八紘一宇 - Hakkō Ichiu

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Asami

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八紘一宇
Hakkō ichiu

A Tale of the Empire of Japan

by Asami
 
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1. Meiji the Great

Asami

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一. 明治大帝
Chapter One: Meiji the Great
…the contrast between that which preceded the funeral car and that which followed it was striking indeed. Before it went old Japan; after it came new Japan.”
- New York Times, 1912, after the funeral of the Meiji Emperor

The death of the Emperor Meiji was perhaps the most somber event to have taken Japan in years. The Emperor had watched over the ascent of Japan through the 19th century recursive bakufu governance, and into the modern age of constitutional government, where the storms of war were gathering as Europe armed itself to the hilt, and China fell into a state of anarchy under the guise of republican revolution, lead by men like Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, and the Kuomintang.

At approximately 1 o’clock in the morning of the same day as the Emperor’s death (30 July 1912), two of the three 'sanshu no jingi' were handed over to the Crown Prince. He received
Kusanagi, the sword; and Yasakani no Magatama, the jewel, as well as the formal seal of the state. The new Emperor was not of completely sound mind and body, having spent his entire life with varying levels of neurological issues; however, he still found himself in possession of the items that struck like a bolt from the blue—he was now the Emperor of Japan, and in his hands, he possessed the items that legitimized his rule. He was conferred these honors less than a quarter-hour after the demise of his father. With this done, the Meiji Era had ended, and the Taisho Era had begun.

Two weeks after the death of the Emperor, his body was transferred from his deathbed to the hinkyuu (殯宮, temporary imperial mortuary) which had been put together in the central pavilion of the Imperial Palace. The Emperor’s deceased body had been enclosed in a space boxed in on three sides with white cloths, and the fourth by a shutter. He was placed in this enclosure with his sword, and his coffin decorated with the sakaki (榊), a sacred tree in Shinto. During the procession of his body lying in state, over 50 days, every tenth day, offerings of food and textiles were placed before the coffin, and eulogies to honor the Emperor were given.

On the 29th, the Emperor, whom in his life as Crown Prince had the name Mutsuhito, and as Emperor was merely referred to as ‘His Majesty the Emperor’ (天皇陛下, tennouheika), was given his permanent posthumous name. It was decided that the posthumous Emperor should be known forever more as 明治天皇 (Meiji-tennou). The Crown Prince also decided upon his nengou (era) name. He would take up 大正 (Taishou), which loosely translates to 'great righteousness’.

On the 4th of September, the diplomatic corps of foreign nations were invited to pay a visit to the Emperor’s place of temporary internment and pay their respects. As the de-facto leader of the diplomatic corps in Japan, the Ambassador to Japan from the Court of St. James deposited a silver crown at the Emperor’s grave.

9 days later, a memorial tablet carrying the name of Emperor Meiji was placed in his private chambers, while the funeral was conducted. At 19:00, the body was carried via a golden chariot from the palace towards his eternal resting place. He was accompanied by a funeral parade of 300 people carrying torches, gongs, drums and other material. This procession was also joined by military bands, and a youth group from Yase, northeast of the ancient capital, Kyoto.

At 11:15, the Emperor’s last rites, salutes and offerings were started. General Nogi, a hero of the Russo-Japanese War, and a man of great national renown, committed seppuku with his wife so that he may accompany the Emperor in the afterlife. Whilst the funeral celebrations and other things like it would not stop until 1913, the newly ascended and not-entirely-present Emperor Taishou would have to buckle down and prepare himself for his new role as Emperor of Japan.

It was not long after the last rites were given, that a new political crisis sprang up, testing the new Emperor’s mettle and wit.
 
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Asami

Banned
I am posting Chapter 1 now, as a test of the waters to see if people will enjoy this.

I'm hoping this TL will enjoy the same acclaim that Qilai! Qilai! did. Chapter 2 is already done, but I'm going to be looking over it and refining some details before I feel confident enough to release it. Chapter 3 is also in the spanner as well. I am far more rockier and less versed in Japanese politics and affairs outside of the narrow window of 1936-1945, than I am with China, however... I feel I can muster up something to enjoy. ;)
 
2. Taishou Political Crisis

Asami

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二. 大正政変
Chapter Two: Taishou Political Crisis

November 1912 - June 1914
By the end of the year, the Emperor’s first trials would be undertaken. Under the Meiji Emperor, government spending had grown incredibly high, as the Imperial Japanese Army sought to expand. The Meiji Constitution provided a clause in which the military would come to have a level of bargaining power over the civilian government—the constitution required that the office of Army Minister must be filled by an active-service Lieutenant General or General.

In the months following the Emperor’s death, debates and disputes over the military budget for 1913 had continued to escalate. Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi did not want to further empower the armed forces, whilst the armed forces, largely under the leadership of genrō Field Marshal Yamagata Aritomo, wanted to further expand the budget for the Army to field stronger units to further their expansionist thirst, which had been only briefly satiated with the annexation of Korea in 1910, and the victories over Russia and China in 1905 and 1894, respectively.

In November 1912, General Uehara, the sitting Army Minister, resigned due to the inability for the cabinet to accede to the Army’s demands. Despite the attempts of the Prime Minister, no military officer was willing to take the position out of fear of being ostracized from their own military comrades.

On December 21st, 1912, Prime Minister Saionji was forced to resign, bringing down his civilian government.

The Emperor was initially pressured to appoint Katsura Tarou to the office of Prime Minister. Katsura was a former military officer, and a member of the genrō. However, the Emperor exercised a more neutral option. Inoue Kaoru was appointed to the office of Prime Minister on the same day. Inoue was meant primarily to be a stop-gap measure, and would keep the state on a balanced line between the Army and Navy’s propelling influence.

Almost immediately, the Army and Navy threatened to undermine the Inoue government by refusing to allow the appointment of military ministers within the government. They insisted that the Emperor appointed a man from their two quarreling factions to the office, and spare them the theatrics of a statesman. The Emperor was not very happy with this assertion on their part, and issued an edict, mandating that the Navy and Army were both required to provide to the cabinet appointments to the ministry.

To gather support for him democratically, the Prime Minister managed to cultivate many representatives in the Diet away from the main parties, and called together the formation of the 自由党 (Jiyuuto, ‘Freedom Party’).

While the Jiyuuto was not the majority party in the Diet, it was a marked step in the establishment of a continuity of constitutional politics and the marked attempts by anti-militarists to keep the military from meddling in civilian government affairs. The legislative system of the Taisho era is pointedly remembered as being overly chaotic, with new parties springing up constantly in the name of certain policy or personal advocating. The Jiyuuto was the first party which billed itself as a ‘big-tent party’, encompassing the support for certain freedoms for male populations, and for the state to lend its aid to the developing zaibatsu to expand Japan’s economic power instead of outright subjugating everyone. The party borrowed its name from an early Meiji era political party, the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement (自由民権運動), which sought to establish universal democracy instead of oligarchic democracy. The Jiyuuto was soon joined by other small parties in forming an informal alliance, called the Sakurakai (‘cherry blossom society’) which was dedicated to the empowerment of the civilian government, and the continuation of the balance of Imperial power, and civilian power.

While the public did stage protests aimed against the entrenchment of the genrō over the general authority of the democratic civilian government with his appointment, the Prime Minister managed to silence many of the protests by openly challenging the ‘military appointments’ rule that had undone the previous administration.

He convinced the increasingly annoyed Diet to repeal the rule that required both a Navy Minister and an Army Minister be appointed to the office. The repeal of the rule took place in late January 1913.

With his best efforts put into place, the Prime Minister managed to stave off attempts to unseat him from within and outside of the Diet, and secured his continuous rule, whilst the Emperor dealt with his increasingly infirm mind and body.

In early 1914, Prime Minister Inoue publicized and was the primary force behind what would become the Siemens Scandal. This scandal revealed that the Japanese navy, which was under a rapid expansion program to meet the demands of a potential war in the Pacific, and the need to assert Japanese dominance in the region—was importing necessary materials, such as advanced plans and weaponry. While this was not bad by itself, the details were what mattered—to meet their needs, they were importing from Europe.

Siemens AG, a German company, was enjoying a monopoly over Japanese contracts in exchange for a 15% kickback to the naval authorities responsible for the contracts.

After an attempt by the British company Vickers to take the contracts by offering a 25% kickback and a significant sum of money to the Japanese admiral responsible for anointing them as the primary provider of warship materials, the German headquarters of Siemens fired off a telegram to Tokyo, demanding clarification into matter.

Despite the efforts of Siemens to downplay the situation to their corporate masters, Karl Richter, an employee of Siemens, stole incriminating documents, and through the chain of money passing through the palms of politicians and men, they ended up in the hands of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister’s public reveal of the information whipped Japan, and its press corps into a frenzy, particularly when it was revealed that the Navy was going to attempt to force the Cabinet and Diet to approve a tax increase to pay for the rampantly over-budget Navy. By mid-February, most of the naval officers involved in the matter were arrested, and the government had been cleared of being involved with the charges, as the Prime Minister had no prior ties to the Navy.

Dozens of people were arrested in the matter of the procurement scandal, and in March, the Diet passed a heavily amended Naval Budget for 1914, significantly reducing the money that the Navy had to expand their scope. A court martial reduced several men, including Saitou Makoto and one of the genrō, Admiral Yamamoto Gonnohyoe, to a lower rank, although both men avoided imprisonment. As well, the Japanese government banned Vickers and Siemens from further contracts for the Japanese navy.

Once all was said and done, the Prime Minister was resolute to continue the ship of state forward. However, a few weeks after the affair had concluded, and the men were behind bars or discredited, the world was turned upside down…
 
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Reads pretty good so far...
Hopefully the imperial Army will clean some of their own hotheads so that the moderates can take charge...
 

Asami

Banned
Reads pretty good so far...
Hopefully the imperial Army will clean some of their own hotheads so that the moderates can take charge...

It would be difficult to convince the Imperial Army to do much of anything that doesn't involve endless expansion, barring a foreign power pummeling them into ash.

So it's the army-navy rivalry then...

EH, that's a given. I mean, it's like from the day they were founded, they were at one another's throats. Hell, I'm like 80% certain the lower ranks would assassinate their rivals on a semiregular basis.

I tend to agree with Knightmare here, it seems that Japan's Army and Navy in the 20th century were constantly at each other's throats trying to compete for money and the attentions of the state. The Army wanted to expand into China, the Navy wanted to expand into the Pacific. The Army wanted to take on the USSR in the 1930s, the Navy wanted to take on America.

They've always had conflicting goals, and never got along.

Interesting, I hope that Inoue's reform would make a vast change about the Japanese political map in next chapters.

Minor nitpick.

Thank you for the nitpick. I am only at an amateur level of Japanese right now, and so these typos pass by my head really easily.

But yeah, Inoue is trying his hardest to keep the affairs of state in one-piece, and keep Japan from being taken over by one branch or another.

Hmmmm... Now this has definite promise :) Will follow with interest...

^^
 
3. World War I

Asami

Banned
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. 第一次世界大戦
Chapter Three: World War I
June 1914—January 1915
On June 28th, 1914, the world was forever changed. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated in Sarajevo during a visit to the newly annexed Bosnian territory. At 10:45 am, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg were shot dead by a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip.

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand sent waves rocking through the courts of Europe. Anti-Serb riots rocked the city of Sarajevo, in which Croatian and Bosniak people killed ethnic Serbs and destroyed Serbian businesses explicitly to destroy Serbian influence in the province that Vienna had annexed a scant 6 years prior.

After a month of attempts to reach a diplomatic solution—during which time, all efforts had been solidly rebuffed by Serbia and their patron, the Russian Empire, the Austrians turned to coercion to get what they wanted. On 23rd July, the Austrians issued the July Ultimatum, a list of ten demands which were made intentionally unacceptable as so to provoke a war against the Serbian monarchy. The following day, the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, ordered a general mobilization of the armed forces for two Ukrainian districts, the Kazan district, and the Moscow districts—as well as his navies in the Baltic and Black Sea.

The day after that, July 25th, the Serbs mobilized their armed forces and announced the accepting of 9 of the ten terms of the ultimatum—all except for Article Six, which would have mandated that the Austrians be able to send delegates to personally investigate Serbian participation in assassination of Franz Ferdinand.

After breaking off relations and mobilizing, on July 28th, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia, plunging the world into a war that would take millions of lives before it’s end. The following day, Russia issued mobilization orders against Austria-Hungary, drawing the ire of Germany—whom then demanded Russia stop. On the 30th, Russia then mobilized against Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II, in an impassioned plea to his cousin Nicholas II, requested he suspend mobilization, an offer which was refused.

On August 1st, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, which had mobilized against the Austro-Hungarian state already. The first stage of the Great War had taken shape, and the two soon went to blows. However, there was another stage that needed mentioning—the West.

France and Germany were historical enemies, and the two loathed each other so immensely, over the matters of Alsace-Lorraine, and Germany’s brutal defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War years prior. In the following days, Germany declared war and attempted to invade Luxembourg and France. On August 4th, German forces crossed into Belgium after the Belgians refused to grant the Germans passage.

That same day, Britain declared war on the German Empire, as the Germans had violated the Treaty of London, and had refused British demands to keep Belgium neutral in the war.

Japan’s involvement in World War I largely stemmed from their 1902 alliance with the British Empire. In the first week of the war, the Japanese government decided that the situation afforded to them was too good—even Prime Minister Inoue recognized that by seizing Germany’s territories in China, it would allow for the expansion of Japanese economic power, and allow for Japan to wedge her way into a position of hegemony in Asia, without the need for careless warmongering, particularly against a nation like China, or, Kami forbid, America.

On 7 August, the British replied to Japan’s initial diplomatic suggestion, this time officially asking Japan to help eliminate raiders from the Imperial German Navy’s Ostasienflotte in and around Chinese waters. Japan agreed to this, and dispatched an ultimatum to Germany on 14 August 1914, demanding the immediate handover of all German territory in the Pacific to Japanese control. Berlin did not answer the ultimatum, believing it impossible for Japan to inflict any damage upon them in any manner. Thus, Germany and Japan went to war after the Japanese issued a declaration of war on August 23.

Two days later, Japan declared war on the Austrians after they refused to withdraw the SMS Kaiserin Elizabeth from the Tsingtao concession port.

The Japanese wasted no time in sending troops to dispatch Germany’s colonies in Asia. In early September, Japanese naval forces landed in the Shandong Peninsula, which was only nominally under the control of the Peking government.

Yuan Shikai remained President of the Republic of China, but his power was rapidly collapsing. The man’s ham-fisted efforts to contain people whom disagreed with him was damaging him politically. By 1914, he was ruling with military fiat, banning organizations (including the revolutionary Kuomintang organization), and was disregarding the power of the provinces, preferring to rule entirely from Peking, and Peking alone. However, warlords, and Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary Kuomintang were throwing off his game, and giving him one headache after another.

So, when the Japanese staged their invasion of Qingdao from within Chinese territory, they received no complaints from the Chinese government, as they were completely and utterly subdued and incapable of issuing any type of response to the Japanese violation of their territory.

During the Japanese siege of Qingdao, on 6 September, a seaplane launched from the Wakamiya inflicted damage upon Kaiserin Elizabeth and the German gunboat Jaguar with bombs, but did not sink the ships. As the Japanese forced their way into the settlement, the Jaguar and her three sister ships were scuttled. The Kaiserin Elizabeth soon followed. While Japan did not capture any ships, they did manage to take Qingdao, which was upheld as a triumph back home.

Throughout October 1914, the Imperial Navy, looking to play a risky game and gain more influence domestically, acted without the support of the state, and seized several of Germany’s island colonies in the Pacific Basin on their own. This annoyed the Prime Minister, but he played it off, stating that the civilian leadership had determined these targets to be of use in the long-term, as it would allow Japan’s safety to be assured. He was unsure how to deal with the unruly naval commanders acting outside of the scope of their orders, but did not want to undermine the war effort.

The first months of World War I had afforded for the Empire of Japan an immense ability to expand her power. Prime Minister Inoue was very cautious about how to deal with these issues, and did not want to allow any branch of the armed forces to gain an upper-hand and impose their will on the civilian government. He hoped that more moderate officers would emerge, but he was doubtful this would take place.

In 1915, with the Germans incapable of launching a counter-attack against Japan's seizure of their colonies, Japan's foreign policy matters drew the Prime Minister's attention to China. Yuan Shikai was continuing to wreak havoc in the Chinese political hierarchy, and calls were growing for the Prime Minister and his government to do something to bring China into line. While some wanted to simply lay out an ultimatum to submit to Japanese authority, Prime Minister Inoue was more willing to play a longer game...

 
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4. The Anti-Republican Movement

Asami

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四. 反共和党運動
Chapter 4: The Anti-Republican Movement

January 1915—September 1915
In 1908, the Dowager Empress Cixi of China died, leaving the throne to the nearly 3-year-old Aisin-Gioro Pu-yi. The new Emperor was placed under a regency lead by his father, Prince Chun. After a brief four years as Emperor, in 1912, the Xinhai Revolution brought down the Qing Empire, and dissolved it. The absolute power of the Forbidden City began to poison the young prince’s mind, and he soon became a tyrant, ordering the beating of eunuchs for minor transgressions—however, the young Prince was also not without influence, namely in the form of tutors from foreign countries, and a few sensible minds in the court.

Prime Minister Inoue recognized that a divided China, even if not entirely under Japanese authority, was still a better solution than a single, unified, indivisible China. He acquiesced to some of the radicals’ demands, and issued what were then termed as the 対華15ヶ条要求 (en: Fifteen Demands). These demands were nothing Japan had not already demanded of China, but it was a general reaffirmation of Japan’s position as the dominant regional power in China. Yuan Shikai’s government attempted to force Japan to withdraw the demands by publicizing them, sparking a wave of anti-Japanese sentiment in China.

However, in the Fifteen Demands, while Japan demanded a laundry list of things—including preferential treatment, and the ceasing of handing out concession ports to foreign powers, it also demanded a significant number of extensions of Open Door policies that had been in place prior, despite extension of Japanese economic dominance in Manchuria and Shandong. The Fifteen Demands, therefore, received zero complaint from amongst the foreign courts, particularly Britain and America, whom stood to gain from the extension of the Open-Door policy. Russia’s complaints were heard but not listened to—as they were in the middle of fighting a war of horrendous attrition against Germany.

Yuan’s plan backfired, and the President accepted Japan’s demands. Japan’s exports to China took a minor hit, but did not sharply drop, as the attempts by revolutionaries to organize a boycott of Japanese goods failed, as the terms of the treaty were not more than what the Chinese had already been expecting.

With that done, Prime Minister Inoue began to plot to damage the integrity of the Chinese Republic through diplomatic intrigue. With Yuan’s power teetering, Inoue made overtures to the Forbidden City’s rump court, implying Japan’s interest in the restoration of the Qing monarchy under certain… constitutional reforms on the Qing’s part. This drew the attention of some royalists within both Yuan’s government, and the Beiyang Army, whom were interested at the idea of restoring the defunct monarchy.

In secrecy, the Anti-Republican Movement was put together, mostly lead by a cabal of Chinese officers, the Qing monarchy’s rump leadership, and several Japanese advisers whom had an express interest in utilizing a dependency in China to rapidly pump money into the economy. This movement began to consider operations to weaken the power of the Republic, and to set the stage for a restoration, at least in parts of China—they were in it for the long-haul, as the Japanese advisers put it.

The treatise that put the Fifteen Demands into place was finally signed in May 1915, and Yuan could turn internally to start putting into place his plan to end the strife in China—whatever that was.

Inoue’s government then turned their attentions to the interior of Japan, particularly Korea. Korea had been annexed by Japan five years prior with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910. Since then, Terauchi Masatake had been running the peninsula as Governor-General. His policy methods of controlling Korea centered entirely on one goal—assimilation of Korea into Japan, and the eventual demise of Korean culture.

While Inoue and his Cabinet were not die-hard fans of Korea, or of Korean culture, they still understood that the continued militant oppression of Korea would end with something just like the Satsuma Rebellion that he had helped start, in which, unless Japan used military force to quell and kill dissenters, would spiral out of control until Korea was all but independent.

Inoue had to admit, however, that sometimes, Terauchi’s policies had unintended negative effects, but good intentions. Land reform was one of them—the policy had created bitterness and a spike of land efficiency. To make matters worse, Inoue had come to see that the position of Governor-General of Korea was little more than an extension of the Imperial Japanese Army’s attempts to weasel significant power away from the civilian government.

To this end, Inoue looked to figure out what steps could be taken to establish civilian control of the Governor-General’s office, and to prevent the overwhelming militarization of Korea from becoming a reality, more so than just a thought.

In June 1915, the Diet saw the proposal of the Power Reform Act of 1915, an act which would significantly weaken the powers of the Governors-General of Taiwan and Korea—a start which would ‘carry policy’ to other Japanese acquisitions across Asia. The Prime Minister utilized most of his political capital to carry this bill to its completion, claiming that unless the Japanese nation reformed their control of their possessions, they would never be able to instill harmony and peace there—as well, the political power of the Navy and Army was troubling, and this would be a ‘great step towards entrenching constitutional governance of our exterior territories’.

The bill managed to pass through the efforts of the Sakurakai and other ‘pro-Constitution’ politicians and bureaucrats. The armed forces were incredibly displeased, and many nationalists within the system were beginning to set into effect their own methods of dealing with this annoyance that was an anti-military Prime Minister.

With the bill passed, the Prime Minister set into action with appointing new Governors-General. For Taiwan, he was convinced by his Cabinet to appoint Den Kenjirou, a baron of the House of Peers, to the office. Den was a known member of the more conservative levels of society, but still voiced his support for reforms to assimilate Taiwan peacefully, and without the extensive measures of coercion.

In Korea, the process was a little less cut and dry. The Prime Minister, with Imperial assent, relieved Count Terauchi from his post. Terauchi returned to Japan and began to stir up sentiments against the government, claiming that the Prime Minister was playing favorites with Japan’s subjects than with Japan’s citizens, and began to coordinate nationalist sentiments and fervor against the Prime Minister.

In August, the office of Governor-General of Korea was filled, this time by Takahashi Korekiyo, the man whom had introduced a patent system in Japan, and had secured foreign loans during the Russo-Japanese War. The Prime Minister felt that if any man could strengthen Korea’s economic value to the Empire, it would be Takahashi.

Takahashi pledged to reform Korea and bring it up to par with the Empire proper, and proclaimed that by 1920, Korea would have more schools, more trains, and more industry. A side effect of this, was also the quiet ‘moderation’ of education in Korea, as his administration focused less on the forced assimilation of Korea, and more on the ‘assimilation by prosperity’ method that was being used in Taiwan. Korean language and cultural assets were no longer suppressed, and were taught alongside Japanese, with emphasis being placed on the cultural similarity, and fraternity of the Japanese and Korean peoples.

While Korean nationalism had not been stopped by this, Takahashi marked the first steps by a Japanese civilian government to attempt a reconciliation between subject and master, something that some Koreans of academic standing hoped would continue in the future.

With these efforts secured, the nation was struck with shock as Prime Minister Inoue died in September 1915. His appointed replacement was a member of the Sakurakai, this man was Minobe Tatsukichi, a 42-year-old constitutional scholar, whom was immensely unpopular in nationalist and military circles for his assertions that the state needed to take steps to prevent a ‘dual-government’ situation from emerging and the armed forces from dominating the government of Japan.

With Minobe’s empowerment as Prime Minister, the nationalists now felt it was time to act, before it was too late…

 
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In 1908, the Dowager Empress Cixi of China died

Ding dong, the witch is dead!

a few sensible minds in the court.

Always an endangered species in that viper's pit.

Russia’s complaints were heard but not listened to—as they were in the middle of fighting a war of horrendous attrition against Germany.

Plus, it's Russia, nobody really likes them.

in which, unless Japan used military force to quell and kill dissenters, would spiral out of control until Korea was all but independent.

Also requires tying down limited troops for minimal benefit.

The Prime Minister felt that if any man could strengthen Korea’s economic value to the Empire, it would be Takahashi.

Does he have a friend who serves noodles in Boston?


and fraternity of the Japanese and Korean peoples.

And hatred of China.

With Minobe’s empowerment as Prime Minister, the nationalists now felt it was time to act, before it was too late…

This is going to go down swimmingly, I can already tell.
 

Asami

Banned

What is it with Chinese women of power and being bat-shit insane? Her and Madame Mao come to mind...

Always an endangered species in that viper's pit.

Give it time.

Plus, it's Russia, nobody really likes them.

"We beat you in 1905, we can beat you in 1915." -Japanese mindset

Also requires tying down limited troops for minimal benefit.

The Imperial Army certainly hopes so. Bigger budget for them. :)
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Takahashi
Does he have a friend who serves noodles in Boston?

+1 for the Fallout reference

And hatred of China.

You win some, you lose some.

This is going to go down swimmingly, I can already tell.

;)
 
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