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JAPAN
Land of the Rising Sun

History of Japan

Prehistoric Japan
Jomon (10,000-300 B.C.E.)
When the mythical first emperor Jimmu-Tenno is supposed to have reigned
Yayoi (300 B.C.E.-300 C.E.)
The ancestors of the Japanese (coming from Korea, Siberia, and Malaysia) slaughter the original Ainu inhabitants and confine them to the northern island of Hokkaido
Kofun (300-538)

Formative Era
Asuka (538-710)
Korea brings Buddhism to Japan
Nara (710-794)
The Kojiki and the Nihon-Shoki are written down
Heian (794-1185)
Japan's "classical era"

Age of Samurai
Kamakura (1185-1333)
The first shogunate 
Muromachi (1333-1568)
Azuchi-Momoyama (1568-1603)

Unification of Japan after the Battle of Sekigahara
Edo/Tokugawa (1603-1868)
Japan closes itself off from the outside world


The Meiji Restoration
(1868-1912)
Japan adopts Occidental infrastructure and establishes Shinto as the state religion


New Year's Day 1946
(Four months after World War 2 ended)
Emperor Showa (Hirohito) denies his divine lineage and declares that he is only human

Japan is not like anime
Hopefully you're not surprised

Primary Sources on Japanese mythology
The Kojiki
The Nihon-Shoki

Core Stories and Gods of Shinto

Jimmu-Tenno did not actually exist.
The first recorded ruler of Japan was a woman.
(The Shaman Queen Himiko)

Japanese Buddhist Lore

Japanese fairy tales

Japanese spirit creatures

Whoever first told the onna-yokai stories probably couldn't get a date.

There are so many weird and wonderful spirit creatures in Japanese mythology that there is no room for all of them on this webpage.

The Japanese timeline has a tendency to switch back and forth between internationalist and isolationist eras.

Since Japan currently seems to be in an era of internationalism, I predict that Japan will go into another era of isolationism in the future.

Japan's future generations will criticize their elders for being "too Westernized" and go for old-fashioned Shinto/Buddhist values.

If this ends up coming true in the next half-century or so, be sure to thank me for predicting the future with such accuracy.

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