Post by pochi on Apr 30, 2011 2:52:29 GMT
• N I P P O N - K O K U // 日本国
Name --- Honda Kiku
Nation --- Nippon (Formal) // Nihon (Casual) // State of Japan (English)
Aliases ---
Land of the Rising Sun – This is the meaning of his name, and it has become a fond nickname.
Ōyashima (大八洲) - meaning the Great country of eight (or many) islands. Rarely used outside of ancient texts.
Akitsushima (秋津島) - means "The Island of Dragonflies" and is another of the names for him used in ancient texts.
Wa (倭?) or Wakoku (倭国?) - A name early China used to refer to an ethnic group living in Japan around the time of the Three Kingdoms Period.
Apparent age --- Early to Mid 20’s
Actual age --- Around 2000 years old.
Gender --- Male
|-|-The External-|-|
Eye color --- Charcoal black
Hair color --- Jet black
Height --- 5' 5"
Weight --- 131 lbs.
Skin tone --- Very light skinned
Defining features --- Like all nations, his body is scared from centuries of battle and wars; while the scars of the atomic bombs have faded from his body, the skin has remained slightly discolored and will probably remain so. He’s never really found need to mark his body beyond that, until recently when on a rare urge for spontaneity he got a small tattoo of a chrysanthemum on the left shoulder.
Additional features --- Kiku has always been a slim man that likes to wear comfortable loose fitting clothing. Because of his choice in loose attire, he appears to be more fragile and smaller then he truly is. Kiku’s preferred choice of outfits range from a simple light blue yukata, and should the weather be abnormally chilly, he’ll don a darker blue hanten (short winter coat).
However, when he has important meetings to attend to, he prefers to wear simple, dark colored two-piece suits. In retrospect, when visited by friends, he does relish taking them out to eat and having fun. This causes him to dresses more casual and modern, with jeans and a simple shirt.
|-|-The Internal-|-|
Personality ---
Kiku has always been quite the quiet and hard-working man. Since childhood he’s always been calm and content, never gathering too little, or too much attention. Whether it was negative or positive, he simply did not enjoy having it placed solely on him. While his oddly quiet nature can be interpreted as timidity, this is hardly the case. He will surprise others with just how observant he can be when called upon to speak.
He has always taken China’s ideals to heart, even though he does modify them enough so they can fit his own needs and those of his people. Because of this he may seem ungrateful; however he is truly proud of having been raised by an Empire with such knowledge. There are times in which he struggles to express himself properly, both in ‘thank you’s and apologies as they are both rarely heard from him. However, he has been making an effort to be more honest, and has since tried to apologize for the pain he’s caused his family in the past as well as in more modern times.
To his people he has always seemed ‘normal’; their ways of expressing love and other sentimentalities has always differed greatly from that of the Western hemisphere. He is slow to adapt, and as such it took him many years to even accept formal handshakes. There is a certain amount of contempt he holds for other nations, though this stems primarily from prior centuries of isolation and his inability to accept that not all of his practices are ‘correct’ or relevant anymore.
One part of Kiku’s personality that allies and enemies alike tend to find annoying about him is Kiku’s incredible vagueness when asked for something. When asked if he would like to attend an event, his reply of “I will think about it,” could either mean yes or no.
His intense feelings of guilt show mostly with how he treats his wounds. He’s grown to feel that he deserves them and has no real right to complain. Kiku views his pain as a sort of penance for the atrocities he committed in the past. He’s grown to accommodate his life around it, and refuses to ever bring it up; going so far as to carefully steer the conversation towards other topics to avoid it.
Likes ---
• Technology (i.e. games, computers, security
• Listening to rain
• The present
• Drinking with friends
• Not being pressured to give an opinion for something he hasn’t had time to think over properly.
• Small and cute animals
• Days where he’s going fast working on many things.
• Days when he’s able to simply relax and spend quiet times with Pochi, his dog.
• Elegance
• America
• Turkey
• Greece
Dislikes ---
• Being reminded of the past
• His nightmares
• Losing control of himself
• Having someone manipulate him enough that he loses control of himself.
• Abrupt change
• People invading his personal space
• Being asked for his honest opinion, and less if he doesn’t know about the subject.
• Russia
Fears ---
• The birth rate in his country has been declining, and he has slowly begun to worry about the effect a smaller population would have on him.
• Dreaming. There are only a few times he’s had a full night’s restful sleep. His memories come back to haunt him and he frequently relives his past within them.
• The future. He fears that whatever drove him to commit such acts in the past will eventually happen again and lead him to harm those he loves.
• A major war breaking out and he is, by his own constitution, unable to raise or maintain a military force to defend himself or his allies.
Lesser known facts ---
• There is nothing he wishes more then to feel like he can return to the way things were centuries ago with his siblings. But he knows that too much has happened for it to become reality.
• Cockroaches are one of the things that Kiku hates the most, to the extent where he could possibly cry over them. Especially if they touch his skin.
• He walks slowly to hide a slight limp on his right side, attributed from the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Goals ---
• To repair the broken ties he has with most of Asia, though it may never happen, he wants to at least try.
• He wants to continue to prosper and become as self-dependant as a nation can be.
• He wants to work hard and help maintain a peace so that no nation resorts to nuclear warfare and no other nation feels the same agony he did.
|-|-The Past-|-|
History ---
Asuka Period // 538 – 710
The emperor was ruler of Yamato Japan and resided in a capital that was moved frequently from one city to another. However, the Soga clan soon took over the actual political power, resulting in the fact that most of the emperors only acted as the symbol of the state and performed Shinto rituals.
Due to friendly relations to the kingdom of Kudara (or Paikche) on the Korean peninsula, the influence from the mainland increased strongly. Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the year 538 and was promoted by the ruling class. Prince Shotoku is said to have played an especially important role in promoting Chinese ideas. Also the theories of Confucianism and Taoism, as well as the Chinese writing system were introduced to Japan during the Yamato period.
In the same year, the Taika reforms were realized: A new government and administrative system was established after the Chinese model. All land was bought by the state and redistributed equally among the farmers in a large land reform in order to introduce the new tax system that was also adopted from China.
Nara Period // 710 - 794
In the year 710, the first permanent Japanese capital was established in Nara, a city modeled after the Chinese capital. The capital was moved to Nagaoka in 784, and finally to Heian (Kyoto) in 794 where it would remain for over one thousand years.
One characteristic of the Nara period is a gradual decline of Chinese influence which, nevertheless, remained strong. Many of the imported ideas were gradually "Japanized". The development of the Kana syllables made the creation of actual Japanese literature possible.
Among the worst failures of the Taika reforms were the land and taxation reforms: High taxes resulted in the impoverishment of many farmers who then had to sell their properties and became tenants of larger land owners. Furthermore, many aristocrats and the Buddhist monasteries succeeded in achieving tax immunity. As a result, the state income decreased, and over the centuries, the political power steadily shifted from the central government to the large independent land owners.
Heian // 794 - 1185
The Fujiwara family controlled the political scene of the Heian period over several centuries through strategic intermarriages with the imperial family and by occupying all the important political offices in Kyoto and the major provinces. Many land owners hired samurai for the protection of their properties. That is how the military class became more and more influential, especially in Eastern Japan.
The Fujiwara supremacy came to an end in 1068 when the new emperor Go-Sanjo was determined to rule the country by himself, and the Fujiwara failed to control him. In the year 1086 Go-Sanjo abdicated but continued to rule from behind the political stage. This new form of government was called Insei government.
Taira Kiyomori evolved as the leader of Japan and ruled the country from 1168 to 1178 through the emperor. After Kiyomori's death, the Taira and Minamoto clans fought a deciding war for supremacy, the Gempei War, which lasted from 1180 to 1185. By the end of the war, the Minamoto were able to put an end to Taira supremacy, and Minamoto Yoritomo succeeded as the leader of Japan, was appointed Shogun (highest military officer) and established a new government in his home city Kamakura.
Kamakura // 1185 - 1333
Minamoto Yoritomo was appointed shogun in the year 1192 and established a new government, the Kamakura Bakufu. The new feudal government was organized in a simpler way than the one in Kyoto and worked much more efficient under Japanese conditions.
After Yoritomo's death in 1199, quarrels for supremacy started between the Bakufu of Kamakura and the Imperial court in Kyoto. Those quarrels for supremacy found an end in the Jokyu disturbance in 1221 when Kamakura defeated the Imperial army in Kyoto, and the Hojo regents in Kamakura achieved complete control over Japan.
Chinese influence continued to be relatively strong during the Kamakura period. New Buddhist sects were introduced: the Zen sect (introduced 1191) found large numbers of followers among the samurai, which were now the leading social class. By 1259, the Mongols had conquered China and became also interested in Japan. Several threatening messages of the powerful Mongols were ignored by Kamakura. This resulted in the first Mongol invasion attempt in 1274 on the island of Kyushu. After only a few hours of fighting, however, the large naval invasion fleet, was forced to pull back because of bad weather conditions. Due to good preparations, the Japanese were able to maintain a strong defense for several weeks during a second invasion attempt which occurred in 1281.
By 1333 the power of the Hojo regents had declined to such a degree that the emperor Go-Daigo was able to restore imperial power and overthrow the Kamakura Bakufu.
Muromachi // 1333 - 1573
In 1338 Ashikaga Takauji appointed himself shogun and established his government in Kyoto. Two imperial courts existed in Japan for over 50 years: the Southern and Northern courts. They fought many battles against each other. The Northern court usually was in a more advantageous position; nevertheless, the South succeeded in capturing Kyoto several times for short time periods resulting in the destruction of the capital on a regular basis. The Southern court finally gave in in 1392, and the country became emperor-wise reunited again.
During the era of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1368 - 1408), Yoshimitsu established good trade relations with Ming China. Domestic production also increased through improvements in agriculture and the consequences of a new inheritance system. These economic changes resulted in the development of markets, several kinds of towns and new social classes.
In 1542 the first Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries arrived in Kyushu, and introduced firearms and Christianity to Japan. By the middle of the 16th century, several of the most powerful warlords were competing for control over the whole country. One of them was Oda Nobunaga. He made the first big steps towards unification of Japan by capturing Kyoto in 1568 and overthrowing the Muromachi bakufu in 1573.
Azuchi-Momoyama // 1573 - 1603
Nobunaga defeated the Takeda clan in the battle of Nagashino (1575), making use of modern warfare. In 1582, general Akechi murdered Nobunaga and captured his Azuchi castle. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a general fighting for Nobunaga, reacted very quickly, defeated Akechi, and took over control. He subdued the Northern provinces and Shikoku in 1583 and Kyushu in 1587. After defeating the Hojo family in Odawara in 1590, Japan was finally reunited.
In 1588 he confiscated the weapons of all the farmers and religious institutions in the "Sword Hunt". He forbade the samurai to be active as farmers and forced them to move into the castle towns. In 1587, Hideyoshi issued an edict expelling Christian missionaries. Nevertheless, Franciscans were able to enter the country in 1593. After uniting the country, Hideyoshi attempted to realize his rather megalomaniac dream of conquering China. In 1592, his armies invaded Korea and captured Seoul within a few weeks; however, they were pushed back again by Chinese and Korean forces in the following year. Hideyoshi stubbornly didn't give in until the final evacuation from Korea in 1598, the same year in which he died.
Edo // 1603 - 1867
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the most powerful man in Japan after Hideyoshi had died in 1598. In 1603, Ieyasu was appointed Shogun by the emperor and established his government in Edo (Tokyo). The Tokugawa shoguns continued to rule Japan 250 years. Ieyasu continued to promote foreign trade. He established relations with the English and the Dutch. In 1633, shogun Iemitsu forbade travelling abroad and almost completely isolated Japan in 1639 by reducing the contacts to the outside world to very limited trade relations with China and the Netherlands in the port of Nagasaki.
In 1720, the ban of Western literature was canceled, and several new teachings entered Japan from China and Europe (Dutch Learning). New nationalist schools that combined Shinto and Confucianism elements also developed.
In the end of the 18th century, external pressure started to be an increasingly important issue, when the Russians first tried to establish trade contacts with Japan without success. They were followed by other European nations and the Americans in the 19th century. It was eventually Commodore Perry in 1853 and again in 1854 who forced the Tokugawa government to open a limited number of ports for international trade. However, the trade remained very limited until the Meiji restoration in 1868.
Meiji // 1868 - 1912
In 1867/68, the Tokugawa era found an end in the Meiji Restoration. Like other subjugated Asian nations, the Japanese were forced to sign unequal treaties with Western powers. Meiji Japan was determined to close the gap to the Western powers economically and militarily. Drastic reforms were carried out in practically all areas.
The new government aimed to make Japan a democratic state with equality among its entire people. The boundaries between the social classes of Tokugawa Japan were gradually broken down. The reforms also included the establishment of human rights such as religious freedom in 1873. The education system was reformed after the French and later after the German system. Among those reforms was the introduction of compulsory education. Universal conscription was introduced, and a new army modeled after the Prussian force, and a navy after the British one were established.
On the political sector, Japan received its first European style constitution in 1889. A parliament, the Diet was established while the emperor kept sovereignty: he stood at the top of the army, navy, executive and legislative power.
Conflicts of interests in Korea between China and Japan led to the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-95. Japan defeated China, received Taiwan, but was forced by Russia, France and Germany to return other territories. The so called Triple Intervention caused the Japanese army and navy to intensify their rearmament.
New conflicts of interests in Korea and Manchuria, this time between Russia and Japan, led to the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-05. The Japanese army also won this war gaining territory and finally some international respect. Japan further increased her influence on Korea and annexed her completely in 1910.
Taisho // 1912 - 1926
In the First World War, Japan joined the Allied powers, but played only a minor role in fighting German colonial forces in East Asia. At the following Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Japan's proposal of amending a "racial equality clause" to the covenant of the League of Nations was rejected by the United States, Britain and Australia. Arrogance and racial discrimination towards the Japanese had plagued Japanese-Western relations since the forced opening of the country in the 1800s, and were again a major factor for the deterioration of relations in the decades preceding World War 2. In 1924, for example, the US Congress passed the Exclusion Act that prohibited further immigration from Japan.
After WW1, Japan's economical situation worsened. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the world wide depression of 1929 intensified the crisis.
Showa // 1926 - 1989
During the 1930s, the military established almost complete control over the government. Japan followed the example of Western nations and forced China into unequal economical and political treaties. When the Chinese Nationalists began to seriously challenge Japan's position in Manchuria in 1931, the Kwantung Army (Japanese armed forces in Manchuria) occupied Manchuria. In 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations since she was heavily criticized for her actions in China.
In July 1937, the second Sino-Japanese War broke out. The Japanese forces succeeded in occupying almost the whole coast of China and committed severe war atrocities on the Chinese population, especially during the fall of the capital Nanking. However, the Chinese government never surrendered completely, and the war continued on a lower scale until 1945.In 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam) upon agreement with the French Vichy government, and joined the Axis powers Germany and Italy.
In December 1941, Japan attacked the Allied powers at Pearl Harbor and several other points throughout the Pacific. In the Pacific War was the battle of Midway in June 1942. From then on, the Allied forces slowly won back the territories occupied by Japan. In 1944, intensive air raids started over Japan. In spring 1945, US forces invaded Okinawa in one of the war's bloodiest battles. On July 27, 1945, the Allied powers requested Japan in the Potsdam Declaration to surrender unconditionally, or destruction would continue, the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan on August 8.
On August 14, however, Emperor Showa finally decided to surrender unconditionally.
Heisei // 1989 - Present
The occupation of Japan by the Allied Powers started in August 1945 and ended in April 1952. General MacArthur was its first Supreme Commander. Japan basically lost all the territory acquired after 1894. In addition, the Kurile Islands were occupied by the Soviet Union, and the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, were controlled by the USA. Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972, however a territorial dispute with Russia concerning the Kurile Islands has not been resolved yet.
A new constitution went into effect in 1947: The emperor lost all political and military power, and was solely made the symbol of the state. Universal suffrage was introduced and human rights were guaranteed. Japan was also forbidden to ever lead a war again or to maintain an army. Furthermore, Shinto and the state were clearly separated.
The co-operation between the Japanese and the Allied powers worked relatively smooth. Critics started to grow when the United States acted increasingly according to its self-interests in the Cold War, reintroduced the persecution of communists, stationed more troops in Japan, and wanted Japan to establish an own self defense force despite the anti-war article in the constitution.
With the peace treaty that went into effect in 1952, the occupation ended. Japan's Self Defense Force was established in 1954, accompanied by large public demonstrations. Japan's relations to the Soviet Union were normalized in 1956, the ones to China in 1972.
The 1973 oil crisis shocked the Japanese economy which was heavily depended on oil. The reaction was a shift to high technology industries.
On March 11, 2011 a 9,0 earthquake, the most powerful earthquake to hit Japan on record hit off the coast of Japan. It became a series of disasters that happened in sequence, from the earthquake itself, to the extremely destructive tsunami waves of up to 38 meters (124 ft) that struck Japan, in some cases traveling up to 10 km (6 mi) inland.
In addition to loss of life and destruction of infrastructure, the tsunami caused a number of nuclear accidents, of which by far the most serious was an ongoing level 7(On par with the Chernobyl disaster) event and 20 km (12 mi) evacuation zone around the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.
|-|-The Style-|-|
Roleplay example ---
September 18, 1931
Area near Liǔtiáo Lake in Mukden (now Shenyang)
He wrapped the warm jacket closer around his body and watched the flurry of activity with a cold gaze, unnerving several of his soldiers. They looked at him from the corners of their eyes before quickly turning away to continuing on with their duties. None of them knew who he was; and yet even Kwantung Army Colonel Seishirō Itagaki himself knew that this visitor was someone of high ranking, but nothing else concerning his identity was revealed.
Small clouds of condensation formed when Kiku breathed out and he finally turned his head away from the rising sun. The ground was quickly becoming muddy; the light snowfall from the previous night quickly becoming slush under the boots of his soldiers.
His long strides led him to the Colonel’s tent as he stepped within. The commanding Colonel and several key Lieutenants were already there. Silence fell as they quickly quieted and turned to face Kiku, standing at attention. Kiku shook his head, “Continue.”
They all seemed to pause and turned to look towards Seishirō; and with that, the colonel continued to speak.
“We have of course heard that Major General Yoshitsugu Tatekawa has been dispatched,” his eyes flickered to Kiku. “We can no longer have the luxury of waiting for the Chinese to answer to repeated provocations.”
Kiku took a step closer to the table, eyeing the detailed maps laid out on it. The topographical map was clearly marked, the enemy’s position stained in a bold red; this color choice was absurdly amusing to Kiku. The man next to him stiffened slightly and Kiku turned his head to look directly at him — a 1st Lieutenant — and then turned his gaze back down towards the map.
“Here,” Seishirō and pointed to the exact location of the Chinese garrison of Běidàyíng. “Is where they are stationed.” His finger moved to an area almost 800 meters away from the garrison. “Here, 1st Lieutenant Suemori Komoto, will place the explosives that will draw out those swine. It will be far away from the South Manchuria Railway so we do not cause it too much harm. But it is close enough that it looks like it was meant to damage.”
The corners of Kiku’s lips twitched, though he was able to keep the other men from seeing his discomforting smile by reaching out to take the approval notice from the Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo. One of the Lieutenants started to reach out to stop him, but was quickly stopped by Seishirō.
…approval of launch but only following a major incident started by the Chinese.
“Since the Shina will not attack us, we are to either force them to, or trick them into doing so.” His question was said as a statement; he already knew all of this information before arriving in Mukden. Briefly his thoughts went out to the nation he was planning to invade, and wondered just what that man would do once the news traveled to Beijing.
“I will go with Lieutenant Suemori,” Kiku said, his voice firm and allowing no room for argument. The approval letter from the Imperial General Headquarters was placed back on the table and he looked towards the Lieutenant Suemori. “You will do your duty, and begin the war that will bring both honor and land to your Empire.”
Suemori nodded, looking almost shocked and was dismissed, along with Kiku, as they were both ordered to receive the explosives that would start it all. A long steel katana rested on his right hip, sharp and nothing like those ornamental ones that some other soldiers carried. There was also a pistol was hidden under his uniform; a hated piece of technology that he would only use if the situation called for it. It was quickly growing dark, the shadow of the night would be far more suited for the mission. There would probably be no need for the gun until later, not until he was fighting on the battlefield.
“These lands will be mine, Yao-san. I will make you submit to me.”
--
September 19, 1931 - area near Liǔtiáo Lake in Mukden (now Shenyang)
The Chinese garrison was attacked in retaliation for the attack on the railroad owned by Japan’s South Manchuria Railway.
|-|-The Player-|-|
Username --- pochi // subakai (cbox)
Age --- 21
Time --- zone PST
