The Basics
This build came about by my constant frustration over the usual limitations of Japan. The typical kami build is fairly one dimensional and you have to commit quite hard to it. You're shoving a huge amount of resources into economy and have virtually no resources to train units. Training cav is simply out of the question and you're always trying to maintain your shrine eco. Plus you're stuck age 2 for a long time, and thats a great way to run out of cherries. The Torii build seems to have promise but it is so all-in if it fails and you fall back, japan's terrible early eco and wood heavy units/buildings/houses catch up real fast. The 2v compromise always feels so lacklustre. 300w was my usual opening prior to this build since I just couldnt make the others work the way I wanted.
So how do we get this sluggish wood heavy berry civ moving quickly?
The answer I've found is a lovely little card "Good Faith Agreements" - tragically overlooked in my opinion.
It makes all your consulate techs 40% cheaper, and increases the rate those techs are researched. Additionally it also speeds the rate consulate armies and Isolation infantry train. So how does this fit into a Japan build order? The Dutch consulate.
So how do we get this sluggish wood heavy berry civ moving quickly?
The answer I've found is a lovely little card "Good Faith Agreements" - tragically overlooked in my opinion.
It makes all your consulate techs 40% cheaper, and increases the rate those techs are researched. Additionally it also speeds the rate consulate armies and Isolation infantry train. So how does this fit into a Japan build order? The Dutch consulate.
The Build Order
Immediate open is to get your crates, cue a first vill with the first 100 food then move 3 or 4 vills to wood crates immediately. the moment you have 200w, throw down your consulate and immediately set it to Dutch- this turns your 100 export into 1.25v on coin. Chop 25 wood and use a monk to drop a shrine. Obviously all vills are on berries now, etc. First card is "good faith agreements" and ageup with the tushogu shrine. Use 4 vills to build the wonder, we need to age quickly since we didn't gain any improvement in ageup time with our first card or consulate.
While ageing get your vill cued then move 7 or 8 vills to wood. chop 200 wood then move them back to berries. if you got a spicy wood treasure (like 70w or 90w)chop to 300w and make a market, then back to berries. IMMEDIATELY upon aging you click the bank wagon at the consulate, send 4v as first shipment and make a stable. Now build the bank wagon that researched in only 15 seconds with good faith. it builds in 10 seconds and dumps 70xp for building. that gets your 3rd shipment ready before 4v has even arrived. Send 600w (your vills should be arriving and your stable built now). move the 4 new vills to coin and leave literally the rest on berries. You've already cued your first naginata, now keep filling that batch with the bank income. build 2 shrines a market and a rax with 600w. After your first nagi batch is out, set your shrines to wood and get some market techs and a few more shrines passively. Get the church wagon at the consulate (90 export) which should be ready to research around the time your naginata pop or slightly afterward. Build your church which provides a passive xp trickle.
Raid with your nagi batch that pops at 6:30 if done perfectly. If needed, cue an ashi batch or another nagi and ashi together. You can easily fill both batches now or just ageup if you feel your 5 nagi accomplished enough. Send 4v again, or 600w or 600c, 5 ahsi or 5 yumi if needed. You will need to move about 4 vills to wood now or set your shrines to wood- don't want to get housed as japan, that's just embarassing. Once you have completed your 10th naginata and 10th ashi you should (in theory) be safe to age up with the Shogunate or Pavillion.
From here there is an enormous amount of flexibility. Ideally you want to send 1000w fairly early on in Fortress age to fill up your shrine count. Because you have a very strong coin economy I tend to favour Yabusame- Yumi composition but its really up to you which units you want to make. You can get the Arsenal at the consulate for very cheap (breastplate and cuirass are especially nice), or switch to the japan cons early for some yamabushi or bushido principles. Also the stable or rax for just 60 export is really nice. Spain consulate cheap techs might be worth looking into too.
While ageing get your vill cued then move 7 or 8 vills to wood. chop 200 wood then move them back to berries. if you got a spicy wood treasure (like 70w or 90w)chop to 300w and make a market, then back to berries. IMMEDIATELY upon aging you click the bank wagon at the consulate, send 4v as first shipment and make a stable. Now build the bank wagon that researched in only 15 seconds with good faith. it builds in 10 seconds and dumps 70xp for building. that gets your 3rd shipment ready before 4v has even arrived. Send 600w (your vills should be arriving and your stable built now). move the 4 new vills to coin and leave literally the rest on berries. You've already cued your first naginata, now keep filling that batch with the bank income. build 2 shrines a market and a rax with 600w. After your first nagi batch is out, set your shrines to wood and get some market techs and a few more shrines passively. Get the church wagon at the consulate (90 export) which should be ready to research around the time your naginata pop or slightly afterward. Build your church which provides a passive xp trickle.
Raid with your nagi batch that pops at 6:30 if done perfectly. If needed, cue an ashi batch or another nagi and ashi together. You can easily fill both batches now or just ageup if you feel your 5 nagi accomplished enough. Send 4v again, or 600w or 600c, 5 ahsi or 5 yumi if needed. You will need to move about 4 vills to wood now or set your shrines to wood- don't want to get housed as japan, that's just embarassing. Once you have completed your 10th naginata and 10th ashi you should (in theory) be safe to age up with the Shogunate or Pavillion.
From here there is an enormous amount of flexibility. Ideally you want to send 1000w fairly early on in Fortress age to fill up your shrine count. Because you have a very strong coin economy I tend to favour Yabusame- Yumi composition but its really up to you which units you want to make. You can get the Arsenal at the consulate for very cheap (breastplate and cuirass are especially nice), or switch to the japan cons early for some yamabushi or bushido principles. Also the stable or rax for just 60 export is really nice. Spain consulate cheap techs might be worth looking into too.
Some Maths For Nerds
each shrine is slightly more than half a vill of eco on average. I know livestock can make this closer to about 0.7 vills
a bank is 4.56 japanese vills
so having a bank up is roughly the same as 9 shrines
and immediately sending 4 vills is about 7-8 shrines
and the passive dutch consulate trickle is about 2 shrines
so now you have the tushogu and a shrine (3 shrine) 4v (8 shrine) and dutch bank/trickle (11 shrine)
so thats nearly on par with 22 shrine eco that is exactly what a kami boom of 20 shrines and tushogu is
except one big difference: you didn't just spend 1700 wood
you turned your first card and ageup 200 export into a bank (plus 20 pop space)
so now you have nearly all the eco but have 3400 vill seconds of res free to be units or market techs
and you're sending 600w right after and getting even more eco
while still getting a full batch of 5 cav open
a bank is 4.56 japanese vills
so having a bank up is roughly the same as 9 shrines
and immediately sending 4 vills is about 7-8 shrines
and the passive dutch consulate trickle is about 2 shrines
so now you have the tushogu and a shrine (3 shrine) 4v (8 shrine) and dutch bank/trickle (11 shrine)
so thats nearly on par with 22 shrine eco that is exactly what a kami boom of 20 shrines and tushogu is
except one big difference: you didn't just spend 1700 wood
you turned your first card and ageup 200 export into a bank (plus 20 pop space)
so now you have nearly all the eco but have 3400 vill seconds of res free to be units or market techs
and you're sending 600w right after and getting even more eco
while still getting a full batch of 5 cav open
The Downsides
This build is not without it's faults. Your age 1 is quite slow. You have this coin trickling in nicely from the consulate but that doesn't speed your ageup at all. My experience with this build is that focusing on food treasures more than wood is often quite significant in improving your momentum. You're also much more likely to be housed than your average japan build. I also find it a bit trickier to hold heavy infantry pressure since you open with a stable- that being said, raiding is a good way to keep pikes off your shrines and back at home.