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Period: 14,500 BCE to 300 BCE
The Jomon Period
The Jomon Period is known as the start of Japans existence. Humans started to hunt for survival and the population saw rapid increase. The people of Japan had also started creating incredible pottery, which is one of the main discoveries of this period. -
500 BCE
Shintoism
The first religion practiced in Japan was Shintoism, also known as Shinto. The religion doesn't believe in a god, rather it is set of principles that its followers live by. It is estimated that the religion has approximately 104 million followers today. -
Period: 300 BCE to 250
The Yayoi Period
The Yayoi period introduced us to some pretty revolutionary things. The Japanese expanded their military repertoire with the discovery of metal working to create weapons. This era also saw the invention of rice, which still remains one of Japans most popular foods today. -
552
Buddhism
Today, it is estimated that there are 500 million people practicing Buddhism. The religion was founded in the year 552 by buddha himself, and was introduced to the Japanese people by Korea. Buddhists believe in the idea that humans are reborn after death, and the religion really focuses on self improvement. Today there is more than 80,000 Buddhist temples standing in Japan alone. -
663
The First Person To Climb Mt. Fuji
Standing as tall as 3,776 meters high, Mt. Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan. It is unknown who exactly climbed the mountain first, but we do know that it happened in the year 663. The volcano last erupted just over 300 years ago. -
Period: 1336 to 1573
Muromachi Period
The Muromachi Period lasted almost 250 years and the Japanese people started to practice Zen Buddhism. Japanese artists had began using Chinese ink in their pieces. There were 4 different leaders over the course of the Muromachi period. -
Period: to
Sakoku
For 265 years the people of Japan searched for peace by shutting off connection with every other country. This was a good time for the Japanese people as they had not to worry about conflict and war, and could focus on improving themselves and their country. The country was able to advance much more quickly than it would have, due to the pressure of other countries no longer being on them. -
Period: to
Meiji Period
The Meiji Period played a huge part in the modernization of Japan. Their emperor Meiji Tenno shifted the countries focus into fixing their education system, along with reformation of their political structure at the time. The country revoked firearm privileges from it's citizens in hope of finding peace. -
Period: to
Japan go to war with China (1894)
Over the span of just under 9 months, Japan and China went to war over land, as both countries wanted different things to happen in Korea. In April of 1895 China accepted defeat and the Treaty of Shimonoseki was created, recognizing the independence of Korea. China also had to pay Japan 200 million Taels of silver, as well as allow them trading privileges on Chinese land. -
Period: to
World War 1
The first world war was caused by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. The central powers fought against the allied powers (which Japan was apart of), for 4 years until they eventually surrendered and the allied powers claimed victory. Approximately 16 million people were killed in this horrific war. -
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The first ever atomic bomb to be dropped was sent by the United States to destroy the city of Hiroshima during the second World War in 1945. This ended the lives of an estimated 80,000 people on impact, before killing tens of thousands more due to radiation. This bombing was followed by another just 3 days later in the city of Nagasaki, which killed approximately 40,000 more people. -
Constitution of Japan
Following the second world war Japan signed the 1946 constitution. This led to the end of slavery and tyranny, and Japanese citizens lived their lives a lot more freely than they did before. -
Japan Joins the United Nations
In December of 1956 Japan officially joined the United Nations. Following the terrors of the first and second world war, Japan looked to prevent future generations from having to endure that kind of pain again, with the goal of world peace. -
The Bullet Train
The Shinkansen was revolutionary fast moving train created in 1964. It hit maximum speeds of 210kmph which were unheard of at the time, and was the start of something knew for the public transit system. The bullet train now runs at speeds as fast as 320kmph, making it the fastest way to get between the main islands of Japan. -
Honda releases car navigation system
The Electro Gyrocator was released by Honda in August of 1981. This was the first time any car manufacturer had incorporated a built in navigation system, and paved the way for driving as we know it today. -
Japanese Economy Crash
1992 was the year Japan officially declared their economy bubble collapse. The main cause of the crash was due to the banks raising interest rates to combat the the hot real estate market. This lasted until 2001. -
Nagano Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics were held in Nagano Japan. This remains only the second time that the winter games have been held in Japan. Germany won the event with a total of 29 medals, and Canada came in 4th, winning 15 medals as a country. -
Earthquake / Tsunami in Tohoku
The great sendai Earthquake occurred on the 11th of March 2011, beneath the North Pacific Ocean. This caused a Tsunami with waves up to 132 feet tall, that smothered all the way through 10km of land until ending at Sendai. The event caused a total of $360 Billion USD worth of damage. -
Covid-19
In March of 2020 the world shut down due to a disease called Covid-19. This led to Japan declaring a state of emergency on April 7th and their entire economy dropped by 4.5% for the year. The disease led to a total of 37,059 deaths within Japan.