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History
The first signs of civilization on the Japanese Archipelago appeared around
10,000 BC with the Jomon culture, characterized by a Mesolithic to Neolithic
semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer lifestyle of pit dwelling and a rudimentary form
of agriculture. Decorated clay vessels from this period, often with plaited
patterns, are some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world.
The Yayoi period, starting around the third century BC, introduced new
practices, such as wet-rice farming, iron and bronze-making and a new style of
pottery, brought by migrants from China or Korea. With the development of Yayoi
culture, a predominantly agricultural society emerged in Japan.
A Middle Jomon period vessel (3000 to 2000 BC).
The Great Buddha at Tōdaiji, Nara, cast in 752.The Japanese first appear in
written history in China’s Book of Han. According to the Chinese Records of the
Three Kingdoms, the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago during the third
century was called Yamataikoku.
In the sixth century, Mahayana Buddhism was introduced to Japan through Baekje,
a kingdom in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. Despite early resistance,
Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class and eventually gained growing
acceptance since the Asuka period.
The Nara period of the eighth century marked the first emergence of a strong
central Japanese state, centered around an imperial court in the city of
Heijō-kyō, or modern day Nara. In addition to the continuing adoption of Chinese
administrative practices, the Nara period is characterized by the appearance of
a nascent written literature with the completion of the massive chronicles
Kojiki (712) and Nihonshoki (720).
In 784, Emperor Kammu moved the capital to Nagaokakyō for a brief ten-year
period, before relocating it to Heian-kyō (modern day Kyoto) in 794, where it
remained for more than a millennium. This marked the beginning of the Heian
period, during which time a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged,
noted for its art, poetry, and literature. Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji and
the lyrics of modern Japan's national anthem, Kimi ga Yo were written during
this time.
Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence of a ruling class of
warriors, the samurai. In 1185, following the defeat of the rival Taira clan,
Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed Shogun and established a base of power in
Kamakura. After Yoritomo's death, the Hōjō clan came to rule as regents for the
shoguns. Zen Buddhism was introduced from China in the Kamakura period
(1185–1333) and became popular among the samurai class. The Kamakura shogunate
managed to repel Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281, aided by a storm that the
Japanese interpreted as a kamikaze, or Divine Wind. The Kamakura shogunate was
eventually overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo, who was soon himself defeated by
Ashikaga Takauji in 1336. The succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to control
the feudal warlords (daimyo), and a civil war erupted (the ōnin War).
During the sixteenth century, traders and missionaries from Portugal reached
Japan for the first time, initiating the Nanban ("southern barbarian") period of
active commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West.
Oda Nobunaga conquered numerous other daimyo by using European technology and
firearms and had almost unified the nation when he was assassinated in 1582.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeeded Nobunaga and united the nation in 1590. Hideyoshi
invaded Korea twice, but following several defeats by Korean and Ming Chinese
forces and Hideyoshi's death, Japanese troops were withdrawn in 1598.
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