Japan (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Japan (Japanese: みょ う み (明湄) Myōmi; formally だいみょ う みみんこく (大明湄民國) Dai-Myōmi Minkoku; literally Greater Japanese People's State; officially Republic of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, Soviet Union, Manchuria, Korea, China, Philippines, Sulu and Indonesia, stretching from Karafuto Island in the north to the Nan'yo Islands in the south.

Japan is an archipelago of 8,964 islands. The six largest islands are Karafuto, Ezo, Honshū, Kyūshū, Shikoku and Takasago, together accounting for ninety-six percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's eighth largest population, with over 153 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding provinces, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 40 million residents.

Climate
The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate, but varies greatly from north to south. Japan's geographical features divide it into eight principal climatic zones: Northern Islands, Sea of Japan, Central Highland, Seto Inland Sea, Pacific Ocean, Ryūkyū Islands, Takasago and Nan'yo Islands. The northernmost zone, Northern Islands (Karafuto and Ezo), has a humid continental climate with long, cold winters and very warm to cool summers. Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snowbanks in the winter.

In the Sea of Japan zone on Honshū's west coast, northwest winter winds bring heavy snowfall. In the summer, the region is cooler than the Pacific area, though it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures because of the foehn wind. The Central Highland has a typical inland humid continental climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter, and between day and night; precipitation is light, though winters are usually snowy. The mountains of the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto Inland Sea from seasonal winds, bringing mild weather year-round.

The Pacific Coast features a humid subtropical climate that experiences milder winters with occasional snowfall and hot, humid summers because of the southeast seasonal wind. The Ryukyu Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season. The generally humid, temperate climate exhibits marked seasonal variation such as the blooming of the spring cherry blossoms, the calls of the summer cicada and fall foliage colors that are celebrated in art and literature.

In Takasago, the climate is generally marine and varies widely by season in the Northern part and the mountain areas. The Southern part of the island, however, belongs to the tropical belt and is warm and humid all year. The southernmost part of the country, Nan'yo Islands has a tropical climate all year round with an annual mean temperature of 82 °F (28 °C). Rainfall is heavy throughout the year, averaging a total of 150 inches (3,800 mm). The average humidity over the course of the year is 82%, and although rain falls more frequently between July and October, there is still much sunshine.

The average winter temperature in Japan is 5.1 °C (41.2 °F) and the average summer temperature is 25.2 °C (77.4 °F). The highest temperature ever measured in Japan - 40.9 °C (105.6 °F) - was recorded on 16 August 2007. The main rainy season begins in October in Nan'yo Islands, then in early January in Takasago, and the rain front gradually moves north until reaching Ezo in late July. In most of Honshu, the rainy season begins before the middle of June and lasts about six weeks. In late summer and early autumn, typhoons often bring heavy rain.

Politics and Government
The Republic of Japan is the authoritarian government under the rule of Japanese Nationalist Party which based from the ideology of Social Nationalism and the principle of National Democracy.

The President of the Republic of Japan (民國総裁 Minkoku Sōsai) elected by the National Congress from among its members every four years. The President is the head of state of Republic, and the nominal commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

The Council of Ministers (閣僚評議會 Kakuryō Riji-kai) serves as the highest administrative body of Japan. It is composed of a Chairman (首相 Shushō), three Vice-Chairmen (副首相 Fuku-Shushō), and the Ministers of State (國務相 Kokumushō).

The National Congress (國民代表大會 Kokumin Daihyō Taikai) elected every four years by the direct election. The election, however, only participated by the parties that recognized as legal under the Japanese law, with the Nationalist Party as leading party.

To exercise daily legislative functions, the National Congress elected the members of Legislative Council (立法院 Rippō-in) from among its members every two years. The Legislative Council is described by the constitution as the main law-making body of the Republic.

The State Council (國務院 Kokumu-in) have a minor significance role in the day-to-day government. Its members elected by the electoral college, consisted by 40 electorates, in every provinces every six years. The National Front, an alliance of legal political parties always nominating two candidates in each provinces as "All-Party candidates". The State Council functioning as the main advisory body for the government.

The National Court (國民裁判所 Kokumin Saibansho) serves as the supreme judicature for the whole territory of Japanese Republic. It supervises the administration of justice by the state courts at various levels. All of judges of the Court appointed by the National Congress. Every Japanese citizens were the subject of Japanese law and under the authority of National Court of Japan.

Japan is one of few non-Communist countries that is applying the procuratorial system. The procuratorates charged with both the investigation and prosecution of crime with the office of National Procuratorate (國民檢察院 Kokumin Kensatsu-in) at the national level.

Classical Japan
A Paleolithic culture around 30,000 BC constitutes the first known habitation of the Japanese archipelago. This was followed from around 14,000 BC (the start of the Jōmon period) by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture, who include ancestors of both the contemporary Ainu people and Yamato people, characterized by pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture. Decorated clay vessels from this period are some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world. Around 300 BC, the Yayoi people began to enter the Japanese Islands, intermingling with the Jōmon. The Yayoi period, starting around 500 BC, saw the introduction of practices like wet-rice farming, a new style of pottery, and metallurgy, introduced from China and Korea.

Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese Book of Han. According to the records of the Three Kingdoms, the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago during the third century was called Yamataikoku. Buddhism was first introduced to Japan from Baekje of Korea, but the subsequent development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China. Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class and gained widespread acceptance beginning in the Asuka period (592–710).

The Nara period (710–784) of the eighth century marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state, centered on an imperial court in Heijō-kyō (modern Nara). The Nara period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent literature as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired art and architecture. The smallpox epidemic of 735–737 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population. In 784, Emperor Sudo moved the capital from Nara to Nagaoka-kyō before relocating it to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto) in 794.

The Zen school of Buddhism was introduced from China in the later part of Heian period (784–1333) and became popular among the petite noble class. Japan repelled Mongol invasions in 1274, but was eventually successfully defeated by the Mongols in 1281. Between 1281 and 1349, Japan became the tributary state to Yuan Dynasty.

During this period, the Japanese adopted some Mongol-influenced elements on every aspects of its life like on the clothing, architecture, science, art, literature, weaponry, cuisine, and mail system. When the Bakufu Government collapsed in 1281, the Japanese aristocrats that were known as "kuge" (公家) once again found their role as the patrons of arts and culture. However, as the warrior class that was known as "buke" (武家) began to decline, a new class of intellectual elites called "gakke" (學家) was emerging from the Japanese scholars who studied in China and together with kuge contributed to reshaping Japanese politics and society into its recent form.

Middle Ages (1349-1543)
In 1349, under the reign of Emperor Jōkai, Japan ended its tributary relations with Yuan Dynasty following the dynastic succession which occurred in China. Emperor Jōkai appointed his eldest son, Prince Kandashozo-no-miya Kanezuki (who later became Emperor Go-Mizunoo), as Seii Tai-shōgun, making the control of the military now under the imperial family. Japan later renamed as "Great Wa Empire" (Japanese: 大和帝國; だいわていこく) by an edict issued by Emperor Jōkai in March 24, 1350 (or February 16, Jōwa 1 in traditional calendar). February 16 today is celebrated as the National Foundation Day in Japan as it also co-incides with the date of the foundation of Republican government in 1924.

In 1351, the Kingdom of Hokuzan in the Ryukyu Islands became Japan’s first tributary state after Emperor Jōkai sent three imperial envoys before King Haniji. Two other Ryukyuan principalities, Chūzan and Nanzan, were granted similar commercial status shortly afterwards. From then on, the three kingdoms would send frequent tribute missions before the Japanese Emperor even until the islands were unified by Chūzan as the Kingdom of Ryukyu in 1429.

Following the decline of Yuan Dynasty, Japan started expand its influence farther to the south. The island of Takasago which at that time was inhabited by native Austronesian aborigines became the first target of Japan’s military invasion. In 1358, Emperor Jōkai launched the invasion of the northern region of Takasago which unfortunately met a heavy resistance from Tayaru people. With the help from Ryukyuan and native Tagaramu forces, the Japanese successfully defeated the Tayaru people after two months of fighting. However, only in 1360, the entire island of Takasago can finally be subjugated under Japanese rule.

In 1381, Japan launched a punitive expedition to the island of Ezo after its imperial envoys were killed by local Ainu villagers in Muroran. Emperor Saka used this opportunity to annex Ezo and Karafuto into the Japanese Realm. Despite being successful, the punitive expedition itself was a very bloody one due to the fierce opposition from Ainu peoples which were forced by Japanese troops to leave their settlements in the hilly areas in northeastern Ezo.

The rise of the Ming Dynasty in China triggered some worries among the inner circle of the Japanese imperial court about possible Chinese invasion of the islands, especially after pro-Ming Joseon Dynasty replaced pro-Yuan Goryeo Dynasty in Korea. In 1394, Emperor Go-Junna reorganized the Japanese military from land-based armies to maritime-based fleets, in order to build the significant naval forces for Japan. He believed only with the strengthening the Japanese naval defense in the Sea of Japan, the country could avoid any future invasions from a Ming armada.

As the Japanese naval forces grew stronger, Emperor Go-Junna and his advisers began to envision the prospect of more larger maritime hegemony which would rivaling directly against Ming Dynasty. In 1395, Japan sent its envoys to the Kingdom of Tondo in Luzon, which today being part of Philippines, in hope to establish its influence in the island. However, Tondo refused the request as it was already entered a tributary relationship with Ming Dynasty, to masquerade its maritime trade in China which enforced the Hai jin laws at that time. Enraged by the refusal, Japan sent its armada under Admiral Yoshitoshi Shuzaheijin to Tondo. However, the invasion was successfully defeated by Tondo and Emperor Go-Junna decided to retreat his armada after the death of Admiral Yoshitoshi on the battle.

Only after the second invasion under the reign of Emperor Shijō in 1400, Tondo finally accepted its dual subordination to both China and Japan wherein Tondo tributary relations were maintained with both the Japanese and Chinese court. After gained a subjugation from Tondo, Japan continued to expand its influence over the island and later to the Visayan Islands by fifteenth century. While never had a similar significant presence as the Chinese, the large number of Japanese merchants did settled in Philippines, especially in Manila, which later served as the base for future Japanese-Filipino community.

In hope to get a closer contact with the sultanates of Ternate and Tidore in Maluku Islands for the spice trade, Emperor Sukō sent the large fleet to the water area in the southeast of the Philippine Islands in 1412 to conquest the islands on it. Since the islands was sparsely populated, there is no any resistance from the native inhabitants, making the islands the direct subject of the Emperor and part of the Realm as same as Ezo.

In 1415, the government of Japan officially declared that collection of islands was under Japanese rule and gave a name for the islands as "Nan'yo Islands" (南洋群島; なにょ う ぐんと う ). As the Japanese settlers grew in number by late 1400s, native population of the islands slowly shrank as they forced to live in more remote areas or assimilated into Japanese culture and did intermarriages with Japanese settlers, which resulted in the unique variant of Japanese culture and language on the island.

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Japanese society was getting wealthier thanks to the maritime trade which not only limited around the water areas of Southeast Asia, but even reached the remote islands of Oceania as far south as Aotearoa for whaling and cabbage tree trade and as far as east as Hawaii for sandalwood trade. There are also some theories existed about a possibility of the Japanese sailors for already crossed the Pacific Ocean and landed in the coast of the Americas for trading with the native Americans during this period.

While the kuge and the gakke continued as the influential forces around the Emperor and the government, the merchants and the traders emerged as new dominant class called shōnin (商人) or chōnin (町人) in the urban areas especially in the port-cities like Edo and Osaka. They were relatively independent from the rule of Kyoto aristocracy and increasingly powerful over the Japanese maritime trade around this era. The merchants also took over the position of the kuge on the field of arts in the port-cities such Edo, to support a new mass, urban culture.

Early modern era (1543-1853)
After the Japanese established a trading relation called "Nanban trade" with the Portuguese in 1543, the role of shōnin increasingly more powerful and the role of kuge within the government started to fade away. The Bureau of Trade which had its headquarters in Edo became more independent in action and regulated its own laws over the maritime trade. Personally, Emperor Go-Nara was very supportive to the shōnin and warmly welcomed the arrival of the Portuguese.

During this era, the Japanese adopted several of the technologies and cultural practices of their European visitors, whether in the military area (the arquebus, European-style cuirasses, European ships), religion (Christianity), decorative art, language (integration to Japanese of a Western vocabulary) and culinary: the Portuguese introduced the tempura and variety of refined confectioneries, called nanban-gashi (南蛮菓子), literally means "southern barbarian confectionery", such as castella, kompeito, and bisukauto.

The growing power of the shonin and the increasing number of Catholic converts in southern Japan who mainly came from the shōnin class was viewed as a threat by the kuge, the gakke and the religious clerics. They were successfully convincing Emperor Go-Konoe about how the Spanish and Portuguese were settling in the New World, and how Japan would soon become one of the many countries in their possession.

In 1614, the Emperor issued the edict to close the headquarters of the Bureau of Trade in Edo and establish the new one in Kyoto. The Japanese Christians also forced to denounce its belief as its viewed dishonoring the Emperor's divine reign and the kami. More restrictions came afterward, such as the restriction of foreign trade to Nagasaki and Hirado, an island northwest of Kyūshū in 1616, the execution of 120 missionaries and converts in 1622, the expulsion of the Spanish in 1624, and the persecution of the thousand of Japanese Christians in 1629.

In 1635, Emperor Go-Konoe regulated the trade relations to the Europeans only can being conducted through the ports in Nan'yo Islands (except to the Dutch who had a restricted privilege in Dejima, a small artificial island in Nagasaki's harbor). The Chinese was restricted to Takasago, Ryukyu Islands, and Dejima, while the Korean only to Tsushima Island. The Europeans that entered Japan illegally would face the death penalty. Any practice of Christianity was also strictly forbidden and the missionary was not allowed to enter the Japanese Realm, including the Ryukyu Islands and the Nan'yo Islands. However, the study of Western sciences, known as rangaku, was still continued through Dejima.

The seventeenth century saw the collapse of Japanese maritime empire in Asia and Oceania. After the Spanish conquered the Kingdom of Tondo in 1570, the Japanese hegemony started to falling down in the Philippine Islands. Japan lost most of its trading partners while at the same time partially isolated itself from outer world. The only contact between the Japanese and the foreigners only possibly occurred in Takasago and Nan'yo Islands which also slowly sunk into the Spanish influences. Japan, with its weakening naval forces, was unable to prevent the decline of its Empire.

Failed military campaign to invade the Joseon Dynasty in Korea between 1592 to 1598 only worsened the situation and many soldiers were rebelled against the government following the withdrawal of Japanese forces from Korean Peninsula. There also several attempts to re-establish the old bakufu government in early 1600s, which successfully suppressed by the government forces. After the size of military was reduced in 1621 and many of senior commanders was stripped from their rank, the Japanese navy was losing its prestige and no longer respected as the powerful maritime forces by the neighboring countries.

Takasago was claimed under the Spanish Crown in 1626, then under Ming pretender, Kingdom of Tungning, in 1662, and finally under Qing Dynasty in 1683. Nan'yo Islands was fallen under the British influence in 1700s until claimed by the Spanish and being incorporated into the Spanish East Indies in 1885. Many of the Japanese tributaries in the Pacific Ocean, such as Fiji, Aotearoa, and Tonga also fell under the Western powers between eighteenth and nineteenth century. The Kingdom of Hawaii remained the last Japanese tributary in Oceania until the French invasion to Honolulu in 1849 which made the islands fall under the British and the American influences.

As the Emperor's power started to weaken, since 1691, Japan was collectively ruled by the state elders from the kuge and the gakke on the Council of the State. At this point, the Council was no longer the Emperor's Privy Council, but already assumed other military and administrative duties and served as the country's main policy-making body.

Japanese society became stricter and more rigid under the rule of the elders following the social principles of Confucianism. The rigid separation of society into han, villages, wards, and households helped reaffirm local folk religion attachments which provided spiritual support to the political order and was an important tie between the individual and the community.

The difference between the concept of Heavenly Mandate between the Japanese Emperor and its Chinese counterpart provided the role of Japanese folk religion for preserving a sense of national identity with the Emperor as its centre. The interactions between Japanese mythology and neo-Confucian rationalism and materialism created the intellectual form of Japanese folk religion and resulted to the emergence of the kokugaku movement. Kokugaku contributed largely to the revival of Japanese mythology as a national creed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The gakke was also no longer associated with the scholars who ever studied to China, but rather to the new generation of the Japanese scholars who studied kokugaku. The Motoori clan, which formed by prominent kokugake scholar, Motoori Norinaga, and his adopted son, Motoori Ōhira, was one of the prominent gakke clan and ruled the Council from 1795 until the re-opening of Japan in 1854

During his tenure as the Chancellor of the Realm (1800-1833), Motoori Ōhira backed the restoration of the Emperor's prerogative powers while at the same time retained the dominance of the Council generally and the gakke especially on Japanese politics. The restoration of Emperor's powers was necessary to avoid any resistances from other social classes to the Council's rule, especially the shōnin. The shōnin was seen by the elders being too friendly toward the European traders and can acted as possible agent of Western imperialism to take over the Japanese sovereignty. The Emperor also intended to be the mediator between the ruling classes and the symbol of unity for all social classes.

This dyarchy between the Emperor and the Council bore a slight resemblance with the Western context of constitutional monarchy where both institutions sharing the powers to each other.

Modern Imperial era (1853-1924)
After the victory of the British over the Chinese in the 1840 Opium War and the defeat of the Japanese forces in 1849 French invasion to Honolulu which made Hawaii fall under the British and the American influences, many Japanese realized that traditional ways would not be sufficient enough to against the Western thread. Reformist forces, mainly came from the shōnin, supported for the military modernization with the Western techniques and technology. Always suspicious toward the shōnin, the Daijō-kan, however, blatantly rejected this proposal.

Only after Commodore Matthew C. Perry's four-ship squadron appeared in Edo Bay in July 1853 in order to force Japan to open the trade with the west, the imperial government was really plunged into turmoil. Although some of the councillors wanted to keep the foreigners out, the Emperor and the Daijō-kan, finally realized their weak position and through the Minister of the Left (左大臣), Abe Masahiro, agreed to compromise by accepting Perry's demands for opening Japan to foreign trade.

The Emperor himself now personally viewed the shōnin's demand for the modernization of Japan and the constitutional reform was more favorable than the Daijō-kan's isolationist stance. A new imperial institution called  Genrō-in (元老院), known more as the Imperial Senate, was assembled by Emperor Ninkō in late 1853. The Genrō-in was composed mostly by the representations of the kuge, the gakke, the buke, and the shōnin, and functioned as non-political advisory body in order to reach a common consensus between four classes everytime the Emperor need to solve a national problem.

The following year at the Convention of Kanagawa on March 31, 1854, Perry returned with seven ships and demanded that Japan to sign the Treaty of Peace and Amity, establishing formal diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States. The era of seclusion was brought to the end and an opposition movement against the rule of gakke class was emerged.

A coalition between the wealthy land-owners who belong to the ancient buke class and the wealthy merchants from shōnin class was formed in late 1850s for rebelled against the imperial government, to overthrow the gakke rule and pushed for more radical reforms in Japan. The assassinations of several key figures of the gakke government by the opposition partisans was became widespread in 1860s.

This political and social crisis later culminated into the First Japanese Civil War between 1866 and 1867. Afraid of the disunity of the Japanese society, newly-enthroned Emperor Tōbu agreed for the dissolution of several old imperial institutions including the Council of the State and given the Imperial Senate more political power, substituting the former role of the Council.

Four divisions of society formally abolished in 1871 and Western bureaucracy system officially implemented in 1875. All members of kuge and gakke merged and formed new aristocratic class called kazoku (華族), while the buke and shōnin merged into a bourgeoisie class called shinzoku (諶族).

After the old Confucian social division perished, the national capital moved from Kyoto to Edo (which renamed as Tokyo), and the Emperor allowed ten seats of the Senate for getting elected although by limited male suffrage, the imperial government began to dominated by the shinzoku. The Tokyo Charter, proto-constitution of Imperial Japan, was promulgated in 1877 as a compromise between the conservatives and the reformers within the Senate which adopting Western political, judicial and military institutions into Japanese political system.

Although the gakke formed a part of kazoku, many former gakke families lost their position within the society. The gakke were respected because they were the ruling bureaucratic class and owned their own land during the era of seclusion. However, as the empire's political system transformed into the Westernized one and the ancient institutions abolished during the reform, following by the land nationalization by the shinzoku government, most of gakke families was impoverished and instead fell into the rank of commoners or the heimin. With many of the gakke was integrated into the heimin community, the populist-nationalist revolutionary movement later emerged with many of its key intellectual figures came from gakke family background.

Leading shinzoku figure, Sakamoto Ryōma, was appointed as the Chancellor of the Realm (太政大臣 Daijō Daijin) in 1877. Inspired after the Chancellor of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck, Sakamoto implemented several radical modernization reforms. Under his government (1877-1905), Japan emerged from the transitional period as the first Asian industrialized nation. From the onset, the shinzoku ruling elites embraced the concept of a market economy and adopted British and North American forms of free enterprise capitalism. Japanese economy was transformed from the traditional agricultural based one into the modern industrial state. Transportation and communications developed to sustain heavy industrial development.

After victories in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), the Spanish-Japanese War (1898-1901) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), Japan was able to rebuild its maritime empire by annexing the Kingdom of Ryukyu and Takasago Island and gaining control of Kwantung, Shandong Peninsula, the Philippine Islands, and southern half of Korea. Japan also involved during the overthrow attempt of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 by sending its armada to Hawaii, supporting Queen Lili'uokalani against the rebels.

Japan entered World War I in 1914 and sided with the Allied Powers. Central Powers defeated in 1918. However, although winning the World War I, Japan failed to gain the control over German New Guinea and former German and Austria-Hungarian concessions in China and Oceania. Japan’s economy also already suffered and the country was succumbed into deep economic crisis. On August 1918, rice riots caused by this inflation erupted in towns and cities throughout Japan.

The death of Emperor Keishin, the popular figure among Japanese nationalists, in March 1919 marked the start of anti-government revolutionary movements. His successor, Empress Anmei, was viewed by the nationalists for being the shinzoku's puppet monarch. The series of demonstrations and strikes demanded for the resignation of Chancellor Iwasaki Hisaya and his cabinet sparked throughout the country, especially in major cities such Tokyo, Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima. This events later climaxed on November 13, 1919 where more than 5,200 peoples gathered in Imperial Park, Tokyo. When the demonstrators marched from the park and approached toward the Imperial Palace, the Imperial Guards opened fire on the masses, killed 50 individuals and injured 327 others.