History of Japan
The history of
Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan
and the Japanese
people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of
Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese
Archipelago fostered human
development. The earliest-known pottery belongs to the Jōmon period. The first known written reference to Japan is in the brief information
given in Twenty-Four Histories
in the 1st century AD. The main cultural and religious influences came from
China.
The first permanent
capital was founded at Nara in 710 AD, which became a center of Buddhist art,
religion and culture. The current imperial family emerged about 700 AD, but
until 1868 (with few exceptions) had high prestige but little power. By 1550 or
so political power was subdivided into several hundred local units, or
"domains" controlled by local "daimyō" (lords), each with
his own force of samurai warriors. Tokugawa Ieyasu came to power in 1600, gave
land to his supporters, set up his "bakufu" (military government) at
Edo (modern Tokyo). The "Tokugawa period" was prosperous and
peaceful, but Japan deliberately terminated the Christian missions and cut off
almost all contact with the outside world. In the 1860s the Meiji Period began,
and the new national leadership systematically ended feudalism and transformed
an isolated, underdeveloped island country into a world power that closely
followed Western models. Democracy was problematic, because Japan's powerful
military was semi-independent and overruled—or assassinated—civilians in the
1920s and 1930s. The military moved into China starting in 1931 but was defeated
in the Pacific
War by the United States
and Britain.
Occupied by the U.S.
after the war and stripped of its conquests, Japan was transformed into a
peaceful and democratic nation. After 1950 it enjoyed very high economic growth
rates, and became a world economic powerhouse, especially in automobiles and
electronics. Since the 1990s economic stagnation has been a major issue, with
an earthquake and tsunami in 2011 causing massive economic dislocations.
Japanese
prehistory
Paleolithic
Age
The Japanese
Paleolithic age covers a lengthy
period starting as early as 50,000 BC and ending sometime around 12,000 BC, at
the end of the last ice
age. Artifacts claimed
to be older than ca. 38,000 BC are not generally accepted, and most historians
therefore believe that the Japanese Paleolithic started after 38,000 BC.
The Japanese
archipelago would become
disconnected from the mainland continent after the last ice age, around 11,000
BC. After a hoax
by an amateur researcher, Shinichi Fujimura, had been exposed, the Lower and Middle Paleolithic
evidence reported by Fujimura and his associates has been rejected after
thorough reinvestigation.
As a result of the
fallout over the hoax, now only some Upper Paleolithic evidence (not associated with
Fujimura) can possibly be considered as having been well established.
Ancient
Japan
Jōmon
period
The Jōmon period lasted from about 14,000 until 300 BC.
The first signs of civilization and stable living patterns appeared around
14,000 BC with the Jōmon culture, characterized by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer lifestyle of wood stilt house and pit dwellings and a rudimentary
form of agriculture.
Weaving was still unknown at the time and
clothes were often made of furs. The Jōmon people started to make clay vessels,
decorated with patterns made by impressing the wet clay with braided or
unbraided cord and sticks. Based on radio-carbon dating, some of the oldest surviving
examples of pottery in the world can be found in Japan along with daggers,
jade, combs made of shells, and various other household items dated to the 11th
millennium BC.
Alternatively, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's
Timeline of Art History notes "Carbon-14 testing of the earliest known
shards has yielded a production date of about 10,500 BC, but because this
date falls outside the known chronology of pottery development elsewhere in the
world, such an early date is not generally accepted.
Calibrated
radiocarbon measures of carbonized material from pottery artifacts: Fukui Cave 12500
± 350 BP and 12500 ± 500 BP (Kamaki & Serizawa 1967), Kamikuroiwa rock shelter 12, 165 ± 350 years BP in Shikoku.
although the specific dating is disputed.
Clay figures known as
dogū were also excavated. The household
items suggest trade routes existed with places as far away as Okinawa.
DNA analysis suggests that the Ainu, an indigenous people that live in Hokkaidō and the northern part of Honshū, are descended from the Jōmon and thus
represent descendants of the first inhabitants of Japan.
Yayoi period
The Yayoi period lasted from about 400 or 300 BC until
250 AD. This period followed the Jōmon period and completely supplanted it.
This period is named after Yayoi town, the subsection of Bunkyō, Tokyo, where archaeological investigations
uncovered its first recognized traces.
The start of the
Yayoi period marked the influx of new practices such as weaving, rice
farming, shamanism,and iron
and bronze making. Bronze and iron appear to have
been simultaneously introduced into Yayoi Japan. Iron was mainly used for
agricultural and other tools, whereas, bronze was used for ritual and
ceremonial artifacts. Some casting of bronze and iron began in Japan by about
100 BC, but the raw materials for both metals were introduced from the
Asian continent.
Japan first appeared
in written records in 57 AD with the following mention in China's Book of the Later Han:
"Across the ocean from Lelang are the people of Wa. Formed from more than one hundred
tribes, they come and pay tribute frequently." The book also recorded that
Suishō, the king of Wa, presented slaves to
the Emperor An of Han
in 107. The Sanguo Zhi,
written in the 3rd century, noted that the country was the unification of some
30 small tribes or states and ruled by a shaman queen named Himiko of Yamataikoku.
During the Han and Wei dynasties, Chinese travelers to Kyūshū recorded its inhabitants and claimed
that they were the descendants of the Grand Count (Tàibó) of the Wu. The inhabitants also show traits of the
pre-sinicized Wu people with tattooing,
teeth-pulling, and baby-carrying. The Sanguo Zhi records the physical
descriptions which are similar to ones on haniwa statues, such as men wearing braided
hair and tattoos and women wearing large, single-pieced clothing.
The Yoshinogari site in Kyūshū is the most famous
archaeological site of the Yayoi period and reveals a large settlement
continuously inhabited for several hundred years. Archaeological excavation has
shown the most ancient parts to be from around 400 BC. It appears that the
inhabitants had frequent communication and trade relations with the mainland.
Today, some reconstructed buildings stand in the park on the archaeological
site.
Kofun
period
The Kofun period began around 250 AD, is named after
the large tumulus burial mounds (kofun)
that started appearing around that time.
The Kofun period (the
"Kofun-Jidai") saw the establishment of strong military
states, each of them concentrated around powerful clans (or zoku).
The establishment of the dominant Yamato polity
was centered in the provinces of Yamato and Kawachi from the 3rd century AD till the 7th
century, establishing the origin of the Japanese imperial lineage.
And so the polity, by suppressing the clans and acquiring agricultural lands,
maintained a strong influence in the western part of Japan.
Japan started to send
tributes to Imperial China
in the 5th century. In the Chinese history records, the polity was called Wa,
and its five kings
were recorded. Based upon the Chinese model, they developed a central
administration and an imperial court system, with its society being organized
into various occupation groups. Close relationships between the Three Kingdoms of Korea
and Japan began during the middle of this period, around the end of the 4th
century.
Classical
Japan
Asuka
period
During the Asuka period (538 to 710), the proto-Japanese
Yamato polity gradually became a clearly centralized state, defining and
applying a code of governing laws, such as the Taika Reforms and Taihō Code. Also during the same period, the
Japanese developed strong economic ties with the Paikche or Baekje people, who lived on the southwestern
coast of the Korean Peninsula. Good relations with the Baekje had begun in 391
when a Japanese expedition saved the King of Baekje and the Baekje people from
their traditional enemies—the Koguryo people—who lived in the northern part
of the Korean Peninsula.
Indeed, Buddhism was
introduced to Japan in 538 by Baekje people, to whom Japan continued to
provide military support. In Japan, however, Buddhism was promoted largely by
the ruling class for their own purposes. Accordingly, in the early stages,
Buddhism was not a popular religion with the common people of Japan. However,
the introduction of Buddhism led to a discontinuing of the practice
of burying deceased people in large kofuns.
Prince
Shōtoku came to power in
Japan as Regent to Empress Suiko in 594. Empress Suiko had come to the throne
as the niece of the previous Emperor—Sujun (588–593)--who had been assassinated
in 593. Empress Suiko had also been married to a prior Emperor—Bidatsu
(572–585), but she was the first female ruler of Japan since the legendary
matriarchal times.
As Regent to Empress
Suiko, Prince Shotoku devoted his efforts to the spread of Buddhism and Chinese culture in Japan.[11] He is also credited with bringing
relative peace to Japan through the proclamation of the Seventeen-article constitution, a Confucian style document that focused on the
kinds of morals and virtues that were to be expected of government officials
and the emperor's
subjects. Buddhism would become a permanent part of Japanese culture.
A letter brought to
the Emperor of China
by an emissary
from Japan in 607 stated that the "Emperor of the Land where the Sun rises
(Japan) sends a letter to the Emperor of the land where Sun sets (China)",
thereby implying an equal footing with China which angered the Chinese emperor.
Nara period
The Nara period of the 8th century marked the
emergence of a strong Japanese state and is often portrayed as a golden age. In
710, the capital city of Japan was moved from Asuka to Nara. Hall (1966)
concludes that "Japan had been transformed from a loose federation of uji
in the fifth century to an empire on the order of Imperial China in the eighth
century. A new theory of state and a new structure of government supported the
Japanese sovereign in the style and with the powers of an absolute
monarch." Traditional, political, and economic practices were now
organized through a rationally structured government apparatus that legally
defined functions and precedents. Lands were surveyed and registered with the
state. A powerful new aristocracy emerged. This aristocracy controlled the
state and was supported by taxes that were efficiently collected. The
government built great public works, including government offices, temples, roads,
and irrigation systems. A new system of land tenure and taxation, which was
designed to widely spread land ownership throughout the rural population, was
introduced. Such allotments tended to be about one acre. However, they could be
as small as one-tenth of an acre. However, lots for slaves were about
two-thirds the size of the allotments to free men. Allotments were reviewed
every five years when the census was conducted.
There was a cultural
flowering during this period. Soon, dramatic new cultural manifestations
characterized the Nara period, which lasted four centuries.
Following an imperial
rescript by Empress Gemmei, the capital was moved to Heijō-kyō, present-day Nara, in 710. The city was modeled on Chang'an (now Xi'an), the capital of the Chinese Tang Dynasty.
During the Nara
Period, political development was marked by a struggle between the imperial family
and the Buddhist clergy, as well as between the imperial family and the
regents—the Fujiwara
clan. Japan did enjoy
peaceful relations with their traditional foes—the Silla
people—who occupied the southeast coast of the Korean Peninsula. Japan also
established formal relationships with the Tang dynasty of China.
In 784, the capital
was again moved to Nagaoka-kyō to escape the Buddhist priests; in
794, it was moved to Heian-kyō, present-day Kyōto.
The capital was to remain in Kyoto until 1868. In the religious town of Kyoto,
Buddhism and Shinto began to form a syncretic system.
Historical writing in
Japan culminated in the early 8th century with the massive chronicles, the Kojiki (The Record of Ancient Matters,
712) and the Nihon
Shoki (Chronicles of
Japan, 720). These chronicles give a legendary account of Japan's
beginnings, today known as the Japanese mythology.
According to the myths contained in these chronicles, Japan was founded in
660 BC by the ancestral Emperor Jimmu, a direct descendant of the Shintō
deity, Amaterasu (Sun Goddess). The myths recorded that
Jimmu started a line of emperors that remains to this day. Historians assume
that the myths partly describe historical facts, but the first emperor who
actually existed was Emperor Ōjin, though the date of his reign is
uncertain. Since the Nara period, actual political power has not been in the
hands of the emperor but has, instead, been exercised at different times by the
court nobility, warlords, the military, and, more recently, the Prime Minister of Japan.
Heian
period
The Heian period, lasting from 794 to 1185, is the
final period of classical Japanese history. It is considered the peak of the
Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially its poetry and literature.
In the early 11th century, Lady Shikibu Murasaki wrote Japan's (and one of the world's)
oldest surviving novels, The Tale of Genji. The Man'yōshū and Kokin Wakashū, the oldest existing collections of
Japanese poetry, were compiled during this period.
Strong differences
from mainland Asian cultures emerged (such as an indigenous writing system, the
kana). Due to the decline of the Tang
Dynasty, Chinese influence had reached its peak, and then effectively ended,
with the last imperially sanctioned mission to Tang China in 838, although
trade expeditions and Buddhist pilgrimages to China continued.
Political power in the
imperial court was in the hands of powerful aristocratic families (kuge),
especially the Fujiwara
clan, who ruled under the
titles Sesshō
and Kampaku (imperial regents).
The Fujiwara clan obtained almost complete control over the imperial family.
However, the Fugiwara Regents who advised the Imperial Court were content to
derive their authority from imperial line. This meant that the Fujiwara
authority could always be challenged by a vigorous emperor. Fujiwara domination
of the Court during the time from 858 until about 1160 led to this period being
called "the Fujiwara Period." The Fujiwara clan gained this
ascendancy because of their matrimonial links with the imperial family. Indeed,
because of the number of emperors that were born to Fujiwara mothers, the
Fujiwara Regents became so closely identified with the imperial family, that
people saw no difference between the "direct rule" by the imperial
family and the rule of the Fujiwara Regents. Accordingly, when dissatisfaction
with the government arose resulting in the Hogen Rebellion (1156–1158), the Heiji Rebellion (1160) and the Gempei War (1180–1185), the target of the
dissatisfaction was the Fujiwara Regents, as well as the Imperial family. The Gempei War ended in 1185 with the naval battle of
Dan-no-ura in which the Minamoto clan defeated the Taira clan. (The battle of
Den-no-ura and the Gempei War is mentioned in a story told by the late Carl
Sagan in the second episode of the 1980 TV miniseries Cosmos.) In 1192,
the Court appointed Yoritomo of the Minamoto clan to a number of
high positions in government. These positions were consolidated and Yoritomo
became the first person to be designated the Seii-tai-shogun or
"Shogun." Yoritomo then defeated the Fujiwara clan in a military
campaign in the north of Japan. This spelled the end of the Fujiwara Period and
the end of Fujiwara influence over the government.
The end of the period
saw the rise of various military clans. The four most powerful clans were the Minamoto clan, the Taira clan, the Fujiwara clan, and the Tachibana clan.
Towards the end of the 12th century, conflicts between these clans turned into
civil war, such as the Hōgen (1156–1158). The Hogen Rebellion was
of cardinal importance to Japan, since it was the turning point that led to the
first stages of the development of feudalism in Japan. The Heiji Rebellion of 1160 also occurred during this
period and the uprising was followed by the Genpei War, from which emerged a society led by samurai clans under the political rule of the shōgun--the
beginnings of feudalism in Japan.
Buddhism began to
spread during the Heian Period. However, Buddhism was split between two
sects—the Tendai sect which had been brought to Japan
from China by Saichō (767–822) and the Shingon sect which had been introduced from
China by Kūkai (774–835). Whereas, the Tendai sect
tended to be a monastic form of Buddhism which established isolated monasteries
or temples on the tops of mountains, the Shingon variation of Buddhism was a
less philosophical and more practical and more popular version of the religion.
Pure Land Buddhism
was a form of Buddhism which was much simpler than either the Tendai or Shingon
versions of Buddhism. Pure Land Buddhism became very popular in Japan during a
time of degeneration and trouble in the latter half of the 11th century.
Feudal
Japan (1185–1868)
The "feudal" period of Japanese history,
dominated by the powerful regional families (daimyō) and the military rule of warlords (shōgun),
stretched from 1185 to 1868. The emperor remained but was mostly kept to a de jure figurehead ruling position, and the
power of merchants was weak. This time is usually divided into periods
following the reigning family of the shōgun.
Kamakura period
The Kamakura period, 1185 to 1333, is a period that marks
the governance of the Kamakura shogunate
and the transition to the Japanese "medieval" era, a nearly 700-year period in
which the emperor, the court, and the traditional central government were left
intact but largely relegated to ceremonial functions. Civil, military, and
judicial matters were controlled by the bushi (samurai) class, the most
powerful of whom was the de
facto national ruler, the
shōgun. This period in Japan differed from the old shōen system in its pervasive military
emphasis.
In 1185, Minamoto
no Yoritomo and his younger
brother, Yoshitsune
defeated the rival Taira
clan at the naval battle
of Dan-no-ura.The outcome of the Battle of Dan-no-ura meant the rise of the
warrior or samurai class. Under the feudal structure that was arising in Japan,
the samurai owed military service and loyalty to the emperor. The Samurai, in
turn required loyalty and work from the peasants who rented land from them and
served them. On occasion the samurai would conduct warfare against each other,
which caused disruption to the society. In 1192, Yoritomo was appointed Seii
Tai-Shōgun by the emperor. The shogun was expected to run the day-to-day
affairs of the government on behalf of the emperor and to keep the samurai in
line. During this time the Imperial Court remained in their capital of Kyoto.
Society at Kyoto was regarded as more refined and cultured than the rest of the
country. However, Yoritomo established his base of power called the Bakufu
in the seaside town of Kamakura.
Yoritomo became the first in a line of shōguns who ruled from Kamakura. Thus,
the period of time from 1185 until 1334 became known as the period of the
Kamakura Shogunate. Society in the military or samurai capital of Kamakura was
regarded as rough and ignorant by comparison with the refined society at Kyoto.
However, Yoritomo wished to free his government from the pernicious influence
of the bureaucracy in Kyoto and, thus remained in Kamakura. The Kamakura
Shogunate based itself on the interests of this rising class rather than on the
bureaucracy at Kyoto. Accordingly, the preference of Kamakura as the capital of
the shogunate fit this new warrior class.
Yoritomo was married
to Hōjō Masako of the Hōjō clan, herself a Sensei (master) in kyudō
(the art of the bow) and kendō (the art of the sword), and she contributed
much to his ascent and organizing the Bafuku. However, after Yoritomo's death,
another warrior clan, the Hōjō, came to rule as shikken (regents) for the shōgun.
A traumatic event of
the period was the Mongol invasions of Japan
in 1274 and in 1281. Massive Mongol forces with superior naval technology and
weaponry attempted a full-scale invasion of the Japanese islands in both 1274
and in 1281. However, a famous typhoon referred to as kamikaze
(translating as divine wind in Japanese) is credited with devastating
both Mongol invasion forces and saving Japan. Although the Japanese were
successful in stopping the Mongols, the invasion attempt had devastating
domestic repercussions, leading to the extinction of the Kamakura shogunate.
For two decades after the second failed Mongol invasion of Japan, the Japanese
remained fearful of a third Mongol attempt. (Indeed, Japan could not rest
assured of peace until the death of Kublai Khan in 1294.) Consequently, the
shogun required the various samurai spend money lavishly on armed forces in
order to remain in a high state of readiness for the expected third attack by
the Mongols. This vast expenditure of money had a ruinous effect on the economy
of Japan. The Kamakura Shogunate could perhaps have survived the strain of the
continual military readiness and the resultant bad economy if that had been the
only problem. However, upon the death of Emperor Go-Saga in 1272, there arose a
bitter dispute over succession to the throne within the imperial family.
Kemmu Restoration
In 1333, the Kamakura
shogunate was overthrown in a coup d'état known as the Kemmu Restoration, led by Emperor Go-Daigo and his followers (Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada, and Kusunoki Masashige).
Emperor Go-Daigo had come to the throne in 1318. From the beginning, Go-Daigo
had made it clear that he was going not going to abdicate and become a
"cloistered emperor" and he was intending to rule Japan from his
palace in Kyoto independent from the Kamakura Shogunate. War was conducted
against the Kamakura Shogunate by Go-Daigo and his supporters. The Imperial House
was restored to political influence. The government was now a civilian
government rather than the military-run government of the Kamakura Shogunate.
However, this did not last. The warrior class throughout Japan was in tumult.
Furthermore, Go-Daigo was not a natural leader. Indeed, his personality tended
to alienate people. One of those that was alienated by Go-Daigo, was his former
supporter, Ashikaga Takauji. Ashikaga Takauji found that he had support from
other regional warlords in Japan. In early 1335, Ashikaga left Kyoto and moved
to Kamakura. Ashikaga, then began assuming powers that had not been given him
by the Emperor. This brought Ashikaga Takauji in direct conflict with the
governmental officials in Kyoto, including his old allies, Nitta Yoshisada and
Kusunoki Masashige. However, by assuming shogun-like powers, Ashikaga appeared
to be standing up for the warrior class against the civilian authority that
seemed intent on destroying the power of the warriors. Accordingly, Ashikaga
Takauji was joined in Kamakura by a number of other regional warlords. On
November 17, 1335, Ashikaga Tadayoshi, brother of Takauji, issued a call (in
the name of his brother Takauji) asking the warriors throughout the country to
"assemble your clansmen and hasten to join me." Dissatisfaction with
Go-Daigo was so strong that a majority of the warriors in Japan answered this
call.
After initial defeats
on the main island of Honshu, Ashikaga and his troops retreated to
the southern island of Kyushu, where he immediately won over most of
the regional warlords to his side and defeated the few who remained loyal to
Go-Daigo. With all of the island of Kyushu in his hands, Ashikaga Takauji
invaded the main island of Honshu again and, in 1336, at the decisive Battle of Minatogawa,
or the Battle of Minato River, defeated the armed forces of Nitta Yoshisada and
Kusunoki Masanori and the other loyalist forces of Go-Daigo. The victorious
warrior-class forces gathered around the town of Kamakura became known as the
"Northern Court." The Loyalist forces may have been defeated but they
survived to fight on. They formed the "Southern Court" and upon the
death of Go-Daigo in the late summer of 1339, they rallied around the person of
Prince Kazuhito who was enthroned as Emperor Kōgon. Prince Kazuhito was from a younger
line of descendents in the Imperial family and, thus, his supporters were
supporters of the "junior line." On September 20, 1336, the Ashikaga
coalition of samurai opposed to Go-Daigo enthroned Prince Yutahito
as Emperor Kōmyo.[43] Prince Yutahito was from the
"senior line" of descendents in the Imperial family. Accordingly, the
civil war between the warriors led by the Ashikaga clan—the Northern Court on
the one hand and the "Loyalist" Southern Court on the other hand,
became a civil war of imperial succession between followers of the
"senior" and "junior" lines of succession in the Imperial
family. The warriors and the Ashikaga clan captured Kyoto and proceeded to move
their forces from Kamakura to Kyoto. Meanwhile, the Southern Court deposed from
their capital in Kyoto, now established themselves in Yoshino.
The Ashikaga
Shogunate was never able to control and centralize the government over the
entire country. Rather they ruled because of a narrow and shifting majority of
warlords who supported them. There were always some warlords that acted
independently of either the Northern Court or the Southern Court. Later, during
the war of succession, these independent warlords enthroned a third
emperor—Emperor Suko. So the civil war of succession became a three-cornered
affair. The prestige of the throne declined as the civil war continued. This
had the effect of bolstering the idea that the Imperial family should be
removed from politics and strengthened the need for a shogun to be appointed to
run the government on a day-to-day basis.
In 1338, Ashikaga
Takauji was officially appointed as Shogun by the new Emperor. He was the first
of a line of Ashikaga shoguns. The attempted restoration of independent power
of the throne—the Kemmu Restoration—was at an end and the period of the
Ashikaga Shogunate had begun.
The civil war of
succession to the throne was finally settled. As part of the settlement, all
three "emperors" abdicated on April 6, 1352. Ashikaga died in 1358
and Ashikaga Yoshiakira succeeded him as Shogun. By 1368, however, the
ascendancy of the Ashikaga Shogunate was so complete that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
was able to rule Japan without reference to the emperor. In 1392, the Southern
Court and the Northern Court were finally merged under an agreement that placed
Emperor Kogon, of the Southern Court and the junior line, on the throne and
pledged that the throne would, henceforth, alternate between candidates of the
Northern Court and the Southern Court. This agreement was, however, never
implemented.
Muromachi period
During the Muromachi period, the Ashikaga shogunate
ruled for 237 years from 1336 to 1573. It was established by Ashikaga Takauji
who seized political power from Emperor Go-Daigo. A majority of the warrior
class supported the Ashikaga clan in the succession war. After taking Kyoto
from Emperor Go-Daigo, the Ashikaga clan made Kyoto, the capital of the
Ashikaga Shogunate in late 1336. This became the new capital of the Northern
Court. Go-Daigo, then, moved to the town of Yoshino and established the new capital of the
Southern Court there. This ended the attempted restoration of the powers of the
throne—the Kemmu restoration. The early years (1336 to 1392) of the Muromachi
period are known as the Nanboku-chō
(Northern and Southern court) period
because the imperial court was split in two. In 1392, the Northern court and
the southern Court were finally merged and Emperor Kogon was placed on the
throne. There was an agreement that, heretofore, succession to the throne would
alternate between candidates of the Northern court and candidates of the
Southern Court. However, this agreement was never acted upon.
Rule of the Ashikaga
Bakufu looked a lot like the rule of the Kamakura Bakufu, as the Ashikaga clan
made few changes in the offices and councils of the prior government. However,
the Ashikaga Shogunate dominated the Imperial throne more than the Kamakura
Shogunate ever did. Nonetheless, the Ashikaga Shogunate was never able to
centralized its power over the regional warlords as much as the prior Kamakura
government. The Ashikaga Shogunate was based on a coalition of a loose majority
of the various regional warlords across the country. As a consequence, the
Ashikaga Shogunate was unable to do anything about the problem of the pirates
who were operating off their own shores, despite repeated requests to do so by
both Korea and Ming dynasty China. Warlord clans, like the Kotsuna
clan and the Kiyomori branch of the Taira clan, that lived along the coast of
the Inland
Sea, made money from the
pirates and supported them.
In 1368, the Ming Dynasty replaced the Yuan Dynasty of the Mongols in China. Japanese trade with China
had been frozen since the second and final attempt by Mongol China to invade
Japan in 1281. Now a new trade relationship began with the new Ming rulers in
China. Part of the new trade with China was the coming to Japan of Zen Buddhist
monks. During the Ashikaga Shogunate Zen Buddhism came to have a great
influence with the ruling class in Japan.
The Muromachi period
ended in 1573 when the 15th and last shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, was driven out of the capital in
Kyoto by Oda
Nobunaga.
In the viewpoint of a
cultural history, Kitayama period
(14th end-15th first half) and Higashiyama
period (15th second
half-16th first half) exist in Muromachi period.
Sengoku period
The later years of
the Muromachi period, 1467 to 1573, are also known as the Sengoku period (Period of Warring Kingdoms), a time
of intense internal warfare, and correspond with the period of the first
contacts with the West—the arrival of Portuguese "Nanban" traders.
In 1543, a Portuguese
ship, blown off its course to China, landed on Tanegashima Island. Firearms introduced by the Portuguese
would bring the major innovation of the Sengoku period, culminating in the Battle of Nagashino
where reportedly 3,000 arquebuses (the actual number is believed to be
around 2,000) cut down charging ranks of samurai. During the following years,
traders from Portugal, the Netherlands, England, and Spain
arrived, as did Jesuit, Dominican, and Franciscan missionaries.
Azuchi-Momoyama
period
The Azuchi-Momoyama period
runs from approximately 1568 to 1603. The period, regarded as the late Warring
Kingdoms period, marks the military reunification and stabilization of the
country under a single political ruler, first by the campaigns of Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) who almost united Japan.
Nobunaga decided to reduce the power of the Buddhist priests, and gave
protection to Christianity. He slaughtered many Buddhist priests and captured
their fortified temples. He was killed in a revolt in 1582.
After having united
Japan, Hideyoshi invaded Korea
in an attempt to conquer Korea and points beyond. However, after two
unsuccessful campaigns towards the allied forces of Korea and China and his
death, his forces returned to Japan in 1598. Following his death, Japan
experienced a short period of succession conflict. Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the regents for Hideyoshi's
young heir, emerged victorious at the Battle of Sekigahara
and seized political power.
Christian
missions
Catholic Jesuit
missionaries led by Francis
Xavier (1506–1552) arrived
in 1549 and were welcomed in Kyoto. Their proselytizing was most successful in
Kyushu, with about 100,000 to 200,000 converts, including many daimyo. In 1587,
Hideyoshi reversed course and decided the Christian presence was divisive and
might present the Europeans with an opportunity to disrupt Japan. The
Christians missionaries were seen as a threat; the Portuguese merchants were
allowed to continue their operations. The edict was not immediately enforced
but restrictions grew tighter in the next three decades until a full-scale
government persecution destroyed the Christian community by the 1620s. The
Jesuits were expelled, churches and schools were torn down, and the daimyo were
forbidden to become Christians. Converts who did not reject Christianity were
killed. Many Christians went underground, becoming hidden Christians (隠れキリシタン
kakure kirishitan?), but their
communities died out. Not until the 1870s was Christianity re-established in
Japan.
Edo ("Tokugawa") period (1603–1868)
The Edo or Tokugawa
era saw power centralized in the hands of a hereditary shogunate that took
control of religion, regulated the entire economy, subordinated the nobility,
and set up uniform systems of taxation, government spending and bureaucracies.
It avoided international involvement and wars, established a national judiciary
and suppressed protest and criticism. The Tokugawa era brought peace, and that
brought prosperity to a nation of 31 million.
Economy
About 80% of the
people were rice farmers. Rice production increased steadily, but population
remained stable, so prosperity increased. Rice paddies grew from 1.6 million
chō in 1600 to 3 million by 1720.[60] Improved technology helped farmers
control the all-important flow of irrigation to their paddies. The daimyos
operated several hundred castle towns, which became loci of domestic trade.
Large-scale rice markets developed, centered on Edo and Osaka.[61] In the cities and towns, guilds of
merchants and artisans met the growing demand for goods and services. The
merchants, while low in status, prospered, especially those with official
patronage. Merchants invented credit instruments to transfer money, currency
came into common use, and the strengthening credit market encouraged
entrepreneurship. The samurai, forbidden to engage in farming or business but
allowed to borrow money, borrowed too much. One scholar[who?]
observed that the entire military class was living "as in an inn, that is,
consuming now and paying later". The bakufu and daimyos raised taxes on
farmers, but did not tax business, so they too fell into debt. By 1750 rising
taxes incited peasant unrest and even revolt. The nation had to deal somehow
with samurai impoverishment and treasury deficits. The financial troubles of
the samurai undermined their loyalties to the system, and the empty treasury
threatened the whole system of government. One solution was reactionary—with
prohibitions on spending for luxuries. Other solutions were modernizing, with
the goal of increasing agrarian productivity. The eighth Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune
(in office 1716–1745) had considerable success, though much of his work had to
be done again between 1787 and 1793 by the shogun's chief councilor Matsudaira
Sadanobu (1759–1829). Others
shoguns debased the coinage to pay debts, which caused inflation.
By 1800 the
commercialization of the economy grew rapidly, bringing more and more remote
villages into the national economy. Rich farmers appeared who switched from
rice to high-profit commercial crops and engaged in local money-lending, trade,
and small-scale manufacturing. Some wealthy merchants sought higher social
status by using money to marry into the samurai class.
A few domains,
notably Chōsū and Satsuma, used innovative methods to restore their finances,
but most sunk further into debt. The financial crisis provoked a reactionary
solution near the end of the "Tenpō Reforms" (1830–1843) promulgated
by the chief counselor Mizuno Tadakuni. He raised taxes, denounced luxuries
and tried to impede the growth of business; he failed and it appeared to many
that the continued existence of the entire Tokugawa system was in jeopardy.
Social structure
Japanese society had
an elaborate social structure, in which everyone knew their place and level of
prestige. At the top were the emperor and the court nobility, invincible in
prestige but weak in power. Next came the "bushi" of shogun, daimyo and
layers of feudal lords whose rank was indicated by their closeness to the
Tokugawa. They had power. The "daimyo" comprised about 250 local
lords of local "han" with annual outputs of 50,000 or more bushels of
rice. The upper strata was much given to elaborate and expensive rituals,
including elegant architecture, landscaped gardens, nō drama, patronage of the
arts, and the tea ceremony.
Samurai
Then came the 400,000
warriors, called "samurai", in numerous grades and degrees. A few
upper samurai were eligible for high office; most were foot soldiers (ashigaru)
with minor duties. The samurai were affiliated with senior lords in a
well-established chain of command. The shogun had 17,000 samurai retainers; the
daimyo each had hundreds. Most lived in modest homes near their lord's
headquarters, and lived off hereditary rights to collect rents and stipends.
Together these high status groups comprised Japan's ruling class making up
about 6% of the total population.
Lower orders
Lower orders divided
into two main segments—the peasants—80% of the population—whose high prestige
as producers was undercut by their burden as the chief source of taxes. They
were illiterate and lived in villages controlled by appointed officials who
kept the peace and collected taxes. Peasants and villagers frequently engaged
in unlawful and disruptive protests, especially after 1780.
Merchants and artisans
Near the bottom of
the prestige scale—but much higher up in terms of income and life style—were
the merchants and artisans of the towns and cities. They had no political
power, and even rich merchants found it difficult to rise in the world in a
society in which place and standing were fixed at birth. Finally came the
entertainers, prostitutes, day laborers and servants, and the thieves, beggars
and hereditary outcasts. They were tightly controlled by local officials and
were not allowed to mingle with higher status people.
Literacy
Literacy was highly
prized, albeit made difficult by the writing system. Wood block printing had
been standard for centuries; after 1500 Japanese printers experimented with
movable type, but reverted to the wood blocks. By the 1780s Japan was
publishing 3000 books a year (compared with 400 in Russia). By the 1850s the
major new trend was the translation of western scientific and geographical
books, which reached a wide audience. By 1860 about 40% of the men and 10% of
the women were literate in rural areas, with much higher rates in the cities,
such as 80% in Edo (Tokyo).[70] Universal compulsory education only
began in 1871.
Government
During the Edo period, also called the Tokugawa period,
the administration of the country was shared by over two hundred daimyō in a federation governed by the Tokugawa shogunate.
The Tokugawa
clan, leader of the
victorious eastern army in the Battle of Sekigahara, was the most powerful of
them and for fifteen generations monopolized the title of Sei-i Taishōgun
(often shortened to shōgun). With their headquarters at Edo
(present-day Tokyo), the Tokugawa commanded the
allegiance of the other daimyō, who in turn ruled their domains
with a rather high degree of autonomy.
The Tokugawa
shogunate carried out a number of significant policies. They placed the samurai
class above the commoners: the agriculturists, artisans, and merchants. They
enacted sumptuary laws limiting hairstyle, dress, and accessories. They
organized commoners into groups of five and held all responsible for the acts
of each individual. To prevent daimyō from rebelling, the shōguns required them
to maintain lavish residences in Edo and live at these residences on a rotating
schedule; carry out expensive processions to and from their domains; contribute
to the upkeep of shrines, temples, and roads; and seek permission before
repairing their castles.
This 265-year span
was called "A peaceful state". Cultural achievement was high during
this period, and many artistic developments took place. Most significant among
them were the ukiyo-e form of wood-block print and the kabuki and bunraku theaters. Also, many of the most
famous works for the koto
and shakuhachi date from this time period.
Sakoku—seclusion from the outside world
During the early part
of the 17th century, the shogunate suspected that foreign traders and
missionaries were actually forerunners of a military conquest by European
powers. Christianity had spread in Japan, especially among peasants, and the
shogunate suspected the loyalty of Christian peasants towards their daimyō,
severely persecuting them. This led to a revolt by persecuted peasants and Christians
in 1637 known as the Shimabara
Rebellion which saw 30,000
Christians, rōnin, and peasants facing a massive samurai
army of more than 100,000 sent from Edo. The rebellion was crushed at a high
cost to the shōgun's army.
After the eradication
of the rebels at Shimabara, the shogunate placed foreigners under progressively
tighter restrictions. It monopolized foreign policy and expelled traders,
missionaries, and foreigners with the exception of the Dutch and Chinese
merchants who were restricted to the man-made island of Dejima
in Nagasaki
Bay and several small trading outposts outside the country. However, during
this period of isolation (Sakoku) that began
in 1635, Japan was much less cut off from the rest of the world than is
commonly assumed, and some acquisition of western knowledge occurred under the Rangaku system. Russian encroachments from the
north led the shogunate to extend direct rule to Hokkaidō, Sakhalin and the Kuriles in 1807, but the policy of exclusion
continued.
End
of seclusion
Landing of Commodore Perry, officers
& men of the squadron, to meet the Imperial commissioners at Yokohama July 14, 1853. Lithograph by Sarony
& Co., 1855, after W. Heine
The policy of
isolation lasted for more than 200 years. In 1844, William II of the Netherlands sent a message urging Japan to open
its doors which was rejected by the Japanese. On July 8, 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States Navy
with four warships—the Mississippi,
Plymouth,
Saratoga,
and Susquehanna—steamed
into the bay in Yokohama and displayed the threatening power of
his ships' cannons during a Christian burial which the Japanese observed. He
requested that Japan open to trade with the West. These ships became known as
the kurofune, the Black Ships.
The following year at
the Convention of Kanagawa
on March 31, 1854, Perry returned with seven ships and demanded that the
shōgun sign the Treaty of Peace and Amity, establishing formal diplomatic
relations between Japan and the United States. Within five years, Japan had signed
similar treaties with other Western countries. The Harris Treaty was signed with the United States on
July 29, 1858. These treaties were unequal, having been forced on Japan
through gunboat
diplomacy, and were
interpreted by the Japanese as a sign of Western imperialism taking hold of the rest of the Asian
continent. Among other measures, they gave the Western nations unequivocal
control of tariffs on imports and the right of extraterritoriality to all of their visiting nationals.
They would remain a sticking point in Japan's relations with the West up to the
turn of the century.
Empire
of Japan (1868–1945)
Beginning in 1868,
Japan undertook political, economic, and cultural transformations emerging as a
unified and centralized state, the Empire of Japan (also Imperial Japan or Prewar Japan).
This 77-year period, which lasted until 1945, was a time of rapid economic
growth. Japan became an imperial power, colonizing Korea
and Taiwan.
Starting in 1931 it began the takeover of Manchuria and China, in defiance of
the League of Nations and the United States. Escalating tension with the
U.S.--and western control of Japan's vital oil supplies—led to World War II.
Japan launched multiple successful attacks on the U.S. as well as British and
Dutch territories in 1941–42. But after a series of great naval battles it was
defeated by a much larger industrial power, as its cities were systematically
demolished by strategic bombing. Japan surrendered in 1945, and was occupied
and transformed by the U.S.
Meiji
Restoration
Renewed contact with
the West precipitated a profound alteration of Japanese society. Importantly,
within the context of Japan's subsequent aggressive militarism, the signing of
the treaties was viewed as profoundly humiliating and a source of national
shame. The Tokugawa shōgun was forced to resign, and soon after the Boshin War of 1868, the emperor was restored to
power, beginning a period of fierce nationalism and intense socio-economic
restructuring known as the Meiji Restoration. The Tokugawa system was abolished,
the military was modernized, and numerous Western institutions were
adopted–including a Western legal system and quasi-parliamentary constitutional
government as outlined in the Meiji Constitution.
This constitution was modeled on the constitution of the German Empire. While many aspects of the Meiji
Restoration were adopted directly from Western institutions, others, such as
the dissolution of the feudal system and removal of the shogunate, were
processes that had begun long before the arrival of Perry. Nonetheless, Perry's
intervention is widely viewed as a pivotal moment in Japanese history.
Economic
modernization
Japan's industrial revolution
began about 1870 as national leaders decided to catch up with the West. The
government built railroads, improved roads, and inaugurated a land reform
program to prepare the country for further development. It inaugurated a new
Western-based education system for all young people, sent thousands of students
to the United States and Europe, and hired more than 3,000 Westerners to teach
modern science, mathematics, technology, and foreign languages in Japan (O-yatoi gaikokujin).
In 1871 a group of
Japanese politicians known as the Iwakura Mission toured Europe and the USA to learn
western ways. The result was a deliberate state-led industrialisation policy to
enable Japan to quickly catch up. The Bank of Japan, founded in 1877, used taxes to fund
model steel and textile factories. Education was expanded and Japanese students
were sent to study in the West.
Modern industry first
appeared in textiles, including cotton and especially silk, which was based in
home workshops in rural areas.
Wars
with China and Russia
Japanese
intellectuals of the late-Meiji period espoused the concept of a "line
of advantage", an idea that would help to justify Japanese foreign policy
at the turn of the century. According to this principle, embodied in the slogan
fukoku kyōhei,
Japan would be vulnerable to aggressive Western imperialism unless it extended
a line of advantage beyond its borders which would help to repel foreign
incursions and strengthen the Japanese economy. Emphasis was especially placed
on Japan's "preeminent interests" in the Korean Peninsula, once
famously described as a "dagger pointed at the heart of Japan". It
was tensions over Korea and Manchuria, respectively, that led Japan to
become involved in the first Sino-Japanese War
with China in 1894–1895 and the Russo-Japanese
War with Russia in
1904–1905.
The war with China
made Japan the world's first Eastern, modern imperial power, and the war with
Russia proved that a Western power could be defeated by an Eastern state. The
aftermath of these two wars left Japan the dominant power in the Far East with a sphere of influence extending
over southern Manchuria and Korea, which was formally annexed as part of the
Japanese Empire in 1910. Japan had also gained half of Sakhalin Island from
Russia. The results of these wars established Japan's dominant interest in
Korea, while giving it the Pescadores
Islands, Formosa (now Taiwan),
and the Liaodong Peninsula
in Manchuria, which was eventually retroceded in the "humiliating" Triple Intervention.
Over the next decade,
Japan would flaunt its growing prowess, including a very significant
contribution to the Eight-Nation Alliance
formed to quell China's Boxer Rebellion. Many Japanese, however, believed
their new empire was still regarded as inferior by the Western powers, and they
sought a means of cementing their international standing. This set the climate
for growing tensions with Russia, which would continually intrude into Japan's
"line of advantage" during this time.
Russian pressure from
the north appeared again after Muraviev
had gained Outer
Manchuria at Aigun (1858) and Peking (1860). This led to heavy Russian
pressure on Sakhalin which the Japanese eventually yielded in exchange for the
Kuril islands (1875). The Ryukyu Islands were similarly secured in 1879,
establishing the borders within which Japan would "enter the World".
In 1898, the last of the unequal treaties with Western powers was removed,
signaling Japan's new status among the nations of the world. In a few decades
by reforming and modernizing social, educational, economic, military, political
and industrial systems, the Emperor Meiji's "controlled revolution"
had transformed a feudal and isolated state into a world power. Significantly,
the impetus for this change was the belief that Japan had to compete with the
West both industrially and militarily to achieve equality.
Anglo-Japanese
Alliance
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance
treaty was signed between the United Kingdom and Japan on January 30, 1902,
and announced on February 12, 1902. It was renewed in 1905 and 1911 before
its demise in 1921 and its termination in 1923. It was a military alliance
between the two countries that threatened Russia and Germany. Due to this
alliance, Japan entered World War I on the side of Great Britain. Japan
attacked German bases in China and sent troops to the Mediterranean in 1917.
Through this treaty, there was also great cultural exchange between the two
countries.
World
War I
In a manner perhaps
reminiscent of its participation in quelling the Boxer Rebellion at the turn of
the century, Japan entered World War I and declared war on the Central Powers. Though Japan's role in World War I
was limited largely to attacking German colonial outposts in East Asia, it took
advantage of the opportunity to expand its influence in Asia and its
territorial holdings in the Pacific. Acting virtually independently of the
civil government, the Japanese navy seized Germany's Micronesian colonies. It also attacked and
occupied the German coaling port of Qingdao in the Chinese Shandong peninsula.
Japan went to the peace conference at Versailles in 1919 as one of the great military
and industrial powers of the world and received official recognition as one of
the "Big Five" of the new international order. It joined the League of Nations and received a mandate over Pacific
islands north of the Equator formerly held by Germany. Japan was also involved
in the post-war Allied intervention in Russia, occupying Russian (Outer)
Manchuria and also north Sakhalin (which held Japan's limited oil reserves). It
was the last Allied power to withdraw from the interventions against Soviet
Russia (doing so in 1925).
The post–World War I
era brought Japan unprecedented prosperity.
Fascism
in Japan
During the 1910s and
1920s, Japan progressed towards democracy movements known as 'Taishō Democracy'. However, parliamentary
government was not rooted deeply enough to withstand the economic and political
pressures of the late 1920s and 1930s during the Depression period, and its
state became increasingly militarized. This was due to the increasing powers of
military leaders and was similar to the actions some European nations were
taking leading up to World War II. These shifts in power were made
possible by the ambiguity and imprecision of the Meiji Constitution,
particularly its measure that the legislative body was answerable to the
Emperor and not the people. The Kodoha, a militarist faction, even attempted a coup d'état known as the February 26 Incident,
which was crushed after three days by Hirohito, the Emperor Shōwa.
Party politics came
under increasing fire because it was believed they were divisive to the nation
and promoted self-interest where unity was needed. As a result, the major
parties voted to dissolve themselves and were absorbed into a single party, the
Imperial Rule Assistance Association (IRAA), which also absorbed many
prefectural organizations such as women's clubs and neighborhood associations.
However, this umbrella organization did not have a cohesive political agenda
and factional in-fighting persisted throughout its existence, meaning Japan did
not devolve into a totalitarian state. The IRAA has been likened to a sponge,
in that it could soak everything up, but there is little one could do with it
afterwards. Its creation was precipitated by a series of domestic crises,
including the advent of the Great Depression in the 1930s and the actions of
extremists such as the members of the Cherry Blossom Society,
who enacted the May 15
Incident.
Second
Sino-Japanese War
Under the pretext of
the Manchurian
Incident, Lieutenant Colonel Kanji Ishiwara invaded Inner (Chinese) Manchuria in
1931, an action the Japanese government ratified with the creation of the
puppet state of Manchukuo under the last Chinese emperor, Pu Yi. As a result of international
condemnation of the incident, Japan resigned from the League of Nations in
1933. After several more similar incidents fueled by an expansionist military,
the second Sino-Japanese War
began in 1937 after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.
From 1937–45, Emperor
Hirohito was supreme commander of the Imperial General Headquarters, by which the military decisions were
made. This ad-hoc body consisted of the chief and vice chief of the Army, the
minister of the Army, the chief and vice chief of the Navy, the minister of the
Navy, the inspector general of military aviation, and the inspector general of
military training.
Having joined the Anti-Comintern
Pact in 1936, Japan
formed the Axis Pact with Germany and Italy on September 27, 1940. Many
Japanese politicians believed war with the Occident to be inevitable due to
inherent cultural differences and Western imperialism.
Japanese imperialism
was then justified by the revival of the traditional concept of hakko ichiu, the divine right of the emperor to
unite and rule the world.
Japan was defeated by
Soviet Union in 1938 in large-scale but localized battles at Battle of Lake Khasan
and in 1939 in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.
The Army no longer wanted to fight the Soviets, so the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact was signed in 1941. The treaty held
until August 1945 when the Soviets again attacked Japan.
World
War II
Tensions were
mounting with the U.S. as a result of public outcry over Japanese aggression
and reports of atrocities in China, such as the infamous Nanjing Massacre. The U.S. strongly supported China
with money, airmen, supplies and threats against Japan. In retaliation to the
invasion of French Indochina
the U.S. began an embargo on such goods as petroleum products and scrap iron.
On July 25, 1941, all Japanese assets in the US were frozen. Because
Japan's military might, especially the Navy, was dependent on their dwindling
oil reserves, this action had the contrary effect of increasing Japan's
dependence on and hunger for new acquisitions.
Many civil leaders of
Japan, including Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro, believed a war with America would end
in defeat, but felt the concessions demanded by the U.S. would almost certainly
relegate Japan from the ranks of the World Powers, leaving it prey to Western
collusion. Civil leaders offered political compromises in the form of the
"Amau Doctrine," dubbed the "Japanese Monroe Doctrine" that would have given the
Japanese free rein with regards to war with China. These offers were flatly
rejected by the U.S.; the military leaders instead vied for quick military
action.
Most military leaders
such as Osami
Nagano, Kotohito Kan'in,
Hajime
Sugiyama and Hideki Tōjō believed that war with the Occident
was inevitable. They finally convinced the Emperor to sanction on November 1941
an attack plan against U.S., Great Britain and the Netherlands. However, there
were dissenters in the ranks about the wisdom of that option, most notably Admiral Yamamoto and Prince Takamatsu. They pointedly warned that at the beginning
of hostilities with the US, the Empire would have the advantage for six months,
after which Japan's defeat in a prolonged war with an enemy with a much larger
economy would be almost certain.
The Americans were
expecting an attack in the Philippines and sent bombers to deter Japan. On
Yamamoto's advice, Japan made the decision to attack the main American fleet at
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. American strategists
believed that Japan would never be so bold as to attack so close to its home
base, and the US was taken completely by surprise.
The attack on Pearl Harbor,
initially appeared to be a major success that knocked out the American battle
fleet—but it missed the aircraft carriers that were at sea and ignored vital
shore facilities whose destruction could have crippled US Pacific operations.
Ultimately, the attack proved a long-term strategic disaster that actually
inflicted relatively little significant long-term damage while provoking the
United States to seek revenge. At the same time as the Pearl Harbor attack, the
Japanese army attacked British Hong Kong and occupied
it for nearly four years.
While Nazi Germany was in the middle of its Blitzkrieg through Europe, Japan was following
suit in Asia. The Japanese Army invaded and captured most of the coastal
Chinese cities such as Shanghai. Japan took over French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), British Malaya (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore) as well
as the Dutch East Indies
(Indonesia) while Thailand entered into an alliance with Japan.
Japanese forces overwhelmed the British in Burma (thus cutting off supplies to
China) and reached the borders of India and Australia. Its air raids devastated
Darwin, Australia. Japan had soon established an empire stretching over much of
the Pacific.
However as Admiral
Yamamoto warned, Japan's six-month window of military advantage following Pearl
Harbor ended with the Japanese Navy's offensive ability being crippled at the
hands of the American Navy in the Battle of Midway, which established a significant
American military advantage. The war became one of mass production and
logistics, the U.S. funding a far stronger navy with more numerous warplanes,
and a superior communications and logistics system. The Japanese had stretched
too far and were unable to supply its forward bases—many soldiers died of
starvation. American submarines destroyed the Japanese tankers, causing a
severe shortage of fuel oil for ships and aviation gasoline. Japan built
warplanes in large quantity but the quality plunged, and the performance of
poorly trained pilots spiraled downward. The Navy lost a series of major
battles, from Midway (1942) to the Philippine Sea (1944) and Leyte Gulf (1945),
which put American long-range B-29 bombers in range. A series of massive raids
burned out much of Tokyo and other major industrial cities beginning in March
1945 while Operation
Starvation seriously disrupted
the nation's vital internal shipping lanes. Regardless of how the war was
becoming hopeless, the circle around the Emperor held fast and refused to open
negotiations. Finally in August, two atomic bombs and the Soviet invasion of
Manchuria demonstrated the cause was futile, and Hirohito authorized a
surrender whereby he kept his throne.
Total Japanese
military fatalities between 1937 and 1945 were 2.1 million; most came in the
last year of the war. Starvation or malnutrition-related illness accounted for
roughly 80 percent of Japanese military deaths in the Philippines, and 50
percent of military fatalities in China. The aerial bombing of a total of 65
Japanese cities appears to have taken a minimum of 400,000 and possibly closer
to 600,000 civilian lives (over 100,000 in Tokyo alone, over 200,000 in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, and 80,000–150,000 civilian deaths in the
battle of Okinawa). Civilian death among settlers who died attempting to return
to Japan from Manchuria in the winter of 1945 were probably around 100,000.
Modernizing
society
Childhood
transformed
Childhood as a
distinct phase of life was apparent in the early modern period, when social and
economic changes brought increased attention to children, the growth of
schooling and child-centered rituals. A modern concept of childhood emerged in
Japan after 1850 as part of its engagement with the West. Meiji era leaders
decided the nation-state had the primary role in mobilizing individuals – and
children – in service of the state. The Western-style school was introduced as
the agent to reach that goal. By the 1890s, schools were generating new
sensibilities regarding childhood. After 1890 Japan had numerous reformers,
child experts, magazine editors, and well-educated mothers who bought into the
new sensibility. They taught the upper middle class a model of childhood that
included children having their own space where they read children's books,
played with educational toys and, especially, devoted enormous time to school
homework. These ideas rapidly disseminated through all social classes.
Postwar Japan
(1945–present)
After the collapse of
the Empire
of Japan, Japan was
transformed into a democratic state with a revised democratic Constitution of Japan. During the postwar period, Japan
became an economic power state. This period is characterized by the US-Japan
Alliance such as the United States Forces Japan.
Occupation
of Japan
As a result of its
defeat of World
War II, the Empire of Japan was dissolved, Japan lost all of its
overseas possessions and retained only the home islands. Manchukuo was
dissolved, and Inner Manchuria and Taiwan
were returned to the Republic of China; Korea was taken under the control of
the UN; southern Sakhalin and the Kuriles were occupied by the U.S.S.R.; and
the United States became the sole administering authority of the Ryukyu, Bonin, and Volcano
Islands. The International Military
Tribunal for the Far East
(Tokyo Trial), an international war crimes tribunal, was held, in which seven
politicians were executed. Emperor Hirohito was not convicted, but instead was
enthroned as the emperor of the new state.
The 1972 reversion of
Okinawa completed the United States' return of
control of these islands to Japan. Japan continues to protest for the
corresponding return of the Kuril Islands from Russia.
Defeat came for a
number of reasons. The most important is probably Japan's underestimation of
the military capabilities of the U.S. The U.S. recovered from its initial
setback at Pearl
Harbor much quicker than
the Japanese expected, and their sudden counterattack came as a blow to
Japanese morale. U.S. output of military products was also much higher than
Japanese counterparts over the course of the war. Another reason was factional
in-fighting between the Army and Navy, which led to poor intelligence and
cooperation. This was compounded as the Japanese forces found they had
overextended themselves, leaving Japan itself vulnerable to attack. Another
important factor is Japan's underestimation of resistance in China, which Japan
claimed would be conquered in three months. The prolonged war was both
militarily and economically disastrous for Japan.
After the war, Japan
was placed under international control of the American-led Allied powers in the
Asia-Pacific region through General Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. This was the first time since the
unification of Japan that the island nation was successfully occupied by a
foreign power. Some high officers of the Shōwa regime were prosecuted and
convicted by the International Military
Tribunal for the Far East.
However, Emperor
Shōwa, all members of the
imperial family implicated in the war such as prince Asaka,
prince
Chichibu, prince Takeda,
prince Higashikuni,
prince Fushimi,
as well as Shirō
Ishii and all members of unit 731 were exonerated from criminal
prosecutions by MacArthur.
Entering the Cold War with the Korean War, Japan came to be seen as an important
ally of the US government. Political, economic, and social reforms were
introduced, such as an elected Japanese Diet (legislature) and expanded
suffrage. The country's constitution took effect on May 3, 1947. The
United States and 45 other Allied nations signed the Treaty of Peace with Japan
in September 1951. The U.S. Senate
ratified the treaty on March 20, 1952, and under the terms of the treaty,
Japan regained full sovereignty on April 28, 1952.
Under the terms of
the peace treaty and later agreements, the United States maintains naval bases
at Sasebo, Okinawa and at Yokosuka. A portion of the U.S. Pacific Fleet,
including one aircraft carrier (currently USS George Washington (CVN-73)), is based at Yokosuka. This
arrangement is partially intended to provide for the defense of Japan, as the
treaty and the new Japanese constitution imposed during the occupation severely
restrict the size and purposes of Japanese Self-Defense Forces in the modern period.
Cold War
After a series of
realignment of political parties, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) and the leftist Social Democratic Party
(SDP) were formed in 1955. The political map in Japan had been largely
unaltered until early 1990s and LDP had been the largest political party in the
national politics. LDP politicians and government bureaucrats focused on economic policy. From the
1950s to the 1980s, Japan experienced its rapid development into a major
economic power, through a process often referred to as the Japanese post-war economic miracle.
Japan's biggest
postwar political crisis took place in 1960 over the revision of the Japan-United States
Mutual Security Assistance Pact.
As the new Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security was concluded, which
renewed the United States role as military protector of Japan, massive street
protests and political upheaval occurred, and the cabinet resigned a month
after the Diet's ratification of the treaty. Thereafter, political turmoil
subsided. Japanese views of the United States, after years of mass protests
over nuclear armaments and the mutual defense pact, improved by 1972 with the
reversion of United States-occupied Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty and the
winding down of the Vietnam
War.
Japan had
reestablished relations with the Republic of China after World War II, and cordial
relations were maintained with the nationalist government when it was relocated
to Taiwan, a policy that won Japan the enmity of
the People's Republic of China, which was established in 1949. After the
general warming of relations between China and Western countries, especially
the United States, which shocked Japan with its sudden rapprochement with
Beijing in 1971, Tokyo established relations with Beijing in 1972. Close
cooperation in the economic sphere followed. Japan's relations with the Soviet Union continued to be problematic after the
war, but a Joint Declaration between Japan and the USSR ending the state of war
and reestablishing diplomatic relations was signed October 19, 1956. The
main object of dispute was the Soviet occupation of what Japan calls its Northern Territories,
the two most southerly islands in the Kurils
(Etorofu and Kunashiri) and Shikotan and the Habomai Islands, which were seized by the Soviet Union
in the closing days of World War II.
Economic
growth
Throughout the
postwar period, Japan's economy continued to boom, with results far
outstripping expectations. Given a massive boost by the Korean War, in which it acted as a major supplier
to the UN force, Japan's economy embarked on a prolonged period of extremely
rapid growth, led by the manufacturing sectors. Japan emerged as a significant
power in many economic spheres, including steel working, car manufacturing and
the manufacturing of electronic goods. Japan rapidly caught up with
the West in foreign trade, GNP, and general quality of life. These achievements were underscored
by the 1964 Tokyo
Olympic Games and the Osaka International
Exposition in 1970. The high
economic growth and political tranquility of the mid to late 1960s were
tempered by the quadrupling of oil prices by the OPEC
in 1973. Almost completely dependent on imports for petroleum, Japan
experienced its first recession since World War II. Another serious
problem was Japan's growing trade surplus, which reached record heights during Nakasone's first term. The United States
pressured Japan to remedy the imbalance, demanding that Tokyo raise the value
of the yen and open its markets further to facilitate more imports from the
United States.
After
the Cold War
Japan after the Cold
War is also called as the Heisei period, which starts from the year of the Revolutions
of Eastern Europe. 1989 marked one of
the most rapid economic growth spurts in Japanese history. With a strong yen
and a favorable exchange rate with the dollar, the Bank of Japan kept interest rates low, sparking an
investment boom that drove Tokyo property values up sixty percent within the
year. Shortly before New Year's Day, the Nikkei 225 reached its record high of 39,000. By
1991, it had fallen to 15,000, signifying the end of Japan's famed bubble economy. Unemployment ran reasonably high, but
not at crisis levels. Rather than suffer large-scale unemployment and lay-offs,
Japan's labor market suffered in more subtle, yet no less profound effects that
were nonetheless difficult to gauge statistically. During the prosperous times,
jobs were seen as long term even to the point of being life long. In contrast,
Japan during the lost decade saw a marked increase in temporary and part time
work which only promised employment for short periods and marginal benefits. This
also created a generational gap, as those who had entered the labor market
prior to the lost decade usually retained their employment and benefits, and
were effectively insulated from the economic slowdown, whereas younger workers
who entered the market a few years later suffered the brunt of its effects.
In a series of
financial scandals of the LDP, a coalition led by Morihiro Hosokawa took power in 1993. Hosokawa succeeded
to legislate a new plurality voting
election law instead of the stalemated multi-member constituency election system. However, the coalition collapsed the
next year as parties had gathered to simply overthrow LDP and lacked a unified
position on almost every social issue. The LDP returned to the government in
1996, when it helped to elect Social Democrat Tomiichi Murayama as prime minister.
The Great Hanshin earthquake
hit Kobe on January 17, 1995. 6,000 people
were killed and 44,000 were injured. 250,000 houses were destroyed or burned in
a fire. The amount of damage totaled more than ten trillion yen. In March of
the same year the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo attacked
on the Tokyo
subway system with sarin
gas, killing 12 and injuring hundreds more. An investigation later revealed
that the cult was responsible for dozens of murders that occurred prior to the
gas attacks.
Junichiro
Koizumi was president of the
LDP and Prime Minister of Japan from April 2001 to September 2006. Koizumi
enjoyed high approval ratings. He was known as an economic reformer and he
privatized the national postal system. Koizumi also had an active involvement
in the War on Terrorism,
sending 1,000 soldiers of the Japan Self-Defense Forces
to help in Iraq's reconstruction after the Iraq War, the biggest overseas troop deployment
since World War II.
The ruling coalition
is formed by the liberal Democratic Party of Japan
(DPJ), the leftist Social Democratic Party
and the conservative People's New Party.
The opposition is formed by the liberal conservative
Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP). Other parties are the New Komeito Party, a Sōka Gakkai party and the Japanese Communist Party.
On 2 June 2010 Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama officially resigned from his position
as leader of the DPJ, citing the failure to fulfill his campaign promise of
removing a U.S. base from the island of Okinawa as his main reason for stepping
down.
On March 11, 2011,
Japan suffered the strongest earthquake
in its recorded history, affecting the north-east area of Honshū. The magnitude
9.0 quake was aggravated by a tsunami and also caused numerous fires and
damaged several nuclear reactors. Damage to Fukushima Nuclear Plant led to meltdown of three reactors and release of
radioactive material, in the largest nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Periodization
Dates
|
Period
|
Period
|
Subperiod
|
Main
government
|
30,000–10,000 BC
|
|
unknown
|
||
10,000–300 BC
|
|
local clans
|
||
900 BC – 250 AD (overlaps)
|
|
|||
c. 250–538 AD
|
||||
538–710 AD
|
||||
710–794
|
|
|||
794–1185
|
|
|||
1185–1333
|
|
|||
1333–1336
|
|
|||
1336–1392
|
||||
1392–1467
|
|
|||
1467–1573
|
||||
1573–1603
|
||||
1603–1868
|
|
|||
1868–1912
|
||||
1912–1926
|
||||
1926–1945
|
||||
1945–1952
|
Occupied
Japan (Postwar Shōwa)
|
|||
1952–1989
|
Post-occupation
(Postwar Shōwa)
|
Parliamentary democracy
|
||
1989–present
|
Regnal
years
Regnal
years (Gengō)
in Japan
Regnal years are commonly used in Japan
as an alternative to the Gregorian calendar.
For example, in censuses, birthdays are written using regnal years. Dates of
newspapers and official documents are also written using regnal years.
Regnal years are changed upon the
enthronement of each new Tennō since Meiji until the Postwar Constitution
was enacted (1868–1947).
But, in 1979, the Regnal Years Law
was enacted, regnal years are changed upon the enthronement of each new Tennō
once more.
Regnal years since 1800
- Kansei (1789–1801)
- Kyōwa (1801–1804)
- Bunka (1804–1818)
- Bunsei (1818–1830)
- Tenpō (1830–1844)
- Kōka (1844–1848)
- Kaei (1848–1854)
- Ansei (1854–1860)
- Man'en (1860–1861)
- Bunkyū (1861–1864)
- Genji (1864–1865)
- Keiō (1865–1867)
- Meiji (1868–1912)
- Taishō (1912–1926)
- Shōwa (December 25, 1926 – January 7,
1989)
- Heisei (January 8, 1989–present)
For example
- 1820 was the 3rd year of Bunsei.
- 1855 was the 2nd year of Ansei.
- 1900 was the 33rd year of Meiji.
- 1945 was the 20th year of Shōwa.
- 2000 was the 12th year of Heisei.
- 1848 was the 5th year of Kōka
through March 31, but on April 1, it became the 1st year(Gan-nen)
of Kaei.
- 1989 was the 64th year of Shōwa
through to January 7, but on January 8, it became the 1st year(Gan-nen)
of Heisei.
Other
eras
- During the pre–World War II
period, Jimmu era (Kōki) is also used in common that the
year of enthronement of first Tennō (Jimmu-Tennō) is defined as
First Year. (= 660 BCE) For example, 2010 is 2670 Jimmu era.
- During the post–World War II
period, postwar era
(sengo) has been used as a private era, which starts from 1946 (1945
being the 0th postwar year). It is seen in media and books. For example,
2010 is 65 postwar.