Nejiro Founders Day 8 July 2756 (current age 311) Approximate population 37.8 million plus 2.9 million in the stellar system Nejiro is a constitutional monarchy with broad powers and a unitary parliament. The monarch is chosen from within the ruling family by both primogeniture and merit by the Saganami Dai Ichizoku Chorohyogikai {elder council} and is officially titled Chiji {the Governor}. There is a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities (which covers human rights – without distinction - life, liberty, dignity, free speech, religious freedom, etc. - children’s rights, universal healthcare, universal social welfare, public education, clean air, clean water, clean food etc.) applicable to all citizenry (born and naturalized) that originates from the Founders Agreement, a document that lists all the rights, responsibilities, regulations, and laws of the ichizoku, the government, judiciary, military, and the citizenry. The Founders Agreement is a comprehensive and multi-volume document created over a ten-year period by the Sankaku {the triangle} (and researched for more than two decades before a word was written), and other participants (e.g. Pluoton Metals, indigenous leadership of the stellar system, Traders Trust etc.) of the Founders Project with the Founders Institute that lays down regulation, policy, and procedure for the Nejiro Government. It includes tax regulations, parliamentary procedures, the creation and dissolution of the Ichizoku, immigration, citizenship, laws, procedures for revisions and amendments (some things noted in the document are immutable, enduring, and unchanging), military and militia operational guidelines, court procedures, justice procedures and precedent, law enforcement operations and procedures, prison operational guidelines, fair business practices, strict environmental protections, safety standards, educational standards, election procedures, statecraft and policy, diplomatic boundaries, and others. Nejiro is a member of the Izar Cluster Free and Fair-Trade Bloc. Other members include Torpenhow, Brightwood, Windermere, Balvoir, Saberedge, and Scaretta. Nejiro maintains Favored Nation status with the Draconis Combine. Current active political ideologies are moderate, conservative, progressive, labour, green, scholar. There are no organized political parties at this time, but there are a few semi-organized voting blocs that depend more on similar goals, chiku borders and/or like environments than ideologies. Individuals, Ichizoku, and businesses are taxed based on their income in a flat percentage of three to twenty percent. Gambling is legal and regulated. Establishments must be licensed and adhere to the established rules that are monitored by officials of the Ministry of Games and Wagers. Firearms are legal to own and operate with a license. All firearms (ballistic, energy, optical, flechette) must be registered, as well as certain classes of crossbows and tasers. Individual licenses may be obtained after completing a clean background check, a clean physical and mental wellness check, and completing and successfully passing vigorous safety, maintenance and operation, and knowledge of the established rules and legal ramifications coursework administered by the Civil Service Ministry or the Ministry of Public Safety. Classes are generally available at most shooting clubs and firing ranges. The licenses are issued at different levels (sport shooting, hunting, personal defense, security service, law enforcement and justice departments, military service, and firing range), you must qualify at each level (which all have their own laws and restrictions) and may be fined or jailed for using a weapon outside of its licensed purpose. Licenses for sport shooting and hunting are available to citizens beginning at age 14. There are regular requalification exams. Licenses for retail and wholesale shops and storage, for manufacturers and workshops, for makers and tinkers must also be obtained and operate within the established rules and standards that are monitored by officials of the Ministry of Public Safety. Prostitution is legal and regulated. Individuals and establishments must be licensed and adhere to the established rules and standards that are monitored by officials of the Ministry of Health. Licenses for individuals are issued at different levels from street walker to courtesan, from zashikimochi to tayu, to males and females who must be at least eighteen and demonstrate a thorough understanding of the established rules, an understanding of the body of information on comprehensive sexuality education available from the Ministry of Health, and traditional arts and etiquette with tests similar to apprenticeship and civil service exams. Licensed practitioners and establishments are required to complete regular health and wellness exams. Licensed practitioners are eligible to join the Saisho no hana Guild {first flower} which also offers apprenticeships. The legal age of majority is 25. The legal age of consent is 18, at this time it is required that you vote in your local and chiku elections – you may be fined, jailed, or expatriated for non-compliance. At 14 you may begin to take part in the civil service exams and guild-apprentice exams. You may sign an apprenticeship contract, take a part time job (for a maximum of two hours daily during non-school hours), you may obtain an agricultural or off-road leisure driver license, you may obtain independent rental accommodations in a co-living house or flat, rooming house, or dormitory, you may claim universal benefits (health and social), to receive independent medical advice and treatment, and give limited medical consent. Purchase and consumption of alcohol and other available and legally regulated mind-altering substances such as cannabis and tobacco are legal at 20. Smoking is illegal in non-designated areas and is subject to fines or jail time. Beginning at 16 alcohols (beer, wine, cider) may be consumed at a restaurant or pub with a meal if accompanied by an adult. Every citizen suspected or accused of a felony level crime must have legal representation, it can not be waived. Every citizen and permanent resident (and some temporary or limited residents) is issued a picture ID electronic identification card from birth or naturalization with a unique identification number and secured authentication key (you are issued an invitation to create a pin from age 10 for limited and educational access and again at 14, 18, 20, and 25 for increasing levels of access), the card is updated yearly until you reach the age of majority (after which it is updated every five years) and may include your address, place and date of birth, physical characteristics, biometrics, dependent and emergency contact information, school and job statistics for minors, also licenses?, guild status?, professional status?, academic status?, security clearance level?, health alerts!, transit passes, library passes, digital signature and hanko, family and/or ichizoku mon, government services access pass, universal benefits access, debit card services access pass, online authentication and {secure} access. To be elected to political office (from village Mayor to MP) you must be a citizen over the age of majority and have lived in good standing for at least three years in the chiku you wish to run. Except for Environmental MP seats which require you to be Meritous and in general good standing for five years. Elections are funded by the State and accepting or soliciting campaign contributions is illegal and may lead to fines, jail, or expatriation. Most Nejiroan (planetary and stellar) {a very few interstellar} public and publicly traded businesses have at least one percent ownership by the State via the Crown and/or Parliament. Dividends received from these shares are used to contribute to Parliaments Annual Budget, to contribute to the Crown’s discretionary fund, to acquire new and additional shares, to the budget of the Chiku the business resides in, and directly to the citizenry as an annual tax-free incentive. If the government has board seats in your company you have done something extremely well or awfully dreadful, be on the correct side of the equation. There are several businesses wholly owned or majority shareholder owned by the State via Parliament or the Crown as different types of Crown Corporations. The first are Fenix Consortium companies that were started by the Sankaku for necessary services and infrastructure like the Nejiro Postal Service, Nejiro General Hospital, the Nejiro Mint, the Nejiro Treasury, the Imperial Bank, the NPO (Nejiro Peace Officers), the Nejiro Port Authority, Nejiro Customs Authority, the Nejiro Fire Brigade etc. of which any dividends or profits that are not reinvested in the companies for upgrades and improvement (most are) are split equally between the Sankaku. Others are established by an act of Parliament and report to the body via the relevant Minister. They generally provide required public services, and are involved in everything from regulating activities, to distribution, to use and price of goods and services, to energy development and resource extraction, to public transportation, to educational bodies and intelligence services, to land and property management. Some are foundations designed to provide finances through grants and other programs to promote Nejiroan products, culture, and scientific research, to foster the commercial, cultural, and industrial success of Nejiroan products, and to stimulate the demand for these products. They are owned by the Crown as the institute’s sole legal shareholder, this follows the legal premise that the Crown owns all the property of the State. They are operated at arm’s length from the Government with direct control only exerted over the company’s budget and through the appointment of board chairs and directors through Parliament. (e.g. Red Cross, Global Nature Organization, Ingenium Museum of Science and Innovation, Kiiroi Hoshi Enerugi to Shigen {yellow star energy and resources}, Yousai Arts Council, Fenikkusu Zaidan {phoenix foundation}, Imperial College Yousai, Tairiku Capital Commission, Telefilm Nejiro etc.). Last are companies that have suffered catastrophic damage or failure from raids, disasters, criminal actions (fraud, tax evasion etc.), bankruptcy etc., but Parliament and/or the Crown has been successfully petitioned that the business is vital to the community and rescue is necessary. Some Crown Corporations are expected to be profitable, most are not, of those that profit – at least half is reinvested in the company for upgrades and improvements, the rest goes to Parliaments Annual Budget. Members of Parliament (MPs) consider and propose new laws, amendments, regulations, and taxes which must be passed by both the Founders House and the Common House. MPs also consider and report on public policy. They can scrutinize government policies through the actions of committees, with legislation, via the media with statements and debates, or by questioning Ministers and members of government either publicly in Chamber, during the weekly session of Questions to the Prime Minister which is broadcast live in front of the press, or during Questions to the Cabinet (departmental Ministry questions) which happen less frequently. MPs may also put down Written Questions to Ministers and must receive a written reply, thus providing a means by which an MP may examine any issue and develop a line of investigation. Parliament is in session twice a year from 1 March through 31 May and from 1 September through 31 November. Founders House Members of Parliament are representatives of the Ichizoku of Nejiro. They are the founding parliamentary house and at one time the only house (The Commons House representatives were not called until the population grew enough to require their necessity. In 2877 the Crown called for elections, after the recommendation and petition of the Founders House in 2876, and on 1 March 2878 the first session of the Commons House of Parliament was opened). Founders House MPs are designated by their Delm, in the method of their choice, in lifetime appointments to the Founders House, except for egregious errors. Each Dai Ichizoku (10x2) sends two representatives from each Delm. Each Koichizoku (35) sends one representative from each Delm, including from the Koichizoku on Pluoton (17) and the space based Ryokosha Koichizoku {traveler} (the independent crew and family of the fleet’s and marines of the Sankaku, along with other local interstellar fleets) (1), and one representative from each space station and habitat (8). There are also at least another fifteen representatives appointed by the Crown (as needed) as advisors and subject experts, as investigators or troubleshooters, as ethnic, cultural, or religious delegates and/or envoys, some are limited in term, some have extraordinary or emergency powers. The Guild Master, Traders Trust, The Spacer League, and The Enclave Trade Council all each appoint one representative to the Founders House. Votes are by supermajority of two thirds (67%) (100). The Founders House is led by the Speaker {Esther Hohki}, an internally elected position. As well as legislative duties and responsibilities the Founders House MPs also have obligations in the judiciary to sit on the Founders High Court, of the Keijihoin {Crown Court} on the Monarchs Bench divisional court to make decisions on ichizoku matters (business law, family law, equity, constitutional law, peer review etc.), to hear appeals, to hear petitions, and to hear and make decisions on high crimes (e.g. treason), and impeachable offenses (e.g. maladministration). The Founders House Assembly Hall on Parliament Hill in Yousai is architecturally both traditional and eclectic (from byzantine to gothic and baroque then mixed with shinden-zukuri, songnic, and hanok) as it was built to combine and honor several different styles and cultures. Most find the whole quite harmonious and aesthetically pleasing, but some find the details together somewhat jarring. The Chambers where the Founders MPs come together with their cut and thrust debate style can be quite loud on many occasions as it was designed to have perfect acoustics and resonates frequently during passionate debates. The Chambers were constructed as a sunken ampitheatre with enough space to hold up to one thousand Members of Parliament, plus the Cabinet and the Privy Council. Currently only a few levels of the ampitheatre are revealed, enough for the current numbers of the combined Houses of Parliament and their guests. The floor of the Chamber, a Bordeaux pattern parquet floor made from a selection of native woods, is a stage lift that may be risen or lowered to reveal more space for seats as needed, which are open boxes with room for Pages and others to move freely between them and stairs at the cardinal points to ease movement between levels, with the back wall of the box paneled in native Nejiroan woods in a beadboard pattern and the writing desks at the center of the box are custom crafted by artisans in stratosphere ironwood in individual executive styles for each Member and combined with Sheraton style chairs. The walls of the Chamber are paneled in a tongue and groove pattern in a pleasing variety of native woods and lined with artisan crafted Windsor style chairs for Pages, Clerks, and guests. The floor has an elevated wooden bench with the Founders House monsho carved into it that serve as a desk for the Speaker of the House on one side of the floor, and the other holds the royal seat of the Crown – most often used during ceremonial moments (official open of Parliament etc.), but the Crown may attend any session without notice. In between are several boardroom style tables for the Cabinet Ministers, as well as the Privy Council, several smaller tables for Pages and Clerks, with space for several different styles of presentations, and clear lines of sight for the Parliamentary Guards and the Ministry Security Services. There is a double mezzanine surrounding the Chamber, the first level holds three hundred opera style balcony boxes for the Delms and their guests (the unclaimed boxes are sometimes used by favored members of the press, award winning students, advisors, consultants, VIP guests, – Parliament sometimes auctions the use of these spaces for charities). The second level gallery holds space for the press and first come first serve theater style seating for the public to quietly observe the public business of the House (the Weekly Questions are especially popular). Surrounding the Chamber are sixteen custom framed cathedral sized stained glass windows with a flamboyant gothic rose window representing Nejiro’s sun and stars taking center stage. The sixteen windows each have a theme representing Nejiro: the lands, the flora, the fauna, the oceans, the Indigenous cultures, the Founders cultures, the Guilds, the flag of Nejiro, Parliaments monsho and coat of arms, the Founders House monsho and coat of arms, the Ichizoku mon, the stellar system ports and facilities, the Spacer League, Nejiro’s raw resources, Nejiro agriculture, and Nejiro industry. Currently there are two hundred fixed voting planetary Commons House Chiku (each approximately 1.8 million square kilometers), one hundred in each hemisphere – north and south. There are an additional one hundred Crown Land parcels and non-voting Parliamentary Chiku which hold reserves and parks. Unpopulated, under-populated, and voting Chiku over open ocean all have Environmental seats chosen through national elections in the same cycle as regular seats; these Members (43) represent the overall planetary health and welfare, they speak for the wilderness flora and fauna. There are also seats for the in-system stellar bodies and facilities – Pluoton, significant asteroid facilities and ports, habitats and stations. The stellar system is divided into sectors and each sector votes to elect a Commons House Member of Parliament, there are currently twenty-six voting sectors. Commons House Members are democratically elected by a first to post majority in a five-year election cycle and have a three-term limit to represent their individual Chiku and the general population of Nejiro. Campaigns are overseen by the Civil Service Ministry which are government funded (via the Parliaments Annual Budget and an Election Fund) and all candidates receive the same amount of funds, airtime amounts on tv and radio, and resources for Town Hall meetings, debates, and public soap boxes. It is forbidden to accept or solicit more campaign contributions; this will permanently disqualify you from holding any public office on Nejiro and most likely will involve criminal charges. Campaigns are run from the second week of December thru the third week of February. Elections are held the fourth week of February. The Commons House is led by the Speaker {Zahkar Illarion}, an internally elected position. As well as legislative duties and responsibilities the Commons House MPs also have obligations in governing their Chiku. They are responsible for administrating and enforcing the Founders Agreement in their Chiku. They oversee agencies and executive leaders, manage the budget, lead response to emergencies and disasters, communicate with the Crown and Parliament, and act as spokesperson for their Chiku. The Commons House was built across the Okina Hiroba {grand square} from the Founders House Assembly Hall on Parliament Hill, near the entrance of Sodaina Odori {‘sodai’ – magnificent, splendid boulevard} (Sodai Boulevard runs from the Okina Hiroba – which hosts all the Parliamentary buildings of both houses (with more space waiting), and boutique shops, a large public square, public parks, sidewalk cafes, fountains, and statuary – through the finance/embassy wards (west) and the diamond/garment wards (east), and through the boutique (east) and downtown office (west) wards, passes the temple ward then tunnels under mercury stadium and continues through the tech and ethnic wards (north) to the Genbu Gate at the most northern point of the city.) In contrast to the Founders House the Commons House architecture is more modern structural expressionism with clean lines and curves featured in the glass, steel, and composite concrete building that reflects the more formal and polite debate style of the House that myriad times has reached Shakespearian levels of wit and satire. The front of the building, which faces ‘The Square’, features a ten meter high by three hundred meter long wall of shatterproof glass rated for level six typhoon winds and debris that holds painted glass images of the Nejiro Flag surrounded by the monsho of Parliament and the Commons House, and then further surrounded by custom made sections representing each voting Chiku and Sector each with replaceable pieces of glass bearing the hanko and signature of their current Member of Parliament. Assigned by the Civil Service Ministry to both Houses are the Head Clerk {Founders Serika Miura, Meritous/Commons Hyacinth Thistle-Thorpe, Meritous} the principal constitutional advisor to the House on all its procedures and business, archive history and parliamentary privilege, they command a staff of clerks, advisors, scholars, and subject experts that frequently appear before Committee and Staff; the Serjeant at Arms {Founders Kenneth Akizuki/Commons Fumie Hamada-Garin} is in charge of a contingent of the Parliamentary Guard and is responsible for keeping order during all meetings and also for the physical safety of the House, its environs and Staff; the Lead Page {Founders Jayje Jissoji/Commons Teru Kokawa} provides supplemental administrative support and messaging services with a staff of runners, gophers, data entry and filing clerks, researchers, telephone operators, and couriers and are constantly seen both in the Halls and the Chambers. The Crown Privy Council consists of the Crown in its person, the Governor, their appointed Secretaries (Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, the Exchequer, Defense Secretary, Press Secretary, STEM Secretary, Culture Secretary, etc.), the Crown’s appointed Chief of Staff (who advises the Governor, manages the flow of information in and out of the Palace and to the Governor, protects the interests of the Governor, appoints and supervises the staff of the Governors Palace – speechwriters, aides, legal counsel, inspector general, protection details, security services, transport, advisors, housekeeping, strategists etc.), the Lt. Governor (appointed by the Civil Service to advise the Crown on parliamentary and constitutional law, procedure, and privilege), the Chief Justice of the Judiciary (by hierarchy), the Attorney General for Nejiro (by appointment of the Crown) representing the Crown and government directly in court and as legal advisor to the Crown, the Founders House Speaker, the Commons House Speaker, and the Prime Minister – who leads and reports the business of the Cabinet to the Crown – and is nationally elected from a pool of candidates chosen by Parliament, and any independent candidates (who keeps their office as long as they have the confidence of Parliament) - who appoints all the Government Departmental Ministers which forms the Cabinet, as well as the Joint Chiefs of the Armed Forces of Nejiro, the GuildMaster of Nejiro, the Traders Trust Director, the Spacer League Director, the Enclave Trade Council Chief, and the Special Representative of Pluoton Crown Privy Council members currently: Home Secretary Yelizaveta Voromin Foreign Secretary Ryohei Kimura Exchequer Willow Byrde, Meritous Defense Secretary Grigori Zima, Meritous STEM Secretary Kazumi Hisakawa Culture Secretary Jin Rhys Press Secretary Connor Noyakin Chief Justice Honorable Haruka Zeitaku, Meritous Attorney General for Nejiro Renjie Dee Esquire, Meritous Prime Minister Yagi Miyazawa Founders House Speaker Esther Hohki Commons House Speaker Zakhar Illarion Lt. Governor Zander Quinn, Meritous Chief of Staff Eoin Macken, Meritous Crown Steward Waldher Ryley Pennyworth Crown Archivist Judson Carson, PhD, Meritous Crown Public Health Advocate Dr. Domhnall Malhard MD, PhD, Meritous Crown Auditor(s)*(plenipotentiary advisors, diplomats, investigators, troubleshooters) {usually eight, sometimes twelve, there has been as many as two score} GuildMaster of Nejiro Sorka Hanrahan Spacer League Director Miles Naismith Traders Trust Director Razel Fyreborne Enclave Trade Council Chief Naji Rahman Special Representative of Pluoton William Ravenhill Joint Chiefs Tai-sa {col.} Tamlyn Nikyl, Nejiro Defense Troop Commissioner Benton Diefenbaker, Nejiro Peace Officers Commissioner Alisdair Knight, Nejiro Fire Brigade Koichizoku Militia Special Representative Aoi Nagisa Chu-sa Taylor Byrde, Saganami Household Guard Tai-sa Sosuke Ueno, Koizumi Jietai {self-defense force} Commander Bryan Cynbel, Truen Laoch {brave warriors}, Ceallach Sho-sa Tomoharu Sato, Sugai Yoroi {armor} Commander Jun Liu, Jundui {army}, Rhee Commander Kane Kalani, Koa Warriors {brave, bold, fearless}, Helekia Commander Aquil Najima, Ashigaru {infantry}, Nakazawa Commander Khadija Volkov, The Kylfings {norse-rus fighting forces}, Zakharovich Commander Zevlin Akaza, Fukuda Defense Force Commander Eduard Tikhonovich, Varangian Guard, Tikhonovich Cabinet Ministerial Departments and Ministers Civil Service Minister Zak Fair, Meritous Immigration and Customs Minister Clara Logan, Meritous Education Minister Tobin GilleChriost, Meritous Oceans and Climate Minister Nani Wikoli, Meritous Military Minister Ushio Asada, Meritous Geological Survey Minister Toya Sapporo, PhD, Meritous Infrastructure Minister Katsu Ikeda, Meritous National Parks and Reserves Minister Zhiming Myeong, Meritous Economics Minister Akio Takai, Meritous Communications Minister Isabella Kane, Meritous Public Safety Liam Branwen, Meritous Stellar Affairs Minister Ram Santosh, Meritous Environment Minister Youssef Namaka, Meritous Industry and Technology Minister Andreas Venizelos, Meritous Energy Minister Ryota Bellomo, Meritous Treasury Minister Aaron Takai, Meritous Health Minister Dr. Arek Fujiwara, MD, PhD, Meritous Diplomatic Corps Minister Daphne Molyneaux, Meritous Transportation Minister Jude Volkov, Meritous Veterans Affairs (military, law enforcement, first responders, emergency services) Minister Kiran Drago, Meritous Labour Minister Ha-joon Wan, Meritous Heritage Minister Ainsley Takeda, Meritous Commerce and Trade Minister Ren Momo, Meritous Justice Minister Yu-jun Date, Meritous Agriculture Minister Maryam Maxwell, Meritous Games and Wagers Minister Hinata Axelsson, Meritous Intelligence Minister Seku Fulah, Meritous Emergency Management Minister Zaynab Khuzayma, Meritous