Tokushima
Overview
Tokushima (lit. Virtuous Island') is an island off the Kitagawa Shogunate's southern coast and a protectorate of the Yllendyr Empire. The island was originally the target of a military expedition to quell raids by pirates, and afterwards was granted to the Ito clan for its role in spearheading the offensive. It was settled by the Yamato, gradually supplanting the indigenous population. The Ito clan has ruled for centuries, formerly as daimyō, now as viceroys under the suzerainty of the Imperium. Yllendyr rule has resulted in widespread modernization of the island’s infrastructure and its military. It was the Imperium’s staging ground for its invasion of the Kitagawa Shogunate and continues to be an important asset to Imperial influence in the north.
Economy
Following Tokushima’s industrial revolution in the wake of contact with the Yllendyr Imperium, textiles were the island’s first major export. Cotton and silk produced in rural home workshops became a cornerstone of the market and were in high demand abroad. Agricultural mills were increasingly becoming steam-powered, increasing their productivity. With the rise of steam power came a demand for coal, a major import of the island. Railways, modern roads and land reforms paved the way for modern development and improved infrastructure. Tokushima implemented new education systems based on that of the Yllendyr, sent thousands of young students to academies abroad and hired foreign professors to teach modern subjects, such as science, technology, mathematics and foreign languages.
Demographics
The vast majority of Tokushima's human population is ethnic Yamato. The influx of Yamato peoples drove out most of the indigenous ogre population, which fled to other islands north of Tokushima (now the Fibor Dynasty). Minor tribes of humans also existed on the island and were integrated into wider Yamato culture. Yllendyr elves are commonplace on the island, most being military advisors, entrepreneurs and academics. Altogether, Tokushima's population numbers about 44.6 million inhabitants.
Culture
Prior to the arrival of the Yllendyr, Tokushima was within the Kitagawa Shogunate’s political and cultural sphere. There is still an underlying belief in bushido among the population, despite a military model based on Yllendyr organization. Tokushima is no longer bound by a traditional class-based system, but the mentality still exists among the older, rural population, and former samurai families proudly reflect on their acclaim. As the country continues to modernize, a duality between traditional and contemporary mannerisms, dress and beliefs is commonplace.
Religious Beliefs
Traditional Yamato religion, Kami-no-michi, is still the dominant belief in Tokushima, albeit with some alterations. The Shogun is not seen as a divine figure, a belief propagated by the Yllendyr after it took the country under its wing. The execution of the Shogun also did much to alter traditional perceptions. There is a growing atheist movement styled around Yllendyr nature reverence. Both religions involve ancestor worship, which has made the new movement palatable to some Yamato.
Location/Territories
In maroon, south of the Shogunate and west of the Fibor Dynasty.
Climate
Like the Fibor Isles, Tokushima is a temperate, forested country with distinct warm and cool seasons. The average annual temperature is moderate - about 37℉ to 60℉. Summers are warm and rainy, while the winter season is dry. Broadleaf, conifer and mixed tree ecoregions are present in Tokushima’s biome.
Military
Because it is a protectorate, rather than a true vassal or client state, Tokushima maintains a standing military, modelled on the Yllendyr Army’s organization and equipment. Yllendyr personnel are a frequent sight be they military advisors or Imperial troops stationed on the island, working in tandem with Tokushima’s forces.
The Tokushiman Army is some 400,000 strong at present, with many of its soldiers hardened by Yllendyr’s attacks on the Kitagawa Shogunate. It is divided into twelve divisions, plus an elite Viceroy Guard division. Each division comprises two infantry brigades, with each brigade having two regiments, and those three battalions each. A division also maintains a cavalry regiment of three squadrons; an artillery regiment of two battalions, three batteries each; a battalion of engineers; and a telegraph company.
The standard infantry rifle of the Tokushiman Army is the Shimizu Type 60 rifle. It is a box-fed bolt-action repeating rifle, with an internal magazine capacity of five rounds. The rifle is chambered for the 6.5mm Shimizu cartridge. A carbine variant exists for cavalry, about twelve inches shorter than the standard rifle. In addition to the Type 60 carbine, cavalrymen carry sabres of roughly 33 inches, giving them the reach to attack infantry below.
The Tokushiman Navy is modelled after the Yllendyr Imperial Navy, with consideration to terms that limit the naval power of protectorates, vassals and client states. Tokushima has hired Yllendyr advisors to train its naval establishment, and likewise has sent students to learn at Yllendyr naval academies. This training has instilled Tokushima’s naval officers with capable gunnery and seamanship skills. As Yllendyr does not permit nations under its influence to maintain battleships, the backbone of Tokushima’s fleet is twelve protected cruisers. A number of corvettes and torpedo boats make up the remainder of the fleet. Tokushima also has a sizeable merchant cruiser fleet it can call on as auxiliary vessels.
Magic Prevalence/Usage and Elemental Alignment
Tokushima’s original Yamato settlers brought their mind magic with them. It is used as a cultural art form, rather than a tool of war, but some schools practice a method of subterfuge with said magic.
History
Tokushima was formerly inhabited by primitive tribes of ogres, orcs and their cousins, like the other islands southwest of Ookijima. Throughout the medieval era, these islands were staging grounds for pirates, who would harry the Azai Shogunate’s southern coast and disrupt the flow of trade. In 1693, the Azai decided they would no longer tolerate this. They sent an army led by the retainer Ito Kageharu to quell the raids. The next few years saw a series of naval actions against the pirate bands in the south, which would steamroll into a full-fledged invasion of the islands. What was intended to be a precise attack to halt piracy became a military expansion.
Tokushima was named after the expansion, and was granted to the Ito clan as a reward for its service. It was now an official province of the Shogunate. Yamato farmers were given incentives to leave the mainland and work Tokushima’s lands. Ookijima’s daimyōs kept on a long leash, however, and the shogun could not prevent civil war from breaking out when they reached their boiling point. As the Azai Shogunate’s power fractured, Tokushima became more and more independent from the mainland.
Tokushima came into its own as a power in the region when it defeated the neighboring Hog Dynasty. The Hog was forced to cede control of swathes of land to the Ito, and its defeat paved the way for the Fibor Dynasty to succeed it. With this victory, Tokushima drifted further from Ookijima’s political sphere, which was now under the reign of the Rokkaku Shogunate.
When the Rokkaku Shogunate collapsed, the Ito formally announced Tokushima’s independence. Without a standing army or central government, Tokushima’s move went uncontested. As the daimyōs warred on Ookijima, Tokushima turned its attention elsewhere, to the newly-established Fibor Dynasty and other continents.
The next few centuries saw changes in Tokushima’s political climate that would erode the power of the elite. Ito Takumi ascended to the head of the Ito clan and adopted a style of rule based on the enlightened absolutism movement of two years prior. Under Takumi, the power of Tokushiman nobility was diminished and peasants were granted stronger legal rights. He promoted the growth of commerce, establishment of cultural and educational institutions and religious tolerance.
Six decades later, abuses of power by Daimyō Ito Ryouichi lead to a peasant revolt. The cowardly Ryouichi abdicated, leaving his brother Nobu as daimyō. Nobu was in favor of peace, and he opened dialogue with the revolt’s leaders to seek an amenable solution. The talks resulted in the drafting of Tokushima’s first official constitution. While the Ito were allowed to maintain their rule, the nobility were virtually stripped of their former power. The peasantry gained representation at the local level and could hold local offices. The constitution also separated Tokushima’s executive and judicial branches into distinct entities.
The Yllendyr first made contact with Tokushima in 4825 YDC. The Yllendyr brought with them weapons and machines the Yamato had never seen before and Daimyō Ito Katashi was interested in their technology and culture. A relatively bloodless confrontation resulted in Tokushima accepting the status of an Imperial protectorate. The country was effectively independent and in-control of its internal affairs, but its foreign policy was to be controlled by the Yllendyr. Ito Katashi allowed the Yllendyr to undergo modernization efforts across Tokushima. In the Imperium, he saw a chance to expand Tokushima’s influence and increase its quality of life.
In 4832 YDC, the Imperium launched an invasion of Ookijima. Tokushima was to be the staging ground of the operation, and was ordered to lend military aid to the war effort. The attack forced Ookijima’s daimyōs to cooperate in an unparalleled level of unity, giving rise to the Kitagawa Shogunate. However, Yllendyr was undaunted. With superior military technology, tactics and manpower, the Shogunate fell.
The Yamato people were divided - those on the mainland harbored a resentment for the Yllendyr that persists to this day, while the Tokushimans readily accepted the Yllendyr and their modernization. Tokushiman public opinion weighed in favor of the Ookijima invasion. Many believed the attack was the first step in enlightening a backwards country that still clung to a shogun. When the Yllendyr executed the shogun in 4840, many felt it would herald progress.
As modernization efforts continued and Tokushiman soldiers returned victorious from Ookijima, the public lauded the Yllendyr and the Ito clan. The nation has generally held monarchist sympathies since. A unique cultural phenomenon has emerged, combining traditional Yamato aesthetics with modern Yllendyr values and mannerisms.
