Japan (AOR)

The **New Shogunate of Japan,** more commonly known as the **Yakuza State**, is a nation located in East Asia. The nation is a new one, created from the fallout of Operation Downfall between 1945 and 1950, and from the Japanese Civil War between 1960-1980. The nation, as of 1984, are still recovering from the chaos of the mid-20th century, with a new one seeming to be on the horizon, due to infighting between the Yamaguchi-kai, the largest and most powerful clan.

As the nation name says, it is run entirely by the Yakuza, who are now governing the nation using all of their major clans. The nation doesn't follow an official ideology, but they currently combine dictatorship with isolationism and traditionalism. The population lives in fear, worried if they are breaching Yakuza codes of conduct. The current leader is the godfather of Yakuza, Kazuo Taoka. He wanted to retake Hokkaido, which has been "stolen" by the USSR towards the final days of the civil war. He also wants to regain Okinawa, which has been taken by the Chinese in the early 1970's.

Despite being the ultimate definition of a "mafia state", the Yakuza actually tries to conceal their illegal business dealings and pretend to be a legitimate government. They stick with the non-descript name "New Shogunate of Japan" under the guise of a feudal dictatorship and let Akihito to continue his rule as the emperor of Japan.

## History

Out of all of the nations in this timeline, Japan definitely had one of the worst fates of any nation state. The former Japanese Empire was fighting against the United States and China during World War II, when on August 6th, 1945, a nuclear bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, followed by another nuke on the 9th right onto Nagasaki, killing a combined 250,000 people. Despite being in the face of nuclear bombs, the Japanese emperor Hirohito, and the people all refused to surrender, leaving America with no choice but to enact Operation Downfall, starting on November 1st, 1945, despite also having to fight another war in Europe against the USSR. The Japanese fought to the bitter end on Kyushu, with 2 more nukes being used on Matasuyama and Kumamoto, killing another 200,000. Throughout 1946 and 1947, the Japanese would face an American onslaught, defending fiercely for the Motherland as America launches chemical attacks, nuclear detonations and firebombing campaigns all across Japan. Japan's only ally, the German Reich would fall in 1947, which resulted in the Soviets invading Japanese-occupied territories in East Asia in late 1947.

By the start of 1948, the Japanese have already lost 4 million people due to more nuclear bombs being dropped across cities like Nagoya, Sapporo and Izumo, with the Kansai plain being nuked multiple times. The island of Shikoku has also been invaded, and soon enough, the fighting would start in Honshu as Operation Coronet was finally launched by the Americans on April 4th, 1948. The Americans are relentless against the Japanese, with brutal atrocities like mass rape and genocide going unchecked. The Kanto Plain was essentially destroyed completely by the invasion, as American nukes have radiated the entire area, flattening Yokahama and a large part of Tokyo. The final straw for the Japanese was in August of 1950, when the Americans dropped two hydrogen bombs on Nagoya and Sapporo, which completely destroyed both cities, and killing over 1.5 million people in the process. The Japanese finally surrendered in August of 1950, at the cost of 40% of Japan's population in 1945 had been killed, both by the war and the atrocities, with the entire country in rubble from all the destruction the nukes and the battles had made. Little did the Japanese knew, the worst was yet to come.

Post-war, the Americans kept a large presence in Japan, and disbanded their entire military, while imposing a very harsh treaty on the Japanese as revenge for making them lose 2 million people during the invasion. Emperor Hirohito and the entire Royal Family were also brutally shot and killed to rid the Japanese of any national spirit remaining. The new State of Japan had a severely dysfunctional economy, with not enough food or water to supply their citizens. The fact that America had basically contaminated their homeland to crap didn't help either, and in the winter of 1950, a massive famine struck Japan, killing another 5 million Japanese due to the lack of supplies, and the limited rations America would give to them at all. After America fell into a communist rebellion in 1954, any supplies the Americans could have given the Japanese are gone, leaving Japan in a frail and weak state. This would become the catalyst for the Anpo Rebellion of 1960, when after America and Japan signed a mutual defense treaty in face of Soviet dominance over Europe as the last bastions of democracy and freedom, angry protesters murdered members of the Diet, starting the Japanese Civil War, initially between the liberalists and the communists. This soon spiraled out of control, and the monarchists, fascists, anarchists and the ultranationalists all joined in the fight, throwing Japan into another chaotic period.

By 1972, Japan has become massively weakened and had barely anything left to spare, with all remaining national spirits lost in the conflict...except for one. The Japanese Yakuza believed that if the Japanese people do not unite, they will never even stand a chance in this communist world. They also believed that they are only ones that can save Japan, and to do that, they have to launch an uprising, and take over the islands. Led by the Godfather Kazuo Taoka, members of the Yakuza all headed down to Fukuoka, where they have a strong base of recruits already in the city. The Yakuza launched the uprising on September 23rd, and although they started out slow, they were able to capture all of Kyushu by the end of 1975, with most of Southern Japan falling to them by 1976.

As the 1970's progressed, it became clear who is going to win the civil war, and it's not the faction most people expected. The Yakuza continued to gain in strength, with many desperate citizens turning to the mafia for support. During this time, Kazuo began organizing his future government to ensure future stability, and to appease all the other gumis. He ultimately decided that the new Japan will be run like a sort of HRE-styled government, with all the Oyabuns representing the regions that their clans came from in a sort of National Assembly. To the surprise of no one, Kazuo would proclaim himself as the country's leader, like all the revolutionaries would like to say, Lenin and Mao. His dream would finally come to life on February 11th, 1980, when in front of tens of thousands of Yakuza members in Kobe (where his clan, the Yamaguchi-kai is based in), he proclaimed the formation of the New Shogunate of Japan, with his intentions to rebuild Japan and return the country that can at least compete with Korea or Southeast Asia.

The first years of the new Shogunate, while tough, has brought an unusual sense of stability and peace in the ruined nation. The Yakuza began using their illegal money to invest on Japanese infrastructure and technology, in hopes of returning Japan to a functioning society after so many years of conflict. They also quelled dissent and enabled censorship for all anti-government media, which upsetted some people. Kazuo would almost die in 1981 after suffering a heart attack but would recover and continue rebuilding the country in a good image. For once, the mafia seemed to be the good guys, although by 1984, internal fights between clans have restarted, sparking tension among the highest ranks of different provinces. Will a decimated Japan be able to restore their former prestige as an Empire under the mafia's rule? Or is this Yakuza regime just another disaster waiting to happen? We will see as Japan attempts to establish trade and alliances across the globe.