Japan

Japan, formally known as the Japanese Empire, is a nation in East Asia, controlling many strategic positions in the Pacific and mainland Asia. Controlling Korea, Primorsky, Sakhalin, several pacific islands, Taiwan and nominally controlling the Russian Far East, and Mongolia, Japan is the most powerful Asian state and very influential in worldwide politics and trade and is expected to expand further in the years to come.

## Japan

### **Government Structure**

Unitary divine theocratic absolute monarchy

# **Colonies**

## **Korea**

Korea, before being directly annexed into Japan was already under nominal Japanese control. However, in 1910 with the Japan-Korea 1910 treaty, signed in august finalized fully Japanese jurisdiction over the peninsula. Just like any colony under the influence of a foreign nation, the Korean people fought hard to win back their independence but little was accomplished, and instead Tokyo enacted various policies of Japanization, for the ultimate goal of assimilating Korea into Japan, hoping making it a regular province of the country.

Korea was also heavily exploited in the 25+ years of Japanese colonization, to fuel the military and industrial might of the home islands. Japanese migration began into Korea. Koreans became second class citizens, while Japanese elites began to dominate the work force and strategically made it nearly impossible for the Korean people to rise up effectively and not be quashed by the ferocity of the Japanese army and navy. Despite this, there are rumors of the Japanese empire's deterioration. The heavy rush of multiple wars and taking over vast swathes of lands have created some fears that Japan might not be able to handle the new balance of power, especially as Japan further infiltrated mainland Asia, which might just provide an opportunity for the Koreans to liberate themselves, once and for all.

## **Pacific Islands**

Japan after the Great War dominated Pacific trade, especially as they seized various Pacific islands from the late German and British Empires. While treatment of these numerous islands did differ, they were more or less treated the same way under Japanese occupation. Japan heavily guarded these islands and used them as naval bases to guard their interests in the Pacific Ocean, while foreigners were barred from entry. These islands also came under heavy exploitation similarly to Korea. Settlers moved in, while various extreme measures of assimilation were carried out, especially with language and history, for the goal of erasing said history of the indigenous people that already inhabited the islands and make them fully Japanese.

While many of these islands have only been under the thumb of Tokyo for, in some cases less than a decade they are still very easy to control, even more than Korea, which has been under Japanese control for 25 years.

## **Amur**

The Japanese colony of Amur, aquiried during the Second Russo-Japanese War has been occupied for over 1 decade, with the biggest and most vital city and port being Vladivostok, where they also annexed the rest of Sakhalin and Kamchatka. Since the occupation, Vladivostok, and by extension Amur has developed very little and has been lagging economic development since the late 1920s. And as more Japanese settle in Amur and the more heavily Japan cracks down on the Russian population the more inclined they are to rebel.

Amur was only recently taken over, and due to that Amur is one of the hardest regions to control, especially as the Russian geography make it harder for the army to capture insurgents in rural, northern provinces.

## **Kamchatka**

Similarily to the Amur Colony, Kamchatka was occupied by the Japanese army since 1925 and has remained that way ever since. The sparseness of the peninsula combined with very little urban centers, if by at all present on the colony means that Kamchatka is effectively under full Japanese control, with almost no resistance coming from any meaningful place. Kamchatka however has seen better days, as the Japanese trait the peninsula only as a military and naval base, leaving its people behind as not even the empire cares to fully assimilate the peninsula, ultimately because there is no reason to.

## **Sakhalin**

The island of Sakhalin was divided alone the 50th parallel in 1905, with the south going to the empire while the north went to the Russians. After the Russian civil war and Second Russo-Japanese war, the imperial army occupied the rest of the island with ease, and because the north of the island was so sparse compared to the more developed south, it wasn't hard for the Japanese to cement their presence among the entire island, which now acts as a strategic colony to protect Japanese interests in the Sea of Japan, of which they now fully control.

## **Taiwan**

Being under Japanese rule for more than 40 years, Taiwan is one of the oldest and most developed colonies of the entire Japanese sphere of influence. Since 1915, political and social rights have slightly expanded, including implementing democratizing policies to the island (though in practice it did little to improve the lives of the native Taiwanese). Infrastructure and over living conditions improved for the people in modern times, but these improvements were under the strict authority of the Japanese government, while the Taiwanese adopted a new, distinct form of national identity which would continually hinder Japanization projects on the island. As it stands today, Taiwan remains one of the most stable Japanese colonies, but that always comes with its risks.

## **Hong Kong**

Hong Kong was in political and economic upheaval with the breakout of the Cairo War, as British garrisons fled the small city en masse as London tried to mobilize all remaining colonial forces to fend off their enemies, only resulting in the weakening of their empire. After the fall of the Suez, colonial forces in Hong Kong evacuated the city for Egypt, and because of this the people of Hong Kong were in a state of confusion. Unable to understand fully what was happening, riots broke out by socialist and nationalist Chinese forces wanting to unify with mainland China, and patriotic fervor ran high among the Chinese people of the city. That was until December, when the people of Hong Kong saw the Japanese navy arriving on their shores. Overnight, the Japanese came to occupy the city. Hong Kong wasn't even made aware of their declaration of war until it was too late.

Chinese civilians fought bravely to defend Hong Kong but to no avail. The Japanese army committed massacres against women, children and men who resisted Japanese forces, resulting in worldwide condemnation by various powers, including Great Britain. In the end however, Hong Kong was pacified, and it's direct annexation was recognized by most major nations in the Cairo War.