Foreign Policy

Japan is a rising power on the world stage, but one afflicted with a bad case of inferiority complex. Japan is not seen by the western countries as an equal, and they also aren't interested in letting Japan join their colonialist's club either. With a craving for imperial power, a drive to prove themselves as a great nation, and a regional superiority over their neighbors, Japan is at a crossroads between liberalism and imperialism.

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

The East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere is a Japanese Geo-political project to purge European influence from East Asia and to be become the premier power within the region that facilitates trade and relations between Asian nations. Asia for the Asians if you will.

Hakko Ichiu

Hakko Ichiu is the term for the Japanese doctrine of uniting the world under the rightful authority of the emperor. If the Co-Prosperity Sphere is the sanitized public image, Hakko Ichiu is the truest desire of the Japanese nationlists

International Relations

The Republic of China

China has become the object of desire for Japan. Its mass of land, labor, and natural resources would easily make Japan able to subsist on its own resources, and boost its power. China is in a state of disarray, fragmentation, and infighting, so Japan made use of this opportunity by annexing Manchuria a few years prior. There is a desire within many in the government that they should move to finish the job.

Britain, Netherlands, France, & The United States

All being former allies of Japan, the relationship between them has become increasingly strained. Britain, France, and the Netherlands are the largest colonialists in Asia, and none of them ar wild about the rise of Japanese imperial ambitions in China. Japan also has their eyes on British Malaysia, The Duth East Indies, French Indochina and The American administrated Phillipines, which are rich in oil and rubber Japan desperately needs.

Nazi Germany & The Kingdsom of Italy

While not traditional allies, Germany, Italy, and Japan have become the objects of ire by their neighbors, and both are seeking resource self sufficiency through territorial expansion. Both have also been seized by ultra-nationalist fervor, and are vehemently anti-communist as well. There is no formal alliance between the two nations yet, but a common enemy could push these unlikely potential allies into cooperation.

Soviet Russia

Russiais treated as a primary physical and ideological threat to Japan. Japan had already contended with Russia in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 and 1905, but since the communist revolution in the nation, it has represented an even greater existential threat to Japan if it's communist ideology were to take root. Many in the military in Japan believe that Japan should initiate aggressive action against Russia to keep them at bay, while others believe Russia's western lands are barren and useless compared to the colonies of Britain and the Netherlands

Thailand

Thailand is a southeast Asian nation that has narrowly dodged being colonized by the European powers. Some of its territory was carved away by Britain and France, but the independent nation still survived and endured. As they have been bolstering their own armed forces and modernizing them, the possibility of reclaiming their stolen lands has become a real probability. Thailand represents a potential ally in the region for Japan since they have a mutual enemy and a common cause.