Fuso

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The Empire of Fusō 大扶桑帝国
Flag Imperial Seal
Motto: "Seven Lives for My Country, Long Live His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!"
Anthem: "一万年 (Ten Thousand Years)"
Capital	Shinsu
Largest city	Greater Shinsu Area
Official languages	Codexian Tōwan
Ethnic groups	90% Human 5% Vulpines 5% Nekomimi
Demonym(s)	Tōwan
Government	Constitutional Monarchy
• Emperor	Takahito
• Prime Minister	Mitsuhide Kawakami
• Deputy Prime Minister	Shichou Fujiwara
• Minister of Foreign Affairs	Ch'en Zhang-li
• Speaker of the House	Hitohito Koizumi
• Chancellor of the HoC	Hana Nishizumi
Legislature	National Diet
• Upper house	House of Councillors
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Population
• 2016 estimate	120,800,000
GDP (nominal)	2018 estimate
• Total	¥284.7 Trillion ($2.6 Trillion)
• Per capita	¥3.9 Million ($36,752)
Gini	36.5 medium
SDI	.855 very high
Currency	Yen (FOY/¥)
Date format	MM-DD-YYYY
Driving side	left
Calling code	+271
Internet TLD	.fo

The Empire of Fusō, more commonly known as Fuso, is a nation situated on the eastern coast of the continent of Yasteria. Fuso shares a land border with Isklevyu and Sachenvorbund to the north and a sea border with Ambravia and Fortuna to the south and southeast. To the west of Fuso are the nation states of Vekaiyu, Allegheny, and Packilvania and to the east is the Pacific Ocean. Off the coast of Fuso is the Natsushima Island Chain, otherwise known as the Summer Islands. It consists of three large islands and six smaller islands, all in-between Ambravia and Fortuna. The Shinsu Strait runs between the Summer Islands, separating the ancient islands from mainland Yasteria and the rest of the country. Fuso's topography varies from region to region, with valleys, plateaus, and mountains to the west and rolling hills, low lying plains and flood plains stretching far to the east.

Fuso is a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a bicameral system in place. The overall bureaucratic system of Fuso is broken into three separate levels; national, prefectural, and municipal. The National Diet serves as the main legislature of Fuso and is split into the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. It has the final say in all political matters of the country. The prefectural level is the first level of the administrative system and is made up of 36 prefectures. Cities, towns, and villages make up the last and lowest level of government; the municipal level. The municipal level forms the local administrative bodies ran under the supervision of the prefectural government. At the head of state is the current reigning monarch, Emperor Takahito, who ascended to the throne upon his coronation in 1986.

Etymology

Fusō (扶桑) is the Tōwan reading of the Zhang Dynasty word for Fusang, a mysterious land to the east of Zhang where a mythological mulberry tree resides. It is pronounced and romanized as Fusou. The character fu (扶) stands for "aid", "help", or "assist" while the character so (桑) refers to the mythological mulberry tree. In ancient texts, Fusō is also referred to as the "eastern nation" by Zhang scholars.

Before the adoption of Fusō, other names such as Wa (和) and Tōwa (東和) were used to refer to the eastern land. The word Wa is a homophone of the word Wo (倭), which was used as the Zhang term for the mainland Tōwan people who resided on Yasterian coast. The term Fusō came into use after the discovery of the Summer Islands and Tōwan Islanders by Zhang expeditionaries in the late 4th century. After the unification of the mainlanders and the islanders under Emperor Ginmei, the lands to the east of Zhang became what is known today as Fusō. Though, it wasn't until the 13th Century that Fusō was used as an official name for the nation by an Emperor.

The Codexian reading for Fusō derives directly from the romanized reading, Fuso.

History

The modern Empire of Fuso can trace its roots back to the Kingdoms of Wa and Tōwa on the mainland Yasterian coast and the Summer Islands respectively. Both kingdoms were united under Emperor Ginmei of the Kingdom of Tōwa in the early 5th Century to become the State of Tōwa. The Imperial Court would hold control over Tōwa until the 8th century, where the power of the Imperial Court was subverted by the Fujiwara clan—a branch family of the Imperial Family and the most powerful political clan during the Heiwa Period of Fusō. Near the end of the 12th Century, control of Tōwa had fallen completely into the hands of the three off-shoot clans and their lords; the Fujiwara, Heike, and Genji.

However, the power of the Fujiwara had weakened by the end of the 12th Century. Seeing the now weak Fujiwara, the Heike clan would advance on the Imperial Capital and replace the Fujiwara with military force. This prompted a military response from the Genji, who were close allies with the Fujiwara. Throughout the remainder of the 12th century, the Genji and Heike would go to war with each other. The conflict would culminate in the five year Minata War between the Genji and Heike where victory was attained by Genji no Yorimoto, the lord of the Genji clan during the Minata War. In the wake of the Heike's defeat, Genji no Yorimoto would establish the Natsushima Shogunate, symbolizing his rule from the Summer Islands over the State of Tōwa. Yorimoto would also partially restore the power of the Emperor, agreeing to rule alongside him as a military leader and political advisor until his death. The Imperial Family overthrowed the Natsuhima Shogunate in 1334 with the help of Shinagawa Takauji, thus regaining control of Tōwa and forming the State of Fusō. In the early 14th century, Emperor Tenma of the new state passed a series of political and social reforms that angered many of the mainland clans and their lords. The aftermath of the reforms would see the Imperial Court once again fall from power as Emperor Tenma was replaced by a puppet Emperor in the mainland.

The Imperial Household wouldn't rule over Fusō until 1868, where Imperial power was restored in the aftermath of another civil war. Known as the Kakumei War, it was fought between the Ichikawa Shogunate and supporters of the Imperial Throne from 1862 to 1868. With the defeat of the Shogunate in mid 1868, the modern Empire of Fuso would be

Government & Politics

Foreign Relations

Fuso maintains a regional presence in Eastern Yasteria.

Military

Main article: Imperial Self Defense Force

Fuso maintains a large military budget and standing army as of 2016. While given the moniker of Self Defense Forces, the ISDF is not limited to just the self defense of the nation. The Self Defense Forces are able to participate in and intervene in international disputes and conflicts as a valid military force.

The Imperial Self Defense Force is overseen by the Ministry of Defense and consists of the Ground Self Defense Force, Maritime Self Defense Force, and Air Self Defense Force. Military exercises are commonly held by all three branches of the Self Defense Forces from the Shinsu Strait to the cold, harsh training grounds of the northwest. The Coast Guard, under the Maritime Self Defense Force, is responsible for policing the waters of the Shinsu Strait and Fuso's Economic Exclusion Zone.

Culture

this is going to need a lot of work. -kash