[center][img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6CRG6TzSq4k/maxresdefault.jpg[/img][/center]

[b]Nation[/b]
The Empire of Japan

[b]Location[/b]
(All claims on map plus off-screen Spratly islands)

[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/81dc0c40-645a-44ef-bb2e-b2d200fbb842.png[/img]

[hider=History]
The Empire of Japan came out of the Great War considering it a great victory. Unaffected by the apocalyptic battles of Europe, the Empire had made nothing but gains. Multiple island chains came under its control, doing for its prestige the same thing the Russo-Japanese war had done but multiplied tenfold. It was no longer just some Asian island nation, it was a true empire. Japan's dreams of replacing China seemed to be coming true. 

In the late 1920's, Japan seized the opportunity presented by China's political strife and internal weakness and took its place in the sun with a great series of conquests across the mainland. Beijing itself fell to the Empire, and was absorbed into the puppet state of Manchukoku. The final European holdings in China were "liberated" by advancing armies, and Japan could finally say without a doubt that it was equal to the great empires of Europe and solidly China's better. 

Their conquests allowed them to weather the depression, but only barely. The military was kept well-funded, but the citizens of the Empire had it far worse. This was the beginning of Japan's decline, and brought about complacency within the government. Fearing a total economic collapse were they to make further pushes into China, the Japanese military became nothing more than a resource sink. During the Chinese unrest in the 1930's the Empire of Japan was paralyzed, and unable to exploit it as they had the past conflict.

This would prove to be their greatest folly, as in 1941 Japanese forces in China were overrun and crushed by communist forces led by Wen Chu Ming. Their attack couldn't have come at a worse time for Japan, with the Second American Civil War having just come to an end Japan was still reeling from the loss of American trade. Under-supplied and ill-trained soldiers were but butter against the communist knife, and so the Empire fell to the First Humiliation with the loss of its Northern Chinese territories.

The Second Humiliation came in 1942, with the Imperial Japanese Navy stationed at Dailan being defeated by a surprise attack from land. Revolts began throughout the rest of Japan's mainland territories with the news that the IJN, the pride and joy of the Empire, had been defeated by nothing more than a street uprising. The unrest reached as far as Korea, and Imperial armies were diverted to stomp down the uprisings. This left their main line against China undefended, and in 1943 Beijing was retaken by China. Japanese forces retreated to northern Korea and the Empire officially surrendered all but Korea to the new Chinese government, the Third Humiliation.

Following the three humiliations, Japan had fallen from its status of a great power into a pathetic island nation that couldn't match its bark with its bite. For the next decade, the Empire of Japan steadily declined economically and militarily. It was only in 1952, with the assassination of the Russian Czar and subsequent dissolution of the Russian Empire, that Japan finally had a stroke of luck. As Russia broke apart, its eastern lands fell into disarray as independent states gained independence from Moscow to Siberia. Japan took the opportunity.

In 1953, the IJN and IJA launched a three-pronged offensive against the territories in the far east. The Army, stationed in Korea, stormed across the narrow border towards Vladivostick as another Army detachment moved into northern Sakhalin from the South. An IJN force supported marines in taking the rest of the Kurils and eventually moved into Kamchatka. It was Japan's first victory since the initial incursions into China after the Great War, and the government hailed it as a sign of things to come. Further pushes continued into former Russian territories until 1955, after which they were halted for fear of overextending.

A plan was designed to rebuild the Japanese economy by 1960, calling for the government to take control of "any industry deemed integral to the success of the nation". Industries deemed central to the state formerly controlled by capitalists were fully nationalized (such as rail lines, heavy industry, and shipyards), and non-essential industries were reorganized into a corporatist model and received heavy state funding. Large industrial expansions were also commissioned by the state, specifically countless new factories in the home islands and a total renovation of the north Korean defensive line.

This expansion was fueled by the recent conquests, which were bled dry of anything that could possibly be used in the project including people. In a move that expressed well Japan's remaining weakness, thousands of Russians were used behind closed doors as forced laborers to keep the project on schedule. Despite how ambitious the project was and the trauma it inflicted throughout the Empire, the "Five Year Plan" was ultimately completed on time in 1960.

The Empire of Japan now sets its sights on further conquests, and though still wary of challenging China opportunities such as the Philippines present themselves alongside the possibility of further expansion into Siberia or even a large-scale naval operation in Indonesia. However, the Empire must tread carefully, lest they attract the ire of any other power. Even in its current state, Japan is far from a major player. However, it certainly intends to become one.
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