Unique Ability
"Bushido is realized in the presence of death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. There is no other reasoning." -Yamamoto Tsunetomo
I believe my modification to Japan’s base Bushido UA introduces several facets to Japan, making Japan more nuanced and better reflective, historically and culturally, of its real-life counterpart. By simply adding in a
Culture boost on the death of each military unit, I’ve roughly symbolized each of the following:
Seppuku - A unit's defeat could be seen as the leader's suicide, so as to maintain his honor. The resultant boost to culture is appropriate.
Shintoism – By no means the main aspect of Shintoism, Japan’s pre-Buddhist belief system (incidentally still strong in modern Japan, as it fused with, rather than be supplanted by, Buddhism, creating Shinto-Buddhism; a similar case can be found in the fusion of Mexican indigenous beliefs with Roman Catholicism) does exhibit ancestor worship. Dead military units ought to carry some sort of cultural bonus.
Isolationism – Japan was remarkably resistant to outside influence, maintaining a policy of isolationism for much of its history. This period of isolationism ended around the 1850s when American Naval Officer, Commodore Matthew Perry, demanded that Japan open itself to Western trade. The bonus from dead military units can help represent the self-imposed cultural insulation that Japan adopted. With the way that culture defends against tourism in BNW, this would be highly appropriate.
Banzai Charges and Kamikazes – WWII saw a resurgence in Japanese nationalism, and a revitalization of Samurai with a healthy dose of Romanticism. Japanese soldiers, seamen, and pilots alike embraced the ideal of Bushido, including the willingness to die in combat. Death in combat by Japanese soldiers, and Kamikaze attacks by Japanese planes, would replicate both of these, and the player would choose to practice both because of the incentive that the Cultural bonus offers.
Overall, the idea of Bushido is strongly reinforced because the player is given an incentive to use his military units in a way that demands him to press the attack instead of retreat, better reflecting the nature of Japanese mentality in warfare.
Samurai Unique Unit
The Samurai, as it currently stands, is a lackluster unit. It simply receives some relatively boring promotions that are only somewhat appropriate. Not only that, but the Samurai is only represented as using a Katana.
While some people, even on these forums, deride the use of the Katana and question its relevance to the Samurai, I’ll do no such thing. Not only is the Katana emblematic to Western audiences, but it
was legitimately used by the Samurai and it ought to be represented if only for the mere sake of its exceptional quality, the Japanese having discovered the secret of folding high-carbon steel to produce swords of unsurpassed quality and craftsmanship.
What is absolutely, and regretfully, ignored by Firaxis is that the Samurai were arguably better archers than anything else. The use of the bow and arrow by the Samurai has a much longer history than the use of the Katana.
While giving the Samurai the ability to ranged attack is OP and would confuse their promotion path, the ability for the Samurai to
respond to a ranged attack is both unique and a way to showcase the versatility of a Samurai warrior.
I also thought to give the Samurai a modest bonus on attack, to give a player further incentive to hurl his Samurai at the enemy.
Taken all together, the Samurai is transformed from a lackluster unit to a dominating presence on the battlefield: dangerous to any unit that attacks it, always attacks at 110% of its strength, regardless of its condition, and a
culture insurance policy if you lose one in combat.
Zero Unique Unit
The Zero is terrible as is, let’s be honest. Fighters are rarely used, especially by the AI, so a fighter with a bonus against other fighters is almost not worth building. This is a shame with any UU. I took away the combat bonus, as I felt like it wasn’t doing anyone any favors. Instead, I made it cheaper to build, so you can pump them out en masse. You also have the option to sacrifice them to cause significant damage against an enemy unit, independent of the Autocracy Tenet, Kamikaze. This attack inflicts 33 HP loss regardless of the Zero’s state, and regardless of the enemy that it is attacking. Optimal when a Zero is already damaged… hurl it at the enemy! Though you lose the unit, this is an incredibly powerful attack that should not be underestimated. Bushido’s bonus does apply here.
per 3 
Library and the German horse artillery before me. Great minds think alike, right?
, 21 
, 10 
, 2 
Movement, requires Iron.
for every international trade route (1 for internal). Increases by 2 every era. 10% Growth in all cities. (would be 1+ for internal) (Increase ends once you hit industrial era, so 8 for international trade routes and 4 for internal trade routes.) 
.
Gold and double 
Influence when gifted to a 
City-State.
