Shiba Amame

Shiba Amame (司馬 雨女) was a Chiseian military officer and who ruled the country from 1947 to 1962, first as Tairō of the Council of Elders and then for two terms as the first elected postwar Chancellor of Chisei. This period saw the transition of Chisei from military rule to civilian democracy, and the gradual recovery of the country from the destruction of the Second Escar-Varunan War.

Shiba entered the army as a young woman, studying at Takagashiru Royal Military College and finally enlisting in 1920. She was eventually promoted to the Royal Guard Regiment, and saw action during both the First Escar-Varunan War and on the loyalist side in the brief civil war that followed. She was demoted shortly before the outbreak of the second war, but quickly rose back through the ranks. In 1942, she emerged as a leading officer of the Royal Army, and was promoted to the rank of Marshal General, commanding the Royal Army of the North on the northern front of the Chiseian theatre.

In 1947 she would seize power over the junta, aided by young admiral Toshinori Mitsunaga, becoming the Chairwoman of the Council of Elders. Under pressure from both the monarchy and popular discontent, she eventually called elections for a constitutional commission, and spearheaded the drafting of the Third Grand Law and the gradual restoration of civilian rule in Chisei. Her popular image as a defender of Chiseian democracy aided in the victory of her newly founded Royalist Party in the 1954 general election, allowing her to transition to a role as an civilian leader.

Early life and education
Amame was born on October 8 1898 to a minor aristocratic family in Tayachi, but grew up primarily in Eito in the uptown district of Kanachō, Agarimorimichi (renamed Shibachō in 1968 in her honour). She attended Byakkomon Royal Academy, a private highschool, from 1911 to 1915 and recieved private tutoring to prepare her for the Kwako exam. However, she proved to be a poor student, and made a reputation for herself as a delinquent and starter of fights.

At 17 she was expelled from the academy, and after failing to pass the entrance exam for the Eito Kyūgakkō in 1916 her family decided to marry her to Tan Fujinaga, a minor official in the Royal Household ministry 5 years her senior. Neither Shiba nor Tan were particularly fond of the marriage, and both had their own affairs, though they would have a single son together, Tan Setaichi. Shiba eventually fell in with a clique of female officers in the capital, and was soon persuaded to take the Military Service Exam. She was unexpectedly successful, and tested into the Officer Track at Takagashiru Royal Military College in 1917.

While in her second year at the RMC, the First Escar-Varunan War broke out, and her studies were accelerated. She graduated in 1918.