Christmas Challenge: A Humanitarian Japan

I shouldn't do his, but what the hell, I'm gonna. :D Going for the bonuses:

2001:
The 9/11 attacks on America stun the world, especially as 174 Japanese citizens are killed in the attacks. In a very rare show of friendship, the entire world just about entirely stands together to find the people who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks. Knowledge of bin Laden in Pakistan and Al-Queda's existence there force the world to respond. JS Kurushio is called up again, and this time it is dispatched to the Indian Ocean south of Pakistan. The carrier's Mitsubishi F-6A, Grumman A-6F and Boeing IDS F/A-18E fighters are first on the scene, though American carriers USS Enterprise and USS Carl Vinson aren't far behind.

For the first time, Japanese ground troops are part of an international effort to help Afghanistan. In terms of humanitarian assistance, the world follows the Japanese - because having successfully been able to help in Rwanda and the Balkans, they know the game better than anybody else. Some 11,000 Afghans apply to leave Afghanistan for Japan in 2001 through 2003 - and all are swiftly accepted, though almost 200 would be expelled for commiting criminal offenses. Japan's combat troops suffer 46 deaths and over 150 injuried in the initial invasions. This year also sees the first female to be awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Japan's highest honor. This woman is Major Akira Hikari, a helicopter pilot of the JASDF, who is awarded the honor for landing her damaged SH-47J helicopter, and personally jumping out to rescue three young girls hit by machine gun fire and mortar fragments during a battle between coalition troops and Taliban guerillas.

The US corners Al-Queda leader Osama bin Laden near Tora Bora, Afghanistan, on December 12, 2001. The US dithers on whether to find a truce or forcibly go in and get him, but the Japanese forget the truce and storm the positions. Ten Japanese soldiers are killed in the process, but they capture bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri alive, to the stunned surprise of the alliance's forces. The Americans demand he be tried in the United States, but Japan, knowing full well a fair trial would be impossible in the United States, offers the Hague as a destination. Britain also doesn't like this idea, figuring that it should be held in a country where none of its civilians died on 9/11.

2002:
The war in Afghanistan settles down, and the country soon regularly takes over the headlines in Japan as the country's humanitarian commitments are used there. But while the focus is on Afghanistan, operations are also continuing in Rwanda, Bangaledesh and East Timor. That year, over 1400 refugees arrive in Japan from Zimbabwe, white Zimbabweans run off their land in Japan. The biggest name among these is the former Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith, who comes to Japan from Zimbabwe because, as he puts it, "I can do more good for my people here than in England or South Africa."

The question of Osama bin Laden is ended when South African President Thabo Mbeki offers to try bin Laden under International laws in South Africa. This suits Britain and the Europeans. US President George W. Bush grudgingly goes along with the idea. The trials, which last seven months and are held at South Africa's Constitutional Courthouse in Johannesburg, find bin Laden guilty. He is sent to the United States' Supermax prison in Colorado, where he remains today.

In the Asia-Pacific area, All Nippon Airways becomes a hero in March when they agree to buy out and keep operation Ansett Australia. They keep the Ansett name, which does wonders for the company's visibility, and many job losses are avoided. Ryoji Makimas, ANA's chairman, is made a honorary companion of the Order of Australia for his efforts at saving Ansett.

The FIFA World Cup begins on May 31, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan. Japan finishes 6th, knocked out in the quarter-finals by France, who are beaten in the semis by Argentina, who eventually win the Cup. Every game held in both nations is a sell-out, even when the games are held at the vast National Stadium in Tokyo's Nakano district.

Shortly after the games begin, the Golden Jubilee of Britain's Queen Elizabeth includes a vast "Party and the Palace", and Kurushio's fighters are part of the airshow. One of the F-6s gets notoriety when pilot Major Daisuke Gamisha does an aileron roll over the Concorde as it flies overhead, to the stunned surprise of the Concorde's pilots. The stunt, while entirely not planned, wows the crowds.

When Argentina defaults on its $800-million World Bank payment in November, Japan again steps in, requesting Argentina return the money when they can in return for Japan covering their gap when they can't pay it. Argentina agrees to this, and repays Japan in full in May 2004, to Tokyo's surprise, which hadn't expected Argentina to be able to recover that quickly.
 
2003:
2003 starts on a high point for Japan, as on January 11, Osama bin Laden is taken to the Supermax jail, near Florence, Colorado, USA, ending his ability to communicate with his followers and leaving him in a place which he will never leave. Afghanistan is going well, though Pakistan's half-hearted border security attempts are unhelpful to efforts to beat the Taliban. This is as annoying to Japan as it is to the United States, but both realize Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's difficult position.

But on February 1st, tragedy strikes. Space Shuttle Columbia, carrying a eight-man crew including one Japanese and one Israeli astronaut, breaks up as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere over Texas in the United States. Astronaut Kensahiro Takami is not Japan's first astronaut, but he is the first to die in such an accident. The story dominates Japan's newspapers for more than a week, until Takami is buried among Japan's WWII Heroes at the famous Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

But less than a month later, the country's hopes brighten up again as Mitsubishi rolls out its first airliner, the SSC-01. The SSC is the first all-new completed supersonic airliner design in more than 30 years, but the company hopes to take over from the Concorde to revitalize the slumping air-travel markets of the world. It's release forces Boeing and Airbus to create approaches to compete with it. Boeing's response is the 807, nicknamed the "Sonic Cruiser", while Airbus retaliates with the giant A380. Japan Air Lines and All Nippon Airways, of course, are the first customers of the supersonic airliner. The SSC-01 is the result of nearly 20 years of work, and its four awesome XFGT-04 gas turbine engines allow speeds of over Mach 2.25. But that news, as big as it is, doesn't hold the headlines for much longer.

The United States and United Kingdom lead a coalition to invade Iraq, with the war kicking off on March 20. This time, however, world opposition to the war is quite wide, and Japan is among these. Japanese Prime Minister Junchiro Koizumi calls the war "unjustified" in his speech announcing that Japan will assist in humanitarian concerns, but Afghanistan will remain the primary focus for the Japanese military. Japan's concerns are also enough to convince Australian Prime Minister John Howard to stay out as well, which again angers the American President. Howard, however, bases his decision on his population's stance toward the war, which is adamantly again. France, Germany and Canada are other countries staying out of Iraq - and for all of them, Afghanistan remains job #1. Many of Japan's opposition, however, call staying out of Iraq military somewhat cowardly and not assisting an ally when its needed. Koizumi brushes off this criticism, however. It proves to be a good choice later on.

The humanitarian concerns of the War with Iraq are immediate. Iraq, which has spent over a decade dealing with major sanctions aimed at crippling the country's war waging abilities. The country is very energy-rich, but because of these sanctions and the country's tyrannical leadership, the number of people who need such assistance runs into the millions. An active insurgency isn't helpful. This leads to Japan's humanitarian assistance requiring combat troops to support them. The actions, however, do have positive effects for the problems facing post-war Iraq. Some 6,000 Iraqi refugees end up settling in Japan, but the majority end up in other Arab countries. Japan's image takes a beating in the eyes of harder-line Arab countries, but the Europeans, Africa and many others sees Japan's strictly-humanitarian Iraq operations as a good idea and an example of an intelligent way of helping in Iraq.

2003 saw a regrowth of Taliban strength, which grew to be a serious problem for Japan's troops on the ground there. But fixing that was fairly easily done, as Japanese troops, along with those from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, began setting up shop in various towns and cities, and defending them if the Taliban came calling. In one instance in September 2003, some 50 Taliban fighters came to a village nearly 50 miles from Kandahar, looking to attack a school for girls. Spotted by a Emirati patrol, Japanese troops ambushed them before they made it to town. Twelve were killed on the scene, ten more when retreating forces were strafed by a JASDF A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter well outside of town. Similar battles went on through 2003 and 2004, causing the Taliban to expend personnel and munitions accomplishing little. By the end of 2003, the success of such raids was noticed by British and Canadian officials, who began repilicating the strategy. Japan's senior Afghan commander, Lieutenant General Hayako Kiriyama, became the first non-American ISAF commander on October 15, 2004, in order to help lead the coalition alongside the Americans.
 

Keenir

Banned
Now, many know that Japan is an ethnically homogeneous state, let's change that. Bonuses 1 and 2 do not have to be completed together, although it would be better if that happened.

- Challenge Rules -

1) By 2008, at least 20 percent of Japan is of non-Japanese ethnic descent.

how does that make it humanitarian? that could just mean they bring in lots of cheap labor (like the Saudis do)

do the Koreans and Manchurians count? because we could probably easily find a way for them to be the cheap labor pool.


1) Make Japan be where most refugees and anyone in a disaster situation or is in a situation of extreme poverty want to go, and generally will go.
2) At any humanitarian crisis, make Japan step in and have many refugees and displaced people move in and settle to Japan.

um, you do realize that Japan doesn't have that much farming land, right?
 
20% is not impossible, but it does carry with it some problems. Here in Sweden, we have about 20% of the population having foreign descent or being foreign born, and this does lead to culture clashes. I think that in this TL, Japan must have had some very effective immigration policy.

Also, if that helicopter carrier was a military vessel, then no, not a chance that it would be named after a person. Japanese culture REALLY values group accomplishments more than individual ones (since for every individual accomplishing something great, there is a large group behind to support him), and giving out medals, perhaps erecting monuments (that is a stretch however) would be the limit of Japanese individual praise. 20% foreign descent won't change this.

If it was a civilian ship, however, perhaps for the coast guard, but more likely some form of aid organization, it would be plausible.
 
Kurushio is 'Black Tide' in Japanese, you're right on the names, but the carrier is not named after a person. ;)

2004

2004 is a major year for Japan in a number of ways. The first big day is on April 1, when the giant 136-kilometre tunnel between Geoju Island in South Korea and Takashima in Japan is opened for the first time. Construction had begun in 1989, and the 15-year project, despite its 13.7 Trillion Yen (approx. $150 Billion) cost, is considered to be well-worth the cost. The first freight trains power through the tunnel, which includes five bores on April 2, and the first passenger trains ran through the tunnel on April 5. The tunnel by 2010 will be one of the busiest rail lines on the planet, carrying 23.6 million passengers and 55 million tons of freight, and proves to lead to a major change in relations between Japan and South Korea.

Later that month, a group of 26 Chinese activists land on the Senkaku Islands, claiming that they belong to China. Japanese police arrest them, but promptly send them back to China without charges, but a stern warning that the next time they try such an action, they will be charged with an illegal entry. On May 2, a bunch of Chinese warships move out to make a point off the Senkaku Islands, and are met by the JMSDF. No problems ensue, but the message is clear. China touts Japan's departing the area as intimidation, but this flies about as well as a lead balloon anywhere else. Japan promptly starts increasing its relations with the Island of Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, as well as working more to sort out problems alongside the South Koreans. Old prejudices are still dying hard, though Japan bear virtually no similarity to the nation that occupied Korea for 35 years.

On August 13, the 2004 Summer Olympics opens up in Athens, Greece. While the Olympics are held in Greece, they are often referred to as the "Japanese Olympics" after Japan, for the first time, tops the medal board, scoring 101 medal, beating the United States into second place (93) and Russia into third (88). Japan's medal total is said by many to be the result of Japan's immense national pride, as well a the country's uneven terrain which provides a great many opportunities for training for athletes.

For Japan's war efforts, 2004 is a good year but has its scars. Afghanistan is going surprisingly well, as the Japanese, along with the Emiratis and Egyptians, are making great strides in helping secure the area from the Taliban. In May, the British and Canadians also start trying this tactic. Despite this, Japan takes its biggest single loss on September 19, when a JASDF SH-47J helicopter is hit by a Stinger surface to air missile captured by the Taliban, causing a crash which claims the lives of 27 JSDF servicemen, as well as four wounded Canadian Forces personnel being ferried to a military hospital. The loss does nothing to reduce the commitments of either Japan or Canada - both in the following months actually increase their troop numbers. 14 personnel on the aircraft survive the crash, largely due to the actions of the helicopter's pilot, Capt. Masaru Takumkashi. Captain Takumkashi is posthumously awarded the Order of the Rising Sun.

Japan also gets an uncomfortable reality shown to it on July 1, when a 12-year-old schoolgirl in Sasebo kills an 11-year-old classmate, and five days a 15-year-old junior high school student kills two classmates at a Junior high school in Hamamatsu. The deaths are regarded as horrible and unfortunate, and both are institutionalized. The Diet, realizing one of Japan's problems has been dealing with those with mental disabilities, and the Diet orders an overhaul of Japan's mental health systems.

On October 21, as this is winding down, two natural disaster strike within 48 hours of each other. Typhoon Tokage makes landfall in Kyushu, causing some 66 deaths and leaving almost 60,000 homeless. Two days later, a magnitude 6.7 Earthquake strikes in Niigata Prefecture, among other things causing amassive landslide in Tokamachi. 70 lives are lost and almost 120,000 are left homeless. Damage to both areas, however, is repaired with the typical Japanese swiftness and resolve. Life returns to the area quickly, and debris is already being removed by mid-November.

But the disasters in Japan pale in comparison to the disaster that struck on December 26, 2004. A giant, magnitude 9.3 earthquake roars off the coast of Indonesia, causing one of the largest tsunamis ever seen. The tsunami is powerful enough that injuries and fatalities are recorded as far away as South Africa and Western Australia. Major portions of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives are severely damaged or destroyed. Some 82 Japanese, including the younger sister of Crown Princess Kumiko, are killed in the disaster. Among the effected parties is JS Kurushio, which was at anchor off Sri Lanka. Kurushio is not damaged, but destroyer JS Shirayuki is hit by an immense 75-foot wave, killing five of her sailors and causing substantial damage to the vessel. The disaster claims the lives of over 200,000 people, making it one of the deadliest single disasters in history.

The effect on the Royal Family and the damage to the area hits home in Japan. Over two dozen vessels of the JMSDF are dispatched to the area, and Kurushio, along with American carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, are among the first responders on the scene. Kurushio's helicopters are instrumental in recovering over a hundred survivors in Sri Lanka. The SH-60 helicopters of destroyers JS Kurama and JS Shimakaze are instrumental in recovering survivors at the resort in Phuket, Thailand, as well. Japan's support pours out in vast numbers. All of the survivors rescued by the Japanese vessels are allowed to go to Japan, and with the hospitals in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand dramatically overloaded, Japan Air Lines and All Nippon Airways ferry nearly 40,000 people to hospitals in Japan, and shortly thereafter, to hospitals in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia.

Over 15,000 refugees are admitted to Japan as a result of the tsunami, and Japan's contributions come to be incredibly well respected. The outpouring of support to all who can be helped - including a substantial number of Koreans and Chinese - is helpful in reducing tensions after the tsunami. China's refusal to provide substantive assistance during the disaster also looks bad, leading to China to provide efforts later on. This gets China in a very public way as well. One of the injured flown to Japan for treatment is Chinese action movie star Jet Li, who had a tree fall on him while he tried to help his daughter. His critically wounded daughter was rescued by Maldivian rescuers, but her injuries were more than could be treated in the Maldives, and both end up on a JAL "Flight for Life" to Osaka, Japan. The efforts save his daughter's life, and Li doesn't forget it. He would go on to become a regular arrival in Japanese movies, and would become a citizen of Japan in 2009.

Japan's response is so impressive that American President George W. Bush awards the Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest military honor, to the commanding officer of JS Kurama for their work in rescue efforts in Phuket in Thailand, and awards "The Japanese Rescuer in Southeast Asia" the Medal of Honor in April 2005. Kurama's commander is also made an honorary member of the Order of Australia. In both cases, Captain Hideki Miki, makes it clear this is not so much his award as it is an award to all of the members of the crew of his vessel. Japanese Prime Minister Junchiro Koizumi promotes Captain Miki to Rear Admiral on May 5, 2005.

Later history would say that the vast and powerful response of Japan to the horror of the Boxing Day Tsunami would go down in history as one of Japan's finest moments. While the vast international response to the tragedy was never forgotten and many nations would be lauded for their actions, the Japanese went far above and beyond the call, and in the process made sure that the whole world knew that Japan was far from evil, in fact quite the contrary. "Humanitarian Japan", as many of the world's newspapers called it, would prove to be an image that would become synonimous with Japan in general......
 
2005

2005 dawned in the midst of one of the biggest humanitarian efforts in world history, and with Japan right at the front of the line. Ferry flights allowed dozens of JASDF aircraft, mostly C-130 and C-2 cargo aircraft to fly from Japan to the disaster zone, trying to help in any way possible. The Flights for Life were in full swing as the year dawned. C-130 transporters would carry injured to airports, where they would be transported to local hospitals or to flights to Japan, which were running at full blast.

Domestic attention turned briefly on February 10, however, when North Korea announces that it has possession of nuclear weapons, using them to "protect against hostility and aggression by the South, by Japan and by the United States." The implication that the South caused the North's hostility infuriates many South Koreans, which when combined with Japan's actions during the South Asian Tsunami, causes a noticeable improvement of the views of Japan by South Koreans. It also annoys many Japanese, who see North Korea as an annoying irritant which happens to possess some dangerous weapons. The JMSDF, however, says that North Korea couldn't hit Japan with a nuclear bomb if they tried to. The Americans agree, pointing out the Japan's powerful AEGIS destroyer fleet and Patriot missile systems should provide substantial protection.

Little more than a month later, local politics prove a problem yet again. On March 14, China passes a strong anti-succession law, which many feel was aimed right at Taiwan. The Taiwanese also think this way, though large protests do occur, the opinion of most is that the law is a paper tiger, as China could not take Taiwan forcibly back anyways. But with relations between Japan and its neighbors improving rapidly, China says that its laws over succession are aimed at "outside attempts to divide our nation by foreign powers."

On April 7, a deal between Britain's floundering MG Rover, which had been back independent for a mere four years, and China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation collapses, leading to a major mess at MG Rover. Less than 48 Hours later, Nissan Motor Company offers to take the place of Shanghai Automotive on the same terms. Nissan's hopes are to build a profitable subsidiary in Europe, and fears that MG Rover's plants would just become part of Nissan turn out to be unfounded. On August 23, MG Rover and Nissan's shares, along with help from the British Government, form the British Motor Corporation. The company keeps going with the models made before money problems, though by 2008 the company will have multiple all-new models. Nissan's efforts don't stop there - the company buys TVR in 2007, and Nissan engines soon show up next to Ford, Rover and Toyota units as regular powerplants for lower-production automobiles, a British speciality.

Tragedy strikes yet again on April 25, as a crowded commuter train derails at Amagasaki near Osaka, killing 107 people as the train plowed into an apartment building's parking garage. Engineer Ryujiro Takami, who is among the dead, is found to have been speeding well above the posted speed restriction. The crash leads to changes in the company's operating policies, as more than a few feel that the rigidness of the timetable - the leeway for train arrivals on the route at the time was just 28 seconds over a 15 minute run.

On June 5, 2005, however, the year gets better for Japan, when Osaka wins the 2012 Olympics, beating runner-up London. The government announces that the games held in Osaka would be the biggest ever, and would "amaze and impress the world and show the world what modern Japan is." In many minds, Japan's incredible efforts in responding to the tsunami played a major role in helping the IOC to decide to award the games to Tokyo.

On August 29, 2005, a massive Category 4 hurricane, Hurrican Katrina, hit the American city of New Orleans. The winds were not the major problem, but the hurricane's horrible strorm surge flooded almost the entire city, and worse still the city's levees designed to keep water out of the city in the event of a hurricane wind up holding the water in the city, compounding the severe damage. Much of the United States' Gulf Coast was devastated, causing nearly $100 Billion in damage and nearly 2000 deaths.

While the United States did not have such problems as what existed in Southeast Asia, but the aid came anyways. JASDF C-4A and C-17J transporters brought a huge amount of emergency aid. But despite this, the response to Katrina was all over the map, and that came to infuriate many of the locals to the point that many of the people wanted to come to Japan. The mess of New Orleans to Japan was stunning, and some 5,500 people who applied to come to Japan as disaster refugees were accepted. A fact that was praised in the Japanese media and pointed out as something that was bad about the United States in many European media outlets. Japan, stunned that the United States, considered by many Japanese to be the world's most powerful nationstate, could ever allow such a pitiful response proves to be something that Japan seeks to never allow itself to have.
 
The Mann, I was referring to the end of one of your posts, when you wrote that a helicopter carrier was named after that person who saved some 2000 people in Rwanda.

Also, it should be Kuroshio ^^, although that is the name of a submarine.

Otherwise, this is great! Keep it coming!
 
Oh, what the hell, I'm gonna continue this one, too. :D

2006

Japan opened 2006 with the opening of the giant Megiami Bridges in Kyushu, linking Nagasaki to the island of Minamimatsuura, with eleven other bridges connecting the Goto Islands together and to Kyushu. The Bridge is the largest one on the planet, the Megiami Bridges stretching some 27.32 miles overall, and it carries eight lanes of road traffic and two rail lines across its length. The idea behind the bridge's building is the plan to build new hotels and the like to attract tourists, both from Japan and across the World.

In May 2006, an older Japanese legend rose from the dead. Battleship Musashi, which had been sunk during World War II by American carrier aircraft, was raised from its grave in the Phillippine Sea. The vessel would go on, after extensive repairs, to become a museum ship in Tokyo. Some proposed modifying Musashi to make it return to active use as a fleet unit, but the JMSDF decided this was too expensive and too pointless. Just days after Musashi is raised, Japan got its first request to have troops deployed on its soil. This came from East Timor, which had been struggling since its independence from Indonesia in 2002. The requests also went out to Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal. The JGSDF responded, deploying 2,250 troops in East Timor.

But the biggest event in Japan is the 2006 FIFA World Cup. After finishing sixth in 2002 and recording final-four finishes in 1986 and 1990, the Japanese national team went into the World Cup ranked eleventh in the world, and to the shock of most pummeled the highly-ranked English team in the first round. After blanking the Americans 4-0 in the quarterfinals and beating Euro 2004 winners Greece 2-1 in the semis, Japan went into the final, facing down the mighty Brazilians. Japan's team fought hard, losing to the Brazilians in a 3-2 match, which many observers called "One of the greatest football games ever played." Prime Minister Koizumi was proud of his team, and they received a heroes' welcome when they arrived back in Tokyo on July 13. Talk was soon circulating that the Japanese could very realistically be considered a challenger for the World Cup Championship for the 2010 World Cup, to be held in South Africa.

On October 9, North Korea undertook what they claimed was their first-ever nuclear test. This shook the world, particularly Japan and South Korea. Both nations in disgust froze all ties and trade between the two nations and brought the JMSDF and JASDF. North Korea mobilized many of its troops and massed at the borders, leading to the ROK military to mobilize - and the ROK to allow the JASDF to base aircraft in South Korea should the mess erupt into full-blown violence. The JASDF deploys five squadrons of their F-15J fighters and four of their highly-advanced E-767 airborne radar aircraft to Korea to assist the ROKAF. North Korea never steps over the border, but the tensions remain very high. The only incident of the war is four DPRK MiG-21 fighters driving well past the border, which were promptly intercepted by Japanese F-15J and Korean KF-16 fighters. No shots were exchanged before the North Koreans turned back. The Japanese fighters and airborne radar planes returned to Japan in December.

Military-wise, on December 15, 2006, Japan officially announces its upgrading of the military to a full-flegded Agency. This also renames the three branches into the Japanese Air Force, Japanese Navy and Japanese Army. A proposal by many veterans of the military to have the Navy and Air Force named the Royal Japanese Air Force and Royal Japanese Navy fails in the Diet, with many citing the reason being that Japan's diversity makes such a proposition potentially divisive.

Economically, November 2006 saw the first exports of the supersonic Mitsubishi SSC-01 airliner, delivered to American Airlines and Air Canada, in both cases used for their long-distance routes, usually trans-Pacific ones. The aircraft had been in service with Japan Air Lines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Pacific Airlines for nearly two years at that point, and had a virtually-perfect operational record. The SSC-01 was a hit in Japan itself, and Japan's government ordered in December three units to serve as dedicated VIP aircraft for the Japan AF.
 
2007

After the massive disasters and chaos of 2004 through 2006, 2007 was a surprisingly peaceful year, albeit a big one for Japan's notoriously-divisive politics. PM Junchiro Koizumi steps down in March 2007, wanting to retire to have more time to spend with his family. His successor in Ryo Hakasamo, a veteran politican who had been Japan's first Defense Minister, appointed to the spot by Koizumi in December 2006. Hakasamo, who was the second-youngest PM in Japan's history at that time aged just 33, was himself a youthful, interesting man, a soccer fanatic and a licensed pilot as well as politician. Hakasamo broke another taboo by choosing a woman, Yuriko Koike, as his deputy. Koike was by no means the first female cabinet member - the first female cabinet minister had been appointed in 1970 - but the prospect of Koike becoming Prime Minister was a bit of a shock to many of ther traditionalists. But their objections were largely ignored anyways.

In terms of military issues, the need for the JASDF to bolster its positions became more clear when Russia announced in August that it would resume strategic bomber flights well away from its borders. This was met with some alarm in Japan, and an additional squadron of JASDF F-15Js being deployed to northern Japan, as Japan and Russia had never fully settled their disputes over the Kurile Islands. Only one bomber flight ever passed over Japan, however, and this one, a pair of Tu-95 bombers, was intercepted by four F-15Js in response.

Russia's fiery rhetoric, however, is not done there. In November, Russian Naval vessels and bomber aircraft undertake a massive exercise off the Kuriles, and several of its vessels steam south, off of Japan's eastern coast. Japanese helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga and heavy destroyer Yamato go out to meet the Russian force. No shots are exchanged, but the message gets through to both sides.

2007 saw many of the first programs reach completion in the Japan 2030 projects, including the first of five new islands in Tokyo Bay, made up of dredged material from Tokyo Bay. Twelve years in the making and with most of its major points reinforced with concrete to protect against the Earthquakes that have plagued Japan for all of its history. The new islands are primarily zoned for residential use, something needed - Japan is smaller than California, and with a population of 188 million in 2007, space for people is at a premium in a great many cases. Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world, and a large number of large, dense cities - Yokohama, Osaka/Kobe/Kyoto, Nagoya, Sendai, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kitakyushu, Hamamatsu, Chiba - all rank as major centers. This density had by 2007 already led Japan to be one of the world's largest investors in mass transit infrastructure.

Japan 2030 had added to this by mandating a number of other plans, including a much-improved freight rail transport system, new airports to handle congestion issues, additional motorway systems and many improvements to mass transit systems and some new ones, such as a transport monorail system laid out in Hiroshima and high-speed (50+ knot) ferries developed for inter-island transportation. JAL and ANA had also planned to expand their intercity air-travel services, and were both among the first customers for Airbus' immense superjumbo airliner, the A380.

Also part of the plan which opened in late 2007 was Japan's first synthetic fuel plant. A joint venture between Nippon Oil and South Africa's SASOL, the plant opened west of Sendai in November 2007. The plant used for imported coal and coal which had been mined in Japan. Robotics and high-technology systems made coal-mining in Japan again economically viable, though Japan's relatively small reserves made most of this coal be imported. The majority of Japan's coal imports since the problems between Japan and China had mostly come from Australia, South Africa, Indonesia and the United States. The rising demand for coal due to steel production and synthetic crude production began to make coal-fired power plants less desirable, in addition to the massive air pollution problems associated with them.

A much darker incident, which would lead to changes in the law, began on August 24, 2007 in Nagoya. A 31-year-old woman, Rie Isogai, was kidnapped from her store near Nagoya and murdered. Two other women were killed in the two days afterwards, before one of the men responsible turned himself in on August 29. That man, Kenji Kawagishi, was released on bail the next day, but was found on September 2, having been brutally beaten to death in an incident in the Midori district of Nagoya. The other two men were held, with the authorities fearing for their lives. But on September 22, one of the other defendants, Yuichiro Hondo, was found strangled in a Nagoya holding cell. The incidents, which gained much press in the Japanese press, was seen as a sign that Japan's hatred of those who commit violence against women was strong. Numerous people, including deputy PM Koike, called for the punishment for the vigilantes to be as tough as the punishment dealt out to the perpetrators. Hondo's killer was eventually sentenced to life in prison, while Isogai's two living killers were both sentenced to death. The incidents led to a rework of Japan's laws with regards to both vigilantism and violence against women.
 
2008

2008 kicked off with two events that would make headlines across Japan. The first was on January 16, when an Japanese whaling boat collided with Australian frigate HMAS Arunta off the coast of Tasmania, a day after Australia's Supreme Court had ordered a stop to research whaling by a different Japanese firm. The incident, which claimed the lives of two Japanese whalers and an Australian seaman, causes a minor international incident between the two nations, though it is fairly quickly resolved. The Japanese government pays for the repairs to Arunta and outlaws all forms of whaling in the EEC of any nation except Japan.

Economic troubles had by mid-2008 gripped most of the world, with problems becoming quite obvious in most developed nations. Japan was no different, of course, but Japan faced a unique problem in that it, as a nation overwhelmingly reliant on imported raw materials to keep its economy going, they needed to keep the flow of exports going. Restrictions on automobiles and metals had by 2008 been largely eliminated, and during 2008 others were removed, including agricultural products, forestry products and some forms of electronics. The last part was primarily to increase trade between Japan and South Korea, which had been growing already. The decision was repeated by South Korea, resulting in the arrival of Samsung and LG electronics in Japan in numbers, while Sony, Mitsubishi, Kyocera, Panasonic and others also turned up in South Korea in substantial numbers.

The 2008 Olympics, held in Toronto, Canada, are a major symbol. Having won the 2004 Olympics, the Japanese are keen on repeating their 2004 feat. But the Americans and Chinese put paid to this idea, but Japan still finishes a very respectable 3rd with 80 medals, including 28 golds. Notably, the Japanese Olympic Team is brought from Tokyo to Toronto on three JAL SSC-01s, which in their own right are attractions. The closing ceremony is watched by many Japanese simply for the finale, the passing of the Olympic torch from Toronto mayor David Miller to Osaka mayor Kunio Hiramatsu, a clear signal that the 2012 Olympics will be headed to Japan for 2012. The opening of the Toronto Olympics are attented by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michito, as well as Prime Minister Hakasamo and deputy PM Koike, and the party was flown to the site in a fourth SSC-01, this one carrying the markings of the JASDF.

The 2008 G8 Summit is planned to be held in Toyako, Japan. But sensing the massive economic issues being faced, Hakasamo asks for it to be upgraded to the full G20, sensing that the others involved will want answers themselves. Stephen Harper of Canada and George W. Bush of the United States object, but the others don't, and Harper and Bush back down on it. The absense of the Chinese Premier, Hu Jintao, is noted by some, though few pay much attention to it - relations between Japan and China remain frosty. Many backroom deals come out of this between several of the G20 members, especially Japan and South Korea agreeing in principle to assist the economic efforts in several of the poorer countries, with South Africa being particularly focused on. Japan offers to contribute a vast sum to help the United States recover from the economic problems it faces, but on the condition that the American deregulation efforts undertaken in the late 1990s are reverse, with Hakasamo pointing out to Bush, with his points enthusiastically supported by Brazil's Luis Inacia Lula de Silva and South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, that the 2007-2008 economic crisis had begun on Wall Street. Bush agrees in principle, but asks Hakasamo to show real evidence of Japanese investment in America before he makes such a move.

It takes just 36 Hours for that to happen, when one of Japan's largest investment firms, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, makes a bid to purchase the failing investment house Lehman Brothers. The decision, which is of course influenced by Tokyo, shocks the American financial community. Lehman Brothers' stockholders accept the deal, but Mitsubishi UFJ's reorganization does result in some jobs lost.

Bush gets the message, and the Democratic Party-controlled Congress also does, and it begins the process of rewriting the regulatory rules. Japanese financial firms dump over $300 Billion into US financial firms, which gives them far more leverage among the Wall Street financial community. The Republicans turn this into a political situation as well, accusing Tokyo of trying to influence American elections and causing one Republican Senator, James Inhofe, to remark whether America's military should "force Japan back into line." This remark, made while the G-20 Summit is still active, is deeply insulting to the Japanese, and when combined with the April arrest of a US Marine for raping a teenager on Okinawa, leads to public demands for Bush to apologize for the Senator's poor words. Hakasamo, however, brushes that off, saying that no American president can control what his members of Congress say.

It is little surprise when Barack Obama is elected the President of the United States on November 4, though the election had been followed closely in Japan, with many Japanese commentators noting that Barack Obama's campaign could well be compared to many of Japan's game-changing politicians, such as Kinashi and Koizumi. Obama gets a formal congratulatory call from Koike on November 5, and many of the Japanese press quite happily speculate that between Japan's immense investments in America and the changing political views of the United States that relations between the two nations, which had been up and down through 2008, would substantially improve in the future.
 
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