Major Events in Japanese History
Table of Contents
The period from 592 to 710 is called ``the Asuka Era,''
because the capital was in Asuka district in the era.
It was the cradletime for the imperial dynasty to establish its sovereignty.
Buddhism was brought from China : 538
Buddhism was not only a religion but also a vast tome of deep knowledge
about everything in those days.
Japanese learn various knowledge from Chinese Buddhism priests.
Buddhism was also a powerful weapon for court politics
In the days of the house Soga ,
many people were converted to Buddhists.
Taika no Kaishin : 645
In the early 6th century,
a noble house Soga raised its power.
They hold important posts in the government.
At last, they began to intervene to imperial succession.
They assassinated prince Yamashiro-no-Oe in 645.
In this crisis, prince Naka-no-Oe allied with another noble
Nakatomi-no-Kamatari ,
and broke a coup de tat in 645.
They assassinated Soga-no-Iruka , the leader of house Soga,
at a banquette.
They prepared the coup de tat plan very well,
and all members of the house Soga were deported soon.
Today, the coup de tat was called ``Taika-no-Kaishin.''
Prince Nakano-Oe rule the government since then,
and became the next emperor Tenji in 668.
Natatomi-no-Kamatari renamed himself to Fujiwara-no-Kamatari .
His house Fujiwara came to have major power in the government,
and finally ruled the government in the Heian Era .
The Battle of Jinshin : 672
When emperor Tenji died in 671,
he has two apparent successors.
One is his elder son, prince Otomo .
The other is his elder brother, prince Oama .
Tenji had named prince Otomo as his successor two years before.
So prince Oama had retired from the government
and become a Buddhism priest.
If he had remained in government,
he would have killed by some supporter of prince Otomo.
So he had escaped to a temple in the Yoshino mountains.
But when emperor Tenji died,
the two princes broke a battle for the throne.
Finally prince Oama won, and prince Otomo comitted suicide.
Prince Oama became the new emperor Tenmu .
This battle is called ``the Battle of Jinshin.''
In 720, the emperor moved the capital to Nara.
So the period from 720 to 794 is called ``the Nara Era.''
In this period, the emperors hold the sovereignty strongly.
Because emperors loved Buddhism, it was spreaded throughout the nation.
In 794, the emperor moved the capital from Nara to Kyoto.
The period from 794 to 1192 is called the Heian era ,
because Kyoto was called Heian-kyo in those days.
In the era, the power of the emperor had fallen,
and the noble came to run the government instead.
Literatures flourished in the days,
such as novels ( Genji Monogatari etc.) and waka poems written by the noble.
But in 12th century, the noble came to lose its power, too.
At last, the bushi robbed the sovereignty from the dynasty,
and established shogunate .
In 903 Taira-no-Masakado ,
a leader of bushi in Kanto district,
revolted against Kyoto government.
He rejected to pay taxes to the dynasty,
and decleared to establish the kingdom of Kanto,
proclaiming himself as the king.
He drove away the nobles of the government from Kanto ,
and enjoyed his independent kingdom for several months.
However, at last, the Kyoto dynasty ordered another bushi
house to sent an army to his kingdom.
Masakado and his army fought bravely,
but finally he was slain, and the revolt was suppressed.
Today, historians see the revolt as the symbol of
the fall of Kyoto sovereignty and the rise of bushi .
This trend had escalated until Minamoto-no-Yoritomo
established the Kamakura Shogunate in 1192.
The revolt is called Zen-kunen-no-Eki ,
or the Revolt of Taira-no-Masakado.
The Battle of Heiji : 1159
The Battle of Dannoura : 1185
The period from the start of the Kamakura shogunate in 1192
untill the fall in 1333 is called the Kamakura Era .
It was the beginning of the era of shoguns,
the fudal period ruled by militaristic bushi (samurai) class.
Cultures in this period is specialized its simplicity and frugality.
Shogunate thought that luxery and extravagance ruined the Heike ,
who forgot the very spirit of the bushi .
In this era, some new Buddhist sects are founded, such as
Jodo-shin-shu , Zen , and Nichirenite .
Kamakura Shogunate was built : 1192
After the house Heike was annihilated,
Minamoto-no-Yoritomo , the leader of the house Genji ,
threatened the emperor for the sovereignty to rule Japan.
The emperor assigned him Seii-tai-shogun ,
an emergency post with the power to command the whole military armies
for the purpose of conquering barbarians.
Theoretically speaking, the post was under the emperor.
However, in fact, a shogun could move armies without emperor's permission,
so he was the strongest in Japan.
He established his own military government at Kamakura ,
independent from the emperor and its bureaucracy in Kyoto,
and named it Bakufu , or Shogunate .
After that, Japan had been ruled by the series of the military governments
of shogunates for 700 years.
The Battle of Jokyu : 1219
Minamoto-no-Yoritomo died shortly after he founded the
Kamakura shogunate,
and his successors (his sons) died soon, too.
The house Genji perished when the thrid shogun
Minamoto-no-Sanetomo was assassinated in 1219.
The emperor Gotoba in Kyoto thought to destroy the shogunate
and take back the sovereignty to his hand. He raised an army in 1921.
In this crisis, Hojo Masako ,
the widow of Yoritomo and the mother of Sanetomo ,
called the bushi throughout the country as the regent of shogun.
Most bushi chose to follow Masako .
The shogunate army led by Hojo Yasutoki marched to Kyoto
and defeated the imperial army.
After this, the emperors had been totally under control of the
Kamakura shogunate.
The Mongolian War : 1281
The Fall of Kamakura Shogunate : 1333
After the war with Mongol in 1281,
the Kamakura shogunate weakend much.
Discontent was among bushi who fought bravely but not rewarded
(the shogunate was lacking in money, so reward was impossible).
The emperor Godaigo didn't pass over the chance.
He gathered the complaint bushi ,
including Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada ,
and Kusunoki Masashige ,
to raise an army against the regent Hojo .
The army defeated the Hojo ,
and in 1333 the emperor decleared to abolish the shogunate
to get back the sovereignty to the dynasty in Kyoto.
Muromachi Shogunate was established : 1336
However, the emperor rewarded the nobles first,
who didn't fight in the battle front actually.
So bushi became discontented again.
Finally Takauji rebelled against the dynasty.
He drove the emperor Godaigo away from Kyoto,
and stand put up a new emperor to appoint himself the new shogun
in 1336.
The emperor Godaigo escaped south to Mt. Yoshino ,
and decleared himself the only legitimate emperor.
Of course, Takauji supported the new emperor in Kyoto.
There were two dinasties. This period is called Nanbokucho ,
``north and south dynasties.'' This schism lasted until 1392.
The War of Onin : 1467-1477
A big civil war rampaged throughout Japan from 1467 to 1477,
the War of Onin .
The war was stareted by the two daimyo Hosokawa Katsumoto
and Yamana Souzen ,
however, the war lasted even both of the two died.
Most of Kyoto city was burned to the ground,
and the war spreaded throughout the nation rapidly.
This war disabled the sovereignty of Muromachi shogunate,
and all daimyo started to start civil wars.
Today most historians consider 1467 as the year when the Muromachi Era ended
and the the Civil War Era began.
The Cause of the War
The cause of the War is a bit comlicated.
First, a infighting in the house Hatayama,
a major bushi house appointed to Kanrei
(a shogunate post to administrate damiyo).
When Hatayama Mochikuni , the head of the house Hatayama,
died in 1450, Hatayama Yoshiyoshi became his heir.
But there were several daimyo who hated Yoshiyoshi,
and they helped Hatayama Yasaburo to the legitimate heir.
Yasaburo raised his army to attack Yoshiyoshi in 1455.
Yoshiyoshi was backed up by Ise Sadachika ,
the top of shogunate bureaucracy,
and Yasaburo was backed up by Hosokoawa Katsumoto ,
one of the most powerful daimyo in those day.
Though Yasaburo died in the battle, his heir Hatayama Masanaga
finally beat Yoshiyoshi.
Masanaga sit atop the house Hatayama in 1460,
and was appointed to Kanrei in 1464.
In these days, there are many other infighting similar to house Hatayama
among major daimyo houses.
And, unfortunately, shogunate tended to intervene in such succession struggles.
Second, a struggle for shogun successor.
The shogun Asikaga Yoshimasa had no son at 1464,
so he named his young brother Asikaga Yoshimi
as the next shogun.
However, the next year, his wife Hino Tomiko
bore his son, Ashikaga Yoshihisa .
Tomiko want to enthrone her son, not Yoshimi.
So her asked a major daimyo Yamana Sozen for help.
On the other hand, Yoshimi was supported by Hosokawa Katsumto.
Third, struggles between daimyo houses
In Hizen and Harima district was the conflict
between the house Yamana and the house Akamatsu
for legitimate posession of the territory.
And the posession of Iyo district was in dispute
betweeen the house Hosokawa and the house Kono .
When the relation between Yamana Sozen and Hosokoawa Katsumoto came to wrong,
the Akamatsu allied with Hosokawa, and Kono made friends with Yamana.
Such allegiances was the cause to spread the war from Kyoto to throughout
Japan.
The War Began
Disposed Hatayama Yoshiyoshi asked Yamana Sozen for help in 1466.
Sozen and Hino Tomiko used their influence over shogun Yoshimasa,
and Yoshimasa announced the order to dispose Hatayama Masanaga
in January 6, 1467.
Of cource Masanaga and his supporter Hosokoawa Katsumoto got angry,
and they raised their army.
Though the shogun announced the second order that forbade Hosokawa
to aid Masanaga, Masanaga attacked Yoshiyoshi without Hosokawa's aid.
Masanaga was beaten in the battle and escaped to Kyoto.
But the war didn't end.
It was important that the shogun left Masanaga to break the battle.
Until then, shogunate had prohibitted all battles between daimyo,
and the dignity of shogunate stood upon the arbitration authority.
The battle destroyed the dignity.
So daimyo houses began struggle each other throughout the nation.
The War Escalated
Hosokawa Katsumoto raised his army on May 20,
and seized Hana-no-Gosho , the residents of shogun, in the day.
They threatened shogun to announce that the Hosokawa was the loyal army,
and the Yamana was the revolt.
This announce discouraged the morale of Yamana army,
and Hosokawa dominated the battle until July.
However, Ouchi Masahiro , another major daimyo and an ally of
Yamana, came to Kyoto with his army.
He rescued Yoshinao from Hosokawa,
and announced that Yoshinao is the new shogun.
The battle came to standstill at Kyoto.
Though the battle at Kyoto was at a stalemate,
numerous battles were escalated all regions in Japan.
In 1473, Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sogen died.
But the war continued even though.
The War Ended
Today historians consider 1477 as the year when the war ended.
This is because the armistice was made between the house Hosokawa
and the house Yamana in that year at Kyoto.
But battles didn't end in other regions.
Many daimyo continued battles for themselves, to gain powers and territory,
and to become the new shogun.
The Civil War Era had started.
After the War of Onin ,
the power of the Muromachi shogunate had fallen.
Daimyo began to struggle each other for territory and power.
If someone who had enough power and occupied Kyoto,
he would became the new shogun.
Not only daimyo but also their subsidiaries dreamed to do so.
Some of them slew their master to take place by themselves.
Loyalty, honesty and other Bushido virtues were often ignored.
Only those with power could survive.
Countless battles rampaged throughout the nation.
This period is called ``the Civil War Era''
or ``the Sengoku Era.''
- Gekokujo
- The word Gekokujo means "one of lower class slays the higher."
In the era, the social and ethical order were almost ignored,
and the loyalty to one's master was easily abandoned.
Many daimyo were slain by his men, and such traitors were also betrayed.
This chaos of civil war ended when a genuine daimyo,
Oda Nobunaga appeared in the middle
of 16th century.
He was a war genius with a fiearce personality.
He conquered numerous other daimyo, and had almost unified the nation
when he was assassinated at Honnoji temple in 1582.
Fortunately, he had two brilliant successors.
The first successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ,
continued Nobunaga's work, and succeeded in unifying Japan,
though he couldn't become shogun.
The second successor, Tokugawa Ieyasu ,
succeeded Hideyoshi's unifed Japan,
and sat the throne of shogun in 1603.
This period, when the civil wars are ceasing down
and cultures florished again, is called ``the Azuchi Momoyama Era.''
In the Civil War Era, economic system were much advanced in Japan.
Many daimyo encouraged new rice fields development,
flood control, new mines,
and gathered merchants for their supply.
A new iron refining was invented.
As the result, GNP was increased remarkablly.
The Battle of Sekigahara : 1600
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in 1598,
he chose his young son Toyotomi Hideyori as his successor.
Ishida Mitsunari , the leader of Hideyoshi's bureaucracy,
was loyal to the testament.
However, Tokugawa Ieyasu was different.
After Hideyoshi's death,
rose a disagreement between Mitsunari's bureaucrats and the some warlords
such as Fukushima Masanori .
Ieyasu saw it as the chance to get power,
and gathered the discontent warlords under him.
Finally, Mitsunari and Ieyasu broke out the greatest battle
in Japanese history at Sekigahara .
Mitsunari's army in this battle is called West Army ,
and one of Ieyasu is called East Army .
At first, West Army outnumbered East Army,
so many thought that West Army would win.
But Ieyasu was the excellent strategist.
A few important daimyo in West Army had been bribed by Ieyasu,
and they didn't move when Mitsunari oredered to attack.
Ieyasu won the great battle.
Mitsunari was captured and killed as the war criminal.
This battle decided the next ruler of Japan.
All daimyo but Hideyori and a few his followers obeyed Ieyasu.
In 1603, Ieyasu became shogun, and established Edo Shogunage ,
or Tokugawa Shogunate .
After Ieyasu established Edo Shogunate ,
Toyotomi Hideyori in Osaka castle,
the only son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi ,
was the only emeny for Ieyasu.
At first, he thought to leave Hideyori as a minor daimyo.
But Yodo , the mother of Hideyori,
intrigued to get back the power to his son.
So finally Ieyasu decided to annihilate the house Toyotomi,
and attack Osaka castle in 1615.
There was two battle at Osaka castle.
The Winter Battle of Osaka Castle in 1615,
and the Summer Battle of Osaka Castle in 1616.
Ieyasu dominated the Winter Battle all the way,
and Hideyori was reconciled with Ieyasu on condition that
Ieyasu would destroyed the outer moat of the castle
(Japanese castles in those days had two moats,
the outer moat and the inner moat).
But, after the reconcilation, Ieyasu sent his envoy in the castle,
and destroyed not only the outer moat but also the inner moat.
This made the castle almost defenseless.
Next year, the Summer Battle broke out.
Ieyasu's army overran the castle, and Hideyori comitted suicide.
The house Toyotomi was annihilated.
In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu became shogun,
and founded the Edo Shogunate.
The period till the fall of the shogunate in 1867 is called
the Edo Era.
During this period, the sovereignty was strongly hold by shogun .
The shogunate closed the country,
and Japan prospered isolated from the most of the world.
There was no civil war, people admired the peace.
During the two and half centuries, major wars occured only twice.
Bushi fought no longer,
but governed the country as the bureaucracy instead.
Edo Shogunate was established : 1603
Oda Nobunaga
didn't become shogun, because he didn't need the authority of the emperor.
He thought he could unify Japan by himself, even overthrowing the emperor.
He was so powerful, at least until he was betrayed by
Akechi Mitsuhide .
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
didn't become shogun, either.
Though he needed the authority of the emperor,
he was low-born and didn't have the right to became shogun.
So he became Kanpaku (the regent of the emperor) instead.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
undestood that he had to become shogun.
Though the post of Kanpaku was the second to the emperor,
it had no direct authority to order the military army.
He needed to become shogun, the leader of all bushi.
So he became the new shogun,
and established the Edo shogunate, his military government, at Edo .
Then he built the great Edo castle.
People gathered to the new capital,
and Edo grew a metropolis with more than a million population.
Edo is now called Tokyo .
Soon after he established the shogunate,
he retired and abdicted the throne of shogun to his son,
Tokugawa Hideie .
He, however, was the boss in the shogunate even after he retired.
For example, he lead shogunate army in
the Battle of Osaka Castle .
Sankin Kotai
Ieyasu feared that some daimyo would hold a big power and
rebel against his shogunate.
So he established many laws to regulate and weaken daimyo.
Sankin Kotai was one of them.
Every daimyo had to live in Edo and in the castle in his country
every other year.
For example, a daimyo of Satsuma country
(the most south edge of Japan islands)
spended a year at his castle in Satsuma country,
then he had to travel to Edo to spend another year in his mansion in Edo.
It was more than 1000km from Satsuma to Edo.
Of course, no trains or airplanes were in those days.
He traveled accompanied with more than 200 men.
Such a travelling company was called Daimyo Gyoretsu .
Though the law costed many daimyo much financial expenses,
on the other hand,
it promoted the advance of traffic system in Japan.
Kaido , major travelling routes, were well developed.
Many shukuba-machi (inn-town) were grew along kaido,
providing travellers lodging.
Tokaido was the most famous kaido,
connecting Edo and Kyoto along the Pacific coast.
There were 53 shukuba-machi on Tokaido.
In addition,
various local cultures were brought to Edo, thanks to Sankin Kotai.
All daimyo built their residents in Edo,
which were called daimyo yashiki .
This is because Tokyo is the cultural center of Japan today.
The Class System
The shogunate established a rigid class system.
Today it is reffered by the name Shi-no-ko-sho.
One born in a class could never move to another class.
Shi means Bushi, or Samurai.
The noble warrior class permitted to have katana
(other people were forbidden).
And only they had family name (farmer/craftsmen/merchants didn't have
family name).
However, in fact, becuase very few battle were broke out during the Edo Era,
bushi became rather beaurocrats than worriors.
They were expected to administrate country well.
No means farmers and peasants,
often called Hyakusho in Japanese.
Though the shogunate ranked them above the craftsmen and merchants,
most of them were very poor suffering heavy tax.
To prevent them from revolting, the shogunate intrigued
to make them struggle each other.
Ko means craftsmen. There is no special note about them.
Sho means merchants and shopkeepers.
I could say they were the most powerful in the era.
Though they were ranked the lowest in the four, they had money.
Merchant princes enjoyed much more gorgeous life than daimyo.
In addition to the four class,
I must explain more two lower classes,
Eta and Hinin.
Eta class was established by the shogunate,
to devirt peasants' discontent.
They were considered ``unclean'' and discriminated in all aspects of living.
They couldn't get jobs other than butcher or hide tanner
(both were considered ``uncldean'' in those days).
Hinin, which means ``no-human,'' were the criminal.
They were ranked under Eta, thus the lowest.
However, a Hinin could return to his original class sometimes.
Here was the insidious plot of the shogunate,
to make Eta and Hinin quarrel.
The class system was dessolved when the shogunate fell in 1867,
and even samurai got prohibited to have katana.
The new government stated all people were equal.
However, social discrimination against Eta remained.
Despite for all the continuing efforts to abolish the discrimination,
there are still some poeple hate and fool Eta descendants even now.
For more information about Eta discrimination, see
Minorities in Japan page, coming soon.
Onmitsu
Before Ieyasu established Edo Shogunate
there were many ninja schools in Japan.
They were independent from other authorities,
and hired by many daimyo during the Civil War Era.
When Ieyasu became shogun,
he organized all ninja throughout Japan under his shogunate.
The organization was called Kogi Onmitsu ,
or shortly Onmitsu .
Onmitsu was the espionage of the shogunate.
Their primary purpose was to gather information about other daimyo,
especially evidences of daimyo's faults.
Shogunate was always seeking daimyo's faults
to confiscate their territories.
On the other hand, daimyo hired their own ninja, too.
It was illegal, because all ninja had to belong to Onmitsu.
But they had to hide their secrets from the eyes of the shogunate.
There were slient but severe struggles between ninja,
staking the distiny of daimyo.
Ronin
Ronin were lordless samurai.
Because the loyalty to one's lord was the most important in Bushido ,
it was very unusual a samurai didn't have his lord.
Then why they became ronin?
The answer is, their lords were killed.
In the Edo Era, the shogunate feared daimyos' rebel,
so they had been constantly accusing suspicious daimyo
and confiscating their territories.
When a daimyo was accused, he had to commit suicide ( Seppuku ).
And his samurai lost their occupation,
resulted in being ronin.
All ronin were seeking new lords,
however, it was difficult.
Some were hired by rich merchants as bodyguards.
Some other became rogues or robbers.
All of them were poor,
so some had to sell thier katana
(it was considered as the worst shame for samurai to part with katana).
Such swordless ronin usually put on fake katana made of bamboo,
called Takemitsu.
In 1637, the daimyo who ruled Amakusa country raised tax,
and collected it severely from farmers.
Amakusa was located on the west edge of Japan,
so was influenced the western culture, such as Christianity, deeply.
Famers suffering hunger rebelled against the daimyo ,
and hold a castle.
The daimyo couldn't handle the revolt,
and called the help of shogunate.
Then the crack army of shogunate arrived the next year,
and crashed the farmers soon.
The rebel farmers and their families were slaughtered to the last child.
Sakoku : 1638
After Xavier came to Japan in 1546,
Christianity was spreated little by little to Japan.
Some daimyo in converted from Buddhism to Christianity
for the trade with Portgal and other European countries.
For example, Oda Nobunaga
was baptized.
But Toyotomi Hideyoshi
hated Christianity.
So he prohibited propagation of Christianity in Japan.
Though, because he permitted the trade with Portgal,
the prohibition was ineffective.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
considered Christianity as the danger against his shogunate.
He established the feudal class system in which bushi ruled other people.
But the priests preached human equality in front of the god.
So he prohibited Christianity, too.
After the the Revolt in Shimabara in 1637,
Tokugawa Iemitsu , the thrid shogun,
decided to prohibited Christianity by all means.
In 1638, he ordered to close the country to all foreign countries
but China and the Holland.
This isolation policy was called sakoku .
The sakoku lasted until 1856,
when admiral Perry came from the United States with four steamships
to open the door of Japan in 1853.
Iemitsu also issued the order to drive away foreign ships
if they had been sighted in the sea near Japanese islands.
During the sakoku period, Dejima ,
a port in Nagasaki city,
was the only place that foreigners were allowed to visit.
This two century period influenced
the culture and the mentality of Japanese much.
US Fleet of Admiral Perry came to Uraga : 1853
After two centuries from Japan closed its door,
four steamships came from the United States over the Pacific.
Admiral Perry brought the letter from the U.S. president,
which forced Japan to open the door.
The peace of two centuries had made Japanese military strength much weak.
There were very little naval forces to stop the four steamships.
So the shogunate had no choice other than to abandon sakoku
policy.
Japan was suddenly dragged out to the stage of world-wide
imperialistic politics.
The shogunate had almost no diplomatic experience with foreign countries.
So the commerce treaty concluded with the United States was
very unfavorable to Japan.
And western merchants brought many goods that weren't there in those days,
including steam engine, capitalistic economy, and democracy.
People began to lose their trust to the shogunate.
Today, most historians consider the arrival of Perry the largest trigger
that caused the fall of Edo Shogunate.
The Fall of Tokugawa Shogunate : 1867
250 years of peace under the Tokugawa shogunate made various
inconsistency and inconvenience.
Beaurocracy stiffened and corrupted, many people bagan to complain.
In the early days of the Edo era were brilliant leaders.
In the middle of the era the shogunate had some capable beaurocrats
to handle crisises.
But in 19th century, the heaven gave some great men to the side against
the shogunate, to invoke a revolution.
After the shogunate was forced to open the door to foreign countries,
some people began to shift their loyalty from the shogunate to the emperor.
Their slogan was Sonno-Joi, meaning ``serve the emperor,
drive aliens away.''
They called the Japanese islands Shinshu, meaning ``the land
blessed by the god.''
Leading the forces of Sonno-Joi were two countries,
Satsuma and Choshu.
Satsuma was at the southern edge,
smuggling with foreign countries,
and growing rich and powerful with inported weaponry.
Choshu had many competent young leaders such as Katsura Kogoro,
Takasugi Shinsaku, and Ito Hirobumi,
but not so powerful as Satsuma.
They had long hated the shogunate, and raised army in Kyoto in 1963
but was suppressed soon.
At first, the two countries were at odd.
But a great hero, Sakamoto Ryoma appeared,
and succeeded to made them friends.
Saigo Takamori , the leader of Satsuma,
form an aliance with Katsura, to defeat the shogunate.
In 1862, Satsuma broke a war against England.
They thought they could drive all aliens away from Japan.
Then they were beaten easily. The English empire was so powerful.
They understood that driving aliens away from Japan was almost impossible.
So they changed their policy to make friends with foreign countries,
and concentrated to abolish the shogunate.
The shogunate send an army to conquer the two country, but in vain.
Their equipment was out of date, couldn't match for the modern army of
Satsuma and Choshu.
Next, Kyoto was fallen to the revolt army (the battle of Toba/Fushimi
). The emperor stated Satsuma and Choshu as his army,
and the shogunate as the traitors.
This statement dropped the morale of the shogunate army.
And, finally, the shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu announced
to return the sovereignty to the emperor, in 1967.
Most historians consider it as the year the Tokugawa shogunate fell.
The Tokugawa shogunate fell in 1867, and the new government was formed.
The emperor stated the Meiji era.
The word Meiji means ``governing clearly.''
So we call the year 1867 ``the first year of Meiji.''
The Meiji era lasted until the death of the emperor in 1911,
or 45th year of Meiji.
In this era, Japan was a new kid on the block in world-wide imperialism,
The leaders of the government frequently visited western countries,
to learned how to govern and grow the nation.
The slogan of the new government was ``rich nation and strong army.''
Western cultures poured into this long-closed country to surprise people.
The new and the old were mixed and co-existed.
Various arts flourished.
Today people think over the era with nostalgy.
It was really a romantic era.
(more descriptions will be available soon)
After the Meiji emperor died in 1911,
the next emperor stated the Taisho era.
The word Taisho means ``great justice'' (well, not exactly, but not so far).
So the year 1911 is called ``the first year of Taisho.''
The Taisho era lasted until the death of the emperor in 1925,
or 15th year of Taisho.
After the Taisho emperor died in 1911,
the next emperor Hirohito stated the Showa era.
The word Showa means...um, well, sorry, I don't know. Something nifty, I guess.
So the year 1925 is called ``the first year of Showa.''
The Showa era lasted until the death of the emperor in 1989,
or 64th year of Showa.
updated on 95/3/8
written by
nishio@io.com
