"We are not equipped to protect our citizens against an outbreak of this magnitude. Our JSDF lacks the capability to defend our shores from such an onslaught and only .3 percent of our citizenry own firearms. It is for this reason that the Ministry of Defense recommends a full evacuation of the mainland and, with the cooperation of our honored Russian neighbors, a temporary resettling in the Kamchatka Peninsula." ― Tokyo episode menu radio
Tokyo was the capital of Japan, serving as the seat of government and home to both the National Diet and the Emperor of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, the city became Japan’s capital in 1868, when Emperor Meiji relocated the imperial court from Kyoto, renaming Edo to Tokyo—meaning “Eastern Capital.”
During the Solanum outbreak, the Japanese government quickly recognized its inability to contain the zombie horde. Faced with a lack of effective military readiness and severely limited public access to firearms, Japan's leadership opted for a mass evacuation of the home islands. The Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), constrained by decades of pacifist doctrine and minimal combat experience, were ill-prepared for large-scale urban warfare.
In a rare diplomatic maneuver, the Japanese government secured an agreement with the Russian government-in-exile, permitting the temporary resettlement of Japanese citizens in the Kamchatka Peninsula. This evacuation marked one of the largest organized exoduses in Japanese history.
History[]
In response to the Solanum threat, the Japanese government undertook the unprecedented task of evacuating the entire population from the Home Islands. To ensure the success of this monumental operation, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) called for volunteer teams to assist in the evacuation process. Although the virus did eventually reach Japan, the disciplined and methodical execution of the evacuation kept chaos and infection to a minimum.
The operation involved the full mobilization of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s fleet, supplemented by the requisitioning of numerous civilian cruise ships to transport the population. Strict regulations were enforced throughout the process; possession of alcohol and illicit substances was explicitly banned, with the threat of being denied passage on the final evacuation ships serving as an effective deterrent to disorder.
In a remarkable turn, even members of the Yakuza, Japan’s organized crime syndicate, assisted in the effort. Among them was Hiroji Okada, a former member who notably volunteered to serve with Rescue Team 4.
While the evacuation of the Home Islands was completed successfully, the Japanese government remained resolute in its intention to return. In the initial exodus that followed, it implemented a series of long-term policies designed to prepare for the eventual repatriation and reclamation of the Home Islands.
Setting Sun[]
In the final hours of the evacuation, Rescue Team 4—comprising of Sho Sugiyama, Kimiko Nomura, Tatsuo Matsumoto, and Hiroji Okada—conducted a final sweep as part of their ongoing search-and-rescue operations. After successfully extracting 34 survivors, the team encountered only abandoned homes and zombie-infested streets, with no additional signs of life. With diminishing hope of locating more survivors, the team’s commanding officer made the difficult decision to terminate the operation and ordered Team 4 to escort the rescued civilians to the designated evacuation point.
While en route back to the highway, Team 4 discovered that the evacuation transport was under attack by Zekes. Acting swiftly, the team neutralized the threat and escorted the transport into a tunnel. There, they encountered a massive roadblock obstructing the route. As the team began the laborious process of lowering the barrier, the noise drew the attention of a nearby swarm. Narrowly surviving the ensuing assault, Team 4 came to a grim realization: the evacuation of the Home Islands had been not just necessary—but inevitable.
Upon reaching the evacuation gate, the team was met with resistance. The local JSDF commander, overwhelmed and short-staffed, initially refused entry to the transport, citing the need to maintain perimeter security. Only after Team 4 agreed to defend the gates was the transport granted passage.
Redirected to the lightly defended Northern Gates 1 and 2, Team 4 fought their way to the front lines. Upon arrival, they found the surviving JSDF forces holding Gate 1, while Gate 2 remained dangerously under-defended. The team was forced to split, dividing their already limited manpower to hold both chokepoints.
As waves of regular and mutated infected surged down the highway, Team 4 engaged in a desperate last stand. Against overwhelming odds, they managed to hold their positions, buying critical time for the evacuation transport to safely reach the final checkpoint. Just as their defenses began to falter, JSDF reinforcements arrived to secure the perimeter.
With the gates stabilized and the transport safely through, Team 4 was ordered to withdraw and proceed to the evacuation zone, having fulfilled their mission against all expectations.
Final Call[]
As the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) initiated the final phase of the evacuation, Rescue Team 4 fought their way toward the refinery, eliminating scattered Zeke stragglers along the route. Upon reaching Checkpoint 12, JSDF defenders warned them of an imminent incoming swarm. Despite Team 4’s urgent pleas to be allowed through, the checkpoint commander denied them entry, instead requesting their assistance in holding the line against the approaching horde.
Though initially reluctant, the team utilized the defensive equipment scattered around the checkpoint to establish fortifications and hold back the assault. After successfully repelling the encroaching Zeke forces, Team 4 was granted access to the evacuation facility. However, rather than being evacuated as expected, they were redirected by JSDF command to assist in a critical operation at the refinery.
Frustrated by the diversion, Team 4 nonetheless complied and joined JSDF units in planting demolition charges throughout the refinery. Midway through the operation, JSDF perimeter forces were overrun by swarming undead, forcing Team 4 to accelerate the demolition process before making a hasty retreat from the collapsing refinery complex.
Upon arriving at the final evacuation checkpoint near the cruise embarkation zone, the team regrouped with surviving JSDF personnel. Suspecting the worst—that their commander had abandoned them—Team 4 was relieved to receive direct communication from him. The commander requested that they assist in a final delaying action - destroying a nearby fuel depot to create a wall of fire that would stall the Zeke - to buy time for the remaining evacuees.
To support the defense, a nearby tether ship was supplied for last-minute evacuation. As the undead closed in, Team 4 and the remaining JSDF soldiers braced for their final stand. Meanwhile, the JSDF commander and his unit, now cut off from the checkpoint, chose to stay behind to hold the line, buying precious minutes for the defenders to fortify their position.
In the face of overwhelming odds, Team 4 and the defenders held fast, leveraging their training and equipment to narrowly repel wave after wave of Zekes. As the final cargo and personnel were loaded aboard the tether ship, Team 4 and the surviving defenders boarded and initiated departure.
In a final act of sacrifice, the JSDF commander detonated the explosives set throughout the refinery, eliminating the majority of the pursuing horde—at the cost of his own life and those of his remaining men. Thanks to his actions and Team 4’s bravery, the final stage of Japan’s evacuation was completed.
Cruise Control[]
As the evacuation ships set course for Kamchatka, Rescue Team 4 was placed on standby by the ship’s JSDF commander. Ordered to proceed to Cargo Bay 1, the team soon discovered that Solanum-infected had boarded the vessel amidst the chaos of the mainland evacuation. The infection spread rapidly through the lower decks, threatening to overwhelm both crew, passengers, and defenders.
Making their way to the cargo bay, Team 4 encountered embattled JSDF personnel struggling to repel waves of Zekes. As the defenders were overrun, the team made the critical decision to seal off the bay to contain the infection. After a fierce engagement, Team 4 successfully repelled multiple waves of attackers and secured the area.
Shortly after, the team received a transmission from the JSDF commander, informing them of a plan to establish a kill zone at the forward stern of the ship. Though initially skeptical of the plan’s success, Team 4 ultimately agreed to assist in order to safeguard the remaining survivors.
The team cleared the engineering rooms and an overrun atrium before arriving at the designated forward stern. There, they linked up with JSDF forces already preparing defensive positions. As they had done on the mainland, Team 4 coordinated the deployment of fortifications and loudspeakers to lure in the undead.
Despite initially holding their ground, the defenders soon began to run dangerously low on ammunition as additional waves of Zekes closed in. In response, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) launched attack helicopters from the carrier Izumo to provide air support. With their intervention, the remaining Zeke hordes were decisively eliminated.
Exhausted but victorious, Team 4 withdrew to the upper decks while JSDF personnel conducted a deck-by-deck sweep to eliminate any lingering infected. Reflecting on the battles they had fought and the lives they had saved, Team 4 turned their thoughts toward the future—contemplating their imminent arrival in Kamchatka, and the distant hope of one day returning to the Japanese Home Islands.
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