From The Ancient Era to AD 793
Japanese archipelago’s first residents arrived in prehistoric times, approximately 30,000 BCE. The Chinese Book of Han, composed in the first century CE, has the earliest written mention of Japan during this time.
In the first millennium BCE, the Yayoi period, defined by the introduction of new inventions from Asia, succeeded the Jomon period, which was so named because of the pottery’s cord marking. The Yayoi people from the continent arrived in the Japanese archipelago about the third century BCE and brought agricultural civilization and iron technology with them. The Yayoi was a group of people who originated in the Japanese archipelago and had an agrarian society. As a result of their rapid population growth, they eventually displaced the hunter-gatherer Jomon people.
Japan’s numerous kingdoms and tribes gradually fell under the purported supervision of the Emperor of Japan as a consolidated government from the fourth to the ninth centuries. Even though they now play almost ceremonial roles, the imperial dynasty that was created at this time still exists today.
From AD 794 to the Mid 1600s
The Heian period lasted from 794 until 1185 and began when a new imperial capital was constructed at Heian-ky (modern Kyoto). The Heian era is regarded as its pinnacle in traditional Japanese culture. From this point on, Buddhism and indigenous Shinto rituals were combined in Japanese religious life.
The dominance of the imperial family gradually waned over the succeeding centuries, moving first to powerful clans of nobles from the civil realm, most notably the Fujiwara, and later to the military clans and their legions of samurai. The Genpei War, which took place between 1180–1185 between rival military families, the Taira and Minamoto, was won by the Minamoto clan, led by Minamoto no Yoritomo. After seizing power, Yoritomo established his capital in Kamakura and assumed the title of shogun. The Kamakura shogunate withstood two Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281, but in 1333 it was overthrown by a rival claimant to the shogunate, ushering in the Muromachi period. During this time, regional warlords known as daimyo grew in power at the expense of the shogun. Japan eventually descended into civil war.
Japan was reunified in the late 16th century under the leadership of the prominent daimyo Oda Nobunaga and his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Following Toyotomi’s death in 1598, Tokugawa Ieyasu ascended to power and was appointed shogun by the emperor. The Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled from Edo (modern Tokyo), presided over the Edo period, which was prosperous and peaceful (1600–1868). The Tokugawa shogunate imposed a strict class system on Japanese society and cut off almost all contact with the outside world.
From The Mid-1600s’ to The Modern Era
Portugal and Japan first met in 1543, when the Portuguese became the first Europeans to land in the southern archipelago. Even in this limited interaction, they significantly impacted Japan by introducing firearms into Japanese warfare. The American Perry Expedition in 1853-54 altogether ended Japan’s isolation; this contributed to the fall of the shogunate and the return of power to the emperor during the Boshin War in 1868. The new national leadership of the Meiji period transformed the isolated feudal island country into an empire that closely followed Western models and became a great power. Although democracy and modern civilian culture flourished during the Taisho period (1912-26), Japan’s powerful military had significant autonomy and overruled Japan’s civilian leaders in the 1920s and 1930s.
The Japanese army invaded Manchuria in 1931, and the conflict escalated into a prolonged war with China in 1937. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 precipitated war with the United States and its allies. Japan’s forces were quickly overextended, but the military held out in the face of Allied air attacks that caused severe damage to population centers. Following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945.
During the Allies’ occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1952, a new constitution was enacted in 1947, transforming Japan into a constitutional monarchy. After 1955, Japan experienced incredibly rapid economic growth under the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party, and it rose to prominence as a global economic powerhouse.
Every country has a dark period. It was also present in Japan. But, in the end, the nation that transformed itself into a civilized, peaceful, and helpful nation wins. Japan is without a doubt one of them.
This is the end of the article. Perhaps you’re wondering why the author didn’t add more about Japan’s “Samurai” culture. That, my friend, deserves its own article.
Japan From Bangladesh 