Descendants of the Yamato civilization, who inhabited the island of Japan and other parts of Asia in the far-east. The Japanese civilization is now under the Tokugawa Shogunate, that unified the country.
Daimyo Tokugawa Ieyasu lives a life of cutthroat survival, following the motto: “Life means that I can live to see tomorrow.” When he speaks, he does so with certainty, as if whatever he says has already come to pass. When he strikes, he does so first swiftly and without a hint of mercy.
Civilization Bonuses
- Villagers cannot hunt. Shrines attract animals to generate resources.
- Starts with a Cherry Orchard Rickshaw.
- Most Home City cards can be sent twice.
Unique Units
Sohei Archer The Sohei Archer is a Japanese unit similar to an Explorer and War Chief. The Sohei Archer uses a bow and arrow, and when his enemy falls below a certain amount of health, he’ll deal a Divine Strike blow, killing them outright. |
Ashigaru Musketeer The Ashigaru is a Japanese musketeer that is more expensive than a normal musketeer but causes slightly more damage and has more hitpoints. |
Yumi Archer The Yumi is a Japanese archer unit. It is an overall improvement on other archer units, as its range, damage, and hitpoints are all higher. It is especially effective at long range, but weak against cavalry. |
Samurai The Samurai is a Japanese swordsman that makes up the core of the Japanese army. A tough infantry unit, the Samurai is fast, has many hitpoints, and causes heavy splash damage to all units in an area. It is also powerful against buildings, as if it were a siege unit. |
Naginata Rider The Naginata Rider is a mounted warrior wielding the deadly naginata. A non-traditional cavalry unit, it does great damage to archers and skirmishers, but is very weak against anti-cavalry. |
Yabusame Archer The Yabusame Archer is an elite Japanese light cavalry unit that fires a bow from very long range. It is more powerful than most other cavalry archers due to its long range and the bonus damage it inflicts on siege units. |
Flaming Arrow The Flaming Arrow is a light Japanese cannon that fires its namesake, a flaming arrow that wreaks havoc on enemy infantry and siege units. |
Morutaru The Morutaru, or Japanese Mortar, is a Japanese siege weapon which fires highly explosive shells. It can only be used against buildings and ships, but is highly effective. |
Daimyo The Daimyo boosts the attack of nearby friendly units. He can train units that can be found at both the Barracks and the Stable. Home City Shipments can be sent to his location. |
Fune The Fune is a Japanese naval unit that can be built at the Dock starting in the Commerce Age. Like a Caravel, the Fune is primarily used to slowly gather Fish and Whales as resources, but it can also be used to transport troops from place to place. |
Atakebune The Atakebune is a Japanese naval unit can be built at a Dock. It has a high number of hitpoints and can train units like a Barracks. |
Tekkousen The Tekkousen is the most powerful naval unit in the Japanese fleet. It has a large amount of hitpoints, a good range, and a big attack. The Tekkousen is good against buildings, pounding villages from the sea. However, it is vulnerable to other ships or land-based artillery. |
Unique Buildings
Cherry Orchard The Cherry Orchard is a small, resource-rich building that is unique to the Japanese civilization. It is built from a rickshaw and provides Food that can be harvested by Villagers. |
Shrine A Shrine can be built by the Japanese and is similar to a House, but is more expensive and has more hitpoints. It can be used to toggle between Food, Wood, or Coin, and when placed near certain animals that can be hunted or made livestock, it will attract and task up to four animals to produce extra resources of whatever variety Shrines are currently producing. |
Dojo The Dojo is a special Japanese building that can be shipped from the Japanese Home City in the Fortress Age. It spawns Japanese infantry or cavalry units in groups of three or five, or it can be configured to produce experience points. The player can only ever acquire two Dojos. |
Wonders
The Asian civilizations in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition advance to the next Age by building a wonder. Each wonder has specific bonuses associated with them.
Golden Pavilion The Golden Pavilion sends you Shipments of Yumi Archers each time you Age up. This Wonder gives a bonus to your military and provides advanced Arsenal improvements. |
Great Buddha The Great Buddha sends you a Shipment of Naginata Riders. This Wonder has the Informers ability, which reveals enemy line-of-sight to you for a short time. |
The Shogunate The Shogunate sends you a special Daimyo unit at no cost. This Wonder decreases military unit costs and training time. It also lets you retrain lost Daimyos. |
Torii Gates The Torii Gates gives you a Shipment of a Castle Rickshaw and a Samurai. This Wonder increases the experience points that you receive for each kill, every unit and building completed, and your base experience points trickle. |
Toshogu Shrine The Toshogu Shrine sends you Shipments of Export. This Wonder counts as two Shrines, providing a Population boost of 20, and sustaining up to eight hunting or herding animals. It also increases the gather rates of all your Shrines. |