Japan

By bailey.burns
  • 1760 BCE

    Rice Cultivation begins

    Rice cultivation begins in Japan, and the use of metal eating utensils also begins. As of today rice is a very important part of Japanese cuisine. If you do think about Japanese foods which we often eat a majority, if not most do have rice as a component to the dish.
  • 500 BCE

    Shinto Religion Began

    instead of believing in a god they believe in a Kami instead of a god, they accept rice clothing and more as an offering. A kami could be a person or an object. As this religion evolved it turned into what is known today as confucianism.
  • 250 BCE

    Kofun Period Begins

    The Kofun period began in 250 and lasted until 538. In the Kofun period is when upper class people really started to be respected more than other citizens. People of the upper class would be buried in tombs called Kofun Tombs.
  • 552

    Buddhism was introduced to Japan

    Buddhism was introduced to Japan and quickly became the dominant religion, taking over Shinto. About 68% of Japanese people practice Buddhism today, making it one of Japan's top religion beside Shinto.
  • 593

    Koreans Built First Temple

    Koreans built the first ever Temple in Japan. The first temple which was ever built still exists today! It is one of the oldest and one of the first wooden structures in the world and it is called Horyu-ji Temple.
  • 710

    First Capital

    Nara becomes the first capital ever of Japan, this shows a good example of how Japan was really trying to modernize Japan to become a proper country. However later on the capital was moved to another city.
  • 740

    Shinto religion started making a comeback.

    Shinto religion started making a comeback. Within a short period of time Shinto was tied with Buddhism as many Japanese people found that Buddhism was asking for too much in return so they decided to switch back to Shinto. Nearly 70% of Japanese people still follow Shinto religion
  • 780

    Heian Period

    The Heian Period begins and lasts until 1100, many of the writings which Japanese people know today are still used! Today children in Japan are supposed to learn all 1200 different characters of the Japanese language. Th
  • 1100

    Samurai begins

    Samurai were the military in early modern Japan. As time went on through this period martial arts started being used as a defense. Samurai were paid extremely well and most of the time carried two swords instead of the other people in the military who only had the option to carry one.
  • 1274

    Mongols attack Japan

    In 1274 the Mongols attacked Japan, during the attack they caused serious damage. They almost entirely destroyed the Samurai and also almost destroyed the whole Japanese Empire. They also attacked in 1281 and caused about the same amount of damage as the first attack.
  • 1543

    Firearms introduced to Japan

    In 1543 the Portugese introduced firearms to Japan. Three men from Portugal had a boat crash on the shore of a small Japanese island. When they met the Japanese people the Japanese noticed that they had pistols and guns with them and were curious about what they were. By the 1570s the Japanese never went to a battle without firearms.
  • 1549

    Christianity Introduced to Japan

    A man named Francis Xavier who was born in Spain went to Japan and introduced a new religion to them, which was Christianity. Christianity is still around in Japan with 1.5% of people who believe in it.

  • Japanese Invaded Korea

    In 1592, 160,000 peasants and Samurais set off to Korea. Korean guards were caught off guard as they were not expecting such a large amount of fighters showing up, they were under trained and not ready for a battle. Therefore Japan did win this battle.

  • Sanriku Eatthquake and Tsunami

    On December 2 of 1611 a tragic earthquake hit Japan, a tsunami followed behind the earthquake causing many deaths and injuries. The earthquake is predicted to be about 8.1 magnitude and the tsunami. This tsunami was the first time they used the word tsunami to describe a massive wave. About 5,000 people died from this earthquake and tsunami.

  • Japan Closes to outside world

    In 1639 Japan closed its borders to surrounding countries. The reason this rule was put into place was because Japan did not want any outside countries influencing their religion or the way that they chose to run Japan, they feared another country would enter and try to change the ways they did things. They reopened in 1853.

  • Capital city moves

    Capital of Japan which was previously Nara moves to a new city, Tokyo. As of today Tokyo is still the capital city of Japan and has about 13.9 million people living in one city!

  • Samurai Ends

    This period died down over time. The reason for the decline in samurai was that many Japanese people began moving into larger cities and the modernization of Japan meant that they were no longer needed.

  • Pearl Harbour

    On December 7 1941 at about 8AM the Japanese Navy made a surprise attack on the USA. The attack took place in Hawaii. Approximately 2400 people lost theirs lives in this battle. This led the USA into entering World War II, they were not involved until this attack.

  • Japan becomes a member of the United Nations.

    On December 18 Japan became a member of the United Nations. They were the 80th country to join. The United Nations was formed after the world war in order to attempt to keep peace among countries and avoid another world war happening. Their main goal was for peace to happen in future generations.

  • Summer Olympics held in Tokyo

    The 1964 Summer Olympics were the first to be held in Asia. Japan was very successful and won a lot of things in these games, 16 gold metals, five silver and eight bronze medals. As a country it places third behind the USA and soviet union.