Japan historical timeline

Chronology

c. 36,000 BC — The first known habitation of the archipelago, in the Upper Palaeolithic. Modern humans arrive around 38,000 years ago, and from about 14,500 BC the Jōmon period brings a semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture of pit dwellings and rudimentary agriculture.
AD 111 — Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese Book of Han, described as having a hundred small kingdoms. A century later the Book of Wei records the kingdom of Yamatai unifying many of them.
710–784 — The Nara period, and the emergence of a Japanese state centred on the imperial court at Heijō-kyō, modern Nara. The Kojiki is completed in 712 and the Nihon Shoki in 720 — the oldest Japanese books, and the reason Nara is where the written record starts.
1185 — After the Minamoto defeat the Taira in the Genpei War, Minamoto no Yoritomo establishes a military government at Kamakura. Power moves from the court to the samurai, and stays there for nearly seven centuries.
1274 and 1281 — The Kamakura shogunate repels two Mongol invasions. It is later overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo, who is in turn defeated by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336, beginning the Muromachi period.
16th century — Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries reach Japan, opening direct exchange with the West. Oda Nobunaga uses European firearms to conquer rival daimyō; after his death in 1582 Toyotomi Hideyoshi unifies the country in the early 1590s and launches two failed invasions of Korea, in 1592 and 1597.
1600 — Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the rival clans at the Battle of Sekigahara and is appointed shōgun. The Edo period that follows is the one that built the Japan most visitors come to look at.
1853 — Commodore Matthew Perry arrives at Uraga in July with four “Black Ships” to force Japan open. The Convention of Kanagawa follows in March 1854, and similar treaties with other Western powers after it.
1868–1912 — The Meiji period. Japan becomes the most developed state in Asia and an industrialised world power, declares itself an imperial power in 1889 with the Meiji Constitution, wins the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 and the Russo-Japanese War, annexes Taiwan in 1895 and Korea in 1910.
1923 — The Great Tokyo earthquake kills over 140,000 people. The lawless period that follows, laws against political dissent and a series of attempted coups mark the political shift towards statism in the 1920s.
1931 — Japan invades China and occupies Manchuria, establishing the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932. It invades other parts of China in 1937, beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War, and French Indochina in 1940, after which the United States imposes an oil embargo.
1941 — On 7–8 December Japanese forces attack across the Pacific. Four years later the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bring unconditional surrender in 1945. The war costs Japan millions of lives and its conquered territories.
1947 — A new constitution emphasising liberal democratic practice. The Allied occupation ends with the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952, and Japan is admitted to the United Nations in 1956.
1964 — Tokyo hosts the Summer Olympics, with the Winter Games at Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998. A period of record growth makes Japan the world's second-largest economy.
mid-1990s — The asset price bubble bursts, beginning the “Lost Decade” of stagnation and low inflation. The 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake devastates Kobe.
2011 — On 11 March the Tōhoku earthquake, the largest by magnitude in Japanese recorded history, and the tsunami that followed trigger the Fukushima nuclear accident. Nuclear power fell from 11.2 per cent of Japanese energy in 2010 to 2.8 per cent by 2019.
2019 — On 1 May, after a historic abdication, a new emperor accedes and the Reiwa era begins.

Verified against Wikipedia, September 2026.

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Checked against Wikipedia — The first known habitation of the archipelago dates to the Upper Palaeolithic, with the Japanese Palaeolithic beginning around 36,000 BC; modern humans arrived about 38,000 years ago and from around 14,500 BC the Jōmon period brought a semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture of pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture, Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese Book of Han, completed in 111 AD, described as having a hundred small kingdoms, and a century later the Book of Wei records the kingdom of Yamatai unifying many of them, The Nara period of 710 to 784 marked the emergence of a Japanese state centred on the imperial court at Heijō-kyō, modern Nara, with the Kojiki completed in 712 and the Nihon Shoki in 720, In 1185, following the defeat of the Taira clan by the Minamoto in the Genpei War, Minamoto no Yoritomo established a military government at Kamakura, and the feudal era was characterised by the dominance of the samurai, The Kamakura shogunate repelled Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281 but was overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo, who was defeated by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336, beginning the Muromachi period of 1336 to 1573, During the 16th century Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries reached Japan, Oda Nobunaga used European firearms to conquer other daimyō, and after his death in 1582 Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the nation in the early 1590s and launched two unsuccessful invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597, Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated rival clans at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and was appointed shōgun by the emperor, Commodore Matthew Perry arrived at Uraga with four Black Ships in July 1853 to force the opening of Japan, resulting in the Convention of Kanagawa in March 1854 and similar treaties with other Western powers, During the Meiji period of 1868 to 1912 Japan became the most developed state in Asia and an industrialised world power, declared itself an imperial power in 1889 with the Meiji Constitution, annexed Taiwan in 1895 and Korea in 1910, and won the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 and the Russo-Japanese War, The 1920s saw a political shift towards statism, a period of lawlessness following the 1923 Great Tokyo Earthquake, laws against political dissent and a series of attempted coups; the 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people, In 1931 Japan invaded China and occupied Manchuria, leading to the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932; it invaded other parts of China in 1937 beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War, and French Indochina in 1940, after which the United States imposed an oil embargo, On 7–8 December 1941 Japanese forces attacked across the Pacific, and after Allied victories culminating in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 Japan agreed to unconditional surrender, the war costing millions of lives and its conquered territories, Japan adopted a new constitution emphasising liberal democratic practices in 1947, the Allied occupation ended with the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952, and Japan was granted UN membership in 1956, Japan hosted the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, the Winter Olympics in Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998, and Tokyo hosted the 2020 Summer Olympics, A period of record growth made Japan the world's second-largest economy; this ended in the mid-1990s after the popping of an asset price bubble, beginning the Lost Decade of stagnation and low inflation, and the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake was one of the major recent quakes, On 11 March 2011 Japan suffered the Tōhoku earthquake, the largest by magnitude in its recorded history, which with the ensuing tsunami triggered the Fukushima nuclear accident; nuclear power fell from 11.2 per cent of Japanese energy in 2010 to 2.8 per cent as of 2019, On 1 May 2019 a new emperor acceded after a historic abdication (September 2026).