Remove ads

Towards the Rising Sun -- Japan in the Pacific War and Beyond, c. 1944 [Always Accepting New Players!]

Created
Status
Ongoing
Watchers
8
Recent readers
0
Towards the Rising Sun:
Rebuilding the Japanese Nation in a Time of War and Peace



"I felt...
Cloud Strife

Cloud Strife

Capitán General
Towards the Rising Sun:
Rebuilding the Japanese Nation in a Time of War and Peace



"I felt that it was the end."
- Admiral Yonai Mitsumasa,
Minister of the Imperial Navy commenting on the outcome of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.​


October 26, 1944, the Imperial Japanese Navy sits at the bottom of Leyte Gulf. The last gambit to halt the Allied advance in South East Asia has failed. The fall of the Philippines means the Empire of Japan will soon be cut off from its conquests in South East Asia; Conquests which supplied Japan with oil, rubber, and other vital raw materials for its war effort. It is only a matter of time before the Americans advance on the Home Islands and overcome what remains of Japanese resistance.

Now it is time for you to pick up the pieces.

---
Introduction​

Towards the Rising Sun expands on the game system found in Liberty or Death, with an emphasis on character driven role-play to determine in-game outcomes. All players may play any character they like as is appropriate for the setting. We highly recommenced at the outset that all players must choose characters involved in the Japanese government, military, or economy in order to have a greater influence on game outcomes. Throughout the course of this game you will be presented with various policy choices and dilemmas which will determine the direction Japan takes during the later part of the Pacific War and into the post-war era.

All players are expected to have read the rules before making a character in order to make the game operate smoothly.

As with past games run in this format there is no fixed limit of players. Forum members may sign up and join this game at any time.

Ground Rules*​

Players are expected to treat one another with civility and obey the judgment of the GMs. I @Cloud Strife will be your GM for this game. Please be cognizant of the division between IC and OOC, do not be unnecessarily rude to other players, and keep any vitriol in-thread. It is saddening that this point even needs to be elaborated, but it is what it is.

Our other main request to you all is fidelity to the setting. While we do not expect anyone to take up abhorrent positions simply because they are historical, we do ask that players avoid playing outside the context. It also must be emphasized that historical fidelity does not give license to excessive and offensive ICs. This game should not be taken as an invitation to reenact war crimes or engage in modern political discourse outside of the time period.

You may play whoever you would like in the Japanese Empire as of 1944, with a few notable limitations. First, we request that you not play as a member of a "resistance faction." For the sake of the game and avoiding excessive early animosities, you are limited to playing pro-Japanese characters. With that said, you need not be a diehard supporter of Japan's imperial policies. Some Japanese such as leaders such as Yoshida Shigeru were strongly against war with the Western Powers.

The second limitation is on historical characters. Aside from Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Koiso Kuniaki, you are allowed play historical characters with the permission of the GM. It will be expected that you will do research on their real-life positions and you will be expected to keep some level of fidelity to their personality and goals.

The third limitation is on military characters. At the start of the game no military player characters may start in Mainland Asia. You may be assigned there as the game progresses. You are allowed to play military characters of any rank with the proviso that the extent of their authority will be regulated by the GM as necessary.

*Taken from Liberty or Death with edits.

Template for Character Creation​

Please post a sign-up with your character's details follow this format;

Name: Ozawa Jisaburō (Note: Surname goes before first name following Japanese convention.)
Date of Birth: October 2, 1886

Age: 58
Place of Birth: Koyu County, Miyazaki, Japan
Profession: Flag Officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy
Rank (If playing a military character): Vice Admiral

Background: Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburō was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He was the last Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet. Many military historians regard Ozawa as one of the most capable Japanese flag officers.

The Turn:​

Generally, turns will be flexible as we begin. Our early updates will cover roughly three months. All players will have a chance to cast a vote on decisions. A player vote is an abstraction and represents their influence on the outcome of a situation we will inform players of what needs to be done and give timetables for when things will close. No vote of extreme consequence will be conducted in fewer than twenty-four hours, so there will be no penalties for players outside of U.S. time-zones.

As for orders, we expect everything to be done in-thread. If it is truly covert, you can send me a private message, but if it is mundane then we expect it to be publicly presented. If you have any question about the feasibility of a particular action, feel free to ask the staff in OOC. If it is based on something your character would know given his situation, then you have the right to be aware. If it is not, we will tell you so.

Voting will be based loosely on PP (political power). Keep in mind, when you vote, be aware that it is not an arithmetic calculation but a loose approximation of your character's ability to win friends and influence people. Your influence is based on the positions you take IC, your IC output, your character's political, business or military roles, and anything else that might be construed to offer you an advantage. Your influence might wax and wane, however, so be cognizant of the potential repercussions of any actions you take.

The in-game situation as of October 26, 1944​

The Japanese fleet has effectively ceased to exist and as a consequence Japan lacks the ability to mount offensives against the advancing Allies. The War in the Pacific is more or less over, it is only a matter of time before the United States can bring overwhelming force to bear against Japan. The war in mainland Asia is different. The United Front of Chinese Nationalists and Communists is on the brink of collapse. The Chinese are of the mind to sign a separate peace with Japan and the Soviet Union is reluctant to become involved with a war against Japan as long as Germany remains unconquered.

The Japanese economy has begun to falter. Shortages of goods have become normal, with rationing a part of daily life. The Allies are planning strategic bombing attacks from the Mariana Islands targeting Japan's major industrial centers. The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force currently lacks a coherent a plan to deal with this looming threat. Should the U.S. Army Air Force succeed in deploying strategic bombers then it is only a matter of time before Japanese cities are leveled, just as the Allies did in Europe to Germany.

The overriding goal of Japan will be to figure out how to end the war with the Allies on favorable terms. The main obstacle to this is fanatical nationalists, mostly embedded in the Imperial Japanese Army, who will not accept a negotiated peace under any circumstances. It remains for players to determine how they will navigate around these fanatics or perhaps join with them if the situation calls for it. That is a choice, once again, left up to the players.

Japan has a real chance in this timeline to avoid complete defeat. To do so will require both a diplomatic touch, as well as a strategy to marshal the remaining war potential and military assets Japan has to force a more favorable peace terms from the Allies.

--

More details will be added as necessary.

EDIT 1: Our dedicated player chatroom can be found on the GSRPG discord server under #towards-the-rising-sun.
 
Last edited:


Name: Yanagi Satoru (柳悟).
Date of Birth: April 3, 1887 (1887年4月3日).

Age: 57.
Place of Birth: Kōjimachi, Tokyo, Japan.
Profession: President of the All Labour Union (全労働組合).
Rank: Prisoner.

Background: Satoru was born to a modest home of shopkeepers during the transformative Meiji era. The status of his parents continued to grow as they serviced a thriving middle class in Kōjimachi. As the fourth son, and the second male, he was expected to support the endeavors of his older brother. But the impressionable Satoru never favored his family's trade. A popular saying around the time went, "dirt farmers become shopkeepers." Instead, he successfully convinced the local teacher to take him as an apprentice. Something about his earnest character caught the teacher's eye. His education consisted of translating and reading works of the west. It was during this period that his teacher expressed a radical opinion: Japan should not emulate the imperialist behavior of Britain, America, or Russia. The seeds of his pacifism, planted by his teacher, blossomed during the university years. He jumped into the socialist circles of the Tokyo Imperial University. He quickly placed himself as a supporter of Hitoshi Yamakawa, arguing the practical need to organize labor to oppose the exploitative policies of the "capitalist state in feudal clothing". He established the All Labour Union to enact his theological musings. Their first move was shutting down a textile factory in 1927, something which inspired a brutal crackdown in response. The "Textile Incident" as the newspapers labeled it caused his name to appear in print for the first time: Rabble Rouser Arrested in Police Raid. Satoru was picked up by the infamous Chian Iji Hō. For his refusal to "convert" (denounce socialism as anti-Japanese), he languished in Fuchū Prison. He has stayed there for seventeen years by the dawn of 1944.
 
​

Name: Takehiko Jin (竹彦ジン)
Date of Birth: December 18th, 1918

Age: 26
Place of Birth: Toyama, Toyama Prefecture
Profession: Soldier, Writer, Poet
Rank (If playing a military character): First Lieutenant

Background: Born in Toyama to Takehiko Ito and Masiko, Jin was raised in a household of Buddhist scholars who imbued in him a deep love and admiration for traditional Japanese literature, culture, and history from a young age. As a child, Jin found himself enraptured by the mystical stories of the ronin and roaming samurai who came before him, their epic conquests and impossible exploits fueling his imagination. The only child in his family, he found himself at the receiving end of much attention from his parents, who sought to provide to Jin a high-quality education, and he was enrolled in prestigious calligraphy and grammar schools in his youth. In these schools, Jin learnt English, French, and some Classical Japanese. Excelling in his education, and largely lackluster in most other spheres of his public life, the introverted academic was sent to Tohoku Imperial University, studying poetry and literature. Jin's education was cut short with the beginning of the Second World War, and his life changed forever as he was conscripted into the IJA as a Second Lieutenant, against the private wishes of both himself and his family. He was 22, and still eagerly embraced the ideology of the only home and life he ever knew. In the Philippines, Jin was exposed to the horrors of occupation, and the disregard for human life scarred him, though he kept his horror subdued out of a fear of reprisal. It is now October 26, 1944, and Jin is on leave, waiting for his next deployment. The love and admiration he had for his country is gone, replaced by a hollow shell of the vibrant man he once was.
 

Name: Takashima Shinichi
Date of Birth: March 3, 1901
Age: 43
Place of Birth: (Modern day Sendagaya), Tokyo, Japan
Profession: Commissioned officer in the Imperial Japanese Army
Rank (If playing a military character): Colonel

Background: Born in a rapidly changing climate in the nascent Imperial Japan, Shinichi saw the glorious victory against Russia at an early age, and witnessed the rising star of the Meiji Era right up until Japanese entry into the Great War. As the middle scion of an officer family, he was unlikely to inherit anything from his father's modest wealth earned as a soldier in the Boxer Rebellion and later the Allied intervention into Siberia during the Russian Civil War, and that remained the same for most of Shinichi's life as he progressed through the rungs of the IJA's aristocratic officer class.

That was until the attempted coup later to become known as the Showa Restoration, when his older brother marched off with the rebels. Though initially fearing the shame of his elder's betrayal would result in something far more drastic, the younger Takashima was spared humiliation and instead promoted, sent off to Manchuria as a captain within the Kwantung Army. Already hardened by the apparent betrayal of his family member and the Emperor at the expense of so many young lives, he soon became an uncompromising member of a secret society that preached Japan militarism and nationalism, not unlike the League of Blood or Black Dragon Society, one that specifically made up of commissioned officers stationed on the Home Islands or Manchuria.

It was this political connection that allowed his return to Japan when disaster struck, deemed by some of his more well-off allies as a valuable asset should the government sway, Takashima assumes command of a brigade on the Home Islands, most likely intended for one of the many islands in the Pacific that the Empire intends to hold until the very last.
 
​


Name: Sakutaro Kamiizumi
Date of Birth: June 3, 1897.

Age:47
Place of Birth: Niigata, Niigata Prefecture.
Profession: Businessman, Investor.

Background: The current head of Kamiizumi Corporation. Established under his Great Grandfather who got rich off investing into Niigata harbour when trade was opened with the West in 1858. Later Sakutaro's Grandfather purchased and centralized a substantial amount of the agricultural rice-producing region surrounding the city of Niigata during the 1880 economic crisis, establishing the family as major nouveau-riche landowners. Hiroi' father further solidified their position in the Niigata Prefecture, and began to establish relations both business related and personal with owners of what would later be known as the Zaibatsu. During and after the Russo-Japanese war the Corporation further grew due to stakes in the harbour which began to see use by both civilians and the military in connection with Korea and later Manchuria.

Sakutaro gained his education at Kyoto University, and in 1937 (afew months before the Sino-Japanese war) took over control of Kamiizumi at the age of 40. Though by no means as rich as one of the big four, Kamiizumi had by then comfortably grown into what one might consider a "second tier" Zaibatsu.

Seeing the opportunities brought by war with China, Sakutaro began to invest heavily into expanding his business onto the Asian mainland. In Manchuria and Korea he was able to acquire new farmland, which together with that already owned in Niigata, helped feed the soldiers at the front. At the same time also taking an interest in coal, iron and particularly cement production, hoping to make a fortune off the need for construction of new settler-cities once the war was won while making himself useful to the Government in Tokyo.
 
All players who have posted applications as of this post are approved. Thank you for your sign ups.

The IC thread has been posted in the IC sub-forum, the game is now open for ICing.

Sign up will continue to remain open! If you're on the fence about making a sign up post please don't hesitate to give me a PM or ask in our GSRPG discord server chatroom!
 
Orwelans III said:
Anywhere where it makes sense for an army officer to be, rather than a naval one. How about Kalimantan then?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Uhhh I don't think you'd wanna be on that island, it's a dead end for any kind of fighting and unnecessary to the Allies war effort with the Philippines seized and the navy destroyed. Plus its one of the less restive islands of the Indonesian Archipelago with lots of rebels and old military units still running around.

The 1944 campaign by the allies was essentially a fait accompli with desperate japanese units trying to kill themselves, I just think a Taiwan position gives lots of interplay with the Chinese theater and might be more interesting.

What about Taiwan/Formosa?
 
Last edited:
If possible...


​
Name: Yasuji Okamura
Date of Birth: 15 May 1884


Age: 60
Place of Birth: Tokyo, Japan
Profession: Commander in Chief of the China Expeditionary Army
Rank (If playing a military character): Three Star General

Background:

Born in Tokyo in 1884, Okamura entered the 16th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1899 and graduated in 1904. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the IJA 1st Infantry Regiment. In 1907, he was promoted to lieutenant and was assigned to the Army Academy to assist with the training of cadets from China.

In 1910, Okamura entered the 25th class of the Army War College, and was promoted to captain soon after graduation in 1913. He was assigned to China in 1923, and served as a military advisor to Chinese warlord general Sun Chuanfang, in this capacity, he gathered many vital information and war maps, which later were used in the military operations of the Second Sino-Japanese War. He was promoted to colonel in July 1927 and returned to Japan to command the IJA 6th Infantry Regiment.

From August 1929, Okamura was appointed as Assistant Director of Human Resources Bureau in the Ministry of the Army. He was involved in the March incident, a failed coup d'etat attempt to establish a military dictatorship headed by General Kazushige Ugaki , but received no punishment.

From 1932 to 1933, Okamura was Deputy chief-of-staff of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army under the aegis of the Kwantung Army. He served as military attaché to Manchukuo from 1933 to 1934, and played a role in the negotiations for the Tanggu Truce between Japan and China.

Okamura was promoted to lieutenant general in 1936, and assigned command of the IJA 2nd Division.

In 1938, a year after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Okamura was assigned as the commander in chief of the Japanese Eleventh Army, which participated in numerous major engagements in the Second Sino-Japanese War, notably the Battles of Wuhan, Nanchang and Changsha.

In April 1940, Okamura was promoted to the rank of full general. In July 1941, he was appointed the commander-in-chief of the Northern China Area Army. In December 1941, Okamura received Imperial General Headquarters Order Number 575 authorizing the implementation of the Three Alls Policy in north China, aimed primarily at breaking the Chinese Red Army.

Since taking overall command of the China Expeditionary army, he and the other staff officers have executed a ruthless and devastating offensive to crush the Chinese Resistance, called Ichi-Go, while its aims are to link the southern and northern forces together were critical to the future of the Japanese units in southern china and the destruction of American airbases that threatened Japan. in Okamura's eyes it would be better if the goals were more northern focused, continuing the destruction of the Communist Party of China and its guerrilla's while keeping Manchuria pacified and producing war material for the defense of Japan in the wake of the Navy's failures. It is time to conserve and strike where Japan can best exert maximal power.
 
Last edited:
Mah end goal gotta be destroying communist china for the KMT ngl XD
 
Tyrell said:
If possible...


​
Name: Yasuji Okamura
Date of Birth: 15 May 1884


Age: 60
Place of Birth: Tokyo, Japan
Profession: Commander in Chief of the China Expeditionary Army
Rank (If playing a military character): Three Star General

Background:

Born in Tokyo in 1884, Okamura entered the 16th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1899 and graduated in 1904. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the IJA 1st Infantry Regiment. In 1907, he was promoted to lieutenant and was assigned to the Army Academy to assist with the training of cadets from China.

In 1910, Okamura entered the 25th class of the Army War College, and was promoted to captain soon after graduation in 1913. He was assigned to China in 1923, and served as a military advisor to Chinese warlord general Sun Chuanfang, in this capacity, he gathered many vital information and war maps, which later were used in the military operations of the Second Sino-Japanese War. He was promoted to colonel in July 1927 and returned to Japan to command the IJA 6th Infantry Regiment.

From August 1929, Okamura was appointed as Assistant Director of Human Resources Bureau in the Ministry of the Army. He was involved in the March incident, a failed coup d'etat attempt to establish a military dictatorship headed by General Kazushige Ugaki , but received no punishment.

From 1932 to 1933, Okamura was Deputy chief-of-staff of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army under the aegis of the Kwantung Army. He served as military attaché to Manchukuo from 1933 to 1934, and played a role in the negotiations for the Tanggu Truce between Japan and China.

Okamura was promoted to lieutenant general in 1936, and assigned command of the IJA 2nd Division.

In 1938, a year after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Okamura was assigned as the commander in chief of the Japanese Eleventh Army, which participated in numerous major engagements in the Second Sino-Japanese War, notably the Battles of Wuhan, Nanchang and Changsha.

In April 1940, Okamura was promoted to the rank of full general. In July 1941, he was appointed the commander-in-chief of the Northern China Area Army. In December 1941, Okamura received Imperial General Headquarters Order Number 575 authorizing the implementation of the Three Alls Policy in north China, aimed primarily at breaking the Chinese Red Army.

Since taking overall command of the China Expeditionary army, he and the other staff officers have executed a ruthless and devastating offensive to crush the Chinese Resistance, called Ichi-Go, while its aims are to link the southern and northern forces together were critical to the future of the Japanese units in southern china and the destruction of American airbases that threatened Japan. in Okamura's eyes it would be better if the goals were more northern focused, continuing the destruction of the Communist Party of China and its guerrilla's while keeping Manchuria pacified and producing war material for the defense of Japan in the wake of the Navy's failures. It is time to conserve and strike where Japan can best exert maximal power.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
There is currently a limitation on players selecting characters in the military deployed to Mainland Asia. You can play a civilian colonial bureaucrat or a businessman if you want to IC in Mainland Asia or you can pick a military character deployed someone in the Pacific or the Japanese Home Islands and await the possibility of deployment to China.
 
Sorry for the big delay with the IC, bogged by work. Hopefully my meme works.
 
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top