| Chronology |
Christian Era |
Main Events and Activities |
| Paleolithic |
ca.100,000B.C. |
Start of human activity on the Japanese archipelago. |
| ca.30,000B.C. |
Spread of Late Paleolithic Culture. |
| Jomon |
ca.10,000B.C. |
First use of pottery on Japanese archipelago. |
| ca.7,000B.C. |
First production of clay images. |
| ca.3,000B.C. |
First large Jomon communities. |
| Yayoi |
ca.300B.C. |
Establishment of Yayoi Culture in northern Kyushu. Start of rice cultivation. |
| 57 A.D. |
King Na of Wa (Japan) sends tribute to Eastern Han dynasty and is bestowed gift of a gold seal. |
| ca.200 |
First construction of large graves with burial mounds in western Japan. |
| 239 |
Queen Himiko of Yamatai in Wa sends emissaries to Wei in China. |
| Kofun |
ca.300 |
Keyhole-shaped burial mounds are constructed in many parts of western Japan. |
| 391 |
Wa sends troops to the Korean peninsula (monument of Haotai Wang).
Religious rites begin around this time on Okinoshima off the coast of Kyushu. |
| 421 |
King of Wa starts in this year to send tribute to the Southern Court in China (until 478). |
| 471 |
Forging of the iron swords later unearthed at the Inariyama Burial Mound in Saitama Prefecture. |
| Kofun |
Asuka |
552 |
Buddhism introduced from Paekche on the Korean peninsula (538 according to one theory). |
| 600 |
King of Wa sends emissaries to the Sui Dynasty in China. |
| 604 |
Prince Shotoku creates the Seventeen-Article Constitution. |
| 630 |
First emissaries sent to the Tang Dynasty. |
| 645 |
Taika Reforms. |
| 663 |
Japanese troops defeated by troops of Tang and Silla on the Korean peninsula. Defenses of western Japan are strengthened. |
| 701 |
Completion of the Taiho Ritsuryo Code. Establishment of a state based on the Ritsuryo laws. |
| Nara |
710 |
Capital is moved to Heijokyo (Nara). |
| 724 |
Construction of Tagajo Castle in Tohoku region (monument of Tagajo) . |
| 752 |
Completion of the Great Buddha at Todaiji Temple. |
| 758 |
Belongings of Emperor Shomu moved to Todaiji. Construction of Shosoin. |
| 770 |
Hyakumanto Darani (Dharani of the Million Towers) is completed. |
| Heian |
794 |
Transfer of the capital to Heiankyo (Kyoto). |
| 894 |
Practice of sending emissaries to China is discontinued. |
| 995 |
Fujiwara Michinaga takes hold of power. Flourishing of the Fujiwara family. |
| 1005 |
Murasaki Shikibu completes The Tale of Genji. |
| 1052 |
Sutra mounds created in great numbers out of beliefs that Mappo (The Age of Decline) has started. |
| Kamakura |
1180 |
Minamoto Yoritomo establishes his headquarters in Kamakura. |
| 1192 |
Yoritomo becomes Seii tai shogun ("Barbarian Conquering General") and establishes the Kamakura shogunate. |
| 1224 |
Monk Shinran founds the Jodo Shinshu Sect (Ikko Sect). |
| 1275 |
Monk Ippen founds the Ji Sect. |
| Nanbokucho |
1333 |
Collapse of Kamakura shogunate. Kamakura enveloped in the flames of war. |
| Muromachi |
1338 |
Ashikaga Takauji becomes Seii tai shogun and founds the Muromachi shogunate. |
| 1350 |
Japanese pirates begin raid along China's coastline. |
| 1401 |
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu restores relations with Ming China. Ashikaga is recognized by the Ming court as the "King of Japan". |
| 1422 |
Sho Hashi unites all of Okinawa and becomes the Ryukyu King. |
| 1441 |
Do ikki uprising develops in Kyoto and results in the Tokusei edict. Tea ceremony begins to flourish at this time. |
| 1467 |
Onin War (1477). Kyoto is enveloped in flames of war. |
| 1488 |
Ikko ikki breaks out in Kaga and assumes control of the entire Kaga Province. |
| 1531 |
Asakura Norikage quells the Ikko ikki. |
| 1536 |
Date Tanemune enacts the Jinkaishu which established domain. Daimyo in different areas begin at this time to enact their own legal systems. |
| 1543 |
Portuguese bring guns to Tanegashima. |
| 1549 |
Francis Xavier arrives in Japan to begin missionary activities. |
| Momoyama |
1573 |
Fall of the Asakura daimyo family in Ichijodani, Echizen Province. |
| 1590 |
Toyotomi Hideyoshi unites all of Japan. Start of printing of Christian books in Romanized Japanese. |
| 1592 |
Start of the system of Shuinsen or "red seal ships". Hideyoshi sends troops to Korea. |
| Edo |
1603 |
Tokugawa Ieyasu becomes Seii tai shogun, establishes the Edo shogunate. |
| 1607 |
Ieyasu has bronze movable type forged to print the Suruga edition. |
| 1619 |
The hishigaki kaisen (lozenge-fenced cargo ships) begin to sail regularly between Edo and Osaka. |
| 1635 |
Shogunate forbids Japanese to travel overseas. Start of the sankin kotai system which required daimyo to reside alternate years in Edo. Construction of national roads. |
| 1639 |
Entry of Portuguese ships forbidden. Start of sakoku, a period in which Japan was closed off to the outside world. |
| 1641 |
Dutch Trading Mission is moved to Dejima in Nagasaki which becomes the only port in Japan where foreign trade is allowed. |
| 1649 |
Promulgation of the Keian no ofuregaki, a document outlining the duties and conduct of the farmers. |
| 1657 |
Great Edo Fire. Following this, large spaces are created in the city to prevent further fires. |
| 1669 |
Ainu rebellion in Ezochi (Hokkaido). |
| 1671 |
Kawamura Zuiken opens eastern sea route. Western sea route is opened in following year. |
| 1688 |
Start of Genroku Period (to 1703). Development of Edo culture including Kabuki and Bunraku. |
| 1732 |
Kyoho Famine. Rice stores broken into as prices on rice soar. |
| 1778 |
Russian ships land in Ezochi, request trade. |
| 1821 |
Ino Tadataka produces first accurate maps of the Japan's coastline. |
| 1828 |
Franz von Siebold, a German physician of the Dutch Trading Mission, is banished from Japan for bringing maps of Japan out of the country. |
| 1853 |
Admiral Perry arrives in Uraga and demands that Japan opens its ports. |
| 1854 |
Japan concludes friendship treaties with the United States, Britain, Russia, France and the Netherlands. The ports of Hakodate, Shimoda and Nagasaki are opened to foreign trade. |
| Meiji |
1868 |
Meiji Restoration. Edo's name is changed to Tokyo ("Eastern Capital") . |
| 1879 |
The Ryuku Islands become Okinawa Prefecture. |
| 1889 |
Promulgation of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan. |
| 1904 |
Outbreak of Russo-Japanese War (to 1905). |
| 1910 |
Korea becomes a Japanese colony. |
| Taisho |
1915 |
Japan presents China with a set of 21 demands for expanding its rights in China. |
| Showa |
1927 |
Start of a financial panic. Government declares moratorium on gold standard. |
| 1931 |
The so-called Liutaochu Incident is used as a pretext for the start of military maneuvers in northeast China. Start of invasion of China. |
| 1941 |
Start of Pacific War (to 1945). |
| 1946 |
Promulgation of the Constitution of Japan. Agrarian reforms. |
| 1951 |
Signing of the Treaty of San Francisco. |
| 1961 |
Enactment of the Basic Agricultural Law. |
| 1964 |
Start of the New Tokaido Railway (Shinkansen). Beginning of free economic system. |
| 1967 |
Outbreak of itaiitai sickness in Toyama Prefecture (first case of pollution related diseases due to industrial wastes). |
| 1983 |
Opening of National Museum of Japanese History. |
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