The Shafterlands

Japan-Shafterlands, also known as The Shafterlands and Japan (or either name), officially the Peaceful United Empire of Japan and the Shafterlands, is a sovereign country formed from the union of the Shafterlandean Republic and the Empire of Japan in 1943. In lore, it is located west of mainland Limaru on the island of Sumatra ("The Shafterlands"), and north of Limaru ("Japan"). The country is made up of what is Japan and Taiwan in our world, and a western extension of the island of Sumatra. Japan-Shafterlands is a constitutional monarchy with its judiciary and legislative capital in Fresbury, a culturally important city on the western coast of Sumatra, while its executive capital is in Tokyo, the largest city in both Japan-Shafterlands and the world. Japan-Shafterlands has a land border with Indonesia on the island of Sumatra, and with the Soviet Union (in this timeline, the Soviet Union did not fall) on the island of Sakhalin. The northernmost point of the country is Isuzu City, a city jointly governed by the Soviet and Japanese governments, while the southernmost point is Fort Saint Louis, a small fishing village with coral reefs.

Since the Japanese part of Japan-Shafterlands more or less follows the history of our world, this page will focus on the Shafterlandean part of the country. The Shafterlands was first settled in the 7th century BCE by Krepian settlers from Crepetown. In 101 AD, internal arguments between the Krepian princes made the Shafterlands independent from the rest of the Krepian states, which formed the divergence in culture between the Shafterlandeans and other speakers of Krepian.

Over the next few centuries, the Shafterlands became widely engaged in trade with the Malay Archipelago and Thailand. Shafterlandean ships soon became the best ships in the region. In 1240, an expedition was set out towards India, where trade deals were made. This expedition continued on to the Red Sea and through what is now Egypt, before the explorers boarded another boat that took them to Europe, where they started the colony of Canako which still exists today.

The Shafterlands was then colonised in 1624 by the Portuguese, and then by the British in 1789. In 1884, the first Prime Minister of the Shafterlands, Penec Villake, convinced the British to give her a seat in Parliament, becoming the only female and overseas representative in Parliament at that time. This led to autonomous self-rule in 1890.

During the First World War, the Shafterlands joined the Allied Powers against the Central Powers, taking over a few German territories in Africa (which it later seceded to Britain). In 1923, The Shafterlands became a full-blown country by becoming a republic, with the second Prime Minister, Addahin Levingfyr.

During the Second World War, the country was split into the Axis-backed northern half and the Allied southern half to ensure net neutrality. However, the central government later found out that the Axis was treating their people badly, and thus planned a government takeover of all Axis powers to "end suffering" (In reality, the central government was no longer neutral and backed the Allied powers fully). This plan worked, and the Shafterlands managed to "defeat" the Japanese Empire (in reality, they converted the entire military and government to back the Allies) in 1943, leaving Germany on its own as a large Axis power.

After the Second World War, the Shafterlands (now Japan-Shafterlands) became one of the three superpowers. In 1952, the Shafterlandean part reinstated their Emperor as the head of state. They sent an object to space in 1958, and a man in 1963. After being beaten to the moon in 1969 by the United States, they sent three men to the moon in 1974. Japan-Shafterlands reached the far side of the moon in 1983, bringing back valuable samples of rock. In 1992, they sent a rover to Mars to collect samples.

Between 1976 and 1996, The Shafterlands took control of Cambodia, stopping the Khmer Rouge reign right in its tracks. During these 20 years, most landmines were removed in the entire country. This period also saw the greatest economic development in Cambodia. Cambodia in this alternate reality is a thriving first world country and it maintains economic relations with the rest of Southeast Asia, especially the Shafterlands.

The Shafterlands and Singapore are in a bilateral border control union since 1993. This means that tourists travelling between the two countries do not need a passport. However, since Singapore does not have any domestic flights, those travelling from the Shafterlands to Singapore by airplane still need to produce some form of identification.

The Shafterlands was a founding member of ASEAN in 1967, but left the association in 1973 in opposition of its values. It rejoined the association in 1996 with newly-formed Cambodia. In 2021, the Shafterlandean Secret Service took over Myanmar in an effort to stop the military coup, which was largely successful, but caused tensions between The Shafterlands and China, who saw it as a 'repeat of Cambodia in 1976'.

The Shafterlands is a nuclear-weapon state on paper. Most energy sources come from nuclear energy. Due to the presence of older reactors, the country imports uranium every year. However, newer reactors use thorium instead, which is a resource naturally occurring in the country. It is a member of La Francophonie and Les Pasarins Krepian.



Location and borders
The Shafterlandean part of Japan-Shafterlands is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the north and south, the Krepian archipelago to the west and Indonesia to the east. The Shafterlandean part is situated mostly between latitudes 10˚S and 5˚N, and longitudes 80˚E and 103˚E. The Japanese part is situated between latitudes 21˚N and 50˚N, and longitudes 120˚E and 140˚E. Due to the Japanese annexation of Taiwan in 1895, Taiwan is still part of Japan-Shafterlands today and its counties are considered "prefectures" (inseparable parts of the country). The country also still holds on to a few islands in the Pacific Ocean as "territories", but in 1996, this decision was overturned as the territories became the Prefecture of the Pacific Islands.

Administrative divisions
The Shafterlands is divided into 86 prefectures, 8 in Taiwan, 25 in the Shafterlands, and 53 in Japan. Each prefecture sends one representative to the Senate. In each prefecture, subdivision is done differently: Putingrad Prefecture does not have any subdivisions while Tokyo Prefecture is divided into 62 municipalities.

Ethnic Groups
Most people in Japan-Shafterlands are Japanese, making up 75% of the population. However, many prefectures do not reflect this number: all 8 prefectures of Taiwan have a majority Chinese population, while 23 out of 25 prefectures in the Shafterlands have a majority Krepian population.

A census is done in the country every 12 years. In the recent 2020 census, it was found out that out of the minority races that make up 25% of the population, 35% was Krepian, followed by 30% Vietnamese, 29% Chinese, and then 4% were of any European descent and the remaining 2% were of other races. However, one criticism was that the census does not record mixed races, which is common in southern Shafterlands.

National Languages
These are the languages that are used in the national anthem and national symbols.
 * Krepian (anthem)
 * Japanese (anthem)
 * French (motto)

Federal Languages
These are the languages that are official in 2 or more prefectures (excluding National Languages)
 * English
 * Mandarin Chinese
 * Taiwanese Hokkien
 * Hakka
 * Matsu
 * German
 * Russian
 * Ainu
 * Burmese (not official 1948-2020)

Administrative Language
This language is not official in any of the prefectures but is official at the federal level.
 * Vietnamese

Regional languages
These languages are only official in one prefecture.
 * Malay
 * Amami
 * Kunigami
 * Okinawan
 * Miyako
 * Yaeyama
 * Yonaguni

Aboriginal Languages
These languages are de jure official, but due to ongoing disputes about their classification, they have not gained an official status.
 * Formosan languages
 * Pit'shirippian

Former official languages
Due to changes in territory, these languages are no longer official, although some government reports are still made in them.
 * Khmer
 * Lao
 * Cantonese
 * Korean

In total, there are nineteen official languages. There have been recent movements to get Korean to become official again as an administrative language.

Religion
The Constitution of the Shafterlands forbids the government from collecting data on religion. However, upper estimates suggest that 60% of the population subscribe to Shinto, while another 20% subscribe to Tressheda, the indigenous religion of the Krepian people. Many Krepian practise both Tressheda and Buddhism; they can identify with both religions.

Due to the immigration of people from France to southern Shafterlands during the 15th to 17th century, and later the relocation of convicts from Britain, Christianity is the religion of the majority in the south of the Shafterlands. From 1933 to 1944, around 15% of Jewish people living in Germany relocated to southern Shafterlands, forming a community around present-day West Aylesbury.

Other prominent regional religions include Islam, which is practised by most living near the border with Indonesia. Other minority religions include Hinduism and Baháʼí Faith, as well as the animist beliefs of the Ainu.

Health
Healthcare is partially subsidised by the federal government. Payment for healthcare services are usually handled by insurance companies. Those without health insurance can opt for the government-sponsored insurance policy, which covers most health issues. However, most health insurance companies, including the government-sponsored policy, require the patient to pay up to 10% of the healthcare costs.

The Shafterlands has the world's third lowest suicide rate since 2010. This is due to the health ministry's stress on mental health and the Code on the Freedom of Expression, a set of guidelines to raise the standard of living that the government follows.

Education
The Shafterlandean education system consists of 6 years of elementary school and 6 years of high school, starting on the year in which a child has his/her 7th birthday. Out of these 12 years, only 9 are compulsory, but 97% of students graduate high school while 68% continue their education for their university degree. The education system and curriculum of most public schools is regulated by the Ministry of Education.

Each student must study at least 1 language, with a limit of 2 from ages 7 to 9, 3 from 10 to 12, and no limit afterwards. Language study is an important part of the education system, and all languages have the syllabus of a "first language". This means studying a little bit of literature besides language acquisition. Most students take up 3 languages, with Japanese, English and Krepian being the most common. Non-language subjects are offered in many "mediums", or the language of examination. The most common medium is Japanese, with Krepian not falling far behind and French coming in third.

Both sciences and arts are seen as equally important, with elementary school curriculum having history, math, science and geography as examinable subjects. In high school, students get to elect either a STEM-based education or an arts-based education from year 4.

The Shafterlands stopped having national examinations from 2004. Instead, all admissions are based on entrance and aptitude-based examinations. However, smaller colleges and high schools have recently merged their admissions and now use a centralised paper.

The language subjects are: The mediums are: Japanese, English, French, Krepian, Chinese, Malay, Russian
 * All former and current official languages
 * Arabic
 * Thai
 * Persian
 * Spanish

Most prefectures require all schools to teach in their prefecture's most common language, and one other (for larger schools).

Culture
Shafterlandean culture combines influences from Asia, Europe, and North America. Traditional Shafterlandean arts include crafts like batien painting, roufada pottery, swords, dolls, and tiles.

Traditional arts
Main articles: Batien painting Roufada pottery Shafterlandean traditional arts vary a lot between towns and cities, and each prefecture has its own unique styles. However, more common arts like batien painting and roufada pottery are found in most, if not all, of the 25 prefectures of the Shafterlands. Most traditional arts implore the use of patterns to tell a story.

Swords also play a large part in Shafterlandean culture. The keprica and la lutine (CR: la lusheint) swords produced by the northern and southern parts of the Shafterlands respectively play an important role in traditional festivals, and they can be found carried around by men and single women for self-defense in many areas around the country. Old documents dictate that these swords were almost never used in actual combat, though, as they are more commonly used for hunting (the keprica sword is more suited for attacking large animals) and casting spells (the la lutine sword is classified as a highly accurate magic wand rather than an actual sword since it is too short and too light to perform any kind of damage).

Festivals
The Shafterlands is a country with a large number of festivals, although not all of them are public holidays. Some of these holidays are designated federal holidays (celebrated in the entire country) while others are regional holidays (celebrated only in The Shafterlands) orprefectural holidays (celebrated only by a number of prefectures). Out of the holidays, there are also non-holiday festivals, which are festivals that fall on work days. However, many companies close on these days to allow workers to celebrate them too. The Shafterlands does not celebrate its independence day since there is no clear date as to when it became independent. Instead, national flags are hung on 4th July, 18th August and 10th November for the three important events that led to its full independence: the day The Shafterlands got a seat in Westminster (4 July 1882), the day the country was recognised by Great Britain (18 Aug 1890), and the day it became a republic (10 Nov 1923).

The most important festival in Shafterlandean culture is the Coming of Age Day, or Setsemenaebe. It falls on the birthday of the first Saint of Tressheda, Saint Cannane, and the creation of the Order of the Temple of Chingdondale. It is usually celebrated by praying to the the High Priest/High Priestess of the Order of the Temple of Chingdondale and donating dolls to the shrines of the order.

Since 2018, a select number of prefectures have been celebrating Cahede Midzushima day (which also falls on 13 October) as well as Setsemenaebe due to the Cahede François Midzushima Incident of 2016.

Popular culture
Shafterlandean popular culture is similar to that in Japan. Comics (also known as "manga") are very popular and read by all ages. Most manga are published in thick volumes as opposed to being serialised in manga magazines.

Shafterlandean animation (known locally as "anime" but overseas as "tokimation" to differentiate it from Japanese anime) is also very popular and watched by all ages. Most animation studios are based in Tokidawa, the culture capital, and there is a tendency to stream in the Tokidawan dialect of Krepian or Japanese as opposed to standard Krepian. However, there is also a growing animation industry in Aylesbury, which employs art styles more similar to French animation. The word "anime" itself is a short form of "animation" (CR: animeson).

Novels and light novels are also a favourite among the younger generation, and reading on public transport has become the norm. Translations of works are rare since most people can read more than one language.

Due to the prevalence of Tokidawan Krepian in Shafterlandean popular culture, many Krepian authors in other countries also write their works in Tokidawan Krepian as opposed to standard Krepian. This has caused many Krepian states to halt the distribution of Shafterlandean media in their countries without subtitles so as to slow the spread of foreign culture. However, outside the Krepian world, Shafterlandean anime and manga is frequently placed on par with Japanese anime and manga.

Sports
The favourite sport in The Shafterlands is cricket, being introduced into the country by the British in the 1800s. Tournaments are held every year from 1896 in Fresbury Cricket Hall, the national cricket stadium. The Shafterlands is not known to do well in any sport, though, since the suburban and rural nature of the country entices more people to take up arts instead.

The most prominently watched sports in The Shafterlands are football, baseball, tennis, and racing.

Motorsports are generally popular in the country as well. Hillclimbing in particular is very popular among the younger generations and many cars are made or modified to race. Due to the popularity of motorsports, automatic transmission cars are rare in the country.

Politics
The Shafterlands is a multi-party constitutional monarchy. The Republican Consitution of 1923 is the legal foundation of the modern federal state. Two newer constitutions adopted in 1943 and 1952 changed the political structure from a republic to a constitutional monarchy, but did not introduce notable changes to the federal structure. It outlines basic and political rights of the individual, divides the powers between the federal government and the prefectures, and defines federal jurisdiction and authority. There are three main governing bodies on the federal level: the National Assembly (legislative), the Royal House (executive) and the Federal Court (judicial).

The National Assembly has a dynamic number of seats, each seat representing either a constituency in the entire country or a non-representative member. Since 2008, each member of the National Assembly (informally called Members of Parliament, or MPs) must be part of a larger party due to the parallel voting system introduced that year. The National Assembly meets twice a year for two weeks each at the Upper Hall in the National Assembly Building in Fresbury, the legislative capital. The Nationl Assembly functions similarly to the lower house in a two-house parliamentary system.

The Royal House has a static number of seats equal to one more than the number of prefectures (Hokkaido has two members). The current number of prefectures stands at 102, which means that there are 102 seats in the Royal House. Prior to 2019, 56 members met in Tokyo while the rest (25 then) met in Tokidawa, however, all members meet in Tokyo currently due to the merger of the two royal houses. The Royal House functions similarly to the upper house in a two-house parliamentary system.

Prior to 1948, a third house existed for regional governments, but this has been superseded by the federal government.

The Federal Court is the second highest court in the Shafterlandean justice system, only second in rank to the High Court of Appeal. However, most proceedings end at the Federal Court, therefore it is commonly (but mistakenly) referred to as the apex court in the justice system. Proceedings in the Federal Court take place in either the Federal Court building in Osaka or the Former High Court building (also called the 106th Street Court building) in Fresbury.

Military
The Shafterlands abolished their formal military in 1961. Before 1961, the country slowly wound down the military, from abolishing conscription in 1945 to abolishing the military entirely in 1961. However, no defense technology was decomissioned, on the contrary, the Shafterlands increased their research budget. Today, research for non-defense and defense purporses share the same budget and is highly sought after by the other two large superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.

During large scale events, a small paramilitary team of about 10,000 people is kept for ceremonial purposes. Even then, this team receives training in their respective armed forces roles and could be deployed as a special operations team if required. However, most of the real might of the Shafterlands comes from their worldwide spy operations, known as the Shafterlandean Secret Service. The Shafterlandean Secret Service, also known as the SSS, was formed in 1923 to remove any person suspected of plotting against the then-republican government, but it has grown into a full war machine capable of taking down even the largest nations.

While the SSS is a covert operations group by night, by day it is a charitable organisation promoting peace and democracy with members all around the globe. The operations of the SSS has not been controlled by the Shafterlandean government since they fell out with the Nationalist Party in 1937. In fact, the SSS attacked the Shafterlands once, in 1938. Yet, since 1961, the group has been protecting the country due to the Shafterlands' lack of a military force. In warfare, the SSS almost always attacks guerilla-style to destroy any army from inside-out, and conducts assasination attempts on their enemy's top leaders. When capturing a region, they raise the Shafterlandean War Flag, which is the Shafterlandean vertical tricolour rotated 90 degrees.

Currency
The de jure currency of the Shafterlands, the Shafterlandean Emerald, has caused many problems in recent years due to its value being tied to gold. Therefore, the Shafterlands uses a miltiple currency system: a fiat currency called the Shafterlandean Trade Dollar that is exchangeable with the Emerald on par, and the Emerald itself. The Emerald is exclusively printed in the Fresburan Central Bank while the Trade Dollar is printed by the Bank of Japan. The secondary "currency" (technically a denomination) of the Shafterlands, the Japanese Yen, is defined as a tenth of the Emerald and is printed by the Osaka Mint. All three currencies are mutually exchangeable and legal tender.

On the foreign currency market, the Shafterlandean currency is listed as the Japanese Yen because the Emerald's lowest denomination is 1/1000 of an Emerald, also known as a Milliemerald (shortened to Mille). However, what is actually being traded is the Trade Dollar, the only currency out of the three that is allowed to be circulated outside the Shafterlands. Due to the gold standard, the Shafterlandean currency is one of the most deflated in the world, and talks are in session to base the Emerald on the Trade Dollar instead.