Japan

**The Empire of Japan** (Japanese: 大日本帝国, Hepburn: *Dai Nippon Teikoku*) or more commonly **Japan**, is a nation created by the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

At one point, Japan controlled most of eastern Asia under it's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, that includes the Philippines, North Borneo, Malaya, Hawaii, the Fengtian Government and at some point, Thailand.

The late-1930s have seen the Japan facing pressures to create a militaristic, totalitarian government under Imperial Japanese Army generals, causing a power struggle between the civilian government and militarists that culminated in the 9.9 Incident in which junior officers revolted and attempted to topple the civilian government.

The ensuing **Movement to Protect the Constitution** (Japanese:護法運動, Hepburn: *Gōken Undō*) spearheaded by GenrōSaionji Kinmochi has managed to dilute militarist sentiments and reaffirm the democratic government.

Subsequently, the Empire of Japan would embark on an interventionist actions on China and Southeast Asia by the subsequent Nagai, Matsuoka and Prince Higashikuni governments, expanding it's sphere of influence into the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere.

## Inukai Cabinet and Rising Militarism

### Extremism in Japan

The Inukai Cabinet that ruled Japan for nine years oversaw peaceful development and economic recovery, but despite that, extremist ideologies, especially within villagers that saw themselves "marginalized in favor of urban-dwellers" kept growing more and more popular.

In 1936, the assassination of Katayama Sen, a famous leftist leader sparked outcry and radicalization within the Japanese left.Subsequently, Seiyūkai defended their absolute majority in the parliament. Prime Minister Inukai had overseen that the assassination of Katayama would perhaps cause chaos within Japan.

### May 15th Incident

On the night of May 15th, Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated in his home, and the anarchists are blamed as the culprit, although the true identity of the attackers remain vague. Subsequently a massive anarchist rally happens, and this led to many politicians to flee the city.

As chaos erupts around Tokyo, general Hayashi Senjurō becomes more and more prominent, restoring order to the city. Junior officers though attempted to take over and Hayashi himself pressed unto starting a takeover from the top, and establishing a military order in Japan. But as disagreements begin to emerge between the military officers themselves, along with lack of approval from Hayashi himself would see the plan foil.

### Military Factionalism

The military themselves were divided into two general factions, although general distinction remains vague. Most of the younger and more numerous junior officers backed a military restoration of the Emperor's power pejoratively called the Kōdō-ha (Imperial Way Faction) after their idol, General Araki Sadao who often made references to "a return to the Kōdō" in his nationalist speeches.

Mainly, the Kōdō-ha rallied around general Obata Tokushiro, who earlier within the year made himself famous for leading the advocates of the "Yamato-damashii" in a doctrinal debate against technocratic, superior firepower doctrine advocates. Obata, allied himself with General Masaki Jinsaburō who too was sympathetic to the Kōdō-ha's goals; an Imperial Restoration spearheaded by the military.

Though not all of the army approved of such designs, especially within the upper ranks. They would prefer to integrate their designs into the current functioning system and reform it from within. The Kōdo-ha perjoratively referred to them as the Tōsei-ha (Control Faction) after their general dirigistic and statist ideology. This Tōsei faction though, was extremely vague as it essentially referred to non-Kōdō-ha factions within the military.

The most infamous of the Tōseiha is the Issekikai of General Nagata Tetsuzan who also made his name famous earlier this year for fighting Obata's "Yamato-damashii" doctrine, advocating a doctrine based around technological supremacy and superior firepower - and won the debate as his ideas are more or less taken. He, along with his associates Tōjō Hideki and Tanaka Shinichi advocated a total-war approach in ruling the country, based on von Ludendorff's doctrine of *die Totale Krieg*. This was the most powerful Tōsei-ha faction as Hayashi himself, Nagata's mentor, was a patron of the Issekikai. This faction too, under Nagata would find allies in a group of civilian bureaucrats that advocated a technocracy and total control of the economy, dubbed the Reform Bureaucrats (革新官僚).

## National Unity Cabinet

Public opinion was against the military after the whole Hayashi debacle. The Genrō, Saionji Kinmochi would decide that he would need to galvanize party unity as a show of force against militarist elements. He created new National Unity Cabinet between the Seiyūkai and Minseitō.

As hot-headed junior officers (青年 将校) grow frustrated, and counting on high public skepticism on the two National Unity Cabinets, they launched a spectacular coup attempt, led by Colonel Hashimoto Kingoro. The Minseitou and Seiyuukai party building was bombed and anarchy spread around Tokyo, as officers kill government figures like Nishihara Kamezou, Suzuki Kisaburo and Mizuno Rentarou and major zaibatsu figures like Dan Takuma.

### Movement to Defend the Constitution

The Emperor was horrified and orders the officers to kill themselves or surrender, famously saying “they killed my ministers!” As popular opinion of the military drop to an all time low, Saionji cleverly picked his protege Konoe Fumimaro as the new Prime Minister, the liberal forces rallied around Saionji and his three principle followers - the Gakushūin Three; Konoe Fumimaro, Harada Kumao and Kido Kōichi. Together, with Saionji representing the liberal politicians, the Gakushūin Three representing the reformers, innovative bureaucrats and aristocrats, and the famous liberal prince, Prince Higashikuni representing the Kazoku (Imperial Family) all united to form the “Movement to Defend the Constitution”

The MDC would be a movement within the Imperial Diet which includes the main two political parties, the Rikken Seiyūkai (立憲政友会) and Rikken Minseitō (立憲民政党) to maintain cohesiveness between the two parties in fighting growing militarism. The MDC would later include the Shakai Taishūtou (社会大衆党) and the Kokumin Dōmei (国民同盟) as the fight to maintain democracy continues.

Konoe implemented electoral reforms, curbed military power, and pushed for economic recovery. This all was considered finished by 1939, where Japan is now free to have its elections in peace. This is a crucial step to Japan’s further step into Democracy. Popularity and their aggressively reformist attitudes within the MDC would have it that the Minseitou under Nagai Ryuutarou victorious on the 1940 elections.

## Nagai Cabinet and Intervention in China

The Minseitou government would push for a wide-ranging of reforms, including the creation of the Social Market (社会 資本主義, lit: Social Capitalism) system. Around this time too, Saionji Kinmochi died, and his position was filled by his protege and former Prime Minister, Konoe Fumimaro. Konoe would then establish a system of four (四体制, lit: Quadruple-system); a system of four parties to represent the four political leanings of Japan, the far-left represented by the Shakai Taishuutou, the center-left by the Rikken Minseitou, the center-right by the Rikken Seiyuukai and the far-right by the Kokumin Doumei.

The Minseitou government though, would start something unthinkable though. It would directly intervene in China, with the basis of protecting Japanese citizens, but the hushed tones about intervention would slowly turn into loud, populist, often pan-Asian rhetorics, calling for the assistance of the Fengtian government’s forays into southern China. At first the war was popular, but eventually, as the war dragged longer and longer, many doubted the legitimacy of the Japanese cause, hoping for a resolution to the war that would end in Japan’s favor.

For this, the Minseitou government would grow out of popularity. As the war dragged on longer, it seems to the Japanese that the current government failed to deliver a quick and strong resolution to the war, a series of political intrigue and backroom dealings immediately happened, ending with the resignation of the current Minseitou government by the anti-mainstream Minseitou faction, the Seiyuukai and Kokumin Doumei.

## Higashikuni Cabinet

Higashikuni did resolve the China issue, and he too managed to expand Japanese influence southwards, with his appointment of the Filipino Governor-Generalship to General Masaharu Homma and his interventions in North Borneo and Malaya. Higashikuni also announced the creation of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (大東亜共栄圏) to replace Matsuoka’s new order under Konoe’s backing.