Ukiyo e

Medieval Japan

By Zane Eid
  • Jan 1, 710

    710: Japan's capital is moved from Fujiwara-kyō to Heijō-kyō, modeled after China's capital Chang'an

  • Period: Jan 1, 710 to

    Nara Period

  • Jan 1, 717

    717: The Hoshi Ryokan is founded, and it survives to become Japan's (and the world's) second oldest known hotel in 2012. (The oldest was founded in 705.)

  • Jan 1, 743

    743: Emperor Shōmu issues a rescript to build the Daibutsu (Great Buddha), later to be completed and placed in Tōdai-ji, Nara

  • Jan 1, 752

    752: The Great Buddha(Daibutsu) at Tōdai-ji was completed

  • Jan 1, 1050

    1050: Rise of the military class (samurai)

  • Jan 1, 1068

    1068: Emperor Go-Sanjo overthrows the Fujiwara clan

  • Jan 1, 1087

    1087: Emperor Shirakawa abdicates and becomes a Buddhist monk, the first of the "cloistered emperors" (insei)

  • Jan 1, 1121

    1221: The Kamakura army defeats the imperial army in the Jōkyū Disturbance, thereby asserting the supremacy of the Kamakura shogunate (Hōjō regents) over the emperor

  • Jan 1, 1180

    1180: Emperor Antoku moves the capital to Fukuhara-kyō (Kobe)

  • Jan 1, 1180

    1180: Emperor Antoku moves the capital to Heian-kyō (Kyōto)

  • Period: Jan 1, 1185 to Dec 31, 1336

    Kamakura Period

  • Jan 1, 1191

    1191: Rinzai Zen Buddhism is introduced in Japan by the monk Eisai of Kamakura and becomes popular among the samurai, the leading class in Japanese society

  • Jan 1, 1192

    1192: The emperor appoints Yoritomo as shogun (military leader) with a residence in Kamakura, establishing the bakufu system of government

  • Jan 1, 1293

    1293: On May 27, a major earthquake and tsunami hit Sagami Bay and Kamakura, killing 23,034 people.[2] It followed a 1241 and 1257 earthquake/tsunami in the same general area, which both were magnitude 7.0.

  • Jan 1, 1333

    1333: Nitta Yoshisada conquers and destroys Kamakura during the Siege of Kamakura ending the Kamakura Shogunate.

  • Period: Jan 1, 1336 to Dec 31, 1534

    Ashikaga Period

  • Period: Jan 1, 1534 to

    Sengoku-Jedai

  • Jan 1, 1546

    1546: Hōjō Ujiyasu who had won the Battle of Kawagoe becomes ruler of the Kantō region

  • Jan 1, 1549

    1549: The Catholic missionary Francis Xavier arrived in Japan

  • Jan 1, 1555

    1555: Mōri Motonari, who had won the Battle of Miyajima, becomes ruler of the Chūgoku region

  • Jan 1, 1560

    1560: Battle of Okehazama

  • Jan 1, 1568

    1568: The daimyō Oda Nobunaga enters Kyoto and ends the civil war

  • Jan 1, 1570

    1570: Battle of Anegawa

  • Jan 1, 1573

    1573: Battle of Mikatagahara

  • Jan 1, 1573

    1573: the daimyo Oda Nobunaga overthrows the Muromachi bakufu and extends his control over most of Japan

  • Jan 1, 1575

    1575: Battle of Nagashino

  • 1600: Battle of Sekigahara. Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats a coalition of daimyo and establishes hegemony over most of Japan.

  • 1614: Tokugawa Ieyasu bans Christianity from Japan.

  • Period: to

    Tokugawa Period

  • 784: The emperor moves the capital to Nagaok

  • 788: The Buddhist monk Saichō founds the monastery of Mt Hiei, near Kyoto, which becomes a vast ensemble of temples

  • 794: Emperor Kammu moves the capital to Heian-kyō (Kyōto)

  • 819: Kūkai founds the monastery of Mount Kōya, in the northeast portion of modern day Wakayama Prefecture

  • 858: Emperor Seiwa begins the rule of the Fujiwara clan

  • 895: Sugawara Michizane halted the imperial embassies to China

  • Period: to Dec 31, 1185

    Heian Period