Japan: Political History and Notable Figures

660 BCE - 585 BCE - Jimmu Tenno (All Facts)

• Legendary First Emperor and Founder of Japan

• In Japanese mythology, he is considered to have descended from the solar goddess Amaterasu

• He ascended the throne after vanquishing the Yamato Kingdom

• Reputed to have been born in Kyushu, which he left to conquer Eastern Japan

190 CE - 248 CE - Queen Himiko of Yamatai (All Facts) 

• Japanese Queen 

• She sent an envoy to China that came back with a golden seal by the Chinese emperor 

  • This confirmed the Queen and her state was allied with China at the time 

• She went to war with the King of the state of Kunukoku

  • When she requests aid from China, they reject her 

• When she is overthrown by her brother who usurped the throne, peace became restored only after her daughter Iyo regained power as priestess-queen 

313 - 399 - Nintoku (All Facts)

• Legendary 16th Emperor of Japan

• Sometimes referred to as the “Saint Emperor”

• He was buried in the largest mound / tomb yet known to man at that point

  • To this day, it is the largest known tomb in Japan

  • The actual site of his burial, however, is still a mystery

500s - Otomo no Kanamura (All Facts) 

• Japanese Warrior and Statesman, he was an Imperial Chieftain 

• He agreed to the accession of the four provinces of Mimana in southern Korea to Paekche, a larger state in southwest Korea 

538 - 710 - Asuka Period / “Classical” Japan (All Facts)

539 - 571 - Kinmei (All Facts)

• 29th Emperor of Japan and First Emperor of “Classical” Japan / The “Asuka” Period of Japan

• He accepted a gift from King Syong Myong of Paekche, a state of Korea, which was and a gold and copper image of the Buddha, in which King Myong of Paekche sent it to him as a symbolic request for military help and as a request for alliance as rival kings

• While the namesake Emperor was fond of the statue and impressed by Buddhist religion, his court was split over those who favored Buddhism and new ideas and those who were more traditionally bound to Shinto beliefs while hostile to alien influences

• During his reign, the Korean Kingdom of Koguryo sent their first embassy to Japan

587 - 592 - Sushun (All Facts) 

• 32nd Emperor of Japan 

• His assumption to the throne represented Japan’s supremacy of Buddhism over Shintoism, when the Soga family clan overcame the Mononobe family clan

• However, he overstepped his role as puppet emperor and was replaced by another

593 - 628 - Suiko (All Facts)

• 33rd Empress of Japan

  • Prince Shotoku Taishi served as regent during most of her reign

• Niece of Soga no Umako, he was her chief minister

• She was expected to cooperate with Soga no Umako, unlike her predecessor

Soga Clan (All Facts)

• One of the most powerful aristocratic kin groups of the Asuka period of Yamato Japan

• They played a major role in the spread of Buddhism in Japan

551 - 626 - Soga no Umako (All Facts) 

• Ruled as regent of Japan during Empress Suiko’s reign as 33rd Ruler of Japan

• Powerful figure at the Yamato Court

• He put the emperor before him, his nephew, to death 

• He was a devout Buddhist but a ruthless politician 

• His ambition was to establish the Soga family’s supremacy at court 

• His predecessor was put on the throne by him when the Soga family overcame the anti-Buddhist Mononobe family 

593 - 622 - Shotoku Taishi of Yamato (All Facts)

• Ruled Japan as regent for his aunt, Empress Suiko, since the year after the assassination of the last emperor, as 33rd Ruler of Japan

• He is most famous for his 17-article constitution, which

  • Directed the members of the ruling class to

    • believe in Buddhism

    • unite under the authority of the emperor

  • Stressed the virtues of harmony and obedience, elements of which derive from Confucianism

• He

  • Adopted many forms of Chinese culture and politics

  • Admired the Chinese model of centralized government

  • Adopted the Chinese calendar, which confirmed the official date of the foundation of the Japanese state, which was 660 BCE

  • Sent an emissary by the name of Ono no Imoko to China in order to further good relations between China and Japan

• He

  • Was a scholarly Buddhist

  • Did much to encourage the spread of Buddhism in Japan

    • He promoted Buddhism and Confucianism in Japan, in addition to Japan’s traditional Shinto religion

  • Established the Horyuji Monastery under his rule

• He had great administrative skill

• Under his rule,

  • Japan learned from China how to do woodblock printing

600s - Ono no Imoko (All Facts)

• Japanese Emissary sent by Shotoku Taishi to China to establish diplomatic ties between Japan and China

600s - 645 - Soga no Iruka (All Facts)

• Final member of the tyrannical Soga family to rule from the imperial throne, having been murdered in the family’s palace’s crowded audience hall in a coup d'état staged during a reception for Korean envoys

• He and his father had enraged the court by manipulating state affairs for themselves

• He was killed by Prince Naka no Oe and his father committed suicide the following day, having been deserted by his supporters following his son’s murder

645 - 654 - Kotoku (All Facts)

• 36th Emperor of Japan

• Oversaw the Taika Reforms, which

  • Brought all private land under public ownership

  • Centered power on the Emperor in imitation of the Chinese system

697 - 707 - Monmu (All Facts)

• 42nd Emperor of Japan

• He oversaw

  • The issuing of the Taiho Code

  • The founding of the Ommyoryo, or “Ministry of Divination of Yin and Tang”

710 - 794 - Nara Period (All Facts)

• Began with the establishment of the capital at Heijo

707 - 715 - Empress Genmei (All Facts)

• 43rd Empress of Japan and First Ruler of Japan during the Nara Period

• She established Japan’s capital at Nara, to which the government and court was moved

  • It was chosen under the Taika Reforms

• She oversaw

  • O No Yasumaro author the “Kojiki”

724 - 749 - Shomu (All Facts)

• 45th Emperor of Japan

• Under his reign, the Japanese government decreed that Buddhist temples were to be established throughout Japan

  • Buddhism essentially became the state cult

• He oversaw widespread imitation of Chinese culture

• His possessions were famously housed in the “Shosoin,” a wooden treasure house which was built near the Toshodaiji Temple

749 - 758 - Empress Koken / Empress Shotoku (All Facts)

• 46th and 48th Empress of Japan

• During her (first) reign, she attended a ceremony before the great bronze Buddha in the Toshodaiji Temple in Nara; where she attested that she, as empress, was the servants of the “Three Jewels” of Buddhism

794 - 1185 - Heian Period (All Facts)

• Period of Japanese history in which Japan thoroughly imitated / emulated Chinese traditions in politics, art, and literature

781 - 806 - Kammu (All Facts)

• 50th Emperor of Japan

• He moved the capital of Japan from Nara to Kyoto

• He instituted the Heian period in Japan, in which indigenous feudalism superseded the Chinese-based social order

1068 - 1073 - Go-Sanjo (All Facts)

• 71st Emperor of Japan

• Not having been the son of a Fujiwara mother, his assumption to the throne marked the end of the Fujiwara clan’s dominance over the Japanese imperial government and throne

1096 - 1156 - Minamoto no Tameyoshi (All Facts)

• Leader of the Minamoto Clan

• He was killed during the Heiji Rebellion

  • His son Yoshimoto was ordered to kill him, bus his son refused

  • One of his own officers then killed him, saying that it would be a disgrace for him to die at the hand of a member of the Taira clan; so he took his own life thereafter

1155 - 1158 - Go-Shirakawa (All Facts)

• 77th Emperor of Japan

  • He was nicknamed “the Cloistered”

• During his reign, he reintroduced capital punishment after 350 years for offenses committed by courtiers in the wake of the Hogen disturbances which arose from rivalries within the imperial family and powerful Fujiwara, Taira, and Minamoto clan families

1180 - 1185 - Antoku (All Facts)

• 81st Emperor of Japan

  • He was a “child-emperor”

• He perished in a great sea battle between the rival Taira and Minamoto clans

  • With him died most of the Taira nobles and Taira power and ambitions

  • He drowned during the Battle of Danoura during the Genpei War

1159 - 1189 - Minamoto no Yoshitsune (All Facts)

• He helped his brother Yoritomo in his fight against the Taira Clan, only to become the target of his brother’s attacks

• When his brother defeated the namesake, he committed suicide with his family and partisans

1192 - 1333 - Kamakura Shogunate (All Facts)

• Feudal-Military Government of Japan following the Heian Period

  • First in a series of governments ruling Japan which had real power while the Emperor served as a symbolic figurehead

• Founded by Minamoto no Yoritomo of the Minamoto Clan

1192 - 1199 - Minamoto no Yoritomo (All Facts)

• First Shogun and Founder of the Kamakura Shogunate

  • As the head warrior of the Minamoto Clan, he had defeated the Taira Clan once and for all in the previous Genpei War

  • He then established the first Shogunate, or feudal-military government, and its capital at Kamakura in Eastern Japan in the lovely bay of Sagami; and thus initiating the Kamakura Shogunate / period

  • He was made shogun by the emperor, who from the namesake’s reign onwards served as a symbolic figurehead of the Japanese government

  • He consolidated his reign in that the Taira were no longer able to challenge him, and thus he had no military or political rivals to challenge him and the ascendancy of the Minamoto Clan was complete

• He rewarded his followers with grants of estates at strategic points throughout the country

• He setup an administrative network to be the basis for the central government

1203 - 1219 - Minamoto no Sanetomo (All Facts)

• 3rd Shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate

• Following his death, the Hojos assumed the government at Kamakura

1318 - 1339 - Go-Daigo (All Facts)

• 96th Emperor of Japan

• He oversaw the short-lived imperial Kenmu restoration, having temporarily overthrown the Hojo Family Clan and Kamakura Shogunate after capturing Kamakura

• He moved his court to Yoshino, south of Kyoto

1336 - 1573 - Ashikaga Shogunate / Muromachi Period (All Facts)

• During this period, there was a period of cultural refinement that took place around the 1440s

1336 - 1348 - Komyo (All Facts)

• He established a court in Kyoto

1338 - 1358 - Ashikaga Takauji (All Facts)

• First Shogun and Founder of the Ashikaga Shogunate

1383 - 1392 - Go-Kameyama (All Facts)

• 99th Emperor of Japan

• He made it so that the rival southern and northern courts of the divided imperial family were reunited after 50 years of strife per an agreement in which he was to perform a solemn act of abdication in which the imperial regalia held by the south of Japan were to be transferred to the north

  • He had already been betrayed, however, for the regalia had been returned to the north by a small escort of courtiers who carried them to the Tscuhi-Mikado Palace where the northern emperor at the time was staying, boding ill for the agreement which had stipulated that the succession was to alternative between the two lines of Japan’s imperial family

1392 - 1402 - Go-Komatsu (All Facts)

• 100th Emperor of Japan

• Under his reign,

  • Japan began to trade with Ming China

1430 - 1473 - Hosokawa Katsumoto (All Facts)

• Japanese Warlord

• He helped create the Ryōan-ji Temple after a lifetime of fighting

1443 - 1473 - Ashikaga Yoshimasa (All Facts)

• Shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate

• During his reign, he had built (for himself) the “Ginkaku” (“Silver Pavilion”), which got its name from the namesake’s plan to cover the monastery with silver lead

  • It was located at his retreat in a scenic area of Kyoto and stood on the site of an abandoned monastery

  • There, worn out by a lifetime of war and strife, he practiced the tea ceremony and welcomed men of taste with whom he discussed his collections of Song Dynasty paintings and porcelain

• He ordained that, upon his death, his elegant residence be converted into a Temple

1519 - 1541 - Hōjō Ujitsuna (All Facts)

• Japanese Samurai Warlord

• He attacked and captured Edo Castle

• He expelled from Edo followers of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism

• During his life,

  • monks from the Tendai monasteries on Mt. Hiei, northwest of Kyoto, swept down onto the city and massacred followers of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism

1527 - 1566 - Shimazu Takahisa (All Facts)

• Prince of Satsuma and Daimyo

• He gave St. Francis Xavier permission to preach in his lands, enabling him to make some 150 converts, including the faithful Barnabas who became his servant and guard

• His indulgence stemmed from the belief that rich Portuguese ships would follow St. Francis Xavier

  • When such ships did not materialize, he issued an edict making it a capital offense for any of his subjects to become a Christian after the passage of the edict

1568 - 1573 - Ashikaga Yoshiaki (All Facts)

• Final Shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate

• His having submitted to Oda Nobunaga marked the end of the Ashikaga Shogunate / Muromachi Period of Japan

1528 - 1579 - Tanegashima Tokitaka (All Facts)

• Japanese Daimyo

  • He oversaw the arrival of the gun in Japan, which he had mass produced

• He saw two Portuguese adventurers, the first Europeans known to have landed in Japan after having been shipwrecked off the namesake island (of Japan), take their arquebuses (shotguns) and shoot down a duck

  • In response, he paid them a fortune in gold for the three matchlock guns thyey had on board

  • He then handed the guns to his chief swordsmith, Yatsuita, and ordered him to copy them and the guns went into mass production

  • Yatsuita traded his daughter for lessons from the armorer of another Portuguese ship

  • Up until that point, the Japanese had no seen firearms since the aborted Mongol invasion of the 1200s

1551 - 1578 - Oda Nobunaga (All Facts)

• Japanese Samurai and Daimyo

  • He is considered the First of the Three “Great Unifiers” of Japan

  • He was only 17 when he succeeded to his family’s modest feudal barony

  • He was soon forced to fight for his land, having been disregarded

  • He proved himself to be a ruthless warlord, having killed his treacherous younger brother and swiftly achieving local ascendancy

• He

  • embarked on a career of conquest until he could rightly lay claim to being responsible for the reunification of Japan following the prior century of strife

  • made a powerful alliance with Tokugawa Ieyasu

  • ensured that Ashikaga Yoshiaki submitted to him, thus ending the Ashikaga Shogunate / Muromachi Period

• He (and his forces)

  • put down resistance from the Saito Family

  • took the town of Inabayama (Gifu)

  • destroyed the rebellious Ikko sect (based near Osaka)

  • defeated the Sohei (warrior-monks) of the Enryakuji Temple of Mt. Hiei and razed it to the ground

  • attacked Mt. Koya (the headquarters of the Shingon Sect of Buddhism)

• He

  • ordered building work to begin on the Azuchi Castle on the shores of Lake Biwa

• He was attacked by Akechi Mutsihide and died

  • He was murdered at dawn at the Honnoji Monastery where he was staying while on his way from Azuchi Castle to a distant battlefield

  • He was taken by surprise by a strong force of men belonging to Akechi Mutsihide, with whom he had no prior quarrel

  • He and his forces fought as valiantly as they could, but were overwhelmed and killed and their monastery was set ablaze

  • He may have committed suicide

1571 - 1582 - Akechi Mitsuhide (All Facts)

• Japanese Samurai

• He killed Oda Nobunaga

• He lost a battle with Toyotomo Hideyoshi and was killed

1563 - 1587 - Omura Sumitada (All Facts)

• First Japanese Christian Daimyo

  • He converted after his exposure to the Jesuits and their missions to Japan and was eventually baptized

• He gave permission for foreign traders to establish posts at a small fishing village called Fukae (Nagasaki)

  • He was thus the first Japanese lord to open the Port of Nagasaki to foreign trade

  • Soon after, Portuguese ships began trading in the Port of Nagasaki

1566 - 1587 - Shimazu Yoshihisa (All Facts)

• Japanese Daimyo

• He surrendered to Yotoyomo Hideyoshi, effectively bringing the whole of Kyushu under Hideyoshi’s control

1585 - 1592 - Toyotomi Hideyoshi (All Facts)

• Japanese Samurai and Daimyo and Effective Regent of Japan

• He is considered the Second of the Three “Great Unifiers” of Japan

  • He took the title “Kampaku” (meaning “civil dictator,” taking over the task begun by his predecessor of uniting Japan

  • He thus completed the political reunification of Japan under his rule

• He (and his forces)

  • defeated Akechi Mitsuhide in battle, killing him

  • ensured Shimazu Yoshihisa surrendered unto him, effectively bringing the whole of Kyushu under his control

• He instituted a (his)

  • “Sword Hunt” in order to disarm the Japanese peasantry

    • He cloaked the purpose of the hunt by claiming that

      • the weapons were needed to provide the metal for the Great Image of the Buddha being built in the Hokoji Monastery in Kyoto at the time

      • the peasants will be assured of their salvation for sacrificing their weapons

    • His true design was to confiscate the weapons held by civilians

      • He wanted to disarm peasants who

        • kept needless weapons

        • did not pay their taxes

        • plotted uprisings against their landlords

    • His order

      • disarmed troublemakers

      • distinguished civilians from soldiers

      • provided a way to seize the weapons of the soldier-monks of turbulent monasteries such as Koyasan and Hieizan

• He issued the

  • Bateren Edict

    • He did this despite the fact that the day before that he went on board a Portuguese ship to talk to the vice-provincial Gaspar Coelho

    • He appeared in a friendly mood, but then, in the middle of the night, a message awoke Coelho with an angry denunciation from him, accusing the Jesuit of selling Japanese people as slaves and smashing Buddhist images

    • When he demanded a reply, Coehlo did his best but he was unable to turn aside the namesake’s anger

1603 - 1868 - Tokugawa Shogunate / Edo Period (All Facts)

1549 - 1616 - Tokugawa Ieyasu (All Facts)

• Founder and First Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan and Daimyo

  • He was initially a vassal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, during which he moved his administrative and military base to Edo (Tokyo), which he proved to be a strategic position for the domination of the great plain of eastern Japan

  • He eventually took the namesake surname

• He is considered the Third of the Three “Great Unifiers” of Japan

• He made an alliance with the powerful Japanese nobleman Oda Nobunaga

• Under his reign,

  • The Daibutsuden in Nara was burnt down due to fighting

  • Japan, which had over 150K Christians by 1582, sent its first ambassador to the Vatican City