Shinkoku
Kozakura's main island stretches over 1,400 miles from tip to tip. It varies in width from 350 miles at its widest, to 70 miles across at narrow Miyama Province. Northern Shikoku has cold, snow-filled winters and piney woods, while the southern end has humid summers and dense bamboo rain forests. The mountain range that runs the length of Shinkoku is referred to as the Dragon's Spine, a reference to the great earth dragon said to sleep beneath the lands of Kozakura.
Most people live as fishermen on the coast, or as rice farmers in the coastal valleys. Shinkoku is home to almost three-quarters of the Kozakuran population, is the largest rice-producing island in the country, and is the center of political intrigue in Kozakura.
Shinkoku is the center of Kozakuran culture and civilization, but the nonhuman creatures which lurk in the inland mountain wilderness are more than a passing problem to the people of this island. Uncaring about human politics and loyalties, they go about their own affairs, intruding on human territories and attacking or cooperating with civilized folk as they see fit. The unnatural and unhuman is not difficult to find in Shinkoku, once you stray from the beaten path.
The Imperial Post Road runs through Shinkoku and helps bind civilization together.
