Okay, so here's the revised Japanese history I've been working on so far. It's still very much in the developmental stage, but I figured I would share it in order to get your feedback as I work on it more. Consider this the rough, rough rough draft.
I figured the route I went down was more suitable. It still satiates the people's need for nationalism, while keeping the government officials heads on their shoulders, knowing full well a war with China will be impossible anytime soon (on their own, at least.)
So, without further ado, Japanese history version 1.6.
Modern History:
As China threw itself into chaos, the Japanese war machine stirred to life. Moving in from their Korean territory, and with massive support from their families back home, Japanese soldiers made quick work of the warlords of Northern China. Through many individual incursions fired in quick succession, all of Manchuria was eventually added to Japan's collection of mainland holdings. After a brief wait, Japan began it's move South, taking Beijing in another series of short-lived battles against unorganized and unprepared Chinese soldiers and civilians. With the North firmly under Japanese control, Hirohito granted the title of Emperor of Munchukoko to Puyi, a claimant to the Qing throne.
With continued support back home, and nothing standing in their way, Japan continued it's incursion along the Chinese coast, taking everything from Tianjin to Nanjing before finally slowing to a halt. Despite the desire of both the Emperor and his people for a continued conquest, resources were running low, and it was deemed best to firm Japanese grip on the territories they held rather than continue their push with no guarantee of being able to sustain themselves.
All while these incursions into China were going on, Unit 731 operated in the background, performing inhumane experiments on an unknown number of individuals from of the conquered territories of the Japanese Empire for many years. The secrets of Unit 731, as well as the existence of the unit itself, was kept a total secret from civilians, and even all but the highest ranking military officials. Even those tasked with defending the compound which Unit 731 worked out of knew little of what all was going on inside.
Within Japan itself, peace found a home, while many true Japanese citizens enjoyed comfortable lives, completely unaffected by their war to the West. Even parents felt their children were safe with how easy many of the battles in China were.
However, as always, peace was not allowed to last.
Having been able to hold their footing for so long, it was generally thought that China had just given up their will to fight against Japan, and many Japanese soldiers even joked about the idea of China fighting back. Support for and confidence in Japanese troops was through the roof, and the idea of further occupation of China was once again a discussion. What the Empire and those that made the decisions back at home didn't know, though, was that the ministers that had been appointed to the Chinese coastal holdings were not actually gathering any intelligence in China, and instead were simply stating out of confidence and arrogance that Japanese troops could handle whatever China had to offer.
So when the Chinese finally struck back against Japan, nobody was prepared, and many Japanese soldiers lost their lives, while the rest were forced to retreat again and again until Japan was finally forces completely out of the Chinese coast. Following the defeat and exposure of unit 731, as well as the destruction of the Japanese Naval Base in Dalain, Japan was forced to abandon Puyi to his own people, resulting once more in the destruction of a Qing Empire. Holding firm in Korea, and ensuring the safety of Taiwan, the Japanese government threw all plans for China out the window, and focused solely on defending against a possible Chinese retaliation, as well as against small rebel groups that formed in the wake of the humiliating loss of nearly all Chinese territory.
At this point, morale in Japan sunk to an all time low. The people were angry at the government for allowing their family members to die so easily, the government was angry at the military for failing to withstand the Chinese, and the military was angry with the civilians for not being able to support them better, and the refusal of most male citizens to enlist. Meanwhile, group after group of rebels were appearing in Indonesia, Korea, New Guinea and Taiwan following the release of the information on Unit 731, and what they were doing to the civilians of said territories.
For years, Japan was reduced to infighting, unable to really support, yet alone begin, rebuilding it's military. Between nationalist rebels in Indonesia and Papua New Gunea, civilian mobs in Taiwan and Communist rebels in Korea, the Japanese military shrunk and shrunk until it seemed like the Empire would collapse from the inside. However, with the installation of a new general in the Southern Islands, the rebels were able to be outmaneuvered, and eventually crushed.
Directly following the restoration of order to the South, however, was the Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Severely out manned, Japan barely put up a fight before evacuating what troops it could from Taiwan. Meanwhile in Korea, the Chinese-backed Communist rebels were able to take the Northern portion of the country under their control, and would hold it without problem until Hirohito agreed to the Tokyo Treaty which, along with the return of Taiwan to China, saw an independent North Korean state established.
The year following, Japan returned to isolation. With all of it's rebellions over, and peace with China in the foreseeable future, Japan was able to finally lick it's wounds, and begin it's path to recovery.
The first thing that was rebuilt, before any infrastructure, buildings or foreign ties, was civilian trust in their government. For a while, it seemed like the people would just need one small thing to anger them before the nation would see it's emperor casted out like a traitor. Even the Shinto priests, to whom the emperor was the descendant of the gods they worshiped, looked at Hirohito as if he were an imposter.
So, since war was far out of the question, Hirohito proved to the Japanese his strength, resolve and determination to the true Japanese people the only way possible.
In the Southern islands, military presence was nearly tripled, especially around the major cities. Non-Japanese citizens were treated with extreme harshness when it came to any form of crime. Eventually, internment camps were formed, where people would be sent to simple for being in the presence of somebody who had committed a crime. At the same time, the move of Japanese citizens to the southern islands was encouraged by the government, in an attempt to erase the cultures of the original inhabitants, solidifying the islands as properly Japanese.
As time went on, more and more Japanese citizens emigrated to the Southern islands, while the government continued to imprison, and eventually kill, the native islanders. Shinto and Buddhist temples were built in place of Sunni establishments, which were quickly made illegal. Young children were abducted, and put into boarding school systems, where they were forced to learn the Japanese language, taught about Japanese culture and history, and made to abandon any former beliefs they had. Parents who resisted their children being taken would have their homes broken into in the middle of the night, where they would be killed as their children were taken away. The home would then be burnt down, in an attempt to erase any evidence. Rumours quickly spread, and parents began to allow their children to be taken to the schools, fearing for their own lives. Of course, not all gave up so easily.
In 1973, the people began to fight back. At first it was just a few individuals across various locations lashing out against the Japanese government, but the acts of these martyrs sparked something in the people of the islands. More and more people began to fight back, attacking Japanese soldiers and citizens. The frequency of these attacks steadily increased over the next year, until an organize rebel group formed in central Indonesia in the summer of 1974. In a series of fast attacks, the rebels were able to take the southern half of Sulawesi, which had the lowest population of Japanese out of any of the Southern islands. Based in Makassar, the rebels tried to spread their forces out to the other islands, but were stopped by the stronger Japanese navy every time. Forced to focus their efforts solely on taking the rest of the island, the rebels pushed North with all their might, only to find a large Japanese force that had managed to build up far North. Unable to escape the island, and unable to defeat the Japanese military, the rebels were slaughtered, and brought with them nearly all locals living in the cities and town of the island of Sulawesi. As if to punish the innocent for allowing the rebels to form, the Japanese military systematically killed any non-Japanese citizen on the island for the next four years.
With their spirits broken, and fear filling their hearts and minds, the people inhabiting the southern islands began to comply with all demands made of them. When they were arrested and sent to the internment camps, they rarely resisted. All will to fight the Japanese had been lost, or at least, had become a very small flame. Not willing to risk another massacre like that of Sulawesi, the people had submitted fully. If there were any signs of another rebel group popping up, it was frequently their own neighbors that would forefront the destruction of the group, rather than the Japanese.
Meanwhile in Japan proper, faith in Hirohito had been restored. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, the emperor had ordered the systematic extinction of the cultures of the southern islanders over the last couple decades. Whether they were killed or adopted the Japanese culture, the population in the south had, for all intents and purposes, become a quarter Japanese by this point; half Japanese if you only count free citizens.
At this point, many Japanese citizens clamored for war with China, despite the fact the communist state could easily destroy the Japanese army, even without their allies joining in. Knowing this fully well, Hirohito refused, stating that if the citizens of Japan wished to seek vengeance on China, they would first have to ensure that the Japanese Empire had become fully Japanese. This was followed with a brazen lie that the reason Japan had lost to China in the first place was because of Indonesians, Malaysians, Koreans and other native islanders in the army kept the information about China organizing a secret, and that, when the day China invaded came, they were the first to run, leaving their Japanese counterparts to die like dogs.
Obviously upset at this new information, more so than ever, the want to deculturize all the non-Japanese parts of the Empire had grown. With the South firmly under their complete control, Hirohito turned his eyes to Korea. For years, there had been a fear that the South would rebel, in order to unite with their brothers to the North. However, Hirohito had refused to allow the same things taking place in the Southern islands to happen in Korea, out of fear that, while the islanders only had each other to rely on, a rebellion in response to deculturation and genocide in Korea could draw the attention of the communist Korean state and, by extension, the Chinese, giving them a reason to declare war on Japan.
For this reason, Hirohito has explicitly disallowed and military buildup in Korea, and has ordered the Koreans to be treated as equals to the Japanese, much to the displeasure of nationalist Japanese soldiers stationed in Korea. It has also allowed a rebel group to organize in the Korean state, with similar organization to that of a mafia. Under the guise of organized crime, the group managed to build itself up form nothing in only a few short years, becoming, unbeknownst to the Japanese, a very terrifying and threatening adversary that, when ready to strike, will leave catastrophic waves in it's wake.
Now, Japan stands alone in the world. Unwilling to side with Westerners for fears of being dragged into their affairs, the Japanese stand united under the aging Hirohito, putting their faith fully in him and the military. While not able to withstand an attack from the Chinese or any of it's allies, Japan has begun to eye the previous British colonial states to it's South, considering the value and risk of invasion in the future.
The people believe their government, military, and emperor are unstoppable. Hirohito's lie will only last so long before the people clamor for Japanese glory through conquest once more. No matter what he does, Hirohito knows that this is a fact, and that, eventually, he will have to declare war, unless he wishes for the people to take it upon themselves to bring glory to the Empire.
I thought it would make sense to avoid trying to culturize Korea into becoming more Japanese out of fears the North would retalliate, dragging China along with it. I also figured that it would work well in the Southern Islands, since they have no ties to the communist bloc, or anyone else, for that matter. It also solves the need the Japanese people would have felt to conquer, win, etc following their dishonorable loss, without dooming the nation to a suicidal war.
I figure the numbers will need tuning (like the 1/4 of the population becoming Japanese. What was I on to think that was reasonable in a couple decades? lol), but that's why I'm sharing it with you all. I think this will work much better if we fine tune Japan together, rather than me alone, asking for approval when I finish it.
Don't tear me into too many pieces. (•ิ_•ิ)
And now, I pass out for maybe the next 24-48 hours. I'm so sleep deprived, not even coffee can save my ass at this point.
I figured the route I went down was more suitable. It still satiates the people's need for nationalism, while keeping the government officials heads on their shoulders, knowing full well a war with China will be impossible anytime soon (on their own, at least.)
So, without further ado, Japanese history version 1.6.
Modern History:
As China threw itself into chaos, the Japanese war machine stirred to life. Moving in from their Korean territory, and with massive support from their families back home, Japanese soldiers made quick work of the warlords of Northern China. Through many individual incursions fired in quick succession, all of Manchuria was eventually added to Japan's collection of mainland holdings. After a brief wait, Japan began it's move South, taking Beijing in another series of short-lived battles against unorganized and unprepared Chinese soldiers and civilians. With the North firmly under Japanese control, Hirohito granted the title of Emperor of Munchukoko to Puyi, a claimant to the Qing throne.
With continued support back home, and nothing standing in their way, Japan continued it's incursion along the Chinese coast, taking everything from Tianjin to Nanjing before finally slowing to a halt. Despite the desire of both the Emperor and his people for a continued conquest, resources were running low, and it was deemed best to firm Japanese grip on the territories they held rather than continue their push with no guarantee of being able to sustain themselves.
All while these incursions into China were going on, Unit 731 operated in the background, performing inhumane experiments on an unknown number of individuals from of the conquered territories of the Japanese Empire for many years. The secrets of Unit 731, as well as the existence of the unit itself, was kept a total secret from civilians, and even all but the highest ranking military officials. Even those tasked with defending the compound which Unit 731 worked out of knew little of what all was going on inside.
Within Japan itself, peace found a home, while many true Japanese citizens enjoyed comfortable lives, completely unaffected by their war to the West. Even parents felt their children were safe with how easy many of the battles in China were.
However, as always, peace was not allowed to last.
Having been able to hold their footing for so long, it was generally thought that China had just given up their will to fight against Japan, and many Japanese soldiers even joked about the idea of China fighting back. Support for and confidence in Japanese troops was through the roof, and the idea of further occupation of China was once again a discussion. What the Empire and those that made the decisions back at home didn't know, though, was that the ministers that had been appointed to the Chinese coastal holdings were not actually gathering any intelligence in China, and instead were simply stating out of confidence and arrogance that Japanese troops could handle whatever China had to offer.
So when the Chinese finally struck back against Japan, nobody was prepared, and many Japanese soldiers lost their lives, while the rest were forced to retreat again and again until Japan was finally forces completely out of the Chinese coast. Following the defeat and exposure of unit 731, as well as the destruction of the Japanese Naval Base in Dalain, Japan was forced to abandon Puyi to his own people, resulting once more in the destruction of a Qing Empire. Holding firm in Korea, and ensuring the safety of Taiwan, the Japanese government threw all plans for China out the window, and focused solely on defending against a possible Chinese retaliation, as well as against small rebel groups that formed in the wake of the humiliating loss of nearly all Chinese territory.
At this point, morale in Japan sunk to an all time low. The people were angry at the government for allowing their family members to die so easily, the government was angry at the military for failing to withstand the Chinese, and the military was angry with the civilians for not being able to support them better, and the refusal of most male citizens to enlist. Meanwhile, group after group of rebels were appearing in Indonesia, Korea, New Guinea and Taiwan following the release of the information on Unit 731, and what they were doing to the civilians of said territories.
For years, Japan was reduced to infighting, unable to really support, yet alone begin, rebuilding it's military. Between nationalist rebels in Indonesia and Papua New Gunea, civilian mobs in Taiwan and Communist rebels in Korea, the Japanese military shrunk and shrunk until it seemed like the Empire would collapse from the inside. However, with the installation of a new general in the Southern Islands, the rebels were able to be outmaneuvered, and eventually crushed.
Directly following the restoration of order to the South, however, was the Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Severely out manned, Japan barely put up a fight before evacuating what troops it could from Taiwan. Meanwhile in Korea, the Chinese-backed Communist rebels were able to take the Northern portion of the country under their control, and would hold it without problem until Hirohito agreed to the Tokyo Treaty which, along with the return of Taiwan to China, saw an independent North Korean state established.
The year following, Japan returned to isolation. With all of it's rebellions over, and peace with China in the foreseeable future, Japan was able to finally lick it's wounds, and begin it's path to recovery.
The first thing that was rebuilt, before any infrastructure, buildings or foreign ties, was civilian trust in their government. For a while, it seemed like the people would just need one small thing to anger them before the nation would see it's emperor casted out like a traitor. Even the Shinto priests, to whom the emperor was the descendant of the gods they worshiped, looked at Hirohito as if he were an imposter.
So, since war was far out of the question, Hirohito proved to the Japanese his strength, resolve and determination to the true Japanese people the only way possible.
In the Southern islands, military presence was nearly tripled, especially around the major cities. Non-Japanese citizens were treated with extreme harshness when it came to any form of crime. Eventually, internment camps were formed, where people would be sent to simple for being in the presence of somebody who had committed a crime. At the same time, the move of Japanese citizens to the southern islands was encouraged by the government, in an attempt to erase the cultures of the original inhabitants, solidifying the islands as properly Japanese.
As time went on, more and more Japanese citizens emigrated to the Southern islands, while the government continued to imprison, and eventually kill, the native islanders. Shinto and Buddhist temples were built in place of Sunni establishments, which were quickly made illegal. Young children were abducted, and put into boarding school systems, where they were forced to learn the Japanese language, taught about Japanese culture and history, and made to abandon any former beliefs they had. Parents who resisted their children being taken would have their homes broken into in the middle of the night, where they would be killed as their children were taken away. The home would then be burnt down, in an attempt to erase any evidence. Rumours quickly spread, and parents began to allow their children to be taken to the schools, fearing for their own lives. Of course, not all gave up so easily.
In 1973, the people began to fight back. At first it was just a few individuals across various locations lashing out against the Japanese government, but the acts of these martyrs sparked something in the people of the islands. More and more people began to fight back, attacking Japanese soldiers and citizens. The frequency of these attacks steadily increased over the next year, until an organize rebel group formed in central Indonesia in the summer of 1974. In a series of fast attacks, the rebels were able to take the southern half of Sulawesi, which had the lowest population of Japanese out of any of the Southern islands. Based in Makassar, the rebels tried to spread their forces out to the other islands, but were stopped by the stronger Japanese navy every time. Forced to focus their efforts solely on taking the rest of the island, the rebels pushed North with all their might, only to find a large Japanese force that had managed to build up far North. Unable to escape the island, and unable to defeat the Japanese military, the rebels were slaughtered, and brought with them nearly all locals living in the cities and town of the island of Sulawesi. As if to punish the innocent for allowing the rebels to form, the Japanese military systematically killed any non-Japanese citizen on the island for the next four years.
With their spirits broken, and fear filling their hearts and minds, the people inhabiting the southern islands began to comply with all demands made of them. When they were arrested and sent to the internment camps, they rarely resisted. All will to fight the Japanese had been lost, or at least, had become a very small flame. Not willing to risk another massacre like that of Sulawesi, the people had submitted fully. If there were any signs of another rebel group popping up, it was frequently their own neighbors that would forefront the destruction of the group, rather than the Japanese.
Meanwhile in Japan proper, faith in Hirohito had been restored. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, the emperor had ordered the systematic extinction of the cultures of the southern islanders over the last couple decades. Whether they were killed or adopted the Japanese culture, the population in the south had, for all intents and purposes, become a quarter Japanese by this point; half Japanese if you only count free citizens.
At this point, many Japanese citizens clamored for war with China, despite the fact the communist state could easily destroy the Japanese army, even without their allies joining in. Knowing this fully well, Hirohito refused, stating that if the citizens of Japan wished to seek vengeance on China, they would first have to ensure that the Japanese Empire had become fully Japanese. This was followed with a brazen lie that the reason Japan had lost to China in the first place was because of Indonesians, Malaysians, Koreans and other native islanders in the army kept the information about China organizing a secret, and that, when the day China invaded came, they were the first to run, leaving their Japanese counterparts to die like dogs.
Obviously upset at this new information, more so than ever, the want to deculturize all the non-Japanese parts of the Empire had grown. With the South firmly under their complete control, Hirohito turned his eyes to Korea. For years, there had been a fear that the South would rebel, in order to unite with their brothers to the North. However, Hirohito had refused to allow the same things taking place in the Southern islands to happen in Korea, out of fear that, while the islanders only had each other to rely on, a rebellion in response to deculturation and genocide in Korea could draw the attention of the communist Korean state and, by extension, the Chinese, giving them a reason to declare war on Japan.
For this reason, Hirohito has explicitly disallowed and military buildup in Korea, and has ordered the Koreans to be treated as equals to the Japanese, much to the displeasure of nationalist Japanese soldiers stationed in Korea. It has also allowed a rebel group to organize in the Korean state, with similar organization to that of a mafia. Under the guise of organized crime, the group managed to build itself up form nothing in only a few short years, becoming, unbeknownst to the Japanese, a very terrifying and threatening adversary that, when ready to strike, will leave catastrophic waves in it's wake.
Now, Japan stands alone in the world. Unwilling to side with Westerners for fears of being dragged into their affairs, the Japanese stand united under the aging Hirohito, putting their faith fully in him and the military. While not able to withstand an attack from the Chinese or any of it's allies, Japan has begun to eye the previous British colonial states to it's South, considering the value and risk of invasion in the future.
The people believe their government, military, and emperor are unstoppable. Hirohito's lie will only last so long before the people clamor for Japanese glory through conquest once more. No matter what he does, Hirohito knows that this is a fact, and that, eventually, he will have to declare war, unless he wishes for the people to take it upon themselves to bring glory to the Empire.
I thought it would make sense to avoid trying to culturize Korea into becoming more Japanese out of fears the North would retalliate, dragging China along with it. I also figured that it would work well in the Southern Islands, since they have no ties to the communist bloc, or anyone else, for that matter. It also solves the need the Japanese people would have felt to conquer, win, etc following their dishonorable loss, without dooming the nation to a suicidal war.
I figure the numbers will need tuning (like the 1/4 of the population becoming Japanese. What was I on to think that was reasonable in a couple decades? lol), but that's why I'm sharing it with you all. I think this will work much better if we fine tune Japan together, rather than me alone, asking for approval when I finish it.
Don't tear me into too many pieces. (•ิ_•ิ)
And now, I pass out for maybe the next 24-48 hours. I'm so sleep deprived, not even coffee can save my ass at this point.