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Jan 1, 1543
The Portuguese
The Portuguese first arrived in Japan. They introduced Christianity to the Japanese, which flourished for a brief period before being outlawed in 1939. -
Jan 1, 1549
The arquebus
The Portuguese introduced a weapon called the arquebus to the Japanese. Samurai first used the arquebus at the battle of Kanji. -
Christianity
The missionaries converted many Japanese to Christianity. Some Christian converts fought against Tokugawa Ieyasu. -
The American Commodore Matthew Perry
The closed country policy remained in play until the American Commodore Matthew Perry and his squadron arrived at Edo Bay. -
The Three powerful Tozama daimyo
Three powerful Tozama daimyo from western Japan and some discontented court nobles in Edo demanded that the shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resign. Tokugawa Yoshinobu succumbed to this pressure. He renounced his position as shogun and refused to nominate a successor. -
The Tozama daimyo
The Tozama daimyo and their allies made the young Emperor Meiji, ruler of Japan abolished the Tokugawa bakufu.