Jizue Isles (WIP)

From LEpedia, the Lands End online encyclopedia.

Jizue Isles, officially the Kingdom of Jizues Isles, is a sovereign state with several islands and isles to the west of the Crepescula Continent. The combined area of the country's territories has increased by ten percent since the country's formation as a result of extensive land reclamation projects.

The Jizue Isles is a unitary, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The current emperor, Genji Wanli, has reigned since the formation of the country. Although, Jizuans have extensive civil rights and liberties protection and election are fair and free, Jizue Isles is widely considered to be an illiberal democracy due to weak civilian government control over the running of the country, recent political instability, and the rise of populist and militaristic movements that undermine the liberal foundation of the country.

After early years of turbulence, Jizue Isles rapidly developed its economy based on external trade to become a highly developed country. A global leader in frontier tech, Jizue Isles has made significant contributions to science and technology. Jizues Isles' Capital, New Takeda, is a global city with a well-developed financial and shipping hub and is identified as a tax haven. Jizue Isles is one of the world largest creditor nations where it holds a considerable large foreign-exchange reserve. Jizue Isles generally runs a annual annual trade surplus and has a considerable net international investment surplus. Jizue Isles is placed highly in key social indicators: education, healthcare, quality of life, personal safety, and housing. However, in recent years, Jizue Isles highly developed free-market economy weaken due to an asset price bubble collapse that lead to a period of economic stagnation and high income inequality. Currently, Jizue Isles Central Bank is carrying out quantitative easing policies in an attempt to encourage economic growth.

With a multicultural and mutliethnic population, the Jizue Isles government officially recognize the need for different cultural and racial identities to coexist in a harmonious society. Jizue Isles has two official language English and Jizuanese where English is the lingua franca of the country and Jizuanese is an agglomeration of multiple Austroasiatic languages and the Roman script. Civic Nationalism and Color-Blindness ideals are enshrined in the constitution and continues to shape national policies in education, civic planning, and politics.

Etymology

---

Stuff

History

---

Section 1
Pirate Lords of the Sea
Refugee of upper class leading to growth
Migration due to hostility

Section 2
encounter with natives
Assimilation of cultures (adopting fedualism)

Section 3
revolt (peasant and religion)
Central government collapse
Rebellion
Declare new country

Geography

---

Climate
Due to the varied and diverse range of topographies present in Jizue Isles, the climate of Jizue Isles often varies significantly over short geographical distances, resulting in microclimates. As such, New Takeda, the capital of Jizue Isles, is one of the cloudiest regions of the Jizue Isles, caused by frequent storms and lows moving in from the adjacent Forsian Sea. With many more rainy days than any part of Jizue Isles, New Takeda has a reputation for frequent rain, where on an average year, at least 0.25 mm of precipitation falls on 100 days. However, given that most of the rainfall in New Takeda is in the form of a light drizzle, New Takeda is not the wettest region of the Jizue Isles. The city has a mild climate year-round, with an average of 200 days above 25 °C and moderate rainfall (750–1000 mm annually).

In contrast, Taejin has a humid subtropical climate, with four distinct seasons: cold, damp season from January to February, hot, humid season from March to June, hot, rainy season from June to September, and cold, dry season from September to December. The four seasons of Taejin are caused by annual monsoon patterns, and in recent years climate change caused the weather to be more unpredictable. Annual temperatures range from a low of 7 °C to 30 a high of °C, and the varied terrain area has high rainfall (1000 – 1270 mm annually). Precipitation tends to be greater in higher elevation areas, receiving upwards to 1500 mm annually, but tends to be colder, from a low of 5 °C to a high of 25 °C.

The climate of Hai Shui is recognized to have one of the world's best climates and is classified as either a semi-arid climate or a Mediterranean climate. Hai Shui’s climate is characterized by warm, dry summers and mild winters, with most of the annual precipitation falling between January and February. The months of May through October tends to be almost completely dry. Temperature extremes are moderated by the Forsian Sea, therefore extreme heat waves and cold snaps are rare in Hai Shui. The coastal area has a mild climate year-round, with an average of 250 days above 25 °C and low rainfall (200 – 300 mm annually).

Environment
Stuff

Wildlife and Conservation
Stuff

Demographics

---

Population
Stuff

Language
Stuff

Religion
Stuff

Health
Stuff

Education
Education in Jizue Isles is chiefly supported and funded by the state from the primary to the tertiary level. English is the language of instruction in all public schools, and all subjects are taught and examined in English, except either Jizuanese or “Mother Tongue” second language subject. Primary and secondary level is compulsory for all students. There are private and international schools for all Jizue Isles levels, but must be registered with the Jizuan Ministry of Education and are subject to public auditing. Jizue Isles is well known for adhering to the Xunian ideal of advancing one’s socioeconomic place in society. The Xunian model has led the government of Jizue Isles to invest heavily into the education system, which combined with the cultural emphasis on education, is widely credited with catapulting a resource-poor nation to the top tier of global education rankings.

Jizuan citizens have access to publicly subsidized early childhood education such as daycare-nursery and preschool that focus on fostering learning and curiosity, until the age of 6, which is the typical age entering primary school. At the primary level, students have a total of six years of schooling, where for the first five years, the curriculum focus on developing the foundation for English and second language fluency, math and science competency, familiarity with Jizuan history, and other subjects such as art and craft, music, and physical education. During the sixth year of primary level, students are generally preparing for the end of the year Secondary School Selection Examination, whose scores determine the secondary schools that exiting primary students can select their top choice. A select few public primary schools are specifically for identified gifted and talented students, typically the top 1% of the primary school pupils. These schools, known as Magnet Schools, aim to develop gifted children's potential and emphasize critical thinking and creative thought.

For the secondary level, students take three main tracks as determined by their score on the Secondary School Selection Examination: Accelerated, General, and Vocational. At each secondary level track, students usually have five years of schooling. The Vocational track is geared toward students best suited for technical subjects such as maritime pilots, nurses, fiber optics technicians, and others. Vocational students in the last year of secondary level have the option of taking the Technical Assessment Battery, which determines entrance to the Institute of Technical Education. The general track is the standard track for students and closely follows the primary curriculum framework but is more specialized, at a higher level, and requires students to undertake at least one extra-curricular activity. Usually, following satisfactory progress in their coursework, General and Accelerated students take the Secondary Learning Assessment Test during their last year of secondary level for entrance to either Junior Preparatory Colleges or direct admission to universities. The curriculum framework of the Accelerated track is similar to the General track, but Accelerated students must continue their second language education, choose a specialized subject path of their choosing, and attend weekly tutor sessions. The academic standard for the Accelerated track is known to be high, as the Accelerated track typically caters to the top 15% of the secondary level academic ability. Furthermore, a select few Accelerated secondary schools, known as Integrated Program schools, have certain degrees of freedom in their curriculum and allow their students to skip the Secondary Learning Assessment Test to instead take classes at their respective partner university, usually during the last two years of secondary school.

At the tertiary level, Jizue Isles has a diverse and tier style system, which consists of the Institute of Technical Education, Junior Preparatory College, and University. Institutes of Technical Education offers their students skilled trade apprenticeships, professional certificates, and diploma for skilled technicians and support roles. A select few Institute of Technical Education students, upon graduation, continue their education at polytechnic Universities. Junior Preparatory Colleges generally prepare their students for university entrance exams in a two-year program and issue a diploma for their graduates. The university system in Jizue Isles is diverse, such as research universities, autonomous universities, professional universities, and polytechnic universities. Jizuan's universities typically have undergraduate schools and graduate schools. Internationally, Jizuan universities, especially research and certain autonomous universities, are ranked highly globally.

The Jizuan education system is praised for having its students excel in many of the world education benchmarks, its major role in accelerating Jizue Isles’ economic development by creating one of the world's most highly educated workforces, and for having a high proportion of its population holding a tertiary education. However, Jizuan educational system has been criticized for placing excessive pressure on students and fostering regional educational imbalance where wealthy urban center students vastly outperformed rural counterparts. Currently, the Jizuan Ministry of Education is carrying out Nordic education model test pilots in Magnet and Integrated Program schools to see if this model is successful in tackling present issues in the education system.

Politics

---

Jizue Isles is a unitary constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government, where the Emperor of Jizue Isles is the head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government since 1955. Officially the role of the Emperor is ceremonial, such as attending official functions and formally appointing the Prime Minister and ministers of the executive government. Accordingly, the Emperor is the supreme commander of the Jizuan Armed Forces and serves as the chief diplomatic official abroad as a symbol of unity for the people. However, increasingly, the Imperial House has attempted to meddle in politics and has an impact on electoral outcomes. The Imperial House has moved from a passive role such as granting peerages or otherwise influencing politicians and now attempts to have their preferred candidates elected. Genji Wanli of the House of Qian-Ang-Kwon-Takahashi is the first reigning Emperor since the country's formation. Jaeju, Crown Prince of Jizue Isles, is the legal and rightful heir to the throne and the Kingdom.

The position of Prime Minister, Jizue Isles’ head of government, is allocated to the member of Parliament who can obtain the confidence of a majority in Parliament, usually the compromise candidate of a coalition of parties. A single party generally does not have sufficient political power in terms of the number of seats to form a government on its own. Jizue Isles has been ruled by grand coalition governments since the country’s formation.

The Prime Minister exercises executive powers. The Prime Minister nominates cabinet members, usually drawn from members of the same political party or the parties making up the grand coalition government. The Prime Minister organizes the executive cabinet and exercises its power as vested by the Constitution.

Through the Privy Council of Jizue Isles, a body that advised the Emperor and which the Emperor presides over, the Prime Minister and the cabinet meet at the Imperial Palace and formally consult the Emperor. All government bills need formal approval by the Emperor before and after their introduction to Parliament. Although, in principle, all government and parliamentary acts are decided beforehand, the privy council functions as a symbolic gesture the king retains. The Privy Council consists of the Emperor, a non-voting chairman, and twelve councilors who are usually drawn from the leading heads of nobility houses. As an organ of the Imperial House, the Privy Council is empowered to deliberate on any matters upon which the Emperor desired an opinion.

The unicameral Parliament of Jizue Isles ratifies the international treaties proposed by the executive branch. It can impeach members of the cabinets and the Prime Minister if their acts are declared unconstitutional and possess the power to removed impeached suspects from office. It possesses legislation powers where it can be initiated bills by members of Parliament and be voted on. 85 Members of Parliament are directly elected based on closed, party-list proportional representation, and an additional ten seats are appointed by Jizue Isles Trade Association, The Armed Forces, and the Imperial House, respectively 4, 1, and 5. Elections are held every five years, or sooner in the case of a snap election where the governing coalition falls apart or when a recall referendum is held (20% of eligible voters' signatures are required to trigger a recall referendum).

As per The New Takeda Protocol of 1955, Jizue Isles Trade Association, a loose pro-business parliamentary group, elects four of its members to Parliament to represent the business interest of the country. The Armed Forces have one appointed parliament member where the parliament member position is held by one military branch head in turn for five years, following the alphabetical order of the branches’ names. The Imperial House has four appointed parliament members, which are selected by the Privy Council of Jizue Isles after the Emperor officially approves the Privy Council’s selection.

Jizue Isles uses a civil law system where laws are created and amended in Parliament and are regulated through the hierarchal court system of Jizue Isles. It consists of the Supreme Court, Appellate Court, and District Court. The Supreme Court generally will only hear cases that may become precedent. In special cases, special courts are established temporarily, which will hear a narrower set of cases as set down by legislation. The judiciary is independent of the executive and legislative branches. While the Prime Minister nominates the sixteen permanent judges for office, their nomination must be approved by Parliament and formally confirmed by the Emperor in the Privy Council. Usually, judges attached to the lower courts are elected directly.

Political Divisions
Stuff

Parties and Elections
No single party has held a majority in parliament since the country’s formation, and as a result, coalition governments had to be formed. Since the 1st election in 1955, the Jizuan political system has been dominated by three main factions: the Social Democrats (the Progressive Party and Labor Party), the Paternalistic Conservative (the Constitutional Civic Party, The Liberal Party, and Republican Party), and the Reactionary (the People Party and Loyalist Party).

These parties co-run the government in coalition cabinets in which the Constitutional Civic Party is almost always been a partner: so, either a center-left coalition of The Progressive Party, Labor Party, and Constitutional Civic Party or a center-right coalition of Constitutional Civic Party, The Liberal Party, and Republican Party. In recent years, however, the party system has become volatile as the reactionary parties made inroads at the cost of the Paternalistic Conservative parties, which could signal a possible political realignment of the political establishment of Jizue Isles.

As of the article's publishing date, all seven civilian political parties have received enough votes to gain seats in Parliament for the entire duration of the country’s existence. The Constitutional Civic Party has played a leading role in Jizuan politics since 1955 despite not winning an outright majority in any election due to its position as a kingmaker. Only in two general elections has the Constitutional Civic Party not been part of the governing coalition.

In the 2nd general election, the Labor Party and Progressive Party, as part of an agreed pact with the Constitutional Civic Party, formed a government for the 1st time. The result of the election sparked a constitutional crisis when Emperor Wanli at first refused to formally appoint the incoming Labor Prime Minister, but the intervention of the Republican Party leader led to Parliament nominating Wakatsuki Xishan, the leader of the Constitutional Civic Party, to the Prime Minister office, and the Emperor formally appoint Xishan as Prime Minister, ending the crisis. The cabinet initiated a series of reforms that came to be known as Prosperous Society Vision, which implements a social welfare system, modernizes Jizue Isles’ economy, and promotes national civic unity.

In the __ general election, The People Party and Loyalist Party with the Liberal Party formed a government for the 1st time due to the Great Panic of __, which was followed by a wave of political assassinations and social unrest in Jizue Isle. The cabinet initiated an ambitious series of programs that cut taxation, downsized the welfare state, established a hardline immigration policy, and increased funding for the military and security forces.

The Labor Party, Progressive Party, and Constitutional Civic Party won a parliamentary majority in the most recent general election following a snap election initiated by the first successful recall referendum in Jizue Isles’ history in response to the New Takeda Stock Exchange Bombing and worsening wealth inequality.

Election turnout in Jizue Isles has hovered above an average of 70-80% since the country's formation, but in recent years election turnout has declined to 60-70%. Correspondingly, Jizuan civil politicians enjoyed a high degree of confidence from the citizens until recently due to the economic downtown and social unrest and now approaching a downward trend.

Law
Stuff

Foreign Relations
Stuff

Government Finance
Stuff

Military

---

Army
Stuff

Navy
Stuff

Air and Space Force
Stuff

National Guard
Stuff

Law Enforcement and Crime
Stuff

Economy

---

Income, Poverty and Wealth
Stuff

Agriculture
Stuff

Tourism
Stuff

Science and Technology
Stuff

Infrastructure

---

Transportation
Stuff

Energy
Stuff

Telecommunications
Stuff

Culture

---

Literature, Philosophy, and Visual Art
Literature Periods
Classical Period
Satire Period
Expressionist Period
Bohemian Period
Absurd Period

Architecture
Stuff

Cuisine
Jizuan culinary history is one of fusion and is intricately tied to patterns of migration. Jizuan cuisine offers a vast array of ethnic specialties, which are usually of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or Gallic origin, that uses migrant recipes and local ingredients. Gallic agriculture and animal husbandry produced a wide variety of meals for indigenous Gauls. The Sinitic conquest introduced exotic species, steaming techniques, and the concept of food therapy.

Before the country’s formation, cuisines were usually treated as an ethnic construct where ethnic dishes were eaten by the migrant’s descendants who sought to maintain their ties to their country of origin. However, after the country’s formation, street hawkers and restaurateurs experimented with the rich diversity of cuisine, leading to the hybridization of different cuisines, where dishes feature cross-cultural ingredients and cooking styles.

Jizue Isles has a flourishing food scene ranging from hawker centers, grease spoons, bistro, casual, and fine dining restaurants. The hawker centers, a hallmark of Jizue Isles’ culinary heritage, feature a few dozen to hundreds of food stalls that usually serve one or more ethnic dishes. Due to the Jizuan Government sponsored Hino Star initiative, there is an emerging fine dining scene that often has international celebrity chefs, more international-oriented dishes, and a focus on exporting Jizuan culture abroad. The Hino Star also awards Hino stars for excellence to a select few establishments, and as of this article's published date, the guide awarded the most stars to Jizuan restaurants and hotels, albeit the guide inspects more hospitality establishments in Jizue Isles than in any other country.

In recent years, ghost kitchens and food delivery have become more popular, with 45% of residents ordering from delivery apps at least once a month. There is an emerging farm-to-table movement within Jizue Isles, which promotes serving locally inspired dishes made with locally sourced heirloom ingredients at food establishments, most commonly at bistros.

Jizue Isles’ most renowned food products are tea, including Oolong, Green Tea, White Tea, and Yellow Tea, as well as a large variety of soft-ripened cheeses, such as Camembert and Brie.

Music
Stuff

Cinema
Cinema was introduced to Jizue Isles in 1915. The early film production companies were mainly foreign-owned, which disseminated foreign techniques and expertise. Starting in 1928, after many trials and errors, domestic film companies formed and took inspiration from the migrant background of the country and mainly produced martial arts and folklore drama films. Alongside the development of sound-on-film and color technology in the 1930s, a film movement called Humanist focused on class struggle, the common people, and social taboos during a period of social upheaval. Although the Humanist Movement is now recognized as a pivotal milestone in Jizuan's cultural history, most films are considered lost due to crackdowns and purges from the 1940s to 1950s.

During the 1940s and 1950s, government control over Jizue Isles’ cinema reaches its heights under the supervision of Regent Heshen. The film industry was nationalized through the Central Jizuan Motion Pictures Corporation (CJMPC), where only directors deemed ideologically loyal to the Imperial House were allowed to release films, while those who tried to bypass censorship were blacklisted and imprisoned, sometimes even executed by public slow-slicing. Almost all previously produced films were banned, while the CJMPC produced films known as Ritual Self-Cultivation, which aims to reinforce traditional moral values and venerate the Emperor as an ideal model through romantic melodramas, historical films, and fable films.

After Jizue Isles adopted a constitution in 1955, government control over Jizue Isles cinema was relaxed, allowing independent filmmakers to produce films once again and foreign films to be imported into Jizue Isles. During this period, a generation of filmmakers emerged, styled as the Neorealists, where they developed innovative narrative techniques, such as eschewing the traditional plot pyramid or hero’s journey in favor of a nonlinear or realistic pace and focusing on portraying genuine stories of people living in Jizue Isles, where their films explored many of the pressing issues facing Jizuan Society such as ethnic conflict, encroaching industrialization, and national identity.

As Jizue Isles’ economy rapidly grew in the 1970s, Jizuan cinema entered its golden age from the 1970s to the 2000s, where it leaned heavily on advanced special-effects technology and became known for having an eccentric fusion of films genres where often softcore erotic material was found their way into martial arts, gangster, and comedy movie arcs, sometimes in the same film. Jizuan films during this period received significant international attention and successfully established footholds in previously closed-off countries. Alongside the Fusion Movement, there was an alternative cinema movement called New Wave, which focused on making docufiction-style personal and political films that pushed against the confines of mainstream discourse.

In the 2000s, movie studios backed by corporate interest began to dominate the film scene. Films known as Blockbusters emerged and are usually known for their high budget, aggressive ad campaigns, and serial mass market-focused films. During this time, movie studios often buy out independent filmmakers or compete against which often forces them out of the market.

As Jizue Isles entered an economic recession and experienced severe social unrest in the early 2010s, corporate interest scaled back their involvement in the film industry resulting in the number of movies produced and ticket sales to freefall. As a result of social unrest, the Jizue Isles Parliament passed the Peace Preservation Act, which strengthened government control over the media by increasing the latitude of criminal and civil penalties for materials found to incite activities that might endanger national security. Despite the new challenges, several movements have popped up, such as Mobile, where filmmakers shoot scenes using smartphones to capture quick moments, and usage of online streaming services is now widespread.

Sports
Stuff

See Also

---

Lands End Wiki Main Page

Template created by TESDAI. Do not reproduce, in whole or in part, without explicit permission.
Maintained by the Lands End Dispatch Office. All rights reserved.