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After digging into Japanese history around the time of 0 A.D, I've found out a few things that could make implementing Japan in "Rise of the East" an interesting challenge. I would be very enthusiastic about doing some more research if adding Japan is something that seems doable in the future, but here is what I know so far: The period of about 300 B.C. to about 300 A.D. in Japan is known as the Yayoi period. Little is known about the time period since the earliest mention of Japan during the period comes as an afterthought in Chinese texts. The Chinese described it as a mainly agricultural society characterized by violent struggles. The land was split into hundreds of tribal communities according to the Chinese, which is most likely more accurate than the records of the Nihon Shoki, an early collection of Japanese history that claims the birth of a unified Japan to be 660 B.C. According to archeological findings, the Japanese people during the Yayoi period experienced a great deal of turmoil and violent expansion. The people themselves are (although this is debated) thought to be from the island of Kyushu, and they arrived and expanded their influence onto the main island of Honshu in the beginning of the Yayoi period. Bronze weapons and rice farming during the period suggest heavy influences from China. Between the Jomon period (13,000-400 B.C.) and the Yayoi period, Japan's population is thought to have risen by about 4 million people. The main reasons for this are debated, but historians believe that a major influx of farmers from the Asian continent overwhelmed or absorbed the native hunter-gatherer population. The reason I said implementing Japan could be a challenge is this. During at least the first half of the Yayoi period (300 B.C - 0 A.D), Japan was split into many competing (most likely warring) villages. Many excavated settlements were moated or built at the tops of hills. Headless human skeletons discovered in Yoshinogari site are regarded as typical examples of finds from the period. In the coastal area of the Inland Sea, stone arrowheads are often found among funerary objects. In essence, no unified Japan existed (outside of the Nihon Shoki). A dramatic shift occured however as the Yamato court rose in Japan around 250 A.D. With the rise of the court, power was shifted to a central administration and an imperial court (inspired by the Chinese government of the time). Huge changes in burial styles and military tactics also occured between the Yayoi and Kofun (250-538 A.D) periods that were likely to have been developed (undocumented, as essentially everything in Japan was) during the latter half of the Yayoi period. That's what I've discovered so far. I don't know if any of it helps, but let me know what other information would be helpful in exploring this amazing civilization! Some Sources I've found helpful: http://www.jref.com/articles/yayoi-period.188/ http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm

I saw Ayakashi's great post about the Tang Dynasty and think that the Chinese faction wouldn't be complete without Song Dynasty for part II of Millennium A.D. Here's my proposal: Song Dynasty (960 - 1279AD) Brief history After a period of upheaval and unrest that was the turbulent Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Song Dynasty rose up and reunite the Chinese people once again (to certain extent). A period of relative peace soon followed, and Chinese cultural, economic and scientific advancements were at all time heights during the Song Dynasty. Nevertheless, the Chinese have to constantly struggle with the even more powerful Khitan Liao Dynasty, the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, the Tangut Western Xia Dynasty, and eventually, faced their demise at the hand of the Mongols. The Chinese would not endure their Mongol overlord for long, and quickly overthrow the Yuan Dynasty to form the Ming Dynasty. Gameplay Attrition warfare: Turtling and booming. With reform, Song player can adjust their military to focus on: * Gigantic swarms of cheap infantry unit. * Early access of expensive foreign elite units. * Late game high tech units and champions. Song Dynasty is even more catered for turtle player than its predecessor, the Tang Dynasty. While Tang Dynasty was militarily strong, with a fierce contingent of light cavalry backed by very competent infantry, the same cannot be said for the Song Dynasty. At this period the Chinese were constantly troubled by severe lack of horse, so their army was almost entirely infantry-based. Low social status of soldiers and the tendency to distrust or even execute capable military commander certainly did not help matters. In stark contrast to their weak army, Chinese advanced tremendously in almost every field related to economy: Agriculture, metallurgy, as well as commerce and foreign trade. Major exports were silk, porcelain and tea. (The claim that Song Dynasty had 80% GDP share of the world is totally false, however). Also around this time we saw large-scale use of gunpowder weapons for the first time, both by the Chinese and their enemies. Due to their maritime trade, Song Chinese were very advanced in naval and navigation technology, inventing watertight compartment as well as utilizing paddle-wheel warships (and a blue water navy) on large scale. Civilization Traits * Imperial society - The Chinese did not live in a feudal society. Song civilization start with the usual civic center building instead of castle/fortress typical of Millennium A.D. * Forbidden army of eight hundred thousand - The Song Dynasty was able to maintain a truly mind-boggling amount of full-time professional troops, but not all of them combat worthy. Most Song infantry are cheap, train fast, and extremely tough for their price. However, they cannot perform economic task. * Defennd oriented - The Song Dynasty defensive strategy was heavily reliant on passive defense and developed superior defensive construction as a result. Civilization Bonuses Advanced Agriculture 1 History: Chinese mastery in agriculture was unsurpassed up until early modern period (don't quote me, but they were quite far ahead of the rest of world during our time frame AFAIK). They had farming treaties, multiple-tube seed drills and curved iron crankshaft plow, to name but a few. (And these are just the inventions of the previous dynasties) Effect: Increase farm yield. Silk & Porcelain Trade History: The main export of the Chinese since the Han Dynasty. Effect: 15% gain to both trader and merchant ship. Civilization Disadvantages * Overpriced cavalry: Cavalry of the Song Dynasty are massively overpriced, but only of moderate quality. * Slow infantry: Infantry of the Song Dynasty are weighted down by their extra-heavy armor. * Slow expansion: The general slowness of the Song army means that they also cannot expand effectively. However, their overwhelmingly powerful economic technologies ensure that they stay ahead of their opponents economically without expanding territory. Team Bonuses Tribute Mission History: The Chinese were no longer the dominant superpower of the Far East that could automatically attract tribute from the so-called 'lesser' countries. Tribute mission of this period was useful to put up the facade that Song Dynasty was still powerful and, more importantly, to maintain foreign relationship as (more or less) equals. Although Song Dynasty was the one that was receiving tribute, they tend to give more than they receive. Effect: Allied traders and merchant ships gain +60% trade profit when trading with the Song civilization. Not applicable to Song civilization itself. Researched Unique Technologies Odometer and South-Pointing Chariot History: The combination of odometer and compass makes charting map much easier. Effect: All Song building and land unit gain +25% vision range. Advanced Agriculture 2 History: During the Northern Song, introduction of foreign crop from Champa (modern day Vietnam), Korea, India and Middle East greatly improved food producton, while the invention of Yang Ma (秧馬) or 'Seedling Horse' made planting and harvesting crops faster and easier. Effect: Increase farm yield even more and reduce harvest intervals. Stack with Advanced Agriculture 1. Tea-Horse Trade History: The Chinese traded tea for horses. Effect: Reduce training cost of cavalry. (To other civilizations, this could be a borderline OP upgrade. To the Chinese, this only makes their cavalry somewhat more viable.) Gunpowder Formula History: The first detailed formula of gunpowder was recorded in the Northern Song military encyclopedia Wujing Zongyao. Effect: Song Dynasty siege weapons gain explosive ammunition. Double-piston Flamethrower History: The Chinese invented a variant of the Greek Fire that can spill out continuous flame. Effect: Song Dynasty defensive tower gains a devastating flame attack. Reform Technologies <Reform 1> New Policies/Wang Anshi Reform (王安石變法) History: A massive centralization project conducted by Northern Song minister Wang Anshi. Effect: * Reduce cost of farm plot. * Increase house capacity. * Increase trade efficiency. * Reduce cost of all military unit. * Reduce cost of military research. * Civic center, house and defensive tower gain additional arrow attack. <Reform 2> Alliance of the Sea (海上之盟) History: Northern Song Dynasty formed an alliance with the Jin Dynasty in order to destroy the Liao. Effect: Access to powerful but expensive Jin Dynasty units. (Ironically, this has nothing to do with navy) <Reform 3> Jian Yan Exodus (建炎南渡) History: Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed, only to be replaced by Southern Song Dynasty. Effect: Drastic restructuring of the entire army and access to many new weapon, technologies and upgrades. Unlock technology: Advanced Agriculture 3 Unlock technology: Coke Fuel Unlock technology: Watertight Compartment Proposed Unit Roster Support Unit Female Citizen Military Laborer (廂兵) - Only unit in the entire civilization that can build military building. Trader Merchant Ship Fishing Boat Healer - (Personally I oppose to the "religious personnel as healer" approach. While this is somewhat true for Christian faith, Chinese medicine for the most part was very secularized.) Forbidden Army (禁軍) * Forbidden Army units cannot gather resource or construct building. Spearman (槍手) - General purpose infantry. Counter cavalry. Glaiveman (刀斧手) - Fragile (by Chinese standard, they are still heavily armored infantry) anti-everything heavy hitter. Vulnerable to ranged unit. Javelin Pavisier (鏢牌手) - Very tough meatshield/tarpit infanty. Counter ranged unit. Archer (弓手) Crossbowman (弩手) Cavalry (馬軍) Siege Weapon Whirlwind Trebuchet (旋風車砲) Siege Crossbow (床子弩) Warship Paddle Wheel Tower Ship Hero Unit Di Qing (狄青) Yue Fei (岳飛) *Third Hero TBD <Reform 2 Unit> Jurchen "Iron Pagoda" Superheavy Cataphract (鐵浮屠) Jurchen Dismounted "Iron Pagoda" Cataphract Jurchen Medium Cavalry (拐子馬) <Reform 3 Unit> Bamboo Gunner (突火槍) War Wagon (如意戰車) Counterweight Trebuchet (回回砲) Heavy War Junk (尖底海船) Ironclad Rammer Warship (鐵壁鏵嘴船)

EDIT :After some talks with members of the forum, we decided that the Japanese described here are better suited for part 2. In fact, that's the period I was thinking about when I came up with this concept (roughly from the start of Muromachi Period to the first years of Edo Period). THE JAPANESE The Nation of the Rising sun is a very powerful and unique civilization. Strong at combat, versatile, dynamic and filled with technologies, the Japanese are an excellent choice for the player. Notable differences compared to other civilizations are: -Since all of the warrior class was exclusively composed by nobles, the samurai and daimyo wouldn’t bother themselves with activities such as harvest or resource collecting. This stratification of society results in this civilization employing only peasants, both male and female, to do the building and the resource collecting. -Peasants don’t hunt, but there are fishing ships. -Depend heavily on a new resource: favor. - Due to the lack of stone and constant earthquakes of the archipelago, the Japanese mastered the use of wood, primal material for their constructions. They have a unique set of buildings, added to the normal constructions (such as Civic center, blacksmith, etc): DOJO -Trains strong swordsmen, like Ronin Samurai as well as fast-attack hand-to-hand infantry. The dojo can also train one martial arts master per building, a unit that will enhance the performance of nearby warriors. CASTLE -A powerful, long ranged fort; trains heroes, archers, cavalry swordsmen , cavalry lancers, infantry lancers, armored samurai, daimyo and siege units. TEMPLES Since two major religions dominate Japan, two different temples would be available to this civilization: ZEN TEMPLE: -Famous for their multi level pagodas, Buddhist temples were in charge of basic education, teaching peasants to read and write. Some of those religious complexes, like the fabled Ashikaga Gakko, were analogous to European Universities, teaching subjects like philosophy, calligraphy, religion and even war arts. This building will provide numerous improvements, as well as training warrior monks, who can also work at harvest and healing, although in this last skill they are highly surpassed by their Shinto counterparts. SHINTO TEMPLE: -Shinto, the faith of the Kami, is the native religion of Japan. Send your peasants and priests to the temple in order to generate favor or perform a variety of rituals, that would help in areas such as unit production, harvesting, healing, war motivation and so on. Trains a priest extremely powerful at healing. HOUSES RURAL HOUSE -Also used as a deposit for food, this building supports 5 population. URBAN HOUSE -An update of the rural house, available for city phase, supports 12 population, but no longer serves for storage. TEA FACTORY -Tea is a valuable commodity. Send peasants to work at the local tea factory in order to generate money (metal). SHIRINES AND TORII GATES -Sign of the Japanese devotion to nature, build those monuments anywhere in the map in order to expand your territory and generate favor. BRIGDES -Lay the foundation of an arched bridge in parts of a river which would only be surpassed by ships. Also generates favor. NATIVE VILLAGE -Japan is populated with various indigenous peoples. Build small Ainu or Inuit villages where you can train native warriors and very cheap, yet powerful shamans. Native warriors can hunt and harvest but don’t mine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What do you guys think? I'll soon submit some building concepts.