Japan

**Japan** is an archipelagic nation located at eastern Asia.

It is located to the east of China, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan; and southeast of Russia.

 Factfile

* Official name: Japan
* Anthem: Kimi Ga Yo ("May You, O Emperor, Reign")
* Official motto: N/A
* Capital city: Tokyo
* Official language: N/A
	+ The national language is Japanese.
* State religion: N/A, secular
	+ Major religions: Shinto (native), Buddhism
* Government: Constitutional monarchy
* Emperor: Naruhito
* Prime Minister: Yoshihide Suga
* Climate: Subtropical in the south; temperate in the centre; boreal in the north; and tropical in the southwest.
* Population: 125,930,000
* Currency: Yen (100 sen, 1000 rin)
* National Day: February 11

## In the Collectionverse

Japan is the birthplace of Reltak, which began a decades-long feud against the older Kalendrica franchise since its founding.

Like its real-world counterpart, Japan is also home to various electronic products and video-game franchises.

## In the Rinnarverse

Japan was aligned with America in the years leading up to World War III, with occasional bouts of independence, neutrality, and nationalism.

In the age of the Earth Union, Japan had built its own Great Shield to prevent a possible Unionite bombardment and to remain independent from Chinese influence. Like Korea and Vietnam, it is also a technology hub, and it has sent its people to colonise the new continent of Fuson.

The Farsiders targeted Japan and bombed its cities to punish the country for the atrocities of the Japanese Empire during World War II. One mutant creature the Farsiders used in their wars, the Ueheishi, was originally created as a "tribute" to the Japanese soldiers and officers who partook in those acts by slaughtering and eating the perpetrators' descendants. They also killed prisoners of war to curse the goddess Amaterasu and the country for the cruelty of World War II.

## In the Rabydosverse

Japan does not exist in the Rabydosverse, but its equivalent would be Pinoguni, Paruko's homeland.

Before the Sixteenth Age, Pinogunians migrated to the Wonao kingdoms east of their homeland, where they worked as merchants, craftsmen, and engineers. They are also known for fighting against a Pinogunian imperial army on behalf of their new rulers.

The Heronoi language and Sevraejan language were also partially influenced by Japanese.

Many Jerdiskar consider Japan to be the most accommodating nation on Earth for themselves, as they also venerate countless natural spirits known as "wights", just as the Japanese venerate the kami. Several other cultures that fit the Jerdiskar's spirituality include India, Lithuania, Balinese Hindus, and Iceland, who practice similar religious beliefs (native gods and respect for wights).

Although Pinoguni and Bujan enjoyed good relations with Japan, both countries also noticed certain glaring problems in modern Japanese society. Poverty (driven by a high cost of living), denial of historical atrocities, and harassment of foreigners are three aspects of Japanese society that both countries used as examples of Earthling problems not to emulate.

The author used the Japanese Empire as the influence for the Jauparturnid Dynasty (fanaticism, worshipping the emperor as a god, militarism, and brutal perfectionism) and the Ontemazei Empire (beauty, love and worship of nature, and cruelty). Both of these empires hated each other and fought for the extermination of the other: one consisted of a civilisation of furious humans who sought to bind the whole Galaxy under an iron fist of absolute perfection, and the other was a horde of monsters that sought to punish and exterminate all sentient life in the Galaxy. During their war, Pinoguni (itself the equivalent of Japan in that world) saw a tragic reflection of its past atrocities in the horrific deeds of both empires, and some Pinogunians sadly thought that the Ontemazei attacks on their country were a punishment from the Kamigami for their past sins.

Pinogunians who were abducted by the Wannaenid Empire were banished to several islands where they had to avoid being killed by automatons, supposedly to punish them for their country's actions in the past. If they were killed, they were brought back to life with much of their memories erased, with the most desperate. One prisoner, Nakasuke, managed to defeat two of those islands by tricking their robotic inhabitants into fighting each other, helping their prisoners escape.

Pinoguni was also one of the many members of the Zvestarid Alliance, nations united against imperialist tyrants and their Terran lackeys. In fact, many Pinogunian soldiers were among the allied forces who aided the revolutionaries and their defense against the Anti-Terran Action terrorists.

## Trivia

* The Kingdom of Bujan is sometimes seen as very similar to Japan, or a Slavic version of Japan, because Bujan is very formalistic, it has very advanced technology, and it practices a syncretic classical culture and an ornate polytheistic religion. In fact, Japan is perhaps liked by the Bujanski for being very similar to themselves.
	+ Bujanski Rodnovery was also influenced by Shinto and Japanese Buddhism, as a native religion that constantly adapts to modern times as it continues to thrive. It was also due to its syncretism with Wonao, Vozonid, Buddhist, and Hindu rites and beliefs; similar to Japanese Buddhism being influenced by Shinto and native mythology.
* The native Wonao people of Bujan and nearby islands were also based on the Yayoi Japanese, with influences from the Polynesians and Taiwanese natives.
	+ Bujan itself is also analogous to Japan, due to the country's eastern location from its world's equivalent of China, Daizhou, and the Daizhouvian influence in Wonao and Bujanski Slavic cultures.
	+ Eosome and Koedaker, two of the many Wonao languages, have three "modes" or ways their scripts are written; similar to hiragana, katakana, and kanji (Chinese characters) used to write Japanese.
* The historical presence of Pinogunians in the Wonao countries was inspired by Luggnagg's relations with Japan in Gulliver's Travels, and the Nihonmachi settlements built by Japanese migrants during the Sengoku period.
	+ The Pinogunian loyalists of the Wonao kingdoms were inspired by diaspora members fighting against invaders from their "motherlands", such as Russian members of the Ukrainian army (against the Russian invasion of Ukraine), and the 442nd Infantry Regiment of the American army (made of ethnic Japanese from America, against the Japanese Empire in World War II)
* The change of a Eosome-language slur, "kagakuro" (traitor) to "kagaruro" (faithful one), was inspired by New Zealander Europeans being upset over the term "Pākehā". However, it also alludes to the Japanese using a different Chinese character to represent themselves to replace a more-insulting one.
	+ "Wa" was originally written as "倭", referring to a dwarf or someone who has bent down. When the Japanese realised what it actually meant, they used another word for themselves, "和", meaning "harmonious", reflecting Japanese traditional beliefs.
	+ Eventually, the Japanese chose the name "Nippon" (日本) as their country's name, reflecting the importance of Amaterasu, the sun goddess, in their native faith; and their country's location east of China.

## See also

* Britain, Japan's western counterpart
* Daizhouvian words in Wonao languages - Bujan and its Wonao natives were partly inspired by Japanese history.