Thanks largely to its geographical isolation and social cohesion, Japan is among the world's most enduring and stable nations. Though the country has certainly had its share of violent civil wars, coups and one revolution, albeit fairly gentle, Japan has rarely been invaded and never truly colonized. Indeed, according to tradition, it boasts the longest-reigning dynasty in the world, with the present monarch, Emperor Akihito, 125th in an unbroken line stretching back to the first century BC. The reality is, of course, far more complicated.
During the seventeenth century, Japan cut itself off almost completely from outside influence for a period of more than two hundred years. It then did an about-turn, embraced Western technology and in no time possessed one of the world's most powerful economies. Modern Japan initially seems like so many other developed, industrial countries, but scratch the surface and you'll find a society deeply layered in ancient legends and a vibrant history
The beginnings
It is believed that the Japanese people are descended from immigrants from mainland Asia and possibly Polynesians who moved north along the east Asian coast. This migration is estimated to have taken place over a period prior to 10,000 BC, from when...
read more >>
The major historical eras
Jomon
10,000 BC-300 BC
Yayoi
300 BC-300 AD
Kofun
300-710
...
read more >>
Relations with Korea and China
From the earliest days of reliable history, Japan has had close links with
Korea
. Though these were not always amicable - according to the chronicles, Empress Jingo led an invasion force to the peninsula in 200 AD - a significant number of...
read more >>
The Heian era 794-1185
Nara only survived as the capital until 784, when the Fujiwara decided they needed to escape from the monks and priests who were meddling too much in politics. After a short spell in nearby Nagaoka, the court eventually moved to
Heian-kyo
...
read more >>
The Kamakura era 1185-1333
Yoritomo established his
Bakufu
, or "tent government", at
Kamakura
(near present-day Yokohama), in 1192. The term Tent Government was symbolic of the spartan, military character of the new regime. Yoritomo styled himself...
read more >>
The Moromachi era 1333-1573
The demands of war, a generally deteriorating economy and an ineffectual government, eventually led to the collapse of the Hojo in 1333. This coincided with the accession to the throne of the
emperor Go-Daigo
, who, being older than earlier...
read more >>
Reunification
The civil wars ended with the
reunification of Japan
under a triumvirate of generals of outstanding ability. The first,
Oda Nobunaga
, had the initial advantage of hailing from Owari, one of Japan's strategically placed central...
read more >>
The Tokugawa Shogunate 1600-1868
Ieyasu established his administrative capital at
Edo
, now Tokyo, and set about guaranteeing the security of the
Tokugawa Shogunate
. The three Tokugawa-related clans were given estates in the most strategically important areas,...
read more >>
The rise and fall of the samurai
The origins of the
samurai
, Japan's warrior caste, go back to the ninth century, when the feudal lords began to maintain regular forces. Gradually, they evolved into an elite group of hereditary warriors, their lives governed by an unwritten...
read more >>
The Meiji era 1868-1912
The reign of
Emperor Meiji
, as Mutsuhito was posthumously known, saw vast changes taking place in Japan. A policy of
modernization
, termed
fukoku kyohei
(enrich the country, strengthen the military), was adopted....
read more >>
The Taisho era 1912-1926
The sudden death of Emperor Meiji in 1912 ushered in the relatively brief
Taisho
(Great Righteousness)
era
. Meiji's son Yoshihito, the only surviving male out of his fourteen children, suffered hereditary mental illness and by 1921...
read more >>
The slide to War
Sadly, peace is the last thing that Hirohito's reign is remembered for. Economic and political turmoil in the early 1930s provided the military with the opportunity it needed to seize full control. Japan's politicians stood by helplessly during the
...
read more >>
The Pacific War
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the US naval base at Hawaii's
Pearl Harbor
, starting the
Pacific War
. In rapid succession, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaya and Burma fell to the seemingly...
read more >>
The American occupation 1945-1952
Having never lost a war, let alone been occupied, Japan little knew what to expect from the arrival of the "American Shogun"
General Douglas MacArthur
, designated the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces (SCAP). Some 500 soldiers...
read more >>
The 1960s economic miracle
In 1955, in the face of rising left-wing antagonism to the continued security pact with the US, America's CIA provided funding for the right-wing Liberal and Democrat parties to join forces. The
Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP), a tight...
read more >>
The oil shock
Attention was swiftly diverted from other problems by the
Middle East oil embargo
of 1973. Three-quarters of Japan's energy needs were met by imported fuel, so the overnight quadrupling of oil prices was a severe shock to the country, which...
read more >>
The 1990s: A decade of uncertainty
The 1990s kicked off with the coronation of Emperor Akihito and a political crisis surrounding the
Gulf War
. Japan's command of its economy had long been sure-footed, but its management of defence issues, constrained by the antiwar...
read more >>
Into the millennium
The official announcement of
recession
in June 1998, coupled with the plummeting value of the yen and rising unemployment, saw the LDP take a drubbing in the August 1998 upper-house
elections
, when the party didn't win a single...
read more >>
