First of all, let's grasp the flow of the times of Japanese history. !!

In school lessons, I feel that I can only remember history in terms of the lessons. A cram school teacher said that if you don't have or have little knowledge of the field you want to study, you need to get an overall picture of that field first.

It seems that if you can get an overview of each subject to some extent, you will learn the knowledge in detail. When it comes to Japanese history, it's important to get an overview first. After that, it is good to understand the details of the textbook.

With that said, I will introduce you from the ancient times of Japanese history to Heisei and Reiwa.

Grasp the flow of Japanese history

Paleolithic-Kofun period

• Around 14000 BC Paleolithic Mankind is an era of hunting and wildcrafting and an ice age
• 14000 BC-10 BC Jomon period Jomon people used Jomon pottery to live in pit-houses.
• Rice cultivation was introduced from the Yayoi period continent around the 4th century BC to 3rd century BC, and rice cultivation began. Stored in a stilt warehouse and used Yayoi pottery. Yamatai country was born, Himiko ruled the country, and received a gold seal from Wei of mainland China.
• Around the 3rd to 7th centuries Kofun period Kuni from all over Japan became one Yamato administration, and noble people began to build tumuli in their tombs.

Asuka period

• Late 6th century to early 7th century King Shotoku (Prince Shotoku) and Mr. Soga are active.
• 600 ~ 618 Ono no Imoko is famous even though he dispatched a mission to Sui. He traveled to mainland China as a mission to Sui.
• In 645, Otomi's prince and Nakatomi Kamashita destroy Soga no Emishi and Soga no Iruka and reform national affairs. This series of events is called Taika Reform.
• 672 Jinshin War The oldest civil war in Japan, the issue of succession to the emperor's throne. The victorious Emperor Tenmu takes the throne.
• 701 Taiho Code was enacted Japan's first Taiho Code was enacted.

Nara period

• 710 Moved to Heijokyo Moved the capital to Heijokyo.
• 741 and 743 During the time of Emperor Shomu, smallpox spread, and the edict of the construction of Kokubunji and the edict of the Great Buddha was issued. Einen Shibata laid the foundation for the early villa by issuing the Private Property Law.
• ～ Transition of power in the latter half of the 8th century Fujiwara no Fuhito → Prince Nagaya → Shiko Fujiwara → Tachibana no Moroe → Nakamaro Fujiwara → Dokyo → Momokawa Fujiwara

Heian period

• Moved to Heiankyo in 794 In order to reduce the power of existing Buddhist forces and aristocrats who had power during the Nara period, the capital was moved to Nagaokakyo, which was blessed with water, but the person in charge of moving to Nagaokakyo was assassinated. In addition, unhappiness continued and the capital was relocated to Heiankyo.
• The rise of Mr. Fujiwara around the 8th and 9th centuries Establish politics.
• From 966 to 1074 The heyday of the Fujiwara Kita family Fujiwara no Michinaga and Yorimichi's prosperity reached its climax.
• 1086 Cloister rule started Since Emperor Shirakawa's father's generation, the emperor's consort kin was no longer Mr. Fujiwara, and the influence of the regents declined. Therefore, Emperor Shirakawa should transfer to his little son and become an emeritus, and take his own pro-government. Such a political system was called cloister rule.
• 1156 Due to the Hogen rebellion succession problem and the internal conflict of the regents, the imperial court split into Go-Shirakawa and Emperor Sutoku, and a political change that led to an armed conflict between the two broke out. ..
• 1159 Heiji rebellion Minamoto no Yoshitomo and Fujiwara no Nobuyori teamed up to defeat Taira no Kiyomori, who had been strengthening after the Hogen rebellion.
• First in 1167 history! Birth of a samurai government Taira no Kiyomori will become Daijo-daijin, and the first samurai politics in Japan will take place.
• 1180 ~ 1185 Genpei War 6 years of civil war. A rebellion against the Taira administration occurred, and the Taira administration eventually collapsed.

Kamakura period

• 1185 Minamoto no Yoritomo guards and sets up Jito Yoritomo becomes the pinnacle of samurai.
• 1192 The shogunate is opened in the land of Kamakura, which is appointed as Shogun General.
• 1219 Genji's general has the power to say that he is the third generation.
• 1221 After the Jokyu War, Emperor Go-Toba overthrows the Shogunate and causes the Jokyu War, but is defeated.
• Enactment of the Goseibai Shikimoku in 1232 The Goseibai Shikimoku is a law enacted by Yasutoki Hojo, a law for samurai and ordinary people.
• 1272 The imperial court rushes into a state of bilateral stance so that the imperial family, which has split into two lines, will alternately succeed to the throne. → It gets confusing because the emperor who was demise at a young age appears.
• 1274/1281 The Mongol invasion power [former] invades Japan. The authority at this time was Hojo Tokimune.
• The Tokuseirei, which issued the 1297 Tokuseirei, is the so-called debt cancellation order. It is said to be the first Tokuseirei in Japan, which was issued by Sadatoki Hojo, the 9th governor of the Kamakura Shogunate.
• 1331-1333 As a result of the mess in the Genko War court, the hostile forces of the emperor Go-Daigo at that time approached the shogunate. Emperor Go-Daigo overthrows and raises the Kamakura Shogunate, and a nationwide civil war breaks out.
• The end of the Kamakura period in 1333 The Kamakura Shogunate was destroyed.

Muromachi period

• July 4, 1333 Kenmu Restoration begins pro-government by Emperor Go-Daigo
• 1336 The Muromachi Shogunate is opened Mr. Takauji Ashikaga becomes the Shogun General and opens the Muromachi Shogunate. It is also the year when the Kenmu Shikimoku was established.
• The beginning of the Northern and Southern Dynasties The Shogunate supported the Northern Court (the system that Emperor Go-Daigo was hostile to). Emperor Go-Daigo opens the Southern Court in Yoshino.
• In 1369, Yoshimitsu Ashikaga, the third shogun who reached the peak of the Muromachi period, took office and subdued the leading guardian daimyo in each region and seized power.
• 1441 Kakitsu Incident is assassinated by the guardian daimyo Akamatsu
• 1467 Onin War Katsumoto Hosokawa and Sozen Yamana fight for power
• 1467-Beginning of the Warring States period Gekokujo began to frequently replace the lower ones with the upper ones, and the Sengoku daimyo was born.
• 1573 Muromachi Shogunate is destroyed Nobunaga Oda expels 15th Shogun Yoshiaki Ashikaga from Kyoto

Azuchi-Momoyama period

• 1575 Battle of Nagashino The Oda-Tokugawa Allied Forces defeat the powerful country Takeda Katsuyori and Takeda is destroyed
• 1582 Honnoji Incident Oda family vassal Akechi Mitsuhide defeats Nobunaga Oda at Honnoji
• 1590 Azuchi-Momoyama era Toyotomi Hideyoshi unifies the world
• 1592 ・ 1997 Korean troops invaded the Korean Peninsula by Toyotomi Hideyoshi
• 1598 Toyotomi Hideyoshi died Toyotomi Hideyoshi died The confrontation between Ieyasu Tokugawa and Mitsunari Ishida surfaced
• 1600 Battle of Sekigahara Ieyasu Tokugawa and Mitsunari Ishida fight in Sekigahara

Edo period

• 1603 Edo Shogunate established Ieyasu Tokugawa becomes Shogun General and opens the Shogunate in the land of Edo
• 1615 Enacted various laws of the second shogun Hidetada Tokugawa samurai
• 1636 Institutionalization of the change of the third shogun, Iemitsu. Completion of isolation system.
• 1664 4th Shogun Ietsuna Ieyasu-Transition from martial arts politics in the Iemitsu era to civilian politics (up to the 7th Shogun Ietsugu)
• 1687 promulgated the order of mercy for the fifth shogun, Tsunayoshi.
• 1716 ~ 1745 The Shogunate Reform and Kyoho Reform are carried out by Yoshimune Tokugawa, the eighth shogun. Raised rice, guide box, Kujikata Osadamegaki
• 1772 Rōjū and Tanuma Okitsugu learned from the reform of Kyoho and reformed the shogunate government. Recommended by Kabunakama, etc ...
• 1787-1793 Rōjū / Matsudaira Sadanobu Due to Tanuma Okitsugu's demise, Kansei Reforms will be implemented under the leadership of Matsudaira Sadanobu.
• 1841-43 Rōjū / Tadakuni Mizuno With the development of the monetary economy, the Tenpo Reforms will be implemented with the aim of reviving the shogunate.
• 1853 Kurofune arrives Kurofune arrives in Uraga
• 1854 Convention of Kanagawa The Convention of Kanagawa was signed with the United States, and the port of Japan was opened.
• 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States Recognizing consular jurisdiction in the United States and concluding a treaty without tariff autonomy in Japan ...
• 1867 The 15th Shogun, Yoshinobu Taisei Hokan, and the government are returned to the imperial court.

Meiji era

• 1868-A series of reforms by the Meiji Restoration from the Meiji Restoration movement to the Emperor's pro-government system.
• 1874 Freedom and People's Rights Movement Itagaki Taisuke and others' Freedom and People's Rights Movement
• 1889 Meiji Constitution The Constitution of the Empire of Japan was promulgated by Hirobumi Ito and others.
• 1894 Sino-Japanese War The war between Japan and the Qing dynasty
• 1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance A military alliance between Japan and the United Kingdom
• 1904 Russo-Japanese War War between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire

Taisho era

• 1914-1918 World War I World War I was a battle between the Allies and the Central Powers of World War, at which time Japan won in the Allies.
• The rice riots of 1918 started with local demonstrations, but gradually expanded nationwide.
• Peace Preservation Law of 1925 A law enacted to crack down on the imperial family and the movement to deny the private property system

Showa period

• 1929 Great Depression The Great Depression that started in the United States
• 1931 Manchurian Incident The Kwantung Army of Japan exploded the South Manchuria Railway
• 1937 Sino-Japanese War Japan fights with the Republic of China
• 1939 World War II Germany invades Poland and World War II begins
• 1941 Pacific War broke out Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in the United States, and the Pacific War begins.
• End of 1945 Japan accepts the Potsdam Declaration and ends the war
• 1945-Year Postwar Reconstruction GHQ (Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers) Occupation. Commander-in-Chief:Postwar Reform by MacArthur:Dismantling of Zaibatsu, Land Reform
• 1946 Constitution of Japan The Constitution of Japan was promulgated. Enforced next year
• 1950 Korean War War boom due to the Korean War
• 1951 Peace Treaty San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan-US Security Treaty signed
• 1955 1955 system Liberal Democratic Party formation
• 1956 United Nations Membership Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration
• Return of territory in 1972 Return of Okinawa
• 1973 Oil Crisis End of High Economic Growth

Heisei era

• 1993 recession bubble economy collapse

It's a sloppy flow, but this is the history of Japan that leads to the present day.

In summary, the Heian period and the Edo period tended to be withdrawn, and Asuka, Nara, and the Meiji era were actively diplomatic.

Cultures during and without diplomacy are completely different. At the time of active diplomacy, the influence of foreign countries is reflected quite strongly in terms of culture. On the other hand, it is characterized by the development of its own culture in the times when there were few contacts with foreign countries such as Heian and Edo.

Not only was it good to interact with other countries, but new illnesses were prevalent from abroad, and the government of the time was damaged. I can't say it unconditionally because it is related to medical conditions, hygiene, and nutritional status, but I hear that "plague" was one of the reasons when I moved to Heiankyo.

Of course, whether they are culture or plague, there is no single reason, but the foreign policy of the administration at that time influenced culture. It's easy to remember by associating it with it rather than simply remembering it, so put it in the corner of your head.