Wa

Wa was an island nation in Kara-Tur.

Geography
Wa and neighboring Kozakura occupied a chain of of islands that broke off from the mountainous peninsula east of the Ama Basin. Wa was made up of several islands. The largest and most populated island was known as Tsukishima, composed of towering but extinct volcanoes and fertile lowlands. Uwaji, the capital, sat on the east coast. Shidekima, the second largest island, was dominated by vast dry plains, which was mostly unsuitable for farming. To the north of Tsukishima were the islands of Paikai and Machukara, which were little populated. Paikai comprised a cluster of islands covered with rugged mountains and stretches of gravel and volcanic ash. Machukara was a land of dense uncharted forests and was the northernmost region of Wa.

The rest of Wa was known as the Outer Isles, comprising dozens of charted and hundreds of uncharted islands. Charted islands included the Isle of Devils, the Isle of One Thousand Pines, the Isle of the Gloomy Temple, the Isle of the Black Tree, the Isle of No Mosquitoes, the Isle of Immortality, the Isle of the Long Legged and Long Armed, the Isle of Gargantuas, the Isle of Poison, and the Isle of Pearls.

Climate
The ocean currents of the Celestial Sea were relatively warm, which led to mild temperatures on the islands of Wa.

Government
Wa was a feudal military dictatorship with an honorary emperor who held little power. Real power was in the hands of the shogun, the supreme military leader, who ruled over a group of daimyos. Each daimyo, in turn, controlled a fiefdom, and they had ultimate control over the laws of their fiefs and over the people living there. The shogun had the power to give or remove land and the power to establish or expel daimyos from power but rarely became involved in such matters unless to protect the power of the shogun's family. In turn, the daimyos were sworn to provide soldiers for the shogun's army.

The shogun of Wa was always chosen from the Hidetomi clan.

Society
The role of the samurai was greatly praised in the nation of Wa, more so than in many other Kara-Turran lands. Every daimyo possessed a house of loyal samurai who were paid in rice. The samurai and daimyo were members of the class of lords.

Other social classes in Wa included the merchants, the craftsmem, and the peasants. Members of different social classes did not mix and were even housed within different wards of Wa cities.

Wa maintained a rigid borders and strictly controlled travel into and out of the country.

The laws in the nation of Wa were far more rigid than those found in neighboring Kozakura, and the social institutions were more complex. Ethically and religiously, the two nations were very similar in outlook.

Language
The people of Wa and Kozakura spoke essentially the same language but different dialects. The dialect of Wa was known as Wa-an, and was about 65% comprehensible by speakers of the Kozakuran dialect.

Inhabitants
The people living on Wa were ethnically distinct from those living on the mainland of Kara-Tur.

History
Much of the history of the nation of Wa was shared with Kozakura.

Background
Like Kozakura, Wa is modeled after Japan, but during the Tokugawa Period. Additionally, "Wa" is the oldest recorded name for Japan.