A Short History of Japan
Before the Showa Era
Ryoichi Imai
Kyushu University

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古代史 Ancient Periods• 神話 Mythology• 縄文 Jomon (10000BC-300BC)• 弥生 Yayoi (300BC-300AD)• 古墳 Kofun (300-592)• 飛鳥 Asuka (592-710)• 奈良 Nara (710-794)• 平安 Heian (794-1185)
2武士の時代 Samurai Periods• 中世 Medieval Periods– 鎌倉 Kamakura (1185-1333)– 室町 Muromachi (1333-1568)– 安土桃山 Azuchi-Momoyama (1568-1600)• Early Modern Period– 江戸 Edo (1600-1868)

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現代 Modern Periods• 明治 Meiji (1868-1912)• 大正 Taisho (1912-1926)• 昭和 Showa (1926-1989)• 平成 Heisei (1989-2019)• 令和 Reiwa (2019-present)

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Ancient Time 1• AD57: An emperor of Later Han of China presented agold seal (aka Golden Seal of Shikanoshima) to a ruler ofthe northern Kyushu.
• 3rd century: The Yamatai-koku was described in a
Chinese chronicle 魏志倭人伝.
• 5th century: Giant tomb mounds were raised in thewestern Japan.
• 600: Prince Shotoku sent an embassy to 隋Sui dynasty
and started official diplomacy with China.
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Ancient Time 2• 645: Taika Reform – The Soga clan was destroyed byPrince Naka-no-Oe and Nakatomi-no-Kamatari.
• 872: Jinshin War – Prince Oama destroyed Prince Otomo
the son of his elder brother Emperor Tenji, and wascrowned as Emperor Tenmu.
• Emperor Tenmu confirmed institutional rule by theimperial family, and created the Ritsuryo 律令 state,
following the Chinese model (Tang dynasty).
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Ancient Time 3• 710: The capital city 平城京 was built in Nara.
• 752: Emperor Shomu built a gigantic Budda Statue atTodaiji Temple.
• 794: The capital city moved to Kyoto 平安京.
• 858-1086: The Sekkan rule 摂関政治 by the Fujiwara
clan.
• 1086-1185: The Cloistered rule 院政 by the retiredemperors.
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聖徳太子 Prince Shotoku Taishi• From 594 to 622, Japan was led by a
Buddhist, Prince Shotoku, who wasappointed to the regent to support
Emperor Suiko, a his elder sister.
• He sent an embassy to China to open
an “equal diplomacy” with an impolite
letter, starting “The ruler of the land of
the rising sun addresses the ruler ofthe land of the setting sun”.

Shotoku Taishi was printed on the10,000 yen bill in the Showa era.

8Construction of the Giant Buddha 奈良の大仏• In 710, the government constructed a
new capital at Nara, following China’s
capital Chang’an.
• During Nara period, Japan suffered
many natural disasters, including asmallpox (天然痘) epidemic.
• In 752, Emperor Shomu built the GiantBuddha statue at the Todaiji temple, inorder to put down natural disasters withthe help of Buddhism.

9平安時代 Heian Period 1- Sekkan politics• In 794, the capital moved to Kyoto, which remained the capital
until 1868.
• The Fujiwara clan, offsprings of Nakatomi-no Kamatari,dominated the Heian politics.
• They maintained their power by allowing their daughter to marryinto the emperor's family and their grandson to ascend the throne
as emperor for generations.
• The Fujiwara leaders supported the emperor as a regent, either
as 摂政 sessho (an assistant to the emperor in his infancy) or as
関白 kampaku (a guarantor to the emperor in his adulthood).
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荘園 shoen (manor)• In the 律令 Rite System, land was owned by the government.
• In order to increase agricultural productivity, the imperial court
encouraged cultivation and allowed conditional private ownershipof new settlements.
• Manors were nominally the private property of powerful membersof the imperial court, and by the 11th century, more than half ofthe country's land was manors.
• The owners of manors hired armed samurai to protect theirprivate properties. This is the origin of the samurai.
11平安時代 Heian Period 2 – Cloistered rule
• In 1086, Emperor Shirakawa ceded the throne to his son
but continued to exercise political power.
• Since then the real authority was held by a retired
emperor behind the scenes.
• Newly created landowners maintained their position asadministrators of the manors by donating them to theFujiwara clan and the imperial family.

12源氏と平氏 the Minamoto and Taira clans• Among the emerging warriors, the Minamoto and Tairaclans, whose ancestors were the imperial family, rose toprominence.
• They gradually grew in power by being hired by theimperial family and nobility as armed devices to resolve
the political struggles of the imperial court.
• In 1160, 平清盛 Taira no Kiyomori defeated his political
rival 源義朝 Minamoto no Yoshitomo and became the firstsamurai to take control of the imperial court.
13Mediaeval Time 1• 1185: Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, a Samurai leader, defeatedthe Taira clan, and consolidated his rule based on military
power at Kamakura.
• Since then, Japan had dual governments: one in Kyoto
and the other in Kyoto, Kamakura, or Edo.
• The samurai rule was based on feudalistic virtue – graceand service: the shogun authorized the property rights of
his vassals, who provided military service to protect theshogunate.
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鎌倉幕府 Kamakura bakufu• The Taira clan was challenged by Minamoto noYoritomo, a son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo.
• As a result of fierce battles, the Minamoto clan
destroyed the Taira clan.
• In 1192, Yoritomo received the title of 征夷大将軍
Seii tai shogun from the Imperial Court andestablished a government in Kamakura
independent of the Imperial Court for the purposeof controlling the warriors.
• This was the establishment of the Kamakura
Shogunate.
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The Hojo clan
• The Minamoto clan died out in three generations, and the real
power of the Kamakura shogunate passed to the Hojo clan, which
inherited the regency.
• The rule by the Hojo clan confronted the two full-scale invasions
by Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire in 1274 and 1281.
• After the Mongolian invasion, the weakened rule of the Hojo clan
was challenged by the descendants of the Minamoto clan
• In 1333, the Kamakura shogunate fell, and the rule by the imperial
court was temporarily restored.
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Mediaeval Time 2• 1274 and 1281: The samurai armies were mobilized in toconfront two full-scale invasions launched by Kubilai Khanof the Mongol Empire.
• Northern Kyushu was the major battle field.
• 1333: Discontent among the samurai resulted in the endof the Kamakura shogunate.

17南北朝対立 The North-South Dynasty Conflict• Emperor Go-Daigo temporarily restored the imperial rule,
which was soon replaced by another shogunate led by theAshikaga clan.
• Ashikaga Takauji, a descendant of the Minamoto clan,
revolted, drove Emperor Go-Daigo out of Kyoto and set
up a new shogunate with a replacement emperor.
• The chased Emperor Go-Daigo opened another imperial
court in Yoshino in Nara and called for support fromsamurai all over the country.
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室町幕府 Muromachi Bakufu• The North-South conflict was won by theNorthern Dynasty, and the threesymbols of imperial succession returnedto Kyoto.
• The Muromachi Shogunate was at its
peak during the reign of Ashikaga
Yoshimitsu, the third shogun, who waseconomically successful in trading withthe Ming Dynasty in China.
• In 1397, Yoshimitsu built the sumptuous
Kinkakuji Temple on Kitayama in Kyoto.

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Mediaeval Time 3• The samurai rule by the Ashijaga clan was fragile: The state soon
entered a civil war (the Ohnin War 1467).
• Established samurai leaders were replaced by their elaborate
vassals, who consolidated local rules and grew to the Sengoku
warlords.
• The scattered political rule was gradually united by the threeheroes: 織田信長、豊臣秀吉、徳川家康.
• In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu founded a new shogunate at Edo(Tokyo today).
• The Tokugawa bakufu continued for more than 260 years.
20Pre-modern Time• The rule by the Tokugawa shogunate was based on thefeudalistic lord-vassal relationship and its Confucius
authorization.
• At the end of the Edo period, as the Western powers
approached Japan, trust in the Tokugawa shogunate
gradually wavered.
• In 1867, the last shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu returned
the ultimate power to rule to the emperor (MeijiRestauration).
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Modern Time 1• 1868: 明治維新 Meiji Restauration - the state capital moved toToyko from Kyoto.
• The shogunate was abolished and replaced by a modernmonarchy, following the British and Prussian models.
• 1889: The first representatives were elected by wealthy people’svotes.
• The first constitution was given by the emperor to the diet and thestate government.
• Bureaucrats are responsible not to the elected representatives butto the emperor.
22Modern Time 2• Legal institutions were modernized to the western model.
• Industry was revamped with the introduction of modernmachinery.
• Japan waged wars against China (1894) and Russia(1904).
• Japan's bitter victory not only gave confidence to thepeople, but also enhanced Japan's status in theinternational community.
23Modern Time 3• In 1914, Japan joined World War I under the pretext of the AngloJapanese Alliance and attacked the German territory of Tsingtao.
• Japan also attended the Versailles Peace Conference andbecame a member of the Council of the League of Nations.
• In 1920s, parliamentary politics evolved and the "Taisho
Democracy" took root, with the two major conservative parties
taking charge of the government in turn.

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The Normal Way of Constitutional Government• When the cabinet collapsed due to scandal, the emperor
appointed the leader of the opposition party as the successor
leader based on the advice of the senior statesmen.
• In the general elections held after the dissolution of the Diet, theparty of the new Prime Minister always became the first party.
• The people approved ex post facto the choices of the emperor
and the senior statesmen.
• The so called "normal way of constitutional government," differedfrom Western democracy, in which the people directly decide theparty in power.
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