History In Japan 🇯🇵

Japan in World War 1

Japan was in World War One, but was in the Entente Alliance, which is on the British side and played an important role in making sure that the sea lanes in the Western Pacific and the Indian Oceans did not fall into the wrong hands (Germany). In the first week of World War I, Japan said to the United Kingdom, its ally since 1902, that Japan would enter the war if it could take Germany’s Pacific waters. On 7 August 1914, the British government officially asked Japan for assistance in destroying the ships from the Imperial German Navy in and around Chinese waters. In February 1915, marines from Imperial Japanese Navy ships based in Singapore helped suppress a mutiny by Indian troops against the British occupation. With Japan’s European allies heavily involved in the war in Europe, Japan sought further to consolidate its position in China by presenting the Twenty-One Demands to Chinese President Yuan Shikai in January 1915.

Medieval Japan

Upon the consolidation of power, Minmoto no Yoritomo chose to rule in consort with the imperial court in Kyoto. Though Yoritomo set up his own government in Kamkura in the Kanto region located east of Japan, its power was legally authorized by the Imperial court in Kyoto in several occasions. In 1192, the Emperor declared Yoritomo seii tai-shōgun (征夷大将軍; Eastern Barbarian Subduing Great General), abbreviated shogun. Later (in Edo period), the word bafuku (幕府; originally means a general’s house or office, literally a “tent of a office”) came to be used to mean a government headed by a shogun. The English term shogunate refers to the bakufu.Japan remained largely under military rule until 1868. Legitimacy was conferred on the shogunate by the Imperial court, but the shogunate were the de facto rulers of the country. The court maintained bureaucratic and religious meetings, and the shogunate welcomed participation by people of the aristocratic class. The older institutions remained intact in a weakened form, and Kyoto remained the capital of Japan. This system has been contrasted with the “simple awesome warrior rule” of the later Muromachi period.

By Jacob Cushen

Ancient Japan – Jōmon Period

The Jōmon period is the time of Japan between 14,000-300BCE, but some say it only lasts until 1,000BCE. When Japan was inhabited by hunter-gatherers, which eventually reached the point of staying in one place for a long period of time (sedentism) and other cultural evolvement and complexity. The earliest pottery in Japan was made at or before the start of the Jōmon period.

Yayoi Period

The Yayoi period is an Iron Age era between 300BC-300AD. Did you know this period is named after Tokyo? Written history: The earliest written records of Japanese people are from Chinese sources in this period. Wa is the Japanese pronunciation of an early Chinese name for Japan, it was mentioned in 57AD. One of the states of Wa received a golden seal from the Han dynasty of China.

Below, the golden seal.

Religion – Buddhism in Japan:

Although there are records of Buddhist monks from China coming to Japan before 552AD, the introduction of Buddhism to Japan is dated to 552AD in Nihon Shoki when a King sent a mission to the Emperor that included Buddhist monks or nuns together with an image of Buddha and a number of sutras to introduce Buddhism. The powerful Soga clan played a key role in the early spread of Buddhism in the country.

Christianity in Japan:

The first appearance of Christianity in Japan was some Portuguese Catholics in 1549. Francis Xavier(one of the Portuguese) arrived in Japan with 3 Catholic converts intending to start a Church in Nagasaki. The locals assumed that the foreigners were from India and that Christianity was a new “Indian faith”. This mistake was because there were already ties between India and Portugal; the Indian city of Goa was a central base for Portuguese India, and a significant amount of crew onboard the ship were Indian Christians. Later on, the Roman Catholic missionary actions were exclusively performed by Portuguese sponsored Jesuits and Spanish sponsored mendicant orders. Francisco Xavier(a Catholic Saint), Cosme de Torres(a Jesuit priest), and John Fernandez were the first to arrive in Kagoshima with hopes to bring Christianity to Japan. The reward was a thriving community of converts. At baptism, these converts were given Portuguese Christian names and encouraged to adopt western culture.

By William Macphearson

JAPANS PART IN WW2

then World War Two started Hideki Tojo was the leader at this time and the western powers (Germany) wanted them on their side because how powerful they were in naval warfare taking German ruled islands with eez and hideki Tojo accepted their offer so they invaded Malaya, killing British and Chinese troops so Britain and China declares war on japan, and occupy the French colony of Indochina so the United States Cuts of oil exports to Japan and declares war on japan and in retaliation japan launched an attack on pearl harbour killing 2403 people including military personnel, navy personnel, marines and civilians and destroying or damaging 8 battleships but 6 lived to fight. Then japan invades Hong Kong which is occupied by British and Chinese troops then the allies after a few days the troops occupying Hong Kong surrender and japan advance to take Singapore, Thailand, Guam, Philippines, Burma, Malaya, British Borneo and Luzon. The u.s sends their first carrier out but it’s destroyed by Japanese fighter pilots. Japan captures u.s ruled Bataan and the Japanese forced 76,000 POWs (prisoners of war) to walk 60 miles under a hot blazing sun with no food or water which results in 5,000 deaths, and the United States launched their first amphibious attack on Japanese occupied Solomon Islands capturing it from the Japanese. U.S And Japanese carriers meet in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons resulting in a Japanese defeat.and the Red Cross announces that the empire of japan refuses merchant ships to drop of food and water to allied p.o.w.s causing outrage in the U.S and japan drops incendiary bombs on the state of Oregon killing no one. First Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima and the other on later. And later in August japan surrenders. And 1949 japan enters the Geneva convention for war crimes including scientific experiments, torturing pows and excuting pows but failed to ratify it and becoming the 24th state of the Geneva convention of 1949.