World History
History of Japan. This is a brief history of the Asian nation of Japan. It gives very little attention to most of Japanese history and instead focuses on the last 250 years. I have been in Japan twice but it was only to change planes. I hope to really visit someday.
Wikipedia notes, "Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of China, Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean 'sun-origin', which is why Japan is sometimes identified as the Land of the Rising Sun. Japan comprises over three thousand islands, the largest of which are Honsh?, Hokkaid?, Ky?sh? and Shikoku, together accounting for 97% of land area. Most of the islands are mountainous, many volcanic; for example, Japan?s highest peak, Mount Fuji, is a volcano. Japan has the world's tenth largest population, with about 128 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents."
From the site:
Traditional Japanese legend maintains that Japan was founded in 600 BC by the Emperor Jimmu, a direct descendant of the sun goddess and ancestor of the present ruling imperial family. About AD 405, the Japanese court officially adopted the Chinese writing system. Together with the introduction of Buddhism in the sixth century, these two events revolutionized Japanese culture and marked the beginning of a long period of Chinese cultural influence. From the establishment of the first fixed capital at Nara in 710 until 1867, the emperors of the Yamato dynasty were the nominal rulers, but actual power was usually held by powerful court nobles, regents, or "shoguns" (military governors).
The first recorded contact with the West occurred about 1542, when a Portuguese ship, blown off its course to China, landed in Japan. During the next century, traders from Portugal, the Netherlands, England, and Spain arrived, as did Jesuit, Dominican, and Franciscan missionaries. During the early part of the 17th century, Japan's shogunate suspected that the traders and missionaries were actually forerunners of a military conquest by European powers. This caused the shogunate to place foreigners under progressively tighter restrictions. Ultimately, Japan forced all foreigners to leave and barred all relations with the outside world except for severely restricted commercial contacts with Dutch and Chinese merchants at Nagasaki. This isolation lasted for 200 years, until Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. Navy forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.
Within several years, renewed contact with the West profoundly altered Japanese society. The shogunate was forced to resign, and the emperor was restored to power. The "Meiji restoration" of 1868 initiated many reforms. The feudal system was abolished, and numerous Western institutions were adopted, including a Western legal system and constitutional government along quasi-parliamentary lines.
- Edo Period In Japan
Edo Period in Japan The Edo period in Japanese dates between 1600 and 1867. It denotes the government of the Tokugawa Shogunate from Edo. The shogunate was officially established in 1603 with the victory of Tokugawa Ieyasu over supporters of Toyotomi...
- Exclusion Laws In Japan
Exclusion Laws in Japan In 1534, the first Portuguese ship arrived in southern Japan bringing a cargo that included firearms. For the next hundred years, Japanese-Western trade flourished and Christian missionaries converted many Japanese to Catholicism....
- Jomon Japan
Jomon Japan. This site has a practical introduction to Jomon archaeology in Japan. It includes museums, links to other related sites, and research literature. The site describes this ancient Japanese period. It notes, "The Jomon period, from approx....
- Japan, Korea And 1597: A Year That Lives In Infamy
Japan, Korea and 1597: A Year That Lives in Infamy - Excerpt of a New York Times article detailing Japan's invasion of Korea in 1597 and Korean resentment lingering from it. From the site: When they invaded Korea 400 years ago, Japanese samurai...
- Teaching About Japan
Teaching about Japan This essay gives ideas for teaching about Japan in American classrooms. This includes ideas for history instruction. From the site: Present a historical perspective whenever possible. This notion is very closely tied to the...
World History
History of Japan
History of Japan. This is a brief history of the Asian nation of Japan. It gives very little attention to most of Japanese history and instead focuses on the last 250 years. I have been in Japan twice but it was only to change planes. I hope to really visit someday.Wikipedia notes, "Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of China, Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean 'sun-origin', which is why Japan is sometimes identified as the Land of the Rising Sun. Japan comprises over three thousand islands, the largest of which are Honsh?, Hokkaid?, Ky?sh? and Shikoku, together accounting for 97% of land area. Most of the islands are mountainous, many volcanic; for example, Japan?s highest peak, Mount Fuji, is a volcano. Japan has the world's tenth largest population, with about 128 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents."
From the site:
Traditional Japanese legend maintains that Japan was founded in 600 BC by the Emperor Jimmu, a direct descendant of the sun goddess and ancestor of the present ruling imperial family. About AD 405, the Japanese court officially adopted the Chinese writing system. Together with the introduction of Buddhism in the sixth century, these two events revolutionized Japanese culture and marked the beginning of a long period of Chinese cultural influence. From the establishment of the first fixed capital at Nara in 710 until 1867, the emperors of the Yamato dynasty were the nominal rulers, but actual power was usually held by powerful court nobles, regents, or "shoguns" (military governors).
The first recorded contact with the West occurred about 1542, when a Portuguese ship, blown off its course to China, landed in Japan. During the next century, traders from Portugal, the Netherlands, England, and Spain arrived, as did Jesuit, Dominican, and Franciscan missionaries. During the early part of the 17th century, Japan's shogunate suspected that the traders and missionaries were actually forerunners of a military conquest by European powers. This caused the shogunate to place foreigners under progressively tighter restrictions. Ultimately, Japan forced all foreigners to leave and barred all relations with the outside world except for severely restricted commercial contacts with Dutch and Chinese merchants at Nagasaki. This isolation lasted for 200 years, until Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. Navy forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.
Within several years, renewed contact with the West profoundly altered Japanese society. The shogunate was forced to resign, and the emperor was restored to power. The "Meiji restoration" of 1868 initiated many reforms. The feudal system was abolished, and numerous Western institutions were adopted, including a Western legal system and constitutional government along quasi-parliamentary lines.
- Edo Period In Japan
Edo Period in Japan The Edo period in Japanese dates between 1600 and 1867. It denotes the government of the Tokugawa Shogunate from Edo. The shogunate was officially established in 1603 with the victory of Tokugawa Ieyasu over supporters of Toyotomi...
- Exclusion Laws In Japan
Exclusion Laws in Japan In 1534, the first Portuguese ship arrived in southern Japan bringing a cargo that included firearms. For the next hundred years, Japanese-Western trade flourished and Christian missionaries converted many Japanese to Catholicism....
- Jomon Japan
Jomon Japan. This site has a practical introduction to Jomon archaeology in Japan. It includes museums, links to other related sites, and research literature. The site describes this ancient Japanese period. It notes, "The Jomon period, from approx....
- Japan, Korea And 1597: A Year That Lives In Infamy
Japan, Korea and 1597: A Year That Lives in Infamy - Excerpt of a New York Times article detailing Japan's invasion of Korea in 1597 and Korean resentment lingering from it. From the site: When they invaded Korea 400 years ago, Japanese samurai...
- Teaching About Japan
Teaching about Japan This essay gives ideas for teaching about Japan in American classrooms. This includes ideas for history instruction. From the site: Present a historical perspective whenever possible. This notion is very closely tied to the...