Japanese Micronesia sans WW2

[Beatriz]

Japan acquired Micronesia during WW1 by defeating the German Empire, and administered the region as the South Seas mandate. During its rule there it encouraged settler immigration, notably of Okinawans but also of Japanese and Koreans. There emerged a mixed race population despite institutional racial segregation. In terms of religion, the locals were pushed to convert to Christianity while the settlers brought Buddhist and Shinto beliefs and constructed local shrines.
In terms of education, Micronesian children attended Japanese primary schools where they learned Japanese and Japanese culture, and Japanese was promoted over local languages.

After WW2, Micronesia was administered by the US under a UN Mandate and most of it became independent as multiple nations in 1991.

If there was no pacific war, would Micronesia be integrated into Japan?

 

[rfmcdonald]

That incorporation seems the most likely outcome. The legalities will be complicated, since these were technically not Japanese territories, but a Japan sufficiently adept to avoid the Pacific War may be able to do a better job with Micronesia than South Africa was with the future Namibia.

 

[DougM]

They are going yo have yo do something yo get on the Good side of the US. The US is not interested in Japan expanding its area of control and its power and resource base. So the US will toss as many road blocks as it can.
And if France and GB start to divest their territories and colonies and such and the US lets The Philippine islands go about their own buisnesses then the trend will be. against this and the US France and GB are mot going to very happy with reducing thier influence then watching Japan secure /expand Japanese influence.
So something is going yo have yo radically change. More then just Japan avoids WW2. It needs to be more like Japan stays out of Chine and oulls back from Korea and does something to make the US a friend instead of a rival. And that is a LOT of changes

 

[walmart]

If there was no pacific war, would Micronesia be integrated into Japan?

Unlike with Korea and Taiwan, Japanese made up half of the population . So I don’t see integration being an issue given the extremely small population and high percentage of Japanese.

 

[rfmcdonald]

Unlike with Korea and Taiwan, Japanese made up half of the population . So I don’t see integration being an issue given the extremely small population and high percentage of Japanese.

The issues of legality and jurisdiction strike me as more relevant. It is difficult to imagine scenarios where the best interests of the Micronesian peoples pie in their absorption into a Japanese settlement colony integrated with the metropole. The League may have something to say about that.

 

[Beatriz]

The issues of legality and jurisdiction strike me as more relevant. It is difficult to imagine scenarios where the best interests of the Micronesian peoples pie in their absorption into a Japanese settlement colony integrated with the metropole. The League may have something to say about that.

The League could push for Micronesia to be placed under League direct control while an equitable situation is worked out - some kind of legal equality would be implemented between Japanese settlers, Okinawan, Korean, mixed-race and native peoples under League occupation and an end to formal segregation.

 

[Arkenfolm]

The issues of legality and jurisdiction strike me as more relevant. It is difficult to imagine scenarios where the best interests of the Micronesian peoples pie in their absorption into a Japanese settlement colony integrated with the metropole. The League may have something to say about that.

I doubt it would be worse than OTL for the indigenous Micronesians, who now live in some of the poorest, most remote countries in the world. They have historically and presently been incredibly neglected by the US, despite United Nations obligations to improve the islands. Same thing with the Northern Marianas (at one point around 90% Japanese)--today CNMI has high unemployment and for several years had higher political corruption per capita than any state or territory in the US. Micronesians themselves are often discriminated against (especially in Hawaii). In contrast, under Japanese rule they were important parts of Japan's overseas empire and heavily invested in.

They are going yo have yo do something yo get on the Good side of the US. The US is not interested in Japan expanding its area of control and its power and resource base. So the US will toss as many road blocks as it can.
And if France and GB start to divest their territories and colonies and such and the US lets The Philippine islands go about their own buisnesses then the trend will be. against this and the US France and GB are mot going to very happy with reducing thier influence then watching Japan secure /expand Japanese influence.
So something is going yo have yo radically change. More then just Japan avoids WW2. It needs to be more like Japan stays out of Chine and oulls back from Korea and does something to make the US a friend instead of a rival. And that is a LOT of changes

It would be hard to say the islands are colonies when they'd be 60%+ Japanese, including many born on the islands. They would almost certainly democratically vote to remain part of Japan, so the situation would be like the Falklands or Gibraltar.