Okabe Nariakira

Okabe Nariakira (岡部 斉彬; April 10 1894 - August 18 1962) was a Yamataian politician and military officer who was the final Imperial Grand Marshal of Yamatai and the first Prime Minister of Yamatai. He ruled the country as a from 1949 to 1962, a period which saw major changes to Yamataian politics and the Government of Yamatai, gradually transforming the nation from authoritarian military rule into a civilian-led democracy that was able to quickly rejoin the rest of Escar in the post-Second Escar-Varunan War regional order. Okabe built on the work of some of his predecessors and was able to form a lasting peace with the rest of Escar and remove the military government, though his regime was also known for its severe repression, political suppression, and strong anti-collectivist stance.

Okabe was born in Kobayashi to a middle-class business family. He enlisted in the Tokkeitai as an officer in 1918, and eventually rose through the ranks. During the Second Escar-Varunan War, Okabe personally saw combat and was involved with the forced conscription of Chiseian people within the New Territories. After the war, Okabe was able to survive the various power struggles within the upper echelons of the Yamataian military government and was eventually maneuvered into a position from which he was able to take power. Building on the goals of his mentor and former superior, Shimoda Norio, Okabe endeavored to eventually dismantle the military government and build a lasting peace in Escar.

In 1949, Okabe was appointed the Imperial Grand Marshal, and began making various changes to the government such as resuming the privatisation of military-owned businesses and lifting the ban on political parties, though he did enact harsh repression against collectivist and other left-leaning parties and groups. Working with Hagiwara Shoichi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Okabe attempted to repair ties with the rest of the Escaric states that Yamatai had waged war against. During this period, Yamatai joined the anti-collectivist Three Powers Alliance with Chisei and Yeongseon, and committed some forces to fighting in the First Dai Hoa War.

As Imperial Grand Marshal, Okabe slowly dismantled the military government, introducing various civilian-led agencies into the military-controlled ministries and ensuring that the Army and Navy were unable to challenge the coming civilian government by ending various long-standing policies like the Resource Appropriation Law, also encouraging the growth of the major business conglomerates to boost the economy. On 30 June 1955, Okabe dissolved the Imperial High Council and resigned from the military, assuming the civilian position of Prime Minister of Yamatai and forming a new Cabinet of Yamatai on 1 July, allowing civilians to be ministers of state for the first time since 1862. Okabe continued to demilitarise the government, such as by abolishing the Tokkeitai and handing its duties to two civilian agencies.

Okabe nonetheless refused to rescind the State of Emergency Declaration that reserved 45% of seats in the Teikoku Gikai for the military, as he believed the burgeoning civilian political parties were still too disunited to form an effective government. This enabled him to easily win the 1961 general elections, the first elections held in Yamatai since 1860. In his second term, Okabe began attempting to convince Chisei to form a more permanent military alliance with Yamatai against Arshavat, which had used a nuclear weapon in the First Dai Hoa War. He also began a plan to revitalise the agricultural industry, which had been neglected after the war and was attempting to unionise, which Okabe saw as a potential collectivist threat and forcefully shut down several farmers' unions.

During a rally in Urahama on August 18, 1962, Okabe was shot by Niwa Yuji, a collectivist activist, and died on the spot. Elections were called and Okudera Gunzo of the Yamatai Restoration Party was elected as the second Prime Minister of Yamatai and the first purely civilian Prime Minister of Yamatai. Okabe was survived by his wife Okabe Michiko and his two sons, Okabe Harunori and Okabe Harunobu. Empress Kiyono posthumously granted him the Grand Imperial Award of the Radiant Sun, the highest decoration in Yamatai, and his state funeral was attended by over 200,000 people in Heian.

Okabe is often considered a controversial figure in modern Yamataian political discourse. He is widely celebrated in Yamatai for removing the military government and introducing civilian democracy, but is also criticised by some for his authoritarian practices and harsh repression measures, especially against workers' unions, which some argue have allowed for a culture of corporate abuse to become entrenched in Yamataian society at the time. Yamatai is also often blamed by overseas parties for whitewashing Okabe's Tokkeitai past. Some argue that a posthumous cult of personality has been cultivated around Okabe by the Yamataian right-wing.

In 1989, Okabe Harunobu opened the Okabe Nariakira Library and Museum in Kobayashi City. His granddaughter, Okabe Yuki, also established the Okabe Nariakira Foundation for Democracy in 2001, and another Okabe Nariakira Museum was also opened in Heian in 2010. The largest lecture theatre in the National University of Yamatai is also named after Okabe.

Biography
Born in Kobayashi to a local business family, Okabe enlisted into the Tokkeitai as an officer in 1918. He rose through the ranks and was subsequently one of the founding officers of the Wanshu Tokkeitai. Between 1928 and 1934, Okabe spent some time in the Tokkeitai General Affairs Department in Heian, before returning to the New Territories. In 1938, Okabe became the Chief Inspector of the Wanshu Tokkeitai, the second-highest rank in a Tokkeitai Field Office, after the Second battle of Wanshu during the Second Escar-Varunan War. He was involved in the forced conscription and command of Special Auxiliary Forces during the war, and personally saw combat during the and the Third Battle of Wanshu, during which he was promoted to Major-General and was given command of the short-lived Amagishi Tokkeitai. Following the Yamataian retreat from the mainland, Okabe was reassigned to Tokkeitai Headquarters, where he remained for the rest of the war as the Vice-Commander of the Logistics Department.

After the end of the war, various power struggles broke out in the Yamataian military government. Following the Heian Bloodbath, the Tokkeitai began to take an active role in the governance of Yamatai, with Tokkeitai head Nishioka Shunroku become a shadow leader behind Imperial Grand Marshal Tanaka Sanae. Okabe's former superior in the Wanshu Tokkeitai, General Shimoda Norio, had since attained the the second-highest position within the organisation as Chief of Operations. Okabe was a strong supporter of both Nishioka and Shimoda but remained largely unknown by the military-political community at the time, though he was promoted to Lieutenant-General in 1947 and became Commander of the Logistics Department. Shimoda later became the Tokkeitai chief and Minister of the Interior after Nishioka's death.

In 1948, General Matsushita Takao, the Chief of Operations after Shimoda, took over as Imperial Grand Marshal after a series of events. Shimoda then promoted Okabe to General and placed him as the Chief of Operations, but was assassinated shortly after by Matsushita, who was consolidating his power. Okabe formed an alliance with Imperial Army Kenpeitai chief Hayakawa Natsumi to remove Matsushita from power, and the two formed a faction of several ministers on the High Council.