The Entire History of Japan

#japan #history #documentary

The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventions were introduced from Asia. During this period, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han in the first century AD.

Around the 3rd century BC, the Yayoi people from the continent immigrated to the Japanese archipelago and introduced iron technology and agricultural civilization. Because they had an agricultural civilization, the population of the Yayoi began to grow rapidly and ultimately overwhelmed the Jōmon people, natives of the Japanese archipelago who were hunter-gatherers. Between the fourth and ninth centuries, Japan's many kingdoms and tribes gradually came to be unified under a centralized government, nominally controlled by the Emperor of Japan. The imperial dynasty established at this time continues to this day, albeit in an almost entirely ceremonial role. In 794, a new imperial capital was established at Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto), marking the beginning of the Heian period, which lasted until 1185. The Heian period is considered a golden age of classical Japanese culture. Japanese religious life from this time and onwards was a mix of native Shinto practices and Buddhism.

Over the following centuries, the power of the imperial house decreased, passing first to great clans of civilian aristocrats — most notably the Fujiwara — and then to the military clans and their armies of samurai. The Minamoto clan under Minamoto no Yoritomo emerged victorious from the Genpei War of 1180–85, defeating their rival military clan, the Taira. After seizing power, Yoritomo set up his capital in Kamakura and took the title of shōgun. In 1274 and 1281, the Kamakura shogunate withstood two Mongol invasions, but in 1333 it was toppled by a rival claimant to the shogunate, ushering in the Muromachi period. During this period, regional warlords called daimyō grew in power at the expense of the shōgun. Eventually, Japan descended into a period of civil war. Over the course of the late 16th century, Japan was reunified under the leadership of the prominent daimyō Oda Nobunaga and his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After Toyotomi's death in 1598, Tokugawa Ieyasu came to power and was appointed shōgun by the emperor. The Tokugawa shogunate, which governed from Edo (modern Tokyo), presided over a prosperous and peaceful era known as the Edo period (1600–1868). The Tokugawa shogunate imposed a strict class system on Japanese society and cut off almost all contact with the outside world.

Portugal and Japan came into contact in 1543, when the Portuguese became the first Europeans to reach Japan by landing in the southern archipelago. They had a significant impact on Japan, even in this initial limited interaction, introducing firearms to Japanese warfare. The American Perry Expedition in 1853–54 more completely ended Japan's seclusion; this contributed to the fall of the shogunate and the return of power to the emperor during the Boshin War in 1868. The new national leadership of the following Meiji era (1868–1912) transformed the isolated feudal island country into an empire that closely followed Western models and became a great power. Although democracy developed and modern civilian culture prospered during the Taishō period (1912–1926), Japan's powerful military had great autonomy and overruled Japan's civilian leaders in the 1920s and 1930s. The Japanese military invaded Manchuria in 1931, and from 1937 the conflict escalated into a prolonged war with China. Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 led to war with the United States and its allies. Japan's forces soon became overextended, but the military held out in spite of Allied air attacks that inflicted severe damage on population centers. Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender on 15 August 1945, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.

The Allies occupied Japan until 1952, during which a new constitution was enacted in 1947 that transformed Japan into the constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy it is today. After 1955, Japan enjoyed very high economic growth under the governance of the Liberal Democratic Party, and became a world economic powerhouse. Since the Lost Decade of the 1990s, Japanese economic growth has slowed.

[ogundokunpeter]

The series "Shogun" brought me here ❤

[NickiMinajIsCancelled]

Shogun brought me here. It has to be one of the best shows ever.

[TimeTraveler]

Japan is a country with an extraordinary history and great breakthroughs

[pingpongpang]

During the Edo era, Japan was actually open not to the whole world but exclusively to the Dutch. Japanese studied Dutch literature and kept up with what was happening in the world. This is one of the reasons why Japan was able to successfully go through industrial revolution immediately after the Meiji restoration.

On a side note, Japan expelled other nations like the Portuguese and Spanish because the Japanese rulers saw what happened to the Philippines and also their trade exchange rate on gold was extremely unfair to Japan where the Dutch just traded fairly.

[KaungSettHan]

Open the country, stop having it be closed

-America with gunboats

[shine]

We can not explain Japanese history without Jomon. Jomon people are ancient Japanese people. They were not immigrant who came from Korea or Chinese. they were the oldest people in Asia. Basically they were not in Korea and Chinese. this is important history for east Asia.
That is, we cannot explain our history without DNA analysis.

[onnbwyh]

Please also address the period before the sea level rise during the Jomon period 13, 000 years ago when maritime trade was active with regions like Polynesia, Sundaland, Okinawa, and the Ogasawara Islands. There are megalithic ruins common to these regions in Japan as well, and the Kinzang megalithic group retains records of astronomical observations. It is interesting that place names like Asuka in Japan, Alaska, Aztec, and Nazca share the common sound of "Asuka."

[IndigoBranch]

History of Japan by Bill Wurtz comment chain?

Japan is an island by the sea filled with volcanoes and it’s beautiful

[backattackjack]

Much love to 🇯🇵 from 🇺🇸 … Great documentary

[voicesfromjapan]

I'd be happy to hear Japan being focused on! Thank you.🇯🇵

[wackywacky]

Japanese people are so intelligent and courageous.

[NaokiIto-ojsg]

Great video, Arigtato! One request though. I want Hoppou Ryodo (Four islands in Hokkaido under conflict with Russia) to be included in the map of Japan 😢

[tareksadmi]

Well looks like you’ve skipped the Jomon people who were hunter gatherers and lived in Japan for thousands of years before the Yayoi people migrated from Central Asia (correction : Northeastern Asia) and brought agriculture.

[edwardrivas]

Assassin’s creed shadows brought me here ! Lmfao 😂

[hayek]

Some facts about the beginning of Japan:

1. The oldest ruin in Japan is the Sunabara ruin (砂原遺跡) of some 110, 000 years ago, from which some chipped stone tools are found. This is strange given that humankind left Africa only 60, 000 years ago. However, it is found that the Japanese have the highest rate of interbreeding with Denisovan, a derivative of Neandethaal, so this ruin could be related to them.

2. The world's oldest polished stoneware, which is a more important sign of civilization since even monkeys can make chipped stoneware, is found in Japan in Iwajuku ruin (岩宿遺跡) that goes back to 30, 000 years ago. The oldest one in China only goes back to 15, 000 years ago, and Korea, 7, 000 years ago.

3. The world's oldest earthenware is found in Odai Yamamoto I Site (大平山元１遺跡) and it goes back to 16, 500 years ago. Soon after this was found, China claimed it found the oldest earthenware of 17, 000 years ago. Japanese scientists asked to conduct joint research but China refused and now claims that it was lost.

4. The world's oldest lacquerware is found in Torihama shell mound (鳥浜貝塚), and it goes back to 12, 600 years ago.

5. There are more than 12, 000 ruins of more than 10, 000 years ago in the Japanese archipelago. But on the entire Korean Peninsula, there are only around 50, and this decreased to zero between 10, 000 and 5, 000 years ago, meaning whatever the reason, they had extinct. This discontinuation never happened in the Japanese islands except for Kyushu for volcanic activities. Then, from the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, in the absence of other ruins, Japanese Jomon earthenware and Zenpokoen-fun (Japanese tomb) started appearing meaning that the first settlers of the Peninsula were the Japanese.

6. Rice is genetically estimated to have originated in the southern part of China some 11, 000 years ago, and the remains of rice paddy fields go back to about 7, 000 years ago. China has all of 8 DNA groups, a to h. In Japan, the oldest plant opal of rice found goes back to about 6, 000 years ago, and the remains of the rice paddy field go back to some 3, 000 years ago. The DNA groups of Japanese rice are a, b, and c with b the most abundant. In Korea, the oldest plant opal of rice only goes back to about 2, 500 years ago, and the remaining rice paddy fields only go back some 2, 600 years. There are 7 DNA groups in Koean rice, and it lacks b. This means that the Japanese rice did not come from the Korean Peninsula.

[gn-z]

This content has many mistakes. ① Rice cultivation began in Japan in the late Jomon period. ② Yamataikoku ruled before the Yamato court. ③The portrait of Minamoto no Yoritomo is Ashikaga Tadayoshi. ④The reason why the Mongolian Korean army withdrew was not the typhoon.　
There are many more.

[ginasilva]

"Nau do Trato" in portuguese.
Há uma clara relação entre a chegada dos primeiros europeus, os Portugueses, (com a introdução das armas, "nanban art", etc.) e a unificação do Japão e, consequentemente o astronómico desenvolvimento do Japão. Thank you.

[HANA-lcke]

Japan more than 2000 years from history.Japan.

[krookedtease]

Great! I've been interested in Japan so much lately :) This should be interesting!

[MIB_]

My respect for Japan and its history 🇯🇵