-modern republic formed in 1943

-Russia's Wars > Rezanov incident (1806-13) happens

-private war which ends with Nagasaki opened to Russian trade

-but at the same time Ienari declares foreign ships elsewhere to be fired upon

-which avoids other incidents in the same way

-sees a stronger version of the Edict to Expel Foreigners issued

-however a trade of goods through Russian territory does commence at this point

-no Perry expedition

-sees end of the Qing dynasty in concern

-especially as

-in 1862, Russian admiral Putyatin , having opened China during China's Wars > Transition from Qing to Bai (1854-63), declares his intention to open up Japan with threat and display of force

-with longstanding hostility between Russia and Japan, Japan refuses

-leads to Russia responding by attacking Shimodate, it burns down

-then they have no choice but to accept its terms

-almost all of Ezochi ceded to Russia, all the way to southern tip

-similar treaties signed with United States of America, British Isles, and French Republic

-bakufu is badly hapless

-Ref

-with diff politics at play (namely need for effective leadership) he ascends to power

-also abe masahiro lives a few years longer with slightly less stress

-embarks on ambitious plan of modernization with French assistance

-French because Russia feared and it being well-known that Russia is not friends with France

-komei, not wanting to be beat by man people talk about like second ieyasu, issues edict on expelling barbarians in 1871

-results in anglo satsuma war and total british victory

-successfully defeats choshu domain in military expedition (after it too got bombarded by western ships) in 1873

-weakening emperor's position and giving him more support from daimyos,

-also revokes choshu lands from daimyos' control

-rising financial crisis in the daimyos results in yoshinobu promoting centralization, some other daimyos nationalized (and others lose responsibilities)

-but far more sluggish than OTL, and takes till the 1890s to finally finish

-with decree of assembly of daimyos in 1895 finally finishing it

-despite more localized attempts at disarming samurai (often after rebellion), yoshinobu unable to issue a decree on the subject till 1891

-and because shogun's stature is based on being leader of the samurai, new army is declared as being "new samurai" for the modern era

-makes expedition to invade Korea in 1893, army is less well-drilled and despite a good performance russia (and technically qing) flush it out

-albeit sparking war when bai china protests this as violation of its sovereignty and when the two are mired in war

-leads to China's Wars > Russo-Chinese War (1893-9)

-failure allows Yoshinobu to remove the last trades of the han system

-additionally sends troops to Liouchou with france distracted by war in europe and china also distracted in its own war

-french resident in formosa rages, but receives orders from paris telling him to sign compromise

-which grants japan overlordship over most of ryukyu islands, except miyako and yaeyama

-and yoshinobu more than happy to say yes

-however, rage at failure in korea is enough for yoshinobu to accept pondering democratic reform

-and after observing foreign govts makes french-inspired but autocratic constitution

-securing position of shogun as leader of both military and administration, and emperor as inviolable leader above politics

-and a legislative body composed of both peers and commoners which passes legislation proposed by council of state and/or a more limited committee nominated by daimyos in 1904

-with Russia's Wars > Young Russian Revolution (1902-8) uses opportunity to seize the Kurils

-patriotic endeavor which sees national popularity

-son of yoshinobu, recognized as heir previously

-process of renegotiating unequal treaties reaches fruition in this time

-sees Recessions > Panic of 1911

-results in economic chaos as industries across the board crash

-and collapse of vertically-integrated conglomerates

-as well as collapse of one half of Japanese banks as their loans to European banks called, resulting in chaos

-recovery is tepid at best as Yoshinaga extremely reluctant to increase debt and potentially threaten treaty renegotiation

-results in a wave of emigration as people who lose jobs choose to make money for their families through remittances

-also results in a period of constitutional reform

-introduction of "lists of notability" for government positions, thus giving the people a veto on them

-suppression of democratic-republican movement gets increasingly violent

-assassination plot against him revealed which results in very strong anti-terror laws

-more violence afterwards but a lot of quite intense fearmongering emerges

-results in refusal of attempts to take forward democratization, also autocratic legislation

-killed during Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923

-which does not exactly do the government's stability any favors in this era

-there's a brief interregnum of sorts

-due to government being thrust into chaos by earthquake

-results in period of mass riots against "enemies of the state" immediately following earthquake

-but in the end it's he who is obvious heir and decided

-earthquake does not exactly do the stability of the government any favors

-and wreaks havoc on the relatively weak recovery from the Great Depression

-aftermath sees the slow reconstruction of fragile economy and national institutions

-as well as the growth of conglomerates which have monopolistic control of economy

-which is direct attempt to prevent the rise of foreign companies to position of domination over Japanese economy

-eventually economy does recover

-sees growth of a very new middle class in the country over the course of the next few decades

-parts of this middle class supports democratic reform, and some parts a full-blown republican movement

-as a result Yoshihisa profoundly reluctant to provide this middle-class with government jobs or influence within it

-rising growth of Japanese Radical Party within middle-class in this era

-in opposition to this class's exclusion from halls of government

-however, Yoshihisa refuses overtures to democratize

-the Chinese Tsuyu-Tungi-Tang movement threatens Japan

-and causes a shock, fears of a China-sponsored coup

-this coup only inspires further panic within Japan

-and military buildup which in practice means eroding its loyalty with conscripts

-and overreacting suppression of movements

-military buildup does slowly lead to war tensions with China

-over claims in Sea of Japan leads to China's Wars > Sino-Japanese War (1937-9)

-war goes very badly with smashing defeat at Battle of Tsushima

-in 1938 begins peace talks with China

-however when treaty is announced military officers launch coup and install new shogun

-however, war continues to go badly

-China lands troops in Liouchou islands, bombs Nagasaki

-enough for officers to face another countercoup and make peace

-bad times begin, however, especially thanks to indemnity

-culminates in revolution and Takesada fleeing into exile

-Radical movement organizes something of an army to fight against the Shogunate

-this army does quite well in the brief war in what's more farce than its good fortune

-and eventually Hayotama marches on to Edo to cheering crowds and Takesada pisses away

-attempt to throne his son fail

1941: Virtually unopposed

1944 def. xxxxx (Association of Mechanics and Farmers), xxxx (Restoration)

1949 def.

-emperor of japan basically entirely separated from government, made ceremonial official in kyoto as there's not much support for restoring him

-in practice this makes figure something akin to the Pope and even maintains the old apparatus

-as it becomes clear hayotama is no associationist, associationists break from party

-faces off against restorationist (both royalist and shogunist) rebellions

-including major army rebellions in early years

1954 def.

1959 def.