History of Japan in 3 minutes

When you look at history chart like this, you may think it is a bit complicated with unfamiliar names.

But to make it more simple, roughly speaking, you can think in 3 parts by who the ruling class is:

Emperor and Nobility ～1185　（Asuka, Nara, Heian)　

First, emperors ruled parts of what is now Japan. Until the Nara period, the capital changed with each new emperor’s accession to the throne. Nara is the first permanent capital of Japan. The capital was moved to Kyoto in 794. In Japan, capital is where Emperor lives so Kyoto remained as capital until 1867 alghtough political centers moved. Japan was run by Emperor and aristocrates but gradually, samurai gained power.

Shogun and Samurai　1192～1868　（Kamakura, Muromachi, Azuchi Momoyama, Edo)

”Shogun” is the title of a person recognized by the Emperor as the commander of the country’s armed forces. Shogun is considered the top of Samurai (warrior) class. In 1192, the Emperor bestowed the rank of shogun on a general named Minamoto no Yoritomo. He opened his Shogunate (government run by samurais) in Kamakura, far east of Kyoto, closer to today’s Tokyo. Although the actual power may be with Shogun, the Emperor is superior. It is said this is the start of samurai rule. After that, many samurais tried to take over power and political headquarters moved around according to who took the power.

In 1603, famous Tokugawa rule Japan and became the shogun and built his shogunate government in present day Tokyo. At the time, the area was called Edo, so we call this period Edo period. It lasted more than 260 years in peace. So Edo became the center of politics and grew to become one of the largest cities of the world. (Kyoto was still the capital of Japan during the Edo Period because Emperor lived in Kyoto) The TV series “Shogun” starts a little before Edo period. Under Tokugawa Shogun, Japan closed country and because of this, unique culture developed.

Towards the end of Tokugawa shogunate in mid 19c, the United States Fleet commanded by Matthew PERRY came to Japan requesting to open up the country. Shogun first declined, but because of various issues, he finally decided to open up the country. The Last Tokugawa Shogun decided to give power back to the Emperor. The movie “Last Samurai” is set in this time period.

Modern Japan　1868～Present　（Meiji, Taisho, Showa, Heisei, Reiwa～）

The Emperor at the time was Emperor Meiji. He decided to move the capital from Kyoto to Edo and renamed Edo to present name Tokyo. Kyoto （京都） in Japanese means Capital city and Tokyo（東京） means Eastern Capital. Emperor Meiji moved to Edo Castle, built by the Tokugawa shogun, which became the present Imperial Palace.  Emperor Meiji wanted to make Japan a modern nation, so he had Japan study Western political systems, constitutions, architecture, and armies. The life changed completely from Edo.

When you visit Kyoto and Nara, you will still see old architectures from ancient times. Tokyo is relatively new and because of frequent fires, earthquakes and the war, it was completely changed.