History of Japan

Irises screen by Ogata Korin, 18th century The Japanese Roots

• Who are the Japanese?

• Where did they come from and when? The search for answers is difficult, but the following are the possibilities. 1. Evolved from Ice Age people who occupied Japan long before 20,000BC 2. Descended from horse-riding Asian nomads who passed through Korea to Japan in the 4th C 3. Descendants of immigrants from Korea who arrived with rice-paddy agriculture around 400BC 4. Combination of people from the Siberia area and the people from the Pacific islands • Above all these peoples could have mixed to form the modern Japanese.

Right: Yayoi type person from out-side

Left: Jomon type Ca. 10, 000 BC - Ca. 300BC Jōmon Culture

Prehistoric culture characterized by pottery with rope pattern

• Pottery of this period is decorated with jōmon (rope) marking. • Hunting & fishing – classless society Ca. 300 BC – 300 AD Yayoi Culture More advanced agricultural society using metals • The use of metals (bronze & iron) • Agriculture (rice growing) • Division of labor • Leader & subject • Formation of small states Ca. 300 AD -710 Tomb Period (YamatoPeriod ) Emergence of powerful clan rulers

By mid 4th century the Yamato court was established. Thus, Japan was consolidated into a single nation in the 4th century. Mythical date of the accession of the first Emperor, Jinmu, is 660BC. February 11 is given as his ascension. Thus, February 11 is Kenkoku kinenbi (National Foundation Day). Tomb for Emperor Nintoku (4-5th c) near Ōsaka city (over 115 acres) Haniwa

• Terra-cotta figurines arranged in or around a tumulus (burial mound) in honor of the buried. Buddhism & Confucianism

• Mid 6th century: Introduction of Buddhism & Confucianism

• Introduction of Chinese writing system Confucianism

• Confucius (551-479BC) • His goal was the achievement of a good society characterized by harmonious social relations. • Five cardinal relations: Sovereign (lord) & Subject (servant) Parent (father) & child (son) Elder sibling & younger sibling Husband & wife Older friend & younger friend 710 – 784 Nara Period Implementation of civil law • Establishment of central government

Buddhism as the religion of the court and the state.

The Great Buddha at Todaiji, Nara, in 752 First extant written documents

712 Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) 720Nihon Shoki (Chronicle of Japan)

Mixture of history and mythology The oldest poetry collection

• Mid-8th C: Manyoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) • This is the oldest extant collection of poems. 20 vols. • From about mid-4th century • Poems by people from all walks of life 794 – 1185 Heian Period Flowering of classical Japanese culture • Japan fully assimilated the essence of Chinese culture and created indigenous Japanese cultural style. • The Kana syllabary was created based on kanji (Chinese characters) to express Japanese sound, and many notable female writers appeared. Hiragana Katakana Women Writers

✦ Makura no soshi (The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon) by Sei Shōnagon, 996 (ca. 1000AD) Murasaki shikibu ✦ Genji monogatari (Tale of Genji) by Murasaki shikibu (ca. 1004-1011 AD)

Middle Ages Beginning of military rule 1185 – 1333 Kamakura period

• Under the rule of Shoguns, life in Japan resembled that of the feudal period in Europe.

• In 1274 & 1281 Mongols tried to invade Japan but typhoons conveniently arrived on both occasions to defeat the attacks. • Kamikaze (blessed with divine wind, protection) Middle Ages 1333 – 1568 Muromachi period

• 1543- Portuguese arrived in the island of Tanegashima, off Kyushu by ship wreck. They were the first Westerners who arrived in Japan. • Brought guns. St Francis Xavier (1506-52) Spanish Jesuit missionary

Established Japan’s first Christian mission at Kagoshima in 1549

Toward the end of the 16th century, the shogun government became wary of Western religious influence. Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1598) • Country at war & then unification Early Modern Period 1600 – 1867 Tokugawa (Edo) Period Stabilization of the country under the strong shogun government; Flowering of plebeian culture • Under the strong Shogun authority, Japan enjoyed freedom from warfare. • Class system • Warriors (samurai) • Farmers • Artisans • Merchants ______• Burakumin • Eta • Hinin Official closure of the country 1639-1858 • Early 1620’s: period of severe persecutions on the Christians

• 1630’s: All foreigners were ordered to leave Japan except some Dutch and Chinese merchants at Dejima, a man-made island in the Bay of Nagasaki

• 1639: Self-imposed national isolation is complete. Early Modern Period 1600 – 1867 Tokugawa (Edo) Period • 1853, July - Commodore Matthew Perry came to Japan • 1854, March - Perry came again. • 1858, July - Townsend Harris, the first Consul General of the U.S. to Japan persuaded Japan to sign a treaty of amity & commerce. Modern Period

• 1868 - Meiji Restoration • 1868 – 1912 Meiji Period • 1912 – 1926 Taisho Period • 1926 – Jan. 7,1989 Showa Period • Jan. 8, 1989 - Heisei Period …………………………… • 1941 – 1945 the Pacific War • 1945 – 1952 the occupation of Japan by Allied Forces After the War

• Democracy in legal system • Education reform • Separation of religion and state • Land reform • Women’s suffrage & everyone over 20 years of age • Labor unions