First Impressions?

[Madae]

That would be Hokkaido, the second largest island in Japan.

Totally too lazy to wiki it.

I was wondering if there's something to be said for only building the first 2-3 tiers of mines, factories or other buildings.

I guess that depends on you more than anything. If I'm barely making it by with money in my game, I'll save up the first chance I get and dump it into a building that will increase my revenue. I know it won't pay off for 10+ turns (most buildings of that level take that long), but I'm usually involved in something else at the same time that is taking up my time, such as a war on any particular front. If you haven't made it to the point yet to gauge how much money you're making vs. how much it cost to build certain things, it may be harder to understand. In my case, I'm always looking to bump my economic buildings whenever I have a free moment, regardless of the cost, because I know in the future it will pay off.

Some craft buildings are not worth it though unless you really need it. Coal does provide income, but the primary bonus is for ships. Iron/Steel is for artillery. I only upgrade those if I need it. Silver and Gold mines I will always upgrade, because it is 100% income.

The bear heads come much earlier, though, no? Or at least, that's my theory on what CA intended for them to be upon looking at the tech tree. Tosa does have a unique light infantry unit that's better than the regular sharpshooters.

I believe they were the second to last tier, and came along with the first level of Imperial troops. At first glance, they weren't better than what I compared them to, but maybe I was looking at it wrong. I haven't seen a need for specialty troops like that, yet. The gold of an army is going to be with your artillery anyway, and whatever troops that you can put between them and the enemy will always be a good choice.