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A Brief Outline of Japan's History
Period of Time
 Name of Period
 Important events
     
300 BC Jomon The earliest Japanese natives were nomadic: hunters, gatherers, fishers.
300 BC - 300 AD Yayoi A social hierachy is in development after the introduction of rice agriculture into the system. Many clans and petty kingdoms are joined into larger states.
300 - 710 AD Kofun 300 AD - The main island of Japan has been pretty much unified by this time.
538/552 AD - Buddhism from China is introduced into Japan's society.
604 AD - Prince Shotoku's "Constitution of the Seventeen Articles".
645 AD - Introduction of the Taikia reforms. Beginning of the Fujiwara era.
710 - 784 AD Nara

710 AD - Nara becomes the first official capital.
784 AD - Capital then moves to Nagaoka
794 - 1185 AD Heian 794 AD - The Capital moves again, this time to Heian (Kyoto).
1016 AD - Fujiwara Michinaga becomes regent.
1159 AD - The Heiji War ends: Taira Kiyomori of the Taira clan has absolute power.
1175 AD - Introduction of the Buddhist Jodo sect.
1180-85 AD - The Gempei War: The Minamoto clan versus the Taira clan. The former wins.
1192 - 1333 AD Kamakura

1191 AD - Introduction of the Zen sect.
1192 AD - The Kamakura government is established after Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Shogun.
1221 AD - Struggle between Kamakura and Kyoto. The Hojo regents in Kamakura wins the day.
1232 AD - The Joei Shikimoku code is legalised.
1274 and 1281 AD - The Mongol Horde try to invade Japan, but their attempts end in failure due to bad weather.
1333 AD - The end of Kamakura Bakufu.

1338 - 1573 AD Muromachi

1334 AD - The emperor takes control of Japan.
1336 AD - Kyoto is captured by Ashikaga Takauji.
1337 AD - The emperor flees to Yoshino where he establishes the Southern court.
1338 AD - Takauji installs a second emperor in Kyoto (Northern court).
1392 AD - Unification of the Southern and Northern courts.
1467-1477 AD - Onin war.
1542 AD - Western powers land in Japan, where the Portuguese introduce the powerful firearms, and Christianity to the locals.
1568 AD - Kyoto falls to Nobunaga.
1573 AD - End of the Muromachi Bakufu era.

1573 - 1603 AD Azuchi Momoyama

1575 AD - In the Battle of Nagashino, the Takeda clan falls.
1582 AD - Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeeds as Shogun after the assassination of Nobunaga.
1588 AD - Hideyoshi takes all the weapons of farmers and peasants.
1590 AD - Japan is reunited after the fall of Odawara (Hojo).
1592-98 AD - Korea tries unsuccessfully to invade Japan.
1598 AD - Death of Hideyoshi.
1600 AD - Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats his rivals in the Battle of Sekigahara.
1603 - 1867 AD Edo

1603 AD - Ieyasu becomes Shogun, and he establishes the Tokugawa government in Edo (Tokyo).
1614 AD - Ieyasu tries to stop the preaching of Christianity, and persecutes all Christians.
1615 AD - Osaka castle falls to Ieyasu, and the Toyotomi clan is destroyed.
1639 AD - Ieyasu tries to protect Japan, as he isolates the country from the rest of the world.
1688-1703 AD - Genroku era: popular culture flourishes.
1792 AD - The Russian empire tries unsuccessfully to establish trade relations with Japan.
1854 AD - Commodore Matthew Perry forces the Japanese government to open a limited number of ports for trade.

1868 - 1912 AD Meiji 1868 AD - The restoration of the Meiji emperor.
1872 AD - Japan's first railway line between Tokyo and Yokohama.
1889 AD - The Meiji Constitution is introduced.
1894-95 AD - Sino-Japanese War.
1904-05 AD - Russo-Japanese War.
1910 AD - Annexion of Korea.
1912 AD - Death of Emperor Meiji.
1912 - 1926 AD Taisho 1914-18 AD - Japan joins Allied Forces in WW1.
1923 AD The Great Kanto Earthquake destroy most of Tokyo and Yokohama.
1926 - 1989 AD Showa 1931 AD - Japanese involvement in Manchurian, where they establish China's last emperor Puyi as a puppet emperor.
1937 AD - Start of the second Sino-Japanese War.
1941 AD - The start of the Pacific War with America after Japan bombs Pearl Harbor.
1945 AD - Japan surrenders after two atomic bombs are dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
1946 AD - Start of the new constitution.
1952 AD - The end of the Allied Occupation of Japan.
1956 AD - Japan becomes member of the United Nations.
1972 AD - Normalization of relations to China.
1989 - Heisei 1993 AD - The LDP loses its majority in the diet.
1995 AD - The Great Hanshin Earthquake hits Kobe.