Empire of Japan

> "I stood vacantly amid the ruins of Tokyo, after discarding my officer's short sword and removing the epaulettes of my uniform. As I looked around me, I swore to resurrect my homeland from the ashes of defeat."
>
> Member of the House of Representatives, **Yasuhiro Nakasone**

## Empire of Japan

The eight corners of the world shall tremble under one roof.

**1868-Present**

### Head of State

His Imperial Majesty, Emperor of Japan
* Meiji (1867-1912)
* Taishō (1912-1926)
* **Shōwa** (1926-Present)

### Head of Government

Prime Minister of Japan
* Fumimaro Konoe (1940-1941)
* Hideki Tojo (1941-1942)
* Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni (1942-1945)
* Kuniaki Koiso (1945-1950)
* Baron Kijūrō Shidehara (1950-1951)
* Ichirō Hatoyama (1951-1952)
* Nobusuke Kishi (1952-1960)
* Hayato Ikeda (1960-1964)
* Ichirō Kōno (1964-1965)
* **Eisaku Satō** (1965-Present)

### Official Languages

Japanese (official)
 Hokkien (regional)
 Mandarin (regional)
 Hakka (regional)
 Korean (regional)

### Governing Body

* Taisei Yokusankai one-party totalitarian military dictatorship (1940-1950)
* **Minseitō-Seiyūkai** constitutionalist two-party system (1950-Present)

### Government System

Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy

### Ethnicities

Japanese
 Koreans
 Chinese

### Military Command

Imperial General Headquarters [Armed Forces]
* Ministry of the Army [Ministry]
* Ministry of the Navy [Ministry]

### Military Forces

Imperial Japanese Army
 Imperial Japanese Navy

**Japan**, officially known as the **Empire of Japan** (Japanese: 大日本帝國, *Dai Nippon Teikoku*), is an island country in East Asia that was established in the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Beginning from the Meiji Era, the Empire of Japan adopted a Western-style constitution and pursued a policy of rapid industrialization and modernization. Shortly after the Taisho Era, the Empire of Japan increasingly adopted a policy of hardline militarism and expansionism, which put the nation at odds with all its neighbors and nearly all the Western Powers. During the early years of the current Showa Era, the Japanese invaded China in 1937 starting the Second Sino-Japanese War, and signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, consolidating its membership within the Axis Powers against the Western Powers of France and Great Britain.

In 1941, the Japanese under Prime Minister Hideki Tojo declared war on the United States of America, in what is now known as the First Pacific War. Under the leadership of Marshal-Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Imperial Japanese Navy was able to string a series of decisive victories in the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, and the Battle of San Cristobal, knocking out the carrier-force of the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy. These unexpected triumphs led America to reconsider the prospect of total war with Japan, leading to the Treaty of San Francisco which ended the short-lived Pacific Front of the Second World War. During negotiations, Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni of the House of Yamato was appointed as the new Prime Minister to restore Japanese public image and diplomatic relations with the international world.

In 1945, the Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek signed the Treaty of Chongqing with Prime Minister Naruhiko Higashikuni, officially ending the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the treaty, the Republic of China would regain control over its pre-war territories, and be recognized as the official government of China, disestablishing the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China which *de facto* collapsed following the sudden death of Wang Jingwei. The Japanese would withdraw all its military forces, and would send economic and political advisors to help in the reconstruction of China. In exchange however, the Republic of China would become a nominal member of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere which would later be known as the Association of Trans-Pacific Nations (ATPN), would be forced to recognize the independence of the Japanese puppet states Manchukuo and Mengjiang, and would have to acknowledge the legitimacy of Japanese control over Taiwan. The peace treaty with China consolidated Japan's sphere of influence as the leading power of Asia.