Victoria II - Japan - AAR

[Eurasia]

Victoria II - Japan
Chapter One - Where Japan Came From

The Empire was founded 660 B.C. by the first Emperor, Jimmu Tenno, who was the direct ancestor of the 20th Century ruling house.

Some scholars suggest this is fiction but those scholars were never invited to any of the cool parties and most of the populace ignore them.

Other scholars suggested that the Japanese race come from China, Korea, or Manchuria. Some suggested that the Japanese race came from Islanders or the Malay strain. Once again nobody listened to those scholars.

Of course, in some ways, the scholars were totally correct. The Chinese script was adopted by the Japanese in the early 5th Century and by the middle of the 6th Century over 100,000 Koreans and Chinese from Manchuria had come to live in Japan.

The reason was very simple. They were skilled in metals and in silkworms. And they were better educated than the Japanese populace that would end up assimilating them.

Buddhism would soon follow, coming from mainland Asia, and ended up existing stand by stand with Shintoism.

In fact some of the more powerful Clans within Japan tried to follow the example of China and did their best to make a Empire based on the mainland Dynasties.

Even if it meant destroying each other and putting the Imperial House under their thumb.

During this time period the Imperial House became a figurehead and plaything of those who wished for power.

But things change with time. And even the most powerful of the Clans could not stay in power for long.

Money in the form of silver and coppers coins started to replace rice as a means of exchange.

The Samurai class slowly lost control of the economic power as a merchant class started to grow.

And the peasants suffered. And started to revolt. Not totally unheard of in Japanese history.

But under the Tokugawa government it started to happen a lot. They had tried to isolate Japan. And they did so for hundreds of years. But it wasn’t working. Not in the way those in power hoped.

To be honest there are too many factors to list and explain here about why the Tokugawa Shogunate fell.

For example, the rules were somewhat relaxed in 1716 which allowed the import, and study, of works in Western languages. Japan was becoming exposed to Western ideas and culture.

Picture a mirror with hundreds of cracks in it. Each crack expanding, joining others, making more cracks.

The Russians started to colonize Alaska and put pressure on Japan for use of their ports and for trade to help support their newly created colonies.

Japan was at a turning point and it needed to start making decisions. The year 1836 would be a major junction for Japan. And the rest of the world.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Westernise, invent steamrollers, and then steamroll, babyyyyyyyyyyy.

 

[serutan]

Obviously the Shogun will need the best advisors/advice he can get in order to negotiate this brave new world.

 

[Eurasia]

Victoria II - Japan
Chapter Two - Decisions

When the year 1836 AD came to the world, according to the European calender, the Japanese authorities were examining the situation within their own realm. The Japanese culture, and people, were showing a huge interest in the outside world.

But it was unfocused. It wasn’t constructive. Those in power didn’t care about fashion or paintings.

They were more interested in the European’s weapons and tactics and technology. The government realized it needed to focus, like an archer, on the target and not get distracted by their surroundings.

From the outside Japan looked like a primitive nation. Even called a uncivilized nation of farmers by some. And that was partly true. Most of the populace were farmers or related to farming in one way or another. In fact they made up more than 73 percent of the workforce.

In fact the five top domestic produced goods were grain, tea, timber, fish, and glass.

And there was no modern industry to speak of.

But it had a high literacy rate among the people. Over 40 percent could read!

Changes were needed. Japan wanted to be semi-western in its technology. But they wanted to keep their culture and some of their ways.

They wanted to eat their cake and have it too.

Would they get their wish? They were going to try.

First the Liberals, who made up only a small part of the Shogunate government, had to bring the Reactionaries to their side. For the old Guard, the Clans and Samurai, held much of the power. And the Conservatives held a large part also.

It wasn’t too bad. The promise of modern weapons and, maybe, future conquest of many of the weaker Asian nations, brought the Reactionaries onto their side.

It also helped to toss in the fear of the West. And wealth. Wealth brought a lot of the Clans and new Rich onto the side of the Liberals. Mostly Conservatives who liked things to stay the same but had no issue with gaining more power and coinage.

So the idea to bring back the Emperor and to quickly build up Japan in both economic power and military power was backed by a majority of the government.

And so the Early Meiji Restoration was brought about. The first step was, of course, Land Reform. Farming was so backwards. If the nation was going to grow it needed, well, more rice and other farm related products. Soldiers and future factory workers needed to eat.

And of course the Emperor, Meiji-Tenno, was now head of statement. Or a figurehead depending on which historian you talk to.

Also the nation had to be…well, educated. And the Clergy were the best skilled at schooling the people.

So the government decided to encourage, for the moment, the Clergy to move into the region of Kanto. Mostly focusing on the Province of Edo.

The idea being the more Clergy there the more schools there would be. The more schools there were the more people would become skilled at math, reading, and obeying the government.

Such subjects would make good engineers, scientists, and future teachers.

Of course, there were some things that needed to be done right away. The Budget was in the red. And the first thing on the ‘chopping block’ was the Imperial Fleet. Which was disbanded.

So when it came to the Budget the Navy didn’t need one.

Defense spending was also decreased. There was no war at the time, after all, so the Armies didn’t need to be at tip top shape. Nor did the Administration need to be tip top shape either.

And of course, the Poor could also be taxed a little more. That was what the Poor was for, after all. To pay taxes and die in wars.

Now it was just a waiting game.

In April there was some news out of Kobe. Gold had been discovered. No doubt helpful to the local economy but not that interesting to the government.

By May the Treasury was stable and full. It was decided to decrease the taxes on the poor back to their normal levels.

On the international front there were three wars going on. The Ottoman Empire was trying to take back Triploi. While Texas was trying to break off from Mexico. And Brazil was trying to ‘Liberate’ Bolivian Amazonas.

At that point there was a debate about who Japan wished to, sooner or later, ally themselves with. Or at least get closer to. There was some thought about improving their relationship with Russia.

But in the end the government leaned towards getting closer to the other island nation of the world. The Empire of Great Britain. And so the first gesture to a European nation, of friendship, was towards the UK.

By November the government was able to get the Japanese military to agree to adopt Foreign Training Methods. And therefore one more step to becoming a modern nation.

But while on the surface everything seemed to be working well there was a small issue.

There was unrest among the Samurai. A Faction that wanted to return to the old ways. Japanese Reactionaries who wanted to turn the clock back.

For now they were too small in number to do anything. But in a few years….

Still, it was mostly peaceful in Japan. Most of the conflicts and major events were happening in the rest of the world.

The only real news, that wasn’t in the public newspapers, was that the US had joined Texas in its war of independence.

And as the year came to an end the government kept its focus. It knew it needed patience and time to bring about the changes it wanted.

Would the rest of the world give them that time?

 

[Eurasia]

Victoria II - Japan
Chapter Three - Control Of The Upper House

The goal of the Meiji parties soon became “Enrich the country - strengthen the military”. At least that was the promise the Liberals gave the Reactionaries, also known as the Shogunate Faction, and the Conservatives, also known as the Court Faction.

While they disagreed on many things they were all Pro-Military and saw benefits in helping each other. For now.

At the start of the year, on the 1st of January 1837, the Upper House was reorganized with the Conservatives gaining the upper hand. Seems support for the new Emperor had also encouraged some members to switch parties.

Outside of Japan things had heated up slightly in March with the addition of a new war.

Seems Chile started the ‘War of the Pacific’ which wasn’t as big as it sounded. It was just a fight over Bolivian Atacama. Seems Bolivia had support Peru but that was as far as it had grown. As the two nations were also at war with Brazil this must be putting great pressure on their military.

In late March Diplomats did their best to increase Japan’s good relationship with the UK.

Having the UK, a powerful European superpower with a powerful navy, who also had a lot of puppets in Asia was looked at as a good idea by almost everybody in the government.

The Liberals announced to the other two parties that they planned for the next step in modernization was to import weapons from Europe. Foreign training methods would likely do better with foreign weapons.

Both parties approved of this. And this allowed the Liberals to do what happened next. They used their political power in the Upper House to make themselves the New Ruling Party in Japan.

By late May it was noticed that the Province of Edo had over 2 percent of their populace as Clergy.

At that point it was decided to change the focus to the Province of Chiba to, once again, bring in more Clergymen. And, therefore, more schools and a better educated populace.

In late June the war in North American ended with mixed results. The Mexicans lost the war but Texas became absorbed by the United States of America. So they won but didn’t stay independent for long.

In July the Budget was adjusted slightly. In that the Administration had a slight increase in their pay.

By the end of July Japan was still not in the international news. Most of the news was about wars, inventions, and the economy.

The wars were totally centered in South America.

And by late October it was decided to withdraw the extra cash from the Administration as the Budget had gone into the ‘Red’.

In December, once again, relationships with the UK were strengthened.

The Liberals also started to plan to rebuild the Imperial Fleet. A Navy would be needed soon to transport the soldiers.

The Liberals were Pro-Military after all. And there were parts of Asia that were not yet within the spheres of the Superpowers.

Best to grab them before somebody else did. But should the Liberals wait so as to improve their military or go for the prizes now?

 

[serutan]

By the end of July Japan was still not in the international news. Most of the news was about wars, inventions, and the economy.

There are advantages to having a low profile..

 

[DensleyBlair]

Whenever I think of Japan at this point in history, I am reminded of a Japanese communist writing around the turn of the 20th century who argued in bizarre terms that Japan was among the global 'proletariat' of nations, and that as a result it was entirely justified in its goals of colonising half of Asia, which was a kind of revolutionary act against the hegemony of Western powers.

Interested to see how far your own 'revolution' will take you.

 

[Eurasia]

Victoria II - Japan
Chapter Four - An Imperial Navy

When the new year of 1838 came about the Upper House had some changes to the membership of the Parties.

The Conservative Party had lost some members while both the Liberal Party and the Reactionaries both gained members.

This alarmed the Liberals a tad. They foresaw a power struggle with the old Guard in the coming years.

And one hundred percent Westernization was still a far way off.

Still, the Liberals had their plans for the Nation of Japan. And their plans required a Navy.

So in January both transports and warships were ordered to be constructed. A total of six transports and three frigates were to be made.

At this time the Navy’s Budget was pushed up to a hundred percent.

A few days later the Tariffs were pushed up to twenty-five percent when the Treasury complained that the money was being used faster than it was being collected.

The future target of the military, at least according to the Liberals, was the nation of Brunei.

There was ONE problem with trying to invade Brunei. The British businesses had investments in the nation. But it wasn’t in the UK sphere of influence. If the UK's government could be asked to look the other way...

In May some Liberals started to suggest a second target after the first. Slightly less dangerous but also less profitable.

Hawaii. Yes, a lonely little island in the middle of the Pacific. The reason for this suggestion seemed to come about because the United States of North America was showing a interest in the island chain.

In other words it looked like the United States had interested in the Pacific islands and, maybe, Asia. True, Mexico was blocking most of the roads to the Pacific coast.

But Mexico was weak. The USA might take the west coast and use it to spread into the Pacific Ocean and maybe all the way to Oceania and China.

A few within the Liberal Party didn’t like that idea at all and tried to push for Hawaii over Brunei. But the majority saw Brunei as the best target with the most benefit.

By June the government reported that literacy was now 40.2 percent. When you take into account the populace of Japan was now 28.45 million that was a large increase of people who could read.

Also in June the first Clipper Transport was finally finished in Hiroshima.

Then there was some old news from the United Kingdom. They had a new Queen on the throne. A young Queen. The Foreign Ministry reminded his Diplomats to treat her with respect. The UK was one nation the Japanese wanted on their side.

In July international news still held nothing from Japan. The Liberals were okay with that. They didn’t want the world to notice them. They had their plans and they didn’t other nations sticking their noses in where they didn’t belong.

The Army of Daimyo Mori was ordered to go to the Port of Hiroshima. As was the Army of Daimyo Yamanuchi. These would be the troops used in the future war. Whenever that was to be….

In September the second Clipper Transport was finished and joined to become a ‘Fleet’. If you could call it that.

In October the Foreign Ministry, once again, did their best to improve the relationship of Japan with the UK.

The UK was the most powerful of the Great Powers. And Japan wanted to stay on their good side. Or at least keep the UK out of Japan's business.

In November it was noticed the unit from Choshu wasn’t getting enough reinforcements. The province could not supply enough soldiers to keep the unit at one hundred percent. So it was disbanded.

The middle of December the third Clipper Transport was completed and joined the 1st Fleet.

By the end of the year a new debate started among the Liberals. What excuse was needed to start a war with Brunei? And when to start the war?

Brunei surely would not have a military equal to Japan. How many ships and units were needed to take the nation?

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

What's the aim with Brunei? Colonisation or vassal state or what?

 

[Eurasia]

What's the aim with Brunei? Colonisation or vassal state or what?

I can't colonoze a nation I think. Vassal state or absorb them.

 

[Herbert West]

You are an early unciv. I don't know if you do get an infamy debuff (eg a loss over and above the default -0.1/month), but its well worth annexing them outright.

 

[Eurasia]

Victoria II - Japan
Chapter Five - Justification

The start of 1839 the Upper House, once again, was adjusted. The Court Faction was losing members again.

While, once again, the Reactionaries and the Liberals gained members. In other words the House was starting to split between the extreme political views of either the Shogunate Faction or the Liberals.

The Court Faction was still the largest party and dominated the Upper House. But there was a worry that the Reactionaries would feel that they deserved more power. And there was the growing movement among the populace of those who shared the Reactionaries’ views.

Around the 7th of January the Region of Kanto had over 2 percent of its populace being Clergy.

So the National Focus, to bring in more Clergymen, was switched to the Province of Sendai in the Region of Tohoku.

By February it was decided to start working on a justifying a war of conquest with the nation of Brunei. It would take 200 days to finish. Which would allow the military to gain a another ship.

Of course if anybody found out what they were planning their would gain international infamy.

They were found out in less than a week.

Still, Brunei had no friends or allies. Even the UK, who seemed to be influencing all the important nations in Asia, was pretty much indifferent to Brunei. Outside of the investments.

In March and April there was also changes in the Budget. In the Administration’s Spending and the Defence Spending respectively.

By April, once again, the international news said nothing of what Japan was doing. In fact there was very little about events in Asia.

By late April it was noticed that the ships were doing badly in Hiroshima. Fearing it may be due to having too many ships in a port without the infrastructure to support them they were split up and each ship sent to a separate port.

And failed. It turned out all of Japan’s ports were not designed to handle such ships and they were ordered to return to Hiroshima.

As the ships were ordered to return the first Frigate was finished. Therefore the Fleet now had a warship to help escort and protect the Transports.

In mid July adjustments were made to Construction costs due to the Treasury, once again, complaining about how much money was slipping out of the coffers and not into them.

This would delay naval construction but at this point the government thought its military was already more powerful than anything the nation of Brunei could field during a conflict.

It was also noticed that the United States was starting to step on toes. In this case it they were colonizing Canada. Which, no doubt, was upsetting to the British.

By September the Japanese Foreign Ministry had finally created a reasonable ‘Casus Belli’ for the conquest of Brunei.

In October the Diplomats also made sure to butter up the English some more.

By November Japan was exporting fish, tea, and precious metals while importing paper, wool, and furniture. This last product was frowned upon by the Reactionaries as many of the imported furniture was from the West. French chairs and English tables. How ugly they seemed when placed in a Japanese house.

Another Frigate was completed in December. The Fleet was growing.

It was also noticed that Russia was colonizing Pogobi. This upset Japan no end. Who felt those islands were, well, part of Japan’s sphere of influence.

But Russia would have to be dealt with later. As war with Brunei would likely be the focus of the next year.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

The US going against the UK in this game means one of two things.

Either they will end up totally controlling North amercia, or will soon be split into new England, the Union, the CSA and Mexico.

 

[Eurasia]

Victoria II - Japan
Chapter Six - War And A Disaster At Sea - Part One

With the coming of 1840 the Upper House was changed once again. And once again the Conservatives lost members.

While the Reactionaries and the Liberals gained members. And it looked like the Reactionaries gained more members than the Liberals.

By February the time was right. The government decided to go full out and take Brunei.

And so the nation went to war.

The 1st Fleet, with nine thousand soldiers which had been renamed the 1st Army, was sent to the Coast of Brunei.

By late March the ships were finally in position to unload the troops.

And yet the Japanese and their war were still not in the international newspapers.

By April the Province of Api was being occupied by the invading soldiers. Would the military of Brunei do anything to stop the Japanese? The answer was no. The defending soldiers didn’t have the numbers to attack the invaders.

The Japanese soldiers WERE having issues as some of them were dying from lack of supplies. Starving from lack of food in other words.

The 1st Fleet was ordered to go to Okinawa. In the Ryukyu Islands. Which was a good place to stop halfway to the main home islands.

While on their way there two of the transports were lost at sea. This news was not greeted well by the Army who wanted more troops sent to Brunei.

Still, at least they weren’t lost on the way there when they were full.

The government ordered two new Transports to be built.

The 1st Fleet, after a short stop at Okinawa, headed back to Japan. It was hoped they would not lose any more ships.

By the time they ships entered the Port of Hiroshima a brand new Frigate was waiting to join them.

Near the end of June the Province of Api was totally taken over.

The 1st Army was ordered to march onto the Province of Bintulu. This was the next target because the Capital could not be marched on directly.

By the end of August the Japanese troops started to occupy the Province of Bintulu.

By September another Transport was finished and six thousand troops were loaded onto the 1st Fleet. Reinforcements were on their way to Brunei.

The government announced, in September, that they would be importing foreign weapons. So the soldiers would have proper weapons to train with when being drilled by their foreign military trainers.

By October the Japanese conflict was FINALLY being noticed by the International newspapers.

Yet none of the Great Powers had taken any interest in Japan’s war. Which was a good thing.

 

[DensleyBlair]

By October the Japanese conflict was FINALLY being noticed by the International newspapers.

Yet none of the Great Powers had taken any interest in Japan’s war. Which was a good thing.

Japan definitely has the ring here of a currently-small problem that the great powers will leave be until they absolutely have to address it. Which is great news for you, of course.

The internal polarisation between reactionaries and liberals also rings true to life. It's easy to see why the steady-as-she-goes faction would get squeezed out during a time of such great potential for change.

On another note, I'm having a problem seeing the images. Are they working fine for others?

 

[Eurasia]

Victoria II - Japan

Chapter Seven - War And A Disaster At Sea - Part Two

November, near the end of the year, the 1st Fleet, with the second force of soldiers, had reached the Coast of Sarawak.

The troop were loaded onto longboats and started to move onto the Coastal Province of Kuching.

By now it had become clear that the Japanese are winning the war. But still have a long way to go before victory.

Of course there was still fear that a Great Power might step in. In this case the Japanese feared the businessmen of the UK might get their government to intervene.

So, once again, Diplomats strengthened the nation’s ties with the Great Power on the other side of the world.

A few days later the troops finally finished the landings on the beaches of Kuching and started to occupy the villages that dotted the landscape.

There was a large harvest of tea and the government decided to hand the surplus to the store owners and traders. Money, according to the Westerners made the world go round. And who were the Japanese agree that?

At this point the 1st Fleet, once again, was ordered to return to Japan. At this point there was a brand new Transport waiting in Hiroshima.

An eye was kept on the UK. Seems they still had no interest in Japan’s war with Brunei. Which was good. At this rate the war would be over before any of the Great Powers showed an interest.

And so the year 1840 closed with one province being occupied and two under siege.

---
​

OOC NOTE : Are people having problems seeing the images? Also, do I have Capitalists? Was that a waste of tea?

 

[serutan]

I see them fine. There have been a couple of times where I seemed to have problems with images, but it turned out to be hideously slow loading of the images.

 

[Eurasia]

Victoria II - Japan
Chapter Eight - Reactionary Revolt

The year of 1841 started with the Court ‘Faction’ losing more members in the Upper House.

While the Reactionaries, who supported the old ways and wished to have the Shogunate firmly in control, and the Liberals both gained members. The latter gained slightly more than the former.

On top of that the military reported that the troops had captured the Province of Bintulu. And they were ordered to march on the enemy Capital.

A few days later the Japanese soldiers entered the Capital and the first battle of the war, between the two military forces, had started.

About two weeks later the enemy soldiers were defeated. Though all reports showed that the Japanese soldiers lost more casualties.

As the enemy fled the Japanese troops settled in to slowly occupy the Capital and the province that contained it.

By late January the world was being rocked by three other wars besides the one in Brunei. Which meant some of the European nations, such as Spain and France, were too busy to care about what was happening in Asia.

Back in Japan the 1st Fleet had joined the newest Transport and picked up more Japanese soldiers who had been moved to Hiroshima.

Once the nine thousand soldiers were loaded into the three Clipper Transports the ships were ordered to Bintulu.

Then the Reactionaries started their upraising. Maybe triggered by their increased numbers in the Upper House or fears that the Liberal would be growing stronger than them. Or maybe because much of the military was no longer in the home islands. It is unknown why.

But for whatever reason the Rebels appeared in the Provinces of Osaka, Fukushima, Nagasaki, Tokushima, Nara, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Wakayama, Nagoya, Yamagata, Kobe, Kochi, Kyoto, Miyazaki, Yokohama, Fukuoka, and Aomori. Causing panick and upset among the populace and among the government officials within those provinces.

So the Japanese government now had two wars to deal with.

 

[DensleyBlair]

Still need to catch up with the last couple of chapters, but just wanted to say the pictures are working for me now! Think it must have been a bandwidth thing…

 

[stnylan]

"The more schools there were the more people would become skilled at math, reading, and obeying the government."
I think the latest evidence shows this may not always be entirely the case :=)

But good Japan finally made the news.

Pictures are fine for me.