System: New Kyoto

Visitors to New Kyoto are often struck by the heavy Japanese influence in the local culture. Indeed, this exotic — yet terrestrial — world once boasted itself as a major center of the Buddhist faith in the Lyran Commonwealth, and the temple in Tooshodai-ji possesses the Inner Sphere’s largest Amida Buddha sculpture (over 110 meters in height). These obvious cultural influences have often led travelers to New Kyoto to suspect that the planet’s history includes a lingering occupation or long-standing allegiance to the Draconis Combine but, in fact, neither of the above applies.

Settled during humanity’s first exodus into space, New Kyoto’s colonists hailed from Terra’s eastern Asia region, particularly from the nations surrounding the Sea of Japan. The Japanese segment of the colonial population, by far the most numerous, took an active role in shaping the early social structures on this world, even going so far as to style the planetary ruler a Daimyo (warlord). Life in the early days was difficult, primarily due to the virulence of native life-forms. Many of New Kyoto’s fiercest native predators, such as the vicious ki-rian or the unstoppable armor bear, claimed hundreds of lives before widespread hunting protocols brought their numbers under control.

Even today, people are strongly advised never to travel alone and unarmed in the wild reaches of this world, and export of the local fauna is strictly prohibited. New Kyoto’s ample resources and fertile soil spawned the formation of numerous heavy industries, including the development of myomers, advanced electronics, and military-grade lasers. The Kyoto College, exclusively devoted to the study of myomer technology for military as well as medical applications, was arguably one of the most prestigious of its kind throughout the Succession Wars era, while Doering Electronics and RAMTech Industries were once among the chief military suppliers to the Federation of Skye and the Lyran Commonwealth.

Through the centuries of conflict that followed the fall of the Star League, New Kyoto was the target of several raids by the nearby Free Worlds League, though it has remained always remained a Lyran holding.

New Kyoto’s capital city of Hirihito and the temple of Tooshodai-ji are both located on the northern continent of Asharu. The city of Yonei is located on Kalasaka, the larger of the planet’s equatorial landmasses, along with one of the largest planetary reservations for the now-endangered ki-rian population. Koshimatu, the smaller equatorial continent, is home to RAMTech’s corporate headquarters, in the city of Oshaktu, while Kawnaku and Marker Electronics may be found on the southern island continent of Zuishami.