Hello everyone, Alesmat here; today I want to talk about the nation of Hizuru.
In both the anime and manga, Hizuru is the third proper nation mentioned in the story (the other two being Eldia and Marley)
Hizuru is first mentioned in Season 4, Episode 63 “From hand to hand” (Chapter 98 "Good for you" for the manga readers), by Gabi Braun when her companion, Warrior candidate Udo Bock, spilled wine on the ambassador’s traditional clothing.
The
aforementioned ambassador is Kiyomi Azumabito, one of the most powerful women
in the nation.
Now let’s
get onto the names!
° Hizuru:
Hizuru is the name of this Eastern Nation, and it’s phonetically similar to “日出ずる国” (Hi-izuru
kuni), meaning “Land of the Rising Sun”, a poetic name for Japan.
° Azumabito:
An old Japanese noble family title of the Nara Period (AD 710 – AD 794),
meaning literally “Eastern man” or “East man”.
Hizuru,
though, will be properly presented by Yelena in the flashbacks of Episodes 68
and 69 (Season 4).
The Anti-Marleyan volunteer explains that Hizuru has been an historical ally to Eldia, and it’s the only nation in the world known to respect Eldians as people, treating them decently (this can be seen in Kiyomi’s self-blame when Udo spilled wine on her and her faith in the Association to protect the Subjects of Ymir, mentioned in Volume 31, Chapter 123 “Island Devils”).
Mistakenly, Yelena also mentions that Hizuru met for the first time Eldia 100 years prior to the construction of the port, mistakenly implying that the two became allies in the year 752, when in reality, the Great Titan War of 743 was already lost and Paradis isolated itself from the world.
Hizuru's history begins 2000 years ago. With the first prehistoric centre located on the main island Tōyama (富山) of the Gōshoto Archipelago (五諸島), the first Hizurian clans discovered the domestication of rice and a breed of boars typical to the region: the Inoshishi.
Hizurian history shares a lot of traits with Japan's history.
That's why Hizuru, during the collapse of the Steel Age (around the year 145), was divided in dozens of warring states, and eventually, the most powerful one, the Azuma clan, gained control over the Gōshoto Archipelago.
His dinasty, a family of warriors and merchants, distinguished from the others by a symbol passed from generation to generation, a circle with inside a triangle made up of Katanas, traditional Hizurian swords.
Hizuru's massive imperial expansion began in 632, when an Eldian expedition for the exploration of the continent of Kyasei, led by admiral Blaz Hoffman, met the Imperialist Shogun Akihiko Azumabito, and with the power of persuasion, they managed to create an alliance between the two peoples.
From there on, the alliance with the Eldian Empire is going to be both the heightening and the downfall of Hizuru.
Eldia needed a powerfull ally in the East, and to pursue that objective it helped the Hizurian expansion into contiental Kyasei, forcing their culture to the locals and becoming an influential country in the East.
During the Great War of 743, Hizuru sided with Eldia against the Marleyans and the rebellions, but the war is swiftly lost. Whilst Eldia would completely collapse to Marley, Hizuru will also be subject to the extreme territorial losses on the contitent and the extremely shameful peace terms imposed by the Marleyans - among the being the abolition of the shogunate in favour of a democratic government.
