ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (2)

Japantown on the Continent

I bought Nihonkoku Shoukan!

- Bokutotsu Zen'u

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After a flight of less than nine hours, Jindo, Hiraide, and Riyoshi arrived at the port city of Miket Tirith, located on the east coast of the Juperia Continent. The KC-46A aerial refueling/transport aircraft landed at a site about 5 km north of the city. After getting off the plane while the high-lift loader was unloading the cargo, Jindo's team thanked the pilot, Colonel Degawa, and left the airfield for the city center where the port was located.

. . .

April 20, Evening

Miket Tirith, Eastern part of Crossnellyard Empire

This city, which is the capital of a region called Miket Knighthood among the 19 regions that make up the Crossnellyard Empire, is the largest port city in the country and handles almost all trade with countries in the east. The economic power of the territory of the Miket Knighthood, which has this city, surpasses that of the Imperial Domain which has the Imperial Capital.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Crossnellyard Empire and Japan, many bases have been built for Japanese activities, including the Japanese Consulate, and the port facilities have been strengthened through the Japanese government's ODA. Imported goods from Japan have brought additional wealth to the city. However, when the two countries were at war, the city's port, reinforced by the Japanese government, became very useful for landing troops. The area is currently in the process of being cleaned up after the landing operations of the Self-Defense Forces, which resulted in the loss of many soldiers.

"...There are a lot of people wearing Yukuniro clothes."

Jindo and his group were walking along the main street leading to the port. Hiraide noticed that many of the people they passed were wearing clothes made in Japan. As a result of the war, the Japanese acquired the right to build a "concession" in this city. Within the concession, a Japanese residential area and a station for SDF officers were formed, and in addition, many branches of Japanese companies opened their stores. Furthermore, as spoils of war, tariffs on Japanese imports and the monopolistic trading of imported goods by local merchant guilds were abolished or prohibited. Thus, Japanese merchants, who until then had only been able to sell goods through guilds, were finally able to do business freely within the country.

Local residents, whether native or Japanese, are basically free to enter and leave the concession, and local residents seeking Japanese goods frequently go to the concession to store at Japanese stores. Among them, clothing that is durable, warm, and relatively inexpensive compared to the clothes they usually wear has become one or two of the most popular items in the area.

They can see people resting on the street, they are drinking water from thermos bottles, and there are signs here and there that are clearly written with a magic marker pen. Bottled juice and sake sold in Japan were also on display.

. . .

Harbor, Japanese Concession on Miket Tirith

After passing through the city of Miket Tirith, which is greatly influenced by Japan, Jindo and his group arrived at the Japanese Concession, which was acquired by Japan as a spoil of war, in order to find an inn where they would stay for the day.

A 'concession' is a foreign settlement built by Western powers in the Qing Dynasty from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. Residents living in these concessions were granted administrative autonomy and extraterritorial jurisdiction, and the countries that established the concessions had the right to police, collect taxes, and develop the land within the concessions. Japan had the right to establish concessions in Beginteria and Doras Tirith in addition to this city, and these concessions were used as bases for commercial activities within the Crossnellyard Empire, as was the case in the past with Western powers.