Ancient Japan
A Paleolithic culture from around 30,000 B.C. was the first known habitiation of the Japanese archipegalo and was followed from around 14,000 B.C.(Jomon start) by a hunter-gatherer culture including ancestors from Ainu and Yamato people. Decorated clay vessels from the Jomon Period are some of the oldest in the world. Around 300 BC, the Yayoi began to enter the Japanese islands. The Yayoi period, (500 BC) introduced wet-farming, a new style of pottery, and metallurgy from China and Korea. The most powerful kingdom during the 3rd century was the Yamataikoku. Buddhism was introduced to Japan from Korea and its developement in Japan was influenced also by China. Buddhism was encouraged by the ruling class and was finally accepted by many during the beggining of the Asuka period(592-710). The Nara period ( 710-784) of the 8th century was the emergence of a strong Japanese state centered on an imperial court Heijo-kyo. The Nara period was when a developing literature was formed, Buddhist-inspired art, and new architecture. A small pox epidemic from 735-737 killed almost 1 3rd of Japan's population. In 784, Emperor Kammu moved the capital to Nagaoka-kyo and later moved it again to Kyoto, beggining the Heian period (794-1185). This was when Japan's culture known for art and poetry emerged and the national anthem Kimigayo was written along with the Tale of Genji. During the Heian era, Buddhism spread and grew greatly and pure-land Buddhism became popular at the half of the 11th century.
Feudal Japan
The Kamakura period from 1185-1333, was the age of feudalism. Nobles who wanted protection and power hired skilled swordsmans called samurai. The Taira family (a family of warriors) who had dominated the imperial court in the late Heian period was overthrown by the Minamoto family. Minamoto no Yorimoto was given the title of shogun by the court and set up a military-style government at Kamakura. After his death, the Hojo clan took power as regents to shoguns. The Zen school of Buddhism was introduced from China and was popular amoungst the samurai. The Kamakura shogunate defended Japan from Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281, but was overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo who was later defeated by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336. Ashikaga established the shogunate in Muromachi, Kyoto, starting the Muromachi period (1336-1573). The Ashikaga shogunate was glorified in the age of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and the art of Miyabi prospered. Then it evolves to Higashiyama Culture, which prospered until the 16th century. The Ashikaga shogunate fails to control warlords (daimyo) and the Onin War began in 1467, creating the century long period, Sengoku.
In the Azuchi-Momoyama period ( 1573-1603), Oda Nobunaga conquered many daimyo using European technology and weapons. After his assasination in 1582, his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the nation in 1590. Tokugawa leyasu was regent for Hideyoshi's son and used his position to gain military and political support. In war, he defeated rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and was appointed shogun in 1603, establishing his shogunate at Tokyo, during the start of the Edo Period ( 1603-1868). During this period, western science was studied through contract with the Dutch enclave at Dejima and so was kokugaku, the study of Japan by the Japanese.
In the Azuchi-Momoyama period ( 1573-1603), Oda Nobunaga conquered many daimyo using European technology and weapons. After his assasination in 1582, his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the nation in 1590. Tokugawa leyasu was regent for Hideyoshi's son and used his position to gain military and political support. In war, he defeated rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and was appointed shogun in 1603, establishing his shogunate at Tokyo, during the start of the Edo Period ( 1603-1868). During this period, western science was studied through contract with the Dutch enclave at Dejima and so was kokugaku, the study of Japan by the Japanese.
Modern Era
On March 31st, 1854, the U.S. Navy forced Japan to open itself to trade and interaction with the outside world by threatening them with their weapons. Similar treaties with Western countries in the Bakumatsu period brought political and economic crisis. The resignation of the shogun led to the Boshin War and the establishment of a centalized state unified under the emperor. The Cabinet organized the Privy Council, introduced the Meiji Constitution, and assembled the Imperial
Diet. The Meiji Restoration transformed the Empire
of Japan into a industrial world power that pursued military
conflict to expand its sphere of influence. After victories in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895)
and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Japan
gained control of Taiwan, Korea, and the southern half of Sakhalin, making Japan's
population grow from 35 million in 1873 to 70 million in 1935. The early 20th century got a period of "Taishō
democracy" overshadowed by increasing expansionism and militarization. World
War I allowed Japan, to widen its influence and territories. It continued its expansionist policy by occupying Manchuria in
1931. In 1936,
Japan signed the Anti-Commintern Pact with Nazi
Germany, and the 1940 Tripartite
Pact. In
1941, Japan negotiated the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact. The Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937. The Imperial Japanese Army captured the capital Nanjing and
conducted the Nanking Massacre. In 1940, the Empire invaded French Indochina. In Dec. 7th, 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl
Harbor, bringing the US into World War II. After the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and
the atomic bombings of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to surrender on August 15. The war cost Japan many lives and left most of the nation's industry and
infrastructure destroyed. The Allies of the U.S. from eliminated the Japanese empire and restored the independence of its conquered territories.
In 1947, Japan became a democratic constitution. Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956. Japan eventualy grew to become the
second-largest economy in the world because of its industrial success in electronics and more, until surpassed by China in 2010. In the beginning of
the 21st century, positive growth repaired Japan's economy. On March 11, 2011, Japan suffered the strongest earthquake in its recorded
history, triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster,
one of the worst disasters in the history of nuclear
power.