Chapter 18
Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun. One of the more popular countries to use in AH either as a protagonist or antagonist (I blame anime).
In OTL the United States at first regarded Japan as a convenient new market for American goods, later shifting to a sort of “isn’t that adorable?” attitude as it began modernizing, followed by a period of relative friendship in the early 20th century before colliding American and Japanese interests led to cooling relations and ultimately war. In the Separate-verse America identified Japan as a potential target for either British or Russian colonial expansion, and New York intervened in TTL’s version of the Boshin War in an attempt to contain the growing influence of its enemies. Once the American-backed Imperial Restorationists had defeated the British-backed Shogunate and elevated the Emperor to ruler-in-truth Japan became the recipient of a concerted campaign of American assistance in modernizing and industrializing. The United States considered Great Britain a potential existential threat and Japan a potentially valuable ally in the inevitable coming war with the British (which it ultimately was). The subsequent differences can be seen; in OTL Japan sent out missions to learn from Europe and America how to modernize, ITTL the United States sent missions to Japan to assist Japan in its modernization. It was American military missions- not British or German ones- that trained the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. The American government invested in Japanese industry, establishing munitions factories in Japan with the idea that they would greatly simplify logistics for American forces in the western Pacific and East Asia by removing the need to bring supplies all the way from North America through Royal Navy opposition. Japan was influenced culturally by the United States in OTL- witness the Japanese adoption of baseball and the influence of early American cartoons and animation- but American influence ITTL was more profound and affected different areas. Fascism had a major impact on Japanese political thought, as did American democratic ideas, and the experience of fighting alongside the Americans during the World War- particularly in the Liberations of the Philippines and Ireland- shaped Japanese military culture in directions it never followed in our world.
The legacy of these changes was a Japanese Empire that, while recognizable to an OTL observer, was fundamentally different on a variety of levels.
The flourishing port of Edo, 1922
By 1925 the Japan of the Separate-verse was considerably richer and more industrialized than the Japan of OTL- early American economic investments many times larger than what Japan had scraped up to start its modernization in our world yielded a GDP-per-capita of over $3,000 (OTL 1990 USD) per person compared to a mere $1,745 in OTL 1935 (there was still fairly serious income inequality however). The experience of sudden and relatively rapid modernization had radically altered Japanese society, at first with a wave of Americo- and Euro-philia, but was later followed by a cultural reaction that reached back to historic Japanese traditions for inspiration. By this point a unique form of fascism had emerged to dominate Japanese politics; anti-racist like American fascism
Pan-Asianism stressed common Asian cultural practices- various strands of Buddhism, reverence for an Emperor, community over self, and clearly delineated social roles drawn from either Confucianism or Hinduism. Pan-Asianism wasn’t
opposed to uniquely Japanese cultural expressions- the Japanese Pan-Asians regarded Japanese culture as the most uniquely “Asian” of all cultures as Japan had never been conquered by foreigners- but it hunted for similarities where they existed, and invented similarities when they didn’t.
Japan in the Separate-verse is a much wealthier country, private ownership of motorwagens (because we must
have our own special name for the automobile) and telephones among the middle class was widespread by the 1920s, although there remained a considerable gap between rich and poor
In OTL Japan’s annexation of Korea came after a long period of growing economic and military dominance and resulted in the subjugation of the Korean people and an attempt to forcibly Japanize them. In the Separate-verse Japanese troops were greeted as liberators as they swept the remaining elements of brutal Russian colonial rule from Korea and Manchuria. Japanese troops- many veterans of the Liberations of the Philippines and Ireland- memorized phrases from local languages, were strictly instructed to respect local cultures, and the Imperial Japanese Army actively pursued a policy of
kokoro to kokoro (“hearts and hearts”) designed to win the support of the populace. Imperial rule was consciously based on American rule over Old Mexico and Britain’s rule over its dominions- Korea and Manchuria were theoretically monarchies equal in stature to Japan under a European-style personal-union with legislatures that theoretically had all of the powers of American states. Meanwhile Japan cultivated a collaborationist caste similar to the Mexican
Criollos, in Manchuria these were the long-suffering Manchus and other minority ethnic groups, in Korea they were a new social class of Buddhists, western-influenced professionals, and believers in Pan-Asianism who referred to themselves as the
yangban. These collaborators enjoyed economic and political power and in exchange helped to maintain Japanese rule.
And it was still Japanese rule, despite the greater acceptance and integration of non-Japanese peoples. Korea and Manchuria might have their own legislatures, but they had no representation in the Imperial Diet in Tokyo, and it was the Imperial Assembly that controlled the national budget, the military, foreign affairs, and other national programs. Those legislatures might have competitive elections, but they had a limited suffrage, and radical parties (Geoists, Socialists, Nationalists who weren’t Japanese or Pan-Asian) were banned. They might have a degree of cultural autonomy but it was Korean and Manchurian children who learned Japanese as a second language in school, not Japanese children who learned Korean or Manchurian. The Empire might use mixed military units to encourage national unity- ensuring that Japanese, Korean, Manchu, and Chinese soldiers served alongside each other- and even allowed non-Japanese officers to rise to command posts, but the general staffs of the IJA and IJN remained entirely Japanese, as did everyone above the rank of major in the army or captain in the navy. The new territories provided vital sources of resources and cheap labor, but the economic planning that directed their use all occurred in Tokyo.
Imperial Japanese Navy warships bombard the port of Busan in preparation for landing troops during the Liberation of Korea.
The term for this new system of government was coined by Speaker Fujimori Takahashi of the Imperial Assembly mere hours before the start of what the Empire dubbed the Liberation of Korea.
“You are the soldiers of Imperial Democracy.” The Speaker told the assembled troops of the Japanese Expeditionary Force to Korea. “Never forget this.”
‘Imperial Democracy’ was the ultimate product of the blend of Japanese and American political thought that emerged in Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Imperial Democracy meant that the people had a right to a voice in government, but though all were equal in the eyes of Heaven, different classes of people- loosely inspired by the four castes of the
shinōkōshō- occupied different roles in society with different duties and responsibilities, and the responsibilities of electing and administering the government did not fall equally on all persons. Rather, there was a political class that could vote by having “served the state” or passed a suffrage test demonstrating their understanding history, law, and politics, and above them a more restricted governing class with more stringent tests and qualifications who could actually be elected to office. Outside of these classes were non-voting citizens who at least theoretically enjoyed full legal and (non-political) civil rights, and a class consisting of criminals and enemies of the nation who deserved no rights at all. The role in society for “emerging peoples” like the Koreans was different from that of the Japanese, who were responsible for protecting and guiding Korea to freedom and modernization. The Emperor of course was sovereign under Imperial Democracy, the Son of Heaven checking the dangerous passions of partisan politics with his absolute veto and ensuring that strong, decisive leadership was always available, unburdened from the pressures of needing to seek re-election. Only through these means, argued the Japanese thinkers, could democracy truly function and the Lockean Social Contract be upheld.
As the easiest way for citizens of the Empire- whether Japanese or non-Japanese- to acquire voting rights was through voluntary military service, the Imperial military became the primary vehicle for social mobility, a hugely significant societal institution and ironically an important advocate for the non-Japanese citizens who made up a growing percentage of its rank-and-file.
Imagine the bastard child of a Heinleinian stratocracy, political Confucianism, and the traditional Japanese class system, and you get Imperial Democracy.
While Pan-Asianism began as a pro-Asian movement that was ambivalent towards other cultural traditions, it rapidly birthed a supremacist strain in active opposition to what it considered “Westernism”. This branch of the movement was anti-Christian, anti-Muslim, anti-Geoism, and anti-American, while still embracing technology and science regardless of its source (they weren’t suicidal after all). By the beginning of the first Draco-American War the supremacists didn’t dominate Pan-Asianism, but they were growing steadily in influence as Japanese and American interests collided across Asia and the Pacific. Although Japan had acquired Korea five years later than OTL, it had acquired Manchuria sixteen years earlier and greater genuine loyalty (or at least tolerance) from its subject peoples saw those regions grow into economic benefits to the Empire in ways they never were in our world. American businesses found themselves drawn further and further into competition with Japanese ones, Japan’s withdrawal from the International Trade Organization making this economic conflict explicit even as it enforced a protectorate over the crumbling Tian Dynasty of China, annexing outlying islands (Taiwan, Hainan, etc.) and major port cities. This endangered American investments in China and had the potential to weaken America’s military presence in the region as well- the Imperial Japanese Navy was no match for the United States Navy but it was still the second largest navy in the world and now it had bases that were dangerously close to the Philippines. A Philippines whose liberation from American control was now being called for by political radicals in Japan and in the
Perla de Oriente itself.
Once allies, the two Pacific titans now were on a path towards conflict.