Half of it was one OTL tbf. Its sparse population is a big contributor. Modern day Britain has 67 million people and Sakhalin less than 500,000.
Nobunaga’s Ambition Realized: Dawn of a New Rising Sun
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Looking at the population, it does make sense to make it into one prefecture. I can't imagine the population in this tl will be a whole lot more than OTL. A quick look shows there isn't a whole lot of agriculture there now except for potatoes and a few other vegetables and the bulk of the economy in OTL seems to be in resource extraction.
Would be quite more than the Russians IMO. Japan had 400,000 in just South Sakhalin in 1945. On the whole island? They could have 1-2 million maybe in 2000. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Well that's unfortunate with the civil war there. I was hoping the court would win.
However, that is contingent on Japan not considering it yet another territory for resource extraction like Ezo/Hokkaido where settlement is more or less banned. The resources are the same, except Karafuto has the opportunity for backdoor trade with China which IOTL was the major attraction for Edo Period Japanese (basically they sold Ainu their goods which they then exchanged with other groups for Chinese goods).
It may be too early to discuss prefectures when that's a late 19th century concept and IIRC neither Hokkaido nor Karafuto are officially part of Japan ITTL so aren't divided into provinces or districts (outside of the feudal domain covering Hokkaido's internal districts which IIRC were mostly used to coordinate trade with the Ainu).
Interestingly, among his proposals was "Hokkaido" spelled with different kanji. Maybe that's Karafuto's name TTL.
Keep in mind how rapidly the population expanded after 1906 when Japan was permitted to settle half the island, and then consider the Soviet era population was mostly military/resource extraction. It is entirely possible if the island was settled in, say, the 18th century that it would have several times OTL population.
However, that is contingent on Japan not considering it yet another territory for resource extraction like Ezo/Hokkaido where settlement is more or less banned. The resources are the same, except Karafuto has the opportunity for backdoor trade with China which IOTL was the major attraction for Edo Period Japanese (basically they sold Ainu their goods which they then exchanged with other groups for Chinese goods).
It may be too early to discuss prefectures when that's a late 19th century concept and IIRC neither Hokkaido nor Karafuto are officially part of Japan ITTL so aren't divided into provinces or districts (outside of the feudal domain covering Hokkaido's internal districts which IIRC were mostly used to coordinate trade with the Ainu).
ITTL, Sino-Japanese trade relations were normalized in 1607 as Japan became an official tributary although in practice Japan does whatever it wants obviously, so Karafuto or Ezo won't serve a backdoor role.
However, I note that there is much less population density, and fewer resources.
This serves me right for just looking at Sakhalin now and not what it was like during the Japanese period.
Again, this serves me right for only looking at Sakhalin now.
If potatoes can be grown there, which they can as it happens OTL, then there is potential for a lot of people. Forestry is quite big there now, so it could be now too. Some cleared forests would be great for livestock so there is definitely potential there. But I can't imagine that many Japanese will immediately want to go there just yet.
On the subject of agriculture, do we know if the Japanese have access to any cold resistant crops like potatoes yet?
Exposure to the crop itself is unchanged from OTL (1598). In terms of cultivation, yeah I’ll get back to you on that in a future chapter.
Also I went back and made some changes regarding the imperial family as I realized I’ve overlooked it in my writing. Main changes are that Emperor Tensho dies in 1646 and is succeeded by his half brother Emperor Hachijou, who is the one forced to retire in 1657 by Konoe Toshishige. Here’s what the Japanese emperors look like in this TL so far:
-Emperor Oogimachi (正親町天皇): 1557-1586 (l. 1517-1593)
-Emperor Go-Yozei (後陽成天皇): 1586-1611 (l. 1571-1617)
-Emperor Go-Mizunoo (後水尾天皇): 1611-1641 (l. 1588 - )
-Emperor Tensho (天正天皇): 1641-1646 (l. 1625-1646)
-Emperor Hachijou (八条天皇): 1646-1657 (l. 1630-)
-Emperor Go-Koumyou (後光明天皇): 1657- (l. 1646-)
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Chapter 90: Manji War Part VII - Tomoshige’s Last Stand and a New Government
Chapter 90: Manji War Part VII - Tomoshige’s Last Stand and a New Government
Toshishige’s side of the war was rapidly disintegrating in the face of defeats on the battlefield, defections to the rebellion, and the coup in Kyoto. In October, he also lost his most talented general, Miyoshi Yasunori, at the Battle of Misaki. Subsequent developments saw the Akechi and Nagaoka clans switch sides, and in February 1662 the encirclement of Hyogo had been broken by Tomoyoshi after the latter’s army defeated the forces of Azuchi loyalist daimyo Hashiba Hidemitsu. In the east, the combined forces of Oda Nagaaki and Sakuma Moritora pushed Shibata Katsuoki out of Etchu and Hida provinces completely while Tokugawa Noriyasu took back Owari province, making his presence felt in the outskirts of Gifu once again. Toshishige himself had returned to northern Yamashiro province, where he began gathering men in the hopes of storming Kyoto and overturning the Kanbun Coup. However, he faced waves of desertions as morale dropped with news of ongoing events continually pouring in. The final straw was when Azuchi itself flipped sides, the remaining leaders and magistrates in the city voting to change allegiances to Kyoto and Kanbe Tomoyoshi. Toshishige’s hopes now lay in Kitabatake Takanaga and his army of 30,000 in Gifu province as well as other scattered forces across the realm.
He would never be given the opportunity to make a full comeback, however. Akechi Mitsunori’s men picked up on Toshishige’s activities and quickly moved his forces towards his position. Tipped off by these sudden movements, the former regent would retreat to Sakamoto Castle (坂本城). Mitsunori’s army followed, and a siege on Sakamoto Castle would fatefully begin on March 13th, 1662. Toshishige only had 7,000 men accompanying him against Mitsunori’s 20,000, a paltry number for a man who once reigned supreme as the kōbu kanpaku of the Japanese realm. Toshishige did his best to defend against the besiegers but he proved to be an inadequate commander and after 10 days, Sakamoto Castle fell to Mitsunori. Unwilling to be captured or killed at the hands of the enemy, Konoe Toshishige escaped on a boat onto Lake Biwa, where according to legend, he set the boat on fire, slit his throat, and fell into the water, wearing nothing but a white undergarment. To this day, his body has never been found, likely having completely disintegrated at the bottom of the lake.
He would never be given the opportunity to make a full comeback, however. Akechi Mitsunori’s men picked up on Toshishige’s activities and quickly moved his forces towards his position. Tipped off by these sudden movements, the former regent would retreat to Sakamoto Castle (坂本城). Mitsunori’s army followed, and a siege on Sakamoto Castle would fatefully begin on March 13th, 1662. Toshishige only had 7,000 men accompanying him against Mitsunori’s 20,000, a paltry number for a man who once reigned supreme as the kōbu kanpaku of the Japanese realm. Toshishige did his best to defend against the besiegers but he proved to be an inadequate commander and after 10 days, Sakamoto Castle fell to Mitsunori. Unwilling to be captured or killed at the hands of the enemy, Konoe Toshishige escaped on a boat onto Lake Biwa, where according to legend, he set the boat on fire, slit his throat, and fell into the water, wearing nothing but a white undergarment. To this day, his body has never been found, likely having completely disintegrated at the bottom of the lake.
Depiction of the 1662 siege of Sakamoto Castle
Toshishige’s final stand was quickly reported across the realm, resulting in the surrender of any armies still resisting the rebellion. Scattered bases of support for the now-dead regent would quickly dissipate and all resistance to the victors of the war was dead by mid-1662. The Manji War was finally over, leaving a swath of human and economic destruction in its wake much more significant than that of the Furuwatari War. Over half a million had perished, particularly in the Hokuriku region and the provinces of Iga, Tosa, and Settsu. The Kirishitan population had endured persecution and mistreatment while the commercial activity of Sakai had been disrupted. Most of all, Gifu had suffered yet another siege, this particular one by the Tokugawa being more destructive than the one committed by Saito Keizan in 1637. As a result, it would decline as an urban center for years to come as other political changes sidelined the former importance of the city, once the golden child of Oda Nobunaga. By contrast, western Japan as well as Bireitō escaped much of the wartime chaos, nearly all of its regional lords siding with Kanbe Tomoyoshi upon his landing in Kagoshima. Because of this, they were destined to play an outsized role in central politics over the next 3 decades, particularly through the Shimazu and Mōri clans. The same could not be said for those who stuck with Toshishige to the very end and they would subsequently be forced to retire from public life, most notably the 72 year old Kitabatake Takanaga. Toshishige himself left a 5 year old son in Azuchi who would be forced to take the tonsure, spending the rest of his life in Daigo-ji Temple (醍醐寺) until his death in 1708. The Konoe clan would subsequently be abolished as well, although in a fortunate twist the Chosokabe clan would be reinstated in Tosa province once again.
In April 1662, Kanbe Tomoyoshi entered Kyoto with a sizable army to greet Emperor Go-Koumyou, the retired emperors Go-Mizunoo and Hachijou, and imperial regent Takatsukasa Norihira. He would subsequently meet with Norihira, where the new political order would be arranged. There was some speculation that Norihira would seek to replace the chancellorate with a new government much more centered around the imperial court. However, the fall of Toshishige had significantly dented the influence and trust the court nobility had held and they were too fragmented between those who supported the Kanbun Coup and those who up until recently favored Toshishige’s regime. Instead, Tomoyoshi would directly be thrust upon the main sea of power. Emperor Go-Koumyou would be forced to retire, making way for ex-Emperor Hachijou’s eldest son to take the throne as Emperor Takamatsu (高松天皇).
Not too long after his arrival in Kyoto, the longtime governor-general of Luson and the leader of the rebellion after Oda Tomoaki’s death would be appointed the new daijo-daijin. Simultaneously, the young Oda Nobuhiro would be called to Kyoto and would be made the Minister of the Right, or udaijin (右大臣), making him the designate heir of Tomoyoshi. Tomoyoshi would make this clear before the first summoning of the Shinka-in since the beginning of the war in Azuchi later in the year, announcing that he would serve as daijo-daijin for 3 years and step down after Nobuhiro was of age and fully prepared to take the helm of state. This arrangement would prove much more streamlined within the existing political system compared to the multiple pillars Konoe Toshishige had to set up in order to take power as a universal regent.
Illustration of the appointment ceremony of Kanbe Tomoyoshi as the new daijo-daijin
The 57 year old daijo-daijin faced a multitude of challenges upon his appointment. The country was devastated from the civil war, its economy weakened and its manpower exhausted from the tens of battles waged by both sides. Power imbalances lay exposed in the samurai and court spheres that definitely needed to be resolved. Finally, his son Kanbe Tomozane and admiral Tagawa Seikou were still fighting the Spanish in the Luzon War as Manila stubbornly held on despite the overall success of the Japanese after Tomoyoshi left for the home islands. The future of the Yamato realm lay in Tomoyoshi’s hands, and the new chancellor was determined to not let any of his late brothers down. Japan was about to witness a second wave of reforms.
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JAPAN: (Loads ships with a large force of soldiers who’ve seen and been hardened in recent heavy combat against their fellow-countrymen, who’re equipped to the equal of most European armies)
SPAIN: Why am I hearing Boss music?
Japan: first business, now pleasure, then we go back and reform the country afterwards.
I'm happy that we're finally done with the civil war, I hope we see what reforms we get to see! Hopefully we see some allowance of weapons for the common man at least.
Madrid’s in for a world of hurt and I feel this time they may very well lose all of the Philippines to Japan.
I wonder how many wars it will take to conquer the Philippines? I just know the timelines where one was needed.
Ideally everyone would like it done in one. However, the Philippines is a fair size and according to Wikipeida, there are 7641 islands which requires a lot of time and effort so much like an orange, the Philippines is best taken in slices as opposed to being swallowed whole.
I think they're thinking of Manila/Luzon island since the other bits are a relative afterthought as Spain wouldn't be able to project that much power without Manila.
That is a good point, but looking at Luzon, I'm wondering where it is safe to stop.