alternatehistory.com

What if instead of following the British path of Parliamentary government with an aloof, impartial, relative figurehead of a monarchy as a stabilizing factor, Japan followed the pre-WWI German model, a militaristic, absolute monarchy cloaked by a façade of democracy? It's not exactly impossible, during the Meiji Era there were plenty of hardliners that could have turned Japan away from British tutelage such as those led by Prince Yamagata Aritomo, but if so, how would the 20th Century have turned out? Would there still be an Empire of Japan, or would it have collapsed sooner or later, much like the German Empire did during WWI?
Top