Empire of Japan

Dai Nippon Teikoku

The Empire of Japan is a country in East Asia. It consists of the Japanese Archipelago, the Korean Peninsula, and several Pacific Islands, including Hawaii, Taiwan, Micronesia, Polynesia, and the Aleutians. Japan has direct administration over several coastal regions on mainland Asia, including Zhanjiang, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, Weihai, Dalian, and Vladivostok.
Japan controls the majority of East and Southeast Asia through the management of various puppet governments. While Japan claims that these countries are independent, they are in actuality occupied territories of the Japanese Empire that are forced to submit in both their military and their economy. Examples of these aforementioned puppet governments are the Republic of China, and the monarchy in Vietnam under Emperor Bảo Đại, among several others.
All of these countries are members of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, an alliance through which Japan controls its territories and manages relations with client/puppet states.
The Empire of Japan appears as a world superpower, but keen observers can see the cracks hiding just under the paint.
Politically, Japan is dominated by the goliath known as the Taisei Yokusantai, but this giant, artificial construct is falling apart at the seams: formed by forcing all Japanese political parties to join - political infighting was deemed detrimental to the war effort - the Imperial Rule Assistance Association has dominated the political scene for almost thirty years. This was also thanks to the fact that independent candidates were relentlessly persecuted (and many "disappeared" after encounters with emissaries from the Army, always influential in Japanese politics).
The various factions (formerly separate political parties) are constantly quarreling, just as anyone would expect from conservatives, militarists, liberals and radicals being forced to sit together. As of late the temperature is higher than ever, and the increasing corruption scandals have brought forth a new wave of independents who managed to survive and win seats in parliament. Should the party completely fall apart, a functional government will be impossible and Japan will be locked in political stagnation - something which Japan can't afford and which may even bring the Emperor to take action to avoid this eventuality.

"The World Under One Roof"

Capital:
Tokyo
Population:
105,200,000
Head of State:
Emperor Hirohito

Founding Date

1868

Demonym

Japanese