England/Japan

England/Japan is a popular slash pairing in Axis Powers Hetalia, involving the characters of England and Japan.

The pairing is sometimes referred to as AsaKiku, a portmanteau of the first few syllables of England's name in Japanese and Japan's human first name.

The Anglo-Japanese Alliance

In 1902, England, who's currently living in "splendid isolation," realizes that it would be in his best interest to make friends.  He attempts to befriend Germany first by showing up at his door with a bouquet of roses, but Germany slams the door in his face.  After that, England decides to try and befriend Japan instead; he learns that Japan has been looking for a friend too and is optimistic about his prospects with him until he also learns that Japan's boss is visiting Russia which could signal a possible alliance between them that would leave England out.

Just as England is about to resign himself to being alone, however, Japan shows up and explains to him that his boss acted without his counsel and that he'd in fact like to form an alliance with him, which England accepts even as he insists that he's only doing this for his own sake, not Japan's, and later brags to France about how he's going to use this alliance to vanquish him and Russia.

England also helps Japan learn the English language, and when he discovers that the English sentences Japan is writing are all insults about America, asks him if he has a grudge against America, which Japan denies.

In another strip explicitly set during the time of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, England stays over at Japan's house to learn more about his culture and winds up meeting several of Japan's supernatural creatures, including tengu and kappa.  He learns from the kappa that the supernatural creatures used to be able to converse with Japan and his people but that they now have to leave as they are becoming only superstition to the Japanese, and sees them off, saying that he hopes to see them again someday.

Other Strips

Japan is asked by his boss in one strip to cook the beef stew served at England's house and he initially protests but tries to fulfill his boss's request as best as he can, even though he can't quite remember the ingredients England used in his dish, eventually just throwing in random ingredients altogether.  He ends up creating the new dish nikujaga.

When France and Greece both label England as the world's most perverted country, England pleads with Japan to prove them wrong somehow.  Japan says that he can't but that it's better for him to get into 2-D so that his body will remain pure even if his heart doesn't, a suggestion that England turns down.

In another strip, England greets Japan while wearing a shirt that contains spoilers for the final Harry Potter book.  A horrified Japan quickly covers his eyes before he can be spoiled and England removes his shirt, making sure to tell Japan that it's for his own sake, not Japan's.  Japan asks England what he can possibly gain from taking his shirt off, only to become even more horrified as he sees that the spoilers are also written on England's chest.

Fan Speculations

One of the main drawing points of the England/Japan pairing is their similarities as island nations who don't have much friends and are implied to be secretly perverted underneath their proper demeanors.

England tends to act bluntly tsundere around Japan at times, a fact that Japan himself notes, although he seems to be less genuinely cranky and combative about it with Japan than with America and France, most likely because Japan's relatively calm and polite personality would discourage England from getting truly angry or irritated with him.

Japan also appears comfortable with seeing England half-naked after he takes a bath in Ghost Culture of England and Japan even though he's shown to protest when other characters like Germany or Italy get equally half-naked.

In historical terms, the Anglo-Japanese alliance was the strongest point of relations between England and Japan, but the state of their Hetalia counterparts' relationship after the termination of the alliance in 1921 is largely up to speculation as most of their shown interaction is set during the time of the alliance and they are official enemies in the main WWII storyline.

Furthermore, it can be argued that Japan has actually grown closer to America than England in the modern day strips, as he has helped America scare England at Halloween, breaking England's formerly perfect record of being the first to scare America, and overall has a significantly greater number of strips with America than he does with England.  Nonetheless, Japan and England are indeed featured together in a couple of post-WWII strips, indicating that they've at least remained friends in some capacity in modern times.

Moments

Published Manga

• Ghost Culture of England and Japan (Axis Powers Hetalia volume 2)

Webcomic: Extra Stories

• The Anglo-Japanese Alliance Between Two Lonely People
• Ghost Culture of England and Japan

Webcomic: Comic Diaries

• Comic Diary 4
• Comic Diary 8
• Comic Diary 9