Japan

Japan (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon), also known as the "land of the rising sun," is an island nation located within Asia, off the coast of China. It is a monarchy and the sole remaining country to retain the head of state title of "emperor." Mercenary and survival master Kazuhira Miller was born in Japan, and was a former member of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. The lab assistant of Para-Medic, a.k.a. Dr. Clark, was Japanese, and served as egg donor for the project Les Enfants Terribles. Dr. Clark and Colonel Volgin were Japanophiles, and Hal Emmerich was a fan of the country's animes.

Japan's first encounter of the outside world barring Asia was when some Dutch traders supplied weapons and items in exchange for learning their culture in trade. One of these items was the Tanegashima musket rifle, although it was also given to another region of Japan by mistake due to navigational errors, originally intending to be shipped to Okinawa. During the 1930s, Japan attempted to invade China, and later got involved in World War II after bombing Pearl Harbor, siding with the Axis powers of Nazi Germany and Italy. By the time the Allied forces got to Japan in the Pacific theater, they started firebombing Tokyo, leaving several buildings either destroyed or heavily damaged. Shortly thereafter, Nagasaki and Hiroshima were hit with nuclear bombs Littleboy and Fatman, respectively. Japan was then occupied by the allied forces, with some Japanese women also sometimes surviving by servicing the troops via prostitution. After the war, Okinawa served as a major U.S. port with cooperation with the Japanese government, although there are some protests by the Okinawans, often leading to some revisions. In addition, Japan created the three nuclear principles, and was under the nuclear umbrella during the Cold War, being of strategic importance to America and the West due to its close proximity to the Soviet Union. In addition, Che Guevara also visited Japan as part of an economic delegation after the Cuban Revolution was won, and briefly visited Hiroshima, and was devastated at what happened at the location.

Behind the scenes
Japan is the country of origin of the Metal Gear video game series, produced by Konami and its subsidiary Kojima Productions.

In Snake's Revenge, one of Metal Gear 2's targets was to be Tokyo, Japan.