Hi there,
I'm a new poster here (though a longtime watcher of this amazing site) and I need some help with an alternate history scenario I literally dreamed up. The other night I had a spookily detailed dream about a Japanese-occupied New Zealand in the 90's (presumably after WWII), but according to world maps featured in said dream Nazi Germany is nothing nor is Facist Italy (in fact, Europe appears just as it did post WWII and post Cold War as it does OTL).
I want to write a short story based on the dream, but I need help making it plausible. Is there any way possible that Japan could have conquered Australia and New Zealand, without being owned by the US, and having Germany and Italy defeated in the same timeline? The only way I see this happening is if instead of bombing Pearl Harbour Japan kept at it's attacks on European colonial possessions, which got America involved but not in such a huge scale. I mean, why would the US worry so much about British possessions in India, Australia and New Zealand when Britain itself is being attacked and beaten in Europe? But of course the Japanese were intent on Pearl Harbour, weren't they?
Anyway, like I said, any help on making this plausible would be greatly appreciated.