Ancient Japan

The Kofun period takes its name, (which means old tomb), from the culture’s rich funerary rituals and distinctive earthen mounds. The Kofun period, consisted of a highly aristocratic society were militaristic rulers developed, and had an advanced military. This period was a critical stage in Japan’s evolution toward a more cohesive and recognized state. During the Kofun period the Japanese also adopted the Chinese writing system, and Buddhism.

In 710 A.D., the Empress moved the capital of Japan to Nara. During this period the political developments were low, because of the imperial family who struggled for power with the Buddhist clergy. Coins were minted, and taxes were collected more efficiently than before. Because of these taxes many lost there land and became ronin, while large landholders employed some. In 792 universal conscription, (slavery), was abandoned, and district heads were allowed to establish private militia forces for police work. To return control to imperial hands, the capital was moved to Nagaoka in 784, and then to 794 to Heian-kyo.

The Heian period began when the capital was moved to Heian-kyo, (present day Kyoto), by Emperor Kammu. This period is considered a high point in Japanese culture; also the time period was noted for the rise of the samurai class. During this period the military begun to take over and each province had their own government. Between two of these provinces begun the Genpei War, which resulted in the fall of the Taira clan, and Minamoto Yoritomo as shogun which begun the Kamakura Period.

Feudal Japan

The Heian period ended ancient Japan, and begun the Feudal Era, (Japan’s medieval era). During this period civil, the samurai class controlled military, and judicial matters. The top of this class was Minamoto Yoritomo. Once Minamoto had consolidated his power, he established a new government; this government was called a bakufu, (the shogunate). By the early thirteenth century, the Hojo family, (a group of regents), were put to help the shogun. Under the Hojo many became powerless, and because of this, strains emerged between Kyoto and Kamakura, and in 1221 a war, (the Jokyu War), broke out between the Emperor and the Hojo regent. The Hojo easily won, and the imperial court was brought under bakufu control.

Many years later, Emperor Go-Daigo overthrew the bakufu. Which started a civil war between the bakufu and the Emperor’s loyalist. Ashikaga Takauji constable turned against Kamakura when told to put down Go-Daigo’s rebellion. At the same time another eastern chieftain rebelled against the bakufu, which brought the defeat of the Hojo. After the war Go-Daigo endeavored to restore imperial authority and the tenth-century Confucian practices, this was known as the Kenmu Restoration.

(This period was also known for the two Mongol Invasions.)

Next the Muromachi period marks the Ashikaga shogunate, which begun with the first Muromachi shogun Ashikaga Takauji. The ensuing period of Ashikaga rule was called Muromachi for the district in which its headquarters were in Kyoto after the third Ashikaga shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established his residence in 1378. Although the Ashikaga bakufu were not as strong as the Kamakura and were greatly preoccupied by the civil war, not until Yoshimitsu’s rule did order emerge. Yoshimitsu also gave more power to constables, which became strong regional rulers, later called a daimyo. After time passed the Ashikaga had developed to many problems, which resulted into the Onin war (1467-1477).  Ashikaga and daimyo’s banded together to win, although after the war the Ashikaga shogunate fell apart.

The Next period, (the Azuchi-Momoyama period), begun when Nobunaga reestablished the Ashikaga Shogunate under the last shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki. The shogun lasted for 5 more years until Nobunaga drove Yoshiaki out of Kyoto.

Afterwards Nobunaga began to conquer the country until he committed suicide when Mitsuhide Akechi’s militia forces circled him. After the death of Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, (another daimyo who helped Ashikaga in the Onin War), began to complete what Nobunaga started. His retainer Tokugawa Ieyasu sought to defeat Toyotomi, and did after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Ieyasu held supreme power over Japan beginning the Edo period, and received the title of shogun establishing the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo.

The next period, (the Edo period), is the period at which economic development shot up, and much trade with European countries were going on. Although during this time Christianity began to spread and the shogunate perceived it to be extremely destabilizing, which lead to the persecution of Christians, and as a result the Shimabara Rebellion broke out in 1637-1638. The shogunate won the war while over 37,000 rebels and sympathizers where beheaded. Afterwards the bakufu reacted by slowly closing the country to Western influence, and running the Portuguese out of the country. By 1650, Christianity almost completely disappeared, and religious influence on Japan became limited. Only China and the Dutch had the right to visit Japan during this period, (only for commercial purposes), and they were restricted to one port. Other Europeans who landed on Japanese shores were killed. The bakufu may have put down a lot of Western influence, but during this period, Japan progressively studied Western sciences and techniques through the information and books received from Dutch traders.

Modernization of Japan

The end of this period is particularly called the late Tokugawa shogunate. The cause for the ending of the period is controversial but is known as the forcing of Japan to the world by the US Navy. The Tokugawa did not collapse because of the intrinsic failures. Foreign intrusions helped to precipitate a complex political struggle between the bakufu and the coalition of its critics. Because of the anti-bakufu movement in the nineteenth century, the Tokugawa were being brought down. Afterwards western intrusions began to increase. Although the Japanese allowed some landings, they mainly attempted to keep all foreigners out, and sometimes used force. The shogun’s advisers brought more restrictions on foreign and contacts, suppression of rangaku, (Dutch studies), censorship of literature, and elimination of “luxury” in the government and samurai class.  Japan turned down a demand from the United States, which was greatly expanding its own presence in the Asia-Pacific region, to establish diplomatic relations, and afterwards more reforms were ordered, especially in the economic sector, to strengthen Japan against the Western threat.

July 1853 Matthew C. Perry brought a four-ship squadron appeared in Edo Bay. Abe Masahiro, (a senior chairman of the council), tried to balance the desires of the senior councilors to compromise with the foreigners, while the emperor tried to keep the foreigners out, and the daimyo wanted to go to war. Abe decided to compromise by accepting Perry’s demands for opening Japan to foreign trade while also making military preparations. In March 1854, the Treaty of Peach and the Treaty of Kanagawa opened two ports to American ships seeking provisions, guaranteed good treatment to shipwrecked American sailors, and allowed a United States consul to take up residence in Shimoda, and seaport on Izu Peninsula, southwest of Edo.

During the last years of the bakufu, the bakufu took strong measure to regain their dominance, although the involvement with modernization and foreign powers was to make it a target of anti-Western sentiment throughout the country. The army and the navy were not modernized, so a naval training school was established in Nagasaki, where naval students would study Western naval techniques. Even though the shogunate tried, they were brought down and the bakufu was no longer powerful, but even afterwards foreign naval retaliation continued and the Anglo-Satsuma War broke out leading to another commercial treaty in 1865. Finally in 1867 the emperor died and was succeeded by his minor son Mutsuhito Meiji.

The power of Satsuma and Choshu daimyo began to overwhelm, and eventually, seized the imperial palace, announced their own restoration. Raging imperial Japan the Boshin war broke out, and the bakufu was abolished. Resistance continued afterwards in the North, and the old bakufu naval forces continued to hold out for another six months in Hokkaido, where they founded the short-lived Republic of Ezo.

The end of the Meiji period, (the Taisho period), was marked by huge government domestic and overseas investments and defense programs, and a lack of foreign exchange to pay debts. The influence of western culture continued and eventually became to what Japan is today. During this large period of modernization, Japan discovered many enemies such as China and Russia, and these two enemies each had a war with Japan.  After these wars, Japan became involved in World War II and became a temporary enemy with America.

The attack on Pearl Harbor is the perfect historical example of the damage Japan caused to America, although the Americans recovered quicker than the Japanese expected and a counterattack came and surprised Japan. But U.S. eventually became allies with Japan after the Cold war, and many new things were introduced to them. The country of Japan became as modern as emperor Meiji intended, and Japan is currently going through its Contemporary period, lead by Emperor Akihito.