20,000BC Some scientists believe that ancient
people from Siberia crossed the Bering land bridge about this time
and began their southward migration into the Americas. In 2001 skull
measurements indicated that members of the Jomon-Ainu of Japan made
the first crossings.
(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A13)(SFC, 7/31/01, p.A4)
10k-300BC The Jomon culture is associated with the
introduction of rice agriculture and the use of metal and probably
came from the Asian mainland.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.34)(WSJ, 9/25/01, p.A16)
5,500-4,000BC The Sannai Maruyama site in northern
Honshu uncovered postholes of houses and longhouses, graves,
figurines and animal remains.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.72)
660BC This is the mythical date
of the ascension of Japan's first emperor, Jimmu Tenno. He is said
to have been descended from Amaterasu, the sun goddess, who came
from the eye of the god Izanagi.
(HN, 2/11/97)(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(Econ,
9/9/06, p.42)
400BC Korean farmers about this
time brought rice to Japan.
(Econ, 12/19/09, p.66)
400BC- 250AD The Yayoi culture is identified by
its pottery. Mongoloid people from Korea entered Japan and mixed
with the older Jomon populations.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.34,38)
171BC There was a major wave of
migration to Japan from the Korean Peninsula. The migration of other
peoples from mainland Asia around this time brought metal tools,
rice and new farming techniques. Computer modeling in 2011 showed a
that the migration also had significant impact on linguistic
development.
(AP, 5/5/11)
57CE The King of Nakoku sent an
envoy to the Eastern Han capital Loyang, the 1st recorded envoy to
China from Japan.
(www.museum.city.fukuoka.jp)
239 In Japan Queen Himiko
(Pimiko, Queen of Wa) of the Kingdom of Yamataikoku sent an envoy to
China.
(www.gias.snu.ac.kr/wthong/)
250-710CE The Japanese Kofun period. Mongoloid
people from Korea continued to enter Japan and mixed with the older
Jomon populations.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.38)
300-400CE Historian Egami Namio in 1948 proposed
the "horserider" thesis that cited equestrian goods and foreign
culture elements as evidence that the ancestors of the Japanese
imperial line had migrated from Korea about this time and conquered
the northern part of Kyushu.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.36)
300-645 Yamato Period of Japan. The Yamato clan
had taken root in the Nara basin and gave rise to the people called
“Japanese."
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(Hem, 9/04, p.41)
400-500AD Two imperial tombs of this time in
Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, are held by legend to belong to Ninigi,
grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu and his wife.
(AM, Jul/Aug '97 p.12)
500-700CE Chronicles of the 8th century record the
peaceful arrival of immigrants from Korea in the 6th and 7th
centuries.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.38)
538-552 Introduction of Buddhism to Japan from
Korea.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
538-600 Buddhist missionaries introduced the art
of flower arranging to Japan. The 1st school of flower arranging,
ikenobo, was founded by Ono no Imoko in the early 7th century.
Ikebana became the umbrella name for the schools of flower
arranging.
(SFEC, 4/23/00, Z1 p.2)
574 Prince Shotoku was born in
Japan. He later brought the Kongo family from Korea to Osaka and had
them build a Buddhist temple. The temple took 15 years to build and
the Kongo family became established as the premier temple builders
in Japan.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R46)
578 The family business Kongo
Gumi was founded in Japan by a Korean in Osaka to build Buddhist
temples. The company continued to flourish in 2010 as general
builder.
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.104)(Econ, 11/20/10, SR p.9)
592-710 The Asuka Period of Japanese history.
(www.japan-101.com)
593-622AD The Regency of Prince Shotoku on Japan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
699 En no Ozunu appeared in the
official Japanese national log of events or the 'Shoku Nihongi.' It
is in this year that En was banished from society, following the
charge that he "misused his magical powers to control people." It is
believed that En No Gyoja was historically known as En no Ozunu. The
Japanese ascetic En-no-Gyoja founded the Shugendo religion on Mount
Omine (5,640 feet). He blended aspects of tantric Buddhism,
Shintoism, Taoism, Confucianism and Japanese shamanism.
(SSFC, 10/2/05, p.E4)(http://tinyurl.com/8s4gm)
604 In Japan a 17 article
constitution was promulgated by Prince Shotoku (574-622). It was a
Confucian document that focused more on ethics and virtue than on
the basic laws by which the state was to be run. [see 702]
(www.theosophy.org/tlodocs/teachers/PrinceShotoku.htm)
607 Ono no Imoko was sent as an
envoy from Japan to the Sui court in China.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
645AD Downfall of the Soga Clan
in Japan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
658 Hirafu Abe went to meet
with the Ainu on Hokkaido after he had defeated an indigenous tribe
called Emishi in the northeast region of Honshu.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 217)
c670 A Japanese inventor based
the first design of a folding fan on the structure of a bat's wing.
(SFEC, 8/3/97, Z1 p.2)
700-800 The Tanka (short song) poetry form emerged
in Japan about this time. The unrhymed verse formalized to 31
syllables arranged in a 5 line pattern of 5-7-5-7-7. In 2005 it
became popular on cell phones.
(WSJ, 10/4/05, p.A1)
700-800 In Japan a priest in the 8th century
discovered the mineral hot springs at Yamashiro Onsen.
(WSJ, 7/19/05, p.A1)
702 Japan's first civil and
penal code was promulgated. [see 604CE]
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
710 The Fujiwara clan
established the Kasuga Shrine in Nara, Japan.
(Hem, 9/04, p.46)
710-784 The Nara Period of Japan. Japan’s 1st
permanent capital arose in the Nara basin.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(Hem, 9/04, p.41)
712AD The publication of Kojiki
in Japan, the Record of Ancient Matters. The work was compiled by
the court to strengthen its control over various noble lineages.
Fictitious rulers were inserted to project the nation's founding
back to 660BC
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.34)
718 The Japanese inn Hoshi
Ryokan was founded in Komatsu.
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.104)(SFC, 4/14/06, p.D1)
720 The Nihon Shoki (the
Chronicle of Japan), the oldest recorded Japanese document, was
published. It was compiled by the court to strengthen its control
over various noble lineages.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(AM, Mar/Apr 97
p.34)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R46)
752AD The dedication of the
Great Buddha of Todai Temple in Nara.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
c752 Emperor Shomu built a
great Buddhist temple and started a collection from the gifts that
were brought to its dedication. Rulers for the next 12 centuries
added to the collection.
(WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A20)
764-770 Empress Shotoku had a million miniature
pagodas made in thanks for regaining control of the throne. Sacred
text was placed in each one and distributed to the 10 most important
temples.
(WSJ, 7/27/00, p.A20)
778 In Japan the Kiyomizu-dera
Buddhist temple was founded in Kyoto. Its main hall (Hondo) was
built in 1633 without a single nail.
(SSFC, 3/16/14, p.P4)
794 The capital of Japan was
moved from Nara to Kyoto and the new Imperial Palace was built
there. It remained there until 1868.
(Hem., 2/96, p.57-58)(Hem, 9/04, p.41)
794-1185 The Heian Period in Japan. The kimono
originated in this period. Prof. Helen McCullough (d.1998) of UC
Berkeley and her husband translated "A Tale of Flowering Fortunes,"
whose notes and appendixes made it an encyclopedia of Heian court
life. She published 11 volumes of studies and translations of
classical Japanese poetry that included: "The Tale of the Heike" and
"The Great Mirror."
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(SFC, 2/7/97, p.D1)(SFC,
4/23/98, p.B4)
795-1185 The Heian period was a time of elegant
and refined rice papers.
(SFC, 5/17/97, p.A20)
894 Japan abolishes the sending
of envoys to China.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
c900-1000 The Japanese discovered the wasabe root
growing near mountain streams and began incorporating it into their
cuisine.
(SFC, 6/3/98, Z1 p.6)
995-1027 Heyday of the Fujiwara Clan in Japan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
c1000-1100 A Buddhist shrine was constructed in
Uji, Japan. In 1968 the Byodo-In Temple at the foot of the Koolaus
Mountains on Oahu, Hawaii, was built as a replica of the
900-year-old shrine.
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.20)
1002-1019 In Japan Lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote her
classic court novel "The Tale of Genji." The novel "Genji
Monogatari" (Genji the Shining One) was later considered the world's
1st novel. The long work explored the imperial court of the Heian
period through the life and many loves of Genji, son of the
emperor's favorite concubine. Arthur Waley made an English
translation in 6 installments between 1925 and 1933. Edward
Seidensticker made a translation in 1976. Royall Tyler made a new
translation in 2001. In 2000 Liza Dalby authored her novel
"The Tale of Murasaki."
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(WSJ, 2/5/98,
p.A20)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)(WSJ, 7/5/00, p.A20)(WSJ, 11/16/01,
p.W14)(SFEC, 7/16/00, BR p.3)
c1100-1200 Nichiren Daishonin, the son of a
fisherman in Awa, established a new sect of Buddhism. In 1930 the
Soka Gakkai (value-creation society) was founded in Tokyo based on
his teachings.
(WSJ, 4/23/99, B1)
1129 Aug 21, The warrior
Yoritomo was made Shogun without equal in Japan.
(HN, 8/21/98)
1169-1181 The heyday of the Kiyomori Clan in
Japan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
1180-1185 War between the Taira and Minamoto clans
in Japan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
1181 Aug 4, A supernova was
seen in Cassiopeia. Chinese and Japanese astronomers observed a
supernova. The star 3C58 was later identified as the heart of the
explosion in the constellation Cassiopeia. In 2002 it was thought to
be composed of quarks.
(MC, 8/4/02)(SFC, 4/11/02, p.A2)
1185-1333 The Kamakura Period of Japan. A sect
known as Pure Land Buddhism began to enjoy great popularity.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(SFC, 3/14/03, p.D1)
1191 Zen Buddhism, guided by
the Dao (The Way) arrived to Japan from China.
(Hem., 2/96, p.58)
1192 The founding of the
Kamakura Shogunate in Japan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
c1200-1300 Nichiren was 13th-century Japanese monk
and reformer. He founded a Buddhist school and wrote: "When great
evil occurs, great good will follow."
(WSJ, 3/28/02, p.A20)
1233 The royal family began to
stain their teeth black in a fashion statement.
(WSJ, 9/2/99, p.A12)
1253 Dogen Zenji (b.1200),
Japanese founder of the Soto School of Zen Buddhism, died. In 2010
Zenji’s masterwork “Treasury of the True Dharma Eye" was translated
into English.
(SFC, 10/29/10, p.E1)
1264 According to Marco Polo,
Kublai Khan in this year sent a large body of troops to attack
Japan, then known as the island of Zipangu. The two officers in
charge, named Abbacatan and Vonsancin, failed to cooperate and the
adventure failed. [see 1274]
(TMPV, P.255)
1274 The first Mongol invasion
of Japan. [see 1264]
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
1281 Aug 14, During the second
Mongol attempt to conquer Japan, Kublai Khan's invading fleet
disappeared in typhoon off of Japan. A Mongol army of 45,000 from
Korea had joined an armada with 120,000 men from southern China
landing at Hakozaki Bay. The typhoon destroyed their fleet leaving
them to death or slavery.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(EWH, 4th ed.,
p.369)(MC, 8/14/02)
c1330 Retired Emp. Go-Fushimi
authored a plea to the god of the Kamo shrine for help in gaining
the thrown for his son, Prince Tokihito. Tokihito got to reign after
a short delay when Go-Daigo refused to step down. Two years later
Go-Daigo got the thrown back.
(SFC,12/15/97, p.E3)
1333 The Kamakura Shogunate of
Japan falls.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
1333-1573 The Ashikaga (or Muromachi) Period of
Japan. The Chinese Kara-yo style of architecture evolved during this
period.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(Hem., 2/96, p.58)
1334 Emperor Go-Daigo of Japan
temporarily regained power.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(SFC,12/15/97, p.E3)
1334-1615 In 1961 George Sansom authored "A
History of Japan, 1334-1615."
(ON, 7/01, p.5)
1338 The founding of the
Ashikaga Shogunate in Japan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1368-1644 China extended its hegemony over the
Ryukyu Islands legitimating 3 kings in exchange for submission to
the Ming emperor.
(NH, 9/01, p.56)
1372 The 1st Ryukyuan
emissaries reached Nanjing and presented tribute to the Ming
emperor.
(NH, 9/01, p.56)
1392-1910 The Choson Dynasty ruled over this period.
(Hem., Oct. '95, p.17)
1422 Mar 30, Ketsugan, a Zen
teacher, performed exorcisms to free the Aizoji temple.
(MC, 3/30/02)
1429 The kingdom of Ryukyu was
unified under the court at Shuri (later part of Naha, Okinawa).
(NH, 9/01, p.56)
1449 Ashikaga Yoshimasa (14)
inherited the office of Shogun, the chief military and civic leader
of feudal Japanese society. His leadership focused on the arts and
depleted the national treasury, which led to social and political
anarchy.
(ON, 7/01, p.3)
1457 Koshamain, an Ainu
chieftain on Hokkaido, led a rebellion against Japanese
encroachment, but it was put down by Nobuhiro Takeda.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
1467 May, The 11-year Onin War
began in Kyoto. In 1967 H. Paul Valery authored "The Onin War."
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(ON, 7/01, p.5)
1478 The Onin War ended after
rival warlords died of natural causes. Shogun Yoshimasa disinherited
his brother and abdicated in favor of his son.
(ON, 7/01, p.5)
1482 The Ginkaku Temple, also
known as the Silver Pavilion was built in Kyoto, Japan. The Shogun
who built it died before its completion and it remains without
silver.
(Hem., 2/96, p.58)
1490 Ashikaga Yoshimasa, former
shogun (1449-1478), died at age 55.
(ON, 7/01, p.5)
1532 A 2,100 lb. bell was cast
in Japan. It was later shipped to San Francisco and placed in the
Asian Art Museum. It was rung every New Year 108 times after a
Buddhist tradition, once for each of the mortal desires that plague
mankind.
(SFC, 1/1/97, p.A15)
1536 Toyotomi Hideyoshi
(d.1598), Japan’s unifier and folk hero, was born in a village
called Nakamura in Owari province.
(www.samurai-archives.com/hideyoshi.html)
1539 Japanese trading
monopolies ended in favor of a free market.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1542 Antonio da Mota,
Portuguese explorer, became the first European to enter Japan.
(TL-MB, p.16)
1542 Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu
(d.1616) was born. Japan was united under his rule around 1600.
(SFC, 8/21/00, p.D1)
1543 Portuguese ships landed on
the Japanese Island of Tanega. The first European visitors to Japan
introduced muskets and baked bread.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(TL-MB,
p.16)
1549 Aug 15, Francis Xavier,
Portuguese Jesuit missionary, landed in Kagoshima, Japan, and began
spreading the Catholic faith there.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(ON, 11/02, p.8)(MC,
8/15/02)(AP, 1/28/14)
1558-1637 Hon'ami Koetsu, art collector,
calligrapher and ceramist in Kyoto.
(WSJ, 9/21/00, p.A24)
1560 In Japan a foundry began
making pots and developed to become Nabeya B-tech Kaisha (NBK), a
21st century maker of high-precision machine parts.
(Econ, 3/8/08, p.72)
1568 Nobunaga Oda seized Kyoto.
General Oda Nobunaga, Japanese leader who seized Kyoto and destroyed
the power of the feudal lords, introduces a dynamic period of
centralization and expansion.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(TL-MB, p.21)
1568 Lord Oda Nobunaga
destroyed the town of Sakai after the town council resisted a
military tax.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R51)
1568 A theater was built on
Miyajima Island.
(SFEC, 3/26/00, p.T11)
1568-1600 The Azuchi-Momoyama Period.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1570 The Japanese opened the
port of Nagasaki to overseas trade.
(TL-MB, p.22)
1573 Japan’s Ashikaga shogunate
ended after 237 years with Shogun Yoshiake routed in his challenge
of ruler Nobunaga Oda.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)
1573-1615 The Momoyama period of Japan. It
coincided with the ascendancy of 3 warlords and represented a time
of temporary peace with the opening of the country to Western
influence.
(WSJ, 9/25/96, p.A20)
1575 A battle was fought that
arrayed 3,000 guns against men on horseback using stirrups. The gun
force won and changed the course of Japanese fighting.
(WSJ, 6/9/99, p.A27)
1582 Nobunaga was assassinated.
Nobunaga, ruler of Japan, was assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide. He
was succeeded by Hideyoshi, who killed Mitsuhide and carried on the
work of breaking feudal power.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215) (TL-MB, p.23)
1583 Toyotomi Hideyoshi
(1536-1598), Japan’s unifier and folk hero, laid the foundation for
Osaka Castle. It was completed in 1587. Civil war and fire destroyed
the castle several times. The castle was rebuilt in 1931 and
refurbished in 1997.
(Hem, 9/04, p.41)
1585 Toyotomi Hideyoshi was
appointed civil dictator.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1586 In Japan Kabuki theater
began. [see 1603]
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)
1587 Jul 25, Japanese shogun
Toyotomi Hideyoshi banned Christianity in Japan and ordered all
Christians to leave. Although the order was not immediately
enforced. A decade later, the crackdown began, and 26 Christians
were crucified.
(HN, 7/25/98)(AP, 11/21/08)
1587 Osaka Castle, Japan, whose
foundation had been laid by Hideyoshi in 1583 was completed with the
help of 30,000 workers.
(TL-MB, p.24)
1590s A six paneled screen
painting by Kano Eitoku depicted mythological Chinese lions.
(WSJ, 9/25/96, p.A20)
1592 Toyotomi Hideyoshi
sent an army to invade Korea after Korea refused to help him invade
China. This set off a war that lasted 6 years.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM,
p. 215)(www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/455711)
1592 Korea defenders led by
Gen. Jeong Mun-bu scored a victory over an invading Japanese army at
Bukgwan. A monument with a description of the fight was raised a
century later. During the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 a Japanese
general shipped the monument to Japan where it was set in the
Yasukuni shrine. It was recognized by a South Korean in 1978 and in
2005 Shinto priests agreed to return it to Seoul.
(Econ, 10/15/05, p.46)
1592-1598 Korean Adm. Yi Sun Sin (1545-1598)
employed his ironclad "turtle ships" to fight off an invasion
by Japan. Hundreds of Japanese vessels were sunk during the
prolonged Japanese invasion.
(www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/455711)
1597 Sep 28, The Mimizuka, or
Ear Mound, was dedicated in Kyoto. In it was buried the collected
ears and noses of victims from the Japanese invasion of Korea that
began in 1592.
(SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A25)
1597 Oct 26, Korea’s Admiral Yi
Sun-shin (Yi Sun sin), with a fleet of 13 ships, beat back the
Japanese Navy, with a fleet of hundreds of ships, at the Battle of
Myeongnyang. In 2014 the South Korean film “Roaring Currents," a
depiction of the battle, was released and became the country’s most
popular film of all time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Myeongnyang)(Econ, 10/4/14,
p.47)
1597 In Nagasaki 26 Japanese
and Western Christians were crucified. These martyrs were beatified
in 1627 and became saints in 1862, among the 42 people from Japan
who have been canonized, or reached sainthood.
(SSFC, 8/10/03, p.C11)(AP, 11/21/08)
1598 Sep 18, Toyotomi Hideyoshi
(b.1536), Japan’s unifier and folk hero, died. His death left two
main rivals for power, Ishida Mitsunari and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshi)
1599 The Takeda family, which
controlled Hokkaido, changed its name to Matsumae, built a castle by
that name and allied itself with Ieyasu Tokugawa, who was on the
verge of establishing his Shogunate.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 218)
1600 Apr 19, The Dutch ship
Liefde, piloted by Will Adams, reached Japan with a crew of 24 men.
6 of the crew soon died. 4 other ships in the expedition were lost.
(ON, 11/02, p.8)
1600 Oct 21, Tokugawa leyasu
defeated his enemies in the battle of Sekigahara and affirmed his
position as Japan's most powerful warlord. The win enabled Ieyasu to
found a 265-year ruling dynasty.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sekigahara)(Econ, 10/31/09,
p.54)
1600s The ancient art of Sumo
wrestling became a professional sport.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)
1600-1867 The Tokugawa (or Edo) Period.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1600-1868 The cosmopolitan Edo period, the heyday
of the woodblock print.
(WSJ, 4/24/96, A-12)
1602 Japan's Shogun Ieyasu
seized the Dutch ship Liefde and granted its crew allowances to live
in Japan.
(ON, 11/02, p.9)
1603 Kabuki theater started
when a shrine maiden named Okuni traveled to Kyoto and performed a
dance of ecstasy dressed in men's clothing while chanting Buddha's
name. [see 1586]
(SFC, 7/12/01, p.A23)
1603 In Japan the wooden
Nihonbashi bridge, half way between Edo Bay and Edo Castle, was
built. In 1911 it was replaced by a stone version.
(Econ, 10/7/06, p.52)
1603 The Nijo Castle was built
in Kyoto, Japan, as a residence for the Shogun. The castle's
Ninomaru Palace was famous for its "nightingale" (creaking) floors
that warn of intruders.
(Hem., 2/96, p.60)
1603 Tokyo replaced Kyoto as
the administrative center of Japan.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R51)
1603-1868 The founding and era of the Tokugawa
Shogunate.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.34)
1605 Dec 27, English sea
captain John Davis was killed by Japanese pirates whose ship he had
captured off the coast of Sumatra. In 1889 Clements Markham authored
“A Life of John Davis, the Navigator, 1550-1605, Discoverer of Davis
Straits."
(ON, 11/05, p.9)
1605 Japan's Shogun Ieyasu
allowed some of the Dutch crew of the ship Liefde to return home,
but kept Will Adams in Japan. Adams soon married Magoma Oyuki, a
young noblewoman.
(ON, 11/02, p.10)
1608 Shogun Ieyasu ordered Will
Adams to go to the Philippines to invite the Spanish Gov. Don Diego
Vevero y Velasco to compete with the Portuguese for trade with
Japan.
(ON, 11/02, p.10)
1609 Forces from the Japanese
feudal domain of Satsuma invaded the Ryukyu Islands and took the
king hostage. Heavy tribute was soon demanded.
(NH, 9/01, p.56)
1609 Spanish ships began
visiting Japan and Spanish Dominicans began missionary work.
(ON, 11/02, p.10)
1610 Retired-Japanese Samurai
Hachirobei Mitsui pawned a couple of his swords and started a ribbon
and kimono shop. It grew to become the world's oldest department
store, Tokyo's Mitsukoshi.
(SFC, 7/7/96, zone 1 p.5)
1613 A fleet of 3 English ships
arrived in Japan in response to letters from Will Adams to the
English East India Company.
(ON, 11/02, p.10)
1614 Japan sent samurai
Hasekura Tsunenaga to Europe via Acapulco to to request the right to
trade directly with New Spain (Mexico).
(Econ, 11/15/14, SR p.8)
1614 Shogun Ieyasu ordered all
Christian missionaries to leave Japan. All Christian churches were
closed and Japanese people were forbidden to practice Christianity
on pain of death.
(ON, 11/02, p.10)
1615 Jun 4, The Tokugawa Shogun
captured Osaka Castle and eliminated Hide-yoshi's heirs. The
fortress of Osaka, Japan, fell to shogun Leyasu after a six month
siege.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(HN, 6/4/98)
1615 Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu
granted land to Hon'ami Koetsu (1558-1637), a calligraphy artist.
The property was named Takagamine and became a colony for artists
united by their adherence to Buddhism.
(SFC, 8/21/00, p.D3)
1615-1868 The Edo period. [see 1600-1868]
(SFC, 12/26/98, p.C1)
1616 Shogun Ieyasu (b.1642),
Japanese general and statesman, died.
(WUD, 1994 p.759)(ON, 11/02, p.10)
1618 Kana Takanobu (b.1571),
Japanese artist, died.
(NYT, 10/8/04, p.B35)
1620 Will Adams,
English-Dutch-Japanese ship pilot, died in Japan. In 1956 P.G.
Rogers authored "The First Englishman in Japan."
(ON, 11/02, p.10)
1627 Japan banned contact with
foreigners and closed its ports except for limited trade with
Holland. [see 1639]
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1628-1695 Enku was an artist-priest who took a vow
to sculpt 120,000 images of the Buddha.
(WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A20)
1629 Women performers were
banned in Kabuki theaters to prevent prostitution and were replaced
by young boys. The ban spawned a new breed of male actors.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)(SFC, 6/14/05, p.B3)
c1630 The widow of a samurai
set up a business that grew to become the Kikkoman Corp., the
world’s leading maker of soy sauce.
(WSJ, 12/27/99, p.A1)(Econ, 12/18/04, p.105)
1636 Westerners in Japan were
sequestered on the man-made island of Dejima in Nagasaki's harbor as
the government cracked down on all things foreign. The island later
disappeared in land reclamation projects.
(SSFC, 8/10/03, p.C11)
1637 Gekkeikan began making
sake in Kyoto, Japan. The company began supplying the imperial
household in 1909.
(SSFC, 9/26/04, p.D12)
1637-1638 The Christians of Shimabara, Japan
rebel.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1639 Japan was closed to the
outside world except for a Dutch trading post.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1639 Jesuit Father Petro Kassui
Kibe, a convert to Christianity, was captured, tortured and martyred
in Tokyo. He had initially managed to escape persecution and
traveled to Rome, where he became a Jesuit and was ordained to the
priesthood. He then returned to Japan to minister to other oppressed
Christians. The 188 other martyrs included four Jesuit priests,
other priests, brothers and nuns, lay men and women, all
killed in different cities between 1603 and 1639 after the Japanese
government outlawed Christianity. In 2007 Pope Benedict XVI approved
recognition of their martyrdom.
(www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0603392.htm)(AP, 6/2/07)
1641 Japan designated an
artificial island in Nagasaki harbor as the only place that
foreigners could live.
(Econ, 11/24/07, p.47)
1644-1694 Matsuo Basho, Japanese poet. His work
include "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" (Oku no Hosomichi). One
of his poems celebrated the entrancing cry of the cicada.
(SFC, 11/28/96, p.C16)(WUD, 1994, p.124)(SFC,
7/29/97, p.C3)(Econ, 7/5/14, p.67)
1653 Chikamatsu Monzaemon
(d.1725), Kyoto and Osaka playwright, was born.
(SFC, 6/20/05, p.C1)
1658-1716 Ogata Korin, artist. The artist created
the cartoonish "Gods of Wind and Thunder."
(WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A20)
1661 In Japan the Takanoshi
family started producing food seasonings and became known for its
soy sauce.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)
1673 In Japan the Mitsukoshi
store introduced fixed prices.
(Econ, 8/25/07, p.58)
1685-1768 Hakuin Ekaku, Zen painter. His work
included "Side View of Daruma."
(SSFC, 9/23/01, DB p.48)
c1690 "The Narrow Road" by
Basho Matsuo (1644?-1694) was written during a 1,500 mile journey
through the Japanese countryside. It was a 64-page collection of
prose and haiku poems and became a Japanese classic. A manuscript of
the work was found in 1996.
(SFC, 11/28/96, p.C16)(WUD, 1994, p.124)
1700 Jan 27, A tsunami hit
Honshu Island, Japan. It was later estimated that wave was triggered
by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in California.
(CW, Spring ‘99, p.32)
1671-1743 Kaigetsudo Ando (d.1743), Japanese
artist, was born. He is also called Okazaki Genshichi.
(www.britannica.com/eb/article-9044336)
1702 Dec 14, In Japan 47
samurai stormed the palace of a high-ranking lord in Edo and
beheaded him. They were ordered to commit seppuku, a ritual suicide
by disembowelment. Stone monuments at the Sengakuji temple marked
the graves of the 47 ronin (samurai with no master).
(SFC, 1/14/15, p.A5)
1702 Omori Yoshikiyo, Japanese
ehon artist, created his work “Trailing Willows," which depicted the
working women in the government sanctioned pleasure quarter of
Kyoto.
(WSJ, 1/4/07, p.B11)
1702 Meijin Dosaku, go-master
to the shogun of Japan, died. He was the 4th head of the Honimbo go
school and is held by many Japanese to have been the game’s greatest
player.
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.129)
1703 Dec 30, Tokyo was hit by
Earthquake and some 37,000 people died.
(MC, 12/30/01)
1703 A pair of lovers committed
suicide in Osaka. The story of the courtesan and young merchant was
quickly depicted in the Kabuki play “The Love suicides at Sonexaki"
by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725).
(SFC, 6/20/05, p.C5)
1704 Feb 19, In Japan Kabuki
actor Ichikawa Danjuro I (b.1660, the first of the Danjuro line, was
murdered by a rival on stage.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichikawa_Danj%C5%ABr%C5%8D_I)(Econ,
2/16/13, p.44)
c1705 Yodoya Tatsugora, Japanese merchant, died.
He was a member of the 5th generation of a family that became rich
as silk traders and rice merchants. The Shogunate claimed that his
wealth was unbecoming and confiscated it. Many government officials
owed him money.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R8)
1707 A sunrise ritual was begun
in Nagano where a gong announced the call to worship.
(SFC, 2/6/98, p.A1)
1707 Mount Fuji erupted.
(SFC, 2/14/98, p.A12)
1708 The Great Buddha Hall at
Nara’s Todaiji Temple, the world’s largest wooden structure, was
rebuilt at two thirds of the original scale.
(Hem, 9/04, p.46)
1710 "The Narrow Road" by Basho
Matsuo was first published.
(SFC, 11/28/96, p.C16)
1714 In Japan Ando Kaigetsudo
(1671-1743) was banished to the island of Oshima. He was the founder
of the Kaigetsudo school of ukiyo-e (scenes of the transient world
of daily life) painters and print designers.
(SSFC, 11/20/05,
p.M1)(www.ready-to-hang.com/LCP_ArtNotes/Kaigetsudo_Ando_Bio.htm)
1716-1800 Ito Jakuchu, artist. He created the
"Vegetable Parinirvana," a hanging scroll that recasts the Buddha as
a languishing radish surrounded by other vegetable onlookers.
(WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A20)
1717 Ono Pharmaceutical was
founded by Ichibei Fushimiya as an apothecary in Osaka, Japan. In
1947 Ono Pharmaceutical was established. Its shares listed on the
Osaka Securities Exchange in 1962 and the Tokyo Stock Exchange in
1963.
(Econ, 2/12/11, p.72)
1719 Chikamatsu Monzaemon
created his Kabuki Theater masterpiece "Shankun: The Exile on
Devil's Island."
(SFEC, 9/8/96, DB p.7)
1720 The world's 1st futures
exchange began in Osaka with trade in 3-months forward contracts in
rice.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R51)
1721-1785 Reigen Eto, Zen painter. His work
included "White-Robbed Kannon."
(SSFC, 9/23/01, DB p.48).
1730 The first legally
recognized futures market opened in Japan.
(Wired, 9/96, p.36)
1755 Watanabe Shiko (b.1683),
Japanese painter based in Kyoto, died.
(SFC, 12/8/05, p.E12)
1759 Soga Shohaku (1730-1781),
Japanese artist, created his “Hanshan and Shide" about this time.
(SFC, 1/14/06, p.E1)
1760 Oct 21, Katsushika Hokusai
(d.1849), Japanese printmaker, was born. Hokusai was a master
designer of color woodblock prints. His paintings included 36 views
of Mt. Fuji done when he was 70.
(SFC, 9/24/98, p.E3)(WSJ, 11/3/98, p.A20)(Econ,
6/4/11, p.54)
1762 Gosakuramachi ascended
Japan’s throne. She ruled until 1770 and as of 2006 was Japan's last
woman ruler.
(AP, 9/6/06)(http://tinyurl.com/rcnhc)
1776 Ike Taiga (b.1723),
Japanese painter based in Kyoto, died.
(SFC, 12/8/05, p.E1)
1780 A Japanese whaling ship
ran aground near the western end of the Aleutian Islands. Rats from
the ship reached the nearest island giving it the name Rat Island.
The incident introduced the non-native Norway rat, also known as the
brown rat, to Alaska. The rats terrorized all but the largest birds
on the island. In the Fall of 2008 poison was dropped onto the
island from helicopter-hoisted buckets for a week and a half. By mid
2009 there were no signs of living rats and some birds had returned.
(Econ, 1/20/07, p.43)(Reuters, 6/12/09)
1781 Chobei Takeda I (32)
started a business selling traditional Japanese and Chinese
medicines in Doshomachi, Osaka. In 1925 it was incorporated as
Chobei Takeda & Co., Ltd., with capital of 5.3 million yen and
Chobei Takeda V as president. The Company changed its name to Takeda
Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. in 1943. Its English name was
changed to Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd. in 1961.
(Econ, 11/20/10, SR p.9)
1781 Soga Shohaku (b.1730),
Japanese artist, died.
(SFC, 1/14/06, p.E1)
1783 Mount Asama, one of
Japan's largest and most active volcanoes, had a major eruption.
(AP, 9/15/04)
1783 Yosa Buson (b.1716),
Japanese painter based in Kyoto, died. His work included “Landscapes
on silver Ground" (1782).
(SFC, 12/8/05, p.E1)(SFC, 1/14/06, p.E10)
1783-1786 Japan suffered one of its worst famines
in history when exceptional cold destroyed the rice harvest. As many
as 1 million people died. Most of the impact for this was due to the
eruptions of the Laki volcano in Iceland beginning in June, 1783.
(Econ, 12/22/07, p.134)
1788 A great fire destroyed
much of the wooden city of Kyoto, Japan.
(WSJ, 1/25/06,
p.D10)(www.city.kyoto.jp/koho/eng/historical/chronology.html)
1790 Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800),
Japanese painter, created his "Compendium of Vegetable and Insects."
(WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A20)(SFC, 1/14/06, p.E1)
1790 A bronze Buddha was cast
in Japan. In 1945 it was donated by the Gump family to the city of
San Francisco. It resides in the Japanese Tea Garden and was in need
of $81,000 worth of repairs.
(SFC, 12/30/96, p.A11)
1793 Apr 1, The volcano
Unsen on Japan erupted killing about 53,000.
(OTD)
1795 Kitagawa Utamoro, Japanese
artist, made his woodblock print "Oiran" about this time.
(WSJ, 4/24/96, A-12)
1795 Maruyama Okyo (b.1733),
Japanese painter based in Kyoto, died. His work included a 50 mile
scene in "Both Banks of the Yodo River" and “Landscape With
Pavilions in Snow" (1787).
(WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A20)(SFC, 12/8/05, p.E1)(SFC,
1/14/06, p.E10)
1797-1858 Utagawa Hiroshige, artist, made numerous
color woodblock prints.
(SFC, 12/26/98, p.C1)
1799 Nagasawa Rosetsu (b.1754),
Japanese painter based in Kyoto, died. His work included “Monkey on
a Rock."
(SFC, 12/8/05, p.E1)(SFC, 1/14/06, p.E10)
1800 Ito Jakuchu (b.1716),
Japanese painter based in Kyoto, died.
(SFC, 12/8/05, p.E12)
1800-1900 Tokyo was called Edo and served as the
shogun's power seat.
(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.T5)
1811 Matsumura Gekkei (b.1752)
also known as Goshun, Japanese painter based in Kyoto, died.
(SFC, 12/8/05, p.E1)
1813 The Tokujo-maru, a
Japanese ship with a cargo of rice for Edo, was blown off course.
Three surviving crew members were picked up 18 months later by a
British ship off the coast of California.
(Econ, 12/22/07, p.64)
1816 Two British naval ships
under Captain Basil Hall landed at Okinawa, in the Ryukyu
archipelago, which was then known as Loo-Choo. In 1818 Hall
published an account of his voyage: “Account of a Voyage of
Discovery to the West Coast of Corea, and the Great Loo-Choo
Island."
(Econ, 10/29/05,
p.44)(www.polybiblio.com/bibliotrek/BT000004..html)
1820 Keisai Eisen, artist,
pictured an intricately coifed woman that later appeared on the
cover of a French magazine and inspired Van Gogh's 1887 "Courtesan."
(WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A20)
1820 An American whaling ship
from Brighton, Massachusetts, was later believed to be the first to
enter Japanese waters.
(Econ, 12/22/07, p.64)
1822 Utagawa Kunisada, Japanese
artist, painted "The Popular Type."
(WSJ, 4/24/96, A-12)
1824-1860 Yanagawa Shigenobu II, Japanese
printmaker, was active. His work included the color woodcut “Kuroho"
(1832-1836).
(www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/shigenobu_ii_yanagawa.html)
1825 Japan issued an edict that
spelled out what would happen to uninvited guests. “Should any
foreigners land anywhere, they must be arrested or killed."
(Econ, 12/22/07, p.63)
1830 Katsushika Hokusai
(1760-1849), Japanese artist, created his famous woodblock print
“Beneath the Wave of Kanagawa" about this time.
(Econ, 6/4/11, p.54)
1830-1840 Hokusai (1760-1849) made his "Thirty-Six
Views of Mount Fuji during this decade. The wood blocks included
"Under the Wave of Kanagawa," "The Back of Mt. Fuji from Minobu
River," and "Winter Loneliness." The last was inspired by a poem of
Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason. Another series was titled "A Tour of
Japanese Waterfalls.
(SFC, 9/24/98, p.E3)
1831 Takashsimaya was founded
in Kyoto, Japan, as a kimono shop. It grew to become the nation's
largest department store chain.
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A14)
1833 Aoki Mokubei (b.1767),
Japanese poet and potter, died.
(NYT, 10/8/04, p.B35)
1834 A crippled Hojun-maru
junk, blown off course with 3 Japanese castaways, washed ashore on
Cape Flattery in Washington state. Makah Indians seized the cargo,
enslaved the sailors and then sold them to the Hudson’s Bay Company.
(Econ, 12/22/07, p.64)
1835 Ryoma Sakamoto was born.
He became a samurai dedicated to toppling the feudal government.
(WSJ, 6/14/00, p.A1)
1836 Jun 10, Yamaoka Tesshu,
Japanese swordsman, was born.
(HN, 6/10/98)
1839 Spring, A craze for
costume dancing swept Kyoto for a few weeks.
(WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A20)
1841 William Whitfield, captain
of the whaling ship John Howland, from Fairhaven, Mass., picked up 5
castaways from Japan’s Torishima Island, including a boy named
Manjiro, who returned with Whitfield to Fairhaven. Manjiro later
returned to Japan, and translated Nathaniel Bowditch’s “The New
American Navigator," known to mariners as the “seaman’s bible." In
1854 Manjiro acted as interpreter with Commodore Perry and in 1860
joined the 1st Japanese embassy to America.
(Econ, 12/22/07, p.66)
1848 Jul 1, Ranald MacDonald
(1824-1894), a Chinook-Scottish sailor, separated from an American
whaling ship and arrived at Rishiri Island off Hokkaido, Japan. He
was imprisoned for virtually his whole 10-month stay. In 2003
Frederik L. Schodt authored "Native American in the Land of the
Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan."
(SSFC, 7/12/03, p.M3)(Econ, 12/22/07, p.63)
1853 Jul 3, Commodore Matthew
Perry reached Japan. [see Jul 8]
(MC, 7/3/02)
1853 Jul 7, Japan opened its
ports to trade with the West after 250 years of isolation. [see July
8]
(HN, 7/7/01)
1853 Jul 8, An expedition led
by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Edo Bay, Uraga, Japan, on a
mission to seek diplomatic and trade relations with the Japanese.
Perry sailed his flagship USS Susquehanna into Edo Bay. He soon
forced Japan to open its ports with his big gunboats, the
steam-powered “Black Ships."
(AP, 7/8/97)(SFEC, 1/25/98, Z1 p.2)(ON, 11/04,
p.9)
1853 Jul 14, Commodore Matthew
Perry met with Prince Toda and Prince Ido at ceremony at Kurihama,
Japan, and presented a letter from former Pres. Fillmore to Emperor
Osahito requesting trade relations. Fillmore's term of office had
already expired by the time the letter was delivered.
(ON, 11/04, p.12)(AP, 7/14/07)
1854 Feb 11, Commodore Matthew
Perry pulled into Edo Bay, Japan, 12 months early with 9 warships to
begin talks for a treaty.
(ON, 11/04, p.12)
1854 Mar 8, US Commodore
Matthew C. Perry landed at Yokohama on his 2nd trip to Japan. Within
a month, he concluded a treaty with the Japanese. In 2003
Christopher Benfey authored "The Great Wave: Gilded Age Misfits,
Japanese Eccentrics and the Opening of Old Japan."
(AP, 3/8/98)(SSFC, 5/18/03, p.M6)
1854 Mar 31, Chief Shogun
Iyesada, following negotiations with Commodore Perry, approved the
Treaty of Kanagawa on behalf of Emperor Osahito. This forced Japan
to open its ports to foreign trade.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(ON, 11/04, p.12)
1854 Dec 23, The 8.4 Ansei
Tokai Quake struck Japan. The epicenter ranged from Suruga Bay to
the deep ocean, but destroyed houses as far away as in Edo. The
accompanying tsunami caused damage along the entire coast from the
Boso Peninsula in modern-day Chiba prefecture to Tosa province
(modern-day Kochi prefecture).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansei_Great_Earthquakes)
1854 Dec 24, The 8.4 Ansei
Nankai Quake struck Japan. Over 10,000 people from the Tokai region
down to Kyushu were killed.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansei_Great_Earthquakes)
1855 Nov 11, The 6.9 Ansei Edo
earthquake hit near Edo (Tokyo), Japan. Some 8,000 casualties
resulted with about 14,000 structures destroyed.
(www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/g/j/gjs4/2008_Shaken%20and%20Rectified.pdf)(Econ,
7/4/09, p.39)
1855 Japan acquired some of the
Kurile Islands (Kuril Islands), a chain of 56 islands that extended
744 miles from Hokkaido to Russia's Kamchatka peninsula. The Treaty
of Commerce, Navigation and Delimitation established the border
between Iturup and Urup. This border confirmed that Japanese
territory stretched south from Iturup and Russian territory
stretched north of Urup. Sakhalin remained a place where people from
both countries could live.
(SFC, 8/14/01,
p.A7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuril_Islands)
1858 Jul 29, Japan signed a
treaty of commerce and friendship with the United States.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(HN, 7/29/98)
1858 Utagawa Hiroshige
(b.1797), one of the greatest Japanese artists, died of cholera in
Edo. His "53 Stages on the Tokaido" Road, first published in 1863-4
as an accordion-like album, influenced French and American painters
from Paul Cezanne to James McNeill Whistler.
(AP, 6/28/05)(http://tinyurl.com/92q4b)
1859 Nov 21, Shoin Yoshida
(1830), Japanese intellectual who inspired Meiji reformers, died.
“Once a man’s will is set, he can triumph through any obstacle."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshida_Sh%C5%8Din)(Econ, 6/28/14,
p.12)
1860 Mar 17, The Japanese ship
Kanrin Maru, under Admiral Yoshitake Kimura, entered the Golden Gate
after a 37-day voyage, on a diplomatic mission to San Francisco. It
was the first Japanese ship to cross the Pacific. 3 sailors died
while the ship was in SF. It set sail to return to Japan on May 8.
(SFC, 3/17/10,
p.C2)(http://www.kanrin-maru150.com/)
1860 Mar 29, The USS Powhatan
arrived in San Francisco as part of a diplomatic mission from Japan.
It carried official envoys including Niimi Buzennokami, the first
Japanese ambassador to the US.
(SFC, 3/17/10, p.C2)(www.kanrin-maru150.com/)
1860 Apr 25, The first Japanese
ambassador to the US, Niimi Buzennokami, and his 74-man staff
arrived in Washington to present their credentials to Pres. James
Buchanan.
(www.trivia-library.com/b/world-history-1860.htm)
1862-1922 Mori Ogai, Japanese writer. His work
included "The Wild Goose."
(MT, Fall '96, p.15)
1864 Sep 5, British, French
& Dutch fleets attacked Japan in Shimonoseki Straits.
(MC, 9/5/01)
1864 The Oura Catholic Church
was built in Nagasaki in honor of the 26 Japanese and Western
Christians crucified there in 1597.
(SSFC, 8/10/03, p.C11)
1867 Apr 25, Tokyo was opened
for foreign trade.
(HN, 4/25/98)
1867 Jan 8, Japan’s Emperor
Osahito died. The Tokugawa Shogunate gave up power as a
revolutionary movement overthrew Shogun Iyesada. Rebels introduced a
representative government under the name of Emperor Maiji
(1852-1912). Ryoma Sakamoto, a samurai, helped topple the feudal
government system. Ryoma means Dragon Horse.
(www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/states/japan/japan.html)(ON, 11/04,
p.12)(WSJ, 6/14/00, p.A1)
1867 Nov 15, Ryoma Sakamoto,
the rebel who helped topple Japan’s feudal government system, was
assassinated. In 1966 Ryotaro Shiba authored the historical novel
"Ryoma on the Move" in 8 paperback volumes. Between 1987 and 1996 a
comic series on Ryoma ran in magazines and a 23-volume compilation
was later made.
(http://tinyurl.com/yglqgbs)(WSJ, 6/14/00,
p.A1,16)(Econ, 12/4/10, p.55)
1868 Jan 3, Emperor Meiji
ascended the throne and assumed power. The Meiji Restoration
re-established the authority of Japan's emperor and heralded the
fall of the military rulers known as shoguns. The feudal clan system
was abolished and industrialism was started. Japan opened itself up
to the West, thereby obtaining the benefits of western technology.
With the erosion of the Tokugawa bakufu system and international
pressure to open the country, the boy emperor Mutsuhito—later known
by the name Meiji—became the political leader replacing the Tokugawa
shogunate. The social and political changes during the Meiji period
(1868-1912) had begun in the late Tokugawa period, but were only
formalized with the creation of the Meiji constitution in 1889.
(V.D.-H.K.p.243,286)(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(AP,
1/3/98)(HNQ, 11/21/00)
1868 Jul 4, In Japan the last
Tokugawa armies were defeated at the Battle at Ueno.
(Maggio, 98)
1868 In Japan women were
allowed to climb Mt. Fuji.
(SFC, 9/12/13, p.A4)
1868 It was forbidden to be
born or to die on Japan’s Miyajima Island until the Meiji
Restoration.
(SFEC, 3/26/00, p.T11)
1868 In Japan Ryoma Sakamoto,
the rebel who helped topple the feudal government system in 1967,
was assassinated. In 1966 Ryotaro Shiba authored the historical
novel "Ryoma on the Move" in 8 paperback volumes. Between 1987 and
1996 a comic series on Ryoma ran in magazines and a 23-volume
compilation was later made.
(WSJ, 6/14/00, p.A1,16)
1868-1912 The Meiji Period. [1867-1912]
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.34)
1869 Sep 10, A Baptist minister
invented the rickshaw in Yokohama, Japan. The jinrikisha, or
rickshaw, was developed as a cheap alternative to horse power in
1870. In 1998 Tony wheeler wrote "Chasing Rickshaws" with
photographs by Richard I'Anson.
(SFEC, 10/11/98, p.T9)(MC, 9/10/01)
1869 Japan’s Yasukuni shrine
was dedicated to the Japanese who died in wars since 1853. The name,
which means “peaceful country," was bestowed by Emperor Meiji in
1879.
(Econ, 10/8/05, Survey p.15)
1869 In Yokohama Baptist
missionary Jonathan Scobie put together the first jinriksha to cart
around his invalid wife.
(SFC, 5/24/97, p.E3)
1870 In Japan Yataro Iwasaki
began Mitsubishi as a steamship company. He ran the ships of the
Tosa clan from an island in southern Japan.
(WSJ, 7/15/97, p.A16)(Econ, 5/29/04, p.67)(Econ,
11/20/10, p.7)
1870 Baseball was brought to
Japan by American missionaries.
(http://tinyurl.com/6xjluk)(Econ, 3/29/08, p.83)
1871 Jun 27, The yen became the
new form of currency in Japan.
(HN, 6/27/98)
1872 Aug 23, The 1st Japanese
commercial ship visited SF carrying tea.
(MC, 8/23/02)
1872 A Japanese government
decree struck down ancient conventions that kept women off many of
the country’s mountains. In 2004 a 1,300-year tradition against
women climbers on Mount Omine continued.
(SSFC, 9/5/04, p.A2)
1873 Jun 29, China’s Emperor
Tongzhi held the first imperial audience with foreign diplomats in
80 years. Japan’s foreign minister asked for compensation for an
attack on sailors from the Ryukyu islands by aborigines on Taiwan.
China disavowed responsibility.
(Econ, 12/21/13, p.72)
1873 Oji Paper was founded in
Japan. In 2006 it was Japan’s biggest paper company.
(Econ, 8/12/06, p.51)
1875 Joseph Neesima founded
Doshisha Univ. in Kyoto, Japan. He had previously acquired an
American education at Amherst College after defying a ban on travel
abroad.
(SFC, 4/18/06, p.B5)
1875 Russia recognized Japan's
control over the 4 southernmost Kurile Islands.
(SFC, 1/19/99, p.A8)
1877 Oct 6,
Edward S. Morse (1839-1925), educator gave the first lecture on
evolution in Japan. He introduced modern ideas in archaeology and
zoology to Japan at Tokyo Univ.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.34)
1877 The rebellion of Satsuma
province was quelled.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1877 Saigo Takamori slits his
belly in ritual suicide rather than surrendering to Tokyo's hated
minions. The hilltop monument named Shiroyama in Kagoshima, Kyushu,
Japan, was dedicated to him.
(NG, Jan. 94, p.116)
1878 May 15, The Tokyo Stock
Exchange, Japan’s 1st public trading institution, formed.
(WSJ, 3/15/07, p.C1)
1879 Mar 25, Japan invaded the
kingdom of Liuqiu (Ryukyu) Islands, formerly a vassal of China. The
Ruykyuan monarchy was abolished and the islands were annexed to
create the Okinawa Prefecture. Prior to this Okinawa had paid
tribute to both Japan and China. Okinawa became imperial Japan’s
first colony.
(SSFC, 3/11/01, Par p.5)(NH, 9/01, p.56)(Econ,
12/22/12, p.55)
1879 In Japan the Asahi Shimbun
newspaper was founded.
(SFC,10/20/97, p.A19)
1879 The Tenshodo store,
located in the heart of Ginza, the busiest high-end shopping
district in Tokyo, was founded.
(AP, 1/2/10)
1880 Japan’s Yokohama Specie
Bank was founded. It became the Bank of Tokyo in 1946. Following
later mergers it became part of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
in 2005.
(WSJ, 9/23/08, p.C1)
1881 Shibata Zeshin made a book
of lacquer paintings on paper, a medium that he alone mastered.
(WSJ, 2/5/98, p.A20)
1881 The Asahi Shimbun
newspaper became jointly owned by Ryuhei Murayama and Riichi Ueno.
(SFC,10/20/97, p.A19)
1882 Jigoro Kano (1860-1938),
founder of judo, opened his first judo school, the Kodokan, in
Tokyo. Some 40 years later he added a women’s section.
(SFC, 7/25/11,
p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kan%C5%8D_Jigor%C5%8D)
1882 The central Bank of Japan
was established.
(SFC, 3/26/98, p.B2)
1884 Apr 4, Isoroku Yamamoto,
Japanese Naval commander, was born. He masterminded the attack on
Pearl Harbor.
(HN, 4/4/99)
1884 Dec 30, Tojo Hideki,
Japanese Prime Minister during WWII, was born.
(HN, 12/30/98)
1884 Japan reportedly
discovered the Senkaku islands. In 1895 it ascertained that the
Senkaku islands were “terra nullius," controlled or claimed by no
one, and annexed them.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.53)
1884 Kanehiro Takaki linked the
Japanese sailor’s diet of polished rice to the disease beriberi. He
found that the addition of mild and vegetables to their diet
eliminated the disease.
(MT, Fall ‘96, p.4)
1885 Feb 9, The 1st Japanese
arrived in Hawaii.
(MC, 2/9/02)
1885 Apr 18, The Sino-Japanese
war ended.
(HN, 4/18/98)
1885 Dec 22, Ito Hirobumi began
serving as the first prime minister of Japan. He also served as the
5th (1892-96), 7th (1898) and 10th (1900-1901) PM of Japan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%C5%8D_Hirobumi)
1885 The first Shakespeare
production in Japan was a Kabuki adaptation of a Japanese novel
inspired by a Charles Lamb narrative based on "The Merchant of
Venice."
(SFC,12/23/97, p.E6)
1887 Toyohara Chikanobu created
his woodblock print "Excursion to View Cherry Blossoms by the Sumida
River."
(SFC, 10/16/01, p.C1)
1887-1895 A group of five uninhabited islands in
the East China Sea, known as Senkaku by Japan, or Diaoyu by China,
belonged to the province of Taiwan.
(Econ, 5/18/13, p.50)
1888 Jul, Mount Bandai erupted
and left 461 people dead.
(SFEC, 4/2/00, p.A17)
1889 The first real
constitution was promulgated.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1889 Nintendo of Japan was
founded by the great-grandfather of President Hiroshi Yamauchi to
produce hand-painted Japanese flower cards. A book about Nintendo
was later written by David Sheff.
(Hem, 4/96, p.29)(SFC, 10/11/97, p.A19)
1889-1961 Soetsu Yanagi, Japanese artist. The
philosophically inclined aesthete and writer created the concept of
folk art and promoted its taste among the Japanese.
(SFC, 4/28/96, B-7)
1890 Jun 10, Sessue Hayakawa,
Japanese actor (Bridge on River Kwai, Hell to Eternity), was born.
(MC, 6/10/02)
1890 Oct 30, Japan’s Emperor
Meiji issued the Imperial Rescript on Education to illustrate the
moral principles that each citizen was to follow.
(Econ, 1/22/05,
p.39)(www.danzan.com/HTML/ESSAYS/meiji.html)
1890 Nov 29, The Imperial Diet,
forerunner of Japan's national legislature, opened its first
session, four days after its members were summoned by Emperor Meiji.
(AP, 11/29/99)
1890 The Imperial Hotel opened
as a 3-story wooden Victorian that became a showcase for Western
ways. A 2nd art deco version was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. A
3rd modern version with towers was built in 1968.
(www.imperialhotel.co.jp)(SFEC, 12/5/99, p.T3)
1890's Cultured pearls were
developed in Japan.
(WSJ, 5/14/96, p.A-17)
1891 Oct 28, An earthquake
struck Mino-Owari, Japan and killed 7,300.
(MC, 10/28/01)
1891-1921 Japanese dishes imported the US during
this period were marked with only the word “Nippon." After 1921 US
law required the name of the exporting country to be in English.
(SFC, 3/16/05, p.G4)
1893 Kokichi Mikimoto invented
a method of culturing pearls. He opened a pearl-growing farm to
attract tourist customers and hired ama (female pearl divers) to
pretend to dive for the cultured pearls.
(MT, Sum. '98, p.4)
1893 China’s Empress Dowager
Cixi bestowed on a doctor in the imperial household the right to
collect a prized medicinal herb on the Diaoyu islands, known to
Japan as the Senkaku islands.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.53)
1894 Jul 23, Japanese troops
took over the Korean imperial palace in Seoul.
(AP, 7/23/97)(HN, 7/23/98)
1894 Jul 25, Japanese forces
sank the British steamer Kowshing which was bringing Chinese
reinforcements to Korea.
(HN, 7/25/98)
1894 Aug 1, The First
Sino-Japanese War erupted, the result of a dispute over control of
Korea; Japan's army routed the Chinese.
(AP, 8/1/04)
1894 Sep 15, Japan defeated
China in the Battle of Ping Yang (Pyongyang).
(http://24.1911encyclopedia.org/C/CH/CHINKIANG.htm)
1894 A ship of the Tsar's navy
visited Tokyo on the occasion of the 25th wedding anniversary of
Emperor Meiji. It was the last Russian ship to visit until 1997.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.A12)
1894-1895 Japan went to war against China.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1895 Apr 17, China and Japan
signed the peace treaty of Shimonoseki. This followed a war over
control of the Korean peninsula. Taiwan and the islands that it
controlled were taken over by Japan (see May 8).
(HN, 4/17/98)(Econ, 1/15/05, Survey p.4)(Econ,
5/18/13, p.50)
1895 Apr 23, Russia, France,
and Germany forced Japan to return the Liaodong peninsula to China.
(HN, 4/23/99)
1895 May 8, China ceded Taiwan
to Japan under the Apr 17 Treaty of Shimonoseki. This followed a war
over control of the Korean peninsula. Japan began administering the
Senkaku Islands between Okinawa and Taiwan following the Treaty of
Shimonoseki. Japanese occupation ended in 1945. The US took over
after WW II but returned them to Japan in 1972. China later disputed
Japanese control of the islands.
(SFEC, 10/8/96, A8)(Econ, 1/15/05, Survey
p.4)(SSFC, 2/18/07, p.G5)(Econ, 9/25/10, p.54)
1895 The Heian Shrine was built
in Kyoto, Japan as a 2/3 replica of the Imperial Palace. It was
built to commemorate the 1,100th anniversary of Kyoto and exhibits
regal Heian architecture.
(Hem., 2/96, p.57)
1895 Japan’s Nara National
Museum was established.
(Hem, 9/04, p.46)
1896 Jun 15, The Meiji Sanriku
tsunami struck Japan and caused some 27,000 deaths.
(CW, Spring ‘99,
p.28)(http://eklektikos.org/Science.html)
1897 Japan’s Kyoto National
Museum was established.
(Hem, 9/04, p.46)
1898 Oct 17, Shinichi Suzuki
(d.1998), music teacher, was born.
(MC, 10/17/01)
1898 Lafcadio Hearn, renowned
writer on Japan, authored “Exotics and Retrospective." One chapter
on insect musicians listed prices for the 12 most popular singing
insects.
(NH, 3/1/04, p.70)
1899 Jun 11, Yasonari Kawabata
(d.1972), Japanese novelist (Thousand Cranes)(Nobel 1968), was born
in Osaka.
(SC, 6/11/02)
1899 Japan passed a statute
that discriminated against the northern Ainu people. It described
them as aborigines in need of assimilation. The law was repealed in
1997.
(SFC, 5/9/97, p.E3)(Econ, 7/12/08, p.54)
1900 Jul, Mount Adatara erupted
and left 72 people dead.
(SFEC, 4/2/00, p.A17)
1900 Aug 14, International
forces from 8 nations, including 2,000 US Marines and Japanese
troops, entered Beijing to put down the Boxer Rebellion, which was
aimed at purging China of foreigners and foreign influence.
(AP, 8/14/01)(Econ, 12/18/10, p.75)
1901 Mar 17, Eisaku Sato,
premier of Japan (Nobel 1974), was born.
(MC, 3/17/02)
1901 Apr 29, Hirohito, emperor
of Japan (1926-1989), was born.
(HN, 4/29/99)(MC, 4/29/02)
1901 Nov 25, Japanese Prince
Ito arrived in Russia to seek concessions in Korea.
(HN, 11/25/98)
1902 cMar 19, Japan formed an
alliance with England.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1902 Mar 20, France and Russia
acknowledged the Anglo-Japanese alliance, but asserted their right
to protect their interests in China and Korea.
(HN, 3/20/98)
1902 Aug, Mount Izu-Torishima
erupted and left 125 people dead.
(SFEC, 4/2/00, p.A17)
1904 Jan 6, A Japanese railway
in Korea refused to transport Russian troops.
(HN, 1/6/99)
1904 Feb 4, Russia offered
Korea to Japan and defended its right to occupy Manchuria.
(HN, 2/4/99)
1904 Feb 6, Japan's foreign
minister severed all ties with Russia, citing delaying tactics in
negotiations over Manchuria.
(HN, 2/6/99)
1904 Feb 8, The Russo-Japanese
War began. In a surprise attack at Port Arthur, Korea, the Japanese
disabled seven Russian warships. During the war, Russia suffered a
series of stunning defeats to Japan; the fighting ended with an
agreement mediated by President Theodore Roosevelt, who went on to
win the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
(HN, 2/7/97)(AP, 2/8/04)
1904 Feb 9, Japanese troops
landed near Seoul, Korea, after disabling two Russian cruisers.
(HN, 2/9/97)
1904 Feb 10, Russia and Japan
declared war on each other.
(HN, 2/10/97)
1904 Feb 23, Japan guaranteed
Korean sovereignty in exchange for military assistance.
(HN, 2/23/98)
1904 Mar 7, The Japanese bombed
the Russian town of Vladivostok.
(HN, 3/7/98)
1904 Mar 15, Three hundred
Russians were killed as the Japanese shelled Port Arthur in Korea.
(HN, 3/15/98)
1904 Mar 24, Vice Adm. Tojo
sank seven Russian ships as the Japanese strengthened their blockade
of Port Arthur.
(HN, 3/24/98)
1904 Aug 6, The Japanese army
in Korea surrounded a Russian army retreating to Manchuria.
(HN, 8/6/98)
1904 Aug 24, In the field
battle at Liaoyang, China, some 200,000 Japanese faced 150,000
Russians. The Japanese defeated the Russians in October.
(MC, 8/24/02)(PC, 1992, p.654)
1904 Sep 19, Gen. Nogi
assaulted Port Arthur: 16,000 Japanese casualties.
(MC, 9/19/01)
1904 Sep 26, Lafcadio Hearn
(b.1850), Greece-born, Irish-American travel writer, died in Japan.
He moved to Japan in 1890 and is especially well-known for his
collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as “Kwaidan:
Stories and Studies of Strange Things" (1904). In 2009 Christopher
Benfey edited “Lafcadio Hearn: American Writings."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafcadio_Hearn)
1904 Nov 28, The pivotal
capture by the Japanese of 203 Meter Hill overlooking Port Arthur
occurred during the bloodiest battle of the Russo-Japanese War of
1904-05. The battle of November 28-December 5, 1904, resulted in
Japanese forces taking the strategic 203 Meter Hill, allowing them
to bombard and sink the Russian fleet in the harbor at Port
Arthur. Russia surrendered the city of Port Arthur to Japan on
January 1, 1905.
(HNQ, 9/20/99)
1904 Dec 5, Japanese destroyed
Russian fleet at Port Arthur in Korea.
(HN, 12/5/98)
1904 Dec 16, Japanese warships
quit Port Arthur in order to cut off the Russian Baltic fleet's
advance.
(HN, 12/16/98)
1904 In Japan Nippon Toki
Kaisha Ltd. began manufacturing Noritake porcelain.
(SFC, 3/3/99, Z1 p.4)(SFC, 11/9/05, p.G9)
1904-1905 Japan went to war against Russia.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1905 Jan 2, After a six-month
siege, Russians surrendered Port Arthur to the Japanese.
(HN, 1/2/99)
1905 Jan 27, Russian General
Kuropatkin took the offensive in Manchuria. The Japanese under
General Oyama suffered heavy casualties.
(HN, 1/27/99)
1905 Feb 21, The Mukden
campaign of the Russo-Japanese War, began. In one of the largest
battles ever fought up to that time, some 750,000 Japanese and
Russian soldiers engaged in the battle for Mukden in the
Russo-Japanese War. The 3-week battle pitted 400,000 Japanese and
350,000 Russians stretched over a front extending more than 90
miles. More than 100,000 were left dead or injured as the Russians
began a retreat toward Harbin on March 9.
(HN, 2/21/98)(HNQ, 4/23/99)
1905 Feb 22, Japan 1st claimed
the volcanic islets they called Takeshima, located between Japan and
Korea, where they are known as Tokdo (Dokdo). Japan illegally
incorporated Dokdo as its territory through an administrative
measure of one of its prefectures.
(Econ, 3/26/05, p.42)(Econ, 4/9/05, p.14)
1905 Feb 27, Japanese pushed
Russians back in Manchuria, and cross the Sha River.
(HN, 2/27/98)
1905 Mar 10, Japanese Army
captured Mukden, later Shenyang, China.
(MC, 3/10/02)
1905 Apr 16, A Japanese
baseball team from Waseda Univ. in Tokyo came to the West Coast for
a 3-month 26-game tour. They played their opening game against
Stanford and lost 9-1. Their manager, Prof. Iso Abe, is called the
"father of modern baseball in Japan." They won 9 of their 26 games.
(SFC, 10/31/96, p.C1)
1905 May 27, Japanese fleet
destroyed the Russian East Sea fleet in Straits of Tushima. [see May
28]
(MC, 5/27/02)
1905 May 28, A Japanese fleet
under Adm. Heihachiro Togo defeated a Russian fleet under Adm.
Zinovi Petrovich Rozhestvensky in the Battle of Tsushima. The
Russian fleet lost 22 ships out of 38 to the Japanese in the Battle
of Tsushima Straits. In 2002 Constantine Pleshakov authored "The
Tsar’s Last Armada: The Epic Voyage to the Battle of Tsushima."
(WSJ, 9/6/00, p.A27)(ON, 5/04, p.9)
1905 Jun 8, US Pres. Theodore
Roosevelt offered to act as a mediator in the Russo-Japanese War.
(AP, 6/8/05)
1905 Jun 10, Japan and Russia
agreed to peace talks brokered by President Theodore Roosevelt.
(HN, 6/10/98)
1905 Jul 29, US Secretary of
War William Howard Taft, under the approval of Pres. Theodore
Roosevelt, and PM of Japan Katsura Taro signed the Taft-Katsura
Agreement, which reinforced American and Japanese influence and
spelled doom for Korean sovereignty. Japan agreed not to interfere
in the ongoing US rape of the Philippines in return for the US
agreement not to interfere with Japan’s forthcoming rape of Korea.
(AH, 10/07,
p.56)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taft-Katsura_Agreement)
1905 Sep 5, The
Russian-Japanese War ended as representatives of the combating
empires, meeting in New Hampshire, signed the Treaty of Portsmouth.
Japan achieved virtually all of its original war aims.
(AP, 9/5/97)(HN, 9/5/98)
1905 Japan imposed protectorate
status on Korea. Hirobumi Ito was installed in Seoul as resident
general and took charge of all governmental affairs. Japan named
Durham White Stevens as the foreign advisor to Kojong.
(AH, 10/07, p.56)
1905 Chinese revolutionary Song
Jiaren met with Sun Yat-Sen in Tokyo and became a founding member of
the Revolutionary Alliance, a forerunner of the Nationalist Party.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.67)
1906 Oct 11, The San Francisco
school board ordered the segregation of Oriental schoolchildren,
inciting Japanese outrage. To counter local prejudice David Starr
Jordan, Stanford’s 1st president, David Pike Bowie, a San Mateo
Japanophile, and Japanese General Consul Kisaburo Ueno soon formed a
chapter of the Japan Society to foster bilateral understanding. The
order was later rescinded at the behest of President Theodore
Roosevelt, who promised to curb future Japanese immigration to the
United States.
(HN, 10/11/98)(SFC, 10/29/05, p.B7)(AP, 10/11/06)
1906 Nov 17, Soichiro Honda,
founder and CEO of Honda Motor Co., was born in Japan.
(MC, 11/17/01)
1907 Jan 23, Hediki Yukawa,
Japanese physicist (Nobel 1949), was born.
(MC, 1/23/02)
1907 Feb 18, In SF according to
an agreement between Mayor Schmidt, Pres. Theodore Roosevelt and the
SF School Board, Japanese children under 16 were to be admitted to
the city’s public schools, skilled and unskilled laborers from Japan
were to be banned from entering the US and American laborers were to
be excluded from Japan.
(SSFC, 2/18/07, DB p.58)
1907 Mar 14, President Theodore
Roosevelt signed an executive order designed to prevent Japanese
laborers from immigrating to the United States as part of a
"gentlemen's agreement" with Japan.
(AP, 3/14/07)
1907 Mar 22, Russians troops
completed the evacuation of Manchuria in the face of advancing
Japanese forces.
(HN, 3/22/97)(AP, 3/22/99)
1907 In Korea the Righteous
Army under the command of Yi In-yeong massed 10,000 troops to
liberate Seoul and defeat the Japanese. The Army came within 12 km
of Seoul but could not withstand the Japanese counter-offensive. The
Righteous Army was no match for two infantry divisions of 20,000
Japanese soldiers backed by warships moored near Inchon. The doomed
revolt ultimately left some 14,000 Koreans dead as well as 160
Japanese.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Righteous_army)(AH,
10/07, p.57)
1908 Feb 24, Japan officially
agreed to restrict immigration to the U.S.
(HN, 2/24/98)
1908 Mar 16 The Chinese
released the Japanese steamship Tatsu Maru.
(HN, 3/16/98)
1908 Mar 23, In San Francisco
Durham White Stevens (56), Japan’s foreign advisor to Korea, was
shot by a Korean nationalist. Stevens died 2 days later from
internal injuries. Chang In Hwan and Chun Myung Un had attacked
Stevens as he approached the ferry landing. Chun was released from
prison in June, 1908, and fled the country. Chang was convicted of
2nd degree manslaughter and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was
paroled after 10 years.
(AH, 10/07, p.54-58)
1908 Apr 5, Japanese Army
reached the Yalu River as the Russians retreated.
(HN, 5/5/97)
1908 Jun, Japanese immigration
to Brazil began when 781 Japanese arrived on the ship Kasato Maru.
Nearly 800 Japanese set sail on the "Kasato Maru" ship from Kobe in
search of better living conditions and arrived at Santos Port only
to find a grueling life working on farmland.
(SFC, 7/4/00, p.A8)(AFP, 4/24/08)
1909 Oct 26, Hirobumi Ito
(b.1841), Japan’s resident general in Seoul, was gunned down in
Harbin in Russian-controlled Manchuria by Korean nationalist Chang
Ahn Gun (aka Ahn Jung-geun).
(http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/INV_JED/ITO_HIROBUMI_PRINCE_1841_1909_.html)(Econ,
11/23/13, p.48)
1908 George Trumbull Ladd,
president of Yale Univ., authored “In Korea with Marquis Ito." Ladd
endorsed Japan’s protectorate status over Korea whose people he
described as hopelessly corrupt and incompetent.
(AH, 10/07, p.57)
1908 Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
was isolated from seaweed. Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda identified
umami, a taste imparted by glutamic acid and associated with
monosodium glutamate. Umami was later recognized as a fifth
fundamental taste.
(SFC, 10/11/97, p.E3)(Econ, 1/31/15, p.71)
1909 In the Kando convention
Japan gave China a chunk of Korean Manchuria in return for
concessions.
(Econ, 3/31/07, SR p.8)
1909 Michio Suzuki started a
loom works. The company made its first motorcycle in 1954.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)
1910 Jan 21, Japan rejected the
American proposal to neutralize ownership of the Manchurian Railway.
(HN, 1/21/99)
1910 Mar 23, Akira Kurosawa,
Japanese film director (Living, Rashomon, The Seven Samurai), was
born in Tokyo, Japan.
(HN, 3/23/01)(SS, 3/23/02)
1910 Jun 24, The Japanese army
invaded Korea.
(HN, 6/24/98)
1910 Aug 22, Japan annexed
Korea following 5 years as a protectorate and ruled for 35 years.
(WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-1)(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p.
215)(AP, 8/22/06)
1910 Kida Sadakichi wrote "The
Teaching of National History."
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.34)
1910 Namikawa Sosuke (b.1847),
top Japanese cloisonné artist, died.
(WSJ, 9/24/04,
p.W10)(www.widener.edu/?pageId=436&vobId=1040&pm=566)
1910-1945 Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula.
(SFC, 4/22/98, p.A11)
1911 The Tokyo Philharmonic
Orchestra (To-Phil) was formed.
(WSJ, 7/19/00, p.A1)
1912 Mar 27, The first cherry
blossom trees, a gift from Japan, were planted in Washington, D.C.
First Lady Helen Herron Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the
Japanese ambassador, planted two Yoshina cherry trees on the
northern bank of the Potomac Tidal Basin, near the Jefferson
Memorial. The event was held in celebration of a gift, by the
Japanese government, of 3,020 trees to the US government for
planting along Washington's Potomac River.
(HN, 3/27/98)
1912 Jul 30, Emperor Meiji
died. Under Meiji the country had moved from a preindustrial state
to a leading modern power. His son Yoshihito followed his father to
the throne. With him the Meiji era ended officially and the Taisho
era began.
(WSJ, 8/30/00,
p.A24)(www.artelino.com/articles/emperor_meiji.asp)
1912 Sep 28, The SS Kichemaru
disappeared in a storm off the Japanese coast and 1,000 died.
(MC, 9/28/01)
1912 The Sumitomo Bank was
founded.
(WSJ, 10/15/99, p.A10)
1912-1926 The Taisho Period was named after the
reign of Emperor Taisho, the father of Hirohito.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(WSJ, 1/29/02, p.A18)
1914 Jan, Mount Sakurajima
erupted and left 58 people dead.
(SFEC, 4/2/00, p.A17)
1914 Aug 23, The Emperor of
Japan sided with the Allies and declared war on Germany in World War
I.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)(AP, 8/23/97)(HN,
8/23/98)
1914 Nov 7, Japan attacked a
German concession on Chinese peninsula of Shanghai.
(MC, 11/7/01)
1914 In western Japan the
Takarazuka Revue, a female musical theater troupe, was founded.
(SFEC, 9/8/96, DB p.55)
1914 Japan occupied the
Caroline Islands and received a League of Nations mandate over them
in 1920.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Islands)
1914-1996 Masao Maruyama, prof. of political
science at the Univ. of Tokyo (1950-1971). He formed the pillar of
postwar anti-establishment thought.
(SFC, 8/20/96, p.A18)
1915 Jan 15, Japan claimed
economic control of China.
(MC, 1/15/02)
1915 Japan demanded major
concessions from China.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1915 In Japan Tokuji Hayakawa
developed an improved mechanical pencil. His company became known as
the Sharp Corp.
(Econ, 3/5/11, p.71)(http://tinyurl.com/4thh7ke)
1916 Jan 3, Three armored
Japanese cruisers were ordered to guard the Suez Canal.
(HN, 1/3/99)
1917 Feb 28, AP reported that
Mexico and Japan would ally with Germany if US enters WW I.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1917 Nov 2, In the
Lansing-Ishii Agreement the US recognized Japan's privileges in
China. US Sec. of State Robert Lansing and Viscount Ishii Kikujiro
of Japan, a special envoy to Washington, worked to resolve tensions
and conflicts between Japan and the US during WW I. The
Lansing-Ishii Agreement was formally annulled in April 1923. Japan
and the U.S. continued to disagree on their respective roles in the
Pacific.
(www.fact-index.com/l/la/lansing_ishii_agreement.html)
1917 In Japan the Nikon
Corporation was established.
(PR, Neopath Corp., 7/2/96)
1917 The 2 main soy sauce
families of Noda, the Mogi and Takanashi, banded together to form
Noda Shoyu Co. Ltd. and became the premier soy sauce maker in Japan.
In 1980 the company was renamed Kikkoman.
(SFC, 1/3/00, p.B7)
1917 In Japan the Toyo Toki
(Oriental Ceramic) company was founded and introduced Western-style
sit-down lavatories to Japan. The company, later know as Toto, grew
to become one of the world’s biggest bathroom and kitchen ceramics
companies in the world.
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.66)
1918 Jul 12, A Japanese
battleship exploded in the Bay of Tokayama and some 500 people were
killed.
(MC, 7/12/02)
1918 Japan's first
parliamentary cabinet was formed.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215)
1919 Mar 1, The Korean
coalition proclaimed their independence from Japan.
(HN, 3/1/98)
1919 May 4, Some 3,000 young
scholars from 13 colleges and universities rallied at Tiananmen
Square to protest the loss of Shandong province to the Japanese
under the Versailles Treaty at the Paris Peace Conference. German
concessions in China were bequeathed to Japan. Among the protestors
were people who helped form the Communist Party.
(SFC, 6/25/98, p.A8)(WSJ, 5/17/99, p.A21)(Econ,
5/3/08, p.13)
1919 Japan’s Mitsubishi Bank
was founded. In 1996 it joined with the Bank of Tokyo and in 2005
became part of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
(WSJ, 9/23/08, p.C1)
1919 The Japanese firm Olympus
was founded as a microscope maker.
(Econ, 10/22/11, p.78)
1920 Apr 5, Japanese forces
landed in Vladivostok.
(HN, 5/5/97)
1921 Jan 26, Akio Morita
(d.1999), CEO of Sony Corp., was born in Kasugaya, Japan.
(MC, 1/26/02)
1921 Nov 4, Takasji Hara,
premier of Japan, was murdered.
(MC, 11/4/01)
1921 Nov 25, Hirohito became
regent of Japan.
(HN, 11/25/98)
1921 US law required that the
name of exporting countries be marked in English on all imported
wares. Prior to this Japanese porcelain was marked “Nippon."
(SFC, 7/20/05, p.G4)
1922 Feb 6, The Washington
Disarmament Conference came to an end with signature of final treaty
forbidding fortification of the Aleutian Islands for 14 years. The
US, UK, France, Italy & Japan signed the Washington naval arms
limitation.
(AP, 12/29/97)(HN, 2/6/99)(MC, 2/6/02)
1922 The Imperial Hotel,
designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opened in Tokyo. It withstood the
1923 earthquake.
(SSFC, 10/9/05, p.M6)
1923 Sep 1, The Japanese cities
of Tokyo and Yokohama were devastated by the Great Kanto earthquake
that claimed 99,000-143,000 lives. The 7.9-8.3 quake off Tokyo's
shoreline killed some 99,300 people.
(AP,
9/1/97)(www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/eq/faq/world.htm)
1923 Sep, In Japan an orgy of
opportunistic anti-Korean slaughter followed the Sep 1 Great Kanto
earthquake.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.59)
1923 Japan’s Norinchukin Bank
was set up as a quasi-public institution to manage the deposits of
millions of farmers, fisherman and forest workers. By 2006 it was
Japan’s 4th largest commercial bank with assets of $525 billion.
(Econ, 2/18/06, p.72)
1924 Feb 26, Noboru Takeshita,
Japanese PM (1987-89), was born.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1924 Jun 26, Crown Prince
Hirohito (22) married the daughter of Prince Kuniyoshi Kuni, Nagako
(20).
(SFC, 6/17/00, p.A20)
1924 In Japan Matsutaro
Shoriki, chief of Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police, acquired the Yomiuri
Shimbun newspaper. By 1937 its circulation rose from 58,000 to
800,000 becoming the largest newspaper in Tokyo.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.60)
1925 Mar 2, Japan's House of
Representatives recognized male suffrage.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1925 Mar 12, Leo Esaki, [Esaki
Reona], physicist (Tunnel effect-Nobel 1973), was born in Japan.
(MC, 3/12/02)
1925 The Nomura brokerage house
was established in Osaka, Japan. In 1927 it opened an office in NYC.
(WSJ, 6/8/06, p.C3)
1926 May, Mount Tokachidake
erupted and left 144 people dead.
(SFEC, 4/2/00, p.A17)
1926 Dec 25, Hirohito became
emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito (Emperor
Taisho) to the Chrysanthemum Throne. Hirohito was formally enthroned
almost two years later. This marked the beginning of the "bright
peace" or Showa Period (1926-1989).
(AP, 12/25/97)(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 216)
1926 Nozaki Nobuchika, Japanese
scholar, authored “Explanatory Notes on Auspicious Designs," a work
on the symbolism of Chinese art.
(WSJ, 11/22/06, p.D8)
1926-1989 The Showa Period.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 216)
1927 Mar 7, Earthquake
measuring 8 on Richter scale struck Tango, Japan.
(MC, 3/7/02)
1927 Nov, The US received 58
Japanese dolls sent by the Japanese government in exchange for
12,739 blue-eyed dolls sent by American children to the children of
Japan.
(SFC, 7/24/97, p.A17)
1927 Goto Shu'ichi wrote
"Japanese Archaeology."
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.35)
1927 The Japan Sumo Association
(JSA) was founded.
(Econ, 2/16/08, p.50)
1927 Chio Uno (1898-1996)
scandalized Japanese society by cutting her hair short. In 1935 she
wrote "Confessions of Love" based on the many love affairs of
painter Seiji Togo. She also wrote "Ohan" and in 1936 founded Style,
Japan’s first fashion magazine. She was awarded a title by the
emperor and named a "person of cultural merit" in 1990.
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A21)
1927 Japan's Imperial
Aeronautics Association launched a competition for a non-stop flight
across the Pacific Ocean. The Ashi Shimbun newspaper offered a
$25,000 prize.
(ON, 1/03, p.10)
1927 Japan’s Nippon Trust Bank
and Mitsubishi Trust Bank were founded. They joined together in 2001
and in 2005 became part of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
(WSJ, 9/23/08, p.C1)
1928 Nov 10, Japanese Emperor
Hirohito was enthroned, almost two years after his ascension.
(AP, 11/10/07)
1928 Nov 19, The 1st issue of
Time magazine featured Japanese Emperor Hirohito on cover.
(MC, 11/19/01)
1928 In 1928 the Japanese army
unilaterally instigated armed clashes in China's Manchuria region to
justify full-scale intervention.
(HN, 2/18/98)
1929 The Univ. of Mich. men's
baseball team under Fielding H. Yost (1871-1946) won 11 of 13 games
on its first tour of Japan and brought back a Japanese suit of armor
as an award from Meiji Univ.
(MT, Sum. '98, p.24)
1930 Apr 22, The United States,
Britain and Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, which regulated
submarine warfare and limited shipbuilding.
(AP, 4/22/97)
1930 Nov 14, Right-wing
militarists attempted to assassinate Japanese Premier Hamagushi.
(HN, 11/14/98)
1930 Nov 25, Earthquake killed
187 in Shizouka, Japan.
(HN, 11/25/98)
1930 Dec 14, US Customs agents
in San Francisco seized $56,000 worth of opium from the Japanese
liner Asama Maru as festivities marked the liner’s 1st year of
trans-Pacific service.
(SFC, 12/9/05, p.F6)
1930 The Soka Gakkai, Values
Creation Society, was founded on Buddhist principles. By 1999 the
organization was present in 8 million Japanese households.
(SFEC, 11/14/99, p.A25)
1930 Lt. Col. Kingoro Hashimoto
formed the Sakurakai (Cherry Society), dedicated to establishing a
military-controlled social structure in Japan. Consisting mostly of
midlevel officers, the Cherry Society planned a March 1931 coup
d'etat that was aborted because of internal disagreement. In 1937,
Hashimoto tried to trigger war with Britain by shelling a Royal Navy
gunboat in Chinese waters.
(HNQ, 1/5/01)
1930 Minoru Shirota, a Japanese
researcher, discovered Lactobacillus casei shirota.
(Econ Sp, 12/13/03, p.11)
1930 In Taiwan hundreds of
indigenous Seediq people, led by Mauna Rudao, revolted against
Japanese overlords. Over a hundred Japanese were killed in what came
to be known as the Wushe incident. This triggered a brutal Japanese
response. The story was brought to life in the 2011 Taiwanese film
“Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale," directed by Wei Te-sheng.
(Econ, 9/17/11, p.40)
1931 Feb 12, Japan's first
television broadcast was a baseball game.
(HN, 2/12/97)
1931 May 18, Japanese pilot
Seiji Yoshihara crashed his plane in the Pacific Ocean while trying
to be the first to cross the ocean nonstop. He was picked up seven
hours later by a passing ship.
(HN, 5/18/99)
1931 Aug, Clyde Panghorn and
Hugh Herndon landed at Japan's Tachikawa Airport and were arraigned
for landing illegally. They paid fines of $1,050 apiece to be
released.
(ON, 1/03, p.10)
1931 Sep 18-1931 Sep 19, The
Mukden Incident was initiated by the Japanese Kwangtung Army in
Mukden. It involved an explosion along the Japanese-controlled South
Manchurian Railway. It was soon followed by the Japanese invasion of
Manchuria and the eventual establishment of the Japanese-dominated
state of Manchukuo. The neutrality of the area, and the ability of
Japan to defend its colony in Korea, was threatened in the 1920s by
efforts at unification of China. Within three months Japanese troops
had spread out throughout Manchuria. The occupation ended at the
conclusion of the Second World War in 1945.
(HNQ, 11/27/98)
1931 Sep 19, Japan invaded
Manchuria and established a puppet state called Manchukuo, which
lasted until the end of WWII. Nobosuke Kishi, later PM of Japan,
oversaw the development of Japanese-occupied Manchuria in the 1930s.
(SSFC, 9/23/12, p.A4)(Econ, 5/18/13, p.26)
1931 Sep 28, In Peking
some 200,000 demonstrators demanded a declaration of war on
Japan.
(MC, 9/28/01)
1931 Oct 4, Aerial circus star
Clyde Pangborn and playboy Hugh Herndon, Jr. set off in Miss Veedol
to complete the first nonstop flight across the Pacific Ocean from
Sabishiro Beach in Misawa City, Japan. A young boy gave Panghorn 5
apples from Misawa City.
(ON, 1/03,
p.10)(www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=7495)
1931 Oct 5, Clyde Pangborn and
Hugh Herndon, Jr. belly landed Miss Veedol, a Bellanca CH-200
monoplane, in Wenatchee, Wa., to complete the first nonstop flight
across the Pacific Ocean from Japan. They won a $25,000 prize from
the Japanese Ashi Shimbun newspaper. Panghorn sent apple cuttings
from Wenatchee's Richard Delicious apples to Japan which were soon
distributed across Japan.
(ON, 1/03,
p.10)(www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=7495)
1931 Nov 20, Japan and China
rejected the League of Council terms for Manchuria at Geneva.
(HN, 11/20/98)
1931 Dec 9, Japanese army
attacked the Chinese province of Jehol.
(MC, 12/9/01)
1931 Ten years of comparative
peace ended when Japan attacked and seized Manchuria to ensure
a supply of natural resources. The Japanese army invaded Manchuria
without its own government's consent.
(TMC, 1994, p.1931)(SFC, 7/18/96, p.E6)(Jap.
Enc., BLDM, p. 216)(SFC, 12/2/97, p.A22)(HN, 2/18/98)
1931 A US all-star baseball
team came to Japan and played before capacity crowds. It was
organized by sportswriter Fred Lieb and National League umpire
"Beans" Reardon.
(www.ebbets.com/product/USTourOfJapan1931Ballcap/Ballcaps)(Econ,
12/22/12, p.60)
1932 Jan 2, Japanese forces in
Manchuria set up a puppet government known as Manchukuo.
(HN, 1/2/99)
1932 Jan 28, The Japanese
attacked Shanghai, China, and declared martial law.
(HN, 1/28/99)
1932 Feb 20, Japanese troops
occupied Tunhua, China.
(MC, 2/20/02)
1932 May 15, Japan’s PM
Tsuyoshi Inukai (b.1855) and his family were assassinated by young
right-wing naval officers. His son Ken Inukai, watching a Sumo
wrestling match with Charlie Chaplin, survived.
(WSJ, 8/3/06, p.D5)
1932 Dec 8, Japan told the
League of Nations that it had no control over her designs in China.
(HN, 12/8/98)
1932 The Japanese silent film
"I was Born, But..." (Umarete wa Mita Keredo) was produced. It was
directed by Yasuhiro Ozu. Tow little boys rebel when they discover
that their father has to kowtow to his boss.
(SFEC, 10/4/98, DB p.50)
1932-1945 In 1994 Sheldon H. Harris (d.2002),
historian, authored the book: "Factories of Death: Japanese
Biological Warfare, 1932-1945, and the American Cover-Up."
(SFC, 9/9/02, p.A22)
1932-1968 The Chisso Corporation, located in
Kumamoto Japan, dumped an estimated 27 tons of mercury compounds
into Minamata Bay. The name Minamata Disease was coined in 1956 to
identify villagers suffering dizzy spells with troubles walking and
speaking. Growing numbers fell into convulsions, wasted away and
died.
(www.american.edu/TED/MINAMATA.HTM)
1933 Jan 3, The Japanese took
Shuangyashan, China, killing 500 in the process.
(HN, 1/3/99)
1933 Jan 21, The League of
Nations rejected Japanese terms for settlement with China.
(HN, 1/21/99)
1933 Feb 17, The League of
Nations censured Japan in a worldwide broadcast. The rise of
militaristic nationalism led Japan down the road to Pearl Harbor and
World War II.
(HN, 2/17/98)
1933 Feb 24, The League of
Nations told the Japanese to pull out of Manchuria.
(www.indiana.edu/~league/1933.htm)
1933 Mar 2, Most powerful
earthquake in 180 years hit Japan.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1933 Mar 27, Japan left the
League of Nations.
(www.indiana.edu/~league/1933.htm)
1933 Nov 29, Japan began the
persecution of communists.
(MC, 11/29/01)
1933 Dec 23, Akihito, emperor
of Japan (1989- ), was born.
(MC, 12/23/01)
1933 Dec 27, Stalin called
Japan a grave danger.
(HN, 12/27/98)
1933 Crown Prince Akihito was
born.
(SFC, 6/17/00, p.A20)
1933 In Japan Kazuma Tateisi
founded the OMRON Corporation. By 2006 its automated control
technologies approached the level of human knowledge and judgement.
(Econ, 10/8/05, Survey p.2)(Econ, 12/24/05, p.54)
1933 Japan left the League of
Nations.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 216)
1933 Japan’s Sanwa Bank was
founded. In 2001 it joined with Tokai Bank Tokyo Trust Bank to form
UFJ Holdings. In 2005 it became part of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial
Group.
(WSJ, 9/23/08, p.C1)
1934 May 29, Heihachiro Tojo,
Japanese Admiral (Russian-Japanese War), died.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1934 Sep 21, A typhoon struck
Honshu Island, Japan, and killed 4,000.
(MC, 9/21/01)
1934 Nov 2, Babe Ruth, Lou
Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, and Connie Mack headlined the roster of 15
stars who visited Japan to display their baseball skills.
(http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/babe-ruths-visit-to-japan-in-1934/)
1934 Nov 23, U.S. and Britain
agreed on a 5-5-3 naval ratio with both countries allowed to build
five million tons of naval ships while Japan can only build three;
Japan denounced the treaty.
(HN, 11/23/98)
1934 Dec 6, American Ambassador
Davis said Japan was a grave security threat in the Pacific.
(HN, 12/6/98)
1934 Dec 29, Japan renounced
the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of
1930.
(AP, 12/29/97)
1934 Japan began exporting
three-wheelers (tuk-tuks) to Thailand.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_rickshaw)
1934-1991 Shiro Kuramata, Japanese designer. His
work was marked by the use of disparate materials, the play of light
and solid, and a sense of the antic.
(WSJ, 9/17/97, p.A12)
1935 Jan 27, The League of
Nations majority favored depriving Japan of mandates.
(HN, 1/27/99)
1935 Jan 31, The Soviet premier
told Japan to get out of Manchuria.
(HN, 1/31/99)
1935 Mar 22, Russia sold the
Chinese Eastern Railway to Japan.
(HN, 3/22/97)
1935 Sep 1, Seiji Ozawa,
conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra), was born in Hoten, Manchuria
(now Shenyang, Liaoning, China).
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Ozawa-Seiji.htm
(MC, 9/1/02)
1935 Nov 9, Japanese troops
invaded Shanghai, China.
(HN, 11/9/98)
1935 Chio Uno wrote
"Confessions of Love" based on the many love affairs of painter
Seiji Togo. She also wrote "Ohan."
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A21)
1935 In Japan the Tsukji fish
market opened in Tokyo. It grew to become the largest fish market in
the world. In 2004 Ted Bestor authored “Tsukji: The Fish market at
the Center of the World."
(Econ, 4/5/08, p.70)
1936 Jan 15, In London, Japan
quit all naval talks after being denied equality.
(HN, 1/15/99)
1936 Feb 26, Japanese military
troops marched into Tokyo to conduct a coup and assassinate
political leaders.
(HN, 2/26/99)(SC, 2/26/02)
1936 Feb 28, The Japanese Army
restored order in Tokyo and arrested officers involved in a coup.
(HN, 2/28/99)
1936 Mar 19, The USSR signed a
pact of assistance with Mongolia against Japan.
(HN, 3/19/98)
1936 May 21, In Japan police
arrested a Tokyo a geisha named Sada Abe (31), charging that she
knifed to death her unfaithful lover, Kichizo Ishida, and cut off
his genitals, which she carried around in her sash for 3 days before
being caught.
(SFEC,12/21/97, Z1 p.5)
1936 Nov 15, Nazi Germany and
Japan signed the Anti-Komintern pact.
(MC, 11/15/01)
1936 Nov 22, 1,200 were killed
in a battle between Japanese and Mongolians in China.
(HN, 11/22/98)
1936 Dec 12, Chang Hsueh-liang
(d.2001 at 101), a northern military commander (aka Zhang Xueliang),
kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek to force him into an alliance to repel
Japanese forces. The Xi’an incident coup ended after 2 weeks. The
incident led the Nationalists and the Communists to make peace so
that the two could form a united front against the increasing threat
posed by Japan. Chang was later court-martialed and sentenced to
prison. He was taken to Taiwan in 1949 and kept under house arrest.
(SFC, 10/16/01, p.B2)(Econ, 5/9/09,
p.86)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi%27an_Incident)
1936 Dec 12, Chinese
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek declared war on Japan.
(MC, 12/12/01)
1936 Chio Uno and founded
Style, Japan's first fashion magazine. She was awarded a title by
the emperor and named a "person of cultural merit" in 1990.
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A21)
1936 Soetsu Yanagi founded the
Japan Folk Arts Museum in Tokyo.
(SFC, 4/28/96, B-7)
1937 Jul 7, A conflict between
troops of China and Japan came to be known as the Marco Polo Bridge
Incident. The incident occurred near the Marco Polo Bridge outside
of Beijing and eventually escalated into warfare between the two
countries and was the prelude to the Pacific side of World War II.
(HNQ, 9/22/99)
1937 Jul 29, Ryutaro Hashimoto
was born.
(WP, 6/29/96, p.A20)
1937 Jul 29, Japanese troops
occupied Peking and Tientsin. [see Aug 8]
(MC, 7/29/02)
1937 Aug 8, The Japanese Army
occupied Beijing, China.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1937 Aug 12, Kenichie Horie
(23), a Japanese auto parts salesman, sailed into the San Francisco
Bay aboard a 19-foot sloop, “The Mermaid," after a 90 voyage from
Japan. He hailed a Coast Guard patrol boat and was towed to the St.
Francis Yacht Harbor.
(SSFC, 8/12/12, DB p.42)
1937 Aug 13, Japanese attacked
Shanghai.
(MC, 8/13/02)
1937 Aug 14, China declared war
on Japan.
(MC, 8/14/02)
1937 Aug 25, Japanese fleet
blockaded the Chinese coast.
(MC, 8/25/02)
1937 Sep 25, In China Lin Biao
masterminded the ambush and annihilation of more than 1,000 Japanese
troops, at Pingxiangguan pass in Shanxi province.
(AP, 7/16/07)
1937 Dec 1, Japan recognized
Spain's Franco govt.
(MC, 12/1/01)
1937 Dec 12, Japanese aircraft
sank the U.S. gunboat Panay on China's Yangtze River, during the
battle for Nanking in the Sino-Japanese War. Japan later apologized
and paid $2.2 million dollars in reparations.
(AP, 12/12/97)(MC, 12/12/01)
1937 Dec 13, The Japanese army
occupied Nanking, China. A group of Japanese soldiers forced their
way into the family home of Xia Shuqin (8) in Nanjing, and killed
seven of her family members. Xia and her 4-year-old sister were
seriously injured but escaped. According to Chinese media, a US
missionary then serving as the chairman of the International
Commission of the Red Cross in Nanjing filmed the killings of Xia's
family members. In 2006 a Chinese court has awarded Xia Shuqin
$200,000 in compensation after ruling in her favor against two
Japanese historians, who claimed she fabricated her account of the
atrocity.
(HN, 12/13/98)(AP, 8/23/06)
1937 Dec 14, Japanese troops
conquered and plundered Nanjing. Japan established a puppet Chinese
government at Peking, now called Beijing.
(MC, 12/14/01)(AP, 12/14/02)
1937 Dec-Jan, John Rabe
(1882-1950), a German businessman for Siemens living in China,
recorded the 2-month terror of the Japanese "Rape of Nanking" in his
diary. The Japanese sacked and pillaged the city. They raped at
least 20,000 women and killed at least 50,000 people. Rabe
established a neutral safe zone for hundreds of thousands of Chinese
refugees. Noncombatant deaths may have reached 300,000. Reporter
Tillman Durdin (d.1998 at 91) filed reports for the New York times.
Later Iris Chang wrote "The Rape of Nanking."
(SFC, 12/13/96, p.B1)(SFEC, 2/22/98, Z1 p.6)(SFC,
7/10/98, p.D3)
1937 Dec-Feb, In the Japanese
"Rape of Nanjing" more than 200,000 people were killed. Japanese
soldiers raped and killed tens of thousands of Chinese women during
their invasion of China. [photo from Nanjing] In 1997 Iris Chang
(29) published "The Rape of Nanking: the Forgotten Holocaust of
world War II." The largest execution of prisoners took place north
of Nanking near Mufu Mountain where 57,000 civilians and soldiers
were gunned down.
(WSJ,2/6/97,p.A14)(SFEC, 12/1/96, p.C4)(WSJ,
12/29/97, p.A9)(SFEC, 7/26/98, Z1 p.1,4)
1937 Korean guerrillas
allegedly led by Kim Il Sung clashed with Japanese colonizer in the
Battle of Bocheonbo.
(WSJ, 1/14/03, p.A10)
1937-1945 Japan initiated a war with China that
lasted to 1945. In 2013 Rana Mitter authored “China’s Waqr With
Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival."
(Econ, 6/22/13, p.83)
1938 Feb 12, Japan refused to
reveal naval data requested by the U.S. and Britain. The rise of
militaristic nationalism led Japan down the road to Pearl Harbor and
World War II.
(HN, 2/12/97)
1938 Feb 23, Twelve Chinese
fighter planes dropped bombs on Japan. The China Air Task Force was
a scrappy but beleaguered fill-in that fought both the Japanese and
supplied shortcomings until the Fourteenth Air Force was formed.
(HN, 2/23/98)
1938 Jun 17, Japan declared war
on China.
(MC, 6/17/02)
1938 Jul 16, Tokugawa Soyeshima
sent a telegram to the Olympic Committee saying that Japan would not
be able to host the 1940 Winter Olympics due to fighting with China.
(WSJ, 2/8/02, p.A1)
1938 Sep 27, League of Nations
declared Japan the aggressor against China.
(MC, 9/27/01)
1938 Oct 21, Japanese troops
occupied Canton.
(WUD, 1994, p.1682)(MC, 10/21/01)
1938 Oct 25, Hankow, temporary capital of
China, fell to the Japanese. The Chinese again moved their capital,
this time to Chungking in the mountains above the Yangtze River.
(WUD, 1994, p.1682)(DoD, 1999, p.452)
1938 Dec, San Francisco
longshoremen announced that the picketing of ships loading scrap
iron for Japan would be discontinued in favor of a nationwide
campaign for the declaration of an embargo against Japan.
(SSFC, 12/15/13, DB p.42)
1938 Chinese leaders
intentionally broke levees on the Yellow River to prevent the
Japanese military from advancing. More than 500,000 people, Japanese
and Chinese, died in the resulting flood. Chinese army commander
Xiong Xianyu kept a diary on the levee action.
(Econ, 6/22/13, p.83)(http://tinyurl.com/kxkkrdc)
1938 US War Plan Orange-3 was a
contingency plan for a war in which the US faced Japan as its sole
enemy. The plan was one of the "color" war plans for projected
conflicts in which the US engaged a single enemy at one time. The
plan originated in the early 1900s and underwent numerous revisions,
with War Plan Orange-3 completed in 1938. It was based on the
premise of a Japanese surprise attack and envisioned a primarily
naval war. Elements of the Orange Plans were incorporated in the
later Rainbow war plans.
(HNQ, 4/19/00)
1939 Feb 10, Japan occupied the
Chinese island of Hainan located off the coast of French Indochina
(modern day Vietnam).
(HN, 2/10/97)
1939 Feb 24, Hungary signed an
anti-Communist pact with Italy, Germany and Japan.
(HN, 2/24/98)
1939 Mar 31, Britain and France
agreed to support Poland if Germany threatened to invade. Seven
French islands were annexed by Japan.
(HN, 3/31/98)
1939 May, In Manchuria a
Japanese punitive attack failed and combined Soviet and Mongolian
forces wiped out a 200-man Japanese unit. This marked the beginning
of the conflict called the Nomonhan Incident by Japanese, the Battle
of Khalkhin Gol by Russians.
(http://tinyurl.com/ml2j3oh)
1939 Aug 20, Russian offensive
under Gen. Zhukov against Jap invasion in Mongolia.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1939 Aug 30, Isoroku Yamamoto
was appointed supreme commander of the Japanese fleet.
(MC, 8/30/01)
1939 Aug, The Soviet Union and
Japan fought a massive tank battle at Khalkhin-Gol on the Mongolian
border. It was the largest armored battle in the world until that
point. By the end of the month the Soviets claimed victory over the
Japanese army at the Khalkhyn Gol river. This helped fend off a
possible Japanese invasion of Russia with Nazi Germany in 1941.
(http://tinyurl.com/mx9xowj)
1939 Sep 15, The Soviet Union
and Japan agreed to a cease-fire in Manchuria (later Mongolia),
which took effect the following day.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Khalkhin_Gol)
1939 Sep 22, Junko Tabei,
Japan, the 1st woman to climb Mount Everest, was born.
(MC, 9/22/01)
1939 The Japanese film "The
Story of the Last Chrysanthemums" by Kenji Mizoguchi was produced.
(SFEC, 9/29/96, DB p.63)
1940 Mar 30, The Japanese set
up a puppet government called Manchuko in Nanking, China.
(HN, 3/30/98)
1940 Apr 22, Rear Adm. Joseph
Taussig testified before US Senate Naval Affairs Committee that war
with Japan is inevitable.
(MC, 4/22/02)
1940
Jul, Jan Zwartendijk, a Dutch diplomat, and Chiune Sugihara, a
Japanese diplomat, worked together to save some 2,000 thousand
Polish Jews, who had fled to Lithuania by issuing them visas for
Japan, China and the Dutch colonies in South America. Zwartendijk
wrote out the so called Curacao visas, while Sugihara issued the
transit visas. The Sugihara family was later captured by the
Russians and placed in a concentration camp for 1 1/2 years.
(www.remember.org/witness/righteous.html)(SFC,
9/7/96, p.A13)(SFC, 9/9/96, p.A16)
1940 Jul, Mount Mijakejima
erupted and left 11 people dead.
(SFEC, 4/2/00, p.A17)
1940 Aug 1, The idea of the
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was formally announced by
Japan’s Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuke, in a press interview, but
had already existed in various forms for many years. Japan urged the
nations of the region to unite in one economic sphere, ousting the
colonial powers and enjoying economic prosperity together. The
concept was used to justify Japan's seizure of raw materials from
throughout Southeast Asia to further its drive for economic,
political and military domination of East Asia. The Sphere was
intended to include, in addition to Japan, China, Manchukuo,
Southeast Asia and the Pacific mandates islands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_East_Asia_Co-prosperity_Sphere)(HNQ,
2/8/00)(Econ, 4/11/09, p.43)
1940 Aug 30, Senpo Chinne
Sugihara, the Japanese diplomat in Lithuania, received orders from
Japan to stop issuing visas immediately. He disobeyed the order and
continued issuing visas until the end of the month when the
consulate closed. In all Sugihara issued visas to some 3,500 Jewish
refugees.
(SFC, 9/7/96, p.A13)(SFC, 9/9/96, p.A16)
1940 Aug, US Army
cryptoanalysts under William F. Friedman succeeded in breaking
Japan's top secret Purple Code, which was used for diplomatic
communications.
(WSJ, 12/7/99, p.A24)
1940 Sep 26, Japanese troops
attacked French Indochina.
(MC, 9/26/01)
1940 Sep 27, Nazi-Germany,
Italy & Japan signed a formal alliance called Tripartite Pact, a
10 year military and economic alliance strengthening the Axis
alliance.
(MC, 9/27/01)
1940 Japanese warplanes dropped
plague-infected fleas over southwest China. In 2001 Chinese doctors
testified in a Tokyo trial and said at least 109 people died as a
result. In 2002 a symposium of historians reported that the Japanese
killed at least 440,000 Chinese in the 1930s and 1940s by dropping
disease carrying fleas and cholera-coated flies from planes.
(WSJ, 1/25/00, p.A1)(WSJ, 10/22/07, p.B12)
1940-1941 Japan extended war into Southeast Asia.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 216)
