Game Objective

In Rising Sun, you lead a sacred clan in feudal Japan with the mission to reclaim Nippon's lands and restore spiritual traditions. The goal is to bring your clan to victory by accumulating the most Victory Points (VP) over the seasons. To do this, you must position your miniatures on the map, form and break alliances, perform political actions, and win battles. When Winter arrives, the player with the most points will rule the Land of the Rising Sun!

Setup

1. Clan Organization: Each player chooses a clan, places their Clan Shield in front and the Politics/War board behind (Politics side up).
2. Initial Markers: Place a clan marker on space 1 of the Victory Point Indicator and another on the Honor Indicator, following the Initial Honor Ranking (lowest number on top).
3. Reserve and Miniatures: Separate the miniatures (1 Daimyo with a black base, 3 Shinto with white bases, and 6 Bushi). Keep them in your Reserve. Also take the bases of your clan color, 4 Fortress markers, and the Alliance marker.
4. Home Province: Place 1 Daimyo, 1 Bushi, and 1 Fortress in your Home Province indicated on the shield.
5. Table Placement: Players sit in order according to the Initial Honor Ranking (from lowest to highest), clockwise.
6. Shrines: Shuffle the 7 Shrine tiles, draw 4, and place them on the board's Shrine Spaces from left to right.
7. Season Decks: Create 3 decks (Spring, Summer, and Autumn) with the Basic Season Cards. Choose one additional set (Knight, Arcadia, or Bule) and add the 5 cards of each season to the respective decks, totaling 12 cards per deck.
8. Final Adjustments: Separate the War Province markers (I, II, and III) into piles, organize the War Number markers, shuffle the 10 Political Mandate tiles, and place the Monster, Coins, and Ronin markers in the supply.

Game Flow

The game is played over 4 rounds called Seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter). Each season (except Winter) follows this order:

1. Season Preparation: Draw War Provinces (number of players + 2), place War Number markers, distribute Seasonal Income Coins, and Release Hostages (each returned hostage is worth 1 coin).
2. Tea Ceremony: A moment dedicated to negotiation for forming Alliances.
3. Political Phase: Structured according to the Political Indicator:
   • 3 Mandate Turns → Kami Turn → 2 Mandate Turns → Kami Turn → 2 Mandate Turns → Kami Turn.
4. War Phase: Resolve battles in marked provinces.
5. Season Cleanup: Discard coins and Ronin, return Shinto to reserves, and reshuffle Political Mandates.

Actions and How to Play

Mandate Turns

The active player draws 4 Political Mandates, chooses one, and returns the other 3 to the top of the deck. All players execute the action clockwise, starting with the player to the left of the chooser. The active player and their Ally perform the Bonus portion of the action.

• Recruit: Recruit a miniature into each Fortress. Shinto can be sent to worship in a Shrine. (Bonus: Recruit an extra miniature).
• Command: Move each miniature across a Frontier or Naval Route. (Bonus: Build a Fortress for 3 coins).
• Train: The active player goes first. Buy an available Season Card by paying its cost. (Bonus: Pay one coin less).
  • Card Types: Improvement (green), Virtue (blue), Monster (brown), War Improvement (red), and Winter Improvement (light blue).
• Harvest: Gain 1 coin. (Bonus: Collect the Rewards from each province where you have the most Strength).
• Betray: Only the active player executes. Replace two miniatures from different players with one of yours of the same type. If you have an Alliance, it is broken and you lose Honor.

Kami Turns

The 4 Shrines are resolved from left to right. The player with the most Strength gains the benefit:

• Amaterasu: Move to the top of the Honor Indicator.
• Fujin: Perform up to 2 Move actions.
• Raijin: Recruit 1 Bushi in any province.
• Ryujin: Acquire a Season Card by paying its cost.
• Hachiman: Gain 2 Ronin markers.
• Susanoo: Gain VP equal to the number of Fortresses on the map.
• Tsukuyomi: Gain 2 coins.

War Phase

Battles occur in provinces with War Number markers. If there are at least 2 non‑allied players with Strength, Battle Resolution takes place:

1. Players secretly allocate coins to War Advantages.
2. Seppuku: The winner kills all their miniatures in the province, earning 1 VP and Honor for each.
3. Capture Hostage: The winner captures 1 miniature (except Daimyo) and steals 1 VP from the owner.
4. Hire Ronin: The winner adds their Ronin markers to their Strength.
5. Imperial Poets: The winner gains VP equal to the total number of miniatures killed in the battle.
6. Result: The player with the most Strength wins and takes the War Province marker. Losers' miniatures die (unless they are Allies of the winner).

Honor and Negotiation

Honor decides all tie‑breakers for Strength or coins. Gaining Honor moves your marker one space up (pushing the one above down); losing Honor moves your marker one space down (pushing the one below up). Negotiation is free and agreements need not be honored. Bribes (coins/ronin) are only allowed during the Tea Ceremony and Political Phase.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when Winter arrives. Final scoring is calculated as follows:

• Accumulated VP: Points earned during the game.
• Hostages: Return all hostages (each worth 1 coin).
• Winter Improvements: Add extra VP from Winter Improvement cards.
• War Provinces: Add points from collected War Province markers.
• Set Bonus: Bonus for collecting the most markers from different provinces (as indicated on the Clan Shields).

Victory: The player with the most VP wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most Honor wins. If the tied players are Allies, victory is shared.

Tips for Winning

• Honor Management: Since Honor decides all tie‑breakers (in Harvests, Shrines, and Battles), try to stay at the top of the Honor Indicator or use the Amaterasu Shrine to climb quickly.
• Using Alliances: Form Alliances to gain the bonuses from Political Mandates and prevent your miniatures from dying in battles where your ally wins.
• Ronin Strategy: Accumulate Ronin markers to secure victory in the War Advantage of Hire Ronin, dramatically boosting your Strength at the decisive moment of battle.