AD 239: Chinese kingdom of Wei records the visit of an envoy from Himiko,
queen of Yamatai
AD 607: first Buddhist temples built in Nara
AD 710: Nara becomes the capital of Japan
AD 794: Kyoto becomes the capital of Japan
circa AD 1000: Murasaki Shikibu writes Tale of Genji
1274: Mongol invasion
1281: Second Mongol invasion
1467-77: Onin civil war; Kyoto burned
1542: firewarms introduced by shipwrecked Portugese
1549: Father Xavier establishes Jesuit mission at Kagoshima
1591: Japan unified by Toyotomi Hideyoshi after 100 years of civil war
1603: Tokugawa Shogunate divides people into hereditary classes: lords
(daimyo), samurai, farmers, artisans, merchants
1614: Christianity banned
1635: interaction with foreigners restricted to Nagasaki
1641: all but Chinese and Dutch are banned
circa 1700: Edo (Tokyo) has grown larger than Kyoto, which remains the
capital
1707: Mount Fuji erupts
1853: Commodore Matthew Perry steams into Edo (Tokyo) Bay and demands trade;
Kanagawa Treaty signed
1868: Restoration of imperial rule (Meiji Restoration); Tokyo becomes
capital
1874-76: hereditary samurai unsuccessfully resist the construction of a
modern military
1887: Torakusu Yamaha starts reed organ manufacturer, which becomes the
modern diversified Yamaha Corporation.
1894-5: war with China
1904-5: war with Russia
1910: annexation of Korea
1917: Nippon Kogaku K.K., which will eventually become Nikon, established in
Tokyo.
1931: Japanese invade Manchuria
1933: withdrawal from League of Nations
1937: 140,000 Chinese killed in "Rape of Nanjing"; Toyota Motor Co. Ltd.
founded
1941: Japan bombs US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor (US commanders were warned
of the attack by operators of an experimental RADAR system but took no
action)
1945: US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Russia invades
northern Japan; Emperor Hirohito orders cabinet to surrender
1946: Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita found Sony Corporation. From the business
plan: "The first and primary motive for setting up this company was to create a
stable work environment where engineers who had a deep and profound appreciation
for technology could realize their societal mission and work to their heart's
content." Soichiro Honda founds Honda Technical Research Insitute, which will
eventually manufacture motorcycles and automobiles.
1952: American occupation of Japan ends
1952-1953: Japanese companies license transistor technology from the US
1964: Olympic games held in Tokyo; Shinkansen (bullet train) starts
operating
1989: Emperor Hirohito dies and is succeeded by Akihito; "bubble economy"
bursts
1995: Great Hanshin Earthquake, magnitude 6.9, kills more than 5000 people in
Kobe; Aum Shinrikyo cult kills 12 in the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack
