The chronologies contained herein are intended to provide easy access to the contexts of various events, not to provide in-depth interpretations or exhaustive listings. As per my research interests, the Meiji listings are far stronger than other areas. Topical organization is arbitrary. Japanese names are in Japanese order: Family name first, personal name last. Repetition is in general avoided, but sometimes necessary. A bibliography lists some secondary sources, but most listings can be found in multiple sources. Beware of errors: I recommend double-checking before citing items. If you use this site in any substantial way: (a) please let me know; and (b) please cite my work appropriately.
Prehistory
on the Archipelago
General
Definitions of Geologic Ages
Geological
& Climate Transformations: rising waters leave islands
Flora &
Fauna Transformations: decline of the great mammals
General
Definitions of Stone Ages
Earliest
Evidence of Human Habitation (Pre-Pottery Age)
Tracing
the Genetic Roots of Contemporary Populations
Jomon Culture
(7,500ybp-300bc): refined tools reveal late stone age
Yayoi
to Asuka Periods
Yayoi Culture
(300bc-300ad): rice-farming, metal, and horses
Contact
with China: earliest written descriptions of Yamato people
Contact
with Korea: political alliances between ruling familiee
Early Kofun
Period: large grave mounds
Yamato Court
Promotes a Uniform Political System
Social Transition
to Patriarchal Societye
500s~ Late
Kofun Period: smaller kofun grave mounds
Yamato Court
Turmoil amid Increasing Cultural Imports
Meanwhile,
on the Mainland
Asuka Period
(539-645): Buddhism and Literacy Flourish
Fujiwara,
Nara, and Early Heian Periods
Fujiwara-kyoo
(Fujiwara Capital Palace): 694-710
Myth or
History: Compiling a Cultural Heritage
Nara Period:
710-784
Buddhism
Spread by Priests, Monasteries
Nara Period
Architecture and Art
Heian Rule
(794-1192) Established
Fujiwara
Clan Rises
Flourishing
of Literary Arts
Taira Clan
Rises and Falls
Architecture:
Temples, etc.
Tokugawa
Era Events
Terminology
of Tokugawa Social Hierarchy, etc.
Tokugawa
Ieyasu Consolidates Power
Contacts
Sought with Foreign Powers
1570-1630
Economic Boom
Control
over the Ruling Classes
Control
over the Peasant Classes
Sumptuary
Laws
Philosophical
Achievements
Technological
Achievements
Cultural
Contact with Outsiders
1800-1850
Economic Turmoil
Tokugawa
Emperors, Shoguns, and Interesting People
Imperial
Family, Shogunal Family, Westerners, etc.
Increasing
Turmoil Leads to Downfall of Tokugawa
1850-1860
Japan Ascertains its Place in the World Order
Political
Upheaval in China Presages New Era of Problems
Anti-Tokugawa
Politics: Revere Emperor and Expel Barbarians
1868-1869
Boshin War ends Tokugawa Rule
Literature
and Popular Culture at the End of an Era
Reference:
The Generation that Ended Tokugawa
List of Late-Tokugawa Activists, etc.
Meiji
Government Restructures the Social and Political Order
1868-1880
Meiji Government Initiates Reform at all Levels
= Changes in Bureaucracy, Tax Structure, Social Classification
= Overhaul of Legal Structures, Police, Military
= Laws affecting Peerage (kazoku) and Imperial Household
= Public Health and Education, Laws for the Lower Classes
1868-1873
Who's Who: Government Factions vie for Power
1868-1880
Aggression against Formosa, Korea, Ryuukyuus, China
= Relations with the Western Powers: Peru, US, England, etc.
= Donning the Western Mask of Enlightenment
1868-1880
State Shinto Promoted over Buddhism, Christianity
1868-1900
Instituting National Education
= Formation of Universities, Public and Private
Communications
Revolution renders Institutions Visible
1868-1880
Technology makes Power ever more Visible
1868-1885
The Emperor Tours the Nation
1869-1880
Scholarship on the West: a Model for Reform
= Gesaku Fiction lampoons Westernization
= Theaters confront Westernization
1870-1880
Newspapers Create Ideological Communities
= Government Limits Press Freedoms
1875-1880
Boom in Docu-Drama Narratives
1875-1880
Boom in Translated Western Novels
Increasing
Dissent besets Meiji Government
1874-1879
Rifts and Assassinations beset Meiji Government
1874-1878
Ex-Samurai lead Unsuccessful Rightist Uprisings
1874-1881
Creating the Modern Politician: People's Rights Mvt
1868-1880
Peasants and Workers continue Violent Protests
1880-1887
Factionalism in the Peoples's Rights Movement
= women seek political representation
= statistics
1882-1886
Uprisings (led by PRM) become Large-Scale
Newspapers
and Movements for Political Reform
1880-1890
Continued Appropriation of Western Political Theory
1872-1882
Newspapers Thrive on Opposition to Government
1880-1890
Newspapers are Published as Political Party Organs
1880-1887
Political Novels Popularize Democracy
1884-1890
Reform Movements in Literature and the Arts
Intellectuals
Look to the West to Comprehend the New Social Order
Visibility
of Government fosters Growing Opposition
Indurial
Modernization is Equated with National Aggression
1881-1895
Japanese Involvement in Korea leads to War with China
1894-1895
Literary Reactions to War in China
1890-1900
Literary Romanticism evokes Social Contradictions
1890-1900
Imperial Constitution centerpieces the National Ideology
1899-1905
Presence in China leads to Confrontation with Russia
1904-1905
Literary and Public Reactions to War with Russia
1897-1911
Socialism and Social Protest accompany Industrialization
1898-1911
Literary Naturalism couples Realism with Ethnography
1906-1912
Literary Reactions against Naturalism
Reference:
The Generation that Built Meiji Society
Lists of politicians/authors, criminals, Westerners, etc
Taisho
Good Times Belie a Growing Fascism
1912-1914
Death of the Meiji Emperor seen as End of an Age
1909-1920
Japan Consolidates Power in Korea
1908-1922
Japan Power in China gets International Recognition
1910-1923
High-Bourgeois Literati form White Birch Society
1912-1925
Literary Depictions of the Dark Side of Success
1912-1925
Taisho Government beset by Financial Problems
Showa
Nationalism Bolsters Path to Pacific War
1926-1937
Showa Government Crackdown on Leftist Critics
1926-1937
Literature of Modernity and Crisis
1926-1937
Boom in Literature Anthologies
1926-1930
Economic depression spurs train suicides
1925-1941
Cinema
1927-1937
Consolidating Military Rule in China
1930-1937
Government by Assassination
1933-1945
Intellectuals Forced to Renounce Leftism
1936-1945
Intellectuals Support War Effort
1938-1941
Confrontation with Russia Narrowly Averted
1940-1945
Japan expands Military Power into Pacific
1944-1945
US Pushes Back to Japanese Mainland
People
of the Postwar Generation
Writers,
Politicians, etc.
Rebuilding
the Japanese Nation after the War
1945-1952
The U.S. Occupation: From Reform to Reversal
1945-1952
Postwar Literary and Artistic Production
1950-1972
Economic Growth During Korean, Vietnam Wars
1953-1960
Literature and the Golden Age of Japanese Cinema
Shocks,
Booms, and Busts in the Post-Postwar
Lingering Debates over Wartime Responsibility
1960-1972
Literature from Terrorism to the Oil Shock
1972-1980
Politics from The Oil Shock to Afghanistan
1960-present:
Cracks in the Japanese Postwar Social Order
1972-present:
Literature in the Age of Complacency
1981-present:
Reaganite Politics turns Boom to Bust
---Afterthought:
Technology and its Implications-----