Timeline of Japanese history

This is a timeline of Japanese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Japan and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Japan. See also the list of Emperors of Japan and Prime Ministers of Japan and the list of years in Japan.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

8th century

Year	Date	Event
710		Empress Gemmei moved the capital to Heijō-kyō.
712		The Kojiki was completed.
713		The provinces were ordered to compile cultural and geographical records, known as fudoki.
718		Fujiwara no Fuhito compiled the Yōrō Code.
720		The Nihon Shoki was completed.
724		Emperor Shōmu was enthroned.
735		Genbō and Kibi Makibi returned from China.
741		Shōmu established the provincial temples.
751		The Kaifūsō poetry anthology was completed.
752		The Great Buddha of Nara at Tōdai-ji was completed.
754		Priest Ganjin arrived from China.
757		Fujiwara no Nakamaro defeated an attempt by Tachibana no Naramaro to seize power.
764		Fujiwara and Emperor Junnin launched a plot against the retired Empress Kōken and the monk Dōkyō which failed.
781		The Emperor Kammu was enthroned.
784		The capital moved to Nagaoka-kyō.
788		Saichō built Enryaku-ji.
794		Emperor Kammu moved the capital to Heian-kyō.

15th century

1582 - Oda Nobunaga dies after committing Seppuku

16th century

Year	Date	Event
1560		Battle of Okehazama: Oda Nobunaga emerged victorious.
1582		Incident at Honnō-ji: Akechi Mitsuhide, an Oda general, betrayed Nobunaga at Honnō-ji and forced him to commit seppuku.
1592		Toyotomi Hideyoshi, acting as kampaku (regent) in lieu of Oda Nobukatsu, violently attacked Korea.

17th century

Year	Date	Event
1603		Tokugawa Ieyasu received from Emperor Go-Yōzei the title of shogun.
1605		Ieyasu abdicated from office in favor of his third son and heir, Tokugawa Hidetada.
1614		Siege of Osaka: Ieyasu ended Toyotomi opposition by successfully defending Osaka Castle.
1623		Hidetada resigned his office to his eldest son and heir, Tokugawa Iemitsu.
1635		The Sakoku Edict of 1635 was issued, barring Japanese from leaving Japan and barring Europeans from entering, on pain of death. It instituted strict penalties for the practice of Catholicism and severely restricted foreign trade.
		The policy of Sankin kōtai was established, which subjected the daimyo to the will of the shogun.
1637	17 December	Shimabara Rebellion: A rebellion began against the daimyo Matsukura Katsuie over his persecution of Christianity and onerous tax code.
1638	15 April	Shimabara Rebellion: The last of the rebels were defeated in their fortress at Shimabara.
1651	24 April	Iemitsu died, leaving his office to the ten year-old Tokugawa Ietsuna.
		Keian Uprising: A coup d'état attempted by several ronin and masterminded by Yui Shōsetsu and Marubashi Chūya failed.
1680		Ietsuna died and was succeeded by his younger brother, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi.

18th century

Year	Date	Event
1709	19 February	Tsunayoshi died. His nephew Tokugawa Ienobu succeeded him as shogun.
1712	12 November	Ienobu died and was succeeded by his five-year-old son, Tokugawa Ietsugu, under the regency of the shogun's adviser Arai Hakuseki.
1714	24 April	The currency system and trade rules were reformed.
1716	19 June	Ietsugu died. Tokugawa Yoshimune, a great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu, became shogun.
1745		Yoshimune retired, leaving his public office to his eldest son Tokugawa Ieshige, although he maintained some influence in the affairs of state.
1760		Ieshige retired, leaving his office to his eldest son Tokugawa Ieharu.

19th century

Year	Date	Event
1862	14 September	Namamugi Incident: Four British subjects were attacked on the Tōkaidō for failing to pay proper respect to a daimyo. One, a merchant named Charles Lennox Richardson, was killed.
1863	2 July	Representatives of the Satsuma Province refused to turn over Richardson's killers or pay an indemnity for his death.
	15 August	Bombardment of Kagoshima: Britain seized three Japanese warships to put pressure on the Satsuma Province. The Satsuma fired in anger on the British, who responded by shelling the city for several days.
1868	3 January	Chōshū and Satsuma forces occupied the Imperial household at Kyoto and persuaded Emperor Meiji to declare his restoration to full power.
	24 January	Tokugawa Yoshinobu assembled an army to capture Kyoto and obtain the rescindment of the imperial restoration.
1873		Seikanron: The government debated the invasion of Korea.

20th century

Year	Date	Event
1904	8 February	Russo-Japanese War: Japan launched a surprise torpedo attack on the Russian navy at Port Arthur.
1905	5 September	Russo-Japanese War: The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, ceding some Russian property and territory to Japan and ending the war.
1910		Japan violently annexed Korea.
1931	18 September	Japan invaded Manchuria.
1937	7 July	Japan launched the full scale invasion of China.
	9 July	The invasion of China ended.
1938	29 July	Battle of Lake Khasan: The armed forces of Japanese Manchukuo attacked the Soviet military at Lake Khasan.
	31 August	Battle of Lake Khasan: The battle ended in a Japanese defeat.
1941	13 April	Soviet-Japanese Border Wars: A Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact was signed.
	7 December	World War II: The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and thrust the United States into the war.
1945	6 August	Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The bombings began.
	9 August	Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The bombings ended.
	16 August	Soviet invasion of Manchuria: Soviet armed forces landed on Sakhalin.
	18 August	Soviet invasion of Manchuria: Soviet amphibious forces landed in Korea.
	20 August	Soviet invasion of Manchuria: The Soviet Union captured Changchun, the capital of Manchukuo.
	25 August	Soviet invasion of Manchuria: The Soviet Union captured Sakhalin's capital.
1946	3 May	International Military Tribunal for the Far East: The prosecution began of Japanese leaders for war crimes.
1964	10 October	1964 Summer Olympics: Tokyo hosted the Olympics, marking the first time the Games were held in Asia.
	24 October	1964 Summer Olympics: The Games ended.
1968		Japan surpassed West Germany to become the second largest economic power in the world.
1969	18 January	Student protests against the Vietnam War and American use of bases on Japanese soil culminated in a short-lived takeover of Tokyo University.
1974		Prime Minister Eisaku Satō, the first Asian to do so, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.
1991		Lost Decade (Japan): The Japanese asset price bubble popped.

21st century

Year	Date	Event
2003	9 November	Japanese general election, 2003: The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) gained forty seats in the House of Representatives. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) remained a plurality, but was forced to maintain its coalition with the New Komeito Party (NKP) and the New Conservative Party.
	19 November	The Diet reelected the incumbent Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi of the LDP.
2005	8 August	The House of Councillors voted down a bill to break up and privatize Japan Post.
		Koizumi dissolved the House of Representatives and called new elections for September 11.
	11 September	Japanese general election, 2005: The LDP coalition acquired a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, enabling it to pass bills without the consent of the House of Councillors.
2011	11 March	2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami: An 8.9 earthquake and accompanying tsunami caused an estimated ¥25 trillion in material damage.
		Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster: The earthquake and tsunami caused a nuclear disaster in Fukushima.