Japan

Japan is one of the world's most ethnically and culturally homogeneous nations, but down the ages its culture and society have been greatly influenced by foreign ideas and institutions, art and literature.

The wholesale importation of Chinese religious and political institutions during the sixth century was followed by a long and essentially 'Japanese' feudal period, which was to last until the 19th century.
 
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 brought to power rulers dedicated to the pursuit of national modernisation, under whose guidance Japan quickly became a world power. Although Japan's subsequent bid for empire ended in disaster, the years after 1945 witnessed an economic miracle which brought spectacular wealth as well as the westernisation of much of Japanese life.
 
Tips: 
Brief History of Yomitan Village

A Very Brief History of Okinawa

  • Prehistory

    Palaeolithic tool finds suggest that human settlement in Japan stretches back at least 30,000 years. The first inhabitants of the Japanese islands were hunter-gatherers from the continent who used sophisticated stone tools, but had no settled agriculture or ceramics.

  • The Kofun era

    From about the 3rd century CE, various petty kingdoms were established in and around modern Nara Prefecture, culminating in the emergence of the Yamato kingdom.

  • Nara and Kyoto

    The origins of classical Japan are generally traced back to the kingdom of Nara (710-794), which emerged contemporaneously to the Tang dynasty (618-907) in China.

  • Japan under the shoguns

    The defeat of the Taira clan at the hands of Minamoto no Yoritomo in the Genpei War (1180-1185) paved the way for the establishment of the shogunate, a feudal system of government which would last until 1867.

  • The Meiji and Taisho eras

    By the 19th century the Tokugawa Shogunate was in terminal decline, its power weakened by debt and internal division. After a brief civil war in the early 1860s the Tokugawa regime was overthrown and imperial rule restored.

  • The path to war

    The Showa era (1926-1989) began with the inauguration of Emperor Hirohito, who had acted as regent since 1921.

  • American occupation 1945-1952

    By the end of World War II more than 2 million Japanese lives had been lost and over 100 cities destroyed. Industrial production stood at less than 10 per cent of its pre-war level, and transportation networks had been severely damaged.

  • Post-war economic recovery

    The outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 provided an important boost to the Japanese economy, as the country became the principal supplier of food and arms for the US armed forces.

  • Modern Japan

     The death of Emperor Hirohito in January 1989 brought to an end the longest imperial reign in Japanese history, removing a powerful symbol of continuity. In November 1990 Emperor Akihito became the 125th emperor of Japan and the first under the post-war constitution.
Share