History de Tōhoku

The Japanese Neolithic owes its name to the corded pottery characteristic of the so-called "Jōmon" culture, associated with semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer communities. Tōhoku preserves some of the most remarkable evidence of this culture, with prehistoric sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Over this long period, populations gradually evolved into sedentary agricultural societies. Today, the Jōmon era evokes a certain nostalgia in the Japanese, that of a lost paradise: a period of almost 10,000 years of relative peace, marked by a refined culture, particularly in terms of cuisine.

During the Yayoi period, named after the archaeological site of Yayoi-chō, the islands of Kyushu and Honshu evolved towards a sedentary lifestyle. Irrigated rice cultivation developed, as did metallurgy, and innovations such as the potter's wheel were introduced. This was the period of the first known relations with the mainland, notably through the arrival of new populations.

Powerful clans from four countries emerge in the era of the "great tombs", the kofun, monumental keyhole-shaped tombs. The Yamato dynasty extended its power over the southern archipelago. It was also during this period that Chinese culture and Buddhism were introduced to Japan, thanks to links with kingdoms in southern Korea. At the end of the Kofun era, the four countries were federated into a single state built around the capital Asuka, in the heart of today's Nara prefecture. Prince Shôtoku Taishi (574-622) chose Buddhism as the national religion and issued a 17-article constitution.

State centralization was reinforced, based on the Chinese model. The capital, Nara, was laid out according to the checkerboard pattern of the Tang capital in China. Cultural exchanges with China grew. The Nara period (710-794) is considered the first golden age of Japanese art. To avoid the influence of Nara's Buddhist clergy, however, emperor Kammu decided in 794 to move his capital to Heian, now Kyoto. Buddhism flourished. Two monks, Saichō and Kūkai, found the two great sects Tendai and Shingon on their return from China. Kūkai decided to establish the first Kongōbu-ji monastery in 816 at Kōya-san, which became the center of the Shingon sect, followers of esoteric Buddhism. As for the Tendai school, its center is the Enryaku-ji temple.

After a war between the Minamoto and Taira clans, Minamoto no Yoritomo receives from the Court the title of "Sei-i-tai-shōgun", generalissimo for the subjugation of the barbarians. A new regime called "bakufu", tent administration, is established in Kamakura, eclipsing the Heian Court. During the Kamakura period, which lasted until around 1333, a warrior class developed, with warriors drawn from the peasantry. Zen Buddhist doctrine made its appearance in the country. It is characterized by sober aesthetics, self-mastery and a personal quest for salvation.

The powerful army of the Mongol emperor Kubilai attempted to invade Japan, but was struck down by a typhoon, the "kamikaze" or divine wind. The word was to have a new destiny a few centuries later.

Emperor Go-daigo wants to oust the Kamakura bakufu with the help of the soldier-monks of Mount Hiei, but Ashikaga Takauji, a former ally of the emperor, is appointed shōgun and settles in the Muromachi district of Kyoto, which gives its name to this turbulent period. Power was divided between the Court loyal to the emperor Go-daigo and that of Ashikaga. The latter had less and less control over the increasingly powerful group of warriors. Numerous conflicts erupted, culminating in the "Sengoku" wars, which lasted around 150 years, during which anarchy reigned and lords fought for control of entire regions.

This short period is called "Momoyama", after the hill where Toyotomi Hideyoshi built his last castle. During this period, three key figures emerged to pacify Japan and impose their power. Oda Nobunaga, aided by his two generals Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Ieyasu Tokugawa, and new weapons of warfare such as muskets, controlled central Japan. After Nobunaga was forced to commit suicide in 1582, Toyotomi Hideyoshi continued his unifying work, but failed in his attempt to attack Korea and died in 1598.

Tokugawa Ieyasu and his allied clans win the Battle of Sekigahara. He becomes shōgun and sets up his capital in Edo. Thanks to his support, Date Masamune is rewarded with important lands in Tōhoku. He then founded Sendai and established a prosperous feudal estate there, which became one of the most powerful in Japan. In the years that followed, Tokugawa Ieyasu introduced reforms to ensure the Tokugawa's pre-eminence. They also stabilized the country and led to a peace that lasted until the middle of the 19th century.

During the ^16th century, Jesuit missionaries settled in Japan and began their work of conversion. They were soon perceived as a threat to the unified power Ieyasu was trying to establish, and were expelled or persecuted in 1615. From 1635, Japan closed its borders to foreigners, particularly Westerners, and controlled the movement of its nationals. The Portuguese and Spanish were expelled, but Dutch ships continued to dock at Dejima, a small island off Nagasaki.

Tokugawa Ieyasu reorganized the fiefdoms and introduced the sankin kôtai system. The lords, called daimyō, had to spend every other year in Edo, where some of their families were held hostage. This was an effective way of ensuring peace by controlling and impoverishing the regional lords. Edo, a simple village in the early ^17th century, grew to become one of the world's largest cities by the ^18th century. Society gradually organized itself into four categories. The warriors, who tended to become estate administrators; the merchants, whom the period of peace favored as the domanial lords became indebted to them; the craftsmen; and the peasants. There is also a whole category of "outcasts", who take care of so-called impure trades such as leatherwork or burial.

Kyōhō era reforms. At the turn of the ^18th century, shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune attempts to breathe new life into an aging administration. He encouraged Confucian and Dutch studies, introduced a merit-based selection system for civil servants and other reforms to make his administration more efficient. The system of petition boxes(meyasu bako) to encourage the population to express their complaints or suggestions was quickly adopted by the lords of the estates.

Commodore Perry lands on the Japanese coast and demands that Japan open its ports to American ships.

Following the forced opening up of the country, two factions formed, between samurai loyal to the Tokugawa and those calling for the return of the emperor. The latter won the Boshin War. Once in power, they established a new regime, known as the "Meiji Restoration", headed by the emperor, and implemented a program of reform inspired by Western models.

A few years after a movement for freedom and the rights of the people that shook the country between 1878 and 1882, Japan adopted a modern constitution, inspired by Germany.

Japan wins the war against China, which it perceives as dominated by a corrupt administration maneuvered underhand by the British colonizers.

Japan's victory over the Russians was a thunderclap. It marked Japan's entry into the world's great powers and the beginning of the country's colonial expansion.

A terrible earthquake kills more than 150,000 people. It caused fires and devastated part of Tokyo. Against a backdrop of social unrest and economic difficulties, martial law is declared. Anti-Communist and anti-Korean sentiment erupts in riots that kill several thousand people.

Japanese invasion of Manchuria begins. In 1932, the Japanese created a puppet state, Manchukuo, headed by Puyi, China's last emperor.

The Marco Polo Bridge incident between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Chinese National Revolutionary Army marked the beginning of a brutal invasion of China. The terrible massacre in the capital Nanking continues to trouble diplomatic relations between the two countries to this day. For some historians, the Second World War really began in Asia at this time.

On December 7, Japanese naval air forces attack the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. The Americans enter the war.

On August 6 and 9, 1945, the Americans dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while on August 8, the USSR declared war on a bloodless Japan. On August 15, the Emperor announced the country's surrender.

The Olympic Games are held in Tokyo for the first time. It was an opportunity for the city to show itself in a new light after the wounds of war. Major infrastructure projects are undertaken, the most famous of which is the Shinkansen high-speed train.

The economic bubble bursts. From the 1960s to the 1980s, Japan enjoyed a period of exceptional growth. The country rose to the rank of a world power, particularly in the fields of car manufacturing and information technology. But in February 1991, the abnormally high stock market prices collapsed, and growth plummeted. This marked the beginning of the "Heisei" era.

The Hōryū-ji temple, founded in 607 by Prince Shōtoku Taishi near Nara, becomes the first Japanese site to be inscribed on Unesco's World Heritage List.

On January 17, a major earthquake kills over 6,000 people in Kobe and destroys much of the city. On March 20, a sarin gas attack was carried out by members of the Aum Shinrikyo sect in the Tokyo subway. In the same year, the inexorable demographic decline begins.

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami struck the northeast coast of Japan, leaving nearly 20,000 people dead or missing. The Tōhoku region was deeply affected, not least by the nuclear accident at Fukushima. This marked the beginning of an era of resilience, both concrete and profoundly human.

On March 24, it was announced that the Tokyo Olympic Games would be postponed for a year, and on April 7, a state of emergency was declared in seven cities and prefectures hardest hit by Covid-19.

On July 8, former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe is assassinated at an election rally in Nara.

The Nihon Hidankyo organization receives the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.

The 2025 World Expo, Expo 2025, runs from April 13 to October 13 in Yumeshima, 10 kilometers from downtown Osaka.