Hello, long-time lurker, first-time poster!
Something I've wondered about in Twilight 2000 is the situation in Japan after the nuclear exchange. I recall it being said in 2300AD that Japan emerged from the war more or less unscathed and that it was able to rebuild and prosper thanks to its merchant fleet, which was more or less intact. I thought such a concept was BS, because IRL Japan is very dependant on foreign trade and imports of natural resources and raw materials, like oil. According to
this site, Japan's food self-sufficiency declined from 73 per cent in 1965 to 40 per cent in 1998. In addition, Japan has the lowest food self-sufficiency ratio among the advanced industrial nations and is the world's largest importer of agricultural products.
In a situation where the Russian/Soviet government faced nuclear distruction, I doubt they'd treat Japan with kid gloves, due to historical (Russo-Japanese War, World War II, historical rivalry of power and influence in the Far East) and geopolitical reasons. Just the concept of "deny critical resources to your enemy" would be sufficient grounds for the Russians to nuke not just the U.S bases in Okinawa and mainland Japan, but also critical strategic, political and industrial targets in order to make sure that the Japanese won't be landing forces in Vladivostok or stuff like that.
For the aforementioned reasons, it is my belief that post-TDM Japan would be the Asian version of
Threads UK, i.e. utterly fucked. But I like to know what others here think, since I'm no expert with regards to these things.
BTW, the Finnish Twilight 2000 sourcebook has this to say about Japan: Fighting over the Kuriles and Sakhalin brought nuclear strikes on Japan in 1997. Japanese industry suffered significant damage and Tokyo is almost destroyed. Martial law hasn't been officially declared, but many areas are ruled de facto by JSDF officers who also possess civilian government posts. All communities are either
isolated or
independent, though nominally controlled by the government. The major cities have been
destroyed, mostly due to social unrest caused by the cessation of world trade and imports.