Fermin-Tenava wrote:
Only a theory on my part, but I think Kanto was from the Fire Nation (or descended from a Fire Nation family).
Why? Because Kanto is a plain and region in Japan (the site of Tokyo, to be precisely), and in Avatar, the nation most heavily influenced by imperial Japan is the Fire Nation.
The only other thing we can safely assume is that he and Toph probably met either in Crane Fish Town, Yu Dao, or Republic City when it was just getting formed, since Toph probably spent most of her new life near her Metalbending school.
That is a major misconception about the Fire Nation.
Absolutely, their hundred year war bears some resemblance to the conflicts which emerged in East Asia in the aftermath of the Meiji Restoration, but the Fire Nation is not the most heavily influenced by Imperial Japan. People simply equate the Fire Nation with post Meiji Japan. This is entirely incorrect.
Their architecture and aesthetic is predominantly Chinese, Mongolian, Javanese and other Southeast Asian in nature. Very little of the appearance of the Fire Nation is drawn out of Japanese culture. Moreover, this is very likely deliberate, because the creators of the show would not specifically want to paint a single culture as connected to fascism and Imperialism.
Writng in both the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom is shown to be a largely Chinese inspired script.
Fire nation names have some Japanese influence, but no more or less than they do draw influence from Chinese culture and other cultural heritages, and a great many Fire Nation names are entirely unique.
As for who Kanto is, I am not sure it's relevant. Toph didn't involve fathers in the lives of either of her daughters, and specifically raised both of them to grow up without fathers, so their identity is essentially unimportant.
Lin and Suyin weren't raised with Jon Snow complexes, in fact, they were raised to be just the opposite. Lin only mentioned her irritation at this on meeting her mother for the first time in years. At best guess, both fathers were very likely earthbending non-entities who Toph did not remain involved with for long.