Japanese Empire

The **Japanese Empire**, commonly known as **Japan**, is a sovereign state located in East Asia. The Japanese Empire is ruled by a diarchy between the Emperor, and the Tokugawa Shogun, known as the Kyoto-Edo axis.

As an island state, the Japanese Empire proper holds no direct boundaries with any other countries. However, through the Japanese possession of Xiamen it borders the Qing Empire.

## History

For two centuries starting after Tokugawa Ieyasu's establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan had isolated itself from the rest of the world except for several trading posts with the Netherlands, Qing China, Russia, and Ryukyu. This policy, called Sakoku, would last until the expedition of Russian admiral Yevfimiy Putyatin in 1854, which forced Japan to open the ports of Nagasaki, Shimoda and Hakodate to Russian vessels, which precipitated the signining of further treaties between other western powers and Japan.

However, this series of unequal treaties imposed upon Japan was seen as a humilliation by a large part of the japanese population, and served as catalyst for the foundation of the ***Sonnō jōi*** movement (revere the Emperor, expel the Barbarians), which called for the restoration of the Emperor as the sole figurehead of Japan, and the overthrow of the shogunal system. Supporters of the movement inflicted attacks upon the increasing Western presence, included the shelling of foreign shipping in the port of Shimonoseki or the murder of merchants, most remarkably that of british trader Charles Lennox Richardson. During 1864, these actions were successfully countered by armed retaliations by foreign powers, such as the British bombardment of Kagoshima or the brief Russian occupation of Hakodate.

Despite the conflict with Britain, the Satsuma Domain became closer to the British and eventually modernized its forces with assistance from the British, who were eager to counter French influence within the shogunate's government, which had replaced Russian influence over the last decade. Meanwhile the shogunate strived towards the construction of a modern and powerful military: a navy with a core of eight steam warships had been built over several years and was already the strongest in Asia. In 1865, Japan's first modern naval arsenal was built in Yokosuka by the French engineer Léonce Verny.

In 1866, after *Sonnō jōi* elements seized power in the Chōshū Domain, the Tokugawa Shogunate sent a new military expedition against the renegade domain. However, this expedition was defeated by the newly modernized army of the Chōshū Domain, which in turn caused the Tokugawa to suffer a considerable loss of authority, while Chōshū secretly allied with the Satsuma Domain under the leadership of Satsuma General Saigō Takamori. By mid-1867, the advancing forces of Satsuma and Chōshū occupied Kyoto, and wrote a letter in the Emperor's name demanding the "slaughtering of the traitorous subject Yoshinobu". Against their plans, Yoshinobu accepted their demands and abandoned power. However, his government's structure continued to exist, and Yoshinobu and his clan remained a prominent force in the evolving political order and retained many executive powers, a prospect that the Satsuma and Chōshū domains found intolerable. On January 3, 1868, forces from these domains seized the imperial palace in Kyoto in a coup, and the next day the new Emperor declared his "own" restoration to full power. Satsuma's general Saigō Takamori threatened the assembly with the abolition of the title "shōgun" and ordered the confiscation of Yoshinobu's lands. Enraged by this, Yoshinobu returned to Edo and ordered the immediate subjugation of the rebel domains, sending an army of 15,000 men towards Kyoto.
On January 27, both forces met at the Toba and Fushimi gates that led to Kyoto, and battle ensued. Due to numerical superiority and late modernization programs, the Shogun's forces won the battle, forcing Takamori's forces to retreat south after 2 days of battle, while the Imperial Court ultimately sided with the Shogunate. Yoshinobu and Emperor Mutsuhito met in Kyoto's palace, and a westernization of the state aswell as a return of political and legislative power to the Emperor was agreed on, while the Tokugawa dynasty would remain as the Shoguns in control of Japan. Following the conflict, the Shogunate and the Imperial Court agreed to carry out a large-scale modernization of the country, which included reforms such as the abolition of the personal armies of the daimyo and the creation of a national army, the reduction of the number of domains from 200 to 40, and the adjudication of the imperial provinces to the various military domains throughout the country. These reforms were repudiated by many and were the main cause of the Tohoku rebellions of 1874-75. However, these rebellions were quickly crushed and demonstrated the effectiveness and power of the new unified Japanese army. A decade later, Japan had emerged as a new industrialized nation, and had effectively escaped colonialism.

On March 7th, 1891, after several confrontations between Korean isolationists and Japanese, Japan imposed the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1891, forcing Korea, de jure under Chinese suzerainity, open to Japanese trade, and occupied the city of Keijō (formerly Seoul). Disgusted by this action, on April 28th the Qing declared the treaty as null and demanded that Japan withdrew from Korea. After the Chinese diplomats were sent back and the ultimatum was ignored, with Japanese troops coming to clash with the local Chinese garrisons, China's court pressured the Emperor to declare war on Japan. Clashing decisively in Pyongyang, Japan's modernization would be put to test as the outnumbered Japanese troops crippled and forced the surrender of the combined Qing and Korean forces, while in the Battle of the Yalu River the Chinese Beiyang Fleet was annihilated by the Japanese squadron under Enomoto Takeaki. In late 1891, the Qing requested an armistice, and on February 1892, China relinquished control over Korea, the island of Taiwan, and the port of Amoy, which were acquired by Japan. The war marked the end of China's hegemony over East Asia, and established Japan as one of the Far East's dominant powers.

## Order of Battle

### Army

As of January 1910, the Japanese Army has a total size of 26 divisions of 10.100 men each, giving it a total size of 262.600 men. Of these, 19 are infantry divisions, and 7 are cavalry divisions.

### Navy

As of January 1910, the Japanese Navy consists of 38 warships divided in 3 fleets:

* 4 battleships
* 6 armored cruisers
* 8 light cruisers
* 17 destroyers
* 3 submarines

## Economy

Japanese economy is largely agrarian, with the local daimyo controlling the production of rice, which depends on the domain. Nevertheless, some industrial cores have grown over the last decades in cities such as Edo, Kyoto, or Kagoshima, and Japan has turned into one of the world's main exporters of coal, in part thanks to the huge deposits found under Japanese soil.

## Colonial Empire

Despite the conservative policies of the Shogunate, and in part due to the pressure of the Samurai, Japan pursued a limited colonial expansion which resulted in the annexation of the formerly Chinese island of Taiwan, the port of Amoy, while also submitting the Joseon Dynasty to Japanese rule as a protectorate.

A policy of "Japanization" is currently being pursued and imposed upon the island of Taiwan, whom some Japanese see as a more southern part of the Japanese Archipelago. This has resulted in unrest in the island, but the Japanese have crushed uprising after uprising, and the situation does not look well for the few independentist or pro-Chinese groups that remain in existence.

## Culture

Japan's culture is among one of the oldest in the world, the Japanese imperial family in particular being the oldest unbroken line of succession dating back to the Kingdom of Yamato in 660 BC. Among their arts include calligraphy of "Kanji" (China's language carried over), "Ukiyo-e" paintings on tapestry or woodblocks, the "origami" paper-folding technique and the extravagant "Kabuki" or masked "Noh" theater performances.

Despite the recent entrance of Western culture and customs into Japan, the shogunate maintains a fine watch over new social advancements, with the Shinsengumi cracking down on revolutionary ideologies, most remarkably those of left-wing, like socialists or communalists. Nevertheless, the tight grip the *bakufu* holds over Japanese society is starting to weaken; Episodes of unrest like the bloody Edo Riots of 1902 have forced the government to make some concessions to the masses, like lowering the maximum amount of work hours to 12.