Nippon

Geography

Nippon consists of four main islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu) and over a thousand minor ones.

The main island is Honshu, wher the great cities of Kyoto and Edo stand, and where the Imperial Court is based.

North of Honshu lays the island of Hokkaido - a land of mystery, with its icy mists, wild terrain, and strange, barbaric inhabitants (the Ebisu people).

Kyushu, to the south, is a land of highly independent samurai clans, who have traditionally been a thorn in the side of whoever governs in Honshu.

Shikoku is the smallest of the main islands. It is largely barren land, and clans based there are often relatively poor, compared to those in Honshu. Many clans in Shikoku seel alliances with clans in Honshu, in order to strengthen their positions .

Barely 10% of the land is easily farmed, and the people of Nippon have had to develop a very intensive system of farming, in order to maximise the food production of their farmland. Much of the remaining land is mountainous, and volcanic. Nippon is also shaken by hundreds of earthquakes each year, ranging from barely noticeable tremors, to ones which can level cities.

Climate

Nippon's climate has four distinct seasons:

Spring is warm but not hot, there's not too much rain, and the early part of the season brings the justly famous cherry blossoms and is a time of revelry and festivals.

Summer starts with a brief rainy season, with torrential downpours, but becomes very hot later, with extreme humidity too.

Autumn can be similar to Spring, with many fine, bright days, and a drop towards the cold days of winter.

Winter is bitterly cold, with snow and ice common across much of the land.

Storms can happen at any time of year, and can last for several days. Spring storms often last longer than others. Winter storms often bring heavy snow. Of particular note are the great storms known as tai-fun wich bring extremely powerful winds, and heavy rain, with flash floods. Tai-fun can occur at any time of year, but are much less common in the period between mid-winter and late-spring.

Politics

Nippon is ruled by an Emperor, who is a direct descendant of the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. Unfortunately the current Emperor, Gomizuno-o, is only a child, who inherited the title when his father died last winter. The country is currently run by various ministers and advisors, who "assist" the Emperor in making decisions.

Some of the more powerful samurai clans have seen this as the ideal chance to push for the title of Shogun, and are currently maneuvering for position, in the hopes of gaining an advantage when the inevitable war comes.

Meanwhile the smaller clans are taking advantage of their distraction to fight their own smaller wars, and all across Nippon, fighting has been a constant backdrop to life for the last year.