1846-1856: State of the Nation
It's been ten years since the last State of the Nation, so high time for another one. Things have gone pretty well for Japan, although I was unpleasantly surprised to have the reactionaries foisted on me. However, this proved a blessing in disguise as I was able to pass my first reform thanks to skyrocketing militancy levels.
The competition in 1856
Japan's absolute lead over its competitors is greater now than it was in 1846, but we've fallen behind in prestige and are now lagging both Britain (boo, hiss!) and France. I said in 1846 that I'd probably fall behind here, and I was right.
Military scores are also much closer, although part of that is due to the fact that Britain was still at war with Scotland when this shot was taken. Worryingly, the British field more brigades than I do and still haven't mobilised yet.
The Japanese navy remains the second largest in the world, after that of France. I'm not sure about the quality of the French Navy, but mine's mostly Man o' Wars with a few newer steam ships and commerce raiders.
We're not doing too badly for infamy right now after an initial spike caused by taking Sardinia and Western Morocco.
The eighth GP slot has been hotly-contested throughout the decade. Current holders Brabant have been there for a while, and actually have some industrial heft, which is more than can be said for fourth-placed Great Power Castile.
As you'll note from Scotland's war exhaustion, they're taking a bit of a hammering in the war with Britain. I'd like to help them out, but our relations are poor (although I've been improving them of late as diplomatic points mount up) and as a GP I can't sphere them.
Province-wise, Japan's still in third place, although France has now overtaken Russia to claim the top spot. In terms of factory-building, the Loyalist regime put a bit of a break on things with their Planned Economy, but things are picking up again.
Literacy has risen from just 17% in 1846 to 21% in 1856 and the pace of change has increased more rapidly as the education techs were researched towards the end of the period. I'm still waiting on Darwinism to fire (2% chance per month), and when it does I hope to see even better progress.
That said, France has increased its literacy rate by 7% over the same period, which given its size is remarkable. The British, by contrast, have seen a 4% fall, which is just plain weird.
The Japanese army has increased by 35 brigades in the past decade, but the navy has grown faster, adding 70 ships to its roster.
Vital statistics
Overall score
Despite not really focusing on it, prestige has still risen pretty steadily over the period, driven mostly by colonisation and the occasional war. Both these factors are unlikely to play a big part in the immediate future, so we can expect this to stagnate in the near future. Likewise, the province count is not going to radically change from hereon out.
In terms of factories, you can easily see the point at which the Patriotic Union took charge in 1852 and capitalists were free to build again. This is mirrored by the sharp decline in military score as an Anti-Military government was installed.
Economics
The most striking feature here is military spending. Once the Loyalists took over this rocketed from around £1,600 a day to nearly £7,000. It's the comfortably the single biggest expense for the state, and if the Patriotic Union could cut it without making thousands of Pops unemployed they would.
Annoyingly, education spending has been stubbornly slow to increase, but admin spending is rising, reflecting growing numbers of bureaucrats. For now, this is a good thing as I need to up admin to increase promotions.
Worryingly, industrial subsidies have ticked up of late, but with unemployment falling I'm hoping I'll have the slack needed to shut the most unprofitable factories.
Society
It doesn't take an expert to identify 1852 as the key date here. Consciousness and militancy both begin falling, while the population decline that characterised the entirety of the 1840s went into reverse. Say what you like about the Loyalists, but they've definitely left their mark on Japan.
Military
Here you can see the reason for the massive growth in military spending. I'm unsure as to whether this is due entirely to the Loyalists, but since I'm blaming them for everything else they can carry the can for this too.
I’m not really intending on expanding the army at the moment. It’s certainly big enough for the Patriotic Union (at least where the Isolationists wing are concerned), but I might make additions to the navy, if and when I research ironclads.
Research
Not the most interesting of graphs this. Literacy rates are going the right way, but too slowly for my liking and part of the blame must lie with the fairly flatlined rate of growth in the number of clergy. As I said, I'm pinning my hopes on the bureaucrats (how often do you hear that?) to sort things out.
Research points are doing fairly well and we'll get another nice boost post-1860. My current objectives are another level of railroads, the next philosophy tech and some army and naval techs (I want ironclads soon).
Politics and society
The rise of the Liberals has been the political story of the decade, if overshadowed by the tussles between the Loyalists and their conservative opponents. Since 1846 the Liberals have seen their representation in the Upper House increase by nearly 14%
With militancy still above 1 there's still a little conservative support for reform, but with only 10% of their deputies backing the Liberals it looks like further changes are a way off. Since voters are mainly concerned with the parties' war policies this doesn't look like a huge issue.
I'm hoping that a few more years of peace should damp down the support for Jingoism, but it remains to be seen whether or not I'll actually get that.
From a demographic standpoint, the urbanisation of Japan continues apace, as does assimilation of non-Japanese groups. In 1836 the Japanese constituted just 6.2% of the Empire's population, but this figure has now risen to 15%. Interestingly enough, the Beifaren have proved much less susceptible to assimilation than the Nanfaren.
1836
1846
1856
Shinto remains the second largest religion in the Empire, but despite almost doubling in size over the decade it's a long way behind Mahayana Buddhism.
I’m still hopeful that the Liberals can win control of the Upper House before the Socialists turn up to smash their electoral chances. Time will tell.
The wider world
Last but not least, here's the world in 1856. Colonisation of Australia and parts of Africa has begun, but Japan was too late to the punch so we'll not be taking part in either of those races.
Eurasia and Africa
Manchukuo is the big winner of the Khorasani war, making it a key buffer state between Russia and Japan. The Great Game will be played out on the Mongolian steppe.
The Americas
Japan has a solid hold on the western seaboard of North America, although the region is lightly defended to say the least. The British actually have their capital in America, so any war is likely to see Japan start at a substantial disadvantage.
The world in 1856
Thanks for following, and see you again for the 1856 update!