By the beginning of World War II, Japan was a superpower in its own right. The effect of such reforms would be massive industrialization and military conquests. This event was quite possibly one of the most significant in Japan's history, as it not only unified the nation (thanks to the Emperor winning the Boshin War, abolishing the shogunate and restoring effective imperial rule) but it also turned a relatively-backward army into a modern military. The Meiji Restoration was the period after the Boshin War, when the Emperor Meiji enacted various social and military reforms to better emulate their European and American peers. A lost war against the horde of Reactionaries that come will result in all westernization progress lost.Įarly Meiji Restoration vs Meiji Restoration Even though the Early Meiji Restoration decision carries hefty bonuses, it also increases militancy rate to astronomical levels.Without grabbing the reform that allows Infantry, Japan will struggle against the might of a mostly-unified China when trying to free/conquer Korea. Japan starts only being able to train Irregulars.An early war with them will not go well for Japan. Even though Russia starts with an extremely lousy literacy rate, they start the game already westernized.Of note are Korea, Brunei, Johore, Dai Nam, and Siam. There are a lot of expansion possibilities thanks to Japan's geographic location.Thanks to their literacy rate and decent population base, Japan has the potential to become a Great Power within a few years (if not less) of westernizing.tiny, unescorted transport fleets) makes the USA little more than a nuisance early on, while the Netherlands and Spain can safely be ignored. The only nations that might pose a threat are China, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Japan is pretty isolated from the rest of the world by being an Island nation.
These decisions give Japan a significant boost to research points.
For an uncivilized nation, this is extremely good as it allows Japan to carry out the westernization reforms quicker than any other uncivilized nation except Hawaii. In fact, it's so high that it's only 2% lower than the United States in 1836. Japan has an extremely high literacy rate right at the start of the game, at 40%.2 Early Meiji Restoration vs Meiji Restoration.