Concise History of Japan
Before the Edo 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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記紀神話 Japanese Mythology• According to the Japanese Myth,Ninigi, god of Rice and Plenty, wassent by Amaterasu, ruler of thePlain of Heaven, to the earth togovern Japan.
• Japanese imperial family is
believed to be the descendants ofNinigi.
• Takachiho-no-mine at Miyazaki
prefecture is the place where
Ninigi marked his first step.

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Jomon Period (10000BC-300BC)• People of Japan followed ahunting and gathering way of life.
• The period is distinguished fromthe Paleolithic Period by thepresence of the Jomon Potery.
• The introduction of rice farming
to Kyushu and its rapid spreadbrought an end to the Jomon life
style.
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Yayoi Period (300BC-300AD)• Yayoi period was considered tobe peaceful agricultural society.
• But the period is increasingly
seen as one of warfare, social
stratification, and politicalconflicts.
• People used Yayoi pottery withsmooth shapes, and bronze
mirrors, bells, and weapons.
7International Relations• A gold seal of the “King of the stateof Na of Wa of Han” was discoveredin 1784 on Shikanoshima in Fukuoka
Prefecture.
• The gold seal is believed to bepresented in AD57, from the emperorof Later Han, a Chinese dynasty, to a
“King of a small northern Kyushu
country”.
8Yamatai-koku• It is known from Chinese chronicles
that Japan housed many small
political units called kuni.
• Among kuni, Yamatai-koku, wasdescribed in detail by the Chinesechronicles.
• Yamatai was ruled by Queen Himiko.
• There is a dispute on where
Yamatai-koku was located: Kyushu
or Kansai?

doutakuhaniwa9

Kofun Period (300-600)• The first state in Japan, Yamato,
emerged in Kansai, and establisheddiplomatic relations with Korea and China.
• Kyushu lost its political leadership.
• During this period, various tomb mounds(kofun in Japanese) were raised in theWestern area of Japan.
• Among the kofun, the tomb of Emperor
Nintoku is the largest.
10高松塚（Takamatsuzuka）古墳• Takamatsuzuka Tomb wasaccidentally founded in 1960s.
• Inside the tomb mound, thewall is decorated with colorful
paintings drawn in the 7thcentury.
• The tomb was built for theimperial family members.

Mehdan - 投稿者自身による作品, CC 表
示-継承 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2059541による

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遣唐使 Embassies to China• The government started tosend official envoys to Tang
Dynasty in 702.
• Between 702 and 777, seven
missions were dispatched,each consisting of as many as
500 or 600 men.
• Knowledge and culture werebrought to Japan by themissions and the foreignvisitors.

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大宰府 Dazaifu• The imperial court settled down a local government, which ruled
the Kyushu island and managed its international affairs.
• Many aristocrat-bureaucrats were sent from Kyoto and spent afew years at Dazaifu as local officials.
• Some of the bureaucrats were outstanding poets, and their poems
are collected in the 万葉集 Manyo-shu collection.

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令和 Reiwa• Japan’s government chose 令和 Reiwa as the new era
title, which started on May 1, 2019.
• Reiwa was taken from the foreword to the section ofpoems on Spring of the 万葉集 collection.
• One day, 大伴旅人 Otomo-no Tabito held a banquet toadmire the beautiful blossom of plum trees here atDazaifu

14Admiring plum blossom• 初春の令月にして、気淑（よ）く風和（やわら）ぐ。梅は鏡前の粉（ふん）を披（ひら）き、蘭は珮後（ばいご）の香（かう）を薫（かを）らす。
• The foreword to the section is based on the words of someancient Chinese classical poems.
• January of the lunar calendar is February of the solar calendar.
• The new era name celebrates the coronation of the new emperor
徳仁 Naruhito who was born on February 23, 1960.

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聖徳太子 Prince Shotoku Taishi• From 594 to 622, Japan was led by aBuddhist, Prince Shotoku, who wasappointed to the regent to suppoer
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.

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大化の改新 The Taika Reforms• The imperial politics was strongly under the influence of
the Soga clan, which was destroyed in a coup launchedby Prince Naka no Oe and Fujiwara no Kamatari.
• The imperial court was reformed to introduce the Chinese
institutions into bureaucracy and land ownership.

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大宝律令 Taiho Code• After the passing of Price Naka no Oe (then Emperor Tenji), there
was a bloody conflict between his son Prince Otomo and hisbrother Oama, of which the latter won the battle, and wasenthroned as Emperor Tenmu.
• Emperor Tenmu completed the instirutional reform to promulgate
the Taiho Code.
• Under the reign by Emperor Tenmu, the historical chronicles,
Kojiki and Nishon-Shoki were compiled.

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

19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, ancestors of Fujiwara no Kamatari, dominatedthe 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 samurai.
21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 cleared landowners maintained their position asadministrators of the manors by donating them to theFujiwara clan and the imperial family.

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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.
23鎌倉幕府 Kamakura bakufu• The Taira clan was challenged by Monamoto 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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南北朝対立 The North-South Dynasty Conflict• The newly restored rule by the imperial court soon lost thetrust of the warriors.
• 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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応仁の乱 The Onin War• The Muromachi Shogunate was characterized as a coalition ofguardian daimyos, each with large territories, and the power of theshogun gradually weakened.
• Finally, in 1467, a major civil war (Onin War) broke out.
• At the same time, the feudal lords in each area were exhausted.
• The control of their domains was deprived by powerful warriors intheir domains.
• The dymayos were particularly distressed by the revolts of theJodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism (一向一揆).
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戦国大名 The Sengoku War Lords• After the Onin War, the guardian daimyo, who wererelated to the Muromachi shogun, fell and were replacedby powerful local samurai. They were called 戦国大名
sengoku war lords.
• Among them, the Hojo clan in Sagami, the Uesugi clan in
Echigo, the Takeda clan in Kai, the Imagawa clan in
Suruga, the Saito clan in Mino, the Asakura clan in
Echizen, and the Mori clan in Aki are the most famous.
• In 1570s, Oda Nobunaga emerged as a next ruler of29Japan.

Sengoku Daimyos in 1570

https://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Daimyo30

Supplement: Sugawara Michizane• The Dazaifu Tenman-gu
Shrine is dedicated toMichizane Sugawara (845903), who has been enrolled
among the gods in the nameof Tenjin (heavenly-god).

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The Scholar• Sugawara was famous as the family of Chinese scholars.
• In his childhood, he was trained in Chinese classics andpoetry under a private tutor, and soon became famous asa genius and a born poet. Later he was praised by aChinese ambassador as Po-Chu-i (白居易) of Japan.

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His Official Career• Michizane easily obtained the position of Monjohakase(Doctor of Literature), who taught Chinese classics to theNobles in the court.
• The Fujiwara family (clan) was the most powerful in thecourt at that time. Michizane was always subject to itspressure.

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Udaijin• However, Michizane enjoyed the confidence of The
Emperor Uda.
• In 899 when he was 54, he was promoted to the rank ofUdaijin, the second highest rank of the court officials.
• This was an exceptional promotion for a Chinese classicscholar.

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Stop the Embassy to China• In 899, he made a proposal to stop sending the embassy to China(the Tang dynasty at that time), which was accepted by the court.
• This is considered to be a great contribution to the history ofJapan• The fluorescence of the great Heian Literature such as the Pillow
Book and the Tale of Genji, is an outcome of the temporary
isolation of Japanese culture from the Chinese influence.

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源氏物語
Tale of Genji

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Exile to Dazaifu• The head of the Fujiwara family, Tokihira, claimed thatMichizane conspired to dethrone Emperor Daigo.
• The Emperor believed the false charge to be true, andsentenced Michizane to a lifelong exile to Dazaifu, as
vice-governor in name, in 901.

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The East Wind
• On the day he left Kyoto for Kyushu, he composed a wellknown poem impromptu.
When the east wind blows,
Forget not to emit thy perfume,Because thy master is far way,
Oh, my beloved plum tree!

• He died at Dazaifu at age 58 in 903. The funeral took
place at Anrakuji.
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あ東る
風じ吹なか春 し 梅 ばな と の匂て花
忘いれおそこせよ39

The Tenjin• After Michizane’s death, the nobles in the imperial court
were scared by the Michizane’s grudge, because many
Fujiwara members suddenly died shortly.
• The Emperor ordered to build a shrine for Michizane in
Dazaifu and Kyoto.
• Even today, people worship Michizane as the god ofliberal arts and sciences.

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