Japan Timeline

Japan Timeline
645 The government of Japan is organised along Chinese lines, establishing long dominance of Confucian philosophy.
794 After moving many times, the capital settles in Heian-kyō, now Kyoto.
1192 For the first time in history, Japan is united under one leader: Minamoto Yoritomo, the first shogun. The emperor remains nominal head of state, but has only figurehead status.
1281 Mongol invasion led by Kublai Khan is repelled, partly thanks to the destruction of the enemy fleet in a typhoon.
1543 A Portuguese ship brings the first Europeans to Japan.
1590 After a century of war, known as the Warring States period, Japan is fully unified under Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
1600 Power seized by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who establishes a strict policy of seclusion, banning almost all contact with foreigners (lasted over 300 years). Ieyasu sets up base in the Tokyo area, then called Edo.
1707 Mount Fuji erupts, then enters a period of dormancy that continues today.
1853 Commodore Perry leads a squadron of US naval vessels to Japan, demanding that the country open up to trade. Japan soon capitulates to the demand.
1868 Disenchanted samurai overthrow the shogun and restore power to the emperor. Edo, soon renamed Tokyo, becomes the new capital and government is reorganised along western lines.
1905 A rapidly modernising Japan surprises the world by defeating Russia in the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905).
1923 An earthquake kills around 100,000 in the Tokyo area, and leaves the city in ruins.
1926 Emperor Hirohito succeeds to the throne.
1930 Militarists gain the upper hand in government. Japan seizes Manchuria the following year, and declares war on China in 1937.
1940 Japan signs Axis pact with Germany and Italy and enters the second world war.
1941 Japan conducts surprise attack on US naval base at Pearl Harbor, beginning a Pacific conflict that initially goes well for Tokyo. But defeat at the Battle of Midway in 1942 turns the tide, and Japan is soon pegged back.
1945 The first atomic bomb is dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, with a second falling on Nagasaki a few days later. Japan surrenders, and is occupied by US forces until 1952. At around this time, Japan begins a period of rapid growth that transforms its economy.
1956 Japan admitted to United Nations.
1964 Tokyo hosts the summer Olympics, marking Japan’s full return to the international community. Also in this year, the shinkansen (bullet train) starts up, linking Tokyo and Osaka and running at speeds of 210kmh.
1989 Akihito succeeds to the throne following the death of his father, Hirohito.
1990 Japan’s economic bubble bursts, ending decades of growth and ushering in over 10 years of stagnation.
1993 After 38 years in charge, the Liberal Democratic Party is swept from power by an opposition coalition. But the new government proves fractious, and the LDP is back in charge by early 1996.
1995 The religious cult Aum Shinrikyo releases poison gas on the Tokyo subway system, killing 12 and injuring hundreds.
2003 Japan’s economy shows signs of recovery from the post-bubble stagnation, though growth remains tentative in the ensuing years.
2007 Japan gets a new prime minister for the 48th time since the war when the LDP’s Yasuo Fukuda takes the helm.

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