A sea of Oriental faces; the musical Japanese language; the men in Western dress, the women in the traditional kimono and sash-like obi; the constant click-clack of wooden sandals; the signs and banners in idiographic Sino-Japanese writing - these are sensory impressions that stand out to newly-arrived visitors who have reached the "Land of the Rising Sun" in 1930s. Japan prior to World War II was very different from the Japan we know today. In this and the following chapters, we'll take a look at the facts and feel of Japan in the World of Indiana Jones. Note: Keep in mind that this section deals with Japan in the '30s, and not as it is today. For that reason, much of what is stated as fact here no longer applies in the 1990s.
Before characters can adventure in Japan, they have to get there, which means a trip by plane or boat.
Sea Voyages: The usual means of reaching Japan was by a commercial vessel. After 1940, U.S. trade sanctions and World War II effectively ended commercial sea travel to Japan. A trip on a fast ocean liner from San Francisco to Japan will take 10 days (and cost about $1500); a trip on a tramp steamer will take 20 days (and cost $700). Characters leaving from New York will find the trip takes twice as long and costs twice as much. Traveling from Hong Kong or Shanghai over to Japan is far easier -- it takes a little under a day and costs about $40.
Air Travel: Commercial flights across the Pacific became available after 1934. Travellers can take a flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong by a Pan-Am flying boat (stopping in Hawaii and Manila), then try to charter a flight to Japan or cross by ferry. Before 1934 or after 1940, the only way to fly in is to find a pilot willing to accept the charter. After 1940, this will be almost impossible, since Japan is at war.
Passports and Customs: Upon entering a Japanese port, squads of uniformed customs officials will board the ship. The thoroughness of customs and passport checks vary by the officials' mood -- sometimes they are a mere formality, but after 1930, they become increasingly stringent. A visitor's books and magazines are scrutinezed and any books that might promote "dangerous thought" (Communist or Socialist ideas) are confiscated.
Currency: The Japanese unit of currency is the yen (similar to a dollar) and the small sen (similar to a cent). The exchange rate fluctuates quite a bit, but for simplicity's sake, assume one yen is just about equal to 50 cents.
Japan (or Nippon, to use the Japanese name for their nation, meaning "Land of the Rising Sun") is a group of islands just off the coast of Asia. The largest and most populous of the Japanese islands is the crescent-shaped island of Honshu, which is about 1600 kilometers long and 120 kilometers wide, with a population of 40 million. Most of Japan's people and the nation's largest cities, such as Tokyo and Kyoto, are located on Honshu.
Two long chains of mountains cut Honshu lengthwise. Among the mountains, especially in the north, are many volcanoes, the most famous of which is the extinct Mount Fuji. At its nearest point, Honshu is only 160 kilometers from Korea.
The next largest island is Hokkaido. It's about a third of the size of Honshu, but is very sparsely populated; much of it is wilderness, with a cold climate. It's the part of Japan nearest the Soviet Union, only some 402 kilometers away. Hokkaido has a mixed population of Japanese and Ainu; the latter are the original Caucasian natives of Japan, and are similar in many ways to Inuit or Native Americans.
The other two main islands are Shikoku and Kyushu. They're separated from each other and from Honshu by a narrow (about 56 kilometer) island-dotted strait called the Inland Sea. Both are heavily populated. Kyushu is notable for having very active volcanoes. Some of the islands in the Inland Sea are dotted with small fishing or farming villages; others are merely rocks. A few boast ruined castles that were once used by pirates.
Larger island chains run north and south of the main islands. The most important group is the Ryukyu islands, which are south of Shikoku and Kyushu. The largest is Okinawa, which is famour as the home of the martial arts discipline karate. The Okinawans and other islanders have been under Japanese domination for centuries by this point. They are similar racially but distinct ethnically from the Japanese. During the '30s, the Japanese were making an effort to culturally assimilate the Okinawans; while there is some social stigma attached to being an Okinawan, they are considered Japanese, unlike (for instance) Koreans or Ainu.
The southernmost Ryukyu (the Yaeyama chain) have a tropical climate. In particular, Iriomote island, at this time, consisted of thick jungle with poisonous snakes and wildcats in abundance. Many of the other Ryukyu and Yaeyama islands were sparsely inhabited with only a few small towns, but still could claim Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples dating to the 17th century.
The Kurile islands are to the north of Hokkaido, and are cold and volcanic, with only a few scattered villages, shrines and temples. They are very close to the Soviet Union, and might have air strips or naval anchorages as part of their decor.
There are thousands of other islands as well, some populated, some mere rocks or desert isles. In feudal Japan, important people (such as deposed members of the Imperial family) were exiled to these islands. If the gamemaster needs an isolated, sub-tropical island on which to place a secret military base, a lost Buddhist temple or whatever, there are plenty to choose from.
The climate is hot in summer, with wet snow and grey skies in the winter; in the mountains and arctic, while the southernmost islands are tropical. In central Japan, the late fall is most pleasant. The rainy season is in June, when it pours constantly. Late summer sometimes brings powerful typhoons, which can devastate coastal regions.
Travellers planning wilderness trips might need anything from tropical clothing and mosquito nets to parkas, depending on what part of Japan they plan to visit. Handguns, shotguns and rifles are nearly unobtainable outside of military service. Characters bringing a gun should also bring ammunition: the calibers used by the Japanese Army are not the same as those used in the West. The police will be unhappy to discover a gun in a Westerner's effects, but unless it was used in a crime, they will usually confiscate it rather than make an arrest.
(One thing a visitor won't need is a toothbrush. In the 1930's, Japan makes most of the world's supply.)
Japan's population was estimated at 68,950,000 in 1935, with a density of 185 per square kilometer, making it the fourth most densely-populated nation in the world. Crowding is greatest in Honshu, especially around the urban centers of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Nakoya. The most lightly populated regions are Hokkaido, and the smaller islands, many of which have no inhabitatns at all.
Forests occupy about half of Japan's land area, with more species of tree than in the United States. Pines are most common, but oaks, cypress, willow, orange, poplars, firs, cedars and many others can all be found in Japan. The most important crops are rice, silk and tea, followed by sugar cane, mulberry, tobacco, beans, potatoes, pumpkins and turnips.
Japan is host to only a few species of wild mammals: foxes, black bears, monkeys and a few wolves. Cats and dogs are the most common domestic animals, although neither is as popular as in the West. The only poisonous native creature is the habu snake, found in the southern islands.
There are dozens of active, smoking volcanoes in Japan. Although no major eruptions occurred in the '30s, many of the more active cones regularly emitted clouds of hot ash. Among the most volatile are Usu-zan in Hokkaido and Aso and Sokuraimo in Kyushu. Temples are often situated on mountainsides, and eruptions have been known to parially or fully bury them under ash. The excavation of a long-buried shrine or temple may lead into an adventure -- and the rim of an active volcano is a good place for a showdown with an arch-villain.
The Japanese countryside is a patchwork of green rice fields, dotted by the grey-tiled roofs of villages interspersed with Shinto and Buddhist temples. The major landmarks are mountains, many of which are covered with majestic pine forests. The long coastline is dotted with small fishing villages, supplying a vital part of the nation's food. Except in very isolated areas, such as northernmost Hokkaido, railway tracks, roads and telegraph lines connect most towns and villages.
From 1880 to 1930, many farmers moved to the cities to become tradesmen and laborers. Life for the remainder is a hard, hand-to-mouth existence. Most of the cropland is owned by a few rich landlords, who charge exorbitant rents while offering little return. Often a family is so poor that it will arrange to sell their daughter's contract to a factory or brothel, selling her into a form of debt-slavery in order to raise money. Land reform is much talked about but never enacted, since the landlords are a powerful bloc in the government. But there are still enough farmers left that Japan is (barely) self-sufficient agriculturally.
Japan's urban population had been rapidly growing as more and more people left the impoverished countryside and flocked to the cities in search of employment. As of 1935, the urban population was estimated at 12,619,000 out of 73 million.
The big cities are usually on the coast. They have grown up haphazardly, and lack the regular square grid or ring road plans of American towns, nor have they the great edifices of stone or marble or wide public boulevards of Europe. Even the commercial office blocks are only a few stories high, although the occasional pagoda-like structure of a larger shrine or temple adds a certain grandeur. Downtown streets are graced by fluttering red and white kanji banners bearing advertisements or government announcements.
The commercial core of a Japanese city of the '30s is just as crowded as those anywhere else in the world, but the crowds are very well behaved, with little rudeness, pushing or shoving. Outside of Tokyo, there are few cars, but, as in China, bicycles and push-carts are everywhere. The junsa (city police) are everywhere too, standing in small glass police-boxes to direct traffic or answer questions.
Japan sometimes seems to be a nation of shopkeepers and small businessmen, at least if you stay in Tokyo and other big cities, where perhaps one address in four is a shop. The newer department stores have glass windows and concrete floors with goods displayed for the customer to select. But these are still in the minority. A typical shop is a small family business that doubles as a dwelling. A customer doesn't select goods himself. Instead, he indicates what he wants, then sits and chats with the storekeeper and other customers while the shop boys, usually the owner's sons or nephews, find the items for him.
By day, the streets and businesses of a large town are relatively quiet, but as evening progresses, they become livelier. The downtown transforms into a bazaar, with petty tradesmen wheeling out pushcarts or spreading cloths to display their wares in front of their shops. Everything from rice cakes and straw sandals to exotic curios and antiques can be found here. Flower sellers are everywhere, adding a welcome splash of color to the drab streets. Stalls and shops often remain open until midnight.
A residential district is very different. There you will find high wooden fences concealing low-built houses and their tiny gardens. It is here, with narrow streets, overhanging roofs and the lingering odors of Oriental cooking that any illusions of being in a Western town are dispelled. Larger cities also have their slum areas, containing barracks-like housing for factory workers.
Locating a particular house or business within a Japanese city can be very difficult. Street names and addresses aren't used, and most streets aren't named. Cities are divided into ku (wards), cho (subdivisions of wards) and chome (an area of a few blocks). Individual buildings within a block are numbered seemingly at random, for the oldest buildings were usually assigned the earliest numbers. The system is confusing and the best way to get where you're going is to stop at a police box and ask for directions.
Only big cities like Tokyo and Osaka have modern waterworks and sewage systems at this time. But there is abundant electrical power, thanks to the suitability of Japan's mountain streams for hydroelectric dams. The age of gas lighting passed quickly in Japan, and by 1935 most of urban Japan is lit solely by electrical power.