Weekly Flag Challenge #242 Poll

[Jing_Jing]

FLAG CHALLENGE #242:
Sundown in Tokyo

Fairly straightforward: Create a flag for the nation of Japan that does not make use of the Hinomaru, nor the Rising Sun, nor the Chrysanthemum/Imperial Seal.

Your version of Japan can have any ideology, can have diverged at any point in history but it must be an independent state and not an (official) territory of a foreign power, though a dominion of a foreign empire would be acceptable. This should be a flag for Japan not another nation that happens to own Japan.

Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: March 5th, 2021 @ 21:30 (GMT-5)

Here's my entry to the most recent Flag Challenge (as posted by @Jing_Jing ):

Sovereign State of Japan

This ATL version of Japan is more or less the same as OTL, but with some subtle differences: More enlightened politicians responding well to the suggestions of the economists (and a more sustainable economic growth in general), more decentralized system of government (the regions having given powers from the Diet), a more productive population control policy (e.g. more effective family planning, paid leaves for young parents), more balanced boss-employee relationship, a more comprehensive rural regeneration program, more proactive role in the United Nations, among many others. The Emperor remained the head of state and "symbol of national sovereignty", but the prime minister is the head of government.

I maintained the national colors of the country (red and white) just like in the OTL counterpart, but the design is Spanish fess, and at the center is the OTL Seal of the Japanese Government, also known as Go-Shichi no Kiri (五七の桐).

The Empire of Nihon, colloquially often Nyon, is a country in East Asia bordering the Pacific Ocean. It is the only known constitutional diarchy in the world today with two mostly ceremonial Heads of State known as Tenno or Mikado, who are the supreme coheads of the national Shinto religion, and an elected Head of Government called the Daijin or Dajō-daijin (lit. Chancellor of the State).
This state of affairs seems to have originated from successive ceremonialisation of rulers during unification and reunification prior to official contact with the West in the Colonial Period. The first rulers following unification were Ohi Tenno (Great Solar Heavenly Sovereign) who established the Solar Goddess Amaterasu as the primary God of Shinto. Most of their governing powers were later taken up by the Taishogun (Grand Commander in Chief) during what is now call the Shogunate Period, and it appears this role was the forerunner of the Otsuku Tenno (Great Lunar Heavenly Sovereign) who sanctified the then temporary governments called the Bakufu. The chaos of the Mongol invasion lead to several Shikken (lit. Holder of Authority, thus Regent) being established before reunification solidified them into a single role. During the Shikkenate Period the two Tenno came to represent the two major Gods of the Sun and the Moon whose eternal rivalry to be supreme god generates the conditions necessary for life and (relative) stability; eclipses are thus a major occasion in Shinto to this day. Prolonged contact with Western Powers saw the eventual overthrow of the absolutist Shikkens in favour of a more democratic model under a Daijin and cabinet, though many hoped for "restoration" of the Tenno Emperors.

The flag depicts the Sun in eclipse, in red, and since the end of WW2 a blue star rose has been added representing the goal of liberty rather than militancy.

[Apologies for any bad Japanese!]

The People's Republic of Japan (1948-1992)

The PRJ was founded by Comrade Miyamoto Kenji and Comrade Asanuma Inejiro in 1948, after Soviet Occupation of Northern Japan.

Its flag preserves the color scheme of the original Hinomaru, changing the sun to a red star.

Yamato Republic
大和共和国 (Yamato Kyōwakoku)

Normally I'd post an obnoxiously long description, but I'm squeaking in past the entry times anyways. Basic idea: isolationist monarchy leads a very different Boshin War analogue against a Pro-Western Tokugawa Shogunate. The Shogunate receives foreign backing, but for a time Japan is divided. After several years of conflict, Japan is finally unified into a noble republic where major clans have representation in an Upper House, while the Shogun is the reigning military general, chosen by a panel ranking officers upon the death of the prior Shogun (the Tokugawas are prominent but a strong Republican tinge has driven away notions of hereditary succession). The Lower House is open to all males after a few decades, and women some years after that. The flag is based on the white-black-white vertical flag of the Shogunate's navy. Over the years it was rendered horizontally and became a symbol of the Shogunate and later the Republic in their years of conflict with the monarchy. The Stars came later, taking the red from the monarchist Hinomaru, with five stars to represent the the 5 major Home Islands of Yamato (a name that arose due to romanticist propaganda utilized by the Republican forces). Japan has no colonies in this timeline due to their years of infighting while their neighbors were either subjugated by Western powers or grew too strong and westernized technologically to be defeated.