The Making of Hawaii's Story: A Behind The Scenes Look With Angel

Japan & Hawai'i's Relationship [Part 1: Empire Of Japan]

Notes:

- This is used for my universe. I am not saying this is the holy truth and needs to be followed completely or even at all. I have seen such interesting things in this fandom that make me super excited and I will never say "THIS IS THE RIGHT WAY" to do this. Y'all have fun, this fandom has no canon! I just really adore the way I have developed this relationship so so so much.

- I do borrow a lot of headcanons, including those related to martial law and such, from WeirdestArrow on Wattpad and Tumblr. If you do not know them, CHECK THEM OUT, THEY ARE SO COOL.

- For Part 1 of this ramble, I am using the plain form of "Japan" to refer to the Empire of Japan (which existed from 1868-1947) in this description, as a way to maximise flow of writing. "Modern Japan" will refer to the personification representing Japan (1947-1868).

- Another thing: I will never condone or romanticise the horrible actions taken by the Japanese Empire before and during World War 2. Period. However, just as the people who were involved in those deplorable actions are still human, there will be a very human approach taken to this.

- While the Japanese Empire could have been diagnosed in the modern day as having a mental illness (very possibly BPD), I won't be using it as an excuse for her actions nor will I say that this represents everyone with BPD or even most people with BPD. Horrible mental health does wonders for your health and the health of those around you!

- Do not be afraid to comment on anything and ask more questions. It took me weeks to write this, and I still have so much to say.

Early Years

The Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Hawai'i met in 1870, two years after the original Gannenmono, or "first year people" arrived in Honolulu Harbor. They were so called this because they arrived in the first year of the Meiji Restoration, and as consequence, the first year of the Empire of Japan's life.

Hawai'i found she liked Japan from the start. She hadn't met very many non-white nations yet, and she admired the stoic and very "graceful and meek" Japan. It was a specific level of femininity that was still professional and still respectable, a topic Hawaiʻi had been struggling with for quite a while at that point. She had also been told she needed to make more friends with female nations, due to her "masculine behaviour". (This is another topic I can delve into later on. :))

In reality, Japan was really anything but meek, but she found if she played into the (downright racist) ideal of a docile Asian woman, she could very easily gain knowledge from unsuspecting foreigners. All she needed to do was smile a thin, faint ghost of a smile, and nod her head and ask questions she knew the answers to, and she would be told things that she could use later on. She played the long game and was patient to learn things.

Japan's mental health was not something she was equipped to deal with properly, and her issues with that was something she was born with. She quickly learned that she could be thrown into moments of extreme highs and lows, and she hated it. She would force herself into a neutral state, and Japan mentally would immediately assess whether someone was "good" or "bad" in her mind, based on experiences with them. It would be very hard to change what Japan saw a person as.

So when she met the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, to which some of her people had illegally fled to, she was more than a little curious as to why, and it shaped how she saw Hawaiʻi. She hadn't expected Hawaiʻi to be so welcoming and excited to meet her. And due to Hawaiʻi saying a few choice nice things and being a good host, she was assigned as a "good" person.

For Hawaiʻi, the thin smile and neutral expressions and very quiet demeanour intrigued her greatly, and she was always one to want to know why. So Hawaiʻi, with her (slightly toxic) positivity, wanted to see what a real smile from her new companion looked like, and made it her goal. Within a few years, Hawaiʻi gained that goal, and was very excited for the next chapter of their relationship.