Editing Japan (section)

== Japanese History ==

Japan's history geographically spans several million years and thousands nationally/culturally, but most fiction (even native stuff) and /tg/ only care about the following periods starting at the fairly late 1467. (with occasional rare forays into the Heian period).

*'''Paleolithic Period''' (pre 13000 BC) - time when first ''Homo sapiens'' entered Japan on watercraft. Due to bad fossilization conditions not much is known (less than in other places to be precise), but remnants of some tools are present here.

*'''Jōmon Period''' (縄文時代) (13000 - 1000 BC) - Primitive hunter-gatherer societies on the archipelago abandon nomadism and start first promising developments, which are mostly characterised by a pretty impressive pottery that would make Ancient Greek jealous. 

*'''Yayoi Period''' (弥生時代) (1000 BC - 250) - This period is marked by the first wave of Sino-Korean influence on Japan. Migrants from these countries with bronze and iron weapons gradually absorbed Jōmon and introduced many technologies, such as weaving, silk production and glassmaking. Japan went through the neolithic period, [[Bronze Age]] and Iron Age in a quick succession during this period. This is also the moment when Japan is first mentioned in Chinese sources as a semi-legendary land. Centralisation and unification of dozen petty Yayoi kingdoms in one country probably started here.

*'''Kofun Period''' (古墳時代) (250 - 538) - period of gradual (certain this time) unification of Japan under one semi-divine Emperor. Several royal dynasties (such as Izumo and current Yamato) competed for power, absorbed their rivals and allies by promising them a place in the government and also used Chinese and Korean help. Named after Kofun (古墳, ancient graves), large keyhole-shaped burial mounds which were built during this time.

*'''Asuka Period''' (飛鳥時代) (538 - 710) - Sometimes thrown together with the Kofun Period into Yamato Period (大和時代).Buddhism is introduced here. Besides that, now fully united Japan goes under the Taika Reforms, a series of reforms to strengthen the power of Emperors and weaken the power of local clans inspired by China's system. Japan also participates in the wars on the Korean peninsula as allies of one side but get beaten and driven out. It was during this period Japan also started using the term Nihon (日本) to refer to themselves, instead of the old Chinese name Wa (倭), which roughly translates as dwarf or submissive, hence why Japan understandably did not much like it. Japan also gradually started to resemble Japan that would be recognizable today.

*'''Nara Period''' (奈良時代) (710 - 794) - Here, shit got really baaad. Japan suffered a series of wildfires, famines, droughts, even several epidemics. Emperor's power was weakened by that and Yamato themselves were almost overthrown, and although it didn't happen, Fujiwara clan managed to turn the monarchs into their puppets. At least first truly Japanese books were created in that period.

*'''Heian Period''' (平安時代)(794 - 1185) - During this period, a distinctly Japanese culture started developing from the earlier Chinese Tang-influenced one. It is considered as somewhat of a high-point of Japan as culture and the imperial court were at their peak, though the shape of things to come could already be seen as the real power rested in the hands of the Fujiwara clan. The samurai (侍) also emerged during this time. Its end ushered the familiar fare of clans jockeying for the position of the shogun and thus true power in Japan. 

*'''Kamakura Period''' (鎌倉時代) (1185 - 1333) - here, completely powerless Emperors truly became a puppet of military leaders called shogun. Japan went from a mighty centralised Empire inspired by China to a complete feudal mess much closer to Europe of that time. Emperor Go-Toba tried to restore the power in 1221, but was defeated, and for years any attempts at the restoration of absolute monarchy ceased. Also, [[Mongols]] tried to invade Japan here.

*'''Kenmu Restoration''' (建武の新政) (1333-1336) Started when an Emperor attempted to restore power and ruled for 3 years. Before angering the Samurai and ending up as a figurehead again. The last time the emperor would hold any real power over all of Japan until the 19th century.

*'''Muromachi Period''' (室町時代) (1336-1573) - Noted for being ruled under the Ashikaga shoguns and seeing a rise in the religious sect of Zen Buddhism, as well as political and educational reforms. Ashikaga was easily the weakest of the three shogunates as despite technically being in power for over 200 years, they held practical control of all of Japan for slightly over 50 years of it. 

*'''Nanbokuchō Period''' (南北朝時代) (1336-1392) - Translating as the Northern and Southern Courts Period, during which Japan had two imperial courts, each claiming to be the one true court. While the Ashikaga Shogunate set-up a figurehead court in Kyoto, the emperor in charge of the Kenmu Restoration did not give up that easily, setting up a new imperial court in southern Japan in the city of Hoshino. In terms of warfare, preference for fighting on foot over horseback starts to gain prominence during this time. The period is notable as the time when large weapons such as the Odachi, the Japanese greatsword, and Kanabo, the Japanese warclub, were popular. The [[katana]] was also introduced during this time, as the older tachi proved less effective when fighting on foot instead of horseback. The period would end with the southern court merging into the northern court. Despite this, 20th century Japan would eventually recognize the southern court as the legitimate court of the country during this time, thanks to it's possession of the imperial regalia. Ironic, considering that todays imperial court is descended from the nourthern court.

*'''Sengoku Period''' (戦国時代) (~1467 - 1600) - Arguably the most well-known part of Japanese history. A succession crisis over who will become the next shogun, the man who really held power in Japan. Eventually devolves into everyone wanting the pie for himself. A notable aspect of this period was the rise of the ashigaru (足軽, footlight), peasant footsoldiers who would do most of the fighting during this period, while before fighting was primarily done by the warrior class, the samurai. While this era lasted for almost 150 years, most only care about the last 40 (1560 onward) or so (known as the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (安土桃山時代), when defacto unifier Oda Nobunaga began his rise to power and enough Europeans visited to document the happenings as a neutral enough third party. Everything before this is regarded as a bunch of stalemates for the most part. Gun spam was popular at the last part of this era, leading to the country having more guns per capita than anywhere else in the world at the time and the development of tactics that would last up till the introduction of the metallic cartridge. Near the end of the conflict one of the largest powers led an invasion of the Korean peninsula (again) which ended in a stalemate and withdrawal (since these forces had more important things to do back home). Both sides are still butthurt about it to this day, especially thanks to the a repeat during World War II.

*'''Edo Period''' (江戸時代) (1600-1868) -  After the reunification of the land a long period of peace ensued. A few decades into this however a brief Christian rebellion led to the expulsion of foreigners and began the sakoku ("closed state") dictate where minimal outside trade occurred. However, there was still some progress during the seclusion - agricultural tech got advanced and the population markedly increased, Japanese intellectuals like Motoori Norinaga began pondering what it meant to be truly Japanese (apparently it was haiku) and the trade with the Dutch at Nagasaki slowly introduced western learning and science to Japan. This seclusion would last till July 8th 1853 when an American fleet led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Edo to forcibly re-open trade. This set off a widespread division and panic in the government on what to do, leading to the last 15 years of the period being called Bakumatsu (幕末, end of the shogunate). The period is where many of the myths concerning the [[samurai]] come from, as not having any wars to fight allowed the samurai to go really deep into thinking what being a warrior is all about and meant they would mostly go around carrying only swords, not bows, guns or polearms.

*'''Meiji Period''' (明治時代) (1868-1912) - In 1868-1869 the boy who would become known as Emperor Meiji took advantage of this panic to seize power back from the shogunate in a relatively short and bloodless war. Under his rule the country would refuse to bend over and become a colony like many non-industrialised nations at the time had. It quickly modernized, abolished the caste system, replacing the samurai with a conscript army, and became a world power onto itself. The era is generally seen as a time when the western influences were at odds with Japanese traditions, many of which were perceived as backwards only to be glorified again a few decades later. In 1894-95 Japan would crush China in the Sino-Japanese war and establish itself as the dominant power in Asia. 1904-1905 they would crush Russia in a totally unexpected victory, something that ''really'' got them noticed, as for the first time, an Asian power won against an European great power. During this time, Japan adopted the system of one era per Emperor, where they would divide this and future periods of their history by the reigning emperors. As a result, this era ended with Meiji's death in 1912.

:*'''Battle of Tsushima''' (対馬沖海戦) (27-28 May 1905) - Deserves a special callout as one of the most decisive moments in Japanese national history as well as naval history.  In an utterly one sided rout, the IJN sunk 143k tons of Russian ships, including 6 battleships, for the loss of 3 torpedo boats.  It was the last time in history where a fleet was forced to strike their colors and surrender at sea.  The Russian admiralty [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogger_Bank_incident wasn't exactly all that to begin with] but even so the totality of the defeat stunned the world.  Fear of a costly repeat is why WW1 saw so few naval battles, now that everyone fully understood the power of the dreadnought navy. This victory however influenced the Japanese naval planning to such an extent that despite being among the first to embrace the aircraft carrier, they still imagined that any future naval war would be decided with a single decisive battle fought between battleships and end with the whole enemy fleet either sunk or surrendering at sea, leading them to build the largest battleships in history which ultimately basically did nothing.

*'''Taishō Period''' (大正時代) (1912-1926) - The rule of his son till 1926. Largely seen as a period of stability following the rapid change of the Meiji era. This period is also seen as a time when Japan was experimenting with democracy, seeing the rise of a number of political parties that would eventually be pushed to near-irrelevance once the army junta took sufficient hold on power. The country's entry into World War I is the main thing of note here. During the war the Japanese navy dominated the pacific. This showed the victory in the Russo-Japanese war wasn't a fluke which scared the shit out of the rest of the world. Also, Einstein visited Japan in 1922 during his world tour and liked it (especially the [[weeaboo|women]]).

*'''Shōwa Period''' (昭和時代) (1926-1989) - The rule of ''his'' son. Best known for the country's role in World War II. The politics became increasingly influenced by the military and the "evil customs" of the past (aka. Shinto, Samurai and Bushido) returned in a forceful but arguably corrupted manner. While this era would last up till the Emperor's death in 1989 (as per the one era per emperor system), the country was radically different before and after it's defeat in 1945. Before it's defeat, Japan was one of the most militaristic countries in the world, with a propaganda machine that made it's soldiers fanatical to the extreme. The shogun and the samurai were long gone but the emperor was again largely a figurehead, with real power in the hands of the military. Despite this, state propaganda made the emperor seem like a godlike being which proved essential in country's eventual surrender as the Emperor himself admitted defeat (or rather, as he put it, "the war has not necessarily gone in Japan's favor"). After the war, the American occupiers allowed the emperor to stay in power, though again as a figurehead, thinking it would be easier to keep the population under control that way. They would write a new constitution for Japan, with particular emphasis on article 9, which has Japan denounce war as it's sovereign right. Thanks to the US needing a bulkhead against communist China and the industriousness of the people, Japan recovered quickly and sprang up to be the second most powerful economy on the planet before crony capitalism and financial speculation brought it all down in the 90s. 

**As an unfortunately necessary side-note, this period also stenched up the history of Japan that haunts it with historical baggage and unresolved issues right until the present day. Long story short the Japanese managed to combine a racial inferiority complex coupled with a near-constant need to "catch-up" to the West with a fanatical militarist ideology (State Shinto + "Neo-bushido") AND a belief that they are the only valid paragons of asiatic civilization since China was conquered by the "barbarian" Manchus (who were originally not Sinic but Tungusic and thus not "true" Chinese) piled on top of all the stuff before. The result was a rather batshit Imperial Japan that went around Asia committing crimes that put them as bona fide runner-ups to Nazis as the most fucked up fascistic regime. Japan today has done away with most of the bullshit of the 20th century but there are still sore spots like treatment of minorities and all but open denial of various war crimes (japanese apologies boil down to "we are sorry that we did ''things'' 50-60 years ago and we will leave it at that, sayonara"). Like in Europe, everything from the 1930s to 1940s is SKUB SUPRA MAXIMUS so feel free to educate yourself on it but don't go into detail here, please.

*'''Post-War Heisei and Reiwa periods''' (平成時代, 令和時代) (1989-20XX) - Beyond this Japan is just another first-world country for /tg/ purposes. The two most acute issues Japan is facing are the demographic decline (over 1/4 of the population is 65 or older) and the threat of rising China, although as of the 2020s there seem to be some signs of a intra-country political shakeup with the consequences remaining to be seen. Article 9 also proved to be somewhat of a mistake for the US in the long run, as Japan would turn from one of US's greatest enemies to one of their greatest allies. Very little non-native fiction has modern Japan as it's primary setting, though it is a stock foreign destination. Japan is however a relatively high priority country for games set in the "real world but..." to explain the differences from reality of. The exception is the [[Cyberpunk]] genre, where Japan dominates the world culturally and financially since at the time of the genre's origins it was believed that Japan would achieve ''economic'' conquest of the world in the future and despite the Lost Decade and other economic setbacks it remains as a tradition of the genre.