Japan

Japan (Japanese: ??, Nihon or Nippon) is a country on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. Known as the "Land of the Rising Sun", Japan lies to the east of the Asian continent, and is composed of over 3,000 islands. The largest and main islands are, from north to south, Hokkaid?, Honsh? (the largest island), Shikoku, and Ky?sh?. The Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, are southwest of the main islands.

History

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Main article: History of Japan

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Pre-history

Archaeological research indicates that the earliest inhabitants of Japan migrated over land bridges from Korea and Siberia, at least 30,000 years ago. Some vague evidence indicates they may have also later come by sea from the Polynesian islands.

Related Topics:
Archaeological - Land bridges - Korea - Siberia - Polynesian

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The first signs of civilization appeared around 10,000 BC with the Jomon culture, characterized by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer lifestyle of pit-dwelling, and a rudimentary form of agriculture. Weaving was still unknown, and archaeological findings indicate that clothes were often made of bark. Around that time, the Jomon people started to make clay vessels, decorated with patterns made by impressing the wet clay with braided or unbraided cord and sticks (jomon means "patterns of plaited cord"). This led to the manufacture of the earliest-known form of pottery in the world.

Related Topics:
Jomon - Mesolithic - Neolithic - Hunter-gatherer - Agriculture - Weaving - Pottery

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The start of the Yayoi period around 300 BC, marked the influx of new technologies such as rice farming, shamanism, and iron and bronze-making, brought by migrants from Korea. These formed the basic elements of traditional Japanese culture, still seen today. As the population increased and society became more complex, they wove cloth, lived in permanent farming villages, constructed buildings of wood and stone, accumulated wealth through landownership and the storage of grain, and developed distinct social classes.

Related Topics:
Yayoi - 300 BC - Rice - Shamanism - Iron - Bronze - Korea

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The Yayoi period was succeeded around AD 250 by the Kofun period, characterized by the establishment of strong military states, centered around powerful clans. The Yamato court, concentrated in the Asuka region, suppressed the clans and acquired agricultural lands, increasing their power. Based upon the Chinese model, they developed a central administration, and an imperial court system and society was organized into occupation groups. Most people were farmers; others were fishermen, weavers, potters, artisans, armorers, and ritual specialists.

Related Topics:
Kofun - Yamato - Asuka

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Classical era

The Japanese did not start writing their own histories until the 5th and 6th centuries AD, when the Chinese writing system, Buddhism, advanced pottery, ceremonial burial, and other aspects of culture were introduced by aristocrats, artisans, scholars, and monks from Baekje, a kingdom in Korea.

Related Topics:
Chinese writing system - Buddhism - Pottery - Baekje - Korea

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The beginning of Japanese historical writing culminated in the early 8th century AD, with the massive chronicles, Kojiki (The Record of Ancient Matters, 712 AD) and Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan, 720 AD). Though Japan did not appear in written history until 57 AD, when it is first mentioned in Chinese records as the nation of "Wa" (in Chinese, "Wo"), or "dwarf state", these chronicles tell a much different and much more legendary history of Japan, deriving the people of Japan from the gods themselves.

Related Topics:
Kojiki - Nihongi - Wa

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According to traditional Japanese mythology, Japan was founded in the 7th century BC by the ancestral Emperor Jimmu, a direct descendant of the Shinto deity Amaterasu. It is claimed that he started a line of emperors that remains unbroken, to this day. However, historians believe the first emperor who actually existed was Emperor Ojin, though the date of his reign is uncertain. Nonetheless, for most of Japan's history, real power has been in the hands of the court nobility, the shoguns, the military, or, more recently, prime ministers.

Related Topics:
Japanese mythology - Emperor Jimmu - Shinto - Amaterasu - Emperors - Emperor Ojin - Shogun - Prime minister

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Through the Taika Reform Edicts of 645 AD, Japanese intensified the adoption of Chinese cultural practices, and reorganized the government in accordance with the Chinese administrative structure. This paved the way for the dominance of Confucian philosophy in Japan, until the 19th century.

Related Topics:
Taika Reform Edicts - Confucian

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The Nara period of the 8th century marked the first strong Japanese state, centered around an imperial court, in the city of Heijo-kyo (now Nara). The imperial court later moved to Nagaoka, and later Heian-kyo (now Kyoto), starting a "golden age" of classical Japanese culture called the Heian period, which lasted for nearly four centuries, and was characterized by the regency regime of the Fujiwara clan.

Related Topics:
Nara period - Nara - Nagaoka - Kyoto - Heian period - Fujiwara

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Medieval era

Japan's medieval era was characterized by the emergence of a ruling class of warriors, called samurai. In the year 1185, general Minamoto no Yoritomo was the first to break the tradition of ruling alongside the emperor in Kyoto, holding power in distant Kamakura, just south of present-day Yokohama. After Yoritomo's death, another warrior clan, the Hojo, came to rule as regents for the shoguns. The shogunate managed to repel a Mongol invasion from Mongol-occupied Korea, in 1274 and 1281. While this Kamakura shogunate was somewhat stable, its successor Muromachi shogunate was a much weaker sovereignty, and Japan soon fell into warring factions, and suffered through what became known as the "Warring States" or Sengoku period.

Related Topics:
Medieval - Warrior - Samurai - Minamoto no Yoritomo - Kamakura - Yokohama - Hojo - Mongol - Korea - Kamakura shogunate - Muromachi shogunate - Sengoku period

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During the 16th century, traders and missionaries from Portugal reached Japan for the first time, initiating the "Nanban" ("southern barbarian") period of active commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West (and even China). Around the same time, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu established increasingly strong control over the warring states of Japan. Toyotomi was the first since the late 15th century to reunify the country, and following his death, Tokugawa seized power by defeating his enemies at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, moving the capital to Edo (now Tokyo) and starting the Tokugawa shogunate.

Related Topics:
Missionaries - Portugal - Nanban - Oda Nobunaga - Toyotomi Hideyoshi - Tokugawa Ieyasu - Battle of Sekigahara - Edo - Tokyo - Tokugawa shogunate

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The Tokugawa shogunate, suspicious of the influence of Catholic missionaries, barred all relations with Europeans, except for severely-restricted contacts with Dutch merchants at the artificial island of Dejima. They also became more conscious of trade with China, especially after the Manchu conquered China and established the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The Manchus subjugated Korea in 1637, and the Japanese feared an invasion. Thus, the country became more isolated than ever before. This period of isolation lasted for two and a half centuries, a time of tenuous political unity known as the Edo period, considered to be the height of Japan's medieval culture.

Related Topics:
Catholic - Dutch - Artificial island - Dejima - Manchu - Qing Dynasty - Edo period

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Modern era

In 1854, U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa. The perceived weakness of the shogunate led many samurai to revolt, leading to the Boshin War of 1867 to 1868. Subsequently, the shogunate resigned, and the Meiji Restoration returned the emperor to power. Japan adopted numerous Western institutions during the Meiji period, including a modern government, legal system, and military. These reforms transformed the Empire of Japan into a world power, which defeated China in the Sino-Japanese War and Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. By 1910, Japan controlled Taiwan, Korea, and half of Sakhalin.

Related Topics:
Matthew Perry - Convention of Kanagawa - Boshin War - Meiji Restoration - Meiji period - Empire of Japan - China - Sino-Japanese War - Russia - Russo-Japanese War - Taiwan - Korea - Sakhalin

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The early 20th century saw a brief period of "Taisho democracy" overshadowed by the rise of Japanese expansionism. World War I permitted Japan, which fought on the side of the victorious Allies, to expand its influence in Asia, and its territorial holdings in the Pacific. In 1936, however, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, and joined with Germany and Italy to form the Axis alliance. In 1937, Japan invaded Manchuria, which led to the second Sino-Japanese War in (1937). In 1941, Japan attacked the United States naval base in Pearl Harbor, bringing America into World War II. After a long campaign in the Pacific Ocean, Japan lost its initial territorial gains, and the United States moved into range to begin strategic bombing of Tokyo, Osaka, and other major cities, as well as the atomic bombing at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan quickly agreed to an unconditional surrender to the Allies on August 15, 1945 (V-J Day), after the U.S. told Japan that they could "keep their emperor".

Related Topics:
Taisho democracy - Japanese expansionism - World War I - Allies - Asia - Anti-Comintern Pact - Manchuria - Sino-Japanese War - Attacked the United States naval base in Pearl Harbor - World War II - Pacific Ocean - Strategic bombing - Tokyo - Osaka - Atomic bombing - Hiroshima - Nagasaki - August 15 - 1945 - V-J Day

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Official American occupation lasted until 1952, although U.S. forces still retain important bases in Japan, especially in Okinawa. Japan adopted a new pacifist constitution in 1947, under the occupation authority. After the occupation, under a program of aggressive industrial development, protectionism, and deferral of strategic defense to the United States, Japan's gross national product rose to build one of the largest economies in the world. Despite a major stock market crash in 1990, from which the country has not yet fully recovered, Japan remains a global economic power, and has recently begun to re-emerge as a strategic power, lending non-combat support to the Gulf War, the UN efforts to rebuild Cambodia, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Related Topics:
American occupation - U.S. forces - Okinawa - Constitution - Protectionism - Gross national product - Stock market crash - Gulf War - Cambodia - 2003 invasion of Iraq

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