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1175
The Buddhist Jodo sect (Pure land sect) is introduced
This was a Buddhist belief that was coming into Japan from China. This sect and a lot of others starting gaining a lot of popularity in Japan around this time. This is what caused Japan to have the big population of Buddhists it has today. -
1232
A legal code, the Joei Shikimoku, is promulgated
This stressed the values of worker to master in the laws. There was a decline in discipline and morals in this time and the emperor wanted to see more control. It stressed Confucianist values in the Japanese culture. These Confucianist morals led to a lot more scholars and schools in Japan -
1274
The Mongols try to invade Japan twice, but fail mainly because of bad weather conditions
The Mongols set their eyes on Japan after getting China and Korea and launch an attack. After taking over some of the islands of Japan their attack was stopped by bad weather, and when they tried again they were stopped for the same reason. This lead the Japanese to believe that the winds were divine and the Gods were helping them stay alive, because they would have lost that war. Second attack was 1281. -
1334
Kemmu restoration: the emperor restores power over Japan
This was an emperor that was kicked out of the role, only to come back and make massive changes to Japan. He changed around the military and the court laws in Japan that caused dispute. This caused a civil war between the north and south for over 60 years until they came back together. -
Period: 1467 to 1477
Onin War
This was a huge civil war that was between who was going to get the role of emperor, the little brother or the son. This caused a massive war that destroyed towns and cities and killed thousands. This lead to clan warfare and Japan being ruled by clans rather than a central power. Ended in the year 1477.
https://youtu.be/ey1xzXVORLM?t=1m40s
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1542
Portuguese introduce firearms and Christianity to Japan
This was a super important event to the Japanese because of the importance of guns later in Japanese history. Japan later mass produced these guns and used them in later war and it gave them an edge. This also lead to christian influence in Japan for a few decades, even though christianity is only followed by less than 1% of the population. -
Hideyoshi confiscates the weapons of farmers and religious institutions in the "Sword Hunt"
In this time Japan had a lot of peasant uprisings and they were using weapons they owned in order to do so. The government decided to take away these weapons from the farmers since they no longer needed them to defend themselves. This affected a lot of the peasants and got a lot of them killed in uprisings. -
Tokugawa Ieyasu
This was a time after a lot of fighting over who would rule, Tokugawa stepped up and took over. This time was known as a peaceful and growth time under his rule, which lasted almost 250 years. He climbed his way to the top and crushed his enemies and brought stability to Japan. While this sounds good, the stability was forced, not allowing any class to move up or down, and led to financial problems towards the end. They were overthrown and replaced by the Meji. -
Almost complete isolation of Japan from the rest of the world
This all happened around Christianity, and being scared of the Western world. Japan had a large christian faith at this time because of missionaries from England and other places, but it was starting to get a bad name. After England went on a claiming run the Japanese government did not trust them and therefore did not trust the religion, and crushed down on it and made it not allowed. This lead to Japan closing itself off from letting outsiders in or letting people out. -
Genroku era: popular culture flourishes
This is when Urbanization took its hold in Japan and popular culture we see today started to form. Since it was still the peaceful times of the Edo era, people could be more lax and spend more time in towns and cities, which lead to more being built. This also lead to theater and art being made that later developed into modern day art and theater. Ended around 1703. -
The Russians unsuccessfully try to establish trade relations with Japan
At this point Russia had sent out ships to search the waters near by and found Japan, and tried to set up trade with them, but Japan refused to do so. They tried multiple times and Japan kept refusing. This lead to raids on the Japanese islands and later influenced the Russo war. -
Meiji Constitution
This was a document set out by the Japanese government to prove that they were a capable country and and good enough to be noticed. This gave a lot of power to the government rather than to the people, which caused some problems. This meant that military could overrule anything they wished and go as like. -
Period: to
Sino-Japanese War
This was a war that was over influence of Korea, which started as a Japanese inside job that failed, then turned to all out war. While everyone thought that China would win easily, Japan took a easy victory because of their advanced technology and more modern culture. This showed Japan as a major world power and exposed China’s weakness as a country. Ended in 1895.
https://youtu.be/h9mlfpl8p74?t=1m25s
Till End -
Period: to
Russo-Japanese War
This was a war between that of the Japanese and the Russians, and it was started because the Russians wanted some Japanese island for porting. Japan defied them with an army equal to 1/4th of theirs, and still one using better tactics. This lead to Russia losing its influence and Japan marking its place as a world power. Ended in 1905.
https://youtu.be/qS1csqutxv4?t=1m10s
Watch Till End -
Period: to
Second Sino-Japanese War
This was another war between Japan and China, but this time it was Japan trying to increase their territory into China. They were crushing the Chinese up until late in the war, when they simply did not have enough warriors to conquer more than they had. Later the war was ended when the US bombed Japan and caused Japan to surrender from the Sino war. This caused for Japan to withdraw and stay the same island they were, and China had more power. Ended in 1945
https://youtu.be/nWEwPgKc3V0?t=16s -
WWII starts
During the second Sino war, in an attempt to show themselves, they signed a treaty with Germany and sided with them. When Japan sent troops out to Europe and America responded with help, they bombed America and got them involved into the war. This later led to America winning the war against Germany and bombing Japan, ending the WWII. This lead to a change in constitution in Japan which gave people more power and less power to the government. -
Japan surrenders after two atomic bombs are dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This was a horrible event that ended both WWII and the second Sino war, and lead to many deaths in Japan. They both killed over 200,000 people in Japan and made the cities radioactive for a long time. This was a real strike down for Japan, and lead to a change in the way they rule. The leaders of Japan still wanted to keep fighting, but the people took them down for war crime with the US government, and the US offered them modified terms they still use today. -
Japan gains its independence
This was when the Japanese Constitution was passed, and they finally gained their independence. The constitution had clear marks of the American dependence, since the US offered the modified version of the constitution. The constitution showed the people’s rights and the government’s job was the serve the people. This made Japan what it is today and a part of the UN.