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I haven't bought anything yet, but I was wondering if I could play Japan without any supplement. What are the disadvantages of playing the minor nations?

The army book that comes with the big rule book doesn't have anything for the minor nations. Only Germans, Brits, Russians, and Americans.

So which book do I need to get to play as the Japanese? Is it like a full army? Like can you actually play with them "normally?" Is it super restrictive, or ill-advised, or something?

They have an EW list so you can play them in that period, but as the points change each era you can't use them after 1942 currently (basically if you want Japan vs us you find it very hard to convert points as US are only MW and LW)

I play Japanese.

To play outside of early period you will need to use some imagination.

They are just like playing any other nation. They also arent a minor nation historically

Rising Sun is the book you need.

From there you may choose a tank or infantry battalion from one of the two manchurian groups to base your army on. You have cavalry, various gun pieces, tanks, infantry and support choices.

The Japanese are pretty good, I can take on medium lists and win. But its not recommended.

Before choosing Japanese make sure you have early war players.

 Swastakowey wrote:
They also arent a minor nation historically

Yeah, that was a weird part about FoW to me. It's not even possible to play Japanese vs. U.S...

Well, maybe I should reconsider...

FoW has been rumoured to be moving into the pacific theatre for years but aside from the Rising Sun lists there has been any sign of it ever actually occurring.

Personally I would be all over a 14th army book.

I strongly suspect that the real reason why Battlefront haven't moved into this theater is simply due to the very limited scope for tank Vs tank armies that they seem to adore for other theaters. The Rising Sun book for example has a lot of tank options.
Historically speaking Japanese tank battles were comparatively tiny and (very) one sided.

I have a Romanian army which as pluses and minuses. They can be played as Axis or Allied with just the swap of a single platoon. Heck I don't even need to include that particular unit. Their big downside is you don't know individual platoon ratings until you roll for them which happens right before the first turn begins. I've had games where my entire army is either RT or RV.

Also there aren't as many different options as you find in the major powers.

Bolt Action is one of the better games for Japan involvement wise. They have lots of non historical stuff (they are options though) but at least its set up so you can fight anyone etc.

Its a bit more accessible for the Japanese player.

Flames of war lists have far less prototypes and no SMGs (Japan had very few of them at the best of times). But its a bit more limiting as a result.

http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=4814

And like magic the Pacific comes the end of the year

The Japanese lists in Rising Sun are designed to refight the clash at Nomonhan and Khalkin Gol between the Japanese and the Soviets. As things currently stand, there aren't any other historical lists that would be an appropriate match-up, though you might be able to fiddle with the published French lists to create something appropriate for the Japanese invasion of French Indochina. The primary opponent for the Japanese lists in Rising Sun would be the Chinese, and there are currently no official Chinese lists.

Hopefully, the introduction of the Pacific at the end of the year (I'm guessing that the Japanese book will be released at the end of the year, with the US book released early next year) indicates that the Chinese are on the schedule. But it will likely be at least another couple of years before they're published.

As for the other "minor" nations...

Italy's Early War forces in Greece and North Africa are already available. Those lists could probably be used to cover the Italian forces in the Soviet Union as well (though some adjustments would probably be needed for historical reasons). Early War Finland is in Rising Sun. Early War Hungary and Romania have been promised as "pdf releases" (though PDFs are going away...), but no schedule has been provided. iirc, we were originally told that they would be made available when the new digital products were released. But there's no sign of them.

MW and LW Japanese lists don't exist. Mid War Eastern Front minor Axis nations are available in Eastern Front. Mid War Italians in the Med are available in North Africa. However, both books are currently out of print. Late War Hungarians and Finns can be found in Grey Wolf, while Late War Romanians can be found in Red Bear.

Early War Poles and French are available in Blitzkrieg. Additional French EW lists can be found in Burning Empires, along with the Greeks. Free French lists, along with the lists for other minor allied nations, can be found in the free PDFs that Battlefront has made available. A smattering of other lists (primarily free Poles and Canadians) can be found scattered here and there in the various Western Front Late War books.

In December we will round out the year with the first of two Pacific books, one for the US and one for the Japanese.

No 14th Army then.