History of Japan

The first human inhabitants of theJapanese archipelagohave been traced to thePaleolithic,around 38–39,000 years ago.TheJōmon period,named after itscord-marked pottery,was followed by theYayoi periodin the first millennium BC when new inventions were introduced from Asia. During this period, the first known written reference toJapanwas recorded in the ChineseBook of Hanin the first century AD.

Around the 3rd century BC, theYayoi peoplefrom the continent immigrated to the Japanese archipelago and introduced iron technology and agricultural civilization.Because they had an agricultural civilization, the population of the Yayoi began to grow rapidly and ultimately overwhelmed theJōmon people,natives of the Japanese archipelago who were hunter-gatherers. Between the fourth and ninth centuries, Japan's many kingdoms and tribes gradually came to be unified under a centralized government, nominally controlled by theEmperor of Japan.Theimperial dynastyestablished at this time continues to this day, albeit in an almost entirely ceremonial role. In 794, a new imperial capital was established atHeian-kyō(modernKyoto), marking the beginning of theHeian period,which lasted until 1185. The Heian period is considered a golden age of classicalJapanese culture.Japanese religious lifefrom this time and onwards was a mix of nativeShintopractices andBuddhism.

Over the following centuries, the power of the imperial house decreased, passing first to great clans of civilian aristocrats — most notably theFujiwara— and then to the military clans and their armies ofsamurai.TheMinamoto clanunderMinamoto no Yoritomoemerged victorious from theGenpei Warof 1180–85, defeating their rival military clan, theTaira.After seizing power, Yoritomo set up his capital inKamakuraand took the title ofshōgun.In 1274 and 1281, theKamakura shogunatewithstood twoMongol invasions,but in 1333 it was toppled by a rival claimant to the shogunate, ushering in theMuromachi period.During this period, regional warlords calleddaimyōgrew in power at the expense of theshōgun.Eventually, Japan descended intoa period of civil war.Over the course of the late 16th century, Japan was reunified under the leadership of the prominentdaimyōOda Nobunagaand his successor,Toyotomi Hideyoshi.After Toyotomi's death in 1598,Tokugawa Ieyasucame to power and was appointedshōgunby the emperor. TheTokugawa shogunate,which governed fromEdo(modernTokyo), presided over a prosperous and peaceful era known as theEdo period(1600–1868). The Tokugawa shogunate imposeda strict class systemon Japanese society andcut off almost all contact with the outside world.

Portugal and Japan came into contact in 1543, when the Portuguese became the first Europeans to reach Japan by landing in the southern archipelago. They had a significant impact on Japan, even in this initial limited interaction,introducing firearms to Japanese warfare.The AmericanPerry Expeditionin 1853–54 more completely ended Japan's seclusion; this contributed to thefall of the shogunateand thereturn of power to the emperorduring theBoshin Warin 1868. Thenew national leadershipof the followingMeiji era(1868–1912) transformed the isolated feudal island country intoan empirethat closely followed Western models and became agreat power.Although democracy developed and modern civilian culture prospered during theTaishō period(1912–1926), Japan's powerful military had great autonomy and overruled Japan's civilian leaders in the 1920s and 1930s. The Japanese militaryinvaded Manchuriain 1931, and from 1937 the conflict escalated into aprolonged war with China.Japan'sattack on Pearl Harborin 1941 led towar with the United Statesandits allies.During this period, Japan committed various war crimes in the Asia-Pacific ranging fromforced sexual slavery,human experimentationandlarge scale killings and massacres.Japan's forces soon became overextended, but the military held out in spite ofAllied air attacksthat inflicted severe damage on population centers.Emperor HirohitoannouncedJapan's surrenderon 15 August 1945, following theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasakiand theSoviet invasion of Manchuria.

TheAllies occupied Japanuntil 1952, during which anew constitutionwas enacted in 1947 that transformed Japan into theconstitutional monarchyandparliamentary democracyit is today. After 1955, Japan enjoyedvery high economic growthunder the governance of theLiberal Democratic Party,and became a worldeconomic powerhouse.Since theLost Decadeof the 1990s, Japanese economic growth has slowed.

Prehistoric and ancient Japan

Paleolithic period

Main article:Japanese Paleolithic

Japan at theLast Glacial Maximumin theLate Pleistoceneabout 20,000 years ago

Regions above sea level

Unvegetated

Sea

Black outline indicates present-day Japan

Hunter-gatherers arrived in Japan inPaleolithictimes, with the oldest evidence dating to around 38–40,000 years ago.Little evidence of their presence remains, as Japan's acidic soils tend to degrade bone remains. However, the discovery of unique edge-ground axes in Japan dated to over 30,000 years ago may be evidence of the firstHomo sapiensin Japan.Early humans likely arrived in Japan by sea on watercraft.Evidence of human habitation has been dated to 32,000 years ago in Okinawa'sYamashita Caveand up to 20,000 years ago on Ishigaki Island'sShiraho Saonetabaru Cave.Evidence has been found suggesting that Japan's Paleolithic inhabitants interacted with and butchered now extinctmegafauna,including the elephantPalaeoloxodon naumanni,and the giant deerSin Omega ceros yabei.

Jōmon period

Main article:Jōmon period

Reconstruction of a Jōmon family from theSannai-Maruyama Site

The Jōmon period of prehistoric Japan spans from roughly 13,000 BCto about 1,000 BC.Japan was inhabited by a predominantlyhunter-gathererculture that reached a considerable degree ofsedentismand cultural complexity.The name Jōmon, meaning "cord-marked", was first applied by American scholarEdward S. Morse,who discoveredshardsofpotteryin 1877.The pottery style characteristic of the first phases of Jōmon culture was decorated by impressing cords into the surface of wet clay.Jōmon potteryis generally accepted to be among the oldest in East Asia and the world.

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  A vase from the earlyJōmon period(11000–7000 BC)
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  Middle Jōmon vase (2000 BC)
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  Dogūfigurine of the lateJōmon period(1000–400 BC)

Yayoi period

Main article:Yayoi period

The advent of theYayoi peoplefrom the Asian mainland brought fundamental transformations to the Japanese archipelago. The millennial achievements of theNeolithic Revolutiontook hold of the islands in a relatively short span of centuries, particularly with the development ofrice cultivationand metallurgy. Until recently, the onset of this wave of cultural and technological changes was thought to have begun around 400 BC.Radio-carbon evidence now suggests that the new phase started some 500 years earlier, between 1,000 and 800 BC.Endowed with bronze and iron weapons and tools initially imported from China and the Korean peninsula, the Yayoi radiated out from northernKyūshū,gradually supplanting the Jōmon.They also introduced weaving and silk production,new woodworking methods,glassmaking technology,and new architectural styles.The expansion of the Yayoi appears to have brought about a fusion with the indigenous Jōmon, resulting in a small genetic admixture.

AYayoi periodbronze bell (dōtaku) of the 3rd century AD

These Yayoi technologies originated on the Asian mainland. There is debate among scholars as to what degree their spread can be attributed to migration or to cultural diffusion. The migration theory is supported by genetic and linguistic studies.Historian Hanihara Kazurō has suggested that the annual immigrant influx from the continent range from 350 to 3,000.

The population of Japan began to increase rapidly, perhaps with a 10-fold rise over the Jōmon. Calculations of the increasing population size by the end of the Yayoi period have varied from 1 to 4 million.Skeletal remains from the late Jōmon period reveal a deterioration in already poor standards of health and nutrition, whereas contemporaneous Yayoi archaeological sites possess large structures suggestive of grain storehouses. This shift was accompanied by an increase in both thestratificationof society and tribal warfare, indicated by segregated gravesites and military fortifications.

During the Yayoi period, the Yayoi tribes gradually coalesced into a number of kingdoms. The earliest written work to unambiguously mention Japan, theBook of Han,published in 111 AD, states that one hundred kingdoms comprised Japan, which is referred to asWa.A later Chinese work of history, theBook of Wei,states that by 240 AD, the powerful kingdom ofYamatai,ruled by the female monarchHimiko,had gained ascendancy over the others, though modern historians continue to debate its location and other aspects of its depiction in theBook of Wei.

Kofun period (c. 250–538)

Daisenryō Kofun,Osaka

During the subsequentKofun period,Japan gradually unified under a single territory. The symbol of the growing power of Japan's new leaders was thekofunburial mounds they constructed from around 250 AD onwards.Many were of massive scale, such as theDaisenryō Kofun,a 486 m-longkeyhole-shaped burial moundthat took huge teams of laborers fifteen years to complete. It is commonly accepted that the tomb was built forEmperor Nintoku.Thekofunwere often surrounded by and filled with numeroushaniwaclay sculptures, often in the shape of warriors and horses.

The center of the unified state wasYamatoin theKinairegion of central Japan.The rulers of the Yamato state were a hereditary line of emperors who still reign as the world's longest dynasty. The rulers of the Yamato extended their power across Japan through military conquest, but their preferred method of expansion was to convince local leaders to accept their authority in exchange for positions of influence in the government.Many of the powerful local clans who joined the Yamato state became known as theuji.

Territorial extent of Yamato court during the Kofun period

These leaders sought and received formal diplomatic recognition from China, and Chinese accounts record five successive such leaders as theFive kings of Wa.Craftsmen and scholars from China and theThree Kingdoms of Koreaplayed an important role in transmitting continental technologies and administrative skills to Japan during this period.

Historians agree that there was a big struggle between the Yamato federation and theIzumo Federationcenturies before written records.

Classical Japan

Asuka period (538–710)

Buddhist templeofHōryū-jiis the oldest wooden structure in the world. It was commissioned byPrince Shotokuand represents the beginning ofBuddhismin Japan. However, this was built by ancient Korean architects dispatched fromBaekje.

TheAsuka periodbegan as early as 538 AD with the introduction of the Buddhist religion from the Korean kingdom ofBaekje.Since then, Buddhism has coexisted with Japan's native Shinto religion, in what is today known asShinbutsu-shūgō.The period draws its name from thede factoimperial capital,Asuka,in the Kinai region.

The BuddhistSoga clantook over the government in the 580s and controlled Japan from behind the scenes for nearly sixty years.Prince Shōtoku,an advocate of Buddhism and of the Soga cause, who was of partial Soga descent, served as regent andde factoleader of Japan from 594 to 622. Shōtoku authored theSeventeen-article constitution,aConfucian-inspired code of conduct for officials and citizens, and attempted to introduce a merit-based civil service called theCap and Rank System.In 607, Shōtoku offered a subtle insult to China by opening his letter with the phrase, "The ruler of the land of the rising sun addresses the ruler of the land of the setting sun" as seen in thekanjicharacters for Japan (Nippon).By 670, a variant of this expression,Nihon,established itself as the official name of the nation, which has persisted to this day.

The wordNihonwritten inkanji(horizontal placement of characters). The text means "Japan" in Japanese.

Prince Shōtokuwas a semi-legendaryregentof theAsuka period,and considered to be the first major sponsor of Buddhism in Japan.

In 645, the Soga clan wereoverthrown in a couplaunched byPrince Naka no ŌeandFujiwara no Kamatari,the founder of theFujiwara clan.Their government devised and implemented the far-reachingTaika Reforms.The Reform began with land reform, based on Confucian ideas andphilosophiesfromChina.It nationalized all land in Japan, to bedistributed equallyamong cultivators, and ordered the compilation of a household registry as the basis for a new system of taxation.The true aim of the reforms was to bring about greater centralization and to enhance the power of the imperial court, which was also based on the governmental structure of China. Envoys and students were dispatched to China to learn about Chinese writing, politics, art, and religion. After the reforms, theJinshin Warof 672, a bloody conflict betweenPrince Ōamaand his nephewPrince Ōtomo,two rivals to the throne, became a major catalyst for further administrative reforms.These reforms culminated with the promulgation of theTaihō Code,which consolidated existing statutes and established the structure of the central government and its subordinate local governments.These legal reforms created theritsuryōstate, a system of Chinese-style centralized government that remained in place for half a millennium.

The art of the Asuka period embodies the themes of Buddhist art.One of the most famous works is theBuddhist templeofHōryū-ji,commissioned by Prince Shōtoku and completed in 607 AD. It is now the oldest wooden structure in the world.

Nara period (710–794)

Main article:Nara period

The Daibutsu-den, within the complex ofTōdai-ji.This Buddhist temple was sponsored by theImperial Courtduring theNara period.

In 710, the government constructed a grandiose new capital atHeijō-kyō(modernNara) modeled onChang'an,the capital of the ChineseTang dynasty.During this period, the first two books produced in Japan appeared: theKojikiandNihon Shoki,which contain chronicles of legendary accounts of early Japan and itscreation myth,which describes the imperial line as descendants ofthe gods.TheMan'yōshūwas compiled in the latter half of the eighth century, which is widely considered the finest collection of Japanese poetry.

During this period, Japan suffered a series of natural disasters, including wildfires, droughts, famines, and outbreaks of disease, such as asmallpox epidemic in 735–737that killed over a quarter of the population.Emperor Shōmu(r. 724–749) feared his lack of piousness had caused the trouble and so increased the government's promotion of Buddhism, including the construction of the templeTōdai-jiin 752.The funds to build this temple were raised in part by the influential Buddhist monkGyōki,and once completed it was used by the Chinese monkGanjinas anordinationsite.Japan nevertheless entered a phase of population decline that continued well into the followingHeian period. There was also a serious attempt to overthrow the Imperial house during the middle Nara period. During the 760s,monk Dōkyōtried to establish his own dynasty with the aid ofEmpress Shōtoku,but after her death in 770 he lost all his power and was exiled. The Fujiwara clan furthermore consolidated its power.

Heian period (794–1185)

Main article:Heian period

The Heian period ( bình an thời đại, Heian jidai) is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor,Emperor Kammu,moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). Heian ( bình an ) means "peace" in Japanese.

Miniature model of the ancient capitalHeian-kyō

Later Three-Year Warin the 11th century

In 784, the capital moved briefly toNagaoka-kyō,then again in 794 toHeian-kyō(modernKyoto), which remained the capital until 1868.Political power within the court soon passed to the Fujiwara clan, a family of court nobles who grew increasingly close to the imperial family through intermarriage.Between 812 and 814 CE, a smallpox epidemic killed almost half of the Japanese population.

In 858,Fujiwara no Yoshifusahad himself declaredsesshō( "regent" ) to the underage emperor. His sonFujiwara no Mototsunecreated the office ofkampaku,which could rule in the place of an adult reigning emperor.Fujiwara no Michinaga,an exceptional statesman who becamekampakuin 996, governed during the height of the Fujiwara clan's powerand married four of his daughters to emperors, current and future.The Fujiwara clan held on to power until 1086, whenEmperor Shirakawaceded the throne to his sonEmperor Horikawabut continued to exercise political power, establishing the practice ofcloistered rule,by which the reigning emperor would function as a figurehead while the real authority was held by a retired predecessor behind the scenes.

Throughout the Heian period, the power of the imperial court declined. The court became so self-absorbed with power struggles and with the artistic pursuits of court nobles that it neglected the administration of government outside the capital.The nationalization of land undertaken as part of theritsuryōstate decayed as various noble families and religious orders succeeded in securing tax-exempt status for their privateshōenmanors.By the eleventh century, more land in Japan was controlled byshōenowners than by the central government. The imperial court was thus deprived of the tax revenue to pay for its national army. In response, the owners of theshōenset up their own armies ofsamuraiwarriors.Two powerful noble families that had descended from branches of the imperial family,theTairaandMinamoto clans,acquired large armies and manyshōenoutside the capital. The central government began to use these two warrior clans to suppress rebellions and piracy.Japan's population stabilized during the late Heian period after hundreds of years of decline.

During the early Heian period, the imperial court successfully consolidated its control over theEmishipeople of northern Honshu.Ōtomo no Otomarowas the first man the court granted the title ofseii tai-shōgun( "Great Barbarian Subduing General" ).In 802, seii tai-shōgunSakanoue no Tamuramarosubjugated the Emishi people, who were led byAterui.By 1051, members of theAbe clan,who occupied key posts in the regional government, were openly defying the central authority. The court requested the Minamoto clan to engage the Abe clan, whom they defeated in theFormer Nine Years' War.The court thus temporarily reasserted its authority in northern Japan. Following another civil war – theLater Three-Year War–Fujiwara no Kiyohiratook full power; his family, theNorthern Fujiwara,controlled northern Honshu for the next century from their capitalHiraizumi.

In 1156,a dispute over succession to the throneerupted and the two rival claimants (Emperor Go-ShirakawaandEmperor Sutoku) hired the Taira and Minamoto clans in the hopes of securing the throne by military force. During this war, the Taira clan led byTaira no Kiyomoridefeated the Minamoto clan. Kiyomori used his victory to accumulate power for himself in Kyoto and even installed his own grandsonAntokuas emperor. The outcome of this war led to the rivalry between the Minamoto and Taira clans. As a result, the dispute and power struggle between both clans led to theHeiji rebellionin 1160. In 1180, Taira no Kiyomori was challenged by an uprising led byMinamoto no Yoritomo,a member of the Minamoto clan whom Kiyomori had exiled to Kamakura.Though Taira no Kiyomori died in 1181, the ensuing bloodyGenpei Warbetween the Taira and Minamoto families continued for another four years. The victory of the Minamoto clan was sealed in 1185, when a force commanded by Yoritomo's younger brother,Minamoto no Yoshitsune,scored a decisive victory at the navalBattle of Dan-no-ura.Yoritomo and his retainers thus became thede factorulers of Japan.

Heian culture

A handscroll painting datedc. 1130,illustrating a scene from the "Bamboo River" chapter ofThe Tale of Genji

During the Heian period, the imperial court was a vibrant center of high art and culture.Its literary accomplishments include the poetry collectionKokinshūand theTosa Diary,both associated with the poetKi no Tsurayuki,as well asSei Shōnagon's collection of miscellanyThe Pillow Book,andMurasaki Shikibu'sTale of Genji,often considered the masterpiece of Japanese literature.

The development of thekanawritten syllabaries was part of a general trend of declining Chinese influence during the Heian period. The official Japanese missions to Tang dynasty of China, which began in the year 630,ended during the ninth century, though informal missions of monks and scholars continued, and thereafter the development of native Japanese forms of art and poetry accelerated.A major architectural achievement, apart from Heian-kyō itself, was the temple ofByōdō-inbuilt in 1053 inUji.

Feudal Japan

Kamakura period (1185–1333)

Main article:Kamakura period

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder of the Kamakura shogunate in 1192. This was the firstmilitary governmentin which the shogun with thesamuraiwere the de facto rulers of Japan.

Upon the consolidation of power,Minamoto no Yoritomochose to rule in concert with theImperial Court in Kyoto.Though Yoritomo set up his own government inKamakurain theKantō regionlocated in eastern Japan, its power was legally authorized by the Imperial court in Kyoto on several occasions. In 1192, the emperor declared Yoritomoseii tai-shōgun(Chinh Di đại tướng quân;Eastern Barbarian Subduing Great General), abbreviated asshōgun.Yoritomo's government was called thebakufu(Mạc phủ( "tent government" )), referring to the tents where his soldiers encamped. The English termshogunaterefers to thebakufu.Japan remained largely under military rule until 1868.

Legitimacy was conferred on the shogunate by the Imperial court, but the shogunate was thede factorulers of the country. The court maintained bureaucratic and religious functions, and the shogunate welcomed participation by members of the aristocratic class. The older institutions remained intact in a weakened form, and Kyoto remained the official capital. This system has been contrasted with the "simple warrior rule" of the later Muromachi period.

Yoritomo soon turned on his half brother,Yoshitsune,who was initially harboured byFujiwara no Hidehira,the grandson of Kiyohira and thede factoruler of northern Honshu. In 1189, after Hidehira's death, his successorYasuhiraattempted to curry favor with Yoritomo by attacking Yoshitsune's home. Although Yoshitsune was killed, Yoritomo still invaded and conquered the Northern Fujiwara clan's territories.In subsequent centuries, Yoshitsune would become a legendary figure, portrayed in countless works of literature as an idealized tragic hero.

After Yoritomo's death in 1199, the office of shogun weakened. Behind the scenes, Yoritomo's wifeHōjō Masakobecame the true power behind the government. In 1203, her father,Hōjō Tokimasa,was appointedregent to the shogun,Yoritomo's sonMinamoto no Sanetomo.Henceforth, the Minamoto shoguns became puppets of theHōjō regents,who wielded actual power.

The regime that Yoritomo had established, and which was kept in place by his successors, was decentralized andfeudalisticin structure, in contrast with the earlier ritsuryō state. Yoritomo selected the provincial governors, known under the titles ofshugoorjitō,from among his close vassals, thegokenin.The Kamakura shogunate allowed its vassals to maintain their own armies and to administer law and order in their provinces on their own terms.

In 1221, the retiredEmperor Go-Tobainstigated what became known as theJōkyū War,a rebellion against the shogunate, in an attempt to restore political power to the court. The rebellion was a failure and led to Go-Toba being exiled toOki Island,along with two other emperors, the retiredEmperor TsuchimikadoandEmperor Juntoku,who were exiled toTosa ProvinceandSado Islandrespectively.The shogunate further consolidated its political power relative to the Kyoto aristocracy.

The samurai armies of the whole nation were mobilized in 1274 and 1281 to confronttwo full-scale invasionslaunched byKublai Khanof theMongol Empire.Though outnumbered by an enemy equipped with superior weaponry, the Japanese fought the Mongols to a standstill in Kyushu on both occasions until the Mongol fleet was destroyed by typhoons calledkamikaze,meaning "divine wind". In spite of the Kamakura shogunate's victory, the defense so depleted its finances that it was unable to provide compensation to its vassals for their role in the victory. This had permanent negative consequences for the shogunate's relations with the samurai class.Discontent among the samurai proved decisive in ending the Kamakura shogunate. In 1333,Emperor Go-Daigolaunched a rebellionin the hope of restoring full power to the imperial court. The shogunate sent GeneralAshikaga Takaujito quell the revolt, but Takauji and his men instead joined forces with Emperor Go-Daigo and overthrew the Kamakura shogunate.

Japan nevertheless entered a period of prosperity and population growth starting around 1250.In rural areas, the greater use of iron tools and fertilizer, improved irrigation techniques, anddouble-croppingincreased productivity and rural villages grew.Fewer famines and epidemics allowed cities to grow and commerce to boom.Buddhism, which had been largely a religion of the elites, was brought to the masses by prominent monks, such asHōnen(1133–1212), who establishedPure Land Buddhismin Japan, andNichiren(1222–1282), who foundedNichiren Buddhism.Zen Buddhism,which had first arrived in Japan during the Asuka period, spread widely among the samurai class.

• The Illustrated Account of the Mongol Invasion (Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba)
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  Ancient drawing depicting a samurai battling forces of the Mongol Empire
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  Samurai Mitsui Sukenaga (right) defeating the Mongolian invasion army (left)
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  Shiraishi clan

Muromachi period (1333–1568)

Main articles:Muromachi period,Sengoku period,andHigashiyama period

Portrait ofAshikaga Takaujiwho was the founder and firstshōgunof the Ashikaga shogunate

Takauji and many other samurai soon became dissatisfied with Emperor Go-Daigo'sKenmu Restoration,an ambitious attempt to monopolize power in the imperial court. Takauji rebelled after Go-Daigo refused to appoint him shōgun. In 1338, Takauji captured Kyoto and installed a rival member of the imperial family to the throne,Emperor Kōmyō,who did appoint him shogun.Go-Daigo responded by fleeing to the southern city ofYoshino,where he set up a rival government. This ushered in a prolongedperiod of conflict between the Northern Court and the Southern Court.

Takauji set up his shogunate in the Muromachi district of Kyoto. However, the shogunate was faced with the twin challenges of fighting the Southern Court and of maintaining its authority over its own subordinate governors.Like the Kamakura shogunate, the Muromachi shogunate appointed its allies to rule in the provinces, but these men increasingly styled themselves as feudal lords—calleddaimyōs—of their domains and often refused to obey the shogun.The Ashikaga shogun who was most successful at bringing the country together was Takauji's grandsonAshikaga Yoshimitsu,who came to power in 1368 and remained influential until his death in 1408. Yoshimitsu expanded the power of the shogunate and in 1392, brokered a deal to bring the Northern and Southern Courts together and end the civil war. Henceforth, the shogunate kept the emperor and his court under tight control.

Kinkaku-ji was built in 1397 by Ashikagathe Yoshimitsu

Map showing the territories of majordaimyōfamilies around 1570

During the final century of the Ashikaga shogunate the country descended into another, more violent period of civil war. This started in 1467 when theŌnin Warbroke out over who would succeed the ruling shogun. Thedaimyōseach took sides and burned Kyoto to the ground while battling for their preferred candidate. By the time the succession was settled in 1477, the shogun had lost all power over thedaimyō,who now ruled hundreds of independent states throughout Japan.During thisWarring States period,daimyōsfought among themselves for control of the country.Some of the most powerfuldaimyōsof the era wereUesugi KenshinandTakeda Shingen.One enduring symbol of this era was theninja,skilled spies and assassins hired bydaimyōs.Few definite historical facts are known about the secretive lifestyles of the ninja, who became the subject of many legends.In addition to thedaimyōs,rebellious peasants and "warrior monks" affiliated with Buddhist temples also raised their own armies.

Nanban trade

Main article:Nanban trade

Amid this on-going anarchy, a trading ship was blown off course and landed in 1543 on the Japanese island ofTanegashima,just south of Kyushu. The threePortuguesetraders on board were the first Europeans to set foot in Japan.Soon European traders would introduce many new items to Japan, most importantly themusket.By 1556, thedaimyōswere using about 300,000 muskets in their armies.The Europeans alsobrought Christianity,which soon came to have a substantial following in Japan reaching 350,000 believers. In 1549 theJesuitmissionaryFrancis Xavierdisembarked in Kyushu.

Japan (Iapam) and Korea, in the 1568 Portuguese map of the cartographer João Vaz Dourado

Initiating directcommercialandculturalexchange between Japan and the West, the first map made of Japan in the west was represented in 1568 by the Portuguese cartographerFernão Vaz Dourado.

The Portuguese were allowed to trade and create colonies where they could convert new believers into the Christian religion. The civil war status in Japan greatly benefited the Portuguese, as well as several competing gentlemen who sought to attract Portuguese black boats and their trade to their domains. Initially, the Portuguese stayed on the lands belonging toMatsura Takanobu,Firando (Hirado),and in the province of Bungo, lands of Ōtomo Sōrin, but in 1562 they moved to Yokoseura when the Daimyô there,Omura Sumitada,offered to be the first lord to convert to Christianity, adopting the name of Dom Bartolomeu. In 1564, he faced a rebellion instigated by the Buddhist clergy and Yokoseura was destroyed.

In 1561 forces underŌtomo Sōrinattacked the castle inMojiwith an alliance with the Portuguese, who provided three ships, with a crew of about 900 men and more than 50 cannons. This is thought to be the first bombardment by foreign ships on Japan.The first recorded naval battle between Europeans and the Japanese occurred in 1565. In theBattle of Fukuda Bay,thedaimyōMatsura Takanobu attacked two Portuguese trade vessels atHiradoport.The engagement led the Portuguese traders to find a safe harbor for theirshipsthat took them toNagasaki.

The Black Ship Portuguese traders that came fromGoaand Macau once a year

In 1571, Dom Bartolomeu, also known asŌmura Sumitada,guaranteed a little land in the small fishing village of "Nagasáqui" to the Jesuits, who divided it into six areas. They could use the land to receive Christians exiled from other territories, as well as for Portuguese merchants. The Jesuits built a chapel and a school under the name of São Paulo, like those in Goa and Malacca. By 1579, Nagasáqui had four hundred houses, and some Portuguese had gotten married. Fearful that Nagasaki could fall into the hands of its rival Takanobu, Ōmura Sumitada (Dom Bartolomeu) decided to guarantee the city directly to the Jesuits in 1580.After a few years, the Jesuits came to realize that if they understood the language they would achieve more conversions to the Catholic religion. Jesuits such as João Rodrigues wrote aJapanese dictionary.Thus Portuguese became the first Western language to have such a dictionary when it was published in Nagasaki in 1603.

Muromachi culture

In spite of the war, Japan's relative economic prosperity, which had begun in the Kamakura period, continued well into the Muromachi period. By 1450 Japan's population stood at ten million, compared to six million at the end of the thirteenth century.Commerce flourished, including considerable trade with China and Korea.Because thedaimyōsand other groups within Japan were minting their own coins, Japan began to transition from a barter-based to a currency-based economy.During the period, some of Japan's most representative art forms developed, includingink wash painting,ikebanaflower arrangement, thetea ceremony,Japanese gardening,bonsai,andNohtheater.Though the eighth Ashikaga shogun,Yoshimasa,was an ineffectual political and military leader, he played a critical role in promoting these cultural developments.

Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600)

Main article:Azuchi–Momoyama period

Edo periodscreen depicting theBattle of Sekigahara.It began on 21 October 1600, with a total of 160,000 men facing each other.

During the second half of the 16th century, Japan gradually reunified under two powerful warlords:Oda NobunagaandToyotomi Hideyoshi.The period takes its name from Nobunaga's headquarters,Azuchi Castle,and Hideyoshi's headquarters,Momoyama Castle.

Japan in 1582, showing territory conquered by Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in gray

Nobunaga was thedaimyōof the small province ofOwari.He burst onto the scene suddenly, in 1560, when, during theBattle of Okehazama,his army defeated a force several times its size led by the powerfuldaimyōImagawa Yoshimoto.Nobunaga was renowned for his strategic leadership and his ruthlessness. He encouraged Christianity to incite hatred toward his Buddhist enemies and to forge strong relationships with European arms merchants. He equipped his armies with muskets and trained them with innovative tactics.He promoted talented men regardless of their social status, including his peasant servant Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who became one of his best generals.

The Azuchi–Momoyama period began in 1568, when Nobunaga seized Kyoto and thus effectively brought an end to the Ashikaga shogunate.He was well on his way towards his goal of reuniting all Japan when, in 1582, one of his own officers,Akechi Mitsuhide,killed him during an abrupt attack on his encampment. Hideyoshi avenged Nobunaga by crushing Akechi's uprising and emerged as Nobunaga's successor.Hideyoshi completed the reunification of Japan by conqueringShikoku,Kyushu, and the lands of theHōjō familyin eastern Japan.He launched sweeping changes to Japanese society, including the confiscation of swords from the peasantry, new restrictions ondaimyōs,persecutions of Christians, a thorough land survey, and a new law effectively forbidding the peasants and samurai from changing their social class.Hideyoshi's land survey designated all those who were cultivating the land as being "commoners", an act which effectively granted freedom to most of Japan'sslaves.

As Hideyoshi's power expanded, he dreamed of conquering China and launched two massiveinvasions of Koreastarting in 1592. Hideyoshi failed to defeat the Chinese and Korean armies on the Korean Peninsula and the war ended after his death in 1598.In the hope of founding a new dynasty, Hideyoshi had asked his most trusted subordinates to pledge loyalty to his infant sonToyotomi Hideyori.Despite this, almost immediately after Hideyoshi's death, war broke out between Hideyori's allies and those loyal toTokugawa Ieyasu,adaimyōand a former ally of Hideyoshi.Tokugawa Ieyasu won a decisive victory at theBattle of Sekigaharain 1600, ushering in 268 years of uninterrupted rule by theTokugawa clan.

Early modern Japan

Edo period (1600–1868)

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and firstshōgunof the Tokugawa shogunate.

TheEdo periodwas characterized by relative peace and stabilityunder the tight control of theTokugawa shogunate,which ruled from the eastern city ofEdo(modern Tokyo).In 1603,Emperor Go-Yōzeideclared Tokugawa Ieyasushōgun,and Ieyasu abdicated two years later to groom his son as the secondshōgunof what became a long dynasty.Nevertheless, it took time for the Tokugawas to consolidate their rule. In 1609, theshōgungave thedaimyōof theSatsuma Domainpermission toinvade the Ryukyu Kingdomfor perceived insults towards the shogunate; the Satsuma victory began 266 years of Ryukyu's dual subordination to Satsuma and China.Ieyasu led theSiege of Osakathat ended with the destruction of theToyotomi clanin 1615.Soon after the shogunate promulgated theLaws for the Military Houses,which imposed tighter controls on thedaimyōs,and thealternate attendance system,which required eachdaimyōto spend every other year in Edo.Even so, thedaimyōscontinued to maintain a significant degree of autonomy in their domains.The central government of the shogunate in Edo, which quickly became the most populous city in the world,took counsel from a group of senior advisors known asrōjūand employed samurai as bureaucrats.The emperor in Kyoto was funded lavishly by the government but was allowed no political power.

The Tokugawa shogunate went to great lengths to suppress social unrest. Harsh penalties, including crucifixion, beheading, and death by boiling, were decreed for even the most minor offenses, though criminals of high social class were often given the option ofseppuku( "self-disembowelment" ), an ancient form of suicide that became ritualized.Christianity, which was seen as a potential threat, was gradually clamped down on until finally, after the Christian-ledShimabara Rebellionof 1638, the religion was completely outlawed.To prevent further foreign ideas from sowing dissent, the third Tokugawa shogun,Iemitsu,implemented thesakoku( "closed country" ) isolationist policy under which Japanese people were not allowed to travel abroad, return from overseas, or build ocean-going vessels.The only Europeans allowed on Japanese soil were the Dutch, who were granted a single trading post on the island ofDejimaatNagasakifrom 1634 to 1854.China and Korea were the only other countries permitted to trade,and many foreign books were banned from import.

It was during Tokugawa's rule that, in 1600, the English navigatorWilliam Adamsbecame the first Englishman to reach Japan, along with his second mateJan Joosten.Adams was later granted samurai status, and was recognized as one of the most influential foreigners in Japan during the early 17th century. The bookShogunbyJames Clavell,and theTV series of the same name,are based on Adam's experiences in Japan.

During the first century of Tokugawa rule, Japan's population doubled to thirty million, mostly because of agricultural growth; the population remained stable for the rest of the period.The shogunate's construction of roads, elimination of road and bridge tolls, and standardization of coinage promoted commercial expansion that also benefited the merchants and artisans of the cities.City populations grew,but almost ninety percent of the population continued to live in rural areas.Both the inhabitants of cities and of rural communities would benefit from one of the most notable social changes of the Edo period: increased literacy and numeracy. The number of private schools greatly expanded, particularly those attached to temples and shrines, and raised literacy to thirty percent. This may have been the world's highest rate at the timeand drove a flourishing commercial publishing industry, which grew to produce hundreds of titles per year.In the area ofnumeracy– approximated by an index measuring people's ability to report an exact rather than a rounded age (age-heaping method), and which level shows a strong correlation to later economic development of a country – Japan's level was comparable to that of north-west European countries, and moreover, Japan's index came close to the 100 percent mark throughout the nineteenth century. These high levels of both literacy and numeracy were part of the socio-economical foundation for Japan's strong growth rates during the following century.

Culture and philosophy

Samurai couldkill a commonerfor the slightest insult and were widely feared by the Japanese population. Edo period, 1798

The Edo period was a time of cultural flourishing, as the merchant classes grew in wealth and began spending their income on cultural and social pursuits.Members of the merchant class who patronized culture and entertainment were said to live hedonistic lives, which came to be called theukiyo( "floating world" ).This lifestyle inspiredukiyo-zōshipopular novels andukiyo-eart, the latter of which were often woodblock printsthat progressed to greater sophistication and use ofmultiple printed colors.

Forms of theater such askabukiandbunrakupuppet theater became widely popular.These new forms of entertainment were (at the time) accompanied by short songs (kouta) and music played on theshamisen,a new import to Japan in 1600.Haiku,whose greatest master is generally agreed to beMatsuo Bashō(1644–1694), also rose as a major form of poetry.Geisha,a new profession of entertainers, also became popular. They would provide conversation, sing, and dance for customers, though they would not sleep with them.

The Tokugawas sponsored and were heavily influenced byNeo-Confucianism,which led the government to divide society into four classes based on thefour occupations.The samurai class claimed to follow the ideology ofbushido,literally "the way of the warrior".

Decline and fall of the shogunate

Main articles:BakumatsuandMeiji Restoration

By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the shogunate showed signs of weakening.The dramatic growth of agriculture that had characterized the early Edo period had ended,and the government handled the devastatingTenpō faminespoorly.Peasant unrest grew and government revenues fell.The shogunate cut the pay of the already financially distressed samurai, many of whom worked side jobs to make a living.Discontented samurai were soon to play a major role in engineering the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate.

At the same time, the people drew inspiration from new ideas and fields of study. Dutch books brought into Japan stimulated interest in Western learning, calledrangakuor "Dutch learning".The physicianSugita Genpaku,for instance, used concepts from Western medicine to help spark a revolution in Japanese ideas of human anatomy.The scholarly field ofkokugakuor "national learning", developed by scholars such asMotoori NorinagaandHirata Atsutane,promoted what it asserted were native Japanese values. For instance, it criticized the Chinese-style Neo-Confucianism advocated by the shogunate and emphasized the Emperor's divine authority, which the Shinto faith taught had its roots in Japan's mythic past, which was referred to as the "Age of the Gods".

Samurai of the Satsuma Domain during the Boshin War

The arrival in 1853 of a fleet of American ships commanded by CommodoreMatthew C. Perrythrew Japan into turmoil. TheUS governmentaimed to end Japan's isolationist policies. The shogunate had no defense against Perry's gunboats and had to agree to his demands that American ships be permitted to acquire provisions and trade at Japanese ports.TheWestern powersimposed what became known as "unequal treaties"on Japan which stipulated that Japan must allow citizens of these countries to visit or reside on Japanese territory and must not levy tariffs on their imports or try them in Japanese courts.

The shogunate's failure to oppose the Western powers angered many Japanese, particularly those of the southern domains ofChōshūandSatsuma.Many samurai there, inspired by the nationalist doctrines of the kokugaku school, adopted the slogan ofsonnō jōi( "revere the emperor, expel the barbarians" ).The two domains went on to form an alliance. In August 1866, soon after becoming shogun,Tokugawa Yoshinobu,struggled to maintain power as civil unrest continued.The Chōshū and Satsuma domains in 1868 convinced the youngEmperor Meijiand his advisors to issue arescriptcalling for an end to the Tokugawa shogunate. The armies of Chōshū and Satsuma soon marched on Edo and the ensuingBoshin Warled to the fall of the shogunate.

Modern Japan

Meiji period (1868–1912)

Main articles:Meiji eraandForeign relations of Meiji Japan

Emperor Meiji,the 122nd Emperor of Japan

The emperor was restored to nominal supreme power,and in 1869, the imperial family moved to Edo, which was renamedTokyo( "eastern capital" ).However, the most powerful men in the government were former samurai from Chōshū and Satsuma rather than the emperor, who was fifteen in 1868.These men, known as theMeiji oligarchs,oversaw the dramatic changes Japan would experience during this period.The leaders of theMeiji governmentdesired Japan to become a modern nation-state that could stand equal to the Western imperialist powers.Among them wereŌkubo ToshimichiandSaigō Takamorifrom Satsuma, as well asKido Takayoshi,Ito Hirobumi,andYamagata Aritomofrom Chōshū.

Political and social changes

The Meiji government abolished the Edo class structureand replaced the feudal domains of thedaimyōswithprefectures.It instituted comprehensive tax reform and lifted the ban on Christianity.Major government priorities also included the introduction of railways, telegraph lines, and a universal education system.The Meiji government promoted widespreadWesternizationand hired hundreds ofadvisers from Western nationswith expertise in such fields as education, mining, banking, law, military affairs, and transportation to remodel Japan's institutions.The Japanese adopted theGregorian calendar,Western clothing, and Western hairstyles.One leading advocate of Westernization was the popular writerFukuzawa Yukichi.As part of its Westernization drive, the Meiji government enthusiastically sponsored the importation of Western science, above all medical science. In 1893,Kitasato Shibasaburōestablished the Institute for Infectious Diseases, which would soon become world-famous,and in 1913,Hideyo Noguchiproved the link betweensyphilisandparesis.Furthermore, the introduction of Western European literary styles to Japan sparked a boom in new works of prose fiction. Characteristic authors of the period includedFutabatei ShimeiandMori Ōgai,although the most famous of the Meiji era writers wasNatsume Sōseki,who wrote satirical, autobiographical, and psychological novelscombining both the older and newer styles.Ichiyō Higuchi,a leading female author, took inspiration from earlier literary models of the Edo period.

Government institutions developed rapidly in response to theFreedom and People's Rights Movement,a grassroots campaign demanding greater popular participation in politics. The leaders of this movement includedItagaki TaisukeandŌkuma Shigenobu.Itō Hirobumi,the firstprime minister of Japan,responded by writing theMeiji Constitution,which was promulgated in 1889. The new constitution established an elected lower house, theHouse of Representatives,but its powers were restricted. Only two percent of the population were eligible to vote, and legislation proposed in the House required the support of the unelected upper house, theHouse of Peers.Both the cabinet of Japan and the Japanese military were directly responsible not to the elected legislature but to the emperor.Concurrently, the Japanese government also developed a form ofJapanese nationalismunder whichShinto became the state religionand the emperor was declared a living god.Schools nationwide instilled patriotic values and loyalty to the emperor.

Rise of imperialism and the military

Further information:History of Japanese foreign relationsandMilitary history of Japan

Chinese generals surrendering to the Japanese in theFirst Sino-Japanese War(1894–1895)

In December 1871, a Ryukyuan ship was shipwrecked on Taiwan and the crewwere massacred.In 1874, using the incident as a pretext, Japan launcheda military expeditionto Taiwan to assert their claims to theRyukyu Islands.The expedition featured the first instance of the Japanese military ignoring the orders of the civilian government, as the expedition set sail after being ordered to postpone.Yamagata Aritomo,who was born a samurai in the Chōshū Domain, was a key force behind the modernization and enlargement of theImperial Japanese Army,especially the introduction of national conscription.The new army was put to use in 1877 to crush theSatsuma Rebellionof discontented samurai in southern Japan led by the former Meiji leader Saigo Takamori.

The Japanese military played a key role in Japan's expansion abroad. The government believed that Japan had to acquire its own colonies to compete with the Western colonial powers. After consolidating its control overHokkaido(through theHokkaidō Development Commission) and anne xing theRyukyu Kingdom(the "Ryūkyū Disposition"), it next turned its attention to China and Korea.In 1894, Japanese and Chinese troops clashed in Korea, where they were both stationed to suppress theDonghak Rebellion.During the ensuingFirst Sino-Japanese War,Japan's highly motivated and well-led forces defeated the more numerous and better-equipped military ofQing China.The island of Taiwan was thus ceded to Japan in 1895,and Japan's government gained enough international prestige to allow Foreign MinisterMutsu Munemitsuto renegotiate the "unequal treaties".In 1902 Japan signedan important military alliancewith the British.

TheJapanese Empirein 1939

Japan next clashed with Russia, which was expanding its power in Asia. TheBattle of Yalu Riverwas the first time in decades that an Asian power defeated a western power.TheRusso-Japanese Warof 1904–05 ended with the dramaticBattle of Tsushima,which was another victory for Japan's new navy. Japan thus laid claim to Koreaas a protectoratein 1905, followed byfull annexation in 1910.The defeat of Russia in the war had set in motion a change in the global world order with the emergence of Japan as not only a regional power, but rather, the main Asian power.

Economic modernization and labor unrest

During the Meiji period, Japan underwent a rapid transition towards an industrial economy.Both the Japanese government and private entrepreneurs adopted Western technology and knowledge to create factories capable of producing a wide range of goods.

By the end of the period, the majority of Japan's exports were manufactured goods.Some of Japan's most successful new businesses and industries constituted huge family-owned conglomerates calledzaibatsu,such asMitsubishiandSumitomo.The phenomenal industrial growth sparked rapid urbanization. The proportion of the population working in agriculture shrank from 75 percent in 1872 to 50 percent by 1920.In 1927 theTokyo Metro Ginza Lineopened and it is the oldest subway line in Asia.

Japan enjoyed solid economic growth at this time and most people lived longer and healthier lives. The population rose from 34 million in 1872 to 52 million in 1915.Poor working conditions in factories led to growing labor unrest,and many workers and intellectuals came to embrace socialist ideas.The Meiji government responded with harsh suppression of dissent. Radical socialists plotted to assassinate the emperor in theHigh Treason Incidentof 1910, after which theTokkōsecret police force was established to root out left-wing agitators.The government also introduced social legislation in 1911 setting maximum work hours and a minimum age for employment.

Taishō period (1912–1926)

Main article:Taishō era

During the short reign ofEmperor Taishō,Japan developed stronger democratic institutions and grew in international power. TheTaishō political crisisopened the period with mass protests and riots organized by Japanese political parties, which succeeded in forcingKatsura Tarōto resign as prime minister.This and therice riots of 1918increased the power of Japan's political parties over the ruling oligarchy.TheSeiyūkaiandMinseitōparties came to dominate politics by the end of the so-called "Taishō democracy" era.The franchise for the House of Representatives had been gradually expanded since 1890,and in 1925universal male suffragewas introduced when theUniversal Manhood Suffrage Lawwas passed. However, in the same year the far-reachingPeace Preservation Lawalso passed, prescribing harsh penalties for political dissidents.

Japan's participation in World War Ion the side of theAlliessparked unprecedented economic growth and earned Japannew colonies in the South Pacificseized from Germany.After the war, Japan signed theTreaty of Versaillesand enjoyed good international relations through its membership in theLeague of Nationsand participation in international disarmament conferences.TheGreat Kantō earthquakein September 1923 left over 100,000 dead, and combined with the resultant fires destroyed the homes of more than three million.In the aftermath of the earthquake, theKantō Massacreoccurred, in which the Japanese military, police, and gangs of vigilantes murdered thousands of Korean people after rumors emerged that Koreans had been poisoning wells. The rumors were later described as false by numerous Japanese sources.

The growth of popular prose fiction, which began during the Meiji period, continued into the Taishō period as literacy rates rose and book prices dropped.Notable literary figures of the era included short story writerRyūnosuke Akutagawaand the novelistHaruo Satō.Jun'ichirō Tanizaki,described as "perhaps the most versatile literary figure of his day" by the historian Conrad Totman, produced many works during the Taishō period influenced by European literature, though his 1929 novelSome Prefer Nettlesreflects deep appreciation for the virtues of traditional Japanese culture.At the end of the Taishō period, Tarō Hirai, known by his pennameEdogawa Ranpo,began writing popular mystery and crime stories.

Shōwa period (1926–1989)

Main articles:Shōwa eraandHistory of Japanese foreign relations

Emperor Shōwa was in power during World War II

Emperor Shōwa's sixty-three-year reign from 1926 to 1989 is the longest in recorded Japanese history.The first twenty years were characterized by the rise of extreme nationalism and a series of expansionist wars. After suffering defeat in World War II, Japan was occupied by foreign powers for the first time in its history, and then re-emerged as a major world economic power.

Manchurian Incident and the Second Sino-Japanese War

The Empire of Japan in 1937

Left-wing groups had been subject to violent suppression by the end of the Taishō period,and radical right-wing groups, inspired by fascism and Japanese nationalism, rapidly grew in popularity.The extreme right became influential throughout the Japanese government and society, notably within theKwantung Army,a Japanese army stationed in China along the Japanese-ownedSouth Manchuria Railroad.During theManchurian Incidentof 1931, radical army officers bombed a small portion of the South Manchuria Railroad and, falsely attributing the attack to the Chinese, invaded Manchuria. The Kwantung Army conquered Manchuria and set up the puppet government ofManchukuothere without permission from the Japanese government. International criticism of Japan following the invasion led to Japan withdrawing from theLeague of Nations.

Prime MinisterTsuyoshi Inukaiof the Seiyūkai Party attempted to restrain the Kwantung Army and was assassinated in 1932 by right-wing extremists. Because of growing opposition within the Japanese military and the extreme right to party politicians, who they saw as corrupt and self-serving, Inukai was the last party politician to govern Japan in the pre-World War II era.In February 1936 young radical officers of the Imperial Japanese Armyattempted a coup d'état.They assassinated many moderate politicians before the coup was suppressed.In its wake the Japanese military consolidated its control over the political system and most political parties were abolished when theImperial Rule Assistance Associationwas founded in 1940.

Japanese experts inspect the scene of the alleged railway sabotage on South Manchurian Railway that led to theMukden Incidentand the Japanese occupation of Manchuria.

Japan's expansionist vision grew increasingly bold. Many of Japan's political elite aspired to have Japan acquire new territory for resource extraction and settlement of surplus population.These ambitions led to the outbreak of theSecond Sino-Japanese Warin 1937. Aftertheir victoryinNanjing,the Japanese military committed the infamousNanjing Massacre.The Japanese military failed to defeat the Chinese government led byChiang Kai-shekand the war descended into a bloody stalemate that lasted until 1945.Japan's stated war aim was to establish theGreater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere,a vastpan-Asianunion under Japanese domination.Hirohito's role in Japan's foreign wars remains a subject of controversy, with various historians portraying him as either a powerless figurehead or an enabler and supporter of Japanese militarism.

The United States opposed Japan's invasion of China and responded with increasingly stringent economic sanctions intended to deprive Japan of the resources to continue its war in China.Japan reacted by forging an alliance with Germany and Italy in 1940, known as theTripartite Pact,which worsened its relations with the US. In July 1941, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands froze all Japanese assets when Japan completed itsinvasion of French Indochinaby occupying the southern half of the country, further increasing tension in the Pacific.

World War II

Main articles:Pacific WarandJapan during World War II

Planes from theJapanese aircraft carrierShōkakupreparing the attack on Pearl Harbor

TheEmpire of Japanat its peak in 1942:

Territory (1870–1895)
Acquisitions (1895–1930)
Acquisitions (1930–1942)

In late 1941, Japanese government, led by Prime MinisterHideki Tojo,decided to break the U.S.-led embargo through force of arms.On 7 December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launcheda surprise attackon the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This brought the U.S. intoWorld War IIon the side of theAllies.Japan then successfully invaded the Asian colonies of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, including thePhilippines,Malaya,Hong Kong,Singapore,Burma,and theDutch East Indies.In the early stages of the war, Japan scored victory after victory.

The tide began to turn against Japan following theBattle of Midwayin June 1942 and the subsequentBattle of Guadalcanal,in which Allied troops wrested theSolomon Islandsfrom Japanese control.During this period the Japanese military was responsible for such war crimes as mistreatment of prisoners of war, massacres of civilians, and the use of chemical and biological weapons.The Japanese military earned a reputation for fanaticism, often employingbanzai chargesand fighting almost to the last man against overwhelming odds.In 1944 the Imperial Japanese Navy began deploying squadrons ofkamikazepilots who crashed their planes into enemy ships.

Atomic cloud over Hiroshima, 1945

Life in Japan became increasingly difficult for civilians due to stringent rationing of food, electrical outages, and a brutal crackdown on dissent.In 1944 theU.S. Armycaptured the island ofSaipan,which allowed the United States to begin widespreadbombing raids on the Japanese mainland.These destroyed over half of the total area of Japan's major cities.TheBattle of Okinawa,fought between April and June 1945, was the largest naval operation of the war and left 115,000 soldiers and 150,000 Okinawan civilians dead, suggesting that the plannedinvasion of mainland Japanwould be even bloodier.The Japanese superbattleshipYamatowas sunk en route to aid in the Battle of Okinawa.

However, on 6 August 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bombover Hiroshima,killing over 70,000 people. This was the first nuclear attack in history. On 9 August theSoviet Uniondeclared war on Japan andinvaded Manchukuoand other territories, and Nagasaki was struck bya second atomic bomb,killing around 40,000 people.Thesurrender of Japanwas communicated to the Allies on 14 August andbroadcastby Emperor Hirohito on national radio the following day.

Occupation of Japan

Main article:Occupation of Japan

American generalDouglas MacArthurandEmperor Hirohito,at their first meeting, September 1945

U.S. Secretary of StateDean Achesonsigning theTreaty of Peace with Japan,8 September 1951

Japan experienced dramatic political and social transformation under the Allied occupation in 1945–1952. U.S. GeneralDouglas MacArthur,theSupreme Commander of Allied Powers,served as Japan'sde factoleader and played a central role in implementing reforms, many inspired by theNew Dealof the 1930s.

The occupation sought to decentralize power in Japan by breaking up thezaibatsu,transferring ownership of agricultural land from landlords to tenant farmers,and promoting labor unionism.Other major goals were the demilitarization and democratization of Japan's government and society. Japan's military was disarmed,its colonieswere granted independence,thePeace Preservation LawandSpecial Higher Policewere abolished,and theInternational Military Tribunal of the Far Easttried war criminals.Thecabinetbecame responsible not to the Emperor but to the electedNational Diet.The Emperor was permitted to remain on the throne, but was ordered torenounce his claims to divinity,which had been a pillar of theState Shintosystem.Japan'snew constitutioncame into effect in 1947 and guaranteed civil liberties, labor rights, and women's suffrage,and throughArticle 9,Japan renounced its right to go to war with another nation.

TheSan Francisco Peace Treatyof 1951 officially normalized relations between Japan and the United States, although theU.S.-Japan Security Treatyimposed on Japan at the same time locked Japan into a military alliance with the United States and continues to allow the presence of U.S. military bases on Japanese soil.The occupation officially ended in 1952, although the U.S. continued to occupy theOgasawaraandRyukyu Islands.In 1968, theOgasawara Islandswere restored to Japanese sovereignty and Japanese citizens were allowed to return. Okinawa was the last tobe returnedin 1972.The U.S. continues to operate military bases throughout the Japanese archipelago, mostly on Okinawa, under the terms of therevised U.S.-Japan Security Treaty.

Postwar growth and prosperity

Main articles:Postwar JapanandJapanese economic miracle

Shigeru Yoshidawas one of thelongest serving prime ministers in Japanese history(1946–1947 and 1948–1954).

Shigeru Yoshidaserved as prime minister in 1946–1947 and 1948–1954, and played a key role in guiding Japan through the occupation.His policies, known as theYoshida Doctrine,proposed that Japan should forge a tight relationship with the United States and focus on developing the economy rather than pursuing a proactive foreign policy.Yoshida was one of thelongest serving prime ministers in Japanese history.Yoshida'sLiberal Partymerged in 1955 into the newLiberal Democratic Party(LDP),which went on to dominate Japanese politics for the remainder of theShōwa period.

Although the Japanese economy was in bad shape in the immediate postwar years, an austerity program implemented in 1949 by finance expertJoseph Dodgeended inflation.TheKorean War(1950–1953) was a major boon to Japanese business.In 1949 the Yoshida cabinet created theMinistry of International Trade and Industry(MITI) with a mission to promote economic growth through close cooperation between the government and big business. MITI sought successfully to promote manufacturing and heavy industry,and encourage exports.The factors behind Japan's postwar economic growth included technology and quality control techniques imported from the West, close economic and defense cooperation with the United States, non-tariff barriers to imports, restrictions on labor unionization, long work hours, and a generally favorable global economic environment.Japanese corporations successfully retained a loyal and experienced workforce through the system oflifetime employment,which assured their employees a safe job.

By 1955, the Japanese economy had grown beyond prewar levels,and by 1968 it had become the second largest capitalist economy in the world.TheGNPexpanded at an annual rate of nearly 10% from 1956 until the1973 oil crisisslowed growth to a still-rapid average annual rate of just over 4% until 1991.Life expectancyrose and Japan's population increased to 123 million by 1990.Ordinary Japanese people became wealthy enough to purchase a wide array of consumer goods. During this period, Japan became the world's largest manufacturer of automobiles and a leading producer of electronics.Japan signed thePlaza Accordin 1985 to depreciate the U.S. dollar against the yen and other currencies. By the end of 1987, theNikkeistock market index had doubled and theTokyo Stock Exchangebecame the largest in the world. Duringthe ensuing economic bubble,stock and real-estate loans grew rapidly.

Japan became a member of theUnited Nationsin 1956, successfully normalized relationswith the Soviet Unionin 1956, despitean ongoing disputeover the ownership of theKuril Islands,andwith South Koreain 1965, despitean ongoing disputeover the ownership of the islands ofLiancourt Rocks.In accordance with U.S. policy, Japan recognized theRepublic of Chinaon Taiwan as the legitimate government of China after World War II, though Japan switched its recognition to thePeople's Republic of Chinain 1972.

Japan remained a close ally of the United States throughout theCold War,though theU.S.–Japan Alliancedid not have unanimous support from the Japanese people. As requested by the United States, Japan reconstituted its military in 1954 under the nameJapan Self-Defense Forces(JSDF), though some Japanese insisted that the very existence of the JSDF was a violation ofArticle 9 of Japan's constitution.A wave of protests in Japan against US military bases and nuclear testing culminated in the massive 1960Anpo proteststhat saw millions of citizens take to the streets in opposition to theU.S.-Japan Security Treaty.Although the protests ultimately failed to stop revision of the treaty, they did succeed in forcing unpopular prime ministerNobusuke Kishito step down.Kishi's successor,Hayato Ikeda,successfully diverted popular attention away from political struggles with his "Income Doubling Plan,"which promised to double Japan's GDP in 10 years, and succeeded in doing so in just seven.Ikeda also oversaw the completion of the world's firstbullet trainline,and the widely praised1964 Tokyo Olympics,which heralded Japan's return to international prominence.

Among cultural developments, the immediate post-occupation period became a golden age forJapanese cinema.The reasons for this include the abolition of government censorship, low film production costs, expanded access to new film techniques and technologies, and huge domestic audiences at a time when other forms of recreation were relatively scarce.During this period, Japan also began to emerge as an exporter of popular culture. Young people across the world began consumingkaiju(monster) movies,anime(animation),manga(comic books), video games, and other forms Japanese pop culture. Japanese authors such asYasunari KawabataandYukio Mishimabecame popular literary figures in America and Europe. American soldiers returning from the occupation brought with them stories and artifacts, and the following generations ofU.S. troops in Japancontributed to a steady flow ofmartial artsand other culture from the country.

Heisei period (1989–2019)

Main article:Heisei era

Tokyo in 2010

Emperor Akihito's reign began upon thedeath of his father,Emperor Hirohito.The economic bubble popped in 1989, and stock and land prices plunged as Japan entered adeflationary spiral.Banks found themselves saddled with insurmountable debts that hindered economic recovery.Stagnation worsened as the birthrate declined far below replacement level.The 1990s are often referred to as Japan'sLost Decade.Economic performance was often poor in the following decades, and the stock market never returned to its pre-1989 highs.Japan's system of lifetime employment largely collapsed and unemployment rates rose.The faltering economy and several corruption scandals weakened the LDP's dominant political position. Japan was nevertheless governed by non-LDP prime ministers only in 1993–1996and 2009–2012.

Issues relating to war memory led to strained relations withChinaandSouth Koreaon several occasions. AlthoughJapanese officials and emperorshad made over 50 formal war apologies since the 1950s, some politicians and activists in China and South Korea found the official apologies, such as those of the Emperor in 1990 and theMurayama Statementof 1995, inadequate or insincere.Nationalist politics in Japan sometimes exacerbated these tensions, such asdenial of the Nanjing Massacreand other war crimes,revisionist history textbooks,and visits by some Japanese politicians toYasukuni Shrine,which commemorates Japanese soldiers who died in wars from 1868 to 1954, but also has included convicted war criminals since the late 1970s.

Wreckage at a railway station destroyed during the2011 earthquake and tsunami

Thepopulation of Japanpeaked at 128,083,960 in 2008, and as of December 2020 it had fallen below 126 million.In 2011, China surpassed Japan as the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP.Despite Japan's economic difficulties, this period also sawJapanese popular culture,includingvideo games,anime,andmanga,expanding worldwide, especially among young people.In March 2011, theTokyo Skytreebecame thetallest towerin the world at 634 metres (2,080 ft), displacing theCanton Tower.It is currently the thirdtallest structurein the world.

On 11 March 2011, the2011 Tōhoku earthquakestruck Japan's northeasternTōhokuregion. The resulting tsunamidamaged the nuclear facilities in Fukushima,which suffered a nuclear meltdown and severe radiation leakage.Altogether nearly 26,000 people were killed or went missing due to these disasters.

Reiwa period (2019–present)

Main article:Reiwa era

Emperor Naruhito's reign began upon theabdication of his father,Emperor Akihito, on 1 May 2019.

In 2020, Tokyo was due to host theSummer Olympicsfor the second time since 1964. Japan was the second Asian country (after South Korea) to host the Olympics twice. However, due to the global outbreak and economic impact ofCOVID-19 pandemic,the Summer Olympics were postponed to 2021; they took place from 23 July to 8 August 2021.Japan ranked third place, with 27 gold medals.

When the2022 Russian invasion of Ukrainebegan, Japan condemned and levied sanctions on Russia for its actions.Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyypraised Japan as the "first Asian nation that has begun exerting pressure on Russia."Japan froze the assets of Russia's central bank and other major Russian banks and assets owned by 500 Russian citizens and organizations.Japan banned new investments and the export of high tech to the country. Russia's trade status asfavored nationwas revoked.

On 8 July 2022, former Prime MinisterShinzo Abewasassassinatedin the city ofNaraby formerJapan Maritime Self-Defense ForceservicemanTetsuya Yamagamiwhile campaigning two days before the2022 House of Councillors election.This shocked the public, because firearm fatalities were very rare in Japan. There were only 10 shooting deaths from 2017 to 2020 and 1 gun death incident in 2021.

After the2022 visit by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan,China conducted "precision missile strikes" in the ocean around Taiwan's coastline on 4 August 2022.These military exercises raised tensions in the region.The JapaneseMinistry of Defensereported that this was the first time ballistic missiles launched by China landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone and lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing.Five Chinese missiles landed in Japan's EEZ offHaterumawhich is near Taiwan.Japanese Defense MinisterNobuo Kishisaid these missiles were "serious threats to Japan's national security and the safety of the Japanese people."

On 16 December 2022, Japan announced a major shift in its military policy by stating that it would acquire counterstrike capabilities and increase its defense budget to 2% of GDP (¥43 trillion ($315 billion) by 2027.The impetuses for this increase were regional security concerns over China, North Korea, and Russia.The defense budget expansion was projected to leapfrog Japan from the world's ninth-largest defense spender to third, behind only the United States and China.

Social conditions

Social stratification in Japan became pronounced during the Yayoi period. Expanding trade and agriculture increased the wealth of society, which was increasingly monopolized by social elites.By 600 AD, a class structure had developed which included court aristocrats, the families of local magnates, commoners, and slaves.Over 90% were commoners, who included farmers, merchants, and artisans.During the late Heian period, the governing elite consisted of three classes. The traditional aristocracy shared power with Buddhist monks and samurai,though the latter became increasingly dominant in the Kamakura and Muromachi periods.These periods witnessed the rise of the merchant class, which diversified into a greater variety of specialized occupations.

Women initially held social and political equality with men,and archaeological evidence suggests a prehistorical preference for female rulers in western Japan. Female Emperors appear in recorded history until theMeiji Constitutiondeclared strict male-only ascension in 1889.Chinese Confucian-style patriarchy was first codified in the 7th–8th centuries with theritsuryōsystem,which introduced a patrilinealfamily registerwith a male head of household.Women until then had held important roles in government which thereafter gradually diminished, though even in the late Heian period women wielded considerable court influence.Marital customs and many laws governing private property remained gender neutral.

For reasons that are unclear to historians the status of women rapidly deteriorated from the fourteenth century and onwards.Women of all social classes lost the right to own and inherit property and were increasingly viewed as inferior to men.Hideyoshi's land survey of the 1590s further entrenched the status of men as dominant landholders.During the US occupation following World War II, women gained legal equality with men,but faced widespread workplace discrimination. A movement for women's rights led to the passage of an equal employment law in 1986, but by the 1990s women held only 10% of management positions.

Hideyoshi's land survey of the 1590s designated all who cultivated the land as commoners, an act which granted effective freedom to most of Japan'sslaves.

A social hierarchy chart based on old academic theories. Such hierarchical diagrams were removed from Japanese textbooks after various studies in the 1990s revealed that peasants, craftsmen, and merchants were in fact equal and merely social categories.Successive shoguns held the highest or near-highestcourt ranks,higher than most court nobles.

In theEdo period,theTokugawa shogunate,citingneo-Confucian theory,ruled by dividing the people into four main categories. Older scholars believed that there wereShi-nō-kō-shō(Sĩ nông công thương,four occupations)of "samurai, peasants (hyakushō), craftsmen, and merchants "(chōnin) under thedaimyo,with 80% of peasants under the 5%samuraiclass, followed by craftsmen and merchants.However, various studies have revealed since about 1995 that the classes of peasants, craftsmen, and merchants under the samurai are equal, and the old hierarchy chart has been removed from Japanese history textbooks. In other words, peasants, craftsmen, and merchants are not a social pecking order, but a social classification.Marriage between certain classes was generally prohibited. In particular, marriage betweendaimyoand court nobles was forbidden by the Tokugawa shogunate because it could lead to political maneuvering. For the same reason, marriages between daimyo and high-rankinghatamotoof the samurai class required the approval of the Tokugawa shogunate. It was also forbidden for a member of the samurai class to marry a peasant, craftsman, or merchant, but this was done through a loophole in which a person from a lower class was adopted into the samurai class and then married. Since there was an economic advantage for a poor samurai class person to marry a wealthy merchant or peasant class woman, they would adopt a merchant or peasant class woman into the samurai class as an adopted daughter and then marry her.The social stratification had little bearing on economic conditions: many samurai lived in povertyand the wealth of the merchant class grew throughout the period as the commercial economy developed and urbanization grew.The Edo-era social power structure proved untenable and gave way following the Meiji Restoration to one in which commercial power played an increasingly significant political role.

Although all social classes were legally abolished at the start of the Meiji period,income inequality greatly increased.New economic class divisions were formed between capitalist business owners who formed the new middle class, small shopkeepers of the old middle class, the working class in factories, rural landlords, and tenant farmers.The great disparities of income between the classes dissipated during and after World War II, eventually declining to levels that were among the lowest in the industrialized world.Some postwar surveys indicated that up to 90% of Japanese self-identified as being middle class.

Populations of workers in professionsconsidered unclean,such as leatherworkers and those who handled the dead, developed in the 15th and 16th centuries into hereditaryoutcastcommunities.These people, later calledburakumin,fell outside the Edo-period class structure and suffered discrimination that lasted after the class system was abolished.Though activism has improved the social conditions of those fromburakuminbackgrounds, discrimination in employment and education has lingered into the 21st century.

See also

• Economic history of Japan
• Higashiyama period
• Historiography of Japan
  • Bibliography of Japanese history
  • Bulletin of the National Museum of Japanese History,in Japanese
  • Japanese Journal of Religious Studies
  • Journal of Japanese Studies
  • Monumenta Nipponica,Japanese studies, in English
  • Social Science Japan Journal
• History of East Asia
• History of Japanese art
• History of Japanese Americans
• History of Japanese foreign relations
  • Foreign relations of Meiji Japan
  • Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere,1930–1945
  • History of Japan–Korea relations
  • History of Sino-Japanese relations,China-Japan
  • Japanese foreign policy on Southeast Asia
  • Japan–Soviet Union relations
• History of Tokyo
• List of Emperors of Japan
• List of prime ministers of Japan
• Timeline of Japanese history

Cited sources

• Farris, William Wayne (1995).Population, Disease, and Land in Early Japan, 645–900.Cambridge, Massachusetts:Harvard University Asia Center.ISBN978-0-674-69005-9.
• Farris, William Wayne (2009).Japan to 1600: A Social and Economic History.Honolulu, HI:University of Hawaii Press.ISBN978-0-8248-3379-4.
• Gao, Bai (2009). "The Postwar Japanese Economy". InTsutsui, William M.(ed.).A Companion to Japanese History.John Wiley & Sons. pp.299–314.ISBN978-1-4051-9339-9.
• Hane, Mikiso (1991).Premodern Japan: A Historical Survey.Boulder, CO:Westview Press.ISBN978-0-8133-4970-1.
• Henshall, Kenneth (2012).A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower.London:Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN978-0-230-34662-8.online
• Connaughton, R. M. (1988).The War of the Rising Sun and the Tumbling Bear—A Military History of the Russo-Japanese War 1904–5.London.ISBN0-415-00906-5.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, David (2005). "The Immediate Origins of the War". In Steinberg, John; Menning, Bruce; Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, David; Wolff, David; Yokote, Shinji (eds.).The Russo-Japanese War in Global Perspective: World War Zero.Vol. I. BRILL.ISBN978-90-474-0704-1.
• Holcombe, Charles (2017).A History Of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century.Cambridge University Press.
• Jansen, Marius (2000).The Making of Modern Japan.Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard U.ISBN0674009916.
• Kapur, Nick (2018).Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0674984424.
• Keene, Donald(1999) [1993].A History of Japanese Literature, Vol. 1: Seeds in the Heart – Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century(paperback ed.). New York:Columbia University Press.ISBN978-0-231-11441-7.
• Kerr, George (1958).Okinawa: History of an Island People.Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Company.
• Large, Stephen S. (2007). "Oligarchy, Democracy, and Fascism".A Companion to Japanese History.Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing.
• Meyer, Milton W. (2009).Japan: A Concise History.Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.ISBN9780742557932.
• McClain, James L. (2002).Japan: A Modern History.New York:W. W. Norton & Company.ISBN978-0-393-04156-9.
• Morton, W Scott; Olenike, J Kenneth (2004).Japan: Its History and Culture.New York: McGraw-Hill.ISBN9780071460620.
• Neary, Ian (2009). "Class and Social Stratification". In Tsutsui, William M. (ed.).A Companion to Japanese History.John Wiley & Sons. pp.389–406.ISBN978-1-4051-9339-9.
• Perez, Louis G. (1998).The History of Japan.Westport, CT:Greenwood Press.ISBN978-0-313-30296-1.
• Sansom, George(1958).A History of Japan to 1334.Stanford, CA:Stanford University Press.ISBN978-0-8047-0523-3.
• Sims, Richard (2001).Japanese Political History since the Meiji Restoration, 1868–2000.New York: Palgrave.ISBN9780312239152.
• Togo, Kazuhiko (2005).Japan's Foreign Policy 1945–2003: The Quest for a Proactive Policy.Boston: Brill.ISBN9789004147966.
• Tonomura, Hitomi (2009). "Women and Sexuality in Premodern Japan". In Tsutsui, William M. (ed.).A Companion to Japanese History.John Wiley & Sons. pp.351–371.ISBN978-1-4051-9339-9.
• Totman, Conrad(2005).A History of Japan.Malden, MA:Blackwell Publishing.ISBN978-1-119-02235-0.
• Walker, Brett (2015).A Concise History of Japan.Cambridge University Press.ISBN9781107004184.
• Weston, Mark(2002).Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan's Greatest Men and Women.New York:Kodansha.ISBN978-0-9882259-4-7.

Further reading

• Chang, Richard T. (1970).From Prejudice to Tolerance. A Study of the Japanese Image of the West, 1826–1864.Tokyo, Sophia University.
• Garon, Sheldon (May 1994). "Rethinking Modernization and Modernity in Japanese History: A Focus on State-Society Relations".Journal of Asian Studies53#2, pp. 346–366.JSTOR2059838.
• Hara, Katsuro (2010).Introduction to the History of Japan(registration required).
• Hearn, Lafcadio(1894).Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan (first series).Leipzig,Bernhard Tauchnitz.
• Hook, Glenn D. et al. (2011).Japan's International Relations: Politics, Economics and SecurityexcerptArchived1 October 2021 at theWayback Machine
• Imamura, Keiji (1996).Prehistoric Japan: New Perspectives on Insular East Asia.Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
• Keene, Donald(1998) [1984].A History of Japanese Literature, Vol. 3: Dawn to the West – Japanese Literature of the Modern Era (Fiction)(paperback ed.). New York:Columbia University Press.ISBN978-0-231-11435-6.
• Kingston, Jeffrey (2001).Japan in Transformation, 1952–2000.Pearson Education. 215pp; brief history textbook.
• Kitaoka, Shin’ichi (2019).The Political History of Modern Japan: Foreign Relations and Domestic Politics.Routledge.
• McOmie, William, ed.Foreign Images and Experiences of Japan: 1: First Century AD-1841.(Brill, 2021).online
• Schirokauer, Conrad (2013).A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations.Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
• Tames, Richard, et al. (2008).A Traveller's History of Japan.Popular history.

External links

• Media related toHistory of Japanat Wikimedia Commons
• Pre-modern Japantravel guide from Wikivoyage
• "Japan as It Was and Is": A Handbook of Old Japan, Volume 1andVolume 2,byRichard Hildreth(1807–1865).