History of Japan

Japan Map

The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. The first known written reference to Japan is in the brief information given in Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of Chinese historical texts, in the 1st century CE. However, there is evidence that suggests people were living on the islands of Japan since the upper Paleolithic period. Following the last ice-age, around 12,000 BCE, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human development. The earliest-known pottery belongs to the Jōmon period.

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1 Japanese prehistory

    1.1 Paleolithic Age (35.000 - 14.000 BC)

2 Ancient Japan

    2.1 Jōmon period (14.000 - 300 BC)

    2.2 Yayoi period (300 BC - 250 AD)

    2.3 Kofun period (250 - 538)

3 Classical Japan

    3.1 Asuka period (538 - 710)

    3.2 Nara period (710 - 794)

    3.3 Heian period (794 - 1185)

4 Feudal Japan (1185–1868)

    4.1 Kamakura period (1185 - 1333)

    4.2 Kemmu Restoration (1333 - 1336)

    4.3 Muromachi period / Ashikaga (1336 - 1573)

          4.3.1 Nanboku-chō period (1336 - 1392)

          4.3.2 Sengoku period (1467 - 1573)

    4.5 Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568 - 1603)

5 Edo period / Tokugawa(1603–1868)

    5.1 Seclusion

    5.2 End of seclusion

6 Meiji period (1868 - 1912)

    6.1 Meiji Restoration

    6.2 Wars with China and Russia

OSAKA CASTLE

    6.3 Anglo-Japanese Alliance

7 Taishō period (1912 - 1926)

    7.1 World War I 

    

8 Shōwa period (1926–1989)

    8.1 Shōwa financial crisis
    8.2 Japanese militarism
    8.3 Occupation of Japan
    8.4 Post-occupation Japan

9 Heisei period (1989 – present)
    9.1 Lost Decade

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Nanboku-chō period

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The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代 Nanbokuchō jidai, "South and North courts period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Muromachi bakufu of Japan's history.

During this period, there existed a Northern Imperial Court, established by Ashikaga Takauji in Kyoto, and a Southern Imperial Court, established by Emperor Go-Daigo in Yoshino.

Ideologically, the two courts fought for fifty years, with the South giving up to the North in 1392. However, in reality the Northern line was under the power of the Ashikaga shoguns and had little real independence.

Since the 19th century the Emperors of the Southern Imperial Court have been considered the legitimate Emperors of Japan. Other contributing factors were the Southern Court's control of the Japanese imperial regalia, and Kitabatake Chikafusa's work Jinnō Shōtōki, which legitimized the South's imperial court despite their defeat.

The consequences of events in this period continue to be influential in modern Japan's conventional view of the Tennō Seika (Emperor system). Under the influence of State Shinto, an Imperial decree dated March 3, 1911 established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the Southern Court. After World War II, a series of pretenders, starting with Kumazawa Hiromichi, claimed descent from the Southern Court and challenged the legitimacy of the modern imperial line which is descended from the Northern Court.

The destruction of the Kamakura shogunate of 1333 and the failure of the Kemmu Restoration in 1336 opened up a legitimacy crisis for the new shogunate. Furthermore, institutional changes in the estate system (the shōen) that formed the bedrock of the income of nobles and warriors alike decisively altered the status of the various social groups. What emerged out of the exigencies of the Nanboku-chō (Southern and Northern Court) War was the Muromachi regime, which broadened the economic base of the warriors while undercutting the noble proprietors, a trend that had started already with the Kamakura bakufu.

Muromachi period

The Muromachi period (室町時代 Muromachi jidai, also known as the Muromachi era, the Muromachi bakufu, the Ashikaga era, the Ashikaga period, or the Ashikaga bakufu) is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration (1333–1336) of imperial rule was brought to a close. The period ended in 1573 when the 15th and last shogun of this line, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, was driven out of the capital in Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga.

From a cultural perspective, the period can be divided into the Kitayama and Higashiyama periods (later 15th - early 16th).

The early years from 1336 to 1392 of the Muromachi period are known as the Nanboku-chō or Northern and Southern Court period. This period is marked by the continued resistance of the supporters of Emperor Go-Daigo, the emperor behind the Kemmu restoration. The years from 1465 to the end of the Muromachi period are also known as the Sengoku period or Warring States period.

Kamakura Period

The Kamakura period (鎌倉時代 Kamakura jidai, 1185–1333) is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo.

The Kamakura period ended in 1333 with the destruction of the shogunate and the short reestablishment of imperial rule under Emperor Go-Daigo by Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada, and Kusunoki Masashige.

Kenmu restoration

The Kenmu (or Kemmu) restoration (建武の新政 Kenmu no shinsei) (1333–1336) is the name given to both the three year period of Japanese history between the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period, and the political events that took place in it. The restoration was an effort made by Emperor Go-Daigo to bring the Imperial House and the nobility it represented back into power, thus restoring a civilian government after almost a century and a half of military rule. The attempted restoration ultimately failed and was replaced by the Ashikaga shogunate (1336–1575). This was to be the last time the Emperor had any power until the Meiji restoration of 1867. The many and serious political errors made by the Imperial House during this three year period were to have important repercussions in the following decades and end with the rise to power of the Ashikaga dynasty.

Heian period

The Heian period (平安時代 Heian jidai) is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height. The Heian period is also considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially poetry and literature. Although the Imperial House of Japan had power on the surface, the real power was in the hands of the Fujiwara clan, a powerful aristocratic family who had intermarried with the Emperor of Japan. Heian (平安) means "peace and tranquility" in Japanese.

Nara Period

The Nara period (奈良時代 Nara jidai) of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Gemmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for 5 years (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kammu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784 before moving to Heian-kyō, or Kyoto, a decade later in 794.

Most of Japanese society during this period was agricultural in nature and centered around villages. Most of the villagers followed a religion based on the worship of natural and ancestral spirits called kami.

The capital at Nara was modeled after Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), the capital city of Tang China. In many other ways, the Japanese upper classes patterned themselves after the Chinese, including adopting Chinese written characters (Japanese: kanji), fashion, and the religion of Buddhism.