The Meiji Restoration of 1868 quickly gave way to an expansionist policy throughout East Asia. A country relatively poor in natural resources, Japan also copies the West in its desire to possess a colonial empire. His great adversary was Russia, which he succeeded in driving back from Korea in 1895 and to which he inflicted a humiliating defeat in 1905. This last conflict gave Japan control of Port-Arthur and the Liaodong peninsula. Five years later, Korea is annexed. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria.
Edo period (1600-1867)
1603 Tokugawa Ieyasu proclaims himself shogun of the new government in Edo (Tokyo).
1633 Foreign travel, foreign books and Catholicism are punishable by death.
1720 Foreign books are allowed. Natural disasters and economic problems.
1854 The United States forces the shogunate to open its ports to international trade.
Meiji period (1868-1912)
1867 Emperor Meiji ascends the throne. The following year begins the Meiji era.
1880 The monetary system is reformed and the Bank of Japan is created.
1894 First Sino-Japanese War. The country intensifies the military character of its ambitions.
1904-1905 War between Russia and Japan, which emerges victorious. Japan expands its territories.
1910 Japan annexes Korea after three years of conflict between the two countries.
1912 Death of the Emperor. Political parties are beginning to gain power.
Contemporary Periods
1912-1926 Taisho period.
1926-1989 Showa period.
1989-today Heisei period.