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'