Empire of Japan

## Today

Japan, as of the moment, is a very industrial society. With the Senyukai getting closer and closer to a One Party State, the common Japanese citizen is currently enduring a slight economic boom. Despite this, poverty and lack of state care continues to remain a major issue, both in the home islands and in the overseas territories. In foreign relations, the Imperial regime was particularly tense with the French and the Dutch, while generally open with the British. By 1880, the Imperial Regime consolidated absolute power, as the Army, lead by Yamagata Aritomo, put down Saigo Takamori's rebellion due to treatment of the Samurai classes. The establishment of political parties and a parliament were conclusive, with the military philosophy of Aritomo dictating that civil government and the military must remain apart.

## History of Japan

### 1880s-1900

Seeing the need for raw resources to satisfy its industrial needs, Japanese politics began to experience two sides. Those who thought Japan needed to expand militarily, (Taka-Ha), and those who thought Japan must dominate through trade (Shõnin). With two parties, the Taka and Shõnin Parties, became the mainstream, adopting general stances not just in war, but in economics, culture, and society as well. Eventually, with the 1894 victory of the Taka Party, and the growing weakness in China, the 1st Sino-Japanese War took place, ending in total Japanese victory. Despite the victories, the economic toll, the international condemnation of many Western powers (with the exception of Britain) and the small conflict with the French and Russians, caused Shõnin to maintain relevance, and continue scoring high in comparison to the Taka in parliamentary seats.

### 1900-1920

Entering the 20th Century, Emperor Meiji was succeeded by Emperor Taishõ after his death in 1907. The young Emperor established further democratic reforms, giving more power to the Parliament and the office of Prime Minister, and giving unofficial support to the Shõnin Party. Meanwhile, most of the upper military officer Corps, while choosing to stay within Aritomo's philosophy, disapproved of the Emperor’s supporting for a Pacifist party. During Taisho's reign, relations with Britain grew closer, with Japan joined the Bristol Pact. With the eruption of the 3rd Anglo-Spanish War in 1910, the Shõnin Party was forced to give in to the Taka Party’s demands, and join the war, invading the Philippines and Manchuria. After the long and cruel war, Japan made little gains. Only gaining around half the Philippines, and loosing ground in Manchuria, a spirit of revanchism rose amongst the Japanese people. Said revanchism was exploited, and ended up in a period of electoral dominance by the Taka Party known as the Taka Hegemony, lasting from 1911 to 1926.

### 1926-1936

Emperor Taishõ kept up his reign until 1935, where he was submitted to a sudden death due to Tuberculosis. Shortly after, the young Prince Hirohito rose to power. Unlike what could be expected, the Shõnin didn't rise from the Taka Hegemony. In fact, a new party, comprised of military officers, businessmen and ultranationalists, known as the Seiyukai, rose to prominence, led by predominant Military Officers and businessmen, such as Hideki Tojo and Mitsubishi CEO Jiro Horikoshi. The Seiyukai was generally seen as a third option, adopting aspects of both Taka and Shõnin, such as militarism, as well as economic expansion and liberalization. Despite a rocky start that saw some Shõnin victories all the way to 1930, ever since the election that same year, Seiyukai has dominated politics. This has lead to more economic liberalization, expansionism, and further bolstering of revanchism sentiment towards Russia, Spain and France. As of 1936, Iwane Matsui has taken the office of Prime Minister, with Horikoshi and Tojo as Party leaders. Emperor Hirohito has been generally complacent with Seiyukai, supporting militarism in contrast to his father. Seiyukai has also shown interest in maintaining the alliance with the British, as well as expanding diplomacy through trade deals with Belgium, Portugal and Italy.

## Military

### Imperial Army

The imperial army runs mainly through a volunteer system, with a strong Nationalist and Bushido-style code of conduct. It currently numbers at around 400,000 members throughout the Empire.

### Imperial Navy

The Imperial Navy is currently undergoing large scale modernization efforts, but is nonetheless mainly stuck using outdated vessels. It has a growing competition with the Russian and French Pacific fleet for dominance of the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, among other areas. The imperial navy is currently led by Admiral Yamamoto.

### Imperial Airforce:

Showing more promise than the Navy, the Imperial Airforce, with the help of Mitsubishi has continuous projects for the adaptation of modernized fighters and bombers, amongst them, prototypes for a supposedly Revolutionary fighter known as the "Zero".

## Politics

The government of the Empire, like most democratic states of the time, has 3 branches. Firstly, the legislative branch, is composed of the Imperial Diet and its Houses, the House of Peers and the House of Commons. Leading this Diet is a Prime Minister, who is elected in a popular election. The Prime Minister acts as Head of Government, while the Emperor is Head of State. There are 3 main political parties in the Diet. The Taka, the Shõnin and the newcomers, the Senyukai. The Diet used to be very bipartisan, with the Taka and Shõnin Parties having most of the seats. Now, the Senyukai hold the majority in the government, controlling over half the Diet’s seats. The Executive branch is composed of the Prime Minister, his cabinet, the regional Prefects and mayors of individual cities/towns. Finally, the judicial branch is the Courts. It contains all Japanese courts, from the Supreme Imperial Court all the way down to individual town courts.

## Relations

Japanese foreign relations have been marked with a friendly tendency towards Britain and a stark opposition to France. Ever since the Kamagawa Accords, the Japanese have been resentful with the French, with all efforts to resume relations by the Shõnin Party ending in failure. It is even said that Prime Minister Matsui has ordered the Imperial Armed Forces to draft a secret plan for the invasion of Indochina, which would be a conjoined effort with the British. Meanwhile, the Japanese have strong tensions with the Russians and the Spanish, with regular skirmishes occurring on the Filipino and Korean borders. Regarding the British and their allies, warm relations have been maintained, as they're seen as the only exceptions to the "only good westerner is a dead one" law.