A Brief Outline of Japanese History
The Pacific Novel (HON 3600), fall 2001
Scott Black
Major Periods (see below for fuller accounts of each period)
JOMON (- 300 BCE) (hunter-gatherer culture)
YAYOI (300 BCE-250) (introduction of rice agriculture, beginning of social hierarchy)
YAMATO (300-592) (unification; introduction of Buddhism)
ASUKA (592-710) (imperial dynasty establishes sovereignty)
NARA (710-794) (strong imperial control, spread of Buddhism)
HEIAN (794-1185) (imperial power weakens; literatures flourishes, Genji, waka)
KAMAKURA (1185-1333) (early feudal period; shoguns and samurai)
MUROMACHI (1338-1573) (later feudal period; shoguns and samurai)
CIVIL WAR & AZUCHI-MOMOYAMA (1573-1603) (Gekokujo)
EDO (1603 – 1867) (Tokugawa shogunate, strong central government; isolation)
MEIJI (1868-1912) (modernization; war; international profile)
TAISHO (1912-1926) (from oligarchy to militararism)
SHOWA (1926-1989) (militarism & imperialism, war, occupation, peace)
HEISEI (1989- ) (today)
JOMON (- 300 BCE) (Hunter-gatherer culture)
YAYOI (300 BCE-250) (introduction of rice agriculture, beginning of social hierarchy)
YAMATO (300-592) (unification)
300 Japan more or less united
538/552 Introduction of Buddhism
ASUKA (592-710) (imperial dynasty establishes sovereignty)
604 Prince Shotoku’s Constitution of seventeen articles promulgated
645 Taika no Kaishin (coup d’etat); Taika reform; Fujiwara era starts
668-671 Tenji emperor
672 Battle of Jinshin
NARA (710-794) (strong imperial control, spread of Buddhism)
720 Nara becomes the first permanent capital
784 The capital moves to Nagaoka
HEIAN (794-1185) (imperial power weakens; literatures flourishes (Genji, waka)
794 The capital moves to Heian (Kyoto)
903 Revolt of Taira-no-Masakado and fall of imperial sovereignty
1016 Fujiwara Michinaga becomes regent
1159 Taira clan under Taira Kiyomori takes over after battle of Heiji
1175 The Buddhist Jodo sect (Pure land sect) introduced
1180-85 Gempei War, Battle of Dannoura, and rise of Minamoto clan
KAMAKURA (1185-1333) (early feudal period; shoguns and samurai)
1191 Zen introduced
1192 Minamoto-no-Yoritomo appointed shogun; Kamakura government.
1219 Battle of Jokyu
1221 The Jokyu Disturbance ends a struggle between Kamakura and Kyoto resulting in
the supremacy of the Hojo regents in Kamakura
1232 Joei Shikimoku, a legal code, is promulgated
1274, 1281 Mongols twice try to invade but fail, mainly because of bad weather
1333 The Kamakura bakufu falls
After the house of Heike was annihilated, Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, leader of the house of Genji, becomes a threat the emperor. So the emperor makes him Seii-tai-shogun, an emergency post with the power to command the whole military armies for the purpose of conquering barbarians. Theoretically speaking, the post was under the emperor, but a shogun could move armies without emperor’s permission, so he was de facto the strongest person in Japan.
Minamoto establishes a military government (the Bakufu or Shogunate) at Kamakura that is independent from the emperor and his bureaucracy in Kyoto. This begins 700 years of military rule by shoguns.
Minamoto-no-Yoritomo dies shortly after this, and so do his sons. The house of Genji
perishes when the third shogun Minamoto-no-Sanetomo is assassinated in 1219. Wanting to
destroy the shogunate and regain his lost sovereignty, the emperor Gotoba raises an army.
Hojo Masako, regent, widow of Yoritomo, and mother of Sanetomo, is supported by a
shogunate army led by Hojo Yasutoki. They defeat the emperor’s army, putting imperial
power firmly under control of the Kamakura shogunate.
MUROMACHI (1338-1573) (later feudal period; shoguns and samurai)
1333 Kemmu restoration (emperor in control)
1336 Ashikaga Takauji captures Kyoto
1337 The emperor flees and establishes the Southern court in Yoshino
1338 Muromachi government established under Northern emperor
1392 Unification of the Southern and Northern courts
1467-1477 Civil war, War of the Onin
1542 Portuguese introduce firearms and Christianity to Japan
1568 Nobunaga enters Kyoto
1573 The Muromachi Bakufu falls
After war with the Mongols in 1281, the Kamakura shogunate is weakened. Unpaid for their services in the war, many join the emperor Godaigo in his war against the regent, Hojo. This army includes the families of Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada, and Kusunoki Masashige. They defeat Hojo, the emperor abolishes the shogunate and rules from Kyoto.
A rebellion by Takauji drives Godaigo away from Kyoto, and sets up a new emperor who appoints Takauji shogun in 1336. Godaigo escapes Mt. Yoshino in the south, declaring himself the only legitimate emperor. The schism lasts until 1392, and is called Nanbokucho, the period of "north and south dynasties."
In the War of Onin, 10 year civil war (1467-1477) between families of Hosokawa
Katsumoto and Yamana Souzen over position and succession, Kyoto burns. This is the end of
the Muromachi shogunate and the beginning of the Civil Wars.
CIVIL WAR & AZUCHI-MOMOYAMA (1573-1603) (Gekokujo)
1575 Takeda clan defeated in the battle of Nagashino
1582 Nobunaga murdered and succeeded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi
1588 Confiscation of weapons of farmers and monks in "Sword Hunt"
1590 Japan reunited after the fall of Odawara (Hojo)
1592-98 Unsuccessful invasion of Korea
1598 Death of Hideyoshi
1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats his rivals in the battle of Sekigahara
Called gekokujo ("the lower slays the higher"), the period of the civil
wars are chaotic, a world turned upside-down, in which traditional social order is
ignored.
Oda Nobunaga ends civil wars in the middle of 16th century, and had almost unified the
nation when he was assassinated at Honnoji temple in 1582. His successors, Toyotomi
Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, succeed in unifying Japan, and the Tokugawa become shoguns
in 1603. Despite rampaging armies, this is a period of economic transformation, with the
development of new rice fields, flood control, new mines, improved iron refining, and
increasing commerce.
EDO (1603 – 1867) (Tokugawa shogunate, strong central government; isolation)
1603 Tokugawa government established in Edo (Tokyo)
1614 Ieyasu intensifies persecution of Christianity
1615 The Toyotomi family is destroyed after Ieyasu captures Osaka castle
1638 Country closed
1688-1703 Genroku era: popular culture flourishes
1792 Russians unsuccessfully try to establish trade relations with Japan
1854 Commodore Matthew Perry forces government to open ports for trade
The shogunate established a rigid class system, shi-no-ko-sho, in which there is no
movement between classes. Only warriors ("shi": bushi, samurai) are permitted to
carry swords and have family names. They become bureaucrats in the new centralized state.
Other classes include: farmers and peasants ("no"), craftsmen ("ko"),
and merchants and shopkeepers ("sho"). Though ranked lowest on the scale of
social status, the merchants were the real power of this increasingly commercial society,
and many of them enjoyed a far more luxurious lives than their nominal superiors. There
were also two underclasses, the Eta (the "unclean" who dealt with the dead: they
were butchers and tanners) and the Hinin (criminals). An elaborate espionage system, the Kogi
Onmitsu (ninja), keep watch on the daimyo. Many warlords had their own spies as
well. Ronin were lordless samurai, ones whose masters were killed or committed seppuku
(ritual suicide).
In 1638, Tokugawa Iemitsu closed the country to all foreign countries but China and Holland. This isolation policy was called sakoku and lasted until 1853, when Admiral Perry arrived from the United States with four steamships and opened Japan’s ports (1856). During the sakoku period, Dejima, a port in Nagasaki city, was the only place that foreigners were allowed to visit.
In order to keep them in check, the daimyo (warlords) are required to spend every other year in the new capital of Edo. Transportation advances as roads are improved and shukuba-machi (inn-towns) grow along the new routes. The Tokaido (eastern road) is the most famous of these new kaido (routes). It connected Edo and Kyoto along the Pacific coast and boasted 53 shukuba-machi. Edo becomes the cultural center of Japan with the constant travel and cultural exchange between all parts of the country.
MEIJI (1868-1912) (modernization; war; international profile)
1868 Meiji restoration
1872 First railway line between Tokyo and Yokohama
1889 The Meiji Constitution is promulgated
1894-95 Sino-Japanese War
1904-05 Russo-Japanese War
1910 Annexation of Korea
1912 Death of Meiji emperor
Upon restoration the Meiji emperor moves the imperial capital from Kyoto to Tokyo, and undertakes an extensive series of reforms: boundaries between the social classes are gradually broken down; religious freedom is granted in 1873; the daimyo are forced to return lands to the emperor, and the country is restructured into prefectures. Also, the education system was reformed, initially on the French model but later on the German model. This includes the introduction of compulsory education. Universal conscription is introduced, and a new army modeled after the Prussian one, and a navy after the British one.
Japanese scholars are sent abroad to study Western science and languages, while foreign experts teach in Japan. Large government investments improve ransportation and communication networks. The government also directly supports industries, especially the large and powerful family businesses called zaibutsu. The huge expenditures lead to a financial crisis in the middle of the 1880s which is followed by a reform of the currency system and the establishment of the Bank of Japan. The textile industry booms and remains the largest Japanese industry until World War 2. Work conditions in the early factories are very bad, and socialist and liberal movements developed but were soon suppressed. Japan receives its first European-style constitution in 1889. A parliament, the Diet, is established with the emperor as its nominal head, but an oligarchy (genro) has real power.
Conflicts of interest in Korea between China and Japan lead to the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-95. Japan defeats China, claims Taiwan, but is forced by Western powers to return other territories. The army and navy intensify their rearmament.
New conflicts of interests in Korea and Manchuria, this time between Russia and Japan, led to the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-05. The Japanese win this war as well, gaining territory and some international respect. Japan has increasing influence in Korea and in 1910 annexes it completely.
The Meiji emperor dies in 1912.
TAISHO (1912-1926) (from oligarchy to militararism)
1914-18 Japan joins allied forces in WW1
1923 Kanto Earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama
In World War 1, Japan joins the allied powers, but plays only a minor role. After the
war, Japan’s economical situation worsens. The Great Kanto Earthquake (1923) and the
worldwide depression (1929) intensify the crisis. Following the western imperial model,
Japan pursues territorial expansion. Overseas, racism towards the Japanese remains strong.
Congress passes the Exclusion Act (1924) prohibiting Japanese immigration.
SHOWA (1926-1989) (militarism & imperialism, war, occupation, peace)
1931 Manchurian Incident
1937 Second Sino-Japanese War starts
1941 Pacific War starts
1945 Japan surrenders after atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1946 New constitution promulgated
1952 Allied Occupation of Japan ends
1956 Japan becomes member of the UN
1972 Normalization of relations to China
1973 Oil crisis
During the 1930s, the military establishes control over the government, assassinating
political enemies and persecuting communists. Navy and army officers occupy most of the
important offices, including prime minister. They intensify propaganda and censorship in
education and the media.
In 1931, the Japanese army occupies Manchuria and declares "Manchuko" a Japanese protectorate a year later. The air force bombs Shanghai to protect Japanese residents from anti-Japanese movements.
In 1933, Japan withdraws from the League of Nations because of its criticism of Japanese actions in China.
In the second Sino-Japanese War (1937), Japanese forces occupy the coast of China and brutalizes the population, especially during the fall of the capital Nanking (only very recently did a full account of the atrocities in Nanking make it into Japanese textbooks). The Chinese government never completely surrenders, and the war continues until 1945.
Japan expands to the South and establishes the "Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere." This liberates South East Asian countries (including French Indochina: Vietnam) from European colonial powers. In 1940, Japan joins the Axis power. The US and UK impose an oil boycott. The Japanese respond by capturing the oil-rich Dutch East Indies, risking war with the Allies.
In December 1941, Japan attacks Pearl Harbour, expanding its control over a huge territory, from the border of India in the West to New Guinea in the South.
After the battle of Midway (June 1942), the Allies slowly win back the territories occupied by the Japanese. And in 1944, they begin intensive air raids over Japan.
In the Potsdam Declaration (July 1945), the Allied powers demand that Japan surrender. The Japanese military refuses, even after the US military drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), and the Soviet Union enters the war against Japan (August 8).
But on August 14 the moderate emperor Hirohito, in a radio address, announces unconditional surrender, and declares himself human (not divine).
In August 1945 the Allies (chiefly the Americans) occupy a devastated country. All the major cities (except Kyoto) are flattened, and all industry, transportation, and communication networks are severely damaged. The occupation, under General MacArthur, lasts until April 1952.
Japan’s territory after the war was basically the same as in 1868, except for the Kurile Islands and the Ryukyu Islands (claimed by the Soviet Union) and Okinawa (controlled by the US).
War criminal trials are held in 1948. Over 500 military officials commit suicide when Japan surrendered and many hundreds more are executed after the trials. The emperor Hirohito is not declared a war criminal.
Under the Occupation, a new constitution goes into effect (1947). The emperor is stripped of all political and military power, made into a mere symbol. Universal suffrage is introduced and human rights are guaranteed. MacArthur tries to decentralize the economy by reforming the zaibatsu, the education system, and the police. Land reform dissolves concentrations of land ownership. Religion (shinto) and the state are separated. And Japan is forbidden to ever lead a war again or maintain an army.
The cooperation between the Japanese and the Allies works well. But criticism of the US grows during the Cold War as the Americans reintroduce the persecution of communism, station more troops in Japan, and want Japan to establish its own self-defense force despite the anti-war article in the constitution.
The occupation ends in 1952. The ruling conservatives under prime minister Yoshida pass the Subversive Activities Prevention Law, kicking thousands of Communist sympathizers out of the government, the industry, and the press. Huge public protests accompany the establishment of Japan’s Self Defense Force in 1954.
During and after the Korean War Japan’s economy flourishes. This economic growth results in a quick rise of living standards, widespread social changes, and the stabilization of an essentially one-party, though democratically elected, state under the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). There are also severe pollution and environmental problems.
Japan’s relations with the Soviet Union are normalized in 1956, with China in 1972. In the same year, Okinawa is returned to Japan.
The 1973 oil crisis shocked the Japanese economy which was very heavily oil-dependent, causing a shift to high technology industries.
HEISEI (1989- ) (today)
1993 The LDP loses its majority in the Diet
1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake hits Kobe
Sarin Gas attack in Tokyo subway by AUM
sect
sources and recommended reading:
Edwin O. Reischauer, Japan: The Story of a Nation, 4th ed. (Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1990)
Edwin O. Reischauer and Albert M. Craig, Japan: Tradition and Transformation,
revised ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990)
Louis Perez, The History of Japan (Greenwood, 1998)