History of Japan

[7] Evidence has been found suggesting that Japan's Paleolithic inhabitants interacted with and butchered now extinct megafauna, including the elephant Palaeoloxodon naumanni, and the giant deer Sinomegaceros yabei.

[17][18] Endowed with bronze and iron weapons and tools initially imported from China and the Korean peninsula, the Yayoi radiated out from northern Kyūshū, gradually supplanting the Jōmon.

[24] Skeletal remains from the late Jōmon period reveal a deterioration in already poor standards of health and nutrition, whereas contemporaneous Yayoi archaeological sites possess large structures suggestive of grain storehouses.

The rulers of the Yamato extended their power across Japan through military conquest, but their preferred method of expansion was to convince local leaders to accept their authority in exchange for positions of influence in the government.

Shōtoku authored the Seventeen-article constitution, a Confucian-inspired code of conduct for officials and citizens, and attempted to introduce a merit-based civil service called the Cap and Rank System.

[46] During this period, Japan suffered a series of natural disasters, including wildfires, droughts, famines, and outbreaks of disease, such as a smallpox epidemic in 735–737 that killed over a quarter of the population.

[52] The nationalization of land undertaken as part of the ritsuryō state decayed as various noble families and religious orders succeeded in securing tax-exempt status for their private shōen manors.

Though Yoritomo set up his own government in Kamakura in the Kantō region located in eastern Japan, its power was legally authorized by the Imperial court in Kyoto on several occasions.

[72] Yoritomo soon turned on his half brother, Yoshitsune, who was initially harboured by Fujiwara no Hidehira, the grandson of Kiyohira and the de facto ruler of northern Honshu.

[106] During the period, some of Japan's most representative art forms developed, including ink wash painting, ikebana flower arrangement, the tea ceremony, Japanese gardening, bonsai, and Noh theater.

[126] The central government of the shogunate in Edo, which quickly became the most populous city in the world,[120] took counsel from a group of senior advisors known as rōjū and employed samurai as bureaucrats.

Harsh penalties, including crucifixion, beheading, and death by boiling, were decreed for even the most minor offenses, though criminals of high social class were often given the option of seppuku ("self-disembowelment"), an ancient form of suicide that became ritualized.

[129] To prevent further foreign ideas from sowing dissent, the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, implemented the sakoku ("closed country") isolationist policy under which Japanese people were not allowed to travel abroad, return from overseas, or build ocean-going vessels.

For instance, it criticized the Chinese-style Neo-Confucianism advocated by the shogunate and emphasized the Emperor's divine authority, which the Shinto faith taught had its roots in Japan's mythic past, which was referred to as the "Age of the Gods".

Characteristic authors of the period included Futabatei Shimei and Mori Ōgai,[175] although the most famous of the Meiji era writers was Natsume Sōseki,[176] who wrote satirical, autobiographical, and psychological novels[177] combining both the older and newer styles.

[179] Government institutions developed rapidly in response to the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, a grassroots campaign demanding greater popular participation in politics.

[183] Yamagata Aritomo, who was born a samurai in the Chōshū Domain, was a key force behind the modernization and enlargement of the Imperial Japanese Army, especially the introduction of national conscription.

Radical socialists plotted to assassinate the emperor in the High Treason Incident of 1910, after which the Tokkō secret police force was established to root out left-wing agitators.

Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, described as "perhaps the most versatile literary figure of his day" by the historian Conrad Totman, produced many works during the Taishō period influenced by European literature, though his 1929 novel Some Prefer Nettles reflects deep appreciation for the virtues of traditional Japanese culture.

[226] Hirohito's role in Japan's foreign wars remains a subject of controversy, with various historians portraying him as either a powerless figurehead or an enabler and supporter of Japanese militarism.

[238] The Battle of Okinawa, fought between April and June 1945, was the largest naval operation of the war and left 115,000 soldiers and 150,000 Okinawan civilians dead, suggesting that the planned invasion of mainland Japan would be even bloodier.

U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of Allied Powers, served as Japan's de facto leader and played a central role in implementing reforms, many inspired by the New Deal of the 1930s.

[243] The occupation sought to decentralize power in Japan by breaking up the zaibatsu, transferring ownership of agricultural land from landlords to tenant farmers,[244] and promoting labor unionism.

[260] Although the Japanese economy was in bad shape in the immediate postwar years, an austerity program implemented in 1949 by finance expert Joseph Dodge ended inflation.

[262] In 1949 the Yoshida cabinet created the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) with a mission to promote economic growth through close cooperation between the government and big business.

American soldiers returning from the occupation brought with them stories and artifacts, and the following generations of U.S. troops in Japan contributed to a steady flow of martial arts and other culture from the country.

[294] Despite Japan's economic difficulties, this period also saw Japanese popular culture, including video games, anime, and manga, expanding worldwide, especially among young people.

[303] On 8 July 2022, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in the city of Nara by former Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force serviceman Tetsuya Yamagami while campaigning two days before the 2022 House of Councillors election.

[306] The Japanese Ministry of Defense reported that this was the first time ballistic missiles launched by China landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone and lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing.

"[306] On 16 December 2022, Japan announced a major shift in its military policy by stating that it would acquire counterstrike capabilities and increase its defense budget to 2% of GDP (¥43 trillion ($315 billion) by 2027.