|
Year - BC: |
Period & Events in the History of Japan |
|
35,000 |
Homo-sapiens migrated to the islands of what is now Japan from eastern and
southeastern Asia with well established patterns of tool making and hunting. |
|
10,000 - 300 |
Jomon Period: More stable living patterns arise. Skillful fishing developed.
Clay figures and vessels made. Basic agriculture started. By late Jomon rice
paddy farming and government structure began. |
|
300 - 250 AD |
Yayoi Period: Bronze tools first appear. Permanent farming villages
established. Cloth woven. |
|
Year - AD: |
Period & Events in the History of Japan |
|
250 - 710 |
Yamato Period: Yamato Imperial Government ruled from the modern-day
Nara prefecture. It
is divided into two parts based upon the arrival of
Buddhism
and noted below. |
|
250 - 538 |
Kufon Period: Highly aristocratic society with militaristic rulers. Armor
and weapons common. A critical stage in Japan's development towards a
cohesive state. |
|
538 - 710 |
Asuka Period: Arrival of
Buddhism. Significant artistic, social and
political changes. |
|
710 - 784 |
Nara Period: Capital of Nara established. Efforts to document history and
literature began by Imperial Court. Widespread written language. |
|
784 - 1185 |
Heian Period: Peak of Japan's Imperial Court and it's art, poetry and
literature. Considered a high point in Japanese culture admired by later
generations. |
|
1185 - 1333 |
Kamakura Period: The
Kamakura Shogunate governs. Said to be the beginning of
the Japanese middle ages. |
|
1333 - 1336 |
Kemmu Period: Known as the Kemmu Restoration. Three years between the fall
of Kamakura Shogunate and the rise of
Ashikaga Shogunate. |
|
1336 - 1573 |
Muromachi Period: Marked by the governance of Muromachi or
Ashikaga
Shogunate. The early years are known as Nanboku-cho Court period. The latter
years are known as the
Sengoku period. Both are noted below. |
|
1336 - 1392 |
Nanboku-cho Period: Events unknown. Research needed. |
|
1476 - 1615 |
Sengoku Period: Period of long civil war started in 1467 with the Onin war.
The ruling authority of Ashikaga or
Muromachi Shogunate was destroyed. A
complete breakdown of social order followed.. |
|
1573 - 1603 |
Azuchi-Momoyama Period: Marked by the governance of Oda Nobunaga and
Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The period name comes from the names of their castles;
the Azuchi castle and the Momoyama castle. |
|
1600 - 1867 |
Edo Period: Beginning of the Edo or
Tokugawa Shogunate. |
|
1600 |
Battle of Sekigahara |
|
1707 |
Eruption of
Mount Fuji |
|
1868 - 1912 |
Meiji Period: Japan started modernizing and rose towards world power status. |
|
1912 - 1926 |
Taisho Period: The period of "Great Righteousness". A time of liberal
movement known as the Taisho Democracy. |
|
1926 - 1989 |
Showa Period: The period in which Emperor Hirohito ruled Japan. The Showa
period is dived into three sub-periods noted below. |
|
1926 - 1945 |
Expansionism Period: With the Great Depression Japan turned to Fascism.
Attempts to jump-start economy through military industry. Due to lack of
natural resources, Japan felt that resource-rich colonies were needed. |
|
1941 |
December, 7th - Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in an attempt to neutralize
American Naval power in the Pacific region. A defining moment in history as
Japan and America go to war. |
|
1945 |
August, 6th - The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. It was soon
followed by another on Nagasaki on August, 9th. |
|
1945 - 1952 |
Occupied Japan: After it's defeat in WWII Japan was occupied by allied
troops mostly consisting of US forces. Society was greatly affected during
this time. |
|
1952 - 1989 |
Post-occupied Japan: Japan entered a period of peace and great economic
growth after enacting the Treaty of San Francisco. |
|
1989 - Present |
Heisei Period: Japan's current period named by Emperor Akihito after the
death of his father, Hirohito, the Showa Emperor. |
