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On a Knife's Edge, a Post Weltkrieg 2 Kaiserreich Japan Game

Introduction

Jakarta

Cutest Mod
Moderator
j1ib6w8fdgh21.png

On a Knife's Edge, a Post Weltkrieg 2 Kaiserreich Japan Game.

It's over. It's been over for 4 years.

The time of radical change, of millions of deaths as the world crumbled upon itself within a tide of revolution. It is a time of restructuring, a time where Empires are forged and a time where Empires died.

And the Empire has endured, significantly altered from the initial turmoil of the late 1930s, but stronger, and perhaps, much better off in the end.

Japan stands as one of the most unaffected nations in this post Weltkrieg World, an Empire that has shed most of its Imperialist traditions during the tumultuous years of 1936 to 1937, where scores of Ministers, key Government Officials and even Prime Ministers were assassinated.

It could be a time where the Military could take over, it could be a time where the Syndicalist menace overthrew the Japanese government and usher in an age of Syndicalism unfettered, but both options fail to be.

Instead, with the National Security law passed, and with the Emperor himself agreeing to the necessary reforms proposed by the civilian government, the country stabilized under Civilian Rule, the new government, now unconstrained by undue Military or Syndicalist influence, began reforming the country, reining in the highly influential Zaibatsus at first, freeing Korea from the yoke of Japanese Imperialism, in exchange for their membership within the Co-Prosperity Sphere, and then spreading their reach all across Asia.

Now, from the cold fringes of the Kamchatka's to the river valleys of the Nile, the Co-Prosperity Sphere has succeeded in it's mission of uniting all of Asia. Now, Asia, a region formerly ruled by European Imperialists, Syndicalist bootlickers to Paris and London, and Tin-Pot dictators, stand pretty much set to combat the growing influence of the Third Internationale.

The year is 1949, and may Japan and her allies overthrow the Syndicalists that looms in the West. 10.000 Years for the Emperor!

___________________________________

Welcome to On a Knife's Edge, this is a Kaiserreich Quest where you play as the Japanese Government after my playthrough of it in Kaiserreich, inspired by Atlanta-Georgia's quest with the British Government. In this RP, you play as the Japanese Government at the start of the year 1949. 4 years after the last major war Japan fought.

You have 5 action points, and with all of these action points, you can write a resolution or a decision that you want the Japanese Government to undertake, there will also be crises where you must take action on it immediately, taking action on a crises will not cost an action point, so you can do 5 regular actions while resolving any crises that will come and face your nation. Finishing an action takes 1 turn, and 1 turn is 1 year of game time. Actions do not stack up on turns unless it is something major (like a massive infrastructure project or wanting to build a space program), in the event of you committing your government towards doing a major project, that turn will be used up until the point the project is successful, or it fails.

For example, you want to create a bullet train line running from Tokyo to Osaka, OTL, the Tokaido Shinkansen takes 5 years to build, so, all things being equal, you would have only 4 action points for 5 years while the first Shinkansen is being built. So choose wisely.

I will use a twenty-sided die in order to generate which decisions are successful and which one are not, I am the arbitrator of the odds though, so, for example, if one makes a radically ahistorical decision, like forcing through immigrant rights during the 1950s in the style of America's immigration system, the chances of such an act succeeding the Imperial Japanese Diet are very slim to none.

Of course, events in the world may change public attitudes towards many things, I will inform you of such events, but it is up to you to capitalize on the event or to hold back.

Dice roll odds:

Decisions in-line with attitudes of the time: 4 minimum for a successful roll

Decisions out of line by 1-2 decades: 8 minimum for a successful roll

Decisions out of line by 3-4 decades: 12 minimum for a successful roll

Decisions out of line by 5-6 decades and decisions the Japanese government has never taken OTL (sans events happening in this timeline favouring such a shift): 16 for a successful roll

Two final things before you play. There will be a system called 'The Empire', in which you can measure the loyalty of the various territories the Japanese Empire has acquired during the tumultuous years. Most of the major territories have been cored and are considered integral towards the Japanese Empire, although there are still work to be done within those territories, and there are also territories recently obtained, like most of the Western Pacific Territories obtained by Japan during their war with German East Asia.

The system works on a 100 to -100 scale. With 100 being loyal to the Empire, and -100 being Openly Rebellious, the Syndies in the West might sense opportunity should one of your colonies rebel, so you should watch out.

The Empire.

Extremely Loyal to the Empire: +100

Favourable Public opinion: +50

Several grumblings, but mostly loyal: +25

Indifferent: 0

Visible discontent: -25

Massive protests: -50

Armed militias: -75

Open rebellion: -100

And finally, since you are effectively a constitutional monarchy, you can gain Monarch Points (shamelessly ripping off Atlanta-Georgia) where you can gain the Emperor's favour by doing several private errands for His Excellency. Hirohito might ask you to withhold information that might be scandalous should it be revealed, create crown companies, and perhaps even turn a blind-eye to something that could potentially damage the reputation of the Crown, the decision lies with you.

You can have a maximum of 10 Monarch Points.

Current Monarch Points: 2

You can use Monarch points to:
Written Statement from the Imperial Palace: 1
Written Address from Imperial Prince or Princess: 2-4, depending on intensity
Written Address from the Emperor: 5-6, depending on intensity
Radio Address by the Imperial Prince or Princess: 7
Radio Address by the Emperor: 8
Publicly Televised Address by the Emperor: 9
Joint Publicly Televised Address by the Emperor and his Family: 10

Alright, I think I have covered all the basics, My next post will outline the situation on the Empire during 1949, choose wisely, and may Japan prosper forevermore!
 
1949, Turn 1
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1st of January, 1949. Japan

It is yet the dawn of another year within Japan, all the way from Karafuto (Sakhalin) in the North to the Isle of Taiwan in the south, Japan once again rouses for it's daily business, the day is looking good, if a bit chilly. For most Japanese citizens who go about their daily business.

All with one major exception.

The ruling Socialist Party Government at this time, the Shakai Taishuto, is about to open their new year with another set of policies, policies aimed to strengthen Japan and her allies in the face of the Third Internationale, they are under no illusions, the Third Internationale, now owning practically all of Europe, significant parts of South America and Africa, and not to mention Canada, are under Syndicalist rule, and it is under no doubt that London and Paris hold the superior position, at least early within this Cold War.

Your allies are either too weak or too much focused on improving their domestic economic conditions to be of much help, even your most 'reliable' allies, namely Russia and India, are still incredibly underdeveloped countries, with rates of poverty far, far higher than any of their European equivalent.

The Internationale has access to some of the best Universities, Industries, and Economies in the world, and while Japan is certainly advanced, even Japan could not hold back the combined might of the entirety of Europe.

At least, not alone.

In Russia, the Japanese Army stands guard, from Volgograd all the way to the Arctic Circle, the Japanese Army of the Volga and the Japanese Army of the Urals are holding steady, watching out in the event of any Syndicalist/ West Russian incursion into Russian territory. While Japanese firms and businesses are busy investing what profits they have into the underdeveloped economies of Asia, slowly but surely developing countries that are within the Co-Prosperity Sphere.

The enemy is mighty, but you must insure that they will not win, and by the Emperor's Might, you shall!

ACTIONS:
[ ] Write In
[ ] Write In
[ ] Write In
[ ] Write In
[ ] Write In

IMMEDIATE CONCERNS THAT MUST BE DEALT WITH, TAKING ACTIONS ON IMMEDIATE CONCERNS WILL NOT COST AN ACTION POINT.

Demobilization.
The Imperial Japanese Military is mighty, but not so mighty that it can manage to maintain an active force of more than 2 million personnel of any kind at all times, perhaps in the future, we can maintain a peacetime force, but for now, you cannot.

They have a huge budget, no doubt about it, and the country is prosperous, but reductions in active duty personnel is a must, already our spies are seeing the French and British militaries demobilizing, pumping more and more men back into their economy.

Now, what shall Japan do?

You have:
1.89 Million Men in the Army
248.580 Men in the Air Force
10 Carriers, 4 Battleships, 8 Armored Cruisers, 11 Fast Battleships, 21 Cruisers, 14 Light Cruisers, 112 Submarines and 184 Destroyers

How many of our personnel should be left when our military has demobilized?
[ ] Army
[ ] Navy
[ ] Air Force

Mantetsu in China
The South Manchuria Railway Company has been actively operating within Northern China for quite some time, their operations are incredibly extractive, with them having significant control of the railway profits within the richest region in China, with China unified under Zhang Zuolin, and with the admission of China within the Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Chinese Government has a significant desire to renegotiate the status of the South Manchuria Railway Company.

Having control of such a profitable enterprise is surely benefiting Japan, but it would be foolhardy to kneecap China's development just like that, it is a large country, and the Chinese Government has every desire to combat Syndicalism, but their desire to be a respected nation is also great. What shall we do?

It should be noted that Mantetsu profits count for roughly 25% of our annual budget. We can definitely recuperate the budget by other means, like tax increases on domestic Japanese companies and the rich, but we must choose wisely. The Chinese are very adamant that they gain a more significant stake within the South Manchuria Railway Company.

[ ] 70-30 Japanese Control of the Company
[ ] 60-40 Japanese Control of the Company
[ ] 50-50 Joint Control of the Company
[ ] Write In

Welcome to the NHK!
The Nippon Hoso Kyokai was historically founded in the year 1950, within this timeline, there is significant will within the Japanese Government to create a publicly owned Television News broadcast station. How will you found it? And how shall it be organized?

[ ] Write in

Monarch Favours: 2 At the moment

Status of Imperial Colonies:
Core Teritories

Japanese Sakhalin (Karafuto): +100
Japanese Taiwan: +100
Kwantung Territories (Dairen/ Areas around Dalian OTL): +100
Kuril Islands: +100
Non-Core Territories
Andaman and Nicobar Isles: +25
Cocos and Christmas Isles: +25
Western Pacific Isles: 0
Fiji: -10
Papua New Guinea: 0
New Caledonia: -10
Solomon Islands: -25
 
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Could we get rid of both Fast Battleships and Battleships from the navy?
 
Could we get rid of both Fast Battleships and Battleships from the navy?

You definitely can, please note that the Admiralty will grumble, and will definitely fight off in the event you want to get rid of all battleships. They are upgrading all their existing Aki-Class Battleships into the newer Yamato-Class Battleships.

They will grumble even more in the event that it's the Navy that is exclusively cut, although you shouldn't necessarily worry about a coup, that time has passed.
 
This seems like a very interesting scenario! I'll start trying to make a plan! I also hope it is ok if a advertise your quest on Dying Empire.

Yeah, I don't mind. We don't have an AOOB rule here.
 
@Jakarta
How big are the Internationale's armies, navies and airforces also how big are the armies, navies and airforces of our allies?

The Internationale's armies combined? Probably orders of magnitudes larger than ours, probably numbering in the 8 Million mark in total, for Peacetime Forces mind you, on wartime it could easily go into the tens of millions.

While theoretically we could field a larger force, considering the development status of India, Russia, and China, our soldiers would be very poorly armed and equipped, for Peacetime forces that are armed to the teeth, I estimate we can field a 5 Million Army at a Maximum.

Both sides have no desire to go to war. At least not yet.
 
Map
Here is a map of the Post War world.
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Everything East of the Urals are States that are members of the Co-Prosperity Sphere, everything West of the Urals are member States of the Third Internationale.

For a more detailed look at the situation.
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6Rg22EL.png
 
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[x] Plan 1949 Version 2
-[] It makes no strategic sense for the Empire of Japan to rule over a piece of the Russian artic in Europe. Therefore the government will attempt to pass a bill through the Imperial Diet to sell the region to the Republic of Finland at a very generous rate. In return the Imperial Navy will continue to have the right to base ships out of Murmansk.

-[] The government recognizing the discontent in many of the colonies that are not integrated into Japan proper will begin a major infrastructure project in these territories. The goal will be to raise the standards of these territories to something that would be found vaguely acceptable on the mainland. This will be done over a number of years though the government would like the project done by 1955.

-[] The government will undertake a project to electrify The Tōkaidō Main Line as an experiment and in the rest of the country generally improve the quality of our railways and public transportation with a particular emphasis placed on Tokyo.

-[] The government will start handing out monetary grants to Japanese companies willing to spend money on improving our underdeveloped allies such as Hyderabad, China, Indonesia, Russia and Sudan. There will be two strings attached to these grants. One the development must benefit the people of the host country and two that the companies must respect the governments of these countries and not attempt to undermine their authority. The Imperial government shall encourage the development of local defense industries.

-[] Using promises of protection from the Internationale and generous foreign aid from the Japanese government Japan will attempt to convince unaligned African countries that they will gain more by joining the Co-Prosperity Sphere than they will by joining the Internationale.

-[] The Imperial Army will be shrunk down in size to 1,000,000 men. The Imperial Navy will be reduced to five carriers, three battleships, six armored cruisers, eight fast battle ships, fifteen cruisers, six light cruisers, sixty submarines, seventy destroyers. We shall demobilize and offer early retirement to men who are near retirement age or within 6 months of service completion. The Air Force shall be reduced to 200,000 men.

-[] The South Manchuria Railway Company will be restructured to have Japan own 60% and China 40% every year one percent of the company will be transferred to the Chinese government until in ten years when the ownership is 50%/50% the Imperial government considers this a fair deal of treating China with dignity while giving the Imperial government time to find other revenue sources.

-[] A state owned broadcasting service will be founded called Nippon Hoso Kyokai. As this station is owned by the government it is expected that the NHK will be completely politically neutral just giving the facts nothing else. To ensure this the station will be run by a board made up of a government representative, a representative from the official opposition and a representative from the Imperial Household.
 
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[x] Plan 1949 Version 2
-[] It makes no strategic sense for the Empire of Japan to rule over a piece of the Russian artic in Europe. Therefore the government will attempt to pass a bill through the Imperial Diet to sell the region to the Republic of Finland at a very generous rate. In return the Imperial Navy will continue to have the right to base ships out of Murmansk.

-[] The government recognizing the discontent in many of the colonies that are not integrated into Japan proper will begin a major infrastructure project in these territories. The goal will be to raise the standards of these territories to something that would be found vaguely acceptable on the mainland. This will be done over a number of years though the government would like the project done by 1955.

-[] The government will undertake a project to electrify The Tōkaidō Main Line as an experiment and in the rest of the country generally improve the quality of our railways and public transportation with a particular emphasis placed on Tokyo.

-[] The government will start handing out monetary grants to Japanese companies willing to spend money on improving our underdeveloped allies such as Hyderabad, China, Indonesia, Russia and Sudan. There will be two strings attached to these grants. One the development must benefit the people of the host country and two that the companies must respect the governments of these countries and not attempt to undermine their authority. The Imperial government shall encourage the development of local defense industries.

-[] Using promises of protection from the Internationale and generous foreign aid from the Japanese government Japan will attempt to convince unaligned African countries that they will gain more by joining the Co-Prosperity Sphere than they will by joining the Internationale.

-[] The Imperial Army will be shrunk down in size to 1,000,000 men. The Imperial Navy will be reduced to five carriers, three battleships, six armored cruisers, eight fast battle ships, fifteen cruisers, six light cruisers, sixty submarines, seventy destroyers. We shall demobilize and offer early retirement to men who are near retirement age or within 6 months of service completion. The Air Force shall be reduced to 200,000 men.

-[] The South Manchuria Railway Company will be restructured to have Japan own 60% and China 40% every year one percent of the company will be transferred to the Chinese government until in ten years when the ownership is 50%/50% the Imperial government considers this a fair deal of treating China with dignity while giving the Imperial government time to find other revenue sources.

-[] A state owned broadcasting service will be founded called Nippon Hoso Kyokai. As this station is owned by the government it is expected that the NHK will be completely politically neutral just giving the facts nothing else. To ensure this the station will be run by a board made up of a government representative, a representative from the official opposition and a representative from the Imperial Household.
 
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[x] Plan 1949
-[] It makes no strategic sense for the Empire of Japan to rule over a piece of the Russian artic in Europe. Therefore the government will attempt to pass a bill through the Imperial Diet to sell the region to the Republic of Finland at a very generous rate. In return the Imperial Navy will continue to have the right to base ships out of Murmansk.

-[] The government recognizing the discontent in many of the colonies that are not integrated into Japan proper will begin a major infrastructure project in these territories. The goal will be to raise the standards of these territories to something that would be found vaguely acceptable on the mainland. This will be done over a number of years though the government would like the project done by 1955.

-[] The government will undertake a project to electrify The Tōkaidō Main Line as an experiment and in the rest of the country generally improve the quality of our railways and public transportation with a particular emphasis placed on Tokyo.

-[] The government will start handing out monetary grants to Japanese companies willing to spend money on improving our underdeveloped allies such as Hyderabad, China, Indonesia, Russia and Sudan. There will be two strings attached to these grants. One the development must benefit the people of the host country and two that the companies must respect the governments of these countries and not attempt to undermine their authority.

-[] Using promises of protection from the Internationale and generous foreign aid from the Japanese government Japan will attempt to convince unaligned African countries that they will gain more by joining the Co-Prosperity Sphere than they will by joining the Internationale.

-[] The Imperial Army will be shrunk down in size to 500,000 men. The Imperial Navy will be reduced to five carriers, three battleships, six armored cruisers, eight fast battle ships, fifteen cruisers, six light cruisers, sixty submarines, seventy destroyers. The Imperial Airforce will be shrunk to 95,000 men.

-[] The South Manchuria Railway Company will be restructured to have Japan own 60% and China 40% every year one percent of the company will be transferred to the Chinese government until in ten years when the ownership is 50%/50% the Imperial government considers this a fair deal of treating China with dignity while giving the Imperial government time to find other revenue sources.

-[] A state owned broadcasting service will be founded called Nippon Hoso Kyokai. As this station is owned by the government it is expected that the NHK will be completely politically neutral just giving the facts nothing else. To ensure this the station will be run by a board made up of a government representative, a representative from the official opposition and a representative from the Imperial Household.
 
Anyone wanna discuss the merit of the plan first?
 
We downside the Army in favor of urgently needed civilian infastructure, development and integration of colonies and allies?

We are not gonna go to war right now right?
 
We downside the Army in favor of urgently needed civilian infastructure, development and integration of colonies and allies?

We are not gonna go to war right now right?

Yes.

It might seem good, but remember, this plan is without any other proposals. I think it would be better if people evaluate the merit of the plan, and perhaps debate it a lil bit, we are the government after all.

It took two pages of discussion within the original quest before someone the decision is taken, I think something similar would be good might be warranted, considering the situation Japan's in.
 
Hopefully we will get more participants with more ideas and such?

Warringer's quest was abit like this at the beginning but people slowly trickled in
 
We downside the Army in favor of urgently needed civilian infastructure, development and integration of colonies and allies?

We are not gonna go to war right now right?

Maybe cut down the army to 300,000? or 250,000? We probably don't need 500,000 troops but I kind of wanted to hold onto them incase we needed them. What do you think about the Navy and Airforce?
 
If we're helping to defend our ally Russia I'd rather the army not be below 500,000. We will probably engage in some type of military build up in the 50s so the other cuts are fine for now.
 
Maybe cut down the army to 300,000? or 250,000? We probably don't need 500,000 troops but I kind of wanted to hold onto them incase we needed them. What do you think about the Navy and Airforce?

There is downsizing and then there is gutting.

Half a mil is already abit low for a global power even in peace time.

The navy looks good although I would possibly trade a couple of BBs for Carriers, the airforce sounds about right?
 
Maybe a million men in the army. That would gives us about 50 divisions and so were not lacking in troops.
 
Maybe a million men in the army. That would gives us about 50 divisions and so were not lacking in troops.
I don't think Japan could support 1 million during peace time. But still we need enough men to defend Russia so 500,000 sounds about right.
 
I say 1 million army troops for now but could be lowered at a later time. We should demobilize older troops and offer early retirement. We also need to work on upgrading the militaries of our allies by donating older equipment and promoting defense industries.
 
[] Plan 1949 Version 2
-[] It makes no strategic sense for the Empire of Japan to rule over a piece of the Russian artic in Europe. Therefore the government will attempt to pass a bill through the Imperial Diet to sell the region to the Republic of Finland at a very generous rate. In return the Imperial Navy will continue to have the right to base ships out of Murmansk.

-[] The government recognizing the discontent in many of the colonies that are not integrated into Japan proper will begin a major infrastructure project in these territories. The goal will be to raise the standards of these territories to something that would be found vaguely acceptable on the mainland. This will be done over a number of years though the government would like the project done by 1955.

-[] The government will undertake a project to electrify The Tōkaidō Main Line as an experiment and in the rest of the country generally improve the quality of our railways and public transportation with a particular emphasis placed on Tokyo.

-[] The government will start handing out monetary grants to Japanese companies willing to spend money on improving our underdeveloped allies such as Hyderabad, China, Indonesia, Russia and Sudan. There will be two strings attached to these grants. One the development must benefit the people of the host country and two that the companies must respect the governments of these countries and not attempt to undermine their authority. The Imperial government shall encourage the development of local defense industries.

-[] Using promises of protection from the Internationale and generous foreign aid from the Japanese government Japan will attempt to convince unaligned African countries that they will gain more by joining the Co-Prosperity Sphere than they will by joining the Internationale.

-[] The Imperial Army will be shrunk down in size to 1,000,000 men. The Imperial Navy will be reduced to five carriers, three battleships, six armored cruisers, eight fast battle ships, fifteen cruisers, six light cruisers, sixty submarines, seventy destroyers. We shall demobilize and offer early retirement to men who are near retirement age or within 6 months of service completion. The Air Force shall be reduced to 200,000 men.

-[] The South Manchuria Railway Company will be restructured to have Japan own 60% and China 40% every year one percent of the company will be transferred to the Chinese government until in ten years when the ownership is 50%/50% the Imperial government considers this a fair deal of treating China with dignity while giving the Imperial government time to find other revenue sources.

-[] A state owned broadcasting service will be founded called Nippon Hoso Kyokai. As this station is owned by the government it is expected that the NHK will be completely politically neutral just giving the facts nothing else. To ensure this the station will be run by a board made up of a government representative, a representative from the official opposition and a representative from the Imperial Household.
 
[] Plan 1949 Version 2
-[] It makes no strategic sense for the Empire of Japan to rule over a piece of the Russian artic in Europe. Therefore the government will attempt to pass a bill through the Imperial Diet to sell the region to the Republic of Finland at a very generous rate. In return the Imperial Navy will continue to have the right to base ships out of Murmansk.

-[] The government recognizing the discontent in many of the colonies that are not integrated into Japan proper will begin a major infrastructure project in these territories. The goal will be to raise the standards of these territories to something that would be found vaguely acceptable on the mainland. This will be done over a number of years though the government would like the project done by 1955.

-[] The government will undertake a project to electrify The Tōkaidō Main Line as an experiment and in the rest of the country generally improve the quality of our railways and public transportation with a particular emphasis placed on Tokyo.

-[] The government will start handing out monetary grants to Japanese companies willing to spend money on improving our underdeveloped allies such as Hyderabad, China, Indonesia, Russia and Sudan. There will be two strings attached to these grants. One the development must benefit the people of the host country and two that the companies must respect the governments of these countries and not attempt to undermine their authority. The Imperial government shall encourage the development of local defense industries.

-[] Using promises of protection from the Internationale and generous foreign aid from the Japanese government Japan will attempt to convince unaligned African countries that they will gain more by joining the Co-Prosperity Sphere than they will by joining the Internationale.

-[] The Imperial Army will be shrunk down in size to 1,000,000 men. The Imperial Navy will be reduced to five carriers, three battleships, six armored cruisers, eight fast battle ships, fifteen cruisers, six light cruisers, sixty submarines, seventy destroyers. We shall demobilize and offer early retirement to men who are near retirement age or within 6 months of service completion. The Air Force shall be reduced to 200,000 men.

-[] The South Manchuria Railway Company will be restructured to have Japan own 60% and China 40% every year one percent of the company will be transferred to the Chinese government until in ten years when the ownership is 50%/50% the Imperial government considers this a fair deal of treating China with dignity while giving the Imperial government time to find other revenue sources.

-[] A state owned broadcasting service will be founded called Nippon Hoso Kyokai. As this station is owned by the government it is expected that the NHK will be completely politically neutral just giving the facts nothing else. To ensure this the station will be run by a board made up of a government representative, a representative from the official opposition and a representative from the Imperial Household.
This sounds good to me but going forward in the next few years we will need to find income sources and the infrastructure to support such a large army.
 
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