History of Japan

• Prehistoric and ancient Japan
  • Jōmon period (c. 13,000–1,000 BCE)
  • Yayoi period (c. 1,000 BCE–250 CE)
    • Brought technology from China
    • Rapid population increase
    • Tribes coalesce into kingdoms
    • First written reference to Japan in Book of Han
  • Kofun period (c. 250–538)
    • Name comes from megalithic tombs
    • Imported culture from Tang China
    • Unified into a single kingdom
• Classical Japan
  • Asuka (538–710)
    • Buddhism introduced from Korean kingdom of Baekje (538)
  • Nara (710–794)
    • Moved capital to Nara (710)
  • Heian period (794–1185)
    • Moved capital to Kyoto (794)
    • Political power controlled by Fujiwara clan
    • Murasaki Shikibu writes The Tale of Genji (c. 1020)
• Feudal Japan
  • Kamakura period (1185–1333)
    • Attempted Mongol Invasions (1274 and 1281)
  • Muromachi period (1333–1568)
  • Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1600)
• Edo period (1600–1868)
• Modern Japan (1868–present)