WesWorld

January 13, 1946
Two trains were involved in a head-on collision at a tunnel entrance near the city of Otsuki. At around 5:00 pm, the train to Yoshida collided with a train from Tanokura. 26 people were killed and many more injured.

January 21, 1946
7 people were killed and numerous others injured in a rail accident at Ochiaimura. It is believed that break failure caused one train to go through Shimo-Goshiro station and collide into a train coming from the opposite side at the point where the line becomes single tracked.

While the Tobu Nikko Line is largely double tracked, work on doubling the track around Ochiaimura has not been finished yet. A number of men were working on the new track next to the location of the accident but they all managed to get away without any injuries.

January 28, 1946
Another train accident happened today, this time one the Tokyu Odawara Line. The 7:50 Tokyo Express from Shinjuku was 15 minutes late due to power problems at Hadano station. After its departure from Hadano, it again suffered a power outage and came to a halt about 500 meters outside the station. The motorman and conductor left the train to check for the problem but problematic brakes caused the train to start rolling back down the sloped track, leaving the motorman and conductor behind. About 6 kilometers down the track, near Tsurumaki Station, the train derailed in a sharp curve killing 30 people and injuring 165. It is estimated that the runaway train was traveling at a speed close to 100 km/h when it derailed.


(OOC: using Google translation for these train accidents so it can be quite incorrect what I typed. The second part of the January 21 about doubling the tracks I made up. Historically (according to the translation) it was a single track line due to steel shortage following the war... or something like that.)


February 12, 1946
Upon hearing the news of the passing of Queen Wilhelmina of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, Japan sends its condolences to the Dutch royal family.


February 14, 1946
After reports from Argentina about the ambitious plans to place life into space and return it to earth by the end of the year, plans were formed by the government to increase funding for the Hibari Rocket Project.

Professor Tomoe, who oversees the Hibari Rocket Project, wasn't too worried about the Argo-Lantean ambitions. "I feel that we will be better prepared. After all with Manzo we have the perfect guinea pig who can even control the rocket when we want to should there be trouble... Of course we would need to find him first..."

In the mean time, rumors have it that Colonel Oonishi "Crash" Manzo went into hiding after hearing about the plans to strap him to a rocket and fire him into space.


February 17, 1946
Queen Purilun: "You probably might have guessed why I called you here."

Professor Tomoe: "Not really, Your Majesty."

QP: "While the whole world would cheer when we strap Manzo to a rocket and blast him into oblivion, I think I would be setting a bad example if I were to allow that to happen."

PT: "Yes, Your Majesty."

QP: "... and it would make matters even worse if he were to actually survive the ride."

PT: "Yes, Your Majesty... but if we are lucky, he'll get lost and end up on the moon and the world will be a safer place for everyone."

QP: "No... I think it is better if we were to lock him up somewhere."

PT: "It has been attempted numerous times, but never successfully."

QP: "Regardless... Place life into space... Sounds like something from Flash Gordon. Can it be done?"

PT: "Yes."

QP: "Before the end of the year?"

PT: "... depends on the definition of 'life'..."

QP: "Anything is good."

PT: "Okay, we will put some Bacteria into a container and put it into the second of the Hibari II series rockets. Should not be too difficult."

QP: "When."

PT: "We should have launched the first one today by now. The next one is planned three weeks from now. I am sure that we can get something ready then."

QP: "Good."

PT: "... although we can't guarantee a proper return..."

QP: "Does it matter?"

PT: "Right now? No. Who is going to miss a bunch of Bacteria?"


February 18, 1946
Yesterday, the first of the new Hibari II rockets was launched with mixed results. While the initial launch was successful, a premature shutdown of the engines after two minutes meant that the rocket's flight was cut short.


March 12, 1946
Professor Tomoe and his men watched as the Hibari II rocket took off.

"There it goes, men!" Tomoe shouted, laughing. "Life heading towards space! Sure it was just a canister of Pasteurella Pestis I had laying around somewhere, but still..."

The men watched as the rocket climbed higher and higher before it began to turn westward.

"... that's not right..." the professor mumbled.

The rocket kept on going before leveling off and start its plunge back to Earth eventually vanishing somewhere behind the horizon where it undoubtedly crashed into the East China Sea.

"Hmm... maybe we unbalanced the rocket with that canister... I guess it is back to recalculate things..."

Edited in order to use the period correct name for the plague bacteria.

April 1, 1946

Reports are coming in that Colonel Manzo was finally found and strapped to a Hibari II rocket before being blasted into space. Unfortunately due to some calculation errors it is believed that he will never return and is now currently on his way to Jupiter.

One certain Japanese Prime Minister (who wishes to remain anonymous) is rumored to have said "Good riddance" upon hearing the news.

April 2, 1946
Yesterday's reports of Colonel Manzo being blasted into space was part of an April Fools Joke released by the team of the Hibari Rocket Project. While a rocket was launched yesterday, there were no lifeforms aboard it. The flight was mostly successful although there was a premature seizure of the center engine which meant that the rocket did not reached the planned altitude and a premature return to earth.


April 15, 1946
"Your Majesty, the Chinese are up to no good again," Prime Minister Tojo stated.

"So I have heard," Queen Purilun replied. "Like poking a stick at wild animals. The Chinese should realize that one day, one of those animals might not like it and bite back, whether it is a Frog, a Bear, a Bulldog, a Carp, a Moose or an Elephant."

"While they are currently poking the Filipinos, it might be just a matter of time before they start poking at us."

"True..."

"I had a meeting with Army and Naval commanders regarding this and we had a few plans that we want to carry out."

"Which are?"

"Right now we have air assets spread out between both the Navy and the Army. We plan to bring them all together under an air service branch in order to make all air related operations more efficient. This includes all ground radar stations as well as the vessels of the Mara Maru class becoming part of this new air service branch."

"Okay."

"Secondly we plan to add layers to our current airspace. A 5 nm Air Defense Death Zone, a 25nm Air Defence Buffer Zone outside our airspace and a 300nm Air Defense Identification and Intercept Zone. The idea is to detect and track unidentified aircraft within the Air Defense Identification and Intercept Zone and have fighters intercept such planes. Any unauthorized aircraft refusing to turn around will be fired upon as a warning when entering the Air Defence Buffer Zone. If the aircraft still goes on, it will be shot down when entering the Air Defence Death Zone."

"Interesting idea."

"Of course, considering current relations, any Chinese military aircraft threatening to enter the Air Defence Buffer Zone will be shot down before they can do so."

"So when they poke the Carp with a stick, the Carp will bite back."

"... and bite their arm off."

Purilun smiled. "Good."

"We also plan to send the Guidance Ships Mara Maru and Maro Maru to the region and use their radar systems for extra coverage, just in case the Chinese make some sneak left turn and fly over the Luzon Strait. There are also some plans to increase radar coverage and upgrade current systems."

"Make sure that that all happens. In the meantime, I think I will summon the German Ambassador. I hear these 'rumors' about a Chinese delegation trying to do some shopping in Germany. I think it would be a bad thing if the Germans allowed these pariahs of the world to get their hands on potential military equipment. Actually, allowing them into Germany in the first place is already a bad thing."

"I quite agree... but in the end, Germany will probably only care about the money they might squeeze out of them and not about the morals of trading with the Yellow Plague."

"Maybe I should also have a word with the Russian and French Ambassadors. After all they have this Pact Of Neutrality with those warmongers and I think that quite a few people in the Region would agree that it makes them look bad by maintaining this pact with the Chinese and give them the idea that they can attack other nations without having to worry about any French or Russian interference."

Quoted

"Secondly we plan to add layers to our current airspace. A 5 nm Air Defense Death Zone, a 25nm Air Defence Buffer Zone outside our airspace and a 300nm Air Defense Identification and Intercept Zone. The idea is to detect and track unidentified aircraft within the Air Defense Identification and Intercept Zone and have fighters intercept such planes. Any unauthorized aircraft refusing to turn around will be fired upon as a warning when entering the Air Defence Buffer Zone. If the aircraft still goes on, it will be shot down when entering the Air Defence Death Zone."

I can see this causing some serious repercussions.

The Air Defense Identification and Intercept Zone extends over the sovereign air space of Chosen (much of the Korean peninsula), China (Formosa at least), and the Russian Federation (Northern Sakhalin and much of the Kamchatka peninsula). I do not think that anyone would appreciate Japanese fighter aircraft patrolling in their air space. As the Air Defence Buffer Zone extends beyond Japanese air space, firing on any aircraft in that situation would be an act of war.

It might sound good to the Queen's ears, but it is very unwise to put into practice.

It's nice on paper, but I think that radar range would limit it a bit so while the idea is 300nm, it'll probably end up being 100nm or so that planes end up actually being tracked and followed (even if the 300nm zone is maintained).

They will also realize the potential conflict it may cause with planes flying wildly around this zone (yes, we do not want to upset anyone by entering their airspace) so even if Radar would reach that far, they would be just tracking targets at that distance and only when they get a lot closer will the interceptors be there to greet and escort them... but that is something for later. Right now is not the time to realize it.

Edit: There is one other thing that I am contemplating and that is to turn the Air Defense Identification and Intercept Zone into a protection zone as well.

This would mean for instance that, if it had been established at that time, the Normandie transport that was illegally intercepted by the Chinese would have had the option to call for assistance from Japanese fighters operating in the area. If the plane had gone down, the Japanese would have been there to rescue any survivors and make sure that they would not only be returned to safety but that transport would be arranged to get to their destination.

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

It's nice on paper, but I think that radar range would limit it a bit so while the idea is 300nm, it'll probably end up being 100nm or so that planes end up actually being tracked and followed (even if the 300nm zone is maintained).

They will also realize the potential conflict it may cause with planes flying wildly around this zone (yes, we do not want to upset anyone by entering their airspace) so even if Radar would reach that far, they would be just tracking targets at that distance and only when they get a lot closer will the interceptors be there to greet and escort them... but that is something for later. Right now is not the time to realize it.

This may be true; however, if other nations take Japan at its word, then they will assume that Japan has the means to do whatever is announced, and the intention of carrying it into practice. That is what will provoke a response.

April 15, 1946
A production order for twenty miniature cameras, to be used in experiments, was issued by Nippon Kōgaku Tōkyō K.K. This camera will be the first one produced by Nippon Kōgaku the company that also produces binoculars, periscopes and bomb sights, including the new Type 4 bomb sight that was introduced for the Japanese bombers near the end of the Sino-Chosen War


April 17, 1946
Mori and Goto had been buddies for about 5 years now. Both men joined the Yamaguchi-gumi around the same time and have been working as muscle ever since that day. While normally their job was to beat up unwanted persons in the region or make someone realize that it would be better to pay the protection money, today their muscle was used for something else which they did now and then: loading 'special, not so popular' cargo into a 'special' compartment aboard the freighter Awazisan Maru.

Unlike the other 4 cargo holds, the number 3 cargo hold of the Awazisan Maru wasn't as deep due to the large hidden compartment below it. It wasn't a feature of the freighter when it was originally built in 1938-9 by the Tama Shipbuilding Company for the Mitsui Steamship Company. It was something that was added later when the Yamaguchi-gumi managed to gain control over the Mitsui Steamship Company.

The 'special' compartment was used for pretty much everything that the Yamaguchi-gumi wanted to keep hidden from officials. Whether it was drugs, firearms, prostitutes, Yamaguchi-gumi agents or something else, if it was questionable or even illegal, it was hidden in this compartment.

Today's 'special, not so popular' cargo was for a Mr. 'Nitka'. The cargo wasn't much different from other goods when it came to the legal - or rather illegal - status of the goods, although the cargo now was more dangerous than usual. Mori and Goto had been made aware of the explosive nature of today's 'special, not so popular' cargo because Mr. 'Nitka' liked to have some very special 'fireworks' which he and his friends could use for 'special' occasions.

Mori and Goto were also told that, even though they had to load it very carefully, they would also have to stow the dangerous crates in to the compartment quickly because the number 3 cargo hold also needed to be loaded with the regular, legal goods which were being loaded into the hold at the same time.

Mori and Goto did the best they could and once they were finished, they closed the compartment and then placed the special steel plate with dummy rivets over it so it looked like any other section of the cargo hold. Once that was done, the two men were lifted out of the cargo hold using one of the ship's cranes and then the remainder of the cargo for the number 3 cargo hold was lifted into the hold one by one, filling it up and completely hiding the access to the secret compartment.

The Awazisan Maru would be leaving tomorrow, heading to its destiny where the 'special, not so popular' cargo would be unloaded. But that was something that Mori and Goto did not have to worry about. Tomorrow, the two men would be busy 'teaching' yet another storekeeper somewhere in Kobe about the Way of Paying Protection Money.


April 22, 1946
Comic strip Sazae-san, created by Hasegawa Machiko, was first published today in Fukunichi Shinbun, a local newspaper.


May 7, 1946
Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo or Totsuko was founded today by Ibuka Masaru and Morita Akio with an initial capital of ¥190,000 and 20 employees. Both men are ambitious and have plans to turn Totsuko into the world's biggest electronics company.


May 27, 1946
The Hibari II Rocket Project reached new heights. Launching without any problems, today's rocket reached an altitude of over 100 km.

Nooooo! The devious Japanese masterplan to flood the world's attractions with Japanese tourists with Nikkon cameras has begun!

Don't forget about the Playstations.

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

Don't forget about the Playstations.

even if Sony was now founded i prefer XBOX

When it comes to XBox One and Playstation 4 = better, I guess I will just stick to my PC. Right now I can play PC, Amiga, PSP and PS2 games on it and with the proper emulators I can add a lot more gaming systems to that.

I only have a XBOX360 but also my good old Commodore C-64

Unfortunately don't have any of the old systems we had as a family (Colecovision, C-64 and Amiga) but still have my own stuff from the PS2 on.

Stuff from various other systems...

http://www.emuparadise.me/

http://coolrom.com/

The great thing is that they have games from the other regions as well and with my PS2 emulator for example I can set the emulator's region that will allow my to play US, European or Japanese region PS2 games, something I cannot do with my PS2 since it is a non-modified one.

One of the games I got from those sites was Mobile Train Simulator + Densha de Go! Tokyo Kyuukou Hen for the PSP. It is (IMO) a fun game and one of many games only released in Japan. I also like the three AKB games that are available on the PSP a lot (and not just because I like the music a lot ).

Another one I downloaded was Final Fantasy X-2... Japanese version. Sure I have no idea what they are talking about (well somewhat when I can remember what they said in the English version) and what everything means on the screen, but, like many other games produced in Japan, in Japanese it is so much better than in English. The Samurai/Dynasty Warrior games is a good example. In the Japanese version they pretty much stick to the same voice actors/actresses but with the English version you really get the impression that when the game comes out, the guys responsible for the English version go out on the street, grab a bunch of random people passing by and have them speak the lines. When the next part comes out, they do it again but this time they end up with a different group of random people passing by and that process seems to go on and on...

*goes back to playing Assassin's Creed II on the PC*

May 29, 1946
Goon: "We got a message that the goods were successfully delivered at the destination"

Goon, 2nd Class: "Excellent, I shall report that to the boss."

Goon: "Anything about the next delivery?"

Goon, 2nd Class: "If all goes well, it should be ready within a week."


June 12, 1946
"Your Majesty, some bad news," Prime Minister Tojo stated. "The Germans are up to no good again."

"Odd, I was actually expecting to hear something about the evilness of the Chinese," Queen Purilun replied. "So what did the Germans do this time? Did they start another war?

"Worse, they arrested Rudolf Augstein, proprietor and editor of Das Andere Deutschland and because of that, publication of Das Andere Deutschland has ceased.

"That's terrible! I love Das Andere Deutschland!"

"So do I, Your Majesty. I always find it very informative. Ambassador Oshima in Berlin has stated that he won't be able to send us any more copies of Das Andere Deutschland unless publication is started again."

"It is quite obvious that the German Government do not like the Truth and do not want their people to know the Truth and they try to do anything in order to suppress the Voice of the German Worker. Maybe I should go annoy the German Ambassador about that..."


June 29, 1946
Today the Pacific Maritime Safety Agency was formed after an agreement between Japan and Pacifica. The Pacific Maritime Safety Agency was created to ensure security and safety at sea in the Pacific and surrounding regions around Japan and Pacifica. The Pacific Maritime Safety Agency will absorb numerous smaller existing groups dedicated to safety at sea as well as taking over a number of tasks from the two navies including maritime patrol of territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone, search and rescue, hydrographic and oceanographic surveying and maritime traffic management.

The Pacific Maritime Safety Agency will operate various patrol aircraft, both large and small, as well as a number of vessels which will be build in the next few years.

July 5, 1946
Today and the next two days, a special maritime event is held where the people of Osaka as well as those traveling to Osaka can visit various ships that are present in the harbor. Several naval vessels are present for people to visit as well as Japan's tallships, including the ever popular viking longship replica Yabanjin and her crazy merry crew of Viking reenactors. One of the ships expected to draw a large number of visitors is the Maaya Maru, a Ship of the Line replica of the Asian Historic Society (Nippon Division) which was completed earlier this year.


July 22, 1946
With the reports of weapons of Japanese origin found in the hands of rebels taking part of the civil war in the Ubangi-Shari region, the Japanese Government has decided to increase security and inspections in all the major trading ports of Japan to try and eliminate the possibility of any such weapons coming from Japan itself.

The Japanese Government also notifies all westbound traffic passing the Dutch East Indies to expect inspections there in the near future by the Dutch and minor delays should the Dutch Government decide that the appearance of weapons of Japanese origin becomes a serious issue in the Ubangi-Shari region.


August 20, 1946
Police arrested Kodaira Yoshio today. Kodaira is suspected to have raped and murdered numerous women between May 25, 1945 and August 6, 1946 in Tochigi and Tokyo.


August 25, 1946
The Imperial Japanese Navy landed a jet-powered aircraft on a carrier for the first time. This comes 20 months after the world’s first carrier landing of a jet powered aircraft when Captain Eric Brown landed his Sea Vampire on the deck of HMS Ark Royal.

Captain Sakai Saburou, who is celebrating his 30th birthday today, successfully landed his Nakajima MXN8 jet on the largest operational carrier in the world, HIJMS Hiyo. Originally the Navy had planned to carry out the first test on August 11, but decided to postpone the first flight for 2 weeks so that it would take place on Captain Sakai's birthday.

The twin-engined MXN8 is an experimental jet which was specifically designed and made by Nakajima for the purpose of landing on a carrier. More tests will be carried out over the next months and if all are successful then the MXN8 will be used as base for a new jet-powered carrier fighter.


September 26, 1946
A sketch was leaked to AWNR showing what is said to be some sort of advanced strike aircraft that is being designed by the Navy with the codename Mekajiki. No further details are available and the Imperial Navy denies the existence of any such plane, plans of such plane or plans to build such plane.

September 28, 1946
A Hibari II launch today ended in flames as an engine failure caused the rocket to disintegrate during take-off. As a stunt, scientists had put a camera aboard the doomed rocket with which they wanted to use to make photos in space. Several pieces of the Nippon Kōgaku camera were found among the pieces of debris that fell back onto the island of Mageshima (*).


September 30, 1946
Today was the first launch of the new Tsubame rocket. The launch was successful and the rocket reached an altitude of 80 kilometers. The Tsubame is much smaller, lighter and easier to handle than the Hibari rockets. The 482 cm long rocket is fueled by a mix of Aminobenzene, Hydrazine and Furfuryl alcohol while Nitric Acid is used as oxidizer. A 245 cm long solid fuel booster gives the rocket an initial push at take off. The Tsubame will be used in numerous experiments where the big Hibari rocket is not needed.


October 1, 1946

Today the new submarines I-402 and I-403 were laid down. They will be about as big as the I-400 class and feature a watertight hangar similar to the one found on the I-400 class.

With the I-400 class, it was found out that at slow speed the offset conning tower forced the helmsman to steer 7 degrees to starboard in order to keep the submarine on a straight course. The I-402 class uses a second conning tower on the starboard to counteract the effects from the port side conning tower.

Besides carrying the deadly Type 3 torpedo and a total of 17 25mm AA guns, it is also said to be able to carry a surface-launched version of the MXY7 called the MXY7B, although for that configuration a launch rail is fitted over the catapult, making it impossible to launch aircraft.

The two submarines are expected to be completed at the end of next year.


October 2, 1946
Today at the Kure Naval Base, the dock in which the carrier Nurikabe was being build was flooded and the carrier was moved out of the dock for the next construction phase. Once completed, she will become the biggest operational carrier in the world and will easily be able to accommodate the planned new Nakajima carrier jets following the successful tests with the Nakajima MXN8 jet in August and September.


October 3, 1946
The old man studied the contents of one of the crates. "Good... our customer will probably be happy when he sees these goods. How many do you have?"

"400 of those type 2 Machine Guns, Mr. Nitka," the old man's assistant told. "Plenty of ammunition for them as well."

The old man smiled. "That, together with the rifles and their ammunition, are goods that our customer will find quite useful once he gets them."


October 10, 1946
A Hibari II Rocket passed the 150 kilometer marker today, reaching an altitude of 173 kilometers.


October 14, 1946
Construction has started on the expansion of the Mageshima Rocket Center. Besides several additional launch sites on the island, various other test and construction facilities will be built on the much larger island of Tanegashima(**) which lies to the east of Mageshima.





(*) In case anyone decides to look back, I originally used 'Magejima' for the island but looking around with Google Earth for measurements, it said 'Make-jima'. So I decided to look at wiki where it said 'Mageshima'. Finally deciding to look at Japanese wiki, it had 'まげしま' in Hiragana between brackets behind the name in Kanji, so Mageshima it is.
(**) Tanegashima is where the OTL Tanegashima Space Center is located.

October 24, 1946
A Hibari II Rocket came close to an altitude of 200 kilometers today. Unfortunately the instrumental payload section failed to successfully separate from the rocket's main body and was lost as the rocket came down to Earth.


November 2, 1946
Geological surveying began today along the shores of the Tsugaru Strait and the Sōya Strait to look for possible locations to build a tunnel from Honshu to Hokkaido (Tsugaru Strait) and a tunnel from Hokkaido to Karafuto (Sōya Strait).


November 7, 1946
A major reform of the Japanese writing system was ordered by that nation's Ministry of Education, which will eliminate 70% of the kanji symbols that can be used in legal documents, newspapers and magazines. Effective November 16, a list of 1,850 kanji will be made from 6,000 traditional ones, with plans to reduce the number further to 881. Words formerly rendered in kanji will be replaced with the hiragana syllabic system.


November 15, 1946
During an experimental project, scientists used a highly modified TRP radar to bounce radar signals off the Moon and receive the reflected signals. The signals took about 2.5 seconds to cover the distance from Earth to the Moon and back for the TRP to pick them up, resulting in a measured Earth-Moon range of about 383500 kilometers.

<Insert generic Japanese rambling here and perhaps references to US's Project Diana (if they did it) or similar projects by other Wesworld nations should they have made it public>


December 5, 1946
Today a Hibari II Rocket returned with recordings from space after having reached an altitude of 120 kilometers. Poor engine performance meant that it did not get as high as hoped, but it was considered to be high enough for the mission. This comes several weeks after the Argo-Lantean success but, unlike with the Argo-Lantean flight, the camera aboard the Hibari survived the flight without sustaining any damage after it was successfully ejected from the rocket and came down by parachute.

Recordings from the mission

gif made of bits from mainly these videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI7uh-ObrZw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntGrloeuIus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6kO6t-YQww


December 19, 1946
It is well-known that the Chinese do lots of questionable things, but the recent accusation of "poaching protected sea turtles" by the Philippines is also a questionable act, appearing completely out of nowhere. With nothing illegal to pin on the Chinese, it is clear that it was something specifically created at the spot so the Philippine Navy had a "valid" reason to arrest the crews of the Chinese ships and impound the ships as well. If they actually entered Filipino territorial waters illegally, why not charge them with that? Why is it necessary to charge them with something silly?

It has always been clear that the Chinese are eager to start a war with someone, but now there is no doubt that the Filipinos are eager to start one as well.


December 21, 1946
This morning at 04:19 AM, a large earthquake registering in excess of 8 on the Richter scale struck the Nankaidō region. Many hundreds are reported dead and many more injured or missing while thousands of houses were destroyed as well.

The earthquake occurred just over two years after a similar strength earthquake struck in the same region (*) and about 90 years after the Nankaidō region was hit by two large earthquakes in as many days.

Teams from the Japanese Armed Forces as well as the Pacific Maritime Safety Agency moved into the stricken area to help out with search and rescue and to assist the injured and the homeless with the creation of emergency hospitals and temporary shelters.

While Japan was well-prepared to deal with the aftermath of such an event, it currently has no reserves available to aid other nations in case of a disaster there.

(*) ... and which I missed to put in the news.


December 29, 1946
About a week after the earthquake that struck the Nankaidō region, figures were released that some 1,300 were killed and 2,500 injured while a few hundred are still listed as missing. Over 35,000 homes were destroyed while several thousand homes were destroyed by a Tsunami with 5 to 6 meter high waves.

One of the first things that was done after the earthquake was the examination of the railroad lines through the region and the repair to all the damage the tracks sustained so that trains could start hauling vital goods into the stricken area as quickly as possible. Prior to the first train delivering vital supplies, goods were moved by Army trucks as well as by aircraft, mainly Kawanishi's flying boats, the reliable H8K and the new and bigger H11K, which could easily reach the various points along the stricken coastlines.

Construction companies are also slowly moving into the area to repair damaged buildings, take down damaged buildings deemed too dangerous or too severely damaged, clear debris from damaged and destroyed buildings and build new buildings replacing those destroyed or those taken down.

Nice video clip of the mission!

I'm sure the Argo-Atlantean team will send their congratulations to their Japanese rivals. It should be noted by all that there is no intention to start a 'space race' as with the planned missions science comes first.

Quoted

Nice video clip of the mission!

... well you need to use a little bit of imagination... like that what you see below is not a desert and the guys you see are not American...

I took several stabs at creating it, but initially it was a lot more ambitious than the one you see here, but it became rather big and I ran out of memory while trying to process it.

I actually turned the rocket POV launch and parachute deployment bits into 30 fps instead of 10 fps for all the other parts you see, but changed it in the Animation shop to run at 10 fps like the other parts (though from the looks of it, those two bits should actually should run even slower than that but it doesn't look as good at 5 fps or slower as it does at 10 fps).

Quoted

It should be noted by all that there is no intention to start a 'space race' as with the planned missions science comes first.

OTL the Space Race took off in the mid 1950s but between 1945 and 1955 the Russians and Americans were already launching plenty of rockets into space (or a bit closer to earth). I would think that the same would apply to Wesworld.