India, Australia, and Myanmar.

Taiwan joined the alliance after being promised land from China, the Empire of Vietnam voluntarily joined and was assisted by the EACFP in the Second Vietnam War, and the Philippines, Thailand, India, and Myanmar joined in spite of communism. The alliance would start assisting each other in wars. Currently, it is combatting a Pattani insurgency in Thailand, supporting India against Pakistan in a war, and is fortifying against China.

### **A Death Avoided**

In our timeline, Shinzo Abe was assassinated on July 8, 2022. In this timeline, since he is not the officeholder, he was not assassinated. Surviving in the Ascendancy ClusterNation timeline, Shinzo Abe remained the Head of Government of Japan.