The swordsmen just look like swordsmen, but of two regional varieties: the Chinese swordsmen look similar to the Japanese swordsmen, and both look different than Egyptian swordsmen. They all use the same icon. There appears to be a new unit that uses a halberd icon though, an Egyptian unit there. Possibly a Lancer or Knight on the left? It also uses a new icon.
From the district placement screen, I believe Japan's bonus is +1 to a district's yield for each adjacent district, and the city center counts as a district.
Edit: Zooming in on the popup when they mouse over the halberd icon, it looks like they're pikemen. Just a new icon. Which suggests the units on the left may just be knights, though possibly lancers since they are using lances.