Trade later begins, bringing in ideas from the West. Many Japanese become Christians. Foreigners are banned from Japan. Christianity is banned, too. Many Japanese Christians are martyred.
Japan enters a period of extreme isolation but also of peace.
Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his fleet arrive in Japan and force Japan to open the country's doors to foreign trade. An earthquake in Tokyo kills 145,000 people. The Japanese military bombs Pearl Harbor and invade a number of Asian countries on the same day. World War II begins in Asia in earnest. 1945 U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.