Great Yamato (Japan) is a divine country. It is only our land whose foundations were first laid by the Divine Ancestor. It alone has been transmitted by the Sun Goddess to a long line of her descendants. There is nothing of this kind in foreign countries. Therefore it is called the Divine Land.
—Chikafusa Kitabatake, 1334, in Murdoch, History of Japan, i, 571.
CHRONOLOGY OF JAPANESE CIVILIZATION *
I. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
1. Primitive Japan:
Ca. 660 B.C.: Entrance of the Mongols
Ca. 660-585 B.C.: Jimmu, Emperor (?)
412-53 A.D.: Inkyo, Emperor
522 A.D.: Buddhism enters Japan
592-621: Shotoku Taishi, Regent
593-628: Suiko, Empress
645: The Great Reform
2. Imperial Japan:
668-71: Tenchi Tenno, Emperor
690-702: Jito, Empress
697-707: Mommu, Emperor
702: The Taiho Code of Laws
710-94: The Heijo Epoch: Nara the capital
724-56: Shomu, Emperor
749-59, 765-70: Koken, Empress
794-1192: The Heian Epoch: Kyoto the capital
877-949: Yozei, Emperor
898-930: Daigo, Emperor
901-22: The Period of Engi
3. Feudal Japan:
1186-99: Yoritomo
1203-19: Minamoto Sanetomo
1200-1333: The Kamakura Bakufu
1199-1333: The Hojo Regency
1222-82: Nichiren, founder of the Lotus Sect
1291: Kublai Khan invades Japan
1318-39: Go Daigo, Emperor
1335-1573: The Ashikaga Shogunate
1387-95: Yoshimitsu
1436-80: Yoshimasa
1573-82: Nobunaga
1581-98: Hideyoshi
1592: Hideyoshi fails to conquer Korea
1597: Hideyoshi expels the priests
1600: Battle of Sekigahara
1603-1867: The Tokugawa Shogunate
1603-16: Iyeyasu
1605: Siege of Osaka
1614: Iyeyasu’s anti-Christian edict
1605-23: Hidetada
1623-51: Iyemitsu
1657: The great fire of Tokyo
1680-1709: Tsunayoshi
1688-1703: The period of Genroku
1709-12: Iyenobu
1716-45: Yoshimune
1721: Yoshimune codifies Japanese law
1787-1836: Iyenari
1853-8: Iyesada
1858-66: Iyemochi
1866-8: Keiki
II. LITERATURE
845-903: Sugawara Michizane, Patron of Letters
1. Poetry:
665-731: Tahito
D. 737: Hitomaro
724-56: Akahito
750: The Manyoshu
883-946: Tsurayaki
905: The Kokinshu
1118-90: Saigyo Hoshi
1234: The Hyaku-nin-isshu
1643-94: Matsura Basho
1703-75: Lady Kaga no-Chiyo
2. Drama:
1350-1650: The No plays
1653-1724: Chikamatsu Monzayemon
3. Fiction:
978-1031?: Lady Murasaki no-Shikibu
1001-4: The Genji Monogatari
1761-1816: Santo Kioden
1767-1848: Kyokutei Bakin
D. 1831: Jippensha Ikku
4. History and Scholarship:
712: The Kojiki
720: The Nihongi
1334: Kitabatake’s Jintoshotoki
1622-1704: Mitsu-kuni
1630: Hayashi Razan founds University of Tokyo
1657-1725: Arai Hakuseki
1697-1769: Mabuchi
1730-1801: Moto-ori Norinaga
CHRONOLOGY OF JAPANESE CIVILIZATION
5. The Essay:
Ca. 1000: Lady Sei Shonagon
1154-1216: Kamo no-Chomei
6. Philosophy:
1560-1619: Fujiwara Seigwa
1583-1657: Hayashi Razan
1608-48: Nakaye Toju
1630-1714: Kaibara Ekken
1619-91: Kumazawa Banzan
1627-1705: Ito Jinsai
1666-1728: Ogyu Sorai
1670-1736: Ito Togai
III. ART
1. Architecture:
Ca. 616: The temples of Horiuji
Ca. 1400: The palaces of Yoshimitsu
1543-90: Kano Yeitoku
Ca. 1630: The Mausoleum of Iyeyasu
2. Sculpture:
747: The Nara Daibutsu
774-835: Kobo Daishi
1180-1220: Unkei
1252: The Kamakura Daibutsu
1594-1634: Hidari Jingaro
3. Tottery:
Ca. 1229: Shirozemon
Ca. 1650: Kakiemon
Ca. 1655: Ninsei
1663-1743: Kenzan
Ca. 1664: Goto Saijiro
D. 1855: Zengoro Hozen
4. Fainting:
Ca.950: Kose no-Kanaoka
Ca. 1010: Takayoshi
Ca. 1017: Yeishin Sozu
1053-1140: Toba Sojo
1146-1205: Fujiwara Takanobu
Ca. 1250: Keion (?)
Ca. 1250: Tosa Gon-no-kumi
1351-1427: Cho Densu
Ca. 1400: Shubun
1420-1506: Sesshiu
D. 1490: Kano Masanobu
1476-1559: Kano Motonobu
Ca. 1600: Koyetsu
1578-1650: Iwasa Matabei
1602-74: Kano Tanyu
1618-94: Hishikawa Moronobu
1661-1716: Korin
1718-70: Harunobu
1733-95: Maruyami Okyo
1742-1814: Kiyonaga
1747-1821: Mori Zozen
1753-1806: Utamaro
Ca. 1790: Sharaku
1760-1849: Hokusai
1797-1858: Hiroshige
IV. THE NEW JAPAN
1853: Admiral Perry enters Uraga Bay
1854: Admiral Perry’s second visit
1854: Treaty of Kanagawa
1862: The Richardson Affair
1862: The bombardment of Kagoshima
1863: Ito and Inouye visit Europe
1868: Restoration of the imperial power
1868-1912: Meiji, Emperor
1870: Tokyo becomes the imperial capital
1871: Abolition of feudalism
1872: First Japanese railway
1877: The Satsuma Rebellion
1889: The new Constitution
1894: The War with China
1895: The annexation of Formosa
1902-22: The Anglo-Japanese Alliance
1904: The War with Russia
1910: The annexation of Korea
1912: End of the Meiji Era
1912-25: Taisho, Emperor
1914: Capture of Tsingtao
1915: The Twenty-one Demands
1917: The Lansing-Ishii Agreement
1922: The Washington Conference
1924: The restriction of Japanese immigration into America
1925: Hirohito, Emperor
1931: The invasion of Manchuria
1932: The attack at Shanghai
1935: Notice given to terminate Washington Agreement in 1936