Japan

Period	Name	Description
-300 BC	Jomon	The early Japanese were gatherers, hunters and fishers.
300 BC-300	Yayoi	The introduction of rice agriculture begins the development of a social hierarchy and hundreds of small countries that started to unify into larger countries.
300-538	Kofun	300 Japan is for the first time more or less united. Large tombs (kofun) were built for the deceased leaders.
538-710	Asuka	538/552 Introduction of Buddhism. 604 Prince Shotoku's Constitution of seventeen articles is promulgated. 645 The Taika reform is introduced. The Fujiwara era starts.
710-784	Nara	710 Nara becomes the first permanent capital. 784 The capital moves to Nagaoka.
794-1185	Heian	794 The capital moves to Heian (Kyoto). 1016 Fujiwara Michinaga becomes regent. 1159 The Taira clan under Taira Kiyomori takes over the power after the Heiji war. 1175 The Buddhist Jodo sect (Pure land sect) is introduced. 1180-85 In the Gempei War, the Minamoto clan puts an end to Taira supremacy.
1192-1333	Kamakura	1191 The Zen sect is introduced. 1192 Minamoto Yoritomo is appointed shogun and establishes the Kamakura government. 1221 The Jokyu Disturbance ends a struggle between Kamakura and Kyoto resulting in the supremacy of the Hojo regents in Kamakura. 1232 A legal code, the Joei Shikimoku, is promulgated. 1274 and 1281 The Mongols try to invade Japan twice, but fail mainly because of bad weather conditions. 1333 The Kamakura bakufu falls.
1338-1573	Muromachi	1334 Kemmu restoration: the emperor restores power over Japan. 1336 Ashikaga Takauji captures Kyoto. 1337 The emperor flees and establishes the Southern court in Yoshino. 1338 Takauji establishes the Muromachi government and a second emperor in Kyoto (Northern court). 1392 Unification of the Southern and Northern courts. 1467-1477 Onin war. 1542 Portuguese introduce firearms and Christianity to Japan. 1568 Nobunaga enters Kyoto. 1573 The Muromachi Bakufu falls.
1573-1603	Azuchi Momoyama	1575 The Takeda clan is defeated in the battle of Nagashino. 1582 Nobunaga is murdered and succeeded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. 1588 Hideyoshi confiscates the weapons of farmers and religious institutions in the "Sword Hunt". 1590 Japan is reunited after the fall of Odawara (Hojo). 1592-98 Unsuccessful invasion of Korea. 1598 Death of Hideyoshi. 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats his rivals in the battle of Sekigahara.
1603 - 1867	Edo	1603 Ieyasu is appointed shogun and establishes the Tokugawa government in Edo (Tokyo). 1614 Ieyasu intensifies persecution of Christianity. 1615 The Toyotomi clan is destroyed after Ieyasu captures Osaka Castle. 1639 Almost complete isolation of Japan from the rest of the world. 1688-1703 Genroku era: popular culture flourishes. 1792 The Russians unsuccessfuly try to establish trade relations with Japan. 1854 Commodore Matthew Perry forces the Japanese government to open a limited number of ports for trade.
1868-1912	Meiji	1868 Meiji restoration. 1872 First railway line between Tokyo and Yokohama. 1889 The Meiji Constitution is promulgated. 1894-95 Sino-Japanese War. 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War. 1910 Annexation of Korea. 1912 Death of emperor Meiji.
1912-1926	Taisho	1914-18 Japan joins allied forces in WW1. 1923 The Great Kanto Earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama.
1926-1989	Showa	1931 Manchurian Incident. 1937 Second Sino-Japanese War starts. 1941 Pacific War starts. 1945 Japan surrenders after two atomic bombs are dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 1946 The new constitution is promulgated. 1952 The Allied Occupation of Japan ends. 1956 Japan becomes member of the UN. 1972 Normalization of relations to China. 1973 Oil crisis.
1989-	Heisei	1993 The LDP loses its majority in the diet. 1995 The Great Hanshin Earthquake hits Kobe. Sarin Gas attack in the Tokyo subway by AUM sect. 2009 The Democratic Party of Japan becomes the ruling party. 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

The Jōmon period (縄文時代 Jōmon jidai^?) is the time in Prehistoric Japan from about 12,000 BC^[1] and in some cases cited as early as 14,500 BC^[2] to about 300 BC, when Japan was inhabited by a hunter-gatherer culture which reached a considerable degree ofsedentism and cultural complexity.
The name "cord-marked" was first applied by the American scholar Edward S. Morse who discovered sherds of pottery in 1877 and subsequently translated it into Japanese as jōmon.^[3] The pottery style characteristic of the first phases of Jōmon culture was decorated by impressing cords into the surface of wet clay. This pottery, dated to around 16,000 years ago, is perhaps the oldest in the world (pottery nearly as old has been found in southern China, the Russian Far East, and Korea).^[4] The period was rich in tools and jewelry made from bone, stone, shell, and antler; pottery figurines and vessels; and lacquered wood.^[5][6][7] The Jōmon culture is often compared to pre-Columbian cultures of Pacific Northwest North America because in both regions cultural complexity developed within a primarily hunting-gathering context (with limited use of horticulture).^[8][9]Chronology[edit]The very long—approximately 14,000 years—Jōmon period is conventionally divided into a number of phases: Incipient, Initial, Early, Middle, Late and Final, with the phases getting progressively shorter. Most dates for the change of phase are broadly agreed, but dates given for the start of the Incipient phase still vary rather considerably, from about 14,000 BC to 10,500 BC. The fact that this entire period is given the same name by archaeologists should not be taken to mean that there was not considerable regional and temporal diversity; the chronological distance between the earliest Jōmon pottery and that of the more well-known Middle Jōmon period is about twice as long as the span separating the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza from the 21st century.
Dating of the Jōmon sub-phases is based primarily upon ceramic typology, and to a lesser extent radiocarbon dating.
Incipient and Initial Jōmon (14,000–4,000 BC)[edit]Traces of Paleolithic culture, mainly stone tools, occur in Japan from around 30,000 BC onwards. The earliest "Incipient Jōmon" phase began while Japan was still linked to continental Asia as a narrow peninsula.^[10] As the glaciers melted following the end of the Last glacial period (approximately 12,000 years ago), sea levels rose, separating the Japanese archipelago from the Asian mainland; the closest point (in Kyushu) about 190 km (120 miles) from the Korean Peninsula is near enough to be intermittently influenced by continental developments but far enough removed for the peoples of the Japanese islands to develop their own ways.
Within the archipelago the vegetation was transformed by the end of the Ice Age. In southwestern Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, broadleaf evergreen trees dominated the forests, whereas broadleaf deciduous trees and conifers were common in north-eastern Honshu and southern Hokkaido. Many native tree species, such as beeches, buckeyes, chestnuts, and oaks produced edible nuts and acorns. These provided abundant sources of food for humans and animals.
In the northeast, the plentiful marine life carried south by the Oyashio current, especially salmon, was an additional major source of food. Settlements along both the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean subsisted on immense amounts of shellfish, leaving distinctive middens (mounds of discarded shells and other refuse) that are now prized sources of information for archeologists. Other sources of food meriting special mention include deer, wild boar, yam-like tubers and other wild plants, and freshwater fish. Supported by the highly productive deciduous forests and an abundance of seafood, the population was concentrated in central and northern Honshu, but Jōmon sites range from Hokkaido to the Ryukyu Islands.
Earliest pottery[edit]Incipient Jōmon Pottery (14,000–8000 BC) Tokyo National Museum, Japan.
It currently appears that the earliest pottery in the world may have been made in Japan, at or before the start of the Incipient Jōmon period. In 1998 a number of small fragments were found at the Odai Yamamoto I site, which have been dated to the 14th Millennium BC; subsequently more pottery of the same age was found at other sites such as Kamikuroiwa and Fukui Cave.^[10][11][12]Archaeologist Junko Habu claims that "The majority of Japanese scholars believed, and still believe, that pottery production was first invented in mainland Asia and subsequently introduced into the Japanese archipelago",^[12] however at present it appears that pottery emerged at roughly the same time in Japan, the Amur River basin of far eastern Russia, and China.^[13]The first Jōmon Pottery is characterized by the cord-marking that gives the period its name, and has now been found in large numbers of sites. The pottery of the whole period has been classified by archaeologists into some 70 styles, with many more local varieties of the styles.^[3] The antiquity of Jōmon Pottery was first identified after World War II, through radiocarbon datingmethods.^[6][14] The earliest vessels were mostly smallish round-bottomed bowls 10–50 cm high that are assumed to have been used for boiling food, and perhaps storing it beforehand. They belonged to hunter-gatherers and the size of the vessels may have been limited by a need for portability; as later bowls increase in size, this is taken to be a sign of an increasingly settled pattern of living. These types continued to develop, with increasingly elaborate patterns of decoration, undulating rims, and flat bottoms so that they could stand on a surface.^[15]The manufacture of pottery typically implies some form of sedentary life due to the fact that pottery is heavy, bulky, and fragile and thus generally useless to hunter-gatherers who are constantly on the move in search of food; however this does not seem to have been the case with the first Jōmon people, who perhaps numbered some 20,000 over the whole archipelago.^[10] It seems that food sources were so abundant in the natural environment of the Japanese islands that it could support fairly large, semi-sedentary populations. The Jōmon people used chipped stone tools, ground stone tools, traps, and bows, and were evidently skillful coastal and deep-water fishermen.
Population expansion[edit]By the end of the Incipient Jōmon phase, around 8,000 BC, a semi-sedentary lifestyle apparently led to an increase in population density, so that the subsequent phase, the Initial Jōmon, exhibits some of the highest densities known for foraging populations.^[16] Genetic mapping studies by Cavalli-Sforza have shown a pattern of genetic expansion from the area of the Sea of Japan towards the rest of eastern Asia. This appears as the third principal component of genetic variation in Eurasia (after the "Great expansion" from the African continent, and a second expansion from the area of Northern Siberia), which suggests geographical expansion during the early Jōmon period.^[17] These studies also suggest that the Jōmon demographic expansion may have reached America along a path following the Pacific coast.^[18]Early Jōmon (4,000–2500 BC)[edit]Reconstructed buildings in the Sannai-Maruyama site, Aomori PrefectureThe Early and Middle Jōmon periods saw an explosion in population, as indicated by the number of settlements from this period. These two periods occurred during the Holocene Climatic Optimum (between 4000 BC and 2000 BC), when temperatures reached several degrees Celsius higher than the present.
Middle Jōmon (2500-1500 BC)[edit]Highly ornate pottery dogū figurines and vessels, such as the so-called "flame style" vessels, and lacquered wood objects remain from that time. Interestingly, although the ornamentation of pottery increased over time, the ceramic fabric always remained quite coarse.
The degree to which horticulture or small-scale agriculture was practiced by Jōmon people is debated, but there is evidence to suggest that arboriculturewas practiced in the form of tending groves of nut- and lacquer-producing trees.^[19][20]This period saw a rise in complexity in the design of pit houses, the most commonly used method of housing at the time,^[21] with some even having stone paved floors.
Late and Final Jōmon (1500-900/300 BC)[edit]After 1500 BC, the climate cooled, and populations seem to have contracted dramatically. Comparatively few archaeological sites can be found after 1500 BC.
During the Final Jōmon period, a slow shift was taking place in western Japan: steadily increasing contact with the Korean peninsula eventually led to the establishment of Korean-type settlements in western Kyushu, beginning around 900 BC. The settlers brought with them new technologies such as wet rice farming and bronze and iron metallurgy, as well as new pottery styles similar to those of the Mumun culture. The settlements of these new arrivals seem to have coexisted with those of the Jōmon for around a thousand years. The new farming culture is called Yayoi after an archaeological site near Tokyo.^[6]The Final Jōmon is succeeded by the Yayoi period (ca. 300 BC-AD 300) outside Hokkaido; within Hokkaido the Jōmon is succeeded by the Zoku-Jōmon (post-Jōmon) or Epi-Jōmon period. The Zoku-Jōmon culture is in turn succeeded by the Satsumon culture around the 7th century.
Yayoi PeriodThe Yayoi period (弥生時代 Yayoi jidai) is a prehistoric period of Japan, usually dated from 300 BCE to ca 300 CE, during which wet-rice agriculture and the use of bronze and iron first appeared in Japan. The term Yayoi refers to a certain characteristic pottery discovered in the Yayoi quarter of Bunkyō Ward in Tōkyō, in 1884. It was preceded by the Jōmon Period, which was distinguished by a hunting and gathering way of life, and was followed by the Kofun Period, distinguished by the construction of of large tumuli or grave mounds (kofun) and the formation of an incipient state.The culture of the Yayoi Era is characterized by irrigated rice cultivation and the use bronze and iron artifacts. There was considerable contact with China and Korea during this period, and it can be assumed that those technical innovations, which spread north from Kyūshū, are the results of continental influence. The Yayoi population, living in small communities, experienced social stratification, and by the Late Yayoi (ca 100-ca 300 CE) Japan was divided into a number of small political units (kuni) controlled by local chieftains.
New technologies
The Yayoi people continued to use some of the tools of the Jōmon Era, such as chipped stone tools, arrowheads, axes, and small knife-like blades; stone axes and adzes of the Yayoi Period however were mostly polished and large in size and not only used for chopping and cutting, but also to till the soil. A special polished blade (石包丁 or 石庖丁 ishibōchō) was developed to reap rice. Other polished-stone tools included columnar chisels and flat plane blades used for making wooden objects such as hoes and spades, weaving implements, containers, and utensils. Some wooden bowls from theKarako-Kagi site (唐古・鍵遺跡) in Tawaramoto, Nara Prefecture are known to have been turned at a lathe (轆轤 rokuro). Yayoi pottery consisted mainly of long-necked jars, wide-mouthed pots, deep basins, and pedestal bowls. Most of these vessels bore geometric patterns and designs. In contrast to the Jōmon people, the Yayoi people knew how to smelt iron and forge simple implements, like containers, weapons, and farming and craft tools.
Some items, particularly, bronze mirrors, were obtained from the continent, but by the late Yayoi the Japanese were able to produce bronze mirrors, bronze bells (銅鐸 dōtaku), and bronze weapons themselves. Sandstone molds for casting these objects were found in abundance in northern Kyūshū and the Kinai Region (畿内, Kyōto-Nara-Ōsaka). Other techniques involved the production of jasper and jademagatama (勾玉, curved, comma-shaped beads).

Wooden mortar exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum
Yayoi life
Cloth woven from flax and paper-mulberry fibers was the basic clothing material. Men wrapped length of cloths and slipped them over their head, while both women and men woremagatama beads strung into necklaces and bracelets, as well as rings made of shells or bronze. As the Yayoi society changed from hunting and gathering to rice cultivating, the diet changed fundamentally. Rice paddies were enclosed by dikes and irrigation techniques refined. Rice was supplemented with other crops such as millet, beans, and gourds. Most Yayoi settlements were established along large rivers and coastal planes or on terraces. Pit houses, built close together, were still simple structures, with earthen floors and thatched roofs. The settlements had communal granaries and wells, and the paddies were usually located nearby.
Yayoi beliefs
It is very likely that the beliefs of the agricultural Yayoi society were quite different from those of the Jōmon society. Artifacts recovered suggest a variety of religious festivals honouring different deities. Bronze bells, daggers, and spearheads seem to have been used exclusively for ceremonial purposes, while bronze mirrors were also used as ritual objects. Divination was carried out by searing deer bones. The Yayoi people developed the practice of secondary burial; the bones were exhumed, washed, probably painted with red ocher, and placed in jars. The jars were then buried in large pits, some of which were surrounded by moats. Mirrors, beads, and bronze weapons were buried with the dead in dolmen burials.
Late Yayoi Society
Japan was first mentioned in Chinese records, such as the Book of the Later Han (Hou Han Shu), compiled by Fan Ye and others in the fifth century, stating that the land of Na (奴国 Nakoku or Na-no-kuni), an early local territory close to present-day Fukuoka, had been granted an imperial seal made of gold by Emperor Guangwu of Han in 57 CE. Geographical notations of the Shan Hai Jing (山海經, “Classic of the Mountains and Seas”) mention Japan as Wō (倭) or Wa in Japanese. The Wei zhi (chin. 魏書 or 魏志, “Records of Wei”), which covers the period from 200-265), provides information on the Late Yayoi period, describing a highly stratified society in which wealthy landholders ruled over common people. The Wei zhi mentions a kingdom called Yamatai, also known as Yamataikoku (邪馬台国) or Yamaichikoku (邪馬壹國), that controlled some thirty other territories, each of them ruled by a “chieftain” or “king” as well as the mysterious “shaman Queen” Himiko (卑彌呼), who was chosen to rule the Kingdom of Wa after decades of civil war and who maintained relations with the Chinese court as well as the King of Silla (modern-day Korea). The Wei zhi further relates that the markets of Wa flourished, taxes were collected, and a system of punishment was prescribed for malefactors. All this indicates that the Yayoi society was fairly complex and well organised. Social, political, economic, and military specialization was powerfully developing and would herald the society of the succeeding Kofun Period.
Related links:

• Yayoi linked to Yangtze area (Japan Times)

• The Yayoi Years (Heritage of Japan)

• Eastern Japanese pottery during the Jomon-Yayoi transition: a study in forager-farmer transition (by Seiji Kobayashi, PDF)

• Japanese roots surprisingly shallow (Japan Times)

• Earlier Start for Japanese Rice Cultivation (ScienceNOW)

• Archaeological Institute of Kashihara

Kofun Period

Categories: History
Tags: eraHaniwa (埴輪) terracotta warrior　in keikō (珪甲) armour from Iizuka-cho, Ota-shi, Gunma Prefecture; exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum
The Kofun Period (古墳時代 Kofun jidai) refers to the protohistoric period of Japan, usually dated from 250 to ca 538 CE, characterised by the construction of large tumuli or tomb mounds (古墳 kofun). It is usually divided into two phases: early (fourth century), and late (fifth and sixth centuries). The Yayoi Period saw the development of a class society, incipient urbanization, the emergence of the Yamato state, and was the era prior to the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively referred to as the Yamato Period. Kofun
Kofun are large tombs of mounded earth built mainly for deceased members of the ruling elite during the fourth to the seventh centuries. Ranging in size from fifteen metres in diameter to 32.3 hectares in area, these tombs are the greatest single source of information on the social and political organization and material culture of the Kofun Period.
Early Kofun-period tombs
The appearance of tomb mound buildings at the end of the third century in Japan is so sudden that early archaeologists thought the tombs reflected either a conquest or influence from outside the archipelago. The identity of the contributing society was sought among the tomb-building cultures of China and northern Korea, but in 1952 the Japanese archaeologist Kobayashi Yukio demonstrated that there were no similarities in mound shape of burial chamber between Japan and the continent.

Daisen Kofun, the largest of all kofun, in Sakai, Ōsaka Prefecture (Google Maps)
In the 1970s, two kinds of mounded burials from the preceeding Yayoi Period were identified: a square, ditched grave (方形周溝墓 hōkei shūkōbo) found near village sites on level grounds not thought to be the prototype of the great tomb mounds, and a mounded grave (墳丘墓 funkyūbo) discovered on hilltops regarded by some to be the direct predecessor of tomb mounds. Whichever theory holds true, tomb mound-building is considered to have originated in native burial practices.
The earliest tomb mounds of the Kofun period were built in the Kinai Region (畿内, Kyōto-Nara-Ōsaka). From there, tomb building spread to northern Kyushu through the Inland Sea region in the early fourth century. Early tombs had either round or keyhole-shaped mounds. Keyhole tombs may have either front-square and rear-round mounds (前方後円墳zempō-kōen-fun) or front-square and rear-square mounds (前方後方墳 zempō-kōhō-fun). The front mounds may have originally served as a place for funerary rites, the main burial is usually in the rear mound.
The first tombs were constructed on existing hilltops overlooking agricultural land. Burial facilites consisted of a wooden coffin buried directly in the summit of the mound or placed ina stone chamber of the tateana sekishitsu (竪穴式石堂, lit. vertical hole, stone chamber”) style. In order to construct a stone chamber, a pit was sunk into the top of the mound and lined with brick-sized stones. A floor of smooth clay was prepared for the wooden coffin. Then ceiling rocks were laid to seal the chamber; finally, earth was mounded over the top. Clay cylinders and funeral sculptures (埴輪 haniwa) were often placed on the tomb summit over the grave. Often, the surface of the tomb was paved with rocks.

Kofun types
Funerary goods of the early tombs, mainly ceremonial, included iron weapons and armour, indicating that the individuals buried there bore considerable religious and military influence. Chinese-made bronze mirrors, necklaces of curved magatama and cylindrical beads made of jade and jasper, japser ornaments and koto bridges, as well as jasper bracelets were commonly discovered.
In the late fourth century, tomb building spread further into eastern and northern Japan and to the western coastal areas. The tombs assumed a greater variety of shapes—square or gourd-shaped, formed by two round mounds joined together. Alternate burial facilities were also developed: large stone coffins were placed in the pit-style chambers or directly into the ground, and wooden coffins were embedded in prepared clay enclosures rather than stone chambers. For funerary goods, the imported bronze mirrors were joined by locally produced mirrors; there also began a trend to make jasper reproductions of functional objects such as sheathed knives, iron axe and adze heads, and to place these in the tombs instead of the originals.

Kofun-era helmet and armour made of riveted iron plates (Tokyo National Museum)
Middle Kofun-Period tombs
In the fifth century, the character of the tombs underwent drastic changes. Instead of being built on natural hillocks, they were mounded up from flatter terrace surfaces. Wide moats became a common feature, dramatically increasing the area of the tombs (e.g. the Daisen-Kofun, the tomb of Emperor Nintoku in Ōsaka, or the Ōjin Mausoleum). Accessory mounds (陪塚 baichō) often accompany the highest status tombs of this period, acting as depositories for tremendous volumes of funerary goods. Their contents attest to both the rulers limitless access to the resources of society and to new contacts with the Korean peninsula at this time. One of the accessory tombs of the Ōjin Mausoleum, the Ariyama tomb, alone held over 3,000 iron swords and tools. Funerary goods of imported gold ear ornaments, Sue ware, and horse trappings from the continent gradually contributed to the replacement of fine jasper ornaments by coarse soapstone imitations, a decrease in the number of bronze mirrors deposited in the tombs, and the disappearance of haniwa from Kinai-region tombs.
A new type of tomb chamber called yokoana-shiki-sekishitsu (横穴式石堂, lit. “horizontal hole, stone chamber”) was also transmitted from the Korean peninsula in the fifth century. Equipped with a corridor entrance, this kind of chamber was oriented so that one could walk into it, rather than only being accessible through the ceiling like the pit-style chamber. To construct a corridor-style chamber, a level surface was provided on the mound and the stone chamber was then built up on the flat surface. The entrance to the corridor was posi¬tioned so that it opened onto the slope of the mound. Finally, earth was piled over the chamber, embedding it in the center of the mound, e.g. the Ishibutai Kofun (石舞台古墳) in Asuka, Nara Prefecture. The corridor allowed the tomb to be used not just once but several times, and in the late Kofun period, family tombs became quite popular.
Late Kofun-Period tombs
Tombs of the sixth and seventh centuries shrank in size and increased in number as they came to be used by a greater segment of the population and not just rulers. Entire hillsides were devoted to cemeteries of small, round mounds averaging 15 metres in diameter and each containing a corridor-style chamber, e.g the Iwase Thousand-mound Tomb Cluster (岩橋千塚古墳群), the Saitobaru Kofun Cluster (西都原古墳群Saitobaru kofun-gun) in Miyazaki Prefecture, and the Yame Tomb Cluster (八女古墳群 Yame kofun-gun) in Fukuoka Prefecture.

Sekijin (石人) stone warrior, Iwatoyama Tumulus Yame-shi, Fukuoka (Tokyo National Museum)
Funerary goods of this period are increasingly utilitarian in nature, reflecting disparities in social status or occupation of the interred. Sue and Haji ware containing food provisions for the afterlife, personal weapons and jewelry, and tools such as blacksmith’s irons, etc, were the main deposits.
Regional differences in construction and decoration are the hall-marks of these latter-day tombs. In northern Kyūshū, stone figures carved of local tuff (volcanic rock) replaced manyhaniwa images on the mounds, while bold geometric designs and animate figures were painted on the interior walls of the chambers. The tombs of eastern Japan retained the grandeur of the fifth-century keyhole mounds of the Kinai region. The Kantō Plain housed a robust frontier society in the late Kofun period, and its warriors, thought to be under the influence of the Yamato court, were buried in style in large mounded tombs. Haniwa manufacture, dying out in the Kinai, was transplanted to the Kantō area and flourished in its new home.Haniwa images reached their peak of expression at this time, reflecting the frontier mix of lavishly ornamented horses, fully armored warriors, stylishly attired nobles, and farmers, singers, and dancers of common origins. Funerary goods included gorgeous gilt bronze horse trappings, fine iron weapons, and even bronze vessels from the Korean peninsula.
With the introduction of Buddhism in the middle of the sixth century, an increasing number of the central elite had begun to build temples instead of tombs for posterity. Though some elaborate examples such as Ishibutai and Takamatsuzuka tomb are known from this period, imperial proscriptions governing the size and ostentatiousness of the tombs acted together with the new Buddhist attitudes, causing tomb-building to gradually cease during the seventh century. A great number of people from the late fifth to eighth centuries were interred in cave-like yokoana tombs in response to restrictions on space, labor, and sumptuary requirements.
Kofun society
The Kofun Period saw the rise of the Yamato court, a chieftainship that rose to become the ruling imperial dynasty over much of Kyūshū and Honshū, as well as an increasing influx of immigrants from China and Korea, many of them forefathers of prominent Japanese clans. The introduction of Buddhism into Japan in 538 is generally considered the beginning of the next historic period, the Asuka Era.
Related links:

• Towering tumuli of the Kofun era (Heritage of Japan)

• Japanese Royal Tomb Opened to Scholars for First Time (National Geographic News)

• Haniwa (Japan Reference)

Asuka Period

Categories: History
Tags: era
Hōryū-ji (法隆寺) in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture
The Asuka Period (飛鳥時代 Asuka jidai) is defined as a subdivision of the Yamato Period (ca 250-710 CE) or – by other accounts – as the Late Kofun Period, variously dated but centered in the reign (593-628) of Empress Suiko (推古天皇 Suiko-tennō, 554-628), the first of Japan’s eight empress regnants. First used at the beginning of the twentieth century by historians of art and architecture, the term in its narrow sense designates the years from Suiko’s accession (593) to the Taika Reforms (大化の改新 Taika no Kaishin, 645), a period characterized by the adoption of continental art forms and technology from Korea.In this scheme, the later part of the Asuka Period is referred to as the Hakuhō Period (白鳳時代 Hakuhō jidai), centered in the reign (672-686) of Emperor Temmu (天武天皇 Tenmu-tennō, 631-686) and extending from 645 to the establishment of the capital at Heijōkyō (平城京, modern-day Nara) in 710, a period marked by direct cultural and technological influences from Tang (T’ang) China. The Asuka Period in its broadest sense designates the years from the introduction of Buddhism(traditionally 538 or 552) to 710. In the past, political historians often limited the Asuka Period to the years 593-622, when Prince Shōtoku (聖徳太子 Shōtoku Taishi, 574-622), served as regent for Suiko and began to create a centralized, bureaucratic state on the Chinese model; but today there is a tendency to use the broader definition. As the term “Asuka Period” is so imprecisely defined and easily misunderstood, historical writings more commonly refer instead to a specific year-name (年号 nengō) or to the reign of a specific sovereign.
Asuka Culture

Empress Suiko (推古天皇)
Located in the present-day village by the same name, Asuka (飛鳥) in Nara Prefecture was the site of successive imperial palaces from the mid-sixth century to the mid-seventh century. Strongly influenced by Buddhism, which was introduced to Japan in the sixth century (traditionally in either 538 or 552), Asuka culture represented an assimilation of the Chinese culture of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386-589), transmitted to Japan by Korean immigrants (帰化人 kikajin).
Chinese and Korean influence is particularly noticeable in much of the architecture and art of the Hōryū-ji Temple, located some distance north of Asuka but usually classified as an example of Asuka Buddhist culture. Representative Asuka pictorial art includes the paintings decorating the doors of the Tamamushi Shrine at Hōryū-ji and the Tenjukoku Shūchō, an embroidered mandala, at Chūgū-ji (中宮寺). Greek influence can be seen in the entases of pillars, and Persian influence, in arabesque patterns.
Relations with Korea
The relations with Korea in the sixth and seventh centuries were complicated. Japan tried to hold its colony of Mimana (任那, Gaya 가야 in Korean) in the southern part of the Korean peninsula against Silla, which was trying to unify the peninsula, by cultivating the southern Korean kingdom of Paekche. Paekche dispatched Buddhist monks, temple architects, sculptors, tilemakers, and painters to Japan toward the end of the sixth century; and in the early seventh century, a Paekche priest brought over books and taught calendar-making, astrology, and magical practices. Continental music and dances were introduced shortly thereafter via Paekche, and the Yuanjiali, a Chinese calendar, was in use from about 604 to around 690. These gifts thus doubled Paekche’s contributions to Japanese culture since, in the fifth century, it had sent over readers of the Chinese classics and heads of the craftsmen associations of potters, saddlers, brocade weavers, and painters.
Nevertheless, it was not exclusively one-way traffic. The arrival of the first Buddhist articles by emissary in either 538 or 552 was accompanied by requests from Paekche for aid against Silla. Japan on occasion sent aid but was unable to comply with any degree of effectiveness as controls over Kyūshū leaders were inadequate for prosecuting a war against Silla. With its deteriorating internal conditions in the late seventh century, Japan was in no position to stand up to an alliance of the Tang (T’ang) dynasty and Silla.
Finally, however, the situation became so critical that it merited full imperial attention, and Empress Saimei (斉明天皇 Saimei-tennō) herself (r 655-661) went to Kyūshū to direct military activities. But the empress died there in 661, and her successor was unable to prevent the destruction of the Japanese fleet by Silla in the Battle of Hakusukinoe off the coast of Korea two years later. To counter an expected attack from Korea, effort was hurriedly put into the construction of local defenses in Kyūshū. The invasion never came, however, and the loss of Mimana on the whole proved to be benefitial to Japan, since the country then devoted itself to internal development and was soon despatching emmissaries to China. Silla turned its back on Japan as it moved toward consolidating its position on the peninsula.
Buddhism
The introduction of Buddhism is described in the Nihon shoki (日本書紀 “The Chronicles of Japan”, 720) as an event of 552 that
pitted the powerful Soga family against the Mononobe and Nakatomi families during the reign of Emperor Kimmei (欽明天皇 Kinmei-tennō, 509–571). In order to develop a new state religion that would exercise a powerful influence over the people as well as its political rivals, the Soga adopted Buddhist practices, built temples, and sponsored the clergy. The third ruler after Kimmei’s receipt of the Buddhist articles, Emperor Yōmei (用明天皇 Yōmei-tennō, 518–587), was a Buddhist, as were all his successors. During the Soga-dominated decades of the late sixth and early seventh centuries, Koreans were warmly welcomed into Japan and special attention was given to monks thought to be bearing the latest tidings. These trends were vigorously resisted by the Mononobe and Nakatomi families, but Soga no Umako successfully destroyed the Mononobe in a battle in 587. Buddhism thereafter made substantial progress under the patronage of Prince Shōtoku.
Shōtoku retained a Korean tutor and read, interpreted, and expounded several sutras, exploring the devotional aspects of the religion and influencing the mode of cloister life through his convictions. He was connected with the construction of several temples, including the shitennoji, though tradition associates him with many more. Nevertheless, a strong Confucian orientation is also apparent in the Jūshichijō kenpō(十七条憲法, Seventeen-Article Constitution), which the Nihon shoki credits him with writing. Prince Shōtoku’s efforts at propagating Buddhism helped to pave the way for the general adoption of the religion even after the patron Soga family was eradicated for their court excesses in 645.
A Nihon shoki entry for 594 notes that the ranking nobles, the omi and muraji, competed with each other in building temples. A census of temples in 624 listed 46 staffed by 816 monks and 569 nuns, but the biggest momentum for temple building came during the interval following the banning of tomb construction in 646 and preceding the imposition of limits on private temple construction after 710. About 483 temples were erected during this period and the clergy expanded phenomenally, creating a new political power, and imperial donations were made in 680 to the 24 temples in the capital. A Nihon shoki record for 690 mentions gifts to 3,363 priests manning seven temples and another to 329 priests in three temples.
Taika Reforms
In 643, an event occurred which led to a court intrigue against the Soga family, Soga no Iruka (蘇我入鹿), after exhausting all other means of preventing Prince Shōtoku’s son, Prince Yamashiro no Oe, from being appointed emperor, finally caused the death of Yamashiro, his wives, and attendants. A revolt against Soga oppression was led by Prince Naka no Oe, later Emperor Tenji (天智天皇 Tenji-tennō, 626-672) and Nakatomi no Kamatari (later named Fujiwara no Kamatari). Iruka was assassinated in 645 at the Itabuki palace in the presence of Empress Kōgyoku (皇極天皇), who later reigned as Saimei (see above) and Korean emissaries; his father, Emishi, committed suicide the next day. To remove the court from the Soga-dominated region of Asuka, the capital was transferred to Naniwa at the edge of Osaka Bay. The edicts of the Taika Reform were issued from there a year later, in 646, by Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇 Kōtoku-tennō, 596-654). The new era, which had begun in 645, was given the name Great Change (大化 Taika), thus starting the nengō system.
The Taika Reforms brought on a score of new policies and practices, all intended to subordinate land and manpower to imperial authority, diminish the power of the leading families at the court, and provide an economic system of support for the new political structure. The instruments set up to administer the provisions of the reforms consisted of eight ministries supervised by the Grand Council of State (太政官dajōkan), whose chief administrator was the grand minister of state (太政大臣 daijōdaijin). Following in rank were the Ministers of the Left and Right (左大臣 sadaijin and 右大臣 udaijin), with numerous lower officials in charge of departments, bureaus, and offices. Moreover, the Twelve Level Cap and Rank System (冠位十二階Kan’i Jūnikai), established by Prince Shōtoku in 604, was expanded. Emperor Kōtoku increased the initial twelve ranks to 19 in 649, and Emperor Tenji revised these to 26 ranks in 664. Appointment and promotion to these bureaucratic ranks was based more on individual merit than hereditary status. Tenji also issued a set of civil and penal codes (Ōmi Code 近江令 ōmiryō) in 668 from Otsu in Ōmi Province (modern-day Shiga Prefecture), where he had moved his palace from Naniwa.
To implement the reforms, provincial boundaries were redefined and headquarters and local bureaus were established (kokugun). A census was taken, taxes were levied, and official routes for tax collection were determined. Marked out in regular plots known as jori, tax-yielding land allotments were made to families and individuals, and then grouped together as villages of roughly equal size. The building of kofuntomb mounds was forbidden except for those of fixed size for the very highest ranks, and various funeral practices, including horse sacrifice, were outlawed.
Emperor Temmu (天武天皇)
At the death of Emperor Tenji, who, as the former Prince Naka no Oe, had helped engineer the anti-Soga coup and Taika Reforms a particularly violent succession dispute known as the Jinshin War (壬申の乱jinshin no ran) of 672 occurred. Tenji’s son, the preferred successor, was ousted by his uncle, Tenji’s brother, who ascended the throne as Emperor Temmu in 672.In a drastic realignment of the political hierarchy, Temmu promoted his allies and demoted his enemies, greatly strengthening the imperial position. Temmu’s restructuring of the uji-kabane system in 684 compares with the Taika Reforms in importance in altering the course of Japanese history.
The results of Temmu’s new eight-rank system (八色の姓 yakusa no kabane) can be seen in the early-ninth-century Shinsen Shōjiroku (新撰姓氏録) documents, which record the origins of the leading uji as deriving from the imperial line, from divine ancestry, or from immigrant ancestry. The two newly instituted top ranks, mahito and asomi, were composed primarily of the closest kinship groups of the imperial family. The third-ranking sukune were the main deity-descended uji, apart from the Sun Line, who had rendered valuable service to the throne. The imiki and michinoshi had no valid claims to imperial connections. With the institution of all these new ranks at the top, the earlier omi- and muraji-holding uji were displaced toward the bottom of the rank scale; in fact neither Temmu nor Empress Jitō (持統天皇 Jitō-tennō, 645-703) made any appointments to most of the lower ranks.
Emperor Temmu moved back to Asuka 27 years after that area had been evacuated following the anti-Soga coup. His palace, the Asuka Kiyomihara no Miya, was occupied by himself and Empress Jitō until the building of the Fujiwara capital in 694. From there, Temmu initiated the compilation of the Asuka Kiyomihara Code, a law code which became the basis for the later Taihō Code of the early eighth century.
Fujiwarakyō (藤原京, 694-710)
Empress Jitō succeeded Temmu and actively worked for her husband’s projects. Her most formidable undertaking and the logical development in the drive for a stable political system was the building of the palace and capital city at Fujiwara in 694. Jitō abdicated only three years later in favor of her young grandson Mommu (r 697-707), a great-grandson of Tenji and son of Empress Gemmei (元明天皇 Gemmei-tennō, 660-721).
The Asuka-Kiyomihara Code had been completed and promulgated by Empress Jitō in 689. This was largely embodied in the Taihō Code which Mommu drew up in 701 and which seem to have remained in force until 757, despite the writing of the yoro code and its presentation to the court in 718. In general terms, the Japanese followed the Chinese form and principles in their codes, especially in the penal codes, but tried to avoid some of the pitfalls created in the Chinese legal system, in particular the inviolable rights of the bureaucracy.
In the late seventh century, almost all aspects of life came under government control. Clothing regulations in 681 contained 92 articles. Dress (commoners wore yellow, slaves black) was eventually put under the supervision of a Court Dress and Cap-Regulating Office in Emperor Mommu’s (文武天皇 Monmu-tennō, 683–707) time. The use of coins was also ordered by the government in 683 to boost the economy and simplify transactions. Coin production in Japan and the systematization of business dealings was heralded by the standardization of weights and measures in 702. The first Japanese coins, wadōkaichin (和同開珎) were minted in 708, modeled after the Tang coins minted in 621. Evidence for the swelling of the bureaucracy and written regulations is found in the thousands of wooden tablets (木簡 mokkan).
For several reasons, such as the growing lack of space, the provincial location of Fujiwara, and the increasing influence of the city’s Buddhist temples over the government, Emperor Mommu decided to build a larger capital in a more convenient place. The site chosen was in the northwestern comer of the Yamato basin, and there Empress Gemmei built the new capital of Heijōkyō (平城京, now the city of Nara). The capital was officially moved in 710, and that event is used to mark the beginning of the Nara Period (710-794).
Related links:

• Buddhism blossoms in Asuka (Heritage of Japan)

• Yamato Court (Japan Reference)

• Prince Shōtoku (Japan Reference)

Nara Period (710-794)

Categories: History
Tags: era
Tōdai-ji (東大寺) in Nara
The Nara Period (奈良時代 Nara jidai) is the historical period beginning in 710, the year the capital was moved from Fujiwarakyō to Heijōkyō (the modern-day city of Nara), and ending in 784, when the capital was moved to Nagaokakyō. The ten years at Nagaokakyō (784-794) are usually included in the Nara Period, however, giving it an end-date of 794.The Nara Period marked the height of the Chinese-inspiredritsuryō (律令) system of government as well as the active introduction of other aspects of Chinese civilization. In order to make Buddhism the spiritual base of centralized political authority, provincial temples (kokubunji) were established throughout Japan. The Nara Period saw the establishment of Buddhism as the religion of the court and, by extension, of the state, and a new height in intellectual and cultural achievements as exemplified in the building of the Great Hall of the Tōdaiji temple, as well as the compilation of Japan’s first chronicles, theKojiki (古事記, 712) and the Nihon Shoki (日本書紀, 720). Under the influence of Tang China, the arts flourished in what is known as Tempyō (天平) culture. During the middle period, however, a power struggle broke out among the court nobility. Modifications in the land-tenure system led to the accumulation of vast tracts of private land (荘園 or 庄園 shōen) by nobles and religious institutions, resulting in the the collapse of the kōchi kōmin (公地公民) system of public ownership of land and the disintegration of theritsuryō system. The final years of the Nara Period witnessed increasing poverty among the peasants, who were overburdened by taxes, and growing numbers of homeless wanderers.
Ritsuryō System

The Great Buddha at Nara (Tōdaiji)
In the context of political history, the Nara period may have begun with the promulgation of the Taihō Code (大宝律令Taihō-ritsuryō) in 701. Under the code, the centralizing reforms inaugurated by the Taika Reforms (645) were pushed forward, and the period saw the firm establishment of the emperor as the head of a Chinese-style ritsuryō state. Under the ritsuryōsystem the central government was headed by the dajōkan (太政官 Grand Council of State), which presided over eight ministries. The government was staffed by officials appointed by the emperor and bidden to act as his loyal servants. The country was divided into provinces (国 kuni or kokii), which in turn were divided into districts (郡 gun or kōri), villages (郷 gō), and hamlets (里 ri or sato). An early Nara-period document lists 67 provinces, comprising 555 districts, 4,012 villages, and 12,036 hamlets. The provinces were administered by governors (国司 kokushi), who were sent out from the capital. All the people were considered the emperor’s subjects and were expected to obey the officials who acted in his name.
All rice land was declared public domain. Under the handen shūju (班田収授) system the land was redistributed every six years to all males and females over six years of age. A male received 2 tan (1 tan (段) = 0.12 hectare or 0.3 acre), a female two-thirds that amount. In order to ensure proper allocation of rice land, the census register was updated every six years. The authority of the imperial court at the time extended as far south as the islands off the tip of Kyūshū and as far north as Akitajō, in what is now Akita Prefecture. The population falling within this area is estimated to have been about 5 to 6 million and the acreage of rice land about 601,000 chō (about 721,200 hectares or 1.8 million acres). It is evident that even after taking into consideration the ratio of males to females, there was not enough land. Judging from historical materials, however, the handen system and the census registration seem to have been implemented throughout the country with little resistance. The allotted rice land was called kubunden (口分田). Holders of kubunden were liable to corvée (雑徭 zōyō), a rice tax (租 so), a handicraft or local products tax (調 chō). There was also a handicraft or local products tax (庸 yō) in lieu of labor.

Emperor Shōmu (聖武天皇, 701-756)
In order to strengthen administrative and military communications with the provinces and to facilitate the payment of taxes, the government established a network of post stations (駅制 ekisei) on the public roads connecting the capital and provincial seats of government. The rice and produce taxes that had hitherto been paid to local chieftains were now sent directly to the central government.
A faithful imitation of the Chinese system of government was bound to have negative side-effects, for it was unsuited to Japan’s agricultural reality. According to a document of 730, in the province of Awa (present-day Chiba Prefecture), 412 out of 414 households were listed as being at the bare subsistence level. The figures for Echizen Province (modern Fukui Prefecture) in that year tell the same story: of 1,019 households, 996 were found to be poverty-stricken. The tax burden fell most heavily on the peasants, and the number of those who absconded increased at an alarming rate. Yet at the same time, under the Sanze isshin no hō (723) and the Konden eisei shizai hō (743), reclaimed wasteland was recognized as private property for one or three generations, or in perpetuity. Nobles and religious institutions were able to appropriate extensive landholdings, which were exempted from taxes. Vagrant peasants in search of a livelihood converged upon these lands. Herein lay the basic contradiction of the Nara landholding system.
The project to build an imposing capital on the model of the Chinese capital of Chang’an (Ch’ang-an) was another instance of overzealous imitation. Many of the peasants conscripted for labor ran away; the thousands of restless peasants who assembled daily on the outskirts of Heijōkyō posed a continuous threat, necessitating the deployment of armed guardsmen at the palace arsenal and the emperor’s residence. It was in order to adjust the Taihō Code to native realities that the minister Fujiwara no Fuhito (藤原不比等, 659-720) began compiling the Yōrō Code (養老律令 Yōrō-ritsuryō) in 718.
Following the death of Fuhito in 720, the most powerful political figure was Prince Nagaya, but in 729 the prince was ordered by the emperor to commit suicide for allegedly inciting a rebellion. He had, in fact, been falsely accused by members of the Fujiwara family, who, it is believed, hoped to take advantage of social unrest to seize political leadership from the imperial house. The death of all four of Fuhito’s sons in a smallpox epidemic in 737, however, put an end to the family’s imperial aspirations.
The Emperor Shōmu (聖武天皇 Shōmu-tennō, 701-756), who was married to Empress Kōmyō (光明皇后Kōmyō-kōgō, 701–760), a daughter of Fuhito, was deeply disturbed by the course of events, and, in the hope that the powers of Buddhism would bring an end to epidemic disease and social ills, in 741 he ordered the construction of temples and nunneries (国分 kokubunji) in every province. This undertaking was completed only after many years. Shōmu also ordered in 743 the construction of a gigantic statue of the Buddha Vairocana so that the blessings of the Buddha would extend over the entire country. Known as the Great Buddha (大仏 daibutsu) of Tōdaiji, it was completed in 752 at great expense.
State expenditures thus went mainly for the construction of imposing religious edifices and statues. Buddhist arts and culture, centering on these good works, reached an unequaled richness and brilliance. Scholars were later to call the artistic efflorescence of this period Tempyō culture, after the era name (nengō) for the years 729-749.
Tempyō Culture and Embassies to China
The ripening of Tempyō (天平) culture was owed in no small measure to the resumption of relations with the Tang (T’ang) dynasty (618-907) of China. The sending of official envoys had been halted since the defeat of Japanese forces by the combined armies of Tang China and the Korean state of Silla in the Battle of Hakusukinoe in 663. In 701, it was decided to send an embassy to China, and the envoys set out for the continent the following year. Between 701 and 777 seven missions were dispatched, each comprising as many as 500 or 600 men.
The voyages across the sea were dangerous and often fatal; that they were undertaken indicates the eagerness with which the Japanese hoped to learn from China. Many students and scholars accompanied these embassies, a number remaining in China for many years. Some of them brought back foreign monks and new forms of Buddhism. They contributed significantly to the abundance of Tempyō culture, Gembō (玄昉, d. 746), Kibi no Makibi (吉備 真備, 695-775), and Abe no Nakamaro (阿倍 仲麻呂, 698-770) are some of the more famous of these students. Gembō returned with more than 5,000 sutras, while Kibi no Makibi, who had studied Confucianism, military science, and ceremonial rites, set up an educational program for future government officials. The Chinese monk Jianzhen (or Ganjin, 鑒真 or 鑑真; 688–763) finally reached Japan in 754 after four unsuccessful attempts. He conveyed the teachings of the Risshū (律宗) sect and founded the Tōshōdaiji (唐招提寺) temple in Nara.
Visitors came from as far away as Central and West Asia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and India, bolstering the dynamism and diversity of Tempyō culture. The quintessence of Nara art is represented in the thousands of objects preserved in the Shōsōin (正倉院), the treasure house of Tōdaiji in Nara. Although resonating with foreign influence, the Nara culture remained uniquely Japanese. The Chinese writing system was adopted, but the Japanese language remained intact. Furthermore, by using Chinese characters in a free and imaginative manner, the Japanese added greatly to the richness and subtlety of their language. The poetic anthology Man’yōshū (万葉集, “Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves”) is an outstanding masterpiece of the period. Japan’s first history, the Kojiki (古事記), was completed in 712; it was followed eight years later by another chronicle, the Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), which was written in Chinese (漢文 kanbun). The Fudoki (風土記), gazetteers that described local customs, topography, and products, were compiled around the same time. All these projects were completed amidst the administrative demands of land and tax reform.
End of the Period
Emperor Shōmu’s excessive zeal in spreading Buddhism imposed an intolerable burden on the peasants. In 757, under the pretext of alleviating the lot of the peasantry, Tachibana no Naramaro (橘奈良麻呂, 721-757) attempted a coup. Naramaro was the son of Tachibana no Moroe (橘諸兄, 684-757), an imperial prince and court official who had been put in charge of the government after the death of Fujiwara no Fuhito’s sons, and the coup was in fact an attempt to remove Fujiwara no Nakamaro (藤原仲麻呂, 706-764), who had usurped Moroe’s place. Nakamaro succeeded in thwarting the coup and realizing that the plot had profited from peasant distress, he immediately reduced by half the most burdensome of the taxes, thezōyō (see above), which called for sixty days of labour a year. He also commuted the interest on all debts accumulated through the previous year. In 758, Nakamaro despatched officials throughout the country to listen to the peasants’ grievances and to give relief to the destitute. Within officialdom he encouraged the observance of filial piety and renamed official ranks and ministries in the Chinese manner. He publicly commended his grandfather Fuhito for his work in drawing up the Taihō and Yōrō codes, and he enforced the latter in 757. The government, which had been dominated by Buddhism, now was more Confucian in character.
However, the reigning Empress Kōken (孝謙天皇 Kōken-tennō, 718-770) was displeased with the new measures. She dismissed Nakamaro and instead relied heavily on the priest Dōkyō (道鏡, 700-772), who she believed had cured her of an illness. In 764, Nakamaro instigated a rebellion but was captured and killed. Dōkyō was promoted to the rank of Dajō daijin zenji (太政大臣禅師 Priestly Grand Minister of State) and given the title of Hō-ō (法王 Priestly Retired Sovereign). The appointment of his fellow monks as religious councillors (法参議hosangi) sealed the dominance of the Buddhist clergy over court politics. Previous policies were reversed, and Buddhism once again became supreme. Finally, on the basis of an oracle (託宣takusen) he claimed to have received at the Usa Hachiman-gū Shrine in Kyūshū, Dōkyō tried to have himself enthroned. He was thwarted by Fujiwara no Momokawa, Wake no Kiyomaro, and others. When Empress Shōtoku (称徳天皇 Shōtoku-tennō, the name taken by Kōken when she reascended the throne in 764) died in 770, the Fujiwara had Dōkyō immediately banished to Shimotsuke (modern-day Tochigi Prefecture), where he died two years later.
After the death of Shōtoku, Fujiwara no Momokawa (藤原百川, 732-779) and his followers successfully countered the attempts of Kibi no Makibi to install the grandson of Emperor Temmu and enthroned instead the grandson of Emperor Tenji, 62-year-old Prince Shirakabe. As Emperor Kōnin (光仁天皇 Kōnin-tennō, 709-782), he became the last sovereign whose reign fell completely within the Nara Period.
His rule was distinguished by efforts to reduce national expenditures, discipline officials and monks, and rebuild farm villages. Government offices founded for the construction of religious edifices were either reduced in size or abolished altogether. Sinecures established outside the ritsuryō administrative framework to provide income for officials were eliminated. In 780, the staff of all government offices was reduced, and men conscripted from the provinces to work in the bureaucracy were allowed to return home. In order to encourage the return of dispossessed peasants who had left their homes to escape debts, a limit was set on the interest on borrowed seed rice. However, tax payments to the national coffers continued to plummet. As peasants became increasingly drawn into land-reclamation projects undertaken by nobles and temples, they were deprived of any gainful occupation of their own. The decay of the authority of the central government was felt as far away as northeastern Japan, where the Emishi or Ebisu(蝦夷) tribes rose in rebellion. The rebellion was to spread to other areas and pose a grave problem for years to follow.
The political and social problems then, which had been latent at the beginning of the period, surfaced through the years and by the last decades of the eighth century were so serious that not even Emperor Kōnin’s reforms could contain them. Their resolution would have to await a new beginning in the Heian Period (794-1185).
Related links:

• Nara Period nurtures Chinese culture (Heritage of Japan)

History[edit]The Heian period was preceded by the Nara period and began in 794 after the movement of the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (present day Kyōto), by the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu.^[3] It is considered a high point in Japanese culture that later generations have always admired. The period is also noted for the rise of the samurai class, which would eventually take power and start the feudal period of Japan.
Nominally, sovereignty lay in the emperor but in fact power was wielded by the Fujiwara nobility. However, to protect their interests in the provinces, the Fujiwara and other noble families required guards, police and soldiers. The warrior class made steady gains throughout the Heian period.^[2] As early as 939,Taira no Masakado threatened the authority of the central government, leading an uprising in the eastern province of Hitachi, and almost simultaneously,Fujiwara no Sumitomo rebelled in the west. Still, military takeover was centuries away, when much of the strength of the government would lie within the private armies of the shogunate.
The entry of the warrior class into court influence was a result of the Hōgen Rebellion. At this time Taira no Kiyomori revived the Fujiwara practices by placing his grandson on the throne to rule Japan by regency. Their clan (Taira clan) would not be overthrown until after the Gempei War, which marked the start of theshogunate. The Kamakura period began in 1185 when Minamoto no Yoritomo seized power from the emperors and established a bakufu, the Kamakura shogunate, in Kamakura.
Fujiwara regency[edit]Byōdō-in Phoenix Hall, built in the 11th century during the Heian period of Japan.
When Emperor Kammu moved the capital to Heian-kyō (Kyōto), which remained the imperial capital for the next 1,000 years, he did so not only to strengthen imperial authority but also to improve his seat of government geopolitically. Nara was abandoned after only 70 years in part due to the ascendancy of Dōkyōand the encroaching secular power of the Buddhist institutions there.^[4] Kyōto had good river access to the sea and could be reached by land routes from the eastern provinces. The early Heian period (784–967) continued Nara culture; the Heian capital was patterned on the Chinese Tang capital at Chang'an,^[5] as was Nara, but on a larger scale than Nara. Kammu endeavoured to improve the Tang-style administrative system which was in use.^[6] Known as the ritsuryō, this system attempted to recreate the Tang imperium in Japan, despite the "tremendous differences in the levels of development between the two countries".^[7]Despite the decline of the Taika-Taihō reforms, imperial government was vigorous during the early Heian period. Indeed, Kammu's avoidance of drastic reform decreased the intensity of political struggles, and he became recognized as one of Japan's most forceful emperors.
Although Kammu had abandoned universal conscription in 792, he still waged major military offensives to subjugate the Emishi, possible descendants of the displaced Jōmon, living in northern and eastern Japan. After making temporary gains in 794, in 797 Kammu appointed a new commander under the title Seii Taishogun. By 801 the shogun had defeated the Emishi and had extended the imperial domains to the eastern end of Honshū. Imperial control over the provinces was tenuous at best, however. In the ninth and tenth centuries, much authority was lost to the great families, who disregarded the Chinese-style land and tax systems imposed by the government in Kyōto. Stability came to Heian Japan, but, even though succession was ensured for the imperial family through heredity, power again concentrated in the hands of one noble family, the Fujiwara which also helped Japan develop more.
A handscroll painting dated circa 1130, illustrating a scene from the "Bamboo River" chapter of the Tale of Genji.
Following Kammu's death in 806 and a succession struggle among his sons, two new offices were established in an effort to adjust the Taika-Taihō administrative structure. Through the new Emperor's Private Office, the emperor could issue administrative edicts more directly and with more self-assurance than before. The new Metropolitan Police Board replaced the largely ceremonial imperial guard units. While these two offices strengthened the emperor's position temporarily, soon they and other Chinese-style structures were bypassed in the developing state. Chinese influence effectively ended with the last imperial-sanctioned mission to Tang China in 838. Tang China was in a state of decline, and Chinese Buddhists were severely persecuted, undermining Japanese respect for Chinese institutions. Japan began to turn inward.
As the Sega had taken control of the throne in the sixth century, the Fujiwara by the ninth century had intermarried with the imperial family, and one of their members was the first head of the Emperor's Private Office. Another Fujiwara became regent, Sesshō for his grandson, then a minor emperor, and yet another was appointed Kampaku. Toward the end of the ninth century, several emperors tried, but failed, to check the Fujiwara. For a time, however, during the reign ofEmperor Daigo (897-930), the Fujiwara regency was suspended as he ruled directly.
Nevertheless, the Fujiwara were not demoted by Daigo but actually became stronger during his reign. Central control of Japan had continued to decline, and the Fujiwara, along with other great families and religious foundations, acquired ever larger shōen and greater wealth during the early tenth century. By the early Heian period, the shōen had obtained legal status, and the large religious establishments sought clear titles in perpetuity, waiver of taxes, and immunity from government inspection of the shōen they held. Those people who worked the land found it advantageous to transfer title to shōen holders in return for a share of the harvest. People and lands were increasingly beyond central control and taxation, a de facto return to conditions before the Taika Reform.
Drawing of Fujiwara no Michinaga, by Kikuchi Yōsai.
Within decades of Daigo's death, the Fujiwara had absolute control over the court. By the year 1000, Fujiwara no Michinaga was able to enthrone and dethrone emperors at will. Little authority was left for traditional officialdom, and government affairs were handled through the Fujiwara family's private administration. The Fujiwara had become what historian George B. Sansom has called "hereditary dictators."
Despite their usurpation of imperial authority, the Fujiwara presided over a period of cultural and artistic flowering at the imperial court and among the aristocracy. There was great interest in graceful poetry and vernacular literature. Two types of phonetic Japanese script: katakana, a simplified script that was developed by using parts of Chinese characters, was abbreviated to hiragana, a cursive syllabary with a distinct writing method that was uniquely Japanese. Hiragana gave written expression to the spoken word and, with it, to the rise in Japan's famous vernacular literature, much of it written by court women who had not been trained in Chinese as had their male counterparts. Three late tenth century and early eleventh century women presented their views of life and romance at the Heian court in Kagerō Nikki by "the mother of Fujiwara Michitsuna", Makura no sōshi by Sei Shōnagon and Genji Monogatari by Murasaki Shikibu. Indigenous art also flourished under the Fujiwara after centuries of imitating Chinese forms. Vividly colored yamato-e Japanese style paintings of court life and stories about temples and shrines became common in the mid- and late Heian periods, setting patterns for Japanese art to this day.
As culture flourished, so did decentralization. Whereas the first phase of shōen development in the early Heian period had seen the opening of new lands and the granting of the use of lands to aristocrats and religious institutions, the second phase saw the growth of patrimonial "house governments," as in the old clan system. (In fact, the form of the old clan system had remained largely intact within the great old centralized government.) New institutions were now needed in the face of social, economic, and political changes. The Taihō Code lapsed, its institutions relegated to ceremonial functions. Family administrations now became public institutions. As the most powerful family, the Fujiwara governed Japan and determined the general affairs of state, such as succession to the throne. Family and state affairs were thoroughly intermixed, a pattern followed among other families, monasteries, and even the imperial family. Land management became the primary occupation of the aristocracy, not so much because direct control by the imperial family or central government had declined but more from strong family solidarity and a lack of a sense of Japan as a single nation.
Rise of the military class[edit]Under the early courts, when military conscription had been centrally controlled, military affairs had been taken out of the hands of the provincial aristocracy. But as the system broke down after 792, local power holders again became the primary source of military strength. The re-establishment of an efficient military system was made gradually through a process of trial-and-error. At that time the imperial court did not possess an army but rather relied on an organization of professional warriors composed mainly of ORYOSHI, which were appointed to an individual province and TSUIBUSHI, which were appointed over imperial circuits or for specific tasks. This gave rise to the Japanese military class. Nonetheless final authority rested with the imperial court.^[8]Shōen holders had access to manpower and, as they obtained improved military technology (such as new training methods, more powerful bows, armor, horses, and superior swords) and faced worsening local conditions in the ninth century, military service became part of shōen life. Not only the shōen but also civil and religious institutions formed private guard units to protect themselves. Gradually, the provincial upper class was transformed into a new military elite based on the ideals of the bushi (warrior) or samurai (literally, one who serves).
Bushi interests were diverse, cutting across old power structures to form new associations in the tenth century. Mutual interests, family connections, and kinship were consolidated in military groups that became part of family administration. In time, large regional military families formed around members of the court aristocracy who had become prominent provincial figures. These military families gained prestige from connections to the imperial court and court-granted military titles and access to manpower. The Fujiwara family, Taira clan, and Minamoto clan were among the most prominent families supported by the new military class.
A decline in food production, the growth of the population, and competition for resources among the great families all led to the gradual decline of Fujiwara power and gave rise to military disturbances in the mid-tenth and eleventh centuries. Members of the Fujiwara, Taira, and Minamoto families—all of whom had descended from the imperial family—attacked one another, claimed control over vast tracts of conquered land, set up rival regimes, and generally upset the peace.
The Fujiwara controlled the throne until the reign of Emperor Go-Sanjō (1068-1073), the first emperor not born of a Fujiwara mother since the ninth century. Go-Sanjo, determined to restore imperial control through strong personal rule, implemented reforms to curb Fujiwara influence. He also established an office to compile and validate estate records with the aim of reasserting central control. Many shōen were not properly certified, and large landholders, like the Fujiwara, felt threatened with the loss of their lands. Go-Sanjo also established the Incho, or Office of the Cloistered Emperor, which was held by a succession of emperors who abdicated to devote themselves to behind-the-scenes governance, or insei.
The Incho filled the void left by the decline of Fujiwara power. Rather than being banished, the Fujiwara were mostly retained in their old positions of civil dictator and minister of the center while being bypassed in decision making. In time, many of the Fujiwara were replaced, mostly by members of the rising Minamoto family. While the Fujiwara fell into disputes among themselves and formed northern and southern factions, the insei system allowed the paternal line of the imperial family to gain influence over the throne. The period from 1086 to 1156 was the age of supremacy of the Inchoand of the rise of the military class throughout the country. Military might rather than civil authority dominated the government.
Painting of the Battle of Dan-no-uraon April 25, 1185, Genpei War.
A struggle for succession in the mid-twelfth century gave the Fujiwara an opportunity to regain their former power. Fujiwara no Yorinaga sided with the retired emperor in a violent battle in 1156 against the heir apparent, who was supported by the Taira and Minamoto (Hōgen Rebellion). In the end, the Fujiwara were destroyed, the old system of government supplanted, and the insei system left powerless as bushi took control of court affairs, marking a turning point in Japanese history. In 1159, the Taira and Minamoto clashed (Heiji Rebellion), and a twenty-year period of Taira ascendancy began. The Taira were seduced by court life and ignored problems in the provinces. Finally, Minamoto no Yoritomo rose from his headquarters in the Kantō region to defeat the Taira, and with them the child emperor under Taira control, Emperor Antoku, in the Genpei War.
Heian culture[edit]Developments in Buddhism[edit]Danjogaran of Mount Kōya. The place is a center of the sacred ground of Shingon.
Bodhisattva Fugen Enmei, 12th century painting on silk, late Heian period.
Standing Komoku Ten (Virupakusa)Buddhism began to spread throughout Japan during the Heian period, primarily through two major esoteric sects,Tendai and Shingon. Tendai originated in China and is based on the Lotus Sutra, one of the most important sutras ofMahayana Buddhism; Saichō was key to its transmission to Japan. Shingon is the Japanese transmission of the Chinese Chen Yen school. Shingon, brought to Japan by the monk Kūkai, emphasizes Esoteric Buddhism. Both Kūkai and Saichō aimed to connect state and religion and establish support from the aristocracy,^[9] leading to the notion of 'aristocratic Buddhism'.^[10] An important element of Tendai doctrine was the suggestion that enlightenment was accessible to "every creature".^[11] Saichō also sought independent ordination for Tendai monks.^[12] A close relationship developed between the Tendai monastery complex on Mount Hiei and the imperial court in its new capital at the foot of the mountain. As a result, Tendai emphasized great reverence for the emperor and the nation. Kammu himself was a notable patron of the otherworldly Tendai sect, which rose to great power over the ensuing centuries. Kūkai greatly impressed the emperors who succeeded Emperor Kammu, and also generations of Japanese, not only with his holiness but also with his poetry, calligraphy, painting, and sculpture. Shingon, through its use of "rich symbols, rituals and mandalas"^[13] held a wide-ranging appeal.
Literature[edit]Although written Chinese (Kanbun) remained the official language of the Heian period imperial court, the introduction and wide use of kana saw a boom inJapanese literature. Despite the establishment of several new literary genres such as the novel and narrative monogatari (物語) and essays, literacy was only common among the court and Buddhist clergy.
The lyrics of the modern Japanese national anthem, Kimi ga Yo, were written in the Heian period, as was The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, one of the first novels ever written. Murasaki Shikibu's contemporary and rival Sei Shōnagon's revealing observations and musings as an attendant in the Empress' court were recorded collectively as The Pillow Book in the 990s, which revealed the quotidian capital lifestyle.^[14] The Heian period produced a flowering of poetry including works of Ariwara no Narihira, Ono no Komachi, Izumi Shikibu, Murasaki Shikibu, Saigyō and Fujiwara no Teika. The famous Japanese poem known as the Iroha (いろは), of uncertain authorship, was also written during the Heian period.
Beauty[edit]During the Heian period, beauty was widely considered an important part of what made one a "good" person. In cosmetic terms, aristocratic men and women powdered their faces and blackened their teeth, the latter termed ohaguro. The male courtly ideal included a faint moustache and thin goatee, while women's mouths were painted small and red, and their eyebrows were plucked or shaved and redrawn higher on the forehead.
Women cultivated shiny, black flowing hair and a courtly woman's formal dress included a complex "twelve-layered robe" called jūnihitoe, though the actual number of layers varied. Costumes were determined by office and season, with a women's robes in particular following a system of color combinations representing flowers, plants, and animals specific to a season or month, (see the Japanese Wikipedia entries irome and kasane-no-irome).
Economics[edit]While on one hand the Heian period was an unusually long period of peace, it can also be argued that the period weakened Japan economically and led to poverty for all but a tiny few of its inhabitants.^{[citation needed]} The control of rice fields provided a key source of income for families such as the Fujiwara and were a fundamental base for their power.^[15] The aristocratic beneficiaries of Heian culture, the Yokibito ("Good People") numbered about five thousand in a land of perhaps five million. One reason the samurai were able to take power was that the ruling nobility proved incompetent at managing Japan and its provinces. By the year 1000 the government no longer knew how to issue currency and money was gradually disappearing. Instead of a fully realised system of money circulation, rice was the primary unit of exchange.^[15] The lack of a solid medium of economic exchange is implicitly illustrated in novels of the time. For instance, messengers were rewarded with useful objects, e.g., an old silk kimono, rather than paid a fee.
The Fujiwara rulers failed to maintain adequate police forces, which left robbers free to prey on travelers. This is implicitly illustrated in novels by the terror that night travel inspired in the main characters. The shōen system enabled the accumulation of wealth by an aristocratic elite; the economic surplus can be linked to the cultural developments of the Heian period and the "pursuit of arts".^[16] The major Buddhist temples in Heian-kyō and Nara also made use of the shōen.^[17] The establishment of branches rurally and integration of some Shinto shrines within these temple networks reflects a greater "organizational dynamism".^[17]Kamakura Period (1192 - 1333)In 1185, the Minamoto family took over the control over Japan after defeating the Taira clan in the Gempei war. Minamoto Yoritomo was appointed shogun in the year 1192 and established a new government, theKamakura Bakufu. The new feudal government was organized in a simpler way than the one in Kyoto and worked much more efficient under Japanese conditions.After Yoritomo's death in 1199, quarrels for supremacy started between the Bakufu of Kamakura and the Imperial court in Kyoto. Those quarrels for supremacy found an end in the Jokyu disturbance in 1221 when Kamakura defeated the Imperial army in Kyoto, and the Hojo regents in Kamakura achieved complete control over Japan. By redistributing the land gained during the Jokyu disturbance, they were able to achieve loyalty among all the powerful people throughout the country. The emperor and the remaining governmental offices in Kyoto lost practically all effective power.
Chinese influence continued to be relatively strong during the Kamakura period. New Buddhist sects were introduced: the Zen sect (introduced 1191) found large numbers of followers among the samurai, which were now the leading social class. Another new Buddhist sect, the radical and intolerant Lotus Sutra sect was founded in 1253 by Nichiren.
In 1232 a legal code, the Joei Shikimoku was promulgated. It stressed Confucian values such as the importance of loyalty to the master, and generally attempted to suppress a decline of morals and discipline. Tight control was maintained by the Hojo clan, and any signs of rebellions were destroyed immediately.
The shogun stayed in Kamakura without much power while deputies of him were located in Kyoto and Western Japan. Stewards and constables controlled the provinces tightly and loyally. Indeed, the Hojo regents were able to bring several decades of peace and economic expansion to the country until an external power began to threaten Japan.
By 1259, the Mongols had conquered China and became also interested in Japan. Several threatening messages of the powerful Mongols were ignored by Kamakura. This resulted in the first Mongol invasionattempt in 1274 on the island of Kyushu. After only a few hours of fighting, however, the large naval invasion fleet, was forced to pull back because of bad weather conditions. This was very fortunate for the Japanese since their odds against the large and modern Mongol force were not favourable at all.
Due to good preparations, the Japanese were able to maintain a strong defence for several weeks during a second invasion attempt which occurred in 1281. But again, the Mongols were finally forced to withdraw mainly because of bad weather. Kyushu remained in alert for a possible third invasion attempt, but the Mongols soon had too many problems on the mainland in order to care about Japan.
The consequences of the many years of war preparations against the Mongols were fatal to the Kamakura government since they resulted only in expenditures and no profits. Many of the loyal men who were fighting for Kamakura, were now waiting for rewards that the government could not pay. Hence, financial problems and decreasing loyalty among the powerful lords were some of the reasons for the fall of the Kamakura government.
By 1333 the power of the Hojo regents had declined to such a degree that the emperor Go-Daigo was able to restore imperial power and overthrow the Kamakura Bakufu.