Notes for Students in International Relations
at Florida International University
More detailed discussion of many of the following events can be found
in the online Wikipedia's History
of Japan.
I. Pre-feudal History
-
200 BCE Yayoi society (wet-rice agriculture)
-
200 AD Kofun (keyhole tomb) civilization emerges (Chinese, Korean
influence in iron tools, armor, horses)
-
600-800 AD Confucian social and bureaucratic organization,
Buddhist religious beliefs transmitted to Japan
II. Japan's Feudal History
-
794 Kyoto established as capital; Fujiwara family dominated imperial
household.
-
1192 Kamakura
shogunate established by Minamoto no Yoritomo;
most regions semi-independent, ruled by gokenin.
-
1274, 1281 Mongol invasion attempts defeated
-
-
1336 Ashikaga seizes power, Muromachi period; gokenin lost
land as daimyo emerged and undertook public works (flood
control,
land reclamation,
terracing), administrative reform for peasant productivity,
and economic reform (minting currency)
-
1467-1598 secession disputes gave way to Sengoku (warring
states) period
-
1542 Portuguese sailors arrive in Kyushu, with firearms
-
1560 Period of especially brutal war begins, leading
to national unification; three generals - ODA
Nobunaga, TOYOTOMI
Hideyoshi,
TOKUGAWA Ieyasu
-
-
-
1640 Tokugawas close Japan; only a small enclave
of Dutch traders remain on Deshima
-
1830s widespread famine, peasant riots,
gradual rise of merchant class (chonin)
-
-
1854
Perry's second arrival (8 ships), Treaty of Kanagawa opened 2 ports
(Shimoda, Hakodate)
-
1856 Townsend Harris arrives, first
consul in Shimoda; begins negotiations
with
bakufu
-
1858 Harris signs treaty allowing
trade, establishing new ports,
allowing foreigners
to travel in
Edo & Osaka,
extraterritoriality, low tariffs, religious freedom for
foreigners
-
1861-1865 Civil War in US
-
1868 Imperial army (led by
samurai from Choshu,
Satsuma, Tosa, Hizen;
financed
by Osaka bankers)
defeats Shogun's
forces, occupies
Edo,
deposes the Shogun and "restores" power
to the 15-year-old emperor
Meiji.
Emperor moves
to Tokyo
-
1870 conscription law
-
1877
Satsuma rebellion and other
unrest in Japan; general
strike in
US (economic
depression)
IV. US-Japanese Expansion
in the Pacific,
First Wave
-
1876 Japan sends
2 ships to Korea,
demands
independence
from China
and trade relations
-
1875-6 US-Hawaiian
reciprocity
treaty opens US market
to Hawaiian sugar
-
1882 US negotiates
Shufeldt
treaty with Korea (via
China) -
opens trade; US missionaries
flood into
Korea
-
1889 new constitution
promulgated
by Japanese emperor
-
-
1895 Japan defeats
larger Chinese
army, controls
Korea, Liaotung
Peninsula,
and Formosa
(Taiwan); Triple Intervention
(Russia,
Germany,
France) demands that
Japan return
Liaotung
Peninsula
to China.
-
1897 Japan sends
warship to
Hawaii, then withdraws
-
1898 Spanish-American
War; US sends
troops to
Philippines; US annexes
Hawaii
-
1899-1900 Boxer
Uprising
in China (suppressed
by foreign
powers in 1900); US
Secretary
of State John Hay
issues open-door
notes; "Gentlemen's
Agreement" to suppress Japanese emigration to California
-
1902 British-Japanese
alliance
-
1904 Japan attacks
Port Arthur,
Russo-Japanese
war begins
-
1905 Russia loses
Baltic fleet
in Battle
of Japan Sea; Roosevelt
helps negotiate
peace; Portsmouth
Conference
gives Japan
free hand
in Korea & S.
Manchuria; Taft-Katsura agreement recognizes US position
in Philippines, Japan's in Korea
-
1906 San Francisco
school board
approves
segregation order
for Oriental
Public
School (after
San Francisco
earthquake);
Roosevelt
directs
War Department
to begin
planning for
a possible
war with
Japan (War Plan
ORANGE)
-
1910 Japan and
Russia formally
divide Manchuria;
Japan
formally
annexes Korea.
-
1911
Japan renegotiates trade treaties,
gains
full control over tariffs,
treaty ports
-
1912 Emperor
Taisho replaces
Emperor
Meiji; "Lodge Corollary" to
Monroe Doctrine
-
1913 Webb-Heney
Alien
Land Act in California
-
1914 WWI
begins
in Europe; Japan
seizes
German
possessions in
Asia
-
1915 Japan
issues "Twenty-one Demands" to China
-
1917 US joins
war in
Europe; overthrow
of
Russian
Tsar, Bolshevik
revolution;
Lansing-Ishii
agreement
recognizes
Japan's "special rights" in
China, Manchuria
-
1919 Versailles
peace
conference imposes
large
indemnity on Germany;
returns
Alsace-Lorraine to France,
establishes
League
of Nations;
but
Wilson
turns down Japan's
proposal
for a "racial equality" clause
-
1921 Four-Power
Treaty
(US, UK, France,
Japan)
replaces Anglo-Japanese
alliance;
Washington
Conference
on
Naval
Armaments establishes
ratio
of capital
ships
for major powers
-
1922 US withdraws
support
for Sun Yat-sen's
Kuomindong
movement
-
1924 Alien
Exclusion
Act sets
numerical
quotas
for immigration
to US;
prohibits Japanese
immigration
-
1926 Emperor
Taisho
succeeded by Emperor
Showa (Hirohito)
VI. US-Japanese
Expansion
in the
Pacific, Second
Wave
-
1927 Japan's
trade
in China surpassed
Britain's;
Cabinet
Resources
Bureau
approved
-
1928
Kwantung
Army
assassinates
Chang
Tso-lin
-
1929
New
York stock
market
collapse
signals
beginning
of
Great Depression
-
1930
London
Naval
Conference;
Smoot-Hawley
Tariff
-
1931
Kwantung
Army
stages
Mukden
incident;
state
of
Manchukuo created
-
1932
Japan
lands
troops
in
Shanghai; League
of
Nations issues
Lytton
report
-
1933
Japan
quits
League
of
Nations; Prime
Minister
Inukai
assassinated;
Japan
signs
truce
with
China,
controls
Manchukuo
-
1935
Japan's
trade
reaches
record
levels,
43%
of national
budget
spent
on
military,
zaibatsu
converted
to
wartime production
-
1936
Hirota
cabinet
advocates
3
Principles: (1) drive
Western
powers
out
of Asia,
(2)
improve relations
with
Asian
powers,
and
(3) create
economic
bloc
with
China
-
1937
Fumimaro
Konoe
becomes
Prime
Minister;
Japan
launches
new
invasion of China;
Nanjing
Massacre;
Panay
incident
-
1939
Japan
bombs
Chunking;
US
withdraws
from
1911
US-Japan
Trade
Treaty;
Nazi-Soviet
non-aggression
pact
(Molotov-Von
Ribbentrop
Pact)
-
1940
President
Roosevelt
signs
Defense
Action
Act
that stops
export
of
aircraft, machine
tools
to
Japan; Hideki
Tojo
becomes
War
Minister in Japan;
Prime
Minister
Konoe
proclaims
Greater
East-Asian
Co-Prosperity
Sphere;
Japan
signs
deal
with
Vichy
France,
occupies
Indochina;
Roosevelt
bans
sales
of
scrap iron
and
steel
to
Japan; Japan
joins
the
Axis, signs
neutrality
pact
with
Soviet
Union
-
1941
Germany
attacks
USSR;
Roosevelt
approves
embargo
on
high-grade aviation
fuel
to
Japan; Tojo
becomes
Prime
Minister;
Emperor
gives
final
approval
to
war plans;
Admiral
Yamamoto's
carrier
force
destroys
5
of 6
US
battleships
in
Pacific Fleet
in
Pearl Harbor;
Germany
declares
war
on US; Japanese
forces
defeat
US
forces in Philippines
-
1942
Roosevelt
signs
Executive
Order
9066,
authorizing
internment
of
120,000 Japanese
Americans
in "concentration camps";
Battle of the Coral Sea; Battle of Midway
-
1944
Supreme
Court
contradicts
2
earlier decisions
and
rules that
a
person could
not
be interned
solely
because
of
race; US forces
defeat
remainder
of
Japanese fleet
in
battle
near
the
Marianas Islands;
Japan
launches
the
first
kamikaze
attacks
on
US ships
-
1945
Tokyo
air
raid; Battle
of
Okinawa; Potsdam
Conference;
US
uses atomic
bombs
on
Hiroshima (August
6)
and
Nagasaki (August
9);
Soviet Army
begins
to
overrun Kwantung
Army;
Japanese
emperor
issues "Imperial
Rescript on the End of the War"
|
