WesWorld

[Edit: The council bit has been slightly altered, courtesy of the ever alert pengolodh, who pointed out some minor errors. :-)]

July 11, 1921

- The Nation leaderless. The Empire clueless. Japan in a crisis?
- Pirate attacks.
- Contact lost with Iwo-jima
- Ships cancelled.
- Mutsu on Shakedown.
- Council session in progress again.
- Priest gives warning.
- AWNR extra

- The Nation leaderless. The Empire clueless. Japan in a crisis?
With the Emperor on the way to Nordmark to attend the funeral of King Gustav V and his wife, Queen Victoria, and the mysterious disappearance of the Shogun (presumably aboard his flagship; joining the Kongo battlegroup in the Twilight Zone), the two highest positions in Japan’s society have become temporarily “vacant” until the Emperor and the Shogun return. With no male member of the Imperial family present who is old enough to take over Shodahito’s duties, Princess Hanako, elder sister of Shodahito, has temporarily taken over the duties of the Emperor. The Shogun’s position has been claimed by Tokugawa Tsugako, second child of the 16th Shogun, Tokugawa Iyokada. While Hanako made no comment about her new duties, Tsugako made it very clear what was on her mind.
“Japan has been changing ever since the Bakumatsu. Now it is time to change it even more. We shall show Japan… no, the world, that we are just as capable to do these duties as our brothers are.”
Tokugawa Tsugako already took her first actions today. First she ordered the Battlegroup Ise, together with Destroyer Divisions I, II, III and IV, Mine Division II, and Heavy Submarine Chaser Divisions I and II, and supported by the Kiyozumi Maru and the Shotan Maru to the South Eastern Pacific Ocean, in order to protect the various Japanese merchant ships in the South America area and not much later two destroyers to Tori-shima (see below).
The Bakufu has gathered in an emergency meeting after these events. Rumors have been circling around that Tokugawa Tsugako, together with her 4 sisters, is planning to overthrow her brother during his absence.

- Pirate attacks.
During the last few weeks, pirates have ventured into Japanese Territorial Waters, raiding a number of Cargo ships sailing between San Hainando and Osaka. It is the first time since the Sino-Japan war that pirates dared to venture into Japanese Territorial Waters. So far it is not known where the pirates’ base of operations is. It is believed that the same pirates have been responsible for attacking ships coming from Iberia in the San Hainando area. According to an Iberian spokesperson, it appears that the pirates in this area are better equipped and organized than before and it is because of that that they dared to attack ships in Japanese Waters.

- Contact lost with Iwo-jima
Yesterday contact was lost with Iwo-jima, some 1224 km south of Edo. At first, the Bakufu feared that something similar as on South Georgia has happened, but for a different reason since one of Japan’s most important research facility is based on that island.
It was noted that during the night, there was an odd glow brightening up the night sky, and seemed somewhat like what happened 13 years ago, but less intense. A report from Chichi-shima (987 km S-SE of Edo) told that a pillar of smoke was seen in the direction of Iwo-jima and something that sounded like thunderclaps could be heard as far as Tori-shima (582 km S of Edo).
Tokugawa Tsugako sent the destroyers K-18 and K-19 out to investigate the situation on Iwo-jima.
One theory that seemed to be the most logical one is that the Volcano Suribachi could have violently exploded, in an event similar to Thira in the ancient times or more recently Krakatau, 38 years ago. There have been reports of Tsunami hitting land from Okinawa in the west to Guam in the south and beyond. Fortunately the waves were about 1.5 meters in height and did limited damage. The Tsunami was noticed as far as Da Nang in Indochina.

- Ships cancelled.
It has been made official that as of July 1, 1921, the Imperial Japanese Navy has cancelled the next ships of the Atsusa class: Yosamu, Kanya and Sokobie. The names will be used for a later class of Coastal Defense Ship. No definite plans have been released as to how the new class will look like, or when it will be built.

- Mutsu on Shakedown.
Completed 6 days ago, the Mutsu has been loaded with fuel and ammunition, and left this afternoon on its shakedown cruise. It might be the last Battleship of Japan to become operational for a while as it is not known if Japan will keep itself to the Building Holiday or if it’ll begin constructing Battleships before the Building Holiday ends.

- Council session in progress again.
Yesterday the 13th Council Session was continued. During the session, Carl Johan Enckell, delegation member of Nordmark, made his presentation. He began by expressing regret that the combination of the time necessary for preparing and organising the evidence and the distance between Nordmark and Switzerland made it impossible to have the physical evidence present. In addition, he pointed out that there were certain legal and security-related concerns, which made it impractical at this time to transport the evidence from the country. He also informed that the same presentation was given to the ambassadors at Stockholm and that they were able to see some of the evidence which has been gathered.
Council member Gastao da Cunha (Brazil) pointed out that it was clear that Nordmark had no real evidence to support its theory in the accusation of Brazil’s ally, Argentina. However, Paul Hymans (United Netherlands Kingdom) replied that “it is clear that da Cunha has no faith at all in its own ambassador in Stockholm.”
Someone (who wishes to remain anonymous) mentioned that perhaps it would have been better to have moved the council to Stockholm. Kikujiro Ishii (Japan), president of the 13th council session, pointed out that it was now too late to make this move and told other members to get in touch with their ambassadors at Stockholm when possible.

- Priest gives warning.
A priest of Sensou-ji (Asakusa Kannon Temple) told AWNR that what happened on Iwo-jima is a warning that the scientist should not try and harness the powers of the Gods. Spiritual activity seems to be increasing and there are bad omens everywhere.
AWNR: “Jeikobu-san, what kind of bad omens are there?”
Jeikobu: *Sitting in front of fire* “The fishes suffocate in the rivers, black demonic birds are harassing the people and the walls are weeping blood. Very dark presence. The Evil One will come soon... very soon. And when he comes, the Dragon will stir and roar in anger.”
AWNR: “Soon… You managed to find out when?”
Jeikobu: *Closes eyes and begins to chant. Fire becomes more intense. Suddenly stops chanting.* “Very soon… very, very soon.”
AWNR: “Could you be a bit more precise?”
Jeikobu: “Certainly… within the next…”
AWNR: “Yes?”
Jeikobu: “… one thousand years”
AWNR: -_-;; “T-thank you very much for your time, Jeikobu-san.”



- AWNR extra: Poem for Kaetuza’s sisters.

Poem made by Ammi Visnaga about the Shogun’s five sisters. It is said of them that they leave a trail of blood and death behind that is worse than that of the Nakamura’s.
Ammi Visnaga was born on 4/4/1872 in India. He has written a great number of Poems about his homeland. He currently lives in Japan to get new inspiration for his poems.

Poem for Kaetuza’s sisters.
Mistress of the Mind
Always there, yet hard to find
Mistress of the Bow
It is definitely not there for show
Mistress of the Sword
Its edge usually has the final word
Mistress of the Spear
Its soft whisper is the last thing you’ll hear
Mistress of the Horse
Its charge only makes your situation worse
Swift and silent, they come and go
The vicious Tokugawa samurai-ko

AV

Picture of Ammi Visnaga

:-)

Walter
PS: I'm lousy at poetry and no points in guessing what "Jeikobu" means.

AWNR special.
- Interview with Jeikobu-san.
AWNR: “You were saying that the Bakufu is wrong, Jeikobu-san.”
Jeikobu: *Sitting in front of fire* “People should be aware that what happpened [at Iwo-jima] is a warning that the scientist should not try and harness the powers of the Gods.
AWNR: “Powers of the Gods?”
Jeikobu: “Yes, the powers of the Gods. The powers to control the Mighty Dragon, who sleep under the ground. It is a bad thing when he awakens. Bad things will happen.”
AWNR: “What kind of bad things? Do you know?
Jeikobu: “Death… Destruction… Hatred… Fear… Chaos… The Star of Destruction will rise, the Gates of Death will open and the Flames from Hell will devour the world.”
AWNR: “So you believe it will affect the whole world?”
Jeikobu: “Very likely…”
AWNR: “That would be bad…”
Jeikobu: “… that that will not be the case…”
AWNR: -_-;;
Jeikobu: “… But you never know…”
AWNR: “…”
Jeikobu: “However, it is already visible around us.”
AWNR: “In what way.”
Jeikobu: “The ground has become restless. Spiritual activity seems to be increasing and there are bad omens everywhere.”
AWNR: “Jeikobu-san, what kind of bad omens are there?”
Jeikobu: “The fishes suffocate in the rivers, black demonic birds are harassing the people and the walls are weeping blood. Very dark presence. The Evil One will come soon... very soon. And when he comes, the Dragon will stir and roar in anger.”
AWNR: “Soon… You managed to find out when?”
Jeikobu: *Closes eyes and begins to chant. Fire becomes more intense. Suddenly stops chanting.* “Very soon… very, very soon.”
AWNR: “Could you be a bit more precise?”
Jeikobu: “Certainly… within the next…”
AWNR: “Yes?”
Jeikobu: “… one thousand years”
AWNR: -_-;; “T-thank you very much for your time, Jeikobu-san.”
Jeikobu: “NO! We do not have enough time! If you go now, I’ve just wasted my time with you! NO! People should be aware that evil walks among us, that it could lurk around any corner or inside any building. And that evil has a face. This is it!” *flames reveal face *
AWNR: “… Looks like a Gaijin…”
Jeikobu: “No. That’s the wrong one! This is the one!” *flames reveal another face *
AWNR: “Hmmm…”
Jeikobu: “He’s an evil man. I have no information about him though…”

It should be noted that a warning went out that if someone were to encounter this man , the person should pass him as fast as possible or turn around. In any event, do not attack him! This man is considered to be extremely dangerous .

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The Anime pictures are from one of my all time favorite anime, "Doomed Megalopolis". At the begin of last month, I finally got the DVD, and could finally watch it with Japanese dialogue. ^_^
"The Star of Destruction will rise, the Gates of Death will open" is a slight variant (time being 1921, it refers to the future when DM will take place) from what Kato says (in the present, when DM takes place) in the DM dub (Something like:"The Star of Destruction has risen... The Gates of Death are opening..." if I remember well). Not sure what he says in the sub version. Then again I have the dubded version for some eight years now and must have watched that particular bit some fifty times or so. I've watched that bit in the sub version 2 or 3 times.

Walter
PS: hope the links work...