Location from Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo
The authoritarian eastern nation in a Cold War standoff with Westalis — a surveillance state where secrets are currency and everyone is watching everyone else.
Ostania feels like a country holding its breath. The streets are clean, the trains run on time, and the State Security Service ensures that everyone smiles in public. Beneath the surface, underground networks — criminal, political, and intelligence — operate in the spaces the government's surveillance can't quite reach. The nation is recovering from two wars with Westalis and teeters between reconciliation and renewed hostility. The National Unity Party, led by Donovan Desmond, pushes for military preparedness. Peace activists and foreign agents (like WISE) work against this current. Ordinary citizens navigate loyalty oaths, neighbor surveillance, and the constant low-grade anxiety of living under an authoritarian regime that calls itself a democracy.
A nation of grand but austere architecture, military checkpoints, and propaganda posters. The cities blend pre-war elegance with post-war austerity — ornate government buildings alongside utilitarian housing blocks. Border walls and watchtowers mark the divide with Westalis. The aesthetic is distinctly Cold War Eastern European: imposing, orderly, and slightly oppressive even on sunny days.
Also known as: Ostania, The East, Eastern Nation