Progress is being made, but the Fourth War is being complicated, especially since a lot of the details will be important to you. To assure you that things are happening, have some timeline teasers though.
***
Up on the hill where the Kotomine Church stands, there is a small Christian graveyard. There, almost as though hidden away from sight, is the Matou family plot.
There are quite a few stones there, but among the oldest there is one in particular which might be considered noteworthy.
'Here lies Matou Zouken
Father, Grandfather, Teacher
May his spirit live on
through his teachings
Died on the 8th of October, 1879'
***
In the aftermath of the second world war, as the American occupation of Japan began to really get into gear, an unusual thing happened, as the American forces began to experience incredibly ill luck in most of their ventures. Where things had initially gone well enough - if not smoothly, then at least generally productively - suddenly almost any attempt by the Americans to do something ended in miserable, unmotivated failure. And despite fears of sabotage or a resistance movement, no cause except plain bad luck was ever discovered.
Oddly enough, as these problems began to mount, the occupation force was approached by certain Japanese officials, businessmen and families, who offered to solve the problems if the Americans would just delegate the tasks. American records show that the problems were implied to be due to the spirits native to Japan, who took offence at the bumbling actions of the Americans.
As the following years saw the strings of bad luck mysteriously evaporate whenever the administration of tasks were delegated to the Japanese, and still no plots of sabotage were ever discovered, many people have come to consider the notion more seriously.
The practical consequence was a vast increase in the influence of certain groups in Japan, as the Americans were forced to rely extensively on their quite willing collaborators, prior to the full establishment of democracy and the cessation of the occupation, the full impact of which is still not entirely appreciated by scholars.
***
The world grieves when Hikari Kawamura, the woman considered almost singlehandedly responsible for satisfactorily bringing the Cold War to a close, dies in her countryside home in Japan in 1993, only two years after her retirement after almost forty years of service. It, along with the global demilitarization and the peaceful soviet dissolution, becomes a tangible sign that an era has come to an end.
Her funeral is broadcast live throughout much of the world, and attendance is enormous.
Funding for the UN programs she had a hand in increases massively almost overnight, as national governments pledge significant sums in her memory. Analysts note that with the additional funding on top of the already excellent progress, it may be possible to ensure food and water security to the entire global population fairly early on in the next century, potentially ridding the world of famine.
