Brief History of Japan


Year       Period       Events

BC 8000?   Jomon        Jomon Culture

    660?                Accession of first emperor, Jinmu [legendary origin of Japan]

    300?   Yayoi        Yayoi Culture

    184?                Yamatai [Himiko]

AD  300    Kofun        Yamato court unites most of Japan

    538                 Introduction of Buddhism from Korea [552?]

    593    Asuka        Regency of Prince Shotoku  

                        Buddhism - official state religion

    604                 17 Article Constitution 

    630                 Emissary to Tang court in China

    645                 Taika reforms

    663                 Defeat of Japanese army in Korea

    710    Nara         Capital moves to Nara 

    712                 Compilation of Kojiki

    720                 Compilation of Nihonshoki

    752                 Dedication of Daibutsu [Great Buddha] of Nara

    759?                Compilation of Man'yoshu

    794    Heian        Capital moves to Kyoto

    894                 Emissary to Tang stopped

    905                 Compilation of Kokin Wakashu

    935?                Tosa Nikki written in Kana by Ki no Tsurayuki

   1001?                Makura no Soshi written by Sei Shonagon

   1010?                Genji Monogatari 'Tale of Genji' written by     
                        Murasaki Shikibu

   1156                 Hogen Disturbance - warrior class emerging

   1159                 Heiji Disturbance - Taira clan in power

   1185                 Downfall of Taira clan by Minamoto clan

   1192   Kamakura      Minamoto no Yoritomo [Shogun] establishes Kamakura
                        Bakufu government

   1212                 Hojoki written by Kamo no Chomei
   1274                 Invasion by 40,000 Mongols
   1281                 Second invasion by 140,000 Mongols
   1330?                Tsurezuregusa written by Yoshida Kenko
   1333                 Fall of Kamakura Bakufu
   1338   Muromachi     Ashikaga Takauji [Shogun] begins Muromachi Bakufu in Kyoto
   1401                 Emissary to Ming China
   1467                 Onin Disturbance - age of civil wars
   1543                 Introduction of guns by Portuguese
   1549                 Introduction of Christianity by Francisco Xavier
   1573 Azuchi-Momoyama Ashikaga Bakufu ended by Oda Nobunaga
   1583                 Osaka Castle built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi
   1590                 Hideyoshi uniting Japan
   1592                 Invasion of Korea by Hideyoshi
   1597                 Second invasion of Korea by Hideyoshi
   1600                 Battle at Sekigahara - Fall of Toyotomi clan
                        by Tokugawa Ieyasu
   1603 Edo             Tokugawa Ieyasu [Shogun] establishes Edo Bakufu in Edo [Tokyo]
   1612                 Christianity banned
   1637                 Shimabara Uprising by Christians
   1639                 National isolation begins
   1682                 Koshoku Ichidai Otoko 'The Life of an Amorous Man' by Ihara Saikaku
   1694?                Oku no Hosomichi 'The Narrow Road to the Deep South' by Matsuo Basho
   1798                 Kojiki-den 'Study of Kojiki' by Motoori Norinaga
   1814                 Nanso Satomi Hakken-den 'Satomi and the Eight Dogs' by Takizawa Bakin
   1829                 Fugaku Sanju-rok-kei '36 views of Mt. Fuji' by Katsushika Hokusai
   1833                 Tokaido Goju-san-tsugi '53 stations on the Tokaido'by Hiroshige
   1853                 Kurofune 'iron ship' - Commodore Perry's arrival at Edo Bay
   1858                 Unequal commercial treaty with US [Netherlands, Russia, Britain, France]
   1868 Meiji           Meiji Restoration
   1889                 Constitution of the Empire of Japan
   1890                 Imperial Diet
   1894                 Anglo-Japanese Commercial Treaty [1st revision]
                        Sino-Japanese War
   1902                 Anglo-Japanese Alliance
   1904                 Russo-Japanese War
   1905                 Wagahai wa Neko de aru 'I am a cat.' by Natsume Soseki
   1910                 Japan's annexation of Korea
   1911                 2nd revision of the unequal treaties
   1912 Taisho
   1914                 World War I
   1915                 Rashomon by Akutagawa Ryunosuke
   1917                 Russian Revolution
   1923                 Great Kanto Earthquake [140,000 dead or missing]
   1925                 Peace Preservation Law
   1926 Showa
   1927                 Suicide of Akutagawa
   1929                 Great Depression begins
   1931                 Manchurian Incident
   1932                 Shanghai Incident
                        5.15 Incident
                        Manchukuo
   1933                 Japan's withdrawal of the League of Nations
   1935                 Yukiguni 'Snow Country' by Kawabata Yoshinari
   1936                 2.26 Incident
                        Germany-Japan Anti-Communism Treaty
   1937                 Sino-Japanese War begins
   1938                 National Mobilization Law
   1939                 Warld War II
   1940                 Axis formed
   1941                 War in Pacific begins
                        Tojo Cabinet
   1945                 Atomic bombs [Hiroshima, Nagasaki]
                        Japan's defeat in World War II
                        Zaibatsu dismantled
   1946                 Agrarian Land Reforms
                        Tokyo Tribunal
                        New Constitution
   1949                 People's Republic of China established
   1950                 Korean War
   1951                 Sanfrancisco Peace Treaty and U.S.-Japan
                        Mutual Security Treaty signed
   1953                 TV broadcasting by NHK
   1954                 Self-Defence Forces start
   1960                 U.S.-Japan Security Treaty revised
   1963                 J.F. Kennedy assassinated
   1964                 Tokaido Shinkansen 'bullet train'
                        18th Olympics held in Tokyo
                        Vietnam War intensifies
   1966                 Cultural Revolution begins in China
   1969                 First lunar landing
   1970                 Expo' 70 held in Osaka
   1972                 Okinawa returned
   1973                 Oil Shock hits Japan
   1974                 Vietnam War ends
   1976                 Lockheed Scandal
   1984                 Recruit Scandal
   1989 Heisei
   1992                 PKO Law, PKF dispatched to Cambodia
   1993                 LDP loses power, Shinsei Party - Hosokawa Cabinet
   1994                 Socialist Prime Minister Murayama Cabinet
   1995                 Hanshin Earthquake, Omu-Shinri-Kyo 'Oam Supreme-Truth Cult'

© Norio Ota 2000