ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (1)

Consideration

Cabinet Room, Prime Minister's Office, Tokyo, Japan

On this particular day, cabinet ministers were gathered in a meeting room at the Prime Minister's Office to discuss a certain agenda item. Amidst the lineup of distinguished faces who were to play a central role in the nation's government, a man was sitting in a cold sweat, looking extremely nervous. Then the man took a deep breath, stands up with a determined expression on his face, and opened his mouth.

"My name is Kanji Suzumura, Director of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. Let me begin by explaining the data we at the GSI have collected on this world. Please take a look at the first page of the document in your hand..."

As Suzumura spoke, he turned the cover of a slightly thicker document in his left hand. This time, the topic was the information on this world obtained in the past four years.

"What have we learned so far in the past four years about this planet, Terralus... which we called Counter-Earth until we found its name..."

Suzumura began to explain. The ministers who participated in the meeting were also paying attention to the exact points he had mentioned.

"Terralus has a diameter of 17.858 kilometers and an equatorial circumference of 56.105 kilometers, about 1,4 times the size of the Earth. The standard in this world seems to be celestial motion. Therefore, many people in this world believe that the sea is flowing down from a huge waterfall east of Japan. The land consists of four continents, two subcontinents, and other islands of various sizes. It has an area larger than the Earth. The New Pacific, which extends east of Japan, is unrecognized by the people of this world, but it boasts a vast area larger than the original Pacific and, so far, no inhabited islands have been observed."

"Completely uninhabited..."

Toshimitsu Hasegawa, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, murmured in response to Suzumura's explanation.

"Yes, humans may not have reached this side," Suzumura guessed.

He then turned the page of the document in his hand and continued to explain about the planet Terralus.

"Its rotation period is 24 hours, 1 minute, 2.013 seconds (sidereal day), about 5 minutes longer than that of the Earth. The orbital period is 366,432 days (sidereal year), which is plus one day longer than that of the Earth."

"The calendar needed an urgent rewrite..."

One of the ministers, Masanori Takaoka of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, recalled the difficulty he had when it was discovered that the year on this planet was one day longer than on Earth.

"Also, Terralus had been confirmed to have one satellite, but the observation results so far have revealed that it is more likely to be a binary planet than a satellite."

"Binary planet...? Is it like that planet in the anime?"

As Takichi Asano, Minister of Finance, was listening to Suzumura's explanation, he was reminded of a double planet that appeared in a certain science fiction anime that was popular about 50 years ago.

"Yes, such an image seems to be correct. JAXA is currently continuing detailed observations and investigations of this binary star," Suzumura replied. He then continued his explanation. "Terralus, like the Earth, has an inclined axis, so the seasons change as they do on the original world, and the gravitational acceleration is almost the same as that of the Earth at 9,80721 meter per second per second. This is fortunate."

Suzumura's point is most apt. If the Japanese had been transferred to a planet whose gravity was considerably greater than that of the Earth, they would not have been able to move their bodies satisfactorily. If that had happened, it would have been impossible to keep the country alive on the other world. Also, if the seasons were very different from those of the original world, there was a possibility that all the crops in Japan would be wiped out. After making some additional remarks and confirming whether or not there were any questions, Suzumura straightened his posture and bowed his head toward the cabinet members.