Rising Rays of the New Century: Tale of the Japanese Empire

Part 2: Overseas

Unexplored Continent "Eurasia"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

December 5, 2101

Prime Minister's Office, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo

On this day, ministers of the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Hashida gathered in a room of the Prime Minister's Office. The document distributed to the Cabinet was titled "White Paper on Space Migration," distributed by the Ministry of Space Development at the regular cabinet meeting.

"The number of people who wishes to migrate to the Lunar Colony has continued to increase since the start of migration in 2085, and the number of applicants has greatly exceeded the capacity of the cities. Although work to expand the city continues, supply cannot keep up with demand."

Shota Namba, Minister of Space Development, explained the data. Space development is a national policy that Japan was promoting at this time.

On the moon, Earth's natural satellite, there is a city built by Japan with the power of 28th-century science. The city, named "Taketori" after an old Japanese tale about the moon, has been inhabited by more than 3.000 civilians since 16 years ago when the migration began. Most of the immigrants are "naturalized" citizens.

In the 22nd century, Japan is still under a semi-closed-door regime, and foreign employment is not permitted at all. Therefore, the concept of "foreign residents" has disappeared, and the only visas issued to foreigners are "diplomatic" and "temporary visitor" visas. Therefore, the only way for foreigners to reside in Japan is to "emigrate."

However, those who wanted to immigrate to the Japanese mainland are subject to very strict screening for their assets, criminal records of themselves, blood relatives, and spouses, and above all, they are required to sever all ties with their origin country. In fact, only about 10 people a year pass the screening process and are approved.

However, in the case of space immigrants, the screening requirements are greatly relaxed. They are given Japanese citizenship in exchange for not being allowed to reside on the Japanese mainland as a model case for future mass settlements. They would much rather live in space than in their home country, so they have jumped on the Japanese government's call for space immigrants one by one.

"In the future, 50.000 people are expected to emigrate to the moon in the next 10 years, and another 50.000 will begin immigrating to Mars in 20 years. In the next 50 years, we aim to have 5 million immigrants on the Moon and 3 million on Mars. The goal for the next 100 years is to complete space immigration of 4 billion people, about half of the Earth's current population."

The Japanese government hoped to eventually send a majority of the world's population into space. This ultimate goal is a classified matter that has not been announced to the public. The purpose of space exploration is to "secure Japan's sphere of existence," and the purpose of space immigration, which is being promoted simultaneously, is to move the overpopulation into space and "halt the ongoing pollution of the global environment."

With the East Asia War, the disappearance of Japan, and the subsequent collapse of the world economy, all sense of order and values disappeared into chaos. This has lingered into the 22nd century, and the majority of humanity still lives in poverty and hunger, under the law of the jungle, a world where dog eats dog.

And in this turbulent world, marine pollution has accelerated even more than in the early 21st century. Most regions have become anarchic, and the unregulated dumping of waste into the ocean has increased dramatically. It is also invading the waters around the Japanese archipelago. Then, they should remove the source of the problem, the large number of people who are out of the control of the state power, from the Earth.