Repost of my updated Alternate japan flag, based on strong Tokugawa Shogunate and no Meiji restoration.
from /r/vexillology Top comment: In 1850 the Tokugawa family began a process of political and military strengthening, increasing their army through religious enlistment, creating a spirit of strong unity based on Shinto ideals, in 1853 when the American fleet commanded by Matthew C. Perry reached the Japanese coast, the Empire denied American requests and the same, fearing an international crisis should a conflict start, left and accepted Japanese demands for non-interference, seeing Japan growing as a power in its isolated system, European powers also lost the will to a hard colonization as could be that of the Japanese territory and they understood that their neighbor, China, would be a much easier political target, and thus japan was growing at a fast pace, reaching the economy of a European power. The Japanese understood that their isolationist system was working, but the decline in resources began to affect the country, which with a stable economy, decided to open its ports, but taking over the eastern market, Japan increased its sphere of influence and began its expansion in 1890 initiated the infiltration of its troops into Chinese territory, thus taking over several coastal provinces, Manchuria and other territories, the dynasty fully consolidated in 1893 when it basically took control of East Asia when it fully integrated China and went to war against the French and won Indochina and its French ports in the process, the Tokugawa dynasty declared itself as the Holy Tokugawa Empire
