The Shores of Land: The Diplomacy of Japan, an Alien Nation

Chapter 8 - Proposition

It has been four days since that iconic alien handshake. A week has passed since Japan was transferred to the Foreign Land from Earth.

After a week, the shock of being on another planet begins to wear off, even if only slightly, and the existence of a flying alien race that took them by surprise begins to become familiar after daily media coverage.

Japanese society is still reeling from the chaos, but the government's economic reset plan and the largest-ever welfare package are starting to take effect, especially in the production and transportation sectors. A surprisingly large number of farmers continued to work even after Levian's mass turnover period from 18 to 19, with 30% of all farmers apparently continuing to work. The crop that continued to produce the most was, as one might say, rice, and although not in sufficient quantities to be distributed throughout the country, it was enough to act as a stimulus.

The economy is still exhausted and will never fully recover. However, the number of people who change their minds and move for the sake of survival will gradually increase.

Speaking of increase, the two militaries, which continue to interact with each other off the connection area between Japan and the Foreign Land, were gradually increasing their vocabulary. The Illyharans learned the Japanese language and the Japanese learned Martani, the language of the Foreign Land, so that they could speak without difficulty.

Due to distance and fuel problems, the exchange was moved from the promised lake to a location halfway between the Rassalon flying base and the Suda Garrison, which had come for surveillance purposes, and the exchange took place between 09:00 and 17:00, even though this was not agreed upon by the Japanese side.

And what do Japan and Illyharan talk about and study the language, the cultural aspects that are a staple in foreign conversations?

"So... does... the Illyharans... catch... big animals... and eat them?"

"There are... animals... for... livestock... but... we... try... to eat... big animals... too..."

Basically, the Japanese speak in the Japanese language, and the Illyharan side speaks in Martani, a variant of the local language, but they occasionally speak in each other's language to try to answer each other's questions and make sure they are not mistaken.

The Illyharans' OK sign seemed to be a slight waving of the index and middle fingers, and Haguma, who is sitting on a stepladder with a cushion on it, makes that gesture to let them know there is no problem, and conversely, Ruyle, the person with whom he was speaking, also communicated with the OK sign of making a circle with her index finger and thumb's points pressed to each other.

The conversation was about food habits, and they were talking about large animals in the circular mountains which the Japanese would like to get their hands on if possible.

No matter how much they are trying to resume distribution, mainly food-related, there is no way to revive it without a source. So they asked if it would be possible to hunt huge animals that could feed tens of thousands of people with just one of them, like whale meat used to be. The Illyharan side was positive and said that apart from mushrooms, which are their staple food, they also hunt livestock animals and large animals.

"Then... can Japan... catch... and eat... them too? Japan... needs... food."

Of course, in order to eat them, they must be quarantined, but the food problem is becoming more serious by the day. It is hard to process and transport huge aquatic animals like that, but the rewards are well worth it.

The question is whether anti-whaling animal protection groups will emerge. The truth is that Japan's whaling program is intended to eliminate the overabundance of whales by whaling so that the number of fish to feed on them will not decrease too much.