The following information is based on A Traveller's History of Japan by Richard Tames, pp. 238ff. and Among Samurai and Shoguns.
| Date
|
Event
|
Emperor and Empress
|
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8000 | Approximate beginning of the Jomon period | ||||
| 600 | Approximate date of accession of Emperor Jimmu, the great grandson of Ninigi, the granson of Amaterasu, the sun goddess | Jimmu | |||
| 581-549 | Suizei | ||||
| 549-511 | Annei | ||||
| (510)-477 | Itoku | ||||
| (475)-393 | Kosho | ||||
| (392)-291 | Koan | ||||
| 300 | Approximate end of the Jomon period | ||||
| (290)-215 | Korei | ||||
| (214)-158 | Kogen | ||||
| 158-98 | Kaika | ||||
| (97)-30 | Sujin | ||||
| (29 BC) - AD 70 | Suinin | ||||
| (71)-130 | Keiko | ||||
| (131)-190 | Seimu | ||||
| (192)-200 | Chuai | ||||
| 201-269 | Jingu Kogo (regent) | ||||
| (270)-310 | Ojin | ||||
| 300 | Approximate ending of the Yayoi period | ||||
| (313)-399 | Nintoku | ||||
| 400 | Approximate emergence of the Yamato dynasty; Kofun period begins | Richu (400-405) | |||
| (406)-410 | Hanzei | ||||
| (412)-453 | Ingyo | ||||
| 453-456 | Anko | ||||
| 456-479 | Yuryaku | ||||
| (480)-484 | Seinei | ||||
| (484)-487 | Kenzo | ||||
| (488)-498 | Ninken | ||||
| 498-506 | Buretsu | ||||
| (507)-531 | Keitai | ||||
| 531(534)-535 | Ankan | ||||
| 535-539 | Senka | ||||
| 538 or (552) | Traditional dates for the introduction of Buddhism | ||||
| 539-571 | Kimmei | ||||
| (572)-585 | Bidatsu | ||||
| 577-622 | Prince Shotoku | ||||
| 585-587 | Yomei | ||||
| 587 | Soga clan achieves ascendancy at court | ||||
| 587-592 | Sushun | ||||
| 593-628 | Suiko (empress regnant) | ||||
| 604 | Prince Shotoku's "Seventeen Article Constitution"; adoption of Chinese calendar | ||||
| 607 | First official mission to China; foundation of Horyuji | ||||
| (629)-641 | Jomei | ||||
| (642)-645 | Kogyoku (empress regent) | ||||
| 645 | Taika reforms introduce Chinese-style administration | ||||
| 645-654 | Kotoku | ||||
| (655)-661 | Saimei (empress regnant Kogyoku rethroned) | ||||
| 661(668)-672 | Tenji | ||||
| 663 | Loss of Japanese foothold in Korea | ||||
| 672 | Kobun | ||||
| 672(673)-686 | Temmu | ||||
| 686(690)-697 | Jito (empress regnant) | ||||
| 697-707 | Mommu | ||||
| 701-2 | Taiho law code | ||||
| 710 | Establishment of capital at Heijo, later known as Nara | ||||
| 707-715 | Gemmei (empress regnant) | ||||
| 712 | Publication of Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) | ||||
| 715-724 | Gensho (empress regnant) | ||||
| 720 | Publication of Nihon Shoki (Chronicle of Japan) | ||||
| 724-49 | Shomu | ||||
| 741 | Provinces ordered to build Buddhist monasteries | ||||
| 749-58 | Koken (empress regnant) | ||||
| 752 | Dedication of the Great Buddha at Nara | ||||
| 758-764 | Junnin | ||||
| c. 760 | Man'yoshu poetry anthology compiled | ||||
| 764(765)-770 | Shotoku (empress regnant Koken rethroned) | ||||
| 770-781 | Konin | ||||
| 781-806 | Kammu | ||||
| 794 | Heien period begins; establishment of capital at Kyoto | ||||
| 806-809 | Heizei | ||||
| 809-823 | Saga | ||||
| 823-833 | Junna | ||||
| 833-850 | Nimmyo | ||||
| 850-858 | Montoku | ||||
| 858 | Fujiwara clan achieves ascendancy at court | ||||
| 858-876 | Seiwa | ||||
| 876(877)-884 | Yozei | ||||
| 884-887 | Koko | ||||
| 887-897 | Uda | ||||
| 897-930 | Daigo | ||||
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|
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| 930-946 | Suzaku | ||||
| 946-967 | Murakami | ||||
| 967-969 | Reizei | ||||
| 969-984 | En'yu | ||||
| 984-986 | Kazan | ||||
| 986-1011 | Ichijo | ||||
| 995 | Fujiwara Michinaga comes to power as regent | ||||
| c. 1000 | Composition of Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book and Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari). The latter's title character is known as the Shining Prince. | ||||
| c. 1008-1020 | Murasaki Shikibu writes The Tale of Genji | ||||
| 1011-16 | Sanjo | ||||
| 1016-36 | Go-Ichijo | ||||
| 1036-45 | Go-Suzaku | ||||
| 1045-68 | Go-Reizei | ||||
| 1068-72 | Go-Sanjo | ||||
| 1072-86 | Shirakawa | ||||
| 1086-1107 | Horikawa | ||||
| 1107-23 | Toba | ||||
| c. 1112 | Anthology of Poems by the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets was published (6438 poems in 38 volumes by 20 calligraphers on 687 types of paper) | ||||
| 1123-41 | Sutoku | ||||
| 1141-55 | Konoe | ||||
| 1155-58 | Go-Shirakawa | ||||
| 1158-65 | Nijo | ||||
| 1160 | Taira Kiyomori overcomes the Minamoto to become military leader of Japan; Fujiwara dominance ends | ||||
| 1165-68 | Rokujo | ||||
| 1168-80 | Takakura | ||||
| 1180-85 | Antoku | ||||
| 1183(1184)-98 | Go-Toba | ||||
| 1185 | Minamoto Yoritomo defeats the Taira at the Battle of Dannoura and establishes the Kamakura bakufu; Heike/Gempe war ends; Heian era ends | ||||
| 1192 | Minamoto Yoriomo becomes the first Kamakura shogun | ||||
| 1198-1210 | Tsuchimikado | ||||
| 1210(1211)-21 | Juntoku | ||||
| 1221 | Chukyo | ||||
| 1221(1222)-32 | Goshirakawa | ||||
| 1232 | Samurai legal code issued | ||||
| 1232(1233)-42 | Shijo | ||||
| 1242-46 | Go-Saga | ||||
| 1246-59/60 | Go-Fukakusa | ||||
| 1259/60-74 | Kameyama | ||||
| 1274 | First Mongol invasion | ||||
| 1274-87 | Gouda | ||||
| 1281 | Second Mongol invasion | ||||
| 1287(1288)-98 | Fushimi | ||||
| 1298-1301 | Go-Fushimi | ||||
| 1301-08 | Go-Nijo | ||||
| 1308-18 | Hanazono | ||||
| 1318-39 | Restoration of imperial rule by Go-Daigo (1333-8) | Go-Daigo | |||
| 1331(1332)-33 | Northern Court: Kogon | ||||
| 1336 | Ashikaga Takauji defeats Go-Daigo's forces and names a new emperor in Kyoto; Go-Daigo sets up a southern court | ||||
| 1336(1337/38)-48 | Northern Court: Komyo | ||||
| 1338-1573 | Ashikage shogunate | ||||
| 1339-68 | Go-Murakami | ||||
| 1348(1349/50)-51 | Northern Court: Suko | ||||
| 1351(1353/54)-71 | Northern Court: Go-Kogon | ||||
| 1368-83 | Chokei | ||||
| 1371(1374/75)-82 | Northern Court: Go-Enyu | ||||
| 1382-92 | Northern Court: Go-Komatsu | ||||
| 1383-92 | Go-Kameyama | ||||
| 1392 | Reunification of northern and southern courts | ||||
| 1392-1412 | Go-Komatsu | ||||
| 1412(1414)-28 | Shoko | ||||
| 1428(1429/1430)-1464 | Go-Hanazono | ||||
| 1464(1465/66)-1500 | Go-Tsuchimikado | ||||
| 1467-77 | Onin wars - battle over shogunal succession ignites a century of fighting known as Sengoku Jidai | ||||
| 1500(1521)-1526 | Go-Kashiwabara | ||||
| 1526(1536)-57 | Go-Nara | ||||
| 1530 | Beginning "Shogun: Total War" game | ||||
| 1543 | Portuguese land at Tonegashima and introduce firearms | ||||
| 1549 | Arrival of St. Francis Xavier; beginning of Christian proselytizing | ||||
| 1557(1560)-86 | Ogimachi | ||||
| 1568 | Oda Nobunaga seizes Kyoto; Sengoku Jidai draws to a close | ||||
| 1573 | End of Ashikaga shogunate; last Ashikaga shogun is expelled from Kyoto | ||||
| 1575 | Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu win battle at Nagashino where the musket-bearing forces destroyed a sword-wielding forces of Takeda Shingen. | ||||
| 1582 | Oda Nobunaga is assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide; Toyotomi Hideyoshi takes over drive for national reunification | ||||
| 1586(1587)-1611 | Go-Yozei | ||||
| 1588 | "Sword Hunt" separates warriors from peasants | ||||
| 1590 | Hideyoshi completes reunification of Japan | ||||
| 1592 & 1597 | Japanese invasions of Korea by forces sent by Hideyoshi | ||||
| 1597 | Martyrdom of 26 Christians at Nagasaki | ||||
| 1598 | Troops are withdrawn from Korea after Hideyoshi dies | ||||
| 1600 | Battle of Sekigahara where Ieyasu defeats the forces of Hideyori, heir of Hideyoshi; Ieyasu asserts military hegemony; William Adams, an English pilot, in Japan on a Dutch ship (the basis of James Clavell's Blackthorn in the book Shogun) |
||||
| 1603 | Tokugawa Ieyasu adopts the title shogun; Okuni's troupe performs the first kabuki dances in Kyoto | ||||
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| 1610 | The Dutch establish a trading post on Kyushu | ||||
| 1611-29 | Go-Mizunoo | ||||
| 1612-14 | Ieyasu expels the Franciscans and Jesuits and outlaws Christianity | ||||
| 1614-15 | Siege of Osaka; suicide of Hideyori | ||||
| 1615 | Ieyasu begins issuing his rules for society (Buke Shohatto) | ||||
| 1629(1630)-43 | Meisho (empress regnant) | ||||
| 1630s | Restrictive travel and trade edicts are passed, closing Japanese borders for more than 200 years | ||||
| 1636-9 | Japan closed to foreign contacts | ||||
| 1637 | Shimabara uprising | ||||
| 1643-54 | Go-Komyo | ||||
| 1654/55(1656)-63 | Go-Sai | ||||
| 1663-87 | Reigen | ||||
| 1687-1709 | Higashiyama | ||||
| 1688-1704 | Genroku period | ||||
| 1694 | Matsuo Basho's The Narrow Road to the Deep North is published | ||||
| 1700 | Hagakura (literally, "Hidden among Leaves"), a confidential summary of the warrior code, is published | ||||
| 1701-2 | Forty-seven Ronin affair | ||||
| 1703-08 | Earthquakes, floods, and fires ravage Japan; the last eruption of Mt. Fuji; a measles epidemic breaks out | ||||
| 1709(1710)-35 | Nakamikado | ||||
| 1722 | Partial lifting of ban on importation of Western books | ||||
| 1735-47 | Sakuramachi | ||||
| 1747-62 | Momozono | ||||
| 1762(1763)-71 | Go-Sakuramachi (empress regnant) | ||||
| 1771-79 | Go-Momozono | ||||
| 1780-1817 | Kokaku | ||||
| 1781-8 | Major famines, uprisings, and riots | ||||
| 1817-46 | Ninko | ||||
| 1837 | Popular uprising in Osaka | ||||
| 1839-42 | "Opium War" in China | ||||
| 1846(1847)-66 | Komei | ||||
| 1853 | Commodore Perry "opens" Japan with the arrival of his "Black Ships" | ||||
| 1854 | Treaty of Kanagawa signed with the USA | ||||
| 1858 | "Unequal Treaties" signed | ||||
| 1867 | Fall of Tokugawa shogunate; power is restored to the emperor and his government | ||||
| 1867(1868)-1912 | Meiji, personal name Mutsuhito, era name Meiji | ||||
| 1868 | "Meiji Restoration"; Tokyo becomes the capital | ||||
| 1872 | Tokyo-Yokohama railway opened | ||||
| 1877 | Satsuma rebellion crushed | ||||
| 1889 | Adoption of Meiji constitution | ||||
| 1894-5 | Sino-Japanese war | ||||
| 1896 | First demonstration of cinema in Tokyo | ||||
| 1902 | Anglo-Japanese Alliance | ||||
| 1904-5 | Russo-Japanese war | ||||
| 1910 | Annexation of Korea | ||||
| 1911 | Japan regains tariff autonomy | ||||
| 1912(1915)-26 | Taiso, personal name Yoshihito, era name Taisho | ||||
| 1915 | "Twenty One Demands" submitted to China | ||||
| 1918 | Hara forms first party cabinet; "Rice Riots" | ||||
| 1921 | Crown Prince Hirohita visits London; assassination of Hara | ||||
| 1921-2 | Washington Naval Conference | ||||
| 1922 | Prince of Wales tours Japan | ||||
| 1923 | Great Kanto earthquake | ||||
| 1925 | Males over 25 given the vote | ||||
| 1926(1928)-89 | Kinjo, personal name Hirohito, era name Showa | ||||
| 1927 | Banking crisis leads to fall of the government | ||||
| 1930 | London Naval Conference; Prime Minister Hamaguchi shot | ||||
| 1931 | "Manchurian Incident" | ||||
| 1932 | "Manchukuo" puppet-state established in Manchuria | ||||
| 1933 | Japan withdraws from League of Nations | ||||
| 1936 | Attempted coup d'etat by Junior officers; Japan joins Anti-Comintern Pact | ||||
| 1937 | Marco Polo bridge incident | ||||
| 1941 | Attack on Pearl Harbor | ||||
| 1942 | Battle of Midway; conquest of Singapore, Philippines, and Indonesia | ||||
| 1945 | Invasion of Okinawa (April); Potsdam Declaration (July); bombing of Hiroshima (6 August) and Nagasaki (9 August); formal surrender of Japan (15 August) followed by Allied Occupation under General Douglas MacArthur | ||||
| 1947 | Democratic constitution comes into force | ||||
| 1948 | General Tojo and other war leaders are hanged | ||||
| 1951 | Japan signs San Francisco Peace Treaty | ||||
| 1952 | End of occupation | ||||
| 1953 | TV broadcasting begins | ||||
| 1954 | Self-Defense Force established | ||||
| 1955 | Liberal Democratic Party established | ||||
| 1956 | Japan admitted to the United Nations | ||||
| 1958 | Japan launches world's largest oil tanker | ||||
| 1959 | Crown Prince Akihito marries a commoner | ||||
| 1960 | Riots accompany revision of US Security Treaty | ||||
| 1964 | Tokyo hosts Olympic games; Japan joins OECD | ||||
| 1967 | Population passes 100,000,000 | ||||
| 1970 | Suicide of Mishima Yukio; Expo '70 at Osaka; first industrial robot | ||||
| 1972 | Okinawa reverts to Japanese sovereignty; Sapporo hosts Winter Olympics; restoration of diplomatic relations with China | ||||
| 1973 | First "Oil Shock" | ||||
| 1976 | Lockheed bribery scandal | ||||
| 1978 | Narita airport opened | ||||
| 1979 | Second "Oil Shock" | ||||
| 1985 | Yen revalued 40% against the US dollar | ||||
| 1986 | Maekawa Report calls for opening of Japanese economy to imports and inward investment | ||||
| 1988 | Japan becomes largest creditor nation and aid donor; Seikan tunnel links Honshu and Hokkaido | ||||
| 1989 | Scandals force resignations of Prime Ministers Takeshita and Uno; Kaifu Toshiki succeeds as prime minister | ||||
| 1989(1990) -Present |
Akihito, personal name, era name Heisei | ||||
| 1991 | Miyazawa succeeds Kaifu as prime minister | ||||
| 1992 | New law allows up to 2,000 Japanese troops to perform humanitarian tasks overseas under United Nations command | ||||
| 1993 | Marriage of Crown Prince Naruhito to Miss Owada Masako, a commoner and career diplomat | ||||
| 1994 | Oe Kenzaburo is awarded the Nobel Prize for literature; Socialists participate in the government for the first time since 1947; Reformist opposition parties unite to form the Shinshinto bloc | ||||
| 1995 | Kobe earthquake -- estimated death toll was 6,000; Aum Shinrikyo religious cult launches nerve-gas attack on Tokyo underground killing 12 injuring 5,000; Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Maruyama issue public expressions of regret for Japan's wartime conduct | ||||
| 1996 | Scandals related to nuclear power accidents, infected blood, copper trading, and food poisoning; low general election poll turnout indicates widespread public disenchantment with the current political climate | ||||
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