European Power Invades Japan, Establishes Foreign Shogunate?

Just a thought exercise, really. One of the things I developed for my ASB Leygurian World was a European conquest of Japan. In my setting, the Leygurians took over the title of Shogun while retaining the native emperor - thus establishing a foreign 'clan' under the Leygurian royal family.

Obviously this exists in an ASB setting with no bearing on OTL, but could something similar have happened in the real world? Could France, Britain, even the USA, have done something like this?
 
Not in the slightest, to be honest. As the Qing example had given them, it's better to direct anger against the foreigners against the native government 'welcoming' them. Also, it's easier to keep the current Tokugawa government intact rather than depose them and rebuild the government from top down, much less a foreign clan.

That said, it might be possible to stretch it by having some sufficiently Japanophile adventurer go James Brooke and take a leading role in local affairs (such as suppressing pro-imperial elements and awarded a fief), possibly becoming shogun via marriage eventually (though quite plausibly marrying into the Tokugawa clan and adopting their surname.) But again, this is really stretching the ASB limit. A lot.
 
Just a thought exercise, really. One of the things I developed for my ASB Leygurian World was a European conquest of Japan. In my setting, the Leygurians took over the title of Shogun while retaining the native emperor - thus establishing a foreign 'clan' under the Leygurian royal family.

Obviously this exists in an ASB setting with no bearing on OTL, but could something similar have happened in the real world? Could France, Britain, even the USA, have done something like this?
If the Western powers want to establish a puppet government,they'd make the emperor the head of the puppet government.The western power themselves will not be a shogun,nor will any of their representatives.Japan would be a formal protectorate with the emperor 'advised' by a High Commissioner.They won't take the title of Shogun because that would imply that the Japanese emperor is their superior.
 
That said, it might be possible to stretch it by having some sufficiently Japanophile adventurer go James Brooke and take a leading role in local affairs (such as suppressing pro-imperial elements and awarded a fief), possibly becoming shogun via marriage eventually (though quite plausibly marrying into the Tokugawa clan and adopting their surname.) But again, this is really stretching the ASB limit. A lot.

Hey, that's actually exactly what I did for my ASB thing; a Leygurian prince, one of the younger sons, goes to Japan as part of the envoy to 'open' Japan (a la USA OTL), ends up falling in love with the local culture, learns their language and ways, marries into it all, and then becomes Shogun (with support from his home country, of course - can't make it 100% legitimate).

If the Western powers want to establish a puppet government,they'd make the emperor the head of the puppet government.The western power themselves will not be a shogun,nor will any of their representatives.Japan would be a formal protectorate with the emperor 'advised' by a High Commissioner.They won't take the title of Shogun because that would imply that the Japanese emperor is their superior.

That's a fair point. A follow up question, then; could divide and conquer work in any way in Japan? I know it's not popular to think so; unlike India when the British chipped away at the block, Japan is a homogenous, unified culture. But, could there have been a point where a foreign power took advantage of inter-clan rivalries in the early or mid 19th Century to back certain factions against others and establish themselves as overlords of Japan?
 
Hey, that's actually exactly what I did for my ASB thing; a Leygurian prince, one of the younger sons, goes to Japan as part of the envoy to 'open' Japan (a la USA OTL), ends up falling in love with the local culture, learns their language and ways, marries into it all, and then becomes Shogun (with support from his home country, of course - can't make it 100% legitimate).



That's a fair point. A follow up question, then; could divide and conquer work in any way in Japan? I know it's not popular to think so; unlike India when the British chipped away at the block, Japan is a homogenous, unified culture. But, could there have been a point where a foreign power took advantage of inter-clan rivalries in the early or mid 19th Century to back certain factions against others and establish themselves as overlords of Japan?
You mean leave the feudal structure alone and then replace the Japanese emperor with your own monarch?
 
Possibly. If it would work. I'm fairly sure there was a timeline on here long ago where someone had Napoleon III crown himself Emperor of Japan...
If you can beat up all the clans with your armies,purge the entire House of Yamato and then have arrangements with the clans to allow them to rule as they always have,with the exception of recognizing your monarch as emperor then why not?
 
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