Japan Timeline
10,000 BC The islands of Japan were settled by hunters and gatherers. This time period was known as the Jomon Era.
300 BC The Jomon period ended. The people began to have new technologies from their contact with Korea and China. This began the Yayoi era.
300 AD The Yayoi period ended when different groups of extended families began to struggle for control of power. This new period was called the Kofun Era.
Late 400s-Early 800s The Japanese borrowed from China. They copied the Chinese art, government, language, religion, and technology.
645 Kotoku became the emperor of Japan.
710 The Kofun era ended.
794 The imperial household moved the capital to Heian-kyo. This began the Heian era. During this era private estates began to become important
1100s Two military clans began to have a rise in power. They were called the Taira and the Minamoto. The two clans clashed with each other in a series of battles for control.
1180s The Minamoto Family emerged victorious. They established a military government in Kamakura.
1192 Yoritomo, the head of the military government, was given the title shogun. This government became known as a shogunate.
1200s The private estate holders began to loose their influence. The emperor's power declined. The shogunate became extremely important.
1200s By this time period about half of the rice-growing lands had become private estates.
1300s The Minamoto family lost its power.
1330 Ashikaga clan formed another military government in Kyoto.
1460s By this time period Japan had no effective political authority.
1500s Japan went under a series of civil wars of people fighting for control of the land.
1549 The first Europeans, Saint Francis Xavier, a Portuguese missionary, arrived in Japan. Trade began between Japan and several European countries. Christian missionaries also tried to convert the Japanese. The Portuguese traded guns with the Japanese, which added a new horrific addition to the civil wars plaguing the country.
1560s Oda Nobunaga led a coalition against Kyoto. They were able to gain control of the area and start to bring order to the surrounding areas.
1582 Nobunga was killed. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was his successor. Hideyoshi brought many reforms to the people which helped to end the civil wars.
1590s Hideyoshi led two unsuccessful attacks on Korea.
1603 Tokugawa leyasu, who was Hideyoshi's successor, was given the title of shogun by the emperor. His family governed Japan as shogun for the next 265 years.
1630s The Japanese rulers cut off the country's ties with the rest of the world. They wanted to keep Japan free from the outside influences.
1700s Edo became the world's largest city.
1853 Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the United States sailed his warships into Tokyo Bay.
1854 Japan agreed to open two ports to the United States for trade.
1867 A group of samurai and aristocrats coerced the shogun into restoring full power to the emperor.
3 January 1868 The emperor announced the official return of the imperial power. This began the Meiji, era.
1868 The Japanese government established an official state religion called State Shinto. This religion stressed that the emperor was a divine being.
1870s The Japanese government tried to modernize the country
1889 Japan's first constitution was written.
1895 Japan assumed control of Taiwan.
Early 1900s Japan began a system of public education.
Early 1900s Japan had become an industrial and military power by this time.
1905 Japan fought a war with Russia. The Japanese were able to get a part of Manchuria as a result.
1910 Japan brought Korea under its control.
1914 Japan entered World War I by declaring war on Germany. During the war, Japan began trading with India, because Europe was preoccupied with the war. The Japanese economy boomed during this time.
1920s After World War I ended the European countries renewed their ties with Asia. This caused the Japanese economy to falter.
1923 A terrible earthquake shook the Tokyo-Yokohama area.
1931 Japan took control of Manchuria.
15 May 1932 Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai. was assassinated.
1936 The military leaders gained control of the government.
1936 Japan signed a anti-communist pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.
September 1940 Japan entered World War II by occupying the northern part of French Indochina.
Fall 1941 General Hideki Tojo became the prime minister. He began preparing for war against the United States.
7 December 1941 Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This event brought the United States into World War II.
1942 Because of some important Japanese victories the Japanese empire spanned much of the area from the eastern edge of India through Indonesia, and from the Aleutian Islands near Alaska to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.
May 1942 The Battle of the Coral Sea ended in a draw between Japan and the United States, but the Japanese fleet suffered a major setback.
June 1942 The United States won the Battle of Midway against the Japanese. This battle turned the tide in favor of the United States.
18 July 1944 Prime Minister Tojo's cabinet fell.
August 1945 The United States dropped the first atomic bombs used in warfare on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
2 September 1945 Japan officially surrendered and World War II ended. As a result of the war, Japan lost all of its territory on the mainland of Asia and the islands it had governed in the Pacific.
1945 State Shinto was abolished as the state religion when the emperor declared that he was not divine.
1946 The country of Japan was occupied by the World War II allies. It was under the direction of United States General Douglas MacArthur. Under his direction many American ideals were used as reforms for the country.
1947 Japan adopted a constitution.
28 August 1952 The Allied occupation of Japan ended.
1953 The United States returned northen Ryukyus to Japan.
1955-1993 The Liberal democratic Party (LDP) dominated national politics.
1959 Crown Prince Akihito broke tradition by marrying a commoner, Michiko Shoda
1968 Bonins was returned to Japan.
1970s Japan had become a great industrial nation.
1971 Emperor Hirohito visited Western Europe. This was the first time that a Japanese emperor had ever left the country.
1972 The rest of the Ryukyu Islands were returned to Japan.
Late 1980s The Japanese manufacturers began having a hard time selling their products abroad.
1989 Emperor Hirohito died. Akihito began to reign.
Early 1990s Real Estate prices began to drop in Japan. This caused the banks to suffer, which caused a huge economic problems. Unemployment grew steadily.
1993 The LDP was overthrown by a coalition of seven other parties. The coalition governed the country for ten months, but the different parties could not overcome their differences on issues.
Mid 1994 The LDP returned to power
1998 The Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party came into power.
Early 2000s Economic problems continued throughout Japan./P>
April 2001 Junichiro Koizumi became the prime minister. He was from the LDP party. He promised to reform the government and revive the economy.
Works Cited
Gary D. Allinson and Ellen Boyard Weedon. "Japan." Worldbookonline.com