:: WEEK THREE | JAPANESE LANGUAGE COURSE FOR BEGINNERS in London - with Guest Speaker: "Japanese History"
Week Three Japanese Language Element:
On successful completion of the class, students will be able
to:
State property ownership, (for example,
"this mobile phone belongs to me")
Understand, read and ask for a telephone
number(s)
Understand nouns: no and desu
Understand the Hiragana S-Line
Be able to count from one to 30 without
hesitiation!
Make negative sentances with ja arimasen
and dewa
To enrol for just this class or the entire course please click here:
Week Three Japanese Cultural Element >
Japanese History <
Our guest speaker will highlight on important events in Japanese
history. Essentially there are nine periods of Japanese history.
They are:
| Early Japan | until 710 |
| Nara and Heian Periods | 710-1192 |
| Kamakura Period | 1192-1333 |
| Muromachi Period | 1338-1573 |
| Azuchi-Momoyama Period | 1573-1603 |
| Edo Period | 1603-1868 |
| Meiji Period | 1868-1912 |
| Taisho Period | 1912-1926 |
| Showa Period | 1926-1989 |
| Heisei Period | 1989-today! |
10,000 BC Jomon culture produces Japan's earliest known
examples of pottery.
3,500-2000 BC Population begins migrating inland
from coastal areas
300 BC Yayoi Period begins with the migration of
people from Korea, who introduce rice cultivation. 660
BC Japan's first Emperor Jimmu, a descendant of the Sun
Goddess Amaterasu, was enthroned. Whilst a myth, it is agreed by
historians that emperors have reigned over Japan for more than 1500
years, and that they have all descended from the same imperial
family. This historial event still today an important Japanese
public holiday.
300 AD Start of the Kofun Period as political and
social institutions rapidly develop. The imperial line, or the
Yamato dynasty, begins.
500 - 600 Buddhism arrives in Japan from
Korea
Time of the Warlords
710 A new capital is established in Nara.
794 The capital is relocated to Kyoto. While the
court expands, rural areas are neglected.
1180s Estate holders respond to the imperial
court's disinterest in the rural areas by developing military
power. Conflict among warlords ends Heian Period.
1185 Minamoto Yorimoto is the victor of the
estate-lord struggles and is granted the title of shogun. He
establishes his base in Kamakura. The weakened imperial court,
however, stays in Kyoto.
1274 Mongols from China unsuccessfully attempt an
invasion, landing on Kyushu.
1333 Muromachi Period begins as shogun Ashikaga
Takauji returns capital to Kyoto, confronting the imperial court
and further eclipsing its influence.
1467 Relations between shogun and provincial
miltray governors break down, leading to the Chaotic Age.
1573 Warlord Oda Nobunaga overruns Kyoto and
conquers the provinces, thus beginning the process of unifying the
islands.
1582 Nobunaga is assassinated and replaced by
Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
1590 All of Japan is under Hideyoshi's
control.
1597 Hideyoshi attempts an invasion of Korea, but
dies a year later.
1600 Edo Period begins as Tokugawa Ieyasu takes
control after the Battle of Sekigahara.
1603 Tokugawa moves capital to Edo, (present day
Tokyo), beginning 250 years of isolation from the rest of the
world. Edo becomes the world's largest city.
1639 The beginning of the national seclusion
policy.
1707 Mount Fuji erupts, dropping ash on
Edo.
1720 The ban on importing foreign books finally
lifted.
1853 Perry arrives with US naval ships and forces
Japan to accept trade and diplomatic contact. The shogunate weakens
as a result.
Return to Imperial Rule
1858
Fully-fledged diplomatic relations between Japan and the United
Kingdom were established as a result of the signing of the
Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce in Edo (the present
Tokyo).
1868 Meiji Restoration returns the emperor to
power. The last shogun, Yoshinobu, retires. The name of the capital
is changed from Edo to Tokyo, (which means Eastern Capital).
1872 Samurai class is abolished by imperial
decree.
1877 The Satsuma Rebellion is crushed.
1889 New Constitution promulgated.
1895 Japan wins the Sino-Japanese War.
1904-6 Japan wins the Russo-Japanese War.
1910 Japan annexes Korea.
1918 Japan in hit hard by economic chaos. Race
riots.
1923 Great Kanto Eathquake hits Tokyo area,
killing tens of thousands and nearly destroying the city.
1926 Taisho emperor dies. Hirohito ascends teh
throne to begin the Showa Period.
1931 The Japanese occupy Manchuria and install
China's last emperor, Pu-yi, as leader of the new Manchuguo. Japan
leaves the League of Nations.
1937 Japan begins a brutal military advance on
China.
1941 Japan attacks Pacific and Asian targets.
Within a year, Japan occupies most of East Asia and the Western
Pacific.
1945 American bombing raids destroy many of
Japan's major cities and industrial centres. In August, two atomic
bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A week later, Japan
surrenders.
1946 A new constitution places sovereignty with
the people rather than the emperor.
1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty settles all
war-related issues and Japan is returned to sovereignty expect for
some Pacific Islands, including Okinawa. Japan regains its pre-war
industrial output.
1955 Socialist factions merge to form Japan
Socialist Party; in response, the Liberals and Democrats join to
create the Liberal Democratic Party, (LDP).
1964 The Summer Olympics are held in Tokyo.
1972 US returns Okinawa to Japan.
1980s Japan's economy blossoms into the world's
second most powerful.
1989 Hirohito die, replaced by his son
Akihito.
End of a Dream
1990 The 'economic-bubble' of overinflated land
values and overextended banks loans begins to deflate.
1991 Completely dependent on imported oil, Japan
receives international criticism for not contributing its share to
the Gulf War against Iraq.
1992 Japan's worst postwar recession
begins.
1993 After a series of publicised scandals, LDP
members are replaced by independents. A coalition government lasts
seven months, replaced by another coalition led b y the Japan
Socialist Party.
1995 An earthquake hits the Kobe area, killing
over 5,000 and leaving 300,000 homeless. A religious cult releases
nerve gas in the Tokyo subway, killing 12.
1996 The Liberal Democratic Party return to
power.
1998 The Winter Olympics are held in Nagano. The
world prods Japan to resuscitate its economy, essential to bring
Asia out of economic recession. The Chinese president berates Japan
on a state visit for not sufficiently apologising for World War
2.
1999 Several die on Japan's worst ever nuclear
accident at a uranium reprocessing plant in Tokuaimura.
2000 G8 summit hosted in Okinawa and
Kyushu.
2001 Junichiro Koizumi becomes the LDP leader and
prime minster. He vists South Korea and apologies for their
suffering under his country's colonial rule. Crown Princess Masako
gives birth to a baby girl.
2002 Japan co-hosts the football world cup.
2003Japan records the highest unemployment
figures in its post-war period. Government announces intention to
install a defensive missile system.
2004 Japan applies for a permanent seat on the UN
Security Council. The country sends an unarmed peacekeeping mission
to Iraq in support of the US-led coalition there.
2005 A Japanese textbook which glosses over
Japan's World War 2 records sparks anti-Japanese protests in China
and relations with Beijing deteriorate.
2006 World economists trumpet the revival of the
economy, but the Japanese take a wait-and-see attitude.
2008 Japan's economy enters recession owing to a
decline of almost 50% of exports.
2009 Plunging sales leave Japan on the brink of
deflation
