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