History of Japan

Yayoi

300 BCE

The Yayoi period is an Iron Age era in the history of Japan.

Kofun

300

The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mound dating from this era, and archaeology indicates that the mound tombs and material culture of the elite were similar throughout the region.

Asuka

538

The Asuka period is characterized by its significant artistic, social, and political transformations, having their origins in the late Kofun period but largely affected by the arrival of Buddhism from China. The introduction of Buddhism marked a change in Japanese society. The Asuka period is also distinguished by the change in the name of the country from Wa (倭) to Nihon (日本).

Nara

710

Most of Japanese society during this period was agricultural in nature and centered on villages. Most of the villagers followed a religion based on the worship of natural and ancestral spirits called kami.

Heian

794

It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism, and other Chinese influences were at their height. The Heian period is also considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially poetry and literature.

Kamakura

1185

This period is known for the emergence of the samurai, the warrior caste, and for the establishment of feudalism in Japan.

Kenmu

1333

The Kenmu Restoration is the name given to both the three-year period of Japanese history between the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period and the political events that took place in it. The restoration was an effort made by Emperor Go-Daigo to bring the Imperial House back into power, thus restoring a civilian government after almost a century and a half of military rule.

Muromachi

1336

The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate. Also, by the continued resistance of the supporters of Emperor Go-Daigo, the emperor behind the Kenmu Restoration. The years from 1465 to the end of the Muromachi period are also known as the Sengoku period or Warring States period.

Azuchi–Momoyama

1568

These years of political unification led to the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Edo

1600

The Edo period was characterized by relative peace and stability under the tight control of the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled from the eastern city of Edo.

Meiji

1868

The imperial family moved to Edo, which was renamed Tokyo. This era represents the first half of the Empire of Japan, during which period the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization by European powers to the new paradigm of a modern, industrialized nation state and emergent great power, influenced by Western scientific, technological, philosophical, political, legal, and aesthetic ideas.

Taishō

1912

This era is considered the time of the liberal movement known as the "Taishō democracy" in Japan; it is usually distinguished from the preceding chaotic Meiji period and the following militaristic-driven first part of the Shōwa period.

Shōwa

1926

It was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor. During the pre-1945 period, Japan moved into political totalitarianism, ultranationalism and fascism culminating in Japan's invasion of China in 1937. This was part of an overall global period of social upheavals and conflicts such as the Great Depression and the Second World War.

Heisei

1989

The Heisei period is the current era in Japan. The Heisei period started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of Emperor Hirohito, when his son, Akihito, acceded to the throne as the 125th Emperor.