Japan (Eastern Manifest Destiny)

Empire of Japan 大日本帝国 Dai Nippon Teikoku
Flag Coat of arms of Dai Nippon Teikoku Coat of arms
Motto: 五箇条の御誓文 "Charter Oath"
Anthem: 君が代 "Kimigayo"
Capital	Tokyo
Official languages	Japanese
Recognised regional languages	Taiwanese Hokkien English Mandarin Chinese Ainu Russian
Demonym(s)	Japanese
Government	Constitutional parliamentary monarchy
• Emperor	Akihito
• Prime Minister	Shinzo Abe
Legislature	Imperial Diet
• Upper house	House of Peers
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Currency	Japanese yen

Japan, officially the Empire of Japan, is a sovereign island nation in East Asia whose territory comprises of the Japanese Home Islands in the North Pacific Ocean as well as several overseas prefectures, territories and a single province. The Japanese home islands extend from the Sea of Okhotsk to the north and the South China Sea to the south. Its overseas territories include the South Pacific Mandate and the Midway Military Installation in the Pacific Ocean. The country's 59 prefectures, 2 of which are overseas, span a total of approximately 442,444 square kilometers.

History 

Prior to unification, Japan was largely ruled by a series of shogunates and numerous warlords known as daimyos who vyed for control of the entire Japanese archipelago. Following the Sengoku Jidai, or Warring States Period, Japan was unified under Oda Nobunaga and later fell under the rule of Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1600. Tokugawa installed the Tokugawa Shogunate as the sole ruling power of Japan, with a period of peace and isolationism that lasted until 1827, when American warships forcefully opened up Japan and launched it into an industrial revoluton and period of rapid modernization and integration that would set the country on a path to becoming one of the world's greatest superpowers by the modern era. 

Opening of Japan and The Great Disorder  (1827 - 1845)

After a small fleet of American warships under Rear Admiral Matthew C. Perry opened up the Tokugawa Shogunate to more western trading and ideas, Japan would begin a period of modernization and revolution. This period of growth and turmoil within the Japanese archipelago would influence the policies set forth by the later administrations in an effort to keep the amount of dissent at a minimum.

Initially, Tokugawa welcomed the flow of new merchants, markets and ideas from the United States, Great Britain, and France; however, this also caused a great deal of disruption to the existing social order of Japan as peasants were now unionizing by 1832 to demand more rights and to restrict the rights of the samurai class. While the incumbent Tokugawa shogun would not put down the unions, many local daimyos would, which caused a distancing in the relations of Tokugawa and his retainers. This schism provided an opportunity for western-educated members of the samurai and many western leaders to set the Emperor of Japan as a truly recognized leader of the country. This would eventually lead to the Boshin Wars which saw Imperial factions supported by the western powers fight against traditionalist factions and against the moderate Tokugawa. These conflicts would erode the power of the Tokugawa, which would collapse in 1842. This collapse would lead a 3 year period in modern Japanese history known as "The Great Disorder". The Great Disorder would be kicked off by the Second Boshin War and would see numerous smaller wars and protests. Eventually, the imperialist factions backed by the United States, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands would prevail over the traditionalist factions in late 1845. 

During this time, the Japanese would also launch expeditions and set up colonies in Mexican North America along with the Qing Dynasty. Numerous colonies would be set up in the 1830s and eventually unified as a single large colonial possession in the 1890s.

Empire of Japan and Initial Expansion (1845 - 1873)

With the main traditionalist threats out of the way, the imperialist factions of Japan would unite and create the Empire of Japan in 1846. The samurai who had willingly sided with the imperialist factions were granted status as generals and officers in the newly formed Imperial Japanese Armed Forces. Tokugawa, who still controlled a portion of Edo, had to negotiated with and eventually a decision was made to allow the immediate Tokugawa family to maintain their status as nobility and be recognized as a constitutent leader in Edo. Tokugawa's remaining retainers and forces were inducted into the Imperial Japanese Army as special forces. Following this, numerous western military officers would arrive in Japan with their families to train and build up the strength of Japan's military. By 1868, the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces was considered fit for war. 

The timing was right as the Qing Dynasty, seeing the Japanese as threat to their sphere of influence began posting more troops in the Ryukyu Islands. This prompted the newly coronated Japanese Emperor Meiji to declare war on the Ryukyus and invade them. The war would last about 7 months and see the Qing withdraw to the island of Formosa and Japan annex the entirety of the Ryukyu islands. Former troops of the Ryukyuan armies were immediately integrated into the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces, most of the them serving the Navy and Naval Infantry. By 1873, the Ezo Republic, which was the last bastion of traditionalist Japanese forces, surrendered to the superior Imperial Japanese Army and Navy and was annexed as part of Japan in 1874. 

Japan's colonies in North America would continue to grow as more and more traditionalists seek to find a new refuge that instead directly hostile to their lifestyle. 

Second Expansion and World War I (1873 - 1918)

A period of peace and major domestic development would follow the annexation of Ezo. The emperor would focus on getting foreign investments and rebuilding infrastructure until 1894. Then Japan and the Qing would go to war once again in the Sino-Japanese War, which would see the Qing cede control of Formosa, the Pescadores, and Quemoy to the Japanese the very next year. After that, more infrastructure would be built in the Japanese archipelago, the Ryukyu islands, and Formosa, which is now called Taiwan. 

This peace would last until 1904, when Japan went to war with Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. Japan would win and cement itself as a power in the world stage.