AHC/WI: Japan takes part in the Scramble for Africa

Doesn't seem likely. Too far away from Africa to have the ability to colonize the continent. Besides, why bother with Africa when they have closer targets in the south Pacific or possibly even China?
 
yeah ... to far away ... before Meiji they neither have the will nor the ability to handle such a expedition. And their furthest reach would be properly be Indonesia and/or eastern India ... which by and large is colonized already.

Ming China on the other hand just might get hit by a butterfly big enough to pull it off, following in the footsteps of Zheng He
 

scholar

Banned
That is impossible.
It's about as likely as Russia taking part, and there are plenty of timelines that have Russia taking part.

The problem with the scenario is by the time the scramble for Africa takes place, Japan is just getting into its second modernization movement. In order for them to be a part of it, even a minor party to it, you have to have Japan modernize earlier by a century or so.
 
Just say that it happens, by some amazing force, what part of Africa would you expect to be colonized. Like, i would think the horn. Setting up towns with a majority of japs, then the rest just be natives. I could lead to a much more diverse Japanese islands as African immigrants migrate from colonies to the larger cities. But i still think that it would require a miricle in modernization for it to happen, but the ideaof it is tempting.
 
Just say that it happens, by some amazing force, what part of Africa would you expect to be colonized. Like, i would think the horn. Setting up towns with a majority of japs, then the rest just be natives. I could lead to a much more diverse Japanese islands as African immigrants migrate from colonies to the larger cities. But i still think that it would require a miricle in modernization for it to happen, but the ideaof it is tempting.

Why would Japan allow colonised peoples to immigrate?
 
If the people in charge considered the scramble for africa to be necessary in Japan's quest to westernize, then they'd certainly try for it. I could see Japan getting some of Germany's less valuable African colonies as a League of Nations mandate after WW1, or some similar scenario. They'd get little more than a scrap of land, but I think it would still count.

Perhaps Italy joins the CP instead of the Entente, gets trounced, and Japan asks for and gets half of Somalia.
 
I think it would require a POD during the Sengoku. If Japan doesn't close itself off, then it is likely to head to africa. Even if it just to take advantage of some resources to get a few ports to allow refuelling and what not. Any Japan that opens early will want ports outside of Asia, just as Europeans wanted the same.
 
Just say that it happens, by some amazing force, ... snip ... Setting up towns with a majority of japs, ... snip ... a much more diverse Japanese islands as African immigrants migrate from colonies to the larger cities ... snip ...

"Some amazing force" making this AHC/WI happen would qualify this thread for a place in the ASB forum.

Using "Japs" as an abbreviation of the word "Japanese" is generally regarded as an ethnic slur.

The Japanese leadership and people have for several centuries mightily resisted ethnic diversity on the empire's "home islands". Such immigration would not be viewed in a positive light.


If the people in charge considered the scramble for africa to be necessary in Japan's quest to westernize, then they'd certainly try for it. ... snip ...

Realistically, what would lead Emperor Meiji and his ministers to to conclude this? What would make it so necessary?

Now, W/a POD around 1600, one in which Japan does not shift its foreign relations stance from openness to seclusion I could see Japan being involved.
 
Realistically, what would lead Emperor Meiji and his ministers to to conclude this? What would make it so necessary?

Now, W/a POD around 1600, one in which Japan does not shift its foreign relations stance from openness to seclusion I could see Japan being involved.

Japan's main goal, before it started working on its co-prosperity sphere, was to get the western nations to start treating it as an equal power. After the Russo-Japanese war, they got their attention, but the racism and eurocentrism made them unreceptive to many Japanese proposals (The 1919 racial equality proposal comes to mind)

Suppose that there was a shift in nationalist propaganda, where the African colonies were held up as crown jewels for all the empires, equal in majesty to British India, and absolutely not malaria-infested money sinks. African colonies were a source of glory and pride for a nation. Portugal brags about Angola, France brags about Algeria, Italy brags about Libya, Germany brags about Kameroun, and Belgium brags about the Congo. Even the British start bragging about Nigeria and Rhodesia, despite the fact that they have a much nicer India to brag about. For lack of a better term, it's a national dick-waving contest far in excess of OTL, and Japan has been left out.

All Japan needs is a little piece, something to point to on a map to show that they're serious. And all Meiji needs is a single advisor with a weird fondness for Africa as an exotic locale. At that point, they just need to buy any chunk of land that comes up for grabs.

It's definitely a stretch, as is anything involving Japanese in Africa, but stranger things have happened in world history.
 
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