British Territory: The Empire of Japan

Phase 06 - Japanese Independence

World War II came to an end in the spring of 1945 with the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. Earlier, in the autumn of 1943, Italy had surrendered, and in 1944, the Republic of China also withdrew from the war. The world had regained peace.

However, now a new era of conflict emerged, characterized by ideological confrontation, known as the Cold War, centered around the United States and the Soviet Union. The world was gradually shifting into an era of new tensions.

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In the midst of these global circumstances, Japan declared its independence on August 15, 1945, with the approval of the United Kingdom, and thus, the "State of Japan" was born. Simultaneously, the Constitution of Japan was enacted, reclaiming its independence, which had been taken away for nearly eighty years. Japan was able to join the newly established United Nations from its inception.

As a monarch (sovereign), the Emperor continued to reign, establishing a constitutional monarchy along the lines of the United Kingdom, with a Prime Minister and a parliament (a two-party system consisting of the Japanese Labor Party and the Japanese Conservative Party). Therefore, Japan became a unique member of the British Commonwealth, not a Commonwealth nation that recognized the British royal family as its sovereign, unlike Hawaii and Fiji, which had independently chosen their monarchs after gaining independence from Japan. Additionally, Japan did not incorporate the Union Jack into its national flag but raised a distinctive flag known as the "Nisshōki" as its own national flag.

However, Japan, on its own, was not capable of resisting the pressures from the Soviet Union and North Asia, so it had already joined the British Commonwealth for national security reasons from the outset.

A political curiosity occurred during this period.

While the Japanese Emperor was essentially equivalent to a king in an Oriental or Chinese context, a direct translation of the title into English resulted in "Emperor," implying a higher status than the King of Great Britain in terms of protocol and international conventions. Previously, the Emperor was formally a subject of the King of Great Britain, but if he were to become a nominal sovereign of an independent nation, the existing relationship would need to be revised, not only between Japan and the United Kingdom but also worldwide, including the Roman Catholic Church, which became the subject of lengthy discussions.

Meanwhile, in the vicinity of Japan, V. Far (Far Victoria) also achieved its independence as a result of its wartime cooperation being acknowledged. Since it shared a direct border with the Soviet Union, British military presence continued even after independence, and later, the United States entered into a security treaty, stationing its troops in divisions. The national flag of V. Far featured the Union Jack on the left edge, with the Big Dipper prominently depicted in white on a green background. In the case of Formosa (Taiwan) and the Ryukyu Islands, which had been under British rule, autonomy was expanded as compensation for their wartime cooperation. In the 1960s, they also achieved independence collectively as the Kingdom of Ryukyu.

Japan's neighbors included the Republic of China, the Kingdom of Korea, the People's Republic of North Asia, and the Republic of the Philippines, all of which were strongly influenced by either the United States or the Soviet Union. However, Japan, V. Far, and Ryukyu (plus Formosa) were strongly influenced by the United Kingdom, inevitably strengthening their relations with the countries of Oceania, which were part of the British Commonwealth. In the Pacific, the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Kingdom of Fiji had particularly strong ties with Japan, as the majority of their immigrant populations (about half of their total populations) were of Japanese descent (with English and Japanese as official languages).

English played a significant role as an official language alongside the local languages in each of these regions. In the case of Japan, the official languages became Japanese and English.