The Yamato Destiny: A Japan HTTT AAR

[Dewirix]

To the South Seas: 1668 to 1701

Emperor Reigen, Aug 1669 - Apr 1701

Emperor Reigen had been a boy of 14 when his father died and was considered too young to rule in his own name until the following year.

The new Emperor was a gifted diplomat, but cared little for matters of war or administration, preferring to spend his time speaking with foreign emissaries about distant lands.



This interest in the exotic led him to pursue his father's colonisation policy with greater energy. Reigen turned the resources of the whole Empire towards expanding Japan's borders in the relatively unsettled South Seas.

For the most part this was a peaceful exercise, although a border dispute with Japan's new neighbour, Makassar, escalated to such a level that eventually it proved necessary to annex the country to preserve order. Fortunately, Reigen's astute diplomacy was able to convince the Makassari nobility that Japanese service offered better hopes for advancement and the province was incorporated with little protest once the initial hostilities had ended.

In the same way the rich Wu province of Guangzhi was detached from that long-suffering country and brought into the Japanese fold.

It was easy to see the attraction of joining the Empire. By the late 17th century the economy was booming and new and more sophisticated methods of construction and communication were becoming commonplace. There were some who believed that the pace of change was too fast, but the nay-sayers were unable to make much difference in imperial policy.



Part of the reason for the great changes taking place could be traced to the European influence. To the Empire's south-west a small European outpost had been founded by a mighty kingdom. The settlers brought with them new ideas which helped Japan to reorganise its military.



There was some talk at court of establishing a similar colony next to the newcomers in the hope of learning even more from them. However, at present the Emperor had his eyes firmly set on the south.



New outposts were established among the myriad of islands which dotted the South Seas. These quickly became productive, contributing yet more to the wealth of the Empire.

Reigen's reign was comparatively peaceful by the standards of the day, but he continued the Japanese tradition of slowly reducing the Chinese dynasties' territory.

This was no longer the epic struggle it had been. The brief war against Qin saw Japanese forces - including their fearsome new artillery regiments - quickly dispatch the opposing armies.



Like his father before him Reigen asked only for limited gains. The provinces he took were rich and allowed Japan to expand at a modest pace without the risk of overstretching its administrative capabilities.

The final war of Reigen's reign was also the most straightforward. No longer was Wu the great enemy she had been. Only one major engagement was fought during the war and the invasion, occupation and surrender of Wu took less than a month.



The province of Chenzhou was painlessly incorporated into the empire and Wu once again humbled.

Under Reigen the Japanese Empire became the most prestigious nation in the world and the Emperor took steps to ensure that things remained this way, employing advisers who would further burnish its glory. His long reign would see Japan establish a firm foothold in the South Seas as a truly colonial power.



It seemed that nothing could challenge Japan's might.

[Shadowkano]

Nice to see an overall picture of the empire at last!

Any intentions to take out Brunei? Would make an effective "5 Island" to go with Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. It'd serve well as a "Gibraltar of the East" being so close to the Johor Straits and being between Europe and your main possessions.

I enjoy how even the "little gains" end up being the richest provinces your enemies have left!

There'd be no gamble against the Euros, as long as you have more ships in the engagement, you'll win most of the time and always be withing retreating distance.

[Enewald]

Well, soon to Siberia, and then to Moscow?

[sprites]

well , i remember in IN with 60 ships against 8 of France , i won , but lost 30 in the battle ... so maybe it isn't that good

[Ashantai]

Ah, the Scots are coming!

I love it! Great AAR.

[Boris ze Spider]

The foreshadowing,

[dsb3232]

Hmm, I kind of like the idea of taking out Brunei. Finish colonizing the Phillipines and the other assorted islands and you would have a Japanese home island chain that stretched across Asia Either way, you are definitely making great progress!

[History_Buff]

. It'd serve well as a "Gibraltar of the East"

This is actually the real life nickname of Singapore unless I miss my guess. I still say that after he westernizes he should finish off Wu and then rampage through Southeast Asia untill he controls the entire region. After that, focus on colonizing, as I think a Japanese invasion of India is more unrealistic then Japan taking over Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Can you say "Japanese Australia" who knows, we might even get to see a Japanese California. I would love to see you fight with the Europeans over the New World.

[Dewirix]

Shadowkano - Hopefully you'll enjoy the maps in the section coming up. I hadn't intended on taking Brunei as I think the current crop of lacklustre emperors wouldn't have been up to the task.

That and I have the idea in the back of my mind that this would make a good game to convert to Vicky 2 so I don't want to get too strong.

Enewald - I have a horrible feeling the Russians would have something to say about that. See the upcoming stats for more details of the Tsar and his armies.

sprites - Ouch (although this was IN France, so I'm surprised you won)!

As you'll see now my naval tech is sorely lacking, which means that morale is awful compared to the Europeans.

Ashantai - Scotland is doing surprisingly well and has the Pope to thank for that. I'm sure Japan would benefit a lot from importing whisky and a knowledge of free market economics.

Boris ze Spider - Well as far as the Empire knows it's supreme in its own corner of the world. We'll see how long that's the case.

dsb3232 - Poor Brunei seems to exist solely for me to colour it red!

Like I said above, that wasn't the plan, but I could change things somewhat.

History_Buff - Japanese Australia or Japanese California? Surely you mean Japanese New China and Japanese Great Eastlands?

[Dewirix]

State of the Nation, 1599 to 1699

The momentum has really picked up now and Japan is looking much closer to what I envisaged it being by the end of the game. In fact I hadn't given a whole lot of thought to colonisation, but with the Chinese territories approaching the limits I had in my mind when this started I've begun to look further afield.

I don't have a lot of interest in expanding further to the west or south as those regions are full of low base-tax states that will drag down my tech rate. For that reason I've switched over to colonising the islands to the south including what presumably now won't be called the Philippines.

I had thought that this would be a good way of getting a western neighbour, but it's 1699 and so far there has only been limited interest from the Europeans. Scotland, Britain and Castille are all sniffing around though, so they're definitely coming closer.

The goal for the next century is to westernise both my tech group and the military. That seems a nice sensible aim for now.


Economy

Number of provinces: 78 (45 in 1599; 31 in 1499; 19 in 1399)

Annual Census Tax: 1167.39 (387.15 in 1599; 146.86 in 1499; 69.69 in 1399)

Per province: 14.97 (8.60 in 1599; 4.74 in 1499; 3.67 in 1399)

Business is booming in Greater Japan. Getting universities and manufactories has obviously helped, as has my selective chipping away at Qin and Wu's richer provinces.

Progress hasn't been quite as rapid as in the previous century, but my colonial strategy is probably slowing me down somewhat in this regard.

Size-wise we're the major heavyweight in East Asia as you can see from the world map at the bottom of this update. We're not doing too badly overall as this international comparison shows.



Second place! Perhaps not a comfortable second, but far enough ahead of Castille to make a place in the top three a certainty. If this were Vicky 2 I'd be... well, I'd be an Unciv, but a powerful one. I've managed inflation back down to zero, unlike France, Russia and Castille who seem to be happy with it in double-digits.

Scotland and Navarre are also doing well and Britain has mostly recovered from losing London and indeed most of England to the Pope.

Austria are throwing their weight around and have broken the infamy limit, so should have their hands full and not trouble distant Japan.


Technology


Monthly investment: 275.8 (98.6 in 1599; 40.0 in 1499; 20.6 in 1399)

Per province: 3.54 (2.19 in 1599; 1.29 in 1499; 1.08 in 1399)

What does a colonial power possibly need with naval technology. These carracks and cogs were good enough for three hundred years, so why change now?

This is the main reason I'm wary of war at sea - I've completely neglected the navy for the entire game. Land technology is a different story. Japan can now field cannons and Asian arquebusiers which gives the army quite an edge against our neighbours. The Europeans might be a little harder to handle however.

Per province monthly investment hasn't climbed as much relative to the 1499-1599 improvement, but represents a larger absolute increase (+1.35 as opposed to +0.90). This means that the tech rate has been accelerating even as the empire expands.

Some of this is down to much greater production efficiency and the fact that Japan can now boost tax through constables (at Gov 20). Trade has also picked up as I've begun to auto-send merchants to CoTs outside the Empire. Japan is making 40.3 ducats/month now compared to a mere 6.3 in 1599. That's more than doubled the trade contribution to the monthly budget even as the tax and production inputs have climbed.


Military

Army size: 94/148 (65/109 in 1599; 32/45 in 1499; 6/28 in 1399)

Army upkeep: 33.2 ducats/month (19.1 ducats/month in 1599; 9.1 ducats/month in 1499; 1.3 ducats/month in 1399)

Manpower: 108,000 (75,922 in 1599; 33,498 in 1499; 15,274 in 1399)

Being rich has allowed me to expand the army, although there's room for further growth if necessary. Fear of a European DoW has meant I've been keeping maintenance at full. The healthy state of the economy means I can still do this and turn a handsome profit (~600 ducats a year).

Manpower is somewhat of a greater concern. It's grown, but nowhere near as fast as in previous centuries. A determined attack by a European major power could rapidly deplete Japan's reserves.

Navy size: 74/69 (68/81 in 1599; 45/52 in 1499; 37/44 in 1399)

Navy upkeep: 3.8 ducats/month (3.5 ducats/month in 1599; 2.4 ducats/month in 1499; 1.5 ducats/month in 1399)

Something odd seems to have happened here. My naval forcelimits have fallen by two over the past century despite adding more provinces. Not sure what's going on there, but fortunately naval upkeep is dirt cheap so that's not a worry.

Most of the additions to the navy have been galleys for anti-pirate duties. The main fleet is still around 20 carracks and 20 cogs with a few galleys in reserve. I've no plans to go on a ship-building binge until after I can raise my naval tech to something more respectable.


Armed forces comparison: 1599


Armed forces comparison: 1699


Since Wu is reduced to three disconnected provinces and Qin isn't doing much better I thought I'd widen out the comparison this time. Japan is the premier regional power, but the armed forces don't come close to those fielded by the big European states. I'm going to increase the amount of artillery in the army in the hope that this can give Japan a decisive advantage in battle. The fact that it will always be as good as the equivalent tech-level western unit doesn't hurt either.

Japanese manpower does seem paltry, but I believe it's the result of not having a land connection between my capital and the majority of my provinces. You can see the same thing with Britain, who have moved their capital to North America. All their high-manpower states are across the Atlantic and so the number of troops they can field is drastically reduced.


Home affairs


The personal union with Lan Xang I mentioned in the last update ended up with Japan inheriting the whole country. As I said I would I immediately released it as a vassal, so that's my first dynastic win of the game.

The benefits of high prestige are also underlined here. Cheaper stability costs, higher morale and boosts to trade income and legitimacy are always nice to have. The downside of this is that I have to dedicate two of the three adviser slots to maintaining this state of affairs, but I'd say it's well worth it.


The Court


And here's where the picture begins to look a little less rosy. Neither my aging Emperor (who dies in 1701) nor his heir are anything to write home about. Nakamikado in particular has a disastrous Admin rating and neither of the pair are good enough to westernise. Westernising the military requires an Admin 8 ruler, so I'm a little worried.




In the last update Japan had two national ideas and now has five. I've added Ecumensim - which has played merry hell with the number of Shinto provinces - Colonial Ventures and QFTNW. In retrospect I should have picked the last two the other way round as I spent a long time with 5 colonists but no viable targets.

I purposely haven't been colonising Siberia as it's so poor, although that didn't stop some of my subjects deciding to set up a colony there on their own.

The sliders show another good reason for the switch to administrative monarchy. Japan is now fully centralised, but that's only a +2 revolt risk rather than the +5 it would have been under feudalism. The Empire is also fully Free Subject, Innovative and Quality (the last of which can't have helped my manpower).

Shinto has slumped into second place in terms of religion in the empire. It doesn't matter a great deal in gameplay terms, but I'd have like to do a bit better than this. Chihan has also overtaken Japanese as the largest culture! Let's hope their conciousness stays low for a bit longer!




World affairs

And here are the world maps. Interesting to note that seventh-richest-country Navarre is apparently an OPM. Shades of Militaris' AAR there.

The usual suspects seem to be doing well too. Leader of the pack France has consolidated its holdings in the Balkans and Anatolia and has crept further into Italy.


Japan in 1699


World in 1699

[dsb3232]

Great update Dewirix - love all the comparative data you put together there. It really gives the reader a good feel for the progress of your game Hope you can come up with the leader/situation for westernizing soon so you can catch up and pass those Euros!

[History_Buff]

What are your new conquest goals after Westernization? Do you intend to do some steamrollering of the other Asians or just colonizing and fighting Europeans.

[Enewald]

I say eat all of Asia, then Europe.
You can do it.
Who cares about BB?

[Ashantai]

I love it when you do the 'State of the Empire' posts.

France is absolutely massive! They are just astonishingly big...wow. Castille is doing well, and it seems Portugal is a OPM in America!

I'm slightly confused as well by your naval force limits too...especially since you hold a lot of coastal provinces.

Manpower is reduced by you going Quality...by 25% I think. Other modifiers can also play merry hell with your scores too.

Best of luck...I hope you can resist the evil Europeans!

[Boris ze Spider]

I think the reason that europe is leaving you alone is that there are still open land in The Americas. Nice update too.

[Shadowkano]

This is actually the real life nickname of Singapore unless I miss my guess. I still say that after he westernizes he should finish off Wu and then rampage through Southeast Asia untill he controls the entire region. After that, focus on colonizing, as I think a Japanese invasion of India is more unrealistic then Japan taking over Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Can you say "Japanese Australia" who knows, we might even get to see a Japanese California. I would love to see you fight with the Europeans over the New World.

I'm glad someone else recognised the reference to "Gibraltar of the East", though I chose Brunei simply because it's an island that you can station more troops on without worry of an invasion by land as is the case with the EU3 equivalent of Singapore. In my own game as Japan it's proved effective in holding off Spain-France unholy alliance that decided to take me down.

As for the AAR!

I was wondering why you picked CV before QFTNW, though I put that down to you being fully innovative and shinto, thus receiving barely any colonists for the islands you are aware of.

Why does the Pope never take down ENG/GB in my games? Almost every AAR I read has the Pope and his popemobile cruising around England like no-ones business!

Hope you catch a break with the westernisation pickle, getting high ADM heirs can be a pain.

The comparision to 1399-present is a nice touch.

Is Australia in your long-term goals? Or Island hopping to California?

Seeing your naval tech, I change my stance on a naval confrontation. Beat them on land!

[anweRU]

Why does the Pope never take down ENG/GB in my games? Almost every AAR I read has the Pope and his popemobile cruising around England like no-ones business!

One answer: Catholic zealots. There will be no Papal States in the British Isles if England/GB remains Catholic. Otherwise, Catholic zealots will defect to the Pope.

As for the AAR, good job so far. I would have considered taking Unam Sanctum/ Deus Vult early on to minimize the infamy, but limiting your gains to high tax and/or high trade value provinces works.

[Dewirix]

dsb3232 - Glad to see other people like the number-crunching. The new update has something to say about westernisation.

History_Buff - Colonising was pretty much the whole plan. I'm afraid to get into fights with the Europeans without westernising the military, but that will take an admin 8 ruler!

Enewald - If you want to see large-scale Asian conquest then dsb3232's AAR is this way. I'm too much of a chicken to go for BB wars.

Ashantai - It's nice to see that people like the stat posts. I thought that was just me being all economic historian-y.

What's best about the state of the world is that's not Portugal - it's Trebizond!

Boris ze Spider - There is free land, and I hope to get some of it! The Europeans are still sniffing about. Scotland has colonised the southern Philippines.

Shadowkano - Picking CV was bit of a miscalculation. I remembered from previous games as a European state that there were always colonial range-increasing advisers to pick from the pool. Turns out that's not the case for Japan, and I didn't have the naval tradition to create my own.

As I said before, New China and the Great Eastlands are on the colonization list if possible.

anweRU - Welcome to the AAR and thanks for the comments. I probably could have picked better NIs in the beginning and I'm too much of a peacenik to go for Unam Sanctum or Deus Vult. Would have made sense too as it would actually have provided a benefit for being Shinto.

[Dewirix]

Rangaku Kotohajime: 1701 to 1744

Emperor Nakamikado, Apr 1701 - Jan 1717

Emperor Nakamikado was a pale shadow of his father. While a passable solider he showed little talent as either a diplomat or an administrator and his rule was marked by inertia and stagnation. After three centuries of expansion the Empire's borders were hardly extended during the sixteen years Nakamikado occupied the throne.

The Emperor's deficiencies saw the court and bureaucracy polarise into two mutually hostile camps. On the one side were the traditionalists, who advocated the continuation of Japan's expansion into Asia. This faction argued that it was the Empire's destiny to achieve and even surpass the extent of the Ming dynasty at its height.

Opposing them was a strange alliance of military men and intellectuals who were both alarmed and invigorated by the new ideas flowing from Europe. Early in the eighteenth century, in the course of a war whose origins remain unclear, the province of Binh Tri Thien had been occupied by the state of Gelre. That country had established cordial relations with its much larger neighbour and imperial citizens who had visited the newcomers brought back exotic ideas about the sciences and industry.



Those who had been exposed to what came to be know as "Dutch learning" argued that traditional Japanese studies were backward in comparison. They urged the Emperor to reform the educational system to take advantage of the new European methods.

Even had he wanted to, Nakamikado was incapable of rising to the challenge. The court remained paralysed in the face of the Emperor's indecision until his death in 1717.


The Regents' Putsch, Jan 1717 - Jan 1718

Nakamikado's son was still too young to rule the Empire and the traditional regency council prepared to take up the burden until he came of age. Attempts had been made to balance factional influence within this body, but the death of a prominent member of the conservatives and the defection of another of their number to the reformers left the way open for radical change.

Shortly after the old emperor's funeral the regents announced their intention to radically overhaul the Empire's educational system. Instead of focusing on the classics of Chinese and Japanese literature, new prominence would be given to the work of western authors.



The decree had a profound affect on the Japanese intelligensia and nobility. At once crowds took to the streets in reaction to rumours that ancestor worship was to be banned in favour of the strange religions of the West. That this had no basis in reality little mattered as the Empire spiralled into disorder.

A local aristocrat from Jiangamen went so far as to call for the overthrow of the Yamato dynasty itself. Such sacrilege did the conservative cause no favours, but his was just one of a series of uprisings that followed the so-called 'Regents' Putsch' of January 1717.



Fortunately for the reformers, the army remained loyal and the discipline of imperial troops proved more than a match for the rabble arrayed against them. The revolts were put down in a series of brief but bloody battles throughout the spring.

Not content with the limited reforms that had so far been achieved the regents looked for even greater change. Painfully aware that the young Emperor-apparent was not well disposed to their goals they took desparate measures to force the pace.

The Empire needed stability before more changes could even be considered. The regents took the momentous step of ordering the imperial treasury opened in order to bribe rebellious nobles into silence.



Order was gradually restored, but at a tremendous cost. The regents were forced to turn to their allies from Gelre, who provided loans at the expense of charging crippling rates of interest. Nevertheless, stability was gradually regained to the point at which further reforms became possible.

In October 1718 the regents felt the time was right to order the next stage in their plan to bring Japan into the new age. The traditional universities of the Empire were to be reorganised along entirely new lines, with new subjects such as natural philosophy replacing the old methods of study.

However, the regents did not enjoy complete success. Attempts make Latin or French the only languages of instruction were roundly rejected by both masters and students alike. This was to severely hamper Japanese scholars in their communication with the great European institutes of learning and acted as a brake on the progress that had been achieved.


Tsuchimikado II, Jan 1718 - Dec 1744

Tsuchimikado inherited an empire in the throes of revolt and bankruptcy. His well-developed sense of diplomacy told him that the reformers had had their day and had perhaps overreached themselves in their haste for change. The young Emperor at once ordered a halt to further attempts at reform, but allowed what had been done to stand.



Tsuchimikado announced that he would honour the foreign debts run up by the regency. The ex-regents themselves were not prosecuted, although many in the conservative faction called for their heads. Fearing that this would only lead to more instability the Emperor instead saw to it that they were assigned to prestigious sinecures far from real power.

The Empire itself laboured under a burden of debt unimaginable only a year before. Inflation spiralled out of control as the government sought to keep its commitments to foreign bondholders and thereby avoid attracting the ire of the European powers.

Despite all the troubles, the reforms introduced by the regency had gone far in revolutionising Japanese learning and the new thoughts and practices they unleashed greatly benefitted the scholars who were to follow.

However, the changes had left Japan more divided than ever. As the instruments of government became more sophisticated the Emperor sought to address this by imposing uniform religious practices on the whole population.



Although this helped to a degree, the rifts caused by the regents' actions would not heal for a generation.

By the 1730s Japan had largely recovered from the tumultuous events of 1717. A new generation of intellectuals no longer saw the changes as heretical attacks on Japanese culture and the energy they brought to their studies was paying dividends.



This was in sharp contrast to the state itself, which had managed to pay off all its creditors and was now enjoying an economic boom.

Almost as an afterthought, Tsuchimikado's reign oversaw the final defeat of Wu on the Chinese mainland. A swift campaign had driven the old rivals from their isolated capital in Changsha and remnants of the regime were forced to take refuge on Okinawa.



Like his distant ancestor Gokomatsu, Tsuchimikado had no interest in these barren rocks and left Wu to her fate.

Tsuchimikado's reign also saw Japan expand further into the South Seas. The Emperor lived to see the colonisation of New Japan and New China, two remote but inviting lands which welcomed the influx of Japanese colonists.



At his death in 1744, Tsuchimikado left behind an Empire superficially at peace, but still poised between East and West. His successors would have to complete what he could not.

[Boris ze Spider]

Awesome update, it was nice to see those loans taken.