State Flag of Japan (I&B4) by @Thorvald (El Thorvaldo)

The Empire of Japan was JohannaK's country in Iron and Blood 4. Premised on Tokugawa Ieyasu dying during the invasion of Korea and the Toyotomi clan remaining Imperial Regents, the resulting régime did not adopt the historical policy of closed borders, resulting in early adoption of Western technologies and Japan's rise as the foremost power in Asia by the game's 1931 start date. Nominally an absolute monarchy, inter-clan politics and two subsequent rebellions put practical control of the country in what became a permanent regency council that by the 20th Century was dominated by Zaibatsu chairmen, resulting in corporate interests leading Japanese foreign policy by the nose.

I&B4 was notable for encouraging use of the IOT Wiki as the primary repository for country backstories, and Japan's history specifically was one of the most thoroughly-developed and detailed this side of an AH.com timeline. My last great project before the community's collapse was to reorganize the absolutely massive article into dedicated subpages Wikipedia-style.

SVG remake of Johanna's original raster, uploaded to the wiki in 2019. Adapted from the war flag of Imperial Japan with the Imperial Seal.

RELATED FLAGS
Council of Regency | Reunion of Daimyō
Army | Navy | Air Force
Nippon | Korea | Taiwan | Kitaezo | Manchukuo | Hawaiʻi

Download submitted to DeviantArt October 2022; alternative download available via Patreon.