Periodization of Japanese History
There are a number of schemes for splitting Japanese history into periods.
In this course we will generally use the following divisions:
Jomon: 10,000 B.C. - 300 B.C.
Modern Period (1868 - Present):
Meiji: 1868 - 1912
Taisho: 1912 - 1926
Showa: 1926 - 1989
Heisei: 1989 -
The first historical records of Japan are found in the Chinese dynastic histories.
- The earliest is in the History of the Kingdom of Wei, ca. AD 297
The ruler is reported to be a woman
The country is referred to as Wa
The location is not clear, but apparently in Kyushu or in the Nara area
The name of the early Japanese kingdom (Yamato) located in the Nara area that came to dominate early Japan derives from this word
Until the 8th century the country still seems to have consisted of a number of warring entities
The people of Yamato were to emerge as the ultimate victors
The capital city of Yamato shifted from place to place until 710 when a permanent capital was established in Nara which was chosen on the basis of Chinese geomancy and modeled on the Chinese capital of Ch’ang-an
By this time the Japanese have adopted codes of government also based on Chinese models which stress symmetry - in contrast to native taste for asymmetry? In any case after Heian (Kyoto) cities no longer followed this plan and government structure did not follow the Chinese model faithfully for any length of time
Early Shinto
Shinto is a word coined by scholars in 17th century Japan combines two Chinese words meaning, “ the way of the gods.”
The central feature of Shinto is belief in kami
kami, usually translated as god(s), basically means “upper” or “above”and refers to anything that is particularly impressive, excellent or awe inspiring. Kami may be human beings, birds, animals, trees, plants, mountains, oceans, etc.
Shinto held no strong ideas about life after death, mainly concerned with life in this world; little concern with ethics.
People’s misdeeds, physical ailments, natural disasters are visitations that call for purification or exorcism while not that interested in ethics, Shinto stresses the concept of makoto, sincerity, which may be the most important guide to Japanese conduct like the origins of the Japanese people and the language, the precise source of Shinto is untraceable. It clearly incorporates a kind of nature worship that predates historical Japan and the shamanistic practices that entered from the Asian continent - it is suggested that early female rulers were shamans who entered a kind of ecstatic state to communicate with the gods
Shinto also has its own creation myth and this formed the explanation of the origins of Japan and the imperial family in the first Japanese histories
Kojiki (The Record of Ancient Matters) 712
A record apparently recounted orally by a woman and set down by a scribe
The Kojiki is said to be an attempt to give legitimacy to the rule of the Yamato people by producing a history made authoritative by taking Chinese histories as its model
The first major Shinto shrine was in Izumo on the west coast of Japan. The Izumo people apparently were the major rivals of the Yamato people. In the histories the god associated with Izumo comes off badly.
The Kojiki tells of the creation of the islands of Japan by a female and male god
It has been suggested that the Kojiki creation story itself shows Chinese influences - after the female deity (Izanami) and the male deity (Izanagi) create the first island of Japan which is to serve as the main pillar of the land they go around the pillar in opposite directions. When they meet, the female speaks first. This makes the male unhappy and he insists they should go around again and he speak first. They do and this is possibly the symbolic representation of the change from matriarchal to patriarchal rule.
They then produce more islands and many gods. Izanami dies as a result of giving birth to the god of fire. After this Izanagi washes in a river and produces the Sun Goddess and the Storm God. The Sun Goddess rules the high plain of heaven, while the Storm God rules the sea.
The Kojiki later recounts a dispute between the Sun Goddess and her brother, the Storm God. He is banished. The most important is on the east side of Japan at Ise and is associated with the Sun Goddess and the present ruling dynasty. Some people read the Storm God’s retreat as the defeat and retreat of the main challengers to the Yamato people for the control of Japan. They are suggested to have gone to the western side of Japan, Izumo, where the second most important Shinto shrine is now located.
The Sun Goddess sends her grandson to rule Japan. She gives him three sacred objects, a sword, a mirror and a jewel (magatama) which are still the sacred regalia.
The grandson’s great-grandson, Jimmu, becomes the first emperor of Japan.
In 720 a second history of Japan is produced, The Chronicles of Japan ( Nihon shoki) which is essentially a reworking of the earlier history with some later additions covering the 7th and 8th centuries. Apparently the Kojiki was seen as not good enough to be an official history.
The Nihon shoki is the first official history of Japan. In contrast to the Kojiki, which uses Japanese occasionally the Nihon shoki is set down almost entirely in Chinese. At this time, and for many years after, the official language of Japan was Chinese.
Because mixing Chinese and Japanese written using Chinese characters read sometimes phonetically and sometimes as whole words was confusing and difficult, the Kojiki soon became inaccessible and was unread until deciphered by 17th century scholars.
Both the Kojiki and the Nihon shoki relate the origin myth and give genealogies of the imperial line back to mythological times. The Kojiki runs from 660 BC through about AD 500, the Nihon shoki from 660 BC through the early 8th century.
The Nihon shoki’s accounts for the 7th and 8th century are considered quite reliable.
Sometime before or around the time these books were produced the beginning of the first emperor’s reign was calculated to be 660 BC There was also claimed to be an unbroken line of rulers. In fact the historical imperial line dates back only to the early 6th century AD and there were likely at least two other early imperial lines.