A timeline of Japan

A time-line of Japan
World News | Politics | History | Editor

100 BC: rice and iron are imported into Japan by the migration of the Yayoi (related to the Mongols), who also brought a new language and a new religion
0 AD: shintoism becomes the national religion and the "emperor" is merely an official in charge of performing Shinto rituals and symbolic ceremonies
57 AD: Japan is mentioned for the first time in Chinese history
200: sushi is invented
250: the shintoist shrine of Ise is founded
239: first visit by a Japanese envoy to China
400: the Yamato culture, modeled after China, rules from Kyushu to the Kinai plain, centered around the town of Naniwa in the Yamato plain (Osaka)
500: Japan adopts the Chinese alphabet
538: the Korean kingdom of Paekche dispatches a delegation to introduce Buddhism to the Japanese emperor
550: the Sun (Soga) dynasty ascends to the throne and the capital of Japan is moved to their homeland, the Asuka valley in the central Yamato plain
550: the term "Shinto" is introduced to differentiate the native religion from Buddhism and Confucianism
593: prince Shotoku of the Soga clan rules Japan and promotes Buddhism
600: prince Shotoku sends the first official Japanese mission to China
604: prince Shotoku issues a Chinese-style constitution (Kenpo Jushichijo), based on Confucian principles, which de facto inaugurates the Japanese empire
605: prince Shotoku declares Buddhism and Confucianism the state religions of Japan
607: Shotoku builds the Buddhist temple Horyuji in the Asuka valley
645: Shotoku is succeeded by Kotoku Tenno, who strengthens imperial power over aristocratic clans (Taika Reform), turning their states into provinces
710: Japan's capital is moved from Asuka to Nara, modeled after China's capital Xian
712: the collection of tales "Kojiki" (record of ancient times)
720: the "Nihon shoki" (history of Japan)
749: a woman, Shomu's daughter Koken, becomes empress
752: Japan's emperor Shomu founds the temple Todaiji in Nara (largest wooden building in the world) with a colossal Buddha inside
759: the poetic anthology "Man'yoshu" ("Collection of Myriad Leaves")
784: the emperor moves the capital to Nagaoka
788: the Buddhist monk Saicho founds the monastery of Mt Hiei, near Kyoto, which will become a vast ensemble of temples
794: emperor Kammu moves the capital to Heian-kyo (Kyoto)
804: the Buddhist monk Saicho (Dengyo Daishi) introduces the Tendai school
806: the monk Kukai (Kobo Daishi) introduces the Shingon (Tantric) school
819: Kukai founds the monastery of Mount Koya, near Kyoto
838: the emperor forbids contacts with China
858: emperor Seiwa begins the rule of the Fujiwara clan
909: first "monogatari" (long story)
1050: rise of the military class (samurai)
1053: the Byodo-in temple (near Kyoto) is inaugurated by emperor Fujiwara Yorimichi
1068: emperor Gosanjo overthrows the Fujiwara clan
1087: emperor Shirakawa abdicates and becomes a Buddhist monk, the first of the "cloistered emperors" (insei)
1156: Taira Kiyomori defeats the Minamoto clan and seizes power, thereby ending the "insei" era
1175: Shinran introduces the Jodo (Pure Land) school of Buddhism
1181: the famine kills hundreds of thousands of people
1185: Taira is defeated (Gempei War) and Minamoto Yoritomo of the Hojo clan seizes power, becoming the first shogun of Japan, while the emperor (or "mikado") becomes a figurehead
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
1192: the emperor appoints Yoritomo as "shogun" (military leader) with residence in Kamakura (bakufu system of government)
1199: Yoritomo dies
1221: the Kamakura army defeats the imperial army (Jokyu Disturbance), thereby asserting the supremacy of the Kamakura shogunate (Hojo regents) over the emperor
1227: Soto Zen Buddhism is introduced in Japan by the monk Dogen
1232: the Joei Shikimoku code of law is promulgated to enhance control by the Hojo regents
1274: the Mongols of Kublai Khan try to invade Japan but are repelled by "kamikaze"
1333: emperor Go-Daigo defeats the Kamakura shogunate, restores imperial power and moves the capital to Muromachi (near Kyoto)
1336: Ashikaga Takauji captures Kyoto and forces Go-Daigo to move to a southern court (Yoshino, south of Kyoto)
1338: Takauji declares himself shogun, moves his capital in the Muromachi district of Kyoto and declares the northern court
1392: the southern court surrenders to the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and the empire is unified again
1467: civil war (Onin war) erupts in Japan and Japan is split among feudal lords (daimyo)
1542: firewarms are introduced by a shipwrecked Portugese
1549: the Catholic missionary Frances Xavier reaches Japan
1568: the daimyo Oda Nobunaga enters Kyoto and ends the civil war
1570: the Archbishopric of Edo is established and the first Japanese Jesuits are ordained
1573: the daimyo Oda Nobunaga overthrows the Muromachi bakufu and extends his control over most of Japan
1575: Nobunaga defeats the rival Takeda clan in the battle of Nagashino by employing modern warfare
1582: Nobunaga is murdered and is succeeded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi
1591: Toyotomi Hideyoshi reunifies and pacifies Japan
1591: the Jesuits establish the first printing press in Japan
1592: Toyotomi Hideyoshi tries to conquer Korea but is repelled by China
1598: Hideyoshi dies after trying a second time to invade Korea
1600: at the battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu, a friend of Hideyoshi and Nobunaga, defeats the other contenders to the leadership of Japan
1603: the emperor appoints Ieyasu as shogun, who moves his government to Edo (Tokyo) and founds the Tokugawa dynasty of shoguns
1603: the Tokugawa Shogunate divides the subjects into five hereditary classes of decreasing importance (lords, samurai, farmers, artisans, merchants)
1614: Ieyasu bans Christianity from Japan
1615: Ieyasu captures Osaka and destroys the Toyotomi clan
1633: the shogun Iemitsu forbids travelling abroad and reading foreign books
1638: the shogun Iemitsu forbids ship building
1639: Iemitsu restricts interaction with foreigners to Nagasaki
1641: Iemitsu bans all foreigners, except Chinese and Dutch, from Japan
1650: with peace, there evolved a new kind of noble, literate warrior according to bushido ("way of the warrior")
1700: kabuki and ukiyo-e become popular
1707: Mount Fuji erupts
1790: Neo-Confucianism becomes the official state philosophy
1854: the USA forces Japan to sign a trade agreement ("treaty of Kanagawa") which reopens Japan to foreigners after two centuries
1855: Russia and Japan establish diplomatic relations
1864: British, French, Dutch and American warships bombard Shimonoseki and open more Japanese ports for foreigners
1868: the shogun Yoshinobu resigns, the Tokugawa dynasty ends, and the emperor (or "mikado") Meiji is restored, but with capital in Edo/Tokyo and divine attributes
1870: Meiji dismantles the feudal system and forbids the lords from retaining private armies
1872: the first railway line between Tokyo and Yokohama is inaugurated
1873: Japan grants religious freedom and adopts the Gregorian calendar
1877: the samurai revolt against the emperor who has forbidden them to carry swords, but are defeated by the regular army
1889: emperor Meiji promulgates a parliamentary constitution
1875: Russia exchanges with Japan the Kurile Islands for the island of Sakhalin
1894: Japan invades China (first sino-japanese war)
1895: Japan defeats China and China is forced to cede Taiwan and recognize Japanese supremacy over Korea
1896: the European powers force Japan to surrender the Liaotung peninsula of China
1899: Nippon Electric Corporation (NEC) is founded specializing in communications, the first joint venture with foreign capital (USA's Western Electric)
1902: Japan signs the London treaty with Britain that recognizes Japan's rights in Korea and Britain's rights in China
1904: Japan attacks Russia in Manchuria, destroying the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, and invades Korea
1905: at the battle of Mukden between Japan and Russia over 100,000 soldiers die
1905: in the naval Battle of the Tsushima Straits, Japan destroys the Russian fleet
1905: after Japan destroys the Russian fleet at the battle of Tsushima, Russia withdraws from Manchuria, loses Sakhalin, and recognizes a Japanese protectorate over Korea (treaty of Portsmouth), the first time that a non-European country defeats a European power
1910: Japan annexes Korea and thereby terminates the Choson dynasty
1912: emperor Meiji dies and new emperor Taisho shifts more power to the parliament
1914: World War I breaks out in the Balkans, pitting Britain, France, Italy, Russia, Serbia, USA and Japan against Austria, Germany and Turkey
1923: the great Kanto earthquake devastates Tokyo
1924: the US Congress approves the Exclusion Act, that prohibits further immigration from Japan
1925: Japan introduces universal male suffrage
1928: Japan's population is 65 million
1929: worldwide economic depression
1930: Britain, Japan, France, Italy and the USA sign the London Naval Treaty, an agreement to reduce naval warfare
1931: the Japanese army invades Manchuria and creates the puppet state of Manchukuo
1932: prime minister Inukai is assassinated by military officers
1932: the Japanese army institutes the first "comfort houses" during the battle of Shanghai
1933: the Japanese army invades Hebei
1933: following the condemnation of Japan's occupation of Manchuria, Japan Leaves the League of Nations
1934: the Japanese install former Manchu emperor Puyj as head of the puppet state of Manchukuo
1935: the Fuji Electric corporation spins off Fujitsu, specializing in telecommunications
1936: Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact (de facto, an anti-Soviet pact)
1937: Japan invades China and captures Nanking (350,000 Chinese are killed and 100,000 women are raped during the "rape of Nanking")
1938: Japan opens the first wartime facility for "sexual comfort" in Nanjing
1939: Japan establishes the "Unit 731" research laboratory for biological warfare in Harbin, China, and tests biological weapons on war prisoners (10,000 die)
1939: Toshiba is founded to produce home appliances
1940: Italy, Germany and Japan sign the pact of the "axis"
1940: Japan occupies French Indochina (Vietnam) with approval by France (Vichy government) and announces the intention of creating a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere"
1940: Japan bombs the Chinese city of Ningbo with fleas carrying the bubonic plague
1941: Japan attacks the USA fleet at Pearl Harbor
1941: general Hideki Tojo becomes prime minister
1941: Japan invades the Philippines and Thailand
1942: Japan invades the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and British India
1944: the USA drops 22,885 tons of bombs on the Tokyo-Kawasaki-Yokohama area
1944: prime minister Hideki Tojo resigns
1945: the USA drops two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and emperor Hirohito surrenders
1945: World War II ends and Japan is forced to retreat from the land it occupied
1947: Japan ratifies a new democratic constitution and the emperor remains a mere figurehead
1951: Japan's GNP is US$14.2 billion, 4.2% of the USA's GNP, half of West Germany's, one third less than Britain's
1952: the USA returns Japan to independence
1952: Japanese companies license the technology of the transistor from the USA
1954: Japanese electronic company TTK (later Sony) introduces the world's first transistor radio
1954: Fujitsu enters the computer market
1956: the first Japanese car is sold in the USA
1960: Japan begins a spectacular economic growth that will turn it into the second economic power of the world after the USA
1964: the Shinkansen (bullet train) is inaugurated
1968: Kawabata becomes the first Japanese to win a Nobel prize
1970: Japan is the third economic power in the world (after USA and USSR), having overtaken all European economies
1980: Japan's GDP of $1040 billion is about 40% of the USA's GDP
1972: the Japanese Red Army carries out a terrorist attack in Israel
1973: worldwide oil crisis
1976: the G6 is created to bring the leaders of the biggest national economies together (USA, Canada, Britain, Germany, Japan, France)
1979: Sony launches the "Walkman" portable stereo
1981: Toshiba enters the market for laptop computers
1982: Sony launches the compact disc
1986: Shigechiyo Izumi dies at 120, the oldest man in the world
1987: the Montreal Protocol limits the use of substances that damage the ozone layer
1989: the Japanese economy enters a recession, with both the stock market and real estate collapsing
1989: on the last day of the year, the Japanese NIKKEI stock market (the largest stock market in the world) reaches an all-time high of 38,915
1989: the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is founded to bring together the USA, Japan, Australia, Chile, etc
1991: The Japanese "bubble economy" bursts, with stock prices declining for 10 years, erasing some trillions of dollars in wealth
1995: members of the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult uses nerve gas to kill innocents in the Tokyo subway
1995: 36 million cars are manufactured in the world, of which 7.6 million in Japan and 6.3 million in the USA, although 8.6 million cars are sold in the USA alone
1995: an earthquake kills 6,500 people in Kobe
1995: terrorists belonging to a religious sect use chemicals in the Tokyo subway
1997: the economic crisis intensifies
1997: Toyota introduces the Prius, the world's first commercially mass-produced hybrid automobile,
1997: most countries of the world agree on reducing the level of greenhouse-gas emissions in order to avoid climate changes such as global warming, (Kyoto Protocol)
1998: 38 million vehicles sold worldwide (4.5 million workers and revenues of 1.5 billion dollars)
2001: reformist Junichiro Koizumi is nominated prime minister by the ruling coalition in an attempt to fight the 10-year old stagnation
2001: Mamoru Takuma kills eight children in a primary school in Osaka
2003: the Japanese NIKKEI stock market average bottoms up at 7699 after falling 80% from its 1989 peak, and skyrockets 41% from april to october
2003: Kamato Hongo, Japan's oldest person, dies at 116
2003: An earthquake of magnitude 8.0 rocks the northern island of Hokkaido
2004: for the first time since the end of WW II, Japan sends troops to a warzone (Iraq)
2005: the Kyoto protocol (to reduce the level of greenhouse-gas emissions in order to avoid climate changes such as global warming) is adopted by 141 countries of the world but not the USA, China, India and Australia
2005: a foreigner, Howard Stringer, is appointed head of Sony
2005: the unemployment rate falls to 4.4% from a peak of 5.4%
2005: Japan's prime minister Junichiro Koizumi stages a landslide victory in elections, boosting support for his economic reform
2006: Shinzo Abe succeeds Koizumi as Japan's prime minister
2006: Japan imposes tough sanctions against North Korea following North Korea's nuclear test
2007: World stock markets collapse
2007: Toyota passes General Motors as the world's largest car manufacturer
2007: a Japanese cabinet minister hangs himself over a corruption scandal, the first cabinet minister to kill himself since the end of World War II
2007: crash of the stock markets worldwide, triggered by the crisis of USA sub-prime mortgage lenders, with the Nikkei's worst downfall since september 2001
2007: Shinzo Abe resigns and is succeeded by Yasuo Fukuda

Emperors

Jimmu (50 AD)
Suizei
Annei
Itoku
Kosho
Koan (100 AD)
Korei
Kogen
Kaika (200 AD)
Sujin (219-249)
Suinin (249-280)
Keiko (280-316)
Seimu (316-342)
Chuai (343-346
Oojin (346-395)
Nintoku (395-427)
Richu (427-432)
Hanzei (433-438)
Ingyo (438-453)
Anko (453-456)
Yuryaku (456-479)
Seinei (480-484)
Kenzo (485-487)
Ninken (488-498)
Buretsu (498-506)
Keitai (507-531)
Ankan (531-535)
Senka (535-539)
Kimmei (539-571)
Bidatsu (572-585)
Yomei (585-587)
Sushun (587-592)
Suiko (592-628)
Jomei (629-641)
Kogyoku (642-645)
Kotoku (645-654)
Saimei (655-661)
Tenji (662-671)
Kobun (671-672)
Kemmu (673-686)
Jito (690-697)
Mommu (697-707)
Gemmei (707-715)
Gensho (715-724)
Shomu (724-749)
Koken (749-758)
Junnin (758-764)
Shotoku (764-770)
Konin (770-781)
Kammu (781-806)
Heizei (806-824)
Saga (823-842)
Junna (833-840)
Nimmyo (833-850)
Montoku (850-858)
Seiwa (858-876)
Yozei (877-884)
Koko (884-887)
Uda (887-897)
Daigo (897-930)
Suzaku (930-946)
Murakami (946-967)
Reizei (967-969)
Enyu (969-984)
Kazan (984-986)
Ichijo (986-1011)
Sanjo (1011-1016)
Go-Ichijo (1016-1036)
Go-Suzaku (1036-1045)
Go-Reizei (1045-1068)
Go-Sanjo (1067-1072)
Shirakawa (1072-1086)
Horikawa (1086-1107)
Toba (1107-1123)
Sutoku (1123-1141)
Konoye (1141-1155)
Go-Shirakawa (1156-1158)
Nijo (1159-1165)
Rokujo (1166-1168)
Takakura (1169-1180)
Antoku (1181-1183)
Go-Toba (1184-1198)
Tsuchimikado (1199-1210)
Juntoku (1211-1221)
Chukyo (1221-1221)
Go-Horikawa (1222-1232)
Shijo (1233-1242)
Go-Saga (1243-1246)
Go-Fukakusa (1247-1259)
Kameyama (1260-1274)
Go-Uda (1275-1287)
Fushimi (1288-1298)
Go-Fushimi (1299-1301)
Go-Nijo (1302-1308)
Hanazono (1309-1318)
Go-Daigo (1319-1338)
Go-Murakami (1339-1368)
Chokei (1369-1372)
Go-Kameyama (1373-1392)
Go-Komatsu (1392-1412)
Shoko (1413-1428)
Go-Hanazono (1429-1464)
Go-Tsuchimikado (1465-1500)
Go-Kashiwabara (1501-1526)
Go-Nara (1527-1557)
Oogimachi (1558-1586)
Go-Yozei (1587-1611)
Go-Mi-no-o (1612-1629)
Meisho (1630-1643)
Go-Komyo (1644-1654)
Go-Saiin (1655-1662)
Reigen (1663-1686)
Higashi-yama (1687-1709)
Nakamikado (1710-1735)
Sakuramachi (1736-1746)
Momozono (1746-1762)
Go-Sakuramachi (1763-1770)
Go-Momozono (1771-1779)
Kokaku (1780-1816)
Ninko (1817-1846)
Komei (1847-1866)
Mutsuhito (1866-1912)
Yoshihito (1912-1926)
Hirohito (1926-1989)
Akihito (1989-)

World News | Politics | History | Editor