[quote=@Eldritch Puppy]
[@Lady Lascivious] I would suggest that, as mentioned before, Japan was swept by a particularly virulent plague that left Japanese society prone to rebellion. With so many people dead, it could justify women getting a more prominent role in society in 19th century Japan.
[/quote]

Not super keen on a drastic population reduction, though. It kind of ruins any plans I might have had for joining in some jolly good wars on the continent if everyone's dead. My reasons for picking Japan was its relatively high population, and the high number of women who fought in the Sengoku period and even some insisting on fighting during the Boshin War and Satsuma Rebellions providing a lot of fun historical material to play with. 

And I had no opposition to the original divergence whatsoever. I'm, well, the kind of person who wrote up basically Nazbol Japan for fuck's sake. My point was simply that I thought my proposal was perfectly sound with what, to me, seems a pretty damn unlikely scenario. Mine is, also, unlikely, yes. But I assumed that in a world where the British were willing to cede that much control to a non-European nation and the Austrians caving into super liberal ideas in the 1840s, it was perfectly reasonable.