Yankee High School

The **Yankee High School** is a school included in the Ace Und Panzer (AuP) Universe. Themed after the United States of America, Yankee High School embodies the spirit of Americanism in Japan, specifically the Okinawan Islands.

## Overview

The **Yankee Koza High School** is a school located in the City of Okinawa, Okinawa Prefecture. Located in the Island where America had planted their influence to the country, the school is the result of this. It is Japan's fascination to the American life, therefore it is easy to say that Yankee Koza is a byproduct of Americanism in Japan.

## Background

The product of Americanism in Okinawa, Yankee High was created for the purpose of stabilizing the relationship between the Okinawans and the Americans presence in the city. Today the school stands as the successful integration of American heritage in Japan's soil. The school is categorized as a Private School, with its funding sponsored by wealthy Americans and even the Japan Society in New York.

### History

The Yankee Koza has a rich and storied history that traces back several decades. The school was established in the mid-20th century, shortly after World War II, during a time of rebuilding and revitalization in Japan. Yankee High's establishment was partially the influence of the successful story of the High School attached to Saunders University in Nagasaki.

#### American Presence in Okinawa

When the Americans invaded Okinawa during Operation Iceberg, this created a profound impact to the Okinawans of intense distrust towards the Americans. Okinawa is a strategic important location to both the Japanese and the Allies, and so when the Battle of Okinawa concluded with the victory of the Allies, Okinawa faced the forced transition from under Japanese control to Western Occupation. The territory came under US Military rule and the people experienced a significant shift in governance and daily life.

##### Establishment of the city of Koza

When the Second World War concluded, the United States in Japan established their first refugee camp in Okinawa, they used the area of Goeku as their location to establish the City of Koza after the villages there grew rapidly upon the importation of the many military personnel and their families in the Island. In 1956, Goeku formally changed its name into Koza and became a city in the same year. To maintain their order, the administration imposed Martial Law, this resulted with the slow growth of discontent to the Okinawans, but this cooled down slightly when a visionary group of educators came with initiative to bridge the divide.

#### Project Icebreaker

Amidst to the challenging circumstances faced by the Okinawans, a group of visionary educators and their befriended American officers recognized the need to bridge the cultural divide and promote the local population with the American military personnel stationed in the region. They emphasized the importance of education, and so they conceived an idea to establish a school that serves as a symbol of stabilizing relationship and cooperation. And so they proposed Project Icebreaker, a project meant to break the cold ice between the Okinawans and the Americans.

After the proposal received a cautious inspection, the project was eventually approved by the military authority in the region, it was even sent to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Tokyo for an extended evaluation to the plan, but due to their constraints in managing the direction of Japan, they returned the proposal to the hands of the military directives in Okinawa. These military directives understood the importance of their location in suppressing the frenzied nationalism of the Japanese, and they also want the Okinawans to understood their concept of freedom and democracy, and so the development of the school was managed by a partnership between the Okinawans and the Americans there.

This project led to the creation of Koza District High School, an educational initiative designed to create a platform for cross-cultural exchange. Under the strict oversight of the martial law administration, the founders of KDHS sought permission to establish the school as a pilot that aimed to promote the mutual respect, cultural appreciation, and educational excellences. This was inspired by the actions took by the Saunders Group when the Americans in Nagasaki started to incorporate Western-styled courses and curriculums to the many selected schools there.

#### Koza District High School

When Koza District was established in 1960, the curriculum of the school was carefully crafted to blend elements of both American and Japanese educational systems, highlighting the importance of bilingual education, cultural exchange, and understanding. The school's establishment during the period of the martial law provided a unique opportunity for fostering meaningful connections and building bridges between the Okinawan community and the American military presence. Through various programs, extracurricular activities, and community initiatives, KDHS aimed to promote dialogue, mutual respect, and cooperation, planting the seeds for a more harmonious future.

The early years of the school witnessed the gradual development of strong relationships between students, teachers, and the broader community. The school served as a beacon of hope, promoting cultural sensitivity, friendship, and a shared vision of unity despite the challenging circumstances of martial law. But this school couldn't contain the discontent and resistance of the Okinawans, this reached its peak in December of 1970, where the infamous Koza Riot altered the relationship between the Okinawans and the Americans.

##### Koza Riot of 1970

The Koza Riot, also known as the Koza Incident, was a significant event that occurred on December 20, 1970, in the Koza district of Okinawa, Japan. The riot was a culmination of growing tensions between the local Okinawan community and the American military presence in the area. The Okinawans protesters gathered in the streets and expressed their frustration and anger over various issues. Issues that the KDHS highlighted it its mission before, but this peaceful attempt to secure justice to the people wasn't enough for the major consensus for the Okinawans.

The situation quickly spiraled out of control, leading to significant property damages and injuries on both sides. And in the midst of the chaos, the school managed to stay unharmed due to how the school itself was not the primary target of destruction by the rioters. And though some students and faculty members of the school are sympathetic to the protests, thanks to the oversight of the administration, they quickly closed down the school when the violence started near the street the school was located.

In the aftermath of the riot, Koza District expressed its efforts to address the underlying issues and improve relations between the Okinawan community and the American military. The incident served as a catalyst for dialogue and negotiations between the two parties, aiming to prevent future confrontations and promote a more respectful and cooperative relationship. The school played an important role in the subsequent reconciliation efforts, working to bridge the gap between the Okinawan and American communities and fostering an environment of mutual respect and cooperation. This mission made the school popular across Japan, attracting the many schools that would soon formed a partnership to them due to their honorary reputation, this includes both the Saunders Group in Nagasaki, the Keio University in Tokyo, and even the Japan Society in New York.

#### Growing School

In 1972, the San Francisco Treaty marked the turning point of ending the American occupation of Okinawa, this reversion brought them a sense of hope and fresh opportunity for the Okinawans to shape their own future. In accordance to this treaty, many family members and personnel stationed in Nagasaki, including a significant number from managing and enrolled students from the Saunders Group, were reassigned to Okinawa as their time in Nagasaki had come to an end.

##### **Saunders' View**

As the American families and personnel transitioned to their new environment in Okinawa, they brought with them the rich cultural heritage and educational values from Saunders. This infusion of American influence, combined with the existing Okinawan culture, created a unique blend of traditions and perspectives to the Koza District. The experiences, values, and educational practices shared by the Saunders community provided a valuable foundation for continued cultural exchange and dialogue to Koza District High.

The transition period following the reversion of Okinawa saw both challenges and opportunities for the Saunders Group The schools embraced its role as a bridge between the American and Japanese communities, fostering mutual respect, cultural appreciation, and academic excellence. Through joint initiatives, exchange programs, and collaborative projects, Saunders continued to promote its legacy and continued to provide a supportive environment for students from both backgrounds. This shared journey of cultural integration and learning helped build lasting friendships, break down stereotypes, and pave the way for a more harmonious coexistence between the American and Japanese communities.

This led to the eventual separation of the many schools of the Saunders Group, this is an act of opportunity to specialized their curriculum, adapting to the educational system needed for a globalized school. Since Saunders Group considered itself as an International School due to its close interaction with the United States, the separation became a necessity to adapt to these changes. With two schools becoming the forefront icon of the group, and these are: the Sanders University, and the Saunders High School.

##### From Koza to Yankee

The influx of American families and personnel led to a notable transformation to the school, the combined influence from American-Nagasaki brought new ideas and opportunities to the school. This shaped the identity of the school as the oversight of the administration has uplifted and therefore the school's board has free reign towards its direction, and thanks to the knowledge provided by these influx of people, the school now offers a curriculum that combined elements of American and Japanese educational approaches, creating a unique and enriching learning environment.

The school, recognizing the importance of embracing the cultural diversity of its surroundings, changed its name from Koza District High School to **Yankee Koza High School**. This name change was symbolic of the school's commitment to celebrating both its American roots and its Japanese identity. It represented a desire to foster understanding, friendship, and collaboration between the American and Japanese communities within the district, and so through its various initiatives it implemented, the school became a significant role in fostering a sense of unity and harmony within Okinawa.

Furthermore, Yankee Koza High School actively engaged with the local community, organizing events, participating in community service projects, and promoting cross-cultural understanding. This created a sense of unity that ultimately reached its fruitful transition from a land-based school to sea-based school town.

#### Yankee's Nauticalization to Present

Yankee's transition from land to sea was after the "Nauticalization trend" that occurred in the late 80s to 90s. When Saunders High School nauticalized their school in 1990, this gave Yankee an idea to follow their footsteps due to various of reasons. One main reason they want to nauticalized their school is because of the growing population where the school is reaching its maximum limit capacity, and thus the school underwent its own Nauticalization.

With the help of various organizations, the school reestablished itself as a school on the seas, built on top of an Enterprise Class aircraft carrier, the new and improved Yankee Koza High School opened up a whole new world of possibilities for its students, allowing them to not only receive a quality education but also gain unique experiences and skills associated with life on a ship, such as maritime knowledge, teamwork, and adaptability. Like Saunders' situation, Yankee can now visit other school ports which allowed them to create common ground for collaboration, joint events, and friendly competitions, fostering a spirit of camaraderie and mutual respect.

Currently, thanks to the school's Nauticalization project, the school propelled itself into a new era of its history as the byproduct of American influenced to Japan.

### Location

Yankee High before its nauticalization was located on the grounds of modern day Okinawa City. Ever since it transformation into a full-fledged, self-sustaining, large school town on seas, the school continued to park its massive ship on the ports of Okinawa. Though the school has permission to port its ship to Naha, Uruma, Kin, and even Honolulu.

### School-Ship

Yankee's School-Ship is based from the designs of the **C**arrier, **V**olplane, **N**uclear-65 (CVN-65) Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the US Navy. The commission of the School-Carrier was awarded to a joint Yokosuka-Newport Shipbuilding in Honolulu. Using Modular Construction as its primary method, the joint cooperation between the two famous shipyards managed to construct the entire vessel in less than a decade. With the American Institute of Architects spearheaded the surface deck's landscape with members of its Japanese equivalent providing support and feedback.

Through the classification from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, they categorized the Enterprise as a **School-Carrier**. For the dimensions of the ship, it is larger than most of School-Carriers in Japan, but smaller than to its sister carrier, the Saunders' Nimitz School-Ship.

## Culture

Yankee's culture is filled with Okinawan, Japanese, and American flavor on its setting and theme. Diversified yet in hegemony, culture of the Yankee High can only be simplified as a successful product of culture integration between the Okinawan-Japanese and the Americanism fueled by the interest of the people and its support from many organizations and even both governments.

### Architecture

When designing the surface deck of Yankee High, members of the AIA were unsure of the architectures they'll be incorporating to the development of the school town, after countless of debates and suggestions from the AIA's equivalent in Japan, architectures came front and forwarded the layout of Columbia. Following the American lifestyle of suburban communities, Okinawan stone-layered walls for protection across the many "states", and Japanese contemporary and modern designs.

Alongside these 3, scattered across the Columbia are interest points highlighted by their extravagant architecture and jaw-dropping designs, with looks based from a myriad of historical references that invokes a sense of historicism, a style that imitates the past. They are called the "Historical Wonders of Columbia."

Divided by 13 states across its trapezoid surface deck. Columbia's "States" are physically separated by stone walls called *Gushiku* with each entrance has its own gatekeep, and for each gatekeep's roof, it has a statue of a lion-dog display called a Shisa for spiritual protection. Each State consists of its own residential and commercial area, but all states are connected by underground railway and road systems that encourages the use of personal vehicles instead of mass transportation such as transit trams, and buses. Though taxis is commonly across Columbia.

The National Lawn meanwhile is a landscape park littered with all educational institutions of Yankee high, both its Nautical and General Course Buildings are situated in this park complex. But both the Jefferson and Privateer has its own extended park to accommodate its other facilities. The Lawn has other historical-istic buildings seen to its counterpart in Washington DC, these buildings are recreated to the purpose of experiencing the authenticity of America albeit smaller in dimensions compared to its inspirations.

Like Red Square High, Yankee has its own industries like Automobile and General Parts industry, but inferior to Red Square's ironworks and industrialized agriculture. But unlike to its Red rival, Yankee High boosts the largest underground animal farms in Japan, and has the capacity to build its own Panzerkraft vehicles via in collaboration with Tamiya Heavy Industry.

#### Dormitory

In terms of housing, Yankee's main housing source are the ranch-style, bungalow-style, and split-level houses. Based from post-war designs, ranches and bungalows and more popular to the students while split-level is known for its cheaper rent to the students.

Ranches are close-to-ground, wide open, and its rather long layout type of houses, meanwhile bungalow-styled houses are known for its verandas and large yards, while the split-level houses are noted for their two to three-storied levels and its potential to house a basement area. The difference between the three is that the first two is perfect for hosting a myriad of events, a tradition that every students from the aforementioned house usually do, meanwhile the split-level is built primarily for accommodating the basic necessities to students.

All three of them offers a kitchen, a dining room, a kitchen, a living room, and a shared bedroom, though since the ranches/bungalows are known for its wide and open area, they can provide a pool, a garage, a basketball court, and even a jacuzzi, a feature that the split-houses always couldn't provide to its students, but since their goal is to pack all the students into one building, they have the necessities required to build a basement for these students while maintaining that comfortability.

(For more insights about their dormitories, you can check these images: *ranches*, *bungalows* and *split-levels*).

### Uniform

Though based from the US, Yankee High has a uniform that students are required to wear. Tan, Gray/White, and Dark Olive are the primary colors attributed to their school uniforms. Specifically for the boys, they wear Dark Olive Jackets accompanied by Gray/White undershirts with a blue necktie, finished with tan trousers and brown leather shoes. For the girls meanwhile, the trousers is replaced with box pleat skirts and their socks can either be short, long, or replace it with a stocking.

For their Nautical Courses, the Nautical Students' uniform followed the naval tradition of adopting the shade of blue to their designs, and therefore, the blue-colored uniforms are a staple for Nautical Privateers of Yankee High. Privateers wear blue bell-bottomed pants with white long-sleeved shirt with tight cuffs for securement. Jumpers are used mainly for the Engineers and formal wearing such as breasted coats, long capes, and ornaments for the special individuals in the Nautical Hierarchy.

### OSS

Intelligence and Information is an invaluable asset for Yankee High. And so, under the Bank of Intelligence and Review (INR), the **O**ffice of **S**pying **S**ervices (OSS) is established to supervise the school's many operations in regards of Recrelympics' activities. This includes: espionage, communication interception, analysis, covert operation, and sometimes even clandestine operations.

The Spymaster of the OSS is often referred as the "Coordinator" of the Agency, he/she is the head of the organization that is responsible for carrying out the tasks for agents and spies to undertake. Majority of the student under the OSS are stationed across Columbia, but some talented agents are assigned to other vessels for important missions such as intelligence gathering, undercover work, and creating networks of connection.

The Spying Service, similar to its other intelligence departments, is always in coordination with one other from different schools, such as the Saunders Intelligence Agency (SIA), the Royal Baron's Secret Information Services (SIS), the Red Square's All-Students Extraordinary Commission (VChK), and many more.

## Recrelympics

Not only in Academics but also in their Sports-Play, **Y**ankee's **R**ecrelympic **T**eam (YRT) encompasses all the 4 Subdivisions of Recrelympics. Each subdivision is represented by a main club or team organized by the Yankees, and they are used to compete with other schools across Japan in the playing field of Recrelympics. Using American equipment and techniques, the Yankees are difficult to messed with.

### Infantry-Craft

The **Patriot Militia** is the Sport-Infantry Team of Yankee High. It comprises of many teams from multiple clubs to create one coherent team filled with efficient combat athletes. Known for their usage of accurate and precise weaponry, the Patriots excelled in strategic captures of territories through the use of specialized teams such as the Littoral Marines from the Nautical Course, or the Aviation Geronimos from the Propeller Circus. All of them are under the direction of the **Commander of the Patriots**.

Though each club has its own combat uniform, all combat athletes for Patriot Militia are fitted with olive drab field jacket with the same color palette to their trousers. Beneath the Recrelympic-sanctioned outfit are standardized shirts implemented to combat the uneasiness and incoherence of wearing uncomfortable undershirts. And they finished it off with combat boots, 'steel pot' helmets, and sometimes wore additional clothing that serves either cosmetic or extra benefits to its wearer such as ammo belt, satchels, and many more.

### Panzerkraft

The **Armored Panoply** is the Armored Arm of the YRT. Like its Boots-on-Ground equivalent, the Main team is composed of elites from other clubs that practices that many variants of Panzerkraft, but its main component are from the newly reorganized Sensha-dō teams. The Armadillos of the YRT is known for its deployment of American Shermans and Speedy Hellcats, with the latter being the centerpiece of their aggressive doctrine, this doctrine has been preserved and carried out by the General of the Tankers, the Overall Commander of the Armadillos.

Their uniform is heavily inspired by George S. Patton's proposed uniform for the American Tankers during his time. The Armadillos' uniform comprised of a brown padded single-breasted tunic with a stand-up collar that has a row of 13 hidden buttons that are aligned in a diagonal pattern instead of vertical one. Accompanying the tunic is a brown trouser with a distinct feature of employing cargo pockets on the front of its thighs. In addition, the tankers also wore a tanker helmet with leather ear flaps, and black tanker boots.

### Aerial-Aces

The **58th Propellers** of the Aeronautical Corps, nicknamed the "Akuma's Angels" is the YRT's main Aerial-Aces team. The namesake "58th" came from the connection of the 5th and 8th Air Force in Tokyo and Okinawa respective that gave their planes to Yankee High during the Nauticalization Program. The Captain/Overall Commander of the Akuma's Angels is colloquially referred as the Arch Angel, though its official designation is called the Ace Marshal.

Angels of the 38th Propellerrs wore their khaki flight suit with a permanent belt attached to it, the suit is paired with brown flying boots and a flying helmet that is fitted with an integrated ear set for communication and comfortable ear pads for noise reduction. Often than not, they accompanied their flying helmets with goggles and a life-vest/extra parachute.

### Aquatic-Warfare

The **Bessie Fleet** is the only Recrelympics-oriented fleet in the Yankee's Aquatic Fleet. Consisting of only 10-15 ships that stationed in its homeport in Okinawa, the Bessie Fleet is the most prestigious sports team among the myriad of teams in Yankee High. Privateers of this fleet are predestined to become aspiring sailors of the navy in the future. With the Admiral of the Fleet being the most prestigious title for an combat athlete to have, on par to the School-Ship's Student Captain.

The prefix of their ships is the YHS, which stands for the *"**Y**ankee **H**igh's **S**hips".* With the Admiral automatically given the role as Captain of its own ship, the YHS Alaska, the proud and pride lead ship of the Bessie Fleet.

Sailor of the Bessie Fleet are known for their white and blue uniforms. A standard uniform of a sailor consists of a white shorts and short-sleeved, roll collar shirts with the same color. To top it off, they wore their white garrison caps. One unique feature about the high-positioned sailors and the Captain meanwhile exchanged their garrison hats with peaked caps but everything else remained the same, with the exception of the Captain as his shirt is replaced with a single-breasted coat and his shorts is replaced with a white trousers, and his peaked cap can be replaced with a cocked hat, reminiscence to that to the crew of the USS Constitution wore. Members of the Mechanical Department are known for their distinct naval blue overalls, comprises of a blue jumpers, trousers, and a long-sleeved shirt with appropriate foot-ware and gloves.