Japanese History (Time Periods)

Jomon Culture

4000 BCE

Prehistoric culture characterized by handmade pottery with rope pattern design

Yayoi Culture

300 BCE

More advanced agricultural society, using metals and wheel-turned pottery

Kofun Period

250 - 538 AD

Asuka Period

538 - 710 AD

Introduction of Buddhism

552 AD

Taika Reform

645 AD

Reorganization and reform based largely on learning imported from China: Buddhism, writing system, bureaucratic organization, legal theories

Nara Period

710 - 814 AD

Establishment of first permanent capital at Nara; emergence of Japanese patterns of administration and institutions. Beginning of classical period.

Heian Period; Late Heian (Fujiwara)

794 - 1185 AD

Great flowering of classical Japanese culture in new capital of Heian-kyo (Kyoto). Court aristocracy, especially women, produced great body of literature- poetry, diaries, the novel "The Tale of Genji"- and made refined aestetic sensibility their society's hallmark

Kamakura Period

1185 - 1333

Beginning of military rule, as samurai (warriors) replaced nobles as real rulers of Japan. Imperial court remained in Kyoto but shoguns governing organization based in Kamakura, south of modern Tokyo.

Kemmu Restoration

1333 - 1336

Ashikaga or Muromachi Period

1336 - 1573

New warrior government in Kyoto retained weak control of the country, but from its base in Kyoto's Muromachi district became patron of newly flourishing artistic tradition, influenced by Zen Buddhist culture as well as samurai and court society.

Unification

1568 - 1598

Momoyama Period

1573 - 1615

Tokugawa (Edo) Period

1600 - 1867

Country unified under military government which maintained 250 years of secluded peace, leading to development of vibrant urban, "middle-class" culture with innovations in economic organization, literature, and the arts.

Meiji Restoration (or Meiji Period)

1868 - 1912

Emergence, with Western stimulus, into modern international world, marked by dramatic alterations in institutions, traditional social organization, and culture.

Taisho Period

1912 - 1926

Showa Period

1926 - 1989

Japan as a world power in the 20th century

Contemporary Japan: (Heisei Period)

1945 - present

Heisei period (1989 - present)