Japanese history timeline
This chart puts 14 periods of Japanese history on one timeline in order, from Jomon culture (before 3200 to 300 BCE) to Japan (postwar) (1947 CE to the present). On these dates, Heian period lasted longest, about 391 years.
See it on the interactive chart
- Jomon culturebefore 3200 to 300 BCE
- Yayoi periodc. 300 BCE to 250 CE
- Kofun periodc. 250 to 538 CE
- Asuka period538 to 710 CE
- Nara period710 to 794 CE
- Heian period794 to 1185 CE
- Kamakura shogunate1185 to 1333 CE
- Kenmu Restoration1333 to 1336 CE
- Muromachi shogunate1336 to 1573 CE
- Sengoku periodc. 1467 to 1600 CE
- Azuchi-Momoyama period1568 to 1600 CE
- Edo period (Tokugawa shogunate)1603 to 1868 CE
- Empire of Japan1868 to 1947 CE
- Japan (postwar)1947 CE to the present
- Japonic
- People or culture without a state
In order
Jomon culture
Hunter-gatherers of the Japanese islands who made cord-marked pottery for over ten thousand years and lived in large villages such as Sannai-Maruyama. Their flame-rimmed vessels and clay dogu figures date from the middle period.
Yayoi period
Rice farmers, many of them migrants from Korea, who brought paddy rice, bronze and iron to Kyushu and spread east. Most scholars believe they brought the Japonic languages. Disputed radiocarbon dates would push the start back by up to 500 years.
Kofun period
The age of the Yamato kings, buried in giant keyhole-shaped mounds such as the Daisen Kofun in Sakai, said to be the largest such mound in the world. Baekje sent princes to Yamato for military support, and immigrants from Korea and China brought new skills.
Asuka period
Buddhism arrived from Baekje, Prince Shotoku built the Horyu-ji temple, and the Taika reforms of 645 began a Chinese-style centralized state under an emperor.
Nara period
A grid-planned capital modeled on Chang'an. The court compiled the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki histories and the Man'yoshu poetry anthology and cast the Great Buddha of Todai-ji.
Heian period
The court at Kyoto, dominated by the Fujiwara regents, produced kana script and Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji. Provincial warrior clans grew powerful, and the Genpei War between the Taira and Minamoto ended the period.
Kamakura shogunate
Minamoto no Yoritomo set up a warrior government in Kamakura, later run by the Hojo regents. It beat back two Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281, and Emperor Go-Daigo's supporters destroyed it in 1333.
Kenmu Restoration
Emperor Go-Daigo's attempt to restore direct imperial rule, which collapsed when Ashikaga Takauji turned against him and split the court into northern and southern lines.
Muromachi shogunate
The Ashikaga shoguns ruled from the Muromachi district of Kyoto. Under Yoshimitsu and Yoshimasa it produced Noh theater, the Golden and Silver Pavilions and Zen gardens, but after the Onin War of 1467 its authority collapsed.
Sengoku period
The age of warring states, when daimyo such as the Takeda, Uesugi and Mori fought for land with armies of ashigaru foot soldiers and, after the Portuguese brought them in 1543, matchlock guns.
Azuchi-Momoyama period
Oda Nobunaga and then Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan, built great castles and disarmed the peasants. Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea failed, and Tokugawa Ieyasu won the succession at Sekigahara in 1600.
Edo period (Tokugawa shogunate)
Two and a half centuries of peace under the Tokugawa shoguns, who restricted foreign trade to the Dutch and Chinese at Nagasaki and banned Christianity. Edo grew to a million people, with kabuki and ukiyo-e prints.
Empire of Japan
The Meiji Restoration launched rapid industrialization and militarization, and Japan beat China in 1895 and Russia in 1905. Militarists led it into war with China and the United States, ending in defeat and the atomic bombings of 1945.
Japan (postwar)
A constitutional monarchy under the 1947 constitution, dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party. Its economic miracle made it the world's second-largest economy until 2010; Sanae Takaichi became its first woman prime minister in 2025.
Major events
- Taika reforms. After a palace coup against the Soga clan, the Japanese court begins land and tax reforms modeled on Tang China.
- Battle of Dan-no-ura. The Minamoto destroy the Taira fleet in the Kanmon Straits, and the child emperor Antoku dies in the sea. The defeat ends the Taira and leads to the Kamakura shogunate.
- Kamikaze wreck the Mongol fleet. A typhoon devastates Kublai Khan's second invasion fleet off Kyushu, the storm remembered in Japan as kamikaze, the divine wind.
- Japanese invasion of Korea. Toyotomi Hideyoshi sends some 150,000 troops into Korea. Ming armies, Korean militias and Admiral Yi Sun-sin's fleet fight them to a stalemate, and Japan withdraws in 1598 after Hideyoshi dies.
- Battle of Sekigahara. Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the western daimyo coalition and becomes master of Japan, taking the title of shogun in 1603.
- Sakoku isolation policy in Japan. Edicts issued from 1633 to 1639 under Tokugawa Iemitsu severely limit Japan's foreign relations and trade. Japan is not completely isolated, with the Dutch at Dejima and Chinese trade at Nagasaki, and the policy ends after 1853.
- Perry's black ships. US Commodore Matthew Perry sails into Edo Bay and demands that Japan open its ports, which it does in 1854.
- Meiji Restoration. An alliance of domains led by Satsuma and Choshu overthrows the shogunate, and Emperor Meiji declares power restored to the throne, opening a period of rapid Westernization.
- Russo-Japanese War. Russia and Japan fight over rival ambitions in Manchuria and Korea, with land battles on the Liaodong Peninsula and near Mukden and naval battles in the Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan. The Treaty of Portsmouth ends the war in September 1905.
- War with Japan and the Nanjing massacre. Fighting at the Marco Polo Bridge in July grows into full-scale war. Japanese troops take Nanjing in December and massacre civilians and prisoners; most estimates put the dead at 100,000 to over 200,000.
- Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. US atomic bombs destroy two Japanese cities in August, killing 150,000 to 246,000 people, most of them civilians, and Japan surrenders days later.
- Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. A magnitude 9.0 to 9.1 earthquake and tsunami strike northeast Japan, leaving 19,759 dead and 2,553 missing by 2021 figures, and cause meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Questions
What is the order of periods of Japanese history?
By start date: Jomon culture, Yayoi period, Kofun period, Asuka period, Nara period, Heian period, Kamakura shogunate, Kenmu Restoration, Muromachi shogunate, Sengoku period, Azuchi-Momoyama period, Edo period (Tokugawa shogunate), Empire of Japan and Japan (postwar).
Which of the periods of Japanese history lasted longest?
On this timeline, Heian period, at about 391 years (794 to 1185 CE).
How many periods of Japanese history were there?
This timeline shows 14. Other lists count differently, depending on how they treat rival states and periods of division.
Which came first?
Jomon culture, before 3200 to 300 BCE, is the earliest on this timeline.
Where do these dates come from?
Each row's dates were checked against the sources listed on that row's own page, mostly English Wikipedia articles, which cite the underlying scholarship. Dates that are uncertain are marked c.