Japan was a pre-War island country located in Asia.

Background

Pre-War

Sometime during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (A.D. 1568—1603), the samurai warrior Toshiro Kago was abducted by the Zetans and placed in cryonic suspension aboard their mothership Zeta, where he was separated from his personal weapon.^{[Non-game 1]}

In 1941, during World War II, the Empire of Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor,^[1] which led to the U.S. entering the war. The United States and Japan subsequently fought across the Pacific Ocean, including on the Japanese islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.^[2][3] In 1945, the United States military ended World War II by dropping two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.^[4] This was the first time nuclear weapons had been deployed in combat between nations, and the only such event to occur before the Resource Wars.

By 2077, amid the Sino-American War, Japan seemingly remained open to U.S. tourists, including a high school marching band which was planning a trip to the country.^[5]

Post-War

The status of the country of Japan after the Great War is unknown, but some persons with Japanese heritage are known to have survived in the United States. Some elements of Japanese culture also survived, including Japanese media,^[6] cuisine,^[7] and weaponry. The Japanese language also survived, at the very least in the databanks of some pre-War robots. Sometime after the Broken Mask incident of 2282, Takahashi, a Protectron, was set up as the proprietor of Power Noodles in Diamond City; Takahashi is only able to say the Japanese phrase "Nan-ni shimasu-ka?" (なんにしますか?), translated as "What will you have?"^[8] Curie, a Miss Nanny unit assigned to Vault 81, was also given the ability to understand and speak Japanese.^[9]

Circa 2241, one gang known as the Yakuza inhabited the area around New Reno, seemingly descended from or inspired by the pre-War Japanese mafia of the same name and perpetuating the tradition of their expertise in swordplay and throwing weapons. They wielded short swords known as wakizashi. They had no known headquarters and traveled in small bands, occasionally fighting against members of the New Reno crime families in areas outside the city.^[10]

Mentions

This section lists references to Japan, or to specific elements related to the country, within the Fallout series.

• An image of Pearl Harbor after its attack by Japan is shown in the Fallout intro.
• Prostitutes in New Reno have knowledge of anime, a style of animation from Japan, and will mention it when being approached by the Chosen One in power armor.^[6]
• Individual Yakuza members wield Japanese swords known as wakizashi.
• In an ambient conversation in Tenpenny Tower, Margaret Primrose can be heard talking about having attempted some sushi recipes she found in an old cookbook using mirelurk meat, much to the dismay of Doctor Julius Banfield.^[7] Sushi is a type of traditional Japanese cuisine using seafood.
• The samurai Toshiro Kago is from circa 16th-century Japan. He only speaks Japanese and is effectively unable to understand the English spoken by the other humans on Mothership Zeta.
• In a holotape in the simulated Anchorage Reclamation simulation, an American soldier compares the Chinese invasion of Anchorage to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.^[11]
• The Gun Runners produce and sell katanas, a type of Japanese sword.
• In the Fallout 4 intro, Nate mentions how World War II was ended by the nuclear strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.^[4]
• The Museum of Freedom in Concord features a mural which pays tribute to United States Armed Forces members who fought on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during World War II, along with numerous other locations throughout U.S. history.^[2]
• Takahashi, the Protectron vendor at Power Noodles in Diamond City, only speaks a single Japanese phrase. If the companion Curie is brought to Takahashi for the first time, she will introduce herself to him in Japanese, saying watashi wa Curie desu (私はキュリーです), meaning "I am Curie."^[9]
• In the Fallout 76 intro, a newscaster presenting Vault 76 for the American tricentennial mentions the Japanese island of Okinawa as one place where U.S. troops fought to uphold the nation's values.^[3]
• According to the PA system in Watoga High School, the school's marching band was hosting a bake sale to earn money for plane tickets for a planned field trip to Japan in 2077.^[5]
• Two adolescent girls in the Clarksville area, known to have spent a lot of time near a local river, went missing before the Great War. Calvin van Lowe suspected that they might have been taken by kappas, river monsters from Japanese folklore.^[12]
• The Pioneer Scouts codebreaker exam provides Japanese as a possible answer to the question, "Which of these patriotic languages did our fine fighting men use as an unbreakable code during World War II?"
• The Pioneer Scout herpotologist exam also mentions the Japanese giant salamander.
• Mount Fuji, a major volcano in Japan, is an incorrect answer to one of the questions in the Pioneer Scout archaeologist exam.^[13]
• The lite ally Grandma Junko is a woman who lived in the city of Inzai, Japan as a child and later emigrated to the United States.^[14] Junko uses some Japanese expressions in her dialogue, including "Obaachan," an informal term for "grandmother."
  • Junko also mentions multiple types of Japanese cuisine which she can make for the Vault 76 dwellers as part of her home-cooked meals: onigiri, yakizakana, ohitashi, and miso soup; katsudon, gyuudon, oyakodon, and hiyayakko; and nikujaga, karaage, and tempura.
• Episode 75 of the Rip Daring radio play is set in a rice field in Japan, and revolves around the titular character's efforts to hunt a gashadokuro, a skeleton spirit from Japanese mythology. The episode also references other Japanese yokai, such as the yuma and the yuki-onna.^[15]
• Throwing stars, a type of Japanese thrown weapon, appear in the game.

Japanese characters

Thus far, there are two characters in the Fallout series who are known to have lived in Japan: Toshiro Kago^{[Non-game 1]} and Grandma Junko.^[14] The latter also mentions several family members of Japanese heritage:

• Asa
• Kazuichi
• Kei
• Mako
• Manabu
• Sayoko

Appearances

Japan is mentioned in Fallout 2, the Fallout 3 add-on Mothership Zeta, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes

• Toshiro Kago's samurai armor includes an emblem which is the real-world mon of the Katabami samurai clan.
• The internment and mistreatment of Chinese American citizens during the Sino-American War by the U.S. government of Fallout is a reference to the real-world internment of Japanese American citizens during World War II. This event in Fallout was signed into law by Executive Order 99066, which is a reference to Executive Order 9066, which authorized the World War II internments.
• The names of the Fat Man and Big Boy are references to the atomic bombs which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

Gallery

Kamikaze trait from Fallout

Ninja perk Vault Boy from Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas

Ninja perk from Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Fallout: The Roleplaying Game

Nuclear detonation over Japan by the U.S. in World War II, as depicted in the Fallout 4 intro

Battle of Iwo Jima, as depicted in the Museum of Freedom mural

Samureye, a member of the Hubris Comics villain group, the Diabolicals

The Yakuza

Toshiro Kago, a Japanese samurai

Wakizashi

Throwing stars

Samurai sword weapon skin in Fallout 76

References

Non-game