Differences from OTL (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

This article covers the list of difference of the events that happening in this Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum timeline compared with our timeline.

Geopolitics

• Cold War remains as the Soviet Union continues to exist in TTL in competing against the United States for political and economic influences on the international affairs. World is divided into three blocs of nations: capitalist bloc, which embodied through the NATO and the European Community; communist bloc, which represented through the Warsaw Pact and the COMECON; and neutrally-aligned nations, which form the Non-Aligned Movement.

Asia

• Japan is considered as the "third superpower" after the US and the USSR due to its military and economic strength in East Asia, balancing the geopolitical rivalry between the West and the Soviet in Asia. Japan, however, formally declares itself as non-aligned, despite leading its own regional bloc, the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
• China, while is not a military power as in OTL, is still an economic powerhouse with as it is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter with its vast human and natural resources, as well as the second-largest importer as in OTL, with significant contributions to science and technology.

Culture

Cuisine

Sheep husbandry is a major sector in the farming industries in Korea in this TL.

Kerala-style fish curry, one of the common examples of the South Indian-style curries become popular in France in this TL.

• Sheep pastoralism is more common among the Koreans, especially among its Muslim minority, and was introduced by these Muslims, who also popularized the use of lamb and mutton in Korean cuisine, which do not featured prominently or perhaps at all in OTL.
• Noodle become the staple food of Northeast Indians due to the Chinese gastronomical influence which was brought by the Li dynasty from southern China in TTL.
• Indian spices and ingredients, such as dal, cardamom, cumin, coconut milk, buttermilk, jaggery, and tamarind, as well as curry, dosa, appam, pidi and idli become more prevalent in use in French cuisine due to the French colonization of southern India in TTL.

Religion

Danjō garan of Kongōbu-ji, the Shingon head temple in Mount Kōya. Shingon Buddhism is the largest school of Buddhism in TTL Japan.

Roman Catholicism is prominent among the Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians, Tamils and Vietnamese, but had experienced a sharp decline in the Philippines.

• Shingon and Tendai schools are dominant sects of Buddhism in Japan due to the aristocratic patronage for the former and imperial patronage for the latter, compared to the real-life situation where Jōdo, Nichiren and Zen having largest number of adherents.
• Islam is the third largest religion in Korea due to continuing presence of the Muslim community since Goryeo era and the religious protection and tolerance policy, rather than annihilation, by King Sejong the Great and his successors.
• Like in OTL, Christianity is the largest religion in Korea, compared to majority of Koreans who are technically irreligious, but Eastern Orthodoxy is the largest Christian denomination in TTL instead of Protestant churches in OTL South Korea.
• Buddhism is the second largest religion in the Indian subcontinent due to multiple factors such as continued presence of major Buddhist dynasties, major religious revivals and socio-economic movement of the Dalits who converted from Hinduism en masse, with Theravada is the largest Buddhist denomination due to the influences from Burma and Sri Lanka.
• Catholic Church, especially the Latin Church, is the largest Christian denomination among the Ukrainians and Belarusians and the second largest denomination among the Russians due to the Hungarian imperial hegemony in Western Ruthenia during the 14th and 15th centuries.
• Christianity is more prominent among the Tamils and Malayalis, especially in the coastal areas, due to the intensive proselytization and the emergence of educational institutions owned by both Catholic and Protestant missionaries during the French colonial era in South India.
• Eastern Orthodoxy is the second largest religion in Djibouti due to the significant presence of the Russo-Djiboutians.
• Christian liturgies and doctrines in England are heavily influenced by Anglo-Catholicism which has been adopted by the Anglican Church of England during the mid-19th century due to the royal patronage received by the church.
• Christianity remains the majority religion in the Philippines in TTL, but majority is the adherents to the Protestant denominations, such as Anglican Church or Methodist Church, rather than Roman Catholicism which is the largest in OTL.
• Christianity is the largest religion in ATL Vietnam, just as in OTL South Korea. Most of Vietnamese are irreligious, but among the religious people, Christians made up the largest population. Catholic Church is the largest denomination within the Vietnamese Christianity and influential in Vietnam's political and social affairs.

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