Japan (Napoleon's World)

The Empire of Japan is a nation comprised of the Japanese Islands off the eastern coast of Asia, and includes several dozen additional islands in the Pacific, including islands in the Philippine and Indonesian archipelago. During certain points in Japanese history, the island of Formosa and the Korean peninsula have been Japanese possessions as well. The current Emperor of Japan is Emperor Akihito, and his Shogun, the head of his government, is Kosuke Hirosha. The country's primary language is Japanese, although in some areas (particularly the Philippines) minority languages are also spoken. The Empire, while known for its unabashed racism towards non-Japanese peoples, experienced a period without any serious military conflict between 1936 and 2004, one of the longest such periods for any of the major modern powers. Following its ambitious economic recovery from the 2002 Asian Crisis, Japan has been seem by many as an emerging third superpower alongside France and the United States.