The Sun, The Stars and The Sickle: Alt-WWII and a Tripolar Postwar World
- Thread starter WaterproofPotatoes
- Start date
- Status
That I cannot reveal yet, but Japan certainly wants a greatly expanded Kwantung Territory comprising a strip of land around the Bohai Sea from Dairen to Tsingtao, with Tianjin as an international city to placate other powers. Japan has occupied this territory to secure it from falling into RoC hands, but that is an arrangement the Union of China stresses is temporary.
Given that Chiang's Kuomintang has been (at least notionally) in league with the Nazi regime in Germany up to this point, one wonders what all Dai Li and the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics under him have been up to. Between that and the KMT's new hostility with the Allies, I can definitely see his reputation as "the Chinese Himmler" becoming more prominent in this timeline.
Congratulations on 100 pages as well!
Congratulations on 100 pages as well!
Thank you! I am grateful for every new reader, and as always, I hope you have as much fun reading it as I do writing it!
Mr. Dai's prominence will likely increase in the coming days, especially since the bulk of the remaining German advisors are now gone, and all of said "services" must now be provided domestically...
He is the last significant German advisor left in China; his relatively moderate views and personal relationship with Chiang certainly help.
From an earlier vignette set in the future, China seems to be divided into five, not counting foreign possessions. There's Manchukuo and Mengjiang, as well as the Union of China, but IIRC there'll also be a rump RoC and a rump PRoC.
*shrug*
Well, look on the bright side. At least ITTL there won't be a Great Leap Forward, which actually killed more Chinese than the Japanese did. Or the Cultural Revolution for that matter, which left plenty of scars on and cost the Chinese academia a great deal. To say nothing of all the damage Communist rule would have inflicted on Chinese culture and historical artifacts.
Last edited:
According to the post detailing the spheres and power blocs of the modern day, there is also a Shandong (or Kwantung) Autonomous Republic under Japan's control.
Very true, and if Mao and company still try some of their worse ideas, the huge area of China means there may be opportunities for defectors to flee, NK style, to the other Chinas.
There also aren’t all the atrocities the Japanese did, like the Rape of Nanking. The Chinese are probably better off as a people, even if they’re worse off as a nation.
I believe that's their coastal concession, running from Ryojun in the north, to Qingdao in the south, along the shores of the Yellow Sea.
Glass half-full, eh?
Apologies to all for being so absent from my own TL- one would think semi-lockdown would mean more time to write, but instead it's been more emergency business planning, and a scramble of household projects to try and reclaim a degree of normalcy.
This sums it up quite well! Although the path may not be straight and easy, it will nonetheless be very different for China especially. Fundamentally, the Japanese are still colonists, but there is indeed no Rape of Nanking, nor systemic brutalization of the Chinese as a whole.
This sums it up quite well! Although the path may not be straight and easy, it will nonetheless be very different for China especially. Fundamentally, the Japanese are still colonists, but there is indeed no Rape of Nanking, nor systemic brutalization of the Chinese as a whole.
All good man. We understand that whoever writes on these forums does it as a hobby, so RL comes first.
Where do you live? What country's lockdown are you under?
It's quite fine! As readers we know every author on this site has a real life with things that need to be attended to. Don't stress about posting before things stabilize.
Ontario here, so partial lockdown. I have my own business in an essential industry, so there has been a lot of adjustment and a lot of video meetings...
Last edited:
Sweet as. We are in full lockdown in NZ, but I am an "essential worker" (How the heck did THAT happen?????) I work from home with site visits where necessary only, which means this Thursday to the new hospital building..... They kinda want it completed (I wonder why?). I mean, its only 2 years overdue as is.....
You can blame me for about 6 months, but THAT'S IT! I PROMISE!!!!! (I was also only doing my job - Industrial QA..... I kinda found some very very wrong plumbing..... About 50x more than they thought..... & that was the FIRST system I looked at).
Indiana is also under lockdown. My county has a non-essential travel ban until at least the 6th.
I also hope my brother down in Lafayette is doing fine, since he works at an essential job.
The Kishi Affair - Part 1
FINALLY!
Nobusuke Kishi ) (L) and General Hideki Tojo (R), Manchukuo, 1938
Excerpts from "Growing Pains: The Development of Showa Democracy" I. Miyabi, Kondasha, Tokyo, 1994.
FEW people in modern Japanese history inspire as much controversy as Nobusuke Kishi. Kishi was a powerful and influential figure in the early years of Manchuko, a close friend of such influential figures as Seishiro Itagaki, Kenji Doihara and Hideki Tojo. Obsessed with economic planning, and admirer of both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, he was later spurned by the establishment, earning the disdain of the zaibatsu, would-be Emperor Pujie and Empress Hiro, as well as Marshal Baron Nobuyoshi Muto. He retained his vast wealth initially, managing a large coal mine in Fushun. His fall began quickly, with two incidents that left an impression on jurisprudence during the early Showa era, particularly in regards to the power of the courts and the military.
The first of these, the Kishi-Army Incident began during February, 1943. Kishi, while managing director of Fushun Coal and Aggregates KK, was known to make indulgent weekend trips to Dairen on weekends. On these trips, he would all but bathe in expensive liquor, and procure the finest food, and trysts with as many women as possible. This indulgent lifestyle was made possible by the millions of yen he made from his job, and through his underworld connections. However, Kishi's invincibility began its steep downfall on one of these trips.
During one, Kishi had his ultimately fateful encounter with Keikio Miyabara (née Yoshioka). A tale where the virtue of the players differed so starkly would be dismissed as utterly unbelievable had it not actually happened.
Mrs .Keiko Miyabara, then in her mid-20s, was the wife of an IJA Kwantung Army Medical Corps officer, Lieutenant Shinichi Miyabara. Lieutenant Miyabara had been introduced to her by her elder brother, Captain Koji Yoshioka, an artillerist in the 1st China Expeditionary Army . Capt. Yoshioka and Lt. Miyabara were War College classmates and friends, and then Ms. Yoshioka and Miyabara were almost instantly taken with each other- their marriage was a union founded on love, not an arrangement. Originally from Sapporo, Mrs. Miyabara moved with her husband to Dairen when he was stationed there upon the outbreak of war. Lt. Miyabara was tasked with analyzing pathogens and the prevention of disease within the Army, specifically water-borne diseases. It was a task that Miyabara, who held a master's degree in biology from Tokyo Imperial University was well suited to. However, this was not a field that would make one immediately wealthy, and the Miyabaras, while honourable and not poor, were by no means wealthy, and required loans for their son's education. In order to ease the burden, and to help pass time, Mrs. Miyabara took a job at a tailor's shop in one of the wealthy districts of Dairen.
Keiko Miyabara cast a striking figure. Tall, naturally beautiful, and faithfully married, she was used to turning down propositions from men, but none were so aggressive as Nobusuke Kishi. On one Saturday, while she was alone in the shop, a visibly hungover Kishi walked, or staggered in, and asked to be fitted for a new suit. Kishi, when taken behind a curtain and asked to remove his jacket so Mrs. Miyabara could take his measurements, proceeded to remove his shoes, and began to remove his trousers as well. Mrs. Miyabara, having rebuffed several of his verbal advances already, then grabbed a pair of shears, brandished them, and ordered Kishi to put his trousers back on and leave the shop. Kishi then offered Mrs. Miyabara a considerable sum of cash, which she refused; Kishi then offered her a smaller sum to simply not tell the police what had happened., and cautioned Mrs. Miyabara that he had vast personal wealth and powerful friends. Mrs. Miyabara, undaunted, replied that she was unafraid- her husband was an Army officer who had friends too, and the virtue of an officer's wife was not for sale at any price. Kishi threatened to find out who her husband was, and ruin his career, at which point Mrs. Miyabara swung at Kishi with the shears, and stabbed him in the thigh. A physical altercation began- Kishi struck her in the mouth, and pushed her into a rack of fabric samples before fleeing the scene.
Mrs. Miyabara was too shaken to call the police, and instead told her husband what had happened when she got home. Lt. Miyabara was furious, and vowed to avenge the assault on his wife. He called Captain Yoshioka, who was at the time stationed in Tianjin, having just recovered from battlefield wounds while his unit, a heavy artillery battery, was engaged in counterbattery fire. Yoshioka was similarly enraged, and immediately booked leave, left before it was granted, expecting it to be a matter of course as it usually was for an officer of his standing, and booked the soonest flight available to Dairen. Kishi, whose face had been in newspapers before, was immediately recognizable.; recognition was also aided by his distinctive mole, and now a conspicuous limp. In full uniform, the two officers set out to find Kishi on a Sunday afternoon. It did not take them long to locate Kishi in an exclusive supper club. Pushing past Kishi's entourage, they confronted a visibly drunk Kishi.
According to their testimony, Kishi greeted Capt. Yoshioka and Lt. Miyabara with: "What are you two doing here? You can't afford this place! If it's about that shapeless crazy bitch at the shop, you better not try anything! I'll see you boys broken so fast you won't know what's coming! She stabbed me!" Capt. Yoshioka and Lt. Miyabara demanded that Kishi step outside, and Kishi responded by throwing a drink in their faces. What happened next was a brawl, and the two officers beat Kishi severely, knocking him out of his chair, and kicking him in the ribs , breaking several of them. They then dragged Kishi out into the street, where Lt. Miyabara threatened to run Kishi through with his sword. Capt. Yoshioka warned him not to, and Lt. Miyabara then told Kishi "I would not dirty my blade on the likes of you! You do not deserve so noble an end! For all your money, you are gutter trash, and this is where you shall remain!"
The two officers fled the scene, and after a few minutes, turned themselves into the kempeitai. They were held awaiting trial, while Mrs. Miyabara nervously awaited their fates.
Nobusuke Kishi ) (L) and General Hideki Tojo (R), Manchukuo, 1938
Excerpts from "Growing Pains: The Development of Showa Democracy" I. Miyabi, Kondasha, Tokyo, 1994.
FEW people in modern Japanese history inspire as much controversy as Nobusuke Kishi. Kishi was a powerful and influential figure in the early years of Manchuko, a close friend of such influential figures as Seishiro Itagaki, Kenji Doihara and Hideki Tojo. Obsessed with economic planning, and admirer of both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, he was later spurned by the establishment, earning the disdain of the zaibatsu, would-be Emperor Pujie and Empress Hiro, as well as Marshal Baron Nobuyoshi Muto. He retained his vast wealth initially, managing a large coal mine in Fushun. His fall began quickly, with two incidents that left an impression on jurisprudence during the early Showa era, particularly in regards to the power of the courts and the military.
The first of these, the Kishi-Army Incident began during February, 1943. Kishi, while managing director of Fushun Coal and Aggregates KK, was known to make indulgent weekend trips to Dairen on weekends. On these trips, he would all but bathe in expensive liquor, and procure the finest food, and trysts with as many women as possible. This indulgent lifestyle was made possible by the millions of yen he made from his job, and through his underworld connections. However, Kishi's invincibility began its steep downfall on one of these trips.
During one, Kishi had his ultimately fateful encounter with Keikio Miyabara (née Yoshioka). A tale where the virtue of the players differed so starkly would be dismissed as utterly unbelievable had it not actually happened.
Mrs .Keiko Miyabara, then in her mid-20s, was the wife of an IJA Kwantung Army Medical Corps officer, Lieutenant Shinichi Miyabara. Lieutenant Miyabara had been introduced to her by her elder brother, Captain Koji Yoshioka, an artillerist in the 1st China Expeditionary Army . Capt. Yoshioka and Lt. Miyabara were War College classmates and friends, and then Ms. Yoshioka and Miyabara were almost instantly taken with each other- their marriage was a union founded on love, not an arrangement. Originally from Sapporo, Mrs. Miyabara moved with her husband to Dairen when he was stationed there upon the outbreak of war. Lt. Miyabara was tasked with analyzing pathogens and the prevention of disease within the Army, specifically water-borne diseases. It was a task that Miyabara, who held a master's degree in biology from Tokyo Imperial University was well suited to. However, this was not a field that would make one immediately wealthy, and the Miyabaras, while honourable and not poor, were by no means wealthy, and required loans for their son's education. In order to ease the burden, and to help pass time, Mrs. Miyabara took a job at a tailor's shop in one of the wealthy districts of Dairen.
Keiko Miyabara cast a striking figure. Tall, naturally beautiful, and faithfully married, she was used to turning down propositions from men, but none were so aggressive as Nobusuke Kishi. On one Saturday, while she was alone in the shop, a visibly hungover Kishi walked, or staggered in, and asked to be fitted for a new suit. Kishi, when taken behind a curtain and asked to remove his jacket so Mrs. Miyabara could take his measurements, proceeded to remove his shoes, and began to remove his trousers as well. Mrs. Miyabara, having rebuffed several of his verbal advances already, then grabbed a pair of shears, brandished them, and ordered Kishi to put his trousers back on and leave the shop. Kishi then offered Mrs. Miyabara a considerable sum of cash, which she refused; Kishi then offered her a smaller sum to simply not tell the police what had happened., and cautioned Mrs. Miyabara that he had vast personal wealth and powerful friends. Mrs. Miyabara, undaunted, replied that she was unafraid- her husband was an Army officer who had friends too, and the virtue of an officer's wife was not for sale at any price. Kishi threatened to find out who her husband was, and ruin his career, at which point Mrs. Miyabara swung at Kishi with the shears, and stabbed him in the thigh. A physical altercation began- Kishi struck her in the mouth, and pushed her into a rack of fabric samples before fleeing the scene.
Mrs. Miyabara was too shaken to call the police, and instead told her husband what had happened when she got home. Lt. Miyabara was furious, and vowed to avenge the assault on his wife. He called Captain Yoshioka, who was at the time stationed in Tianjin, having just recovered from battlefield wounds while his unit, a heavy artillery battery, was engaged in counterbattery fire. Yoshioka was similarly enraged, and immediately booked leave, left before it was granted, expecting it to be a matter of course as it usually was for an officer of his standing, and booked the soonest flight available to Dairen. Kishi, whose face had been in newspapers before, was immediately recognizable.; recognition was also aided by his distinctive mole, and now a conspicuous limp. In full uniform, the two officers set out to find Kishi on a Sunday afternoon. It did not take them long to locate Kishi in an exclusive supper club. Pushing past Kishi's entourage, they confronted a visibly drunk Kishi.
According to their testimony, Kishi greeted Capt. Yoshioka and Lt. Miyabara with: "What are you two doing here? You can't afford this place! If it's about that shapeless crazy bitch at the shop, you better not try anything! I'll see you boys broken so fast you won't know what's coming! She stabbed me!" Capt. Yoshioka and Lt. Miyabara demanded that Kishi step outside, and Kishi responded by throwing a drink in their faces. What happened next was a brawl, and the two officers beat Kishi severely, knocking him out of his chair, and kicking him in the ribs , breaking several of them. They then dragged Kishi out into the street, where Lt. Miyabara threatened to run Kishi through with his sword. Capt. Yoshioka warned him not to, and Lt. Miyabara then told Kishi "I would not dirty my blade on the likes of you! You do not deserve so noble an end! For all your money, you are gutter trash, and this is where you shall remain!"
The two officers fled the scene, and after a few minutes, turned themselves into the kempeitai. They were held awaiting trial, while Mrs. Miyabara nervously awaited their fates.
Last edited:
- Status