Ever notice
how in the strips there’s slivers here and there that make mention of Japan’s clairvoyance
abilities?

What I find
to be pretty fascinating is that this lesser-known side of Japan has subsequently
been built on from way early in the series. Not only that, but you can still
find hints of it in the more recent strips.

What is clairvoyance?

Basically, clairvoyance
is ESP (extra-sensory perception). The context here has more to do with mind-reading
and being able to establish mental contact with the other nations.

In the
Meiji Era, despite the fact that his people’s belief in the supernatural was
declining as a result of Westernization–hence the loss of his ability to see youkai and kappa spirits–interest in the occult and clairvoyance was still very
much a thing.

It would
follow, then, that Japan’s clairvoyance abilities were still able to be tapped
into.

Bonus
points to Hima for having Japan break the fourth wall and read his mind.

That said,
there’s substantial hints that Japan had been using these mind-reading powers well
before he had made contact with the West, spanning into his time spent in
isolation.

The most
concrete example of this is when Chibitalia has a strange dream that involves
him encountering some kind of divine being.

Chibitalia
is then led by the being to Japan. Note that this takes place well before the
two ‘first’ meet to form the Tripartite pact in WW2.

We get further
confirmation that Japan has secretly been reading the minds of the other nations
in Chapter 16 of World Stars. There, Italy expresses confusion at how little
Japan speaks. Japan is quick to ease this concern.

Essentially,
Japan has gotten so used to mentally communicating with those whom he reads the
minds of that he’s forgotten how to speak.

Now, this
gets even more interesting when you consider the potential this ability has in
being used as a plot device. It could reveal a whole lot of secrets about what
some of the other nations are hiding.

I would especially
be interested to see if we can get a little more insight into Italy’s thoughts/
feelings on his childhood, since he hardly ever acknowledges it during adulthood.

The
problem, however, is that the one time we get to see what Japan reads from
Italy’s mind– admittedly, with mind-reading binoculars that he invented– he
doesn’t believe what he sees.

I honestly
don’t blame him, though. That’s not the Italy we’re used to seeing, so it would
be hard to imagine him as anything else.

Still, the
more I think about it, the more I wonder:

Regardless
if Japan doesn’t believe what he’s read from Italy’s mind, doesn’t it seem highly
plausible that he’s come across Italy’s childhood memories before?

If so, has
he indirectly found out what really
happened to Holy Rome?

It’s nice to think about, but given how
considerate of a person Japan is, if he did know, I don’t think he would be one to reveal
this secret.