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Jan 1, 1192
Yoritomo becomes Shogun.
Founder of the first warrior government (bakufu) in Kamakura, and its first Sei'itai Shogun. http://www.ninpo.org/picturearchive/historicalportraits/minamotoyoritomo.html -
Jan 1, 1195
First Zen Temple is Shofukuji
The first Zen Temple of Japan,Shofukuji Temple was initiated by Eisai, the founder of the Zen sect,in 1195. http://universiade.fjct.fit.ac.jp/en/fukuoka/history/syoufuku.html -
Jan 1, 1274
First mongol invasion of Japan.
In 1266, the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan (a grandson of Genghis Khan) paused in his campaign to subdue all of China, and sent a message to the Emperor of Japan. http://asianhistory.about.com/od/japan/a/Mongolinvasion.htm -
Jan 1, 1281
Mongols invade a second time
In the spring of 1281, the Mongols sent two separate forces; an impressive force of 900 ships containing 40,000 Korean, Chinese, and Mongol troops set out from Masan, while an even larger force of 100,000 sailed from southern China in 3,500 ships. http://history.cultural-china.com/en/34H8013H12807.html -
Jan 1, 1336
Takauji becomes shogun
Ashikaga Takauji (1305 - 1358) was the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. http://www.japan-101.com/history/ashikaga_takauji_first_shogun.htm -
Jan 1, 1542
The first portuguese traders arrive.
when a Portuguese ship off course arrived in Japanese waters. http://www.myjapanphone.com/japan_travel_resource/living_in_japan/Japan_history_overview.html -
Jan 1, 1543
Portuguese introduce firearms to japan.
A Portuguese ship, having been blown off course from China to Okinawa, made her way to Tanegashima. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_of_Japan -
Jan 1, 1549
Saint Francis Xavier arrives in Japan
The entire first year was devoted to learning the Japanese language and translating into Japanese, with the help of Pablo de Santa Fe, the principal articles of faith and short treatises which were to be employed in preaching and catechizing. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06233b.htm -
Jan 1, 1568
Oda Nobunaga permits Christianity missionary work / Oda Nobunga seizes civil authority.
Oda Nobunaga was the first to attempt the unification of Japan. Known
for his ruthless use of power, his vision was to bring all of Japan
"under a single sword". http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=114337 -
Jan 1, 1582
Christian daimyo send envoy to vatican
Delegation of four young envoys representing three Christian Daimyo of Kyushu sets out for Europe [Tensho Shonen Shisetsu]. http://www.cbcj.catholic.jp/eng/ehistory/table01.htm -
Toyotomi Hideyoshi prohibited christianity and expelled jesuit missionaries from japan as potentially seditious.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi issues the edict forbidding Christianity and orders all missionaries to leave Japan. http://www.cbcj.catholic.jp/eng/ehistory/table01.htm -
Hideyoshi's army invades Korea.
The two Japanese invasions of Korea took place from 1592 to 1598. Toyotomi Hideyoshi led the newly unified Japan into the first invasion (1592–1593) with the professed goal of conquering Korea, the Jurchens, Ming Dynasty China and India. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasions_of_Korea_%281592%E2%80%931598%29 -
First official persecution of Christians in Japan.
After the first landing of Portuguese sailors in Japan in 1542, Christian proselyting led by Francisco Xavier started. In the following decades, many thousands of Japanese, including some princes' families, converted to Roman Catholicism in the form known as Kirishitan with the cooperation of the central government forming at that time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Christians_in_Japan -
Tokugawa Ieyasa expels christians misssionaries and outlaw christianity.
. With this attitude, Ieyasu closed Japan’s ports to international trade to prevent Christianity from entering the country. http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b3tokugawaieyasu.htm -
Portuguese traders banned from Japan
Suspicious of Christianity and of Portuguese support of a local Japanese revolt, the shoguns of the Tokugawa period (1603–1867) prohibited all trade with foreign countries; only a Dutch trading post at Nagasaki was permitted. Western attempts to renew trading relations failed until 1853, when Commodore Matthew Perry sailed an American fleet into http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107666.html#ixzz1N7xY0Slo -
Relaxation of the ban importation of foriegn books
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Commodore Perry and US navy enter Uraga Bay
