Never hear of that.
According to AoE3 they did that because Edo Japan banned peasants from eating meat, but that is not in the Middle Ages. AoE4 takes part in a different time period.
Generally AoE3 is not what should be copied in any way for Japan.
You wouldn’t want the English to have Redcoat Musketeers either, would you?
AOE2 gave japan a fishing boat bonus. Japanese cuisine has always had a prevalent seafood diet, sushi has existed in Japan since at least the Yaoyi period which is around 0 AD.
I’m sorry, this is from memory. I heard it from the YT channel Voices from the past. I highly recommend it though.
This is the best link I could google: How Japan Became Hooked on Meat
This channel has heavily changed my opinion on Japan. I haven’t fact checked it though. I’m not that invested. But if you have other proofs do tell!
In the design of many games in the past, Chinese art style and Japanese art style are the same, and even their buildings and units are the same, which is actually a wrong way of expression. Due to the warm climate and heavy rainfall in Japan, their original buildings were made of wood as the frame and wall of the house and thatched roof. During the reign of emperor Qinming of Japan (539 ~ 571), with the influence of Chinese culture and the introduction of Buddhism, Japanese architecture began to use tiles to make roofs, stones to make steps and floors, as well as Mortise and tenon structure, beams and decorative shapes with upward tilt like bird wings, which are highly similar to the traditional Chinese architectural style.
Such as architectural style
Japanese architectural style
Chinese architectural style
From the beginning of the seventh century to the end of the ninth century, China’s Dynasty was the Tang Dynasty. Japan modestly studied Chinese culture and successively sent a large number of envoys to China. Many Chinese systems, culture and art, science and technology and customs were introduced into Japan through them, which had a significant impact on Japan’s social development, and began to produce culture with Japanese characteristics on this basis.
There are countless times in Japan’s history, but I’m not sure whether they have their own unique styles like each dynasty in ancient China. Maybe Japan can also have different dynasties like China, and each dynasty has a different buff…
In each era of Japanese history, I’d better leave it to others to popularize science. Because there are too many contents, I have to spend a lot of time. I’d better try to save time to write something else.!
But in the end, the culture and architectural styles of China and Japan have embarked on different development paths, and there are great differences between them. Although they worship ancestors and dragons, China has no Bushido, ninjas, or even samurai swords. Japan also has no Shaolin Kung Fu and 《 The journey to the west 》, 《 Romance of the Three Kingdoms 》
Japanese fortresses are also very different from Chinese fortresses. It is worth noting that China seems to have no fortresses like Europe and Japan. Perhaps it is because China does not have a class like European Dukes or lords or Japanese shogunate generals who have their own territory and people, and can levy taxes and conscripts on their territory. China has only one ruler, the emperor, Therefore, China has been unified for a long time in history. There is no need for war. There are few castles. Most of them are mainly walls and towers to protect the city.
Japanese fortress
Chinese walls and towers
Of course, there are buildings similar to the architectural style of Fortress, such as this one
I can’t believe that no one has come up with a ninja unit!
Unit: Shinobi/Ninja
Crossbowman replacement/Scout alternative hybrid
Shinobi could probably be a scout on foot that is in stealth all the time unless revealed by entering the line of sight of another scout or outpost or standing right next to an enemy unit or building. they could deal very low damage like a scout but have abilities with cooldowns like the Kahn. for example assassinate unit or set building on fire.
In 1274 and 1281, Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty sent troops to attack Japan twice. These two invasions were called “robbers of the Yuan Dynasty” or “Mongol invasion” in Japan.
After the Mongol Empire eliminated China’s Jin Dynasty, Kublai Khan called himself China’s emperor in China in 1260. Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty in today’s Beijing, China in 1264. Because the war of the Song Dynasty regime in southern China was in trouble, Kublai Khan suspected that Japan, which was friendly with China’s Song Dynasty regime, would secretly support China’s Song Dynasty regime, So he hope to eliminate this threat as soon as possible. Kublai Khan asked South Korea to send envoys to Japan two years later, hoping to establish diplomatic relations with Japan. In fact, he asked Japan to submit to the rule of the Yuan Dynasty.
Kamakura era in Japan was unwilling to surrender, which made Kublai Khan very angry and determined to attack Japan.
At that time, the Yuan Dynasty expeditionary forces in Japan were composed of Mongols, Han people and Koreans. The yuan army was much higher than Japan in combat effectiveness, tactics and weapons. Not only the tacit cooperation between large-scale infantry groups, but also the powerful gunpowder weapons made the Japanese army suffer a devastating blow.
Although the yuan army won a short victory, they soon found that Japan’s geographical environment was not conducive to the play of the powerful cavalry of the Yuan Dynasty. Coupled with the tenacious resistance of the Japanese army, the yuan army paid a painful price. After the yuan army’s further attack was hindered, in order to prevent the Japanese army from launching another sneak attack at night, they all returned to the warships. At night, the typhoon in Japan overturned the warships of the yuan army, so that all the yuan army drowned in the sea, and only a few people fled back to China.
In 1275, the Japanese shogunate began to prepare for the second invasion of China’s Yuan Dynasty. In addition to better organization and discipline, the Japanese army is still learning from China’s tactical ideas and military management system. They are also building fortresses and other defense facilities at many possible landing points, and China’s Yuan Dynasty continues to send envoys to Japan, but Kublai Khan is very angry that Japan twice ordered to kill envoys sent by China’s Yuan Dynasty, Start preparing for a second invasion.
After the army of the Yuan Dynasty conquered the Song Dynasty in southern China in 1279, the second invasion of Japan was launched in 1281. The scale of the invasion of the Chinese Yuan Dynasty was larger than that of the first time, and the surrendered Chinese Han troops were the main body to attack Japan from South Korea and Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, China. The huge fleet of the Chinese yuan army was delayed due to supply problems. South Korea’s allies attacked first and suffered a tragic failure in Japan’s attack on Falklands. In the summer, the Chinese Yuan Dynasty army united with the Koreans to seize Japan’s Yiqi Island, then headed for Kyushu, Japan, and landed at different places. After some independent small battles, that is, the so-called Hong’an war or the “second Bodo port war”, the Chinese Yuan Dynasty army fled to the ship again. At this time, a two-day typhoon attacked the yuan army fleet and destroyed most of the ships. After killing all the soldiers, the second invasion of Japan by the Yuan Dynasty ended in failure
.
Because the war between China’s Yuan Dynasty and Japan was the first real aggression against Japan, these two wars were mentioned in many Japanese novels, and the word kamikaze came into being. Japanese kamikazes, who attacked the US Pacific Fleet in World War II, was named after the war.
The Warring States period of Japan, 1467-1600 or 1615, is a very important period in Japanese history. There are a large number of novels and film and television plays to describe that period, which is too long. It is suggested to set up an additional theme of popular science in the Warring States period of Japan. Let’s not talk about it here. Let’s talk about the war between Japan and neighboring countries, After all, a friend of mine said that he didn’t like fighting between two same civilizations in battle, so he didn’t like the Japanese battle in AOE 3.
In the Warring States period of Japan, some Japanese shogunate generals and samurai, Japanese ronins and Japanese soldiers who failed or were at a disadvantage in the war for hegemony, in order to survive or raise military expenses, they joined some local bandits and robbers and fishermen dissatisfied with the government’s rule as pirates in the coastal areas of Korea and Southeast China
At that time, China was the regime of the Ming Dynasty, With the further development of commodity economy along the southeast coast, foreign trade is quite developed, and private maritime trade along the coast is also very active. In order to make more profits, some powerful Chinese businessmen smuggled and sold China’s minerals, salt, steel products and gunpowder weapons in spite of the prohibition of the Chinese imperial court. In order to protect their own interests, they took the initiative to find these Japanese pirates and even Japanese daimyo in Japan and form armed maritime smuggling groups.
These pirates are well armed and have high combat effectiveness, It also has a large source of funds, and China has been seriously consumed in defeating the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty and waging long and Fierce wars with other Mongolian tribes in northern China and Mongolian grassland. The combat effectiveness of the regular army in southern China is low, the number of soldiers is decreasing, the discipline is poor and the equipment is backward, In the face of the attack of Japanese pirates, there are often situations of total collapse and total annihilation.
They use guerrilla warfare to confront the Chinese army and often launch deceptive attacks on the Chinese army. Once the Chinese army is attracted to leave the cities and towns, another group of people will attack the Chinese cities and towns immediately.
During the invasion of coastal cities in Southeast China, Japanese pirates slaughtered the Chinese people, burned houses, raped Chinese girls and women, and even cut open the stomach of pregnant women with a knife and boiled the babies in the pot. Such behavior reappeared on the Chinese battlefield in the Second World War, although China and the United States, Soviet journalists have a large number of photos and videos to record this demonic crime, but it is not recognized in Japan. The crimes of the Japanese have brought pain and disaster to the Chinese people.
Japanese pirates have established military fortresses and bases along the southeast coast of China, but the Chinese army has been unable to eliminate them.
In 1548, the Ming Dynasty dispatched a general 戚继光 from the garrison of the Great Wall.
Through long-term observation and analysis of Japanese pirates, he formulated a careful battle plan. After deliberately not attacking the fortress for a long time, he suddenly launched an attack by taking advantage of the Japanese garrison’s wrong judgment that the Chinese troops stationed under the fortress for a long time had lost the best time to attack the fortress, Wipe out all the Japanese defenders inside.
After this battle, general 戚继光 thought that the Chinese government army had no combat effectiveness and had to retrain a number of troops, so he himself recruited Chinese people who hated Japanese pirates in Chinese cities and towns invaded by Japanese pirates, through strict military management, high-intensity training and high elimination rate, This team composed of a group of ordinary people became the most powerful army in China at that time - 戚家军
戚继光Create a “mandarin duck array”.
This array requires 11 people to form a small team.
Two people next to the captain hold swords and shields,
two people at the back hold 狼筅,
four people at the back hold spears and spears,
and the last two use short Weapon.
The array can be changed.
Team 1 can become front and rear teams,
and team 2 can become column 3.
This array is suitable for narrow terrain such as mountains, forests, roads and ridges.
In 1561, 戚家军 encountered Japanese pirates in Zhejiang Province, China, and fought nine battles and won nine victories.
In 1563, together with reinforcements from other parts of China, 戚家军 wiped out all the main forces of Japanese pirates in pinghaiwei area, China. The Japanese pirates endangering the southeast coast of China disappeared.
+1 would definitely like.
Some kind of fishing boat bonus for Japan is must have but it still has to be balanced.
Fishing is very strong in AoE4.
It would be bad if Japan would be OP on all water maps but unplayable on land maps.
I think it’s best to not give Japan any hunting bonuses but I think completely removing the ability to hunt is a bit extreme.
Maybe giving them something alternative they can do with animals could be nice but the AoE3 shrine mechanic would be too strong.
Also hard to balance against the Rus bonus.
Don’t think that would fit Japan that well.
Technically Japan only ever had one Dynasty (and they still have it today).
Maybe a system where they can switch between Shogunate and rule of the Emperor. But than again that would be another system on top that would make it more complicated.
They were mostly build after the Middle Ages.
They are designed around cannons and arquebus unlike Europen castles that were designed before gunpowder.
I think AoE4 needs a stealth mechanic before we can see a good ninja unit.
But I think it’s quit possible that we will get that at some point.
That would probably the best potential for a Japanese campaign that is actually Medieval and not always retelling the Sengoku period all the time.
I think that could be represented as a story arc in a Korean campaign.
Korea could certainly be added with Japan in the same DLC for obvious reasons.
After unifying the whole country by force, Japan 丰臣秀吉 took charge of the military and political power of the whole country.
In order to meet his own suddenly inflated ambition and to transfer the contradiction of Japanese daimyo’s unequal enfeoffment of land, he began to expand abroad. He decided to invade North Korea by force, then conquer China, then seek India and dominate Asia.
In 1592, Japan invaded Korea on the grounds that Korea refused to give Japan military access to attack China. On April 14, 1592, the Japanese army invading Korea first landed in Busan, Korea. 19 days later, it occupied 汉城 (Seoul) and Pyongyang on June 15, 1592.
Due to the low combat effectiveness of the Korean regular army, the Japanese army was in an absolute advantage in the early stage of the war. Within a month, the Japanese army successfully expelled the Korean king 李昖 and occupied most of the territory of Korea. However, people all over Korea voluntarily organized civilian armed forces to effectively resist the strong offensive of the Japanese army. The Japanese army carried out a massacre in the area they occupied.
At this time, China dispatched the garrison stationed on the great wall and today’s elite troops in Liaoning Province of China (fire Lancer - 辽东铁骑) composed of the people of northern China and a large number of Mongols who separated from Mongolian tribes and joined China, and gathered 40000 people to form an army under the command of general 李如松 to resist Japan and aid Korea.
As Korea has been completely occupied by the Japanese, the Chinese army has no food supplement and can only rely on domestic transport teams to transport food. Therefore, the March is slow and the best time to attack Japan is delayed. In addition, the information about the Japanese army is incomplete, there are misjudgments, the Japanese army is several times the Chinese reinforcements, and North Korea competes for the command of the Chinese army. The Chinese army suffered a disastrous defeat.
Later, the Chinese Army adjusted its operational strategy, handed over the command to the unified central committee, established a supply line from mainland China to the Korean front line, and assembled elite troops from all over China and the main force of 辽东铁骑 to attack the Japanese army.
The gunpowder weapons of the Chinese army are mainly artillery. In the war of Supporting Korea, the Chinese Army brought thousands of artillery. Almost every battle was won by artillery bombing.
At that time, China learned from Portuguese businessmen to manufacture Culverin,
Cannon,
Bombard,
tiger squatting gun,
Nest of Bees (the Korean army also has its imitation Hwacha),
Handcannon that can be fired repeatedly after improvement,
and a large number of Grenadier.
However, the gunpowder weapons of the Japanese army are mainly Firerope gun. Under the huge gap in equipment, The Chinese Army’s recovery of Korean land is progressing very smoothly.
At the same time, the Korean Navy General 李舜臣 won many naval battles at sea.
Turtle boat, one of the oldest armored ships in the world, was made by North Korea to resist Japanese aggression in the 16th century. The shape of the turtle boat is like a turtle. There are more than 70 holes in the boat body, which can shoot guns, guns or arrows. The cabin has 26 cabins such as cabin and warehouse. There are dense knives and awl shaped iron signs on the iron armor. The bow of the ship was turtle shaped. It spewed out like fog from the mouth of the turtle head, burning toxic gases such as sulfur and fireworks. The turtle ship was light, simple and solid, fast and powerful. It was the most advanced warship in Asia at that time.
After the war of the green hoof Pavilion, China and Japan began to negotiate peace. In 1595, the first stage of the war was basically over.
In the first month of 1597, 140000 Japanese troops invaded Korea again. Korea asked for help again. This time, China invested more troops into Korea.
In this invasion of Korea, Japan used a conspiracy to frame Korean general 李舜臣 for rebellion, so that the king of Korea put 李舜臣 in prison and deprived him of his position. He could only fight as a soldier.
At the beginning of the war, the Korean navy was almost completely destroyed in the past battles. Korea replied to 李舜臣’s position. 李舜臣 Relying on the remaining several Korean warships, the navy was reconstituted李舜臣 He commanded the newly rebuilt Navy, fought with the Japanese Navy in the Mingliang Strait and won a decisive victory.
The Japanese army was unable to sustain after 丰臣秀吉 died, so they withdrew from the Korean Peninsula. Under the command of 陈璘,邓子龙, 李舜臣, the Chinese and Korean allied forces wiped out most of the retreating Japanese troops in the Luliang naval battle, but 邓子龙 and 李舜臣 died heroically in this naval battle.
The war ended with the victory of the Chinese and Korean coalition forces.
Through this patriotic war, Korea has safeguarded national independence and national dignity. China has also successfully smashed the attempts of the Japanese aggressors to invade China by misappropriating Korea. But it also brought a painful price to the countries participating in the war.
China cannot recover in the short term because its elite troops have been seriously damaged. The military strength of the Manchu and Mongolian nomadic tribes in northern China is becoming stronger and stronger, which finally poses a fatal threat to China. Moreover, China consumed a lot of resources, the productivity decreased, the domestic people had no food, starved many people, led to frequent domestic rebellion, and planted the seeds for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
Because of the long war, Korea suffered heavy losses, reduced resources, reduced agricultural production, fierce internal contradictions, the people’s living standard has never recovered to the level before the war, and the country has been in a period of turmoil for a long time.
Japan’s Toyotomi Xiuji family also suffered a great loss of vitality in this war. The Toyotomi Xiuji family was weakened and lost to Tokugawa Jiakang in the subsequent war of Guanyuan. It was finally destroyed by Tokugawa Jiakang. All Toyotomi Xiuji’s descendants were slaughtered by Tokugawa Jiakang. From then on, Japan entered the era of Tokugawa Shogunate
Why not to include Daikyu upgrade to bring Yumi samurais extra range and base attack ?
No, there were aristocratic and warrior classes in ancient China, but with the development of civilization, these classes became unsuitable and were eliminated. Castles are only suitable for small countries. A large country like China does not need castles.
My outlook on Japanese
Civilization Bonuses:
Fishing Boat Upgrades are free and fishing boats cost 25% less wood.
Villagers equipped with naginata with attack bonus vs. Cavalry
Villagers collect from berries faster but no extra food from them.
Access to archery range and early archers in the dark age.
Generic Units:
Villager
Trader
Spearman
Archer (Japanese have access to early archer from Dark Age, early archer is weaker and no damage vs light infantry yet helpful in Drush)
Crossbowman
Horseman
Lancer
Mangonel
Counterweight Trebuchet
Bombard
Monk
Ships:
Fishing Boat
Transport Ship
Trade Ship
Kobaya (Archer ship)
Sekibune (Attack Ship)
Bomb Kobaya (New unique unit, incendiary ship, more expensive but higher hp and can switch between self-destruction mode or a short ranged AOE attack mode)
Akatabune (Warship)
Unique Units:
No-Dachi Samurai: Replaces Man-At-Arms, can be upgraded to do charge damage, less armor but more damage
Sohei (still the same but a 3rd option from Barracks)
Yumi Samurai (powerful but expensive archer, 3rd option from Archery range available at Castle Age, slower rate of fire than archer but is armored, does more damage, and has longer range, minor damage bonus vs. armored units)
Arquebus Ashigaru: 4th option from archery range, cheaper but weaker hand cannon
Fire Arrow: replaces Springald, does small AOE damage around the target but has higher gold cost.
Unique Technologies:
Kyudo: +1 Range for Archers and Yumi Samurai
Kendo: Increased damage and speed of Nodachi Samurai and grants them a charge attack
Naginatado: Increases the melee attack of Horsemen, Sohei, Lancers, and Villagers
Sojutsu: Increased attack speed for Spearman
Tangashima Arquebus: Reduces traning time and increases rate of fire for Arquebus ashigaru
Seppuku: +5% HP for all units and gives them a 25% chance to die when converted by enemy religious units.
One landmark Idea
Himeji Castle: Imperial Age, counts as keep with both an arrow attack and a shorter range hand cannon attack. Has a unique upgrade that upgrades all keeps and outposts with weapon emplacement with shorter ranged hand cannon attack.
As you can see, Japan is an archery civilization with decent melee options to boot. Some unique ideas were removed to add more balance. The Yumi samurai for example no longer has melee attack but is useful against armored and light enemies. The Fire Arrow springald is only for field siege and doesn’t replace springalds of fortifications and attack ships.
Now that two new Civilisations were released I think I should rethink my civilisation proposal.
The introduction of Mali especially opens a lot of possibilities like stealthy Ninjas or a civilisation that mostly uses unique units.
Yeah,my version of the AoE 4 Japanese is like the AoE 3 Japanese:
Dark Age (794-1185) (Heian Period) (the same units that have the Chinese)
Feudal Age (1185-1333) (Kamakura Shogunate) (Yumi Archer and Naginata Horseman)
Castle Age (1333-1467) (Ashikaga Shogunate) (Samurai and Yabusame)
Imperial Age (1467-1615) (Sengoku Jidai) (Ninja and Ashigaru Gunner)
Shrine: Generates a tiny amount of resources. Configure it to produce different things. Attract nearby animals for bonus production. Supports 10 population.
Rice Paddy: Slow, infinite source of Food or Coin. Limited to 10 gatherers.
Cherry Orchard: A beautiful Cherry Orchard which can be harvested for Food.
Ancient Japan was a cavalry civilisation (like Yamato in AoE1) while early modern Japan was a Foot Soldier Civilisation (like in AoE3).
AoE2 gives Japan strong Infantry and good Archers, especially Horse Archers.
AoE4 should be kinda between AoE1 and AoE3.
There shouldn’t be a single unit called “Samurai”. Unlike the European “knight” who was originally defined as a horseman the Samurai is not a specific kind of soldier and also changed over time.
Japan is designed around a strong military but not a strong economy but the economy on both land and water is harder to raid then other civilisations.
Unlike most civilisations Japan gets 2 military buildings.
One for cheap units (Ashigaru) and one for expensive units (Samuari)
Technically Samuari predate Ashigaru but for balance reasons we have to change that.
The temple functions as a 3rd military building.
Each Shrine grants a unique bonus. There are multiple bonuses to chose from, they can be changed any time (with a cooldown) but each Shrine has to have a different one.
The bonus scales with the number of deer at the shrine, and there is a maximum number of deer.
The Shrine has to be destroyed for the enemy to be able to kill the deer.
The Bonus you can choose are all military bonuses and usually improve one type of unit.
Some possible bonuses
The choice between those depends on who much deer you think you can secure. You can chose between having a grantee to have enough deer till the end of the match or between having a potentially higher bonus.
Choice between military and economic landmark.
This is the classic defensive vs offensive choice.
I didn’t want to recreate the Shrine spam from AoE3 so I decided to limit them to 1 per Age. Also they don’t generate resources.
Japan is an offensive civilisation without many economic or defensive bonuses. Also they are more flexible because they can basically chose their civilisation bonus. You can’t know if they will attack with Horseman, Archers or Spearman in the Feudal Age, they are all build from the same building and the player can switch the bonus between them.
This also gives the player the ability to adapt better to an enemy that like has more units on the field because of the economic bonuses of the other civilisations.
I though it would be nice to give them unique military buildings and split them by Age and light/armoured instead of unit type. This gives the Japanese player more flexibility because they don’t have to build 3 different military buildings.
One military unit is only available in the Temple though.
There is still room for more ideas like more civilisation bonuses. I also didn’t list any ideas for unique technologies yet.
I did leave out ships because the naval gameplay will likely be reworked soon.
I also left out siege because I think it should probably be mostly generic.
Edit:
Cool only one word got censored.
