Timeline of Feudal Japan

Pre-Samurai History

Ancient Period (to 710)

The legendary three-legged crow, Yatagarasu, guides Jimmu-tenno (711 B.C-585 B.C.) and his army to the enemy's camp in Yamato. --"Emperor Jimmu" from the series Stories from Nihonki by Ginko Adachi (Akiyama Buemon, 1891)

• 660 B.C. -- Jimmu-tenno, great-great-great-grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, becomes 1st Emperor of Japan in Yamato.
• ca. 400 -- Wani, a legendary Chinese-Baekje scholar, transmits Senji-mon "The Scroll of a Thousand Characters" (used to teach Chinese characters), along with ten books of Analects by Confucius, to Japan.
• Mid-6th century -- Buddhism is introduced in Japan. Seong of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, sends a mission to Nara with several sutras and an image of Shakyamuni.

Nara Period (710-794)

• 710 -- Imperial capital established at Heijo-kyo (present-day Nara) by Empress Genmei, patterned after the Tang China capital of Chang'an (present-day Xi'an).
• 712 -- Koji-ki completed, the 1st compilation of Japanese history.
• 720 -- Nihon-ki written, a collection of ancient chronicles of Japan.
• Mid-8th century -- Man'yoshu compiled, 1st large collection of Japanese poetry.
• 784 -- Emperor Kanmu moves the capital to Nagaoka-kyo (Yamashiro), an area with better water transportation routes, but due to frequent flooding, again moves the capital, in 794 to Heian-kyo.

Heian (Aristocratic) Period (794-1185)

• 794 -- Heian-kyo (Kyoto) is established as capital by Emperor Kanmu, also modeled after Chang'an.
• 838 -- Last Imperial-sanctioned mission to Tang China.
• Mid-9th century -- Establishment of the Fujiwara Regency.

Taira Masakado ( -940)

• 935-940 -- Tenkei no Ran, Taira Masakado's insurrection in the East. Occupies Shimosa, Shimotsuke, and Kozuke, and assumes the title of Heishin-o "New Taira Emperor." Pursued by Taira Sadamori and Fujiwara Hidesato, killed by the latter at the Battle of Kojima (Shimosa) in 940.
• Early 11th century -- Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji) written by Murasaki Shikibu (a member of the Fujiwara clan), reputed to be the world's first novel.
• 11th century -- Wars in the North. Decline of the Fujiwara, and the emergence of the Taira and Minamoto as the leading warrior families.
• 1156 -- Hogen Rebellion, fought in Kyoto over Imperial succession and control of the Fujiwara Regency. Allies Taira Kiyomori and Minamoto Yoshitomo prevail.

Minamoto Yoshitomo (1123-1160) --From the series Stories of One Hundred Heroes of High Renown by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Izumi-ya Ichibei 1843-1844)

Taira Kiyomori (1118-1181)

• 1159 -- Heiji Rebellion, fought in Kyoto between two former allies. In his attack of the Imperial Palace, Taira Kiyomori defeats Minamoto Yoshitomo, killing the latter's two eldest sons. Yoshitomo is later betrayed and killed by a retainer in Owari province. Kiyomori fatally spares the other three sons of Yoshitomo: Yoritomo, Noriyori, and Yoshitsune, exiling them.
• 1170 -- 1st recorded instance of seppuku (hara-kiri), committed by a Minamoto captain.

Genpei (Minamoto-Taira) War (1180-1185)

• 1181 -- Death of Taira Kiyomori from sickness.

Kiso Yoshinaka (aka Minamoto Yoshinaka) (1154-1184)

Tomoe Gozen (1157-1247)

• 1183 June -- Battle of Kurikara. At Kurikara Pass (Etchu) Kiso Yoshinaka, along with his uncle Minamoto Yukiie, his milk brother Imai Kanehira, and his wife, the legendary Tomoe Gozen, leads the Minamoto force of 5,000 men to a decisive victory over 40,000 warriors led by Taira Koremori, grandson of Kiyomori.

Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-1189) and Benkei (1155-1189) viewing cherry blossoms. --From the series Courageous Warriors by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (1885)

• 1184 Feb -- Battle of Awazu (Omi). The army of Minamoto brothers Yoshitsune and Noriyori defeats the forces of their cousin Kiso Yoshinaka, who had rebelled, pillaged Kyoto, and kidnapped Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Upon hearing of Yoshinaka's death, his milk brother and fellow commander, Imai Kanehira, commits seppuku.
• 1184 March -- Battle of Ichi-no-Tani. Destruction of the Taira fortress at Suma (in Settsu, west of present-day Kobe) led by Minamoto brothers Yoshitsune and Noriyori. Kumagai Naozane famously beheads Taira Atsumori. The legendary warrior-monk Benkei fights alongside Yoshitsune for the Minamoto.

Battle of Dan-no-ura (1185) --From the series A Short Illustrated History of Japan by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (1880)

• 1185 Apr -- Battle of Dan-no-ura. Major sea battle at the southern tip of Honshu in Nagato resulting in a decisive Minamoto victory, led by Yoshitsune, with the destruction of the Taira clan and the death of Emperor Antoku, grandson of Kiyomori.

Kamakura Period (1185-1333)

• 1189 -- Battle of Koromogawa. Minamoto Yoritomo orders Fujiwara Yasuhira to march against Yoshitsune, who had become famous for his military prowess. Yasuhira lays siege to Yoshitsune's refuge in Koromogawa (Mutsu), which had been provided by Yasuhira's father, Fujiwara Hidehira. Overwhelmed, Yoshitsune kills his wife and children, and commits seppuku. His compatriot Benkei dies in battle.

Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), the 1st Kamakura Shogun

• 1192 -- Minamoto Yoritomo is appointed Shogun, establishes 1st Shogunate of Japan at Kamakura in the East.
• 1193 -- Minamoto Noriyori is killed in Izu by warriors of Yoritomo.
• 1199 -- Death of Minamoto Yoritomo.
• 1210-1333 -- Ascendancy of the Hojo Shikken (Regents to the Shogun) at Kamakura, managed initially by Yoritomo's wife Masako, daughter of Hojo Tokimasa.
• 1221 -- Jokyu War. Retired Emperor Go-Toba gathers forces in an attempt to restore Imperial power. The Shogun's Regent, Hojo Yoshitoki, upon the advice of his sister Masako and Oé Hiromoto, sends a large army against Kyoto under the command of his sons, Yasutoki and Tomotoki, and his brother, Tokifusa, and soundly defeats the Imperial force of several thousand at Uji and Seta, just outside Kyoto.
• 1274 -- 1st Mongol Invasion. Kublai Khan sends a massive force of around 23,000 Mongol, Chinese, and Korean soldiers to attack Japan after being rebuffed several times to become a vassal state and send tributes. After initial success, the invasion stalls when the samurai retreat behind fortifications at Hakata Bay (Chikuzen). After returning to their ships to regroup, a tempest drowns a bulk of their force, and the rest flees to Korea.
• 1281 -- 2nd Mongol Invasion. After two sets of envoys sent to Japan are beheaded, Kublai Khan sends another invasion force, this time with 140,000 soldiers, the largest sea-born invasion force until modern times. The samurai had erected effective defenses and are able to drive the invaders back to their ships. A great typhoon, now famously-known as Kamikaze "Divine Wind," sinks most of the invading force, the samurai board and destroy most of the ships still afloat. Only a fraction of the original force survives to retreat to Korea.

Genko War (1331-1333)

Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339)

• 1331 -- Emperor Go-Daigo, with an army of his loyal supports, attacks Kamakura in an attempt to seize power and overthrow the Shogunate. The attack fails and the Emperor is exiled to the island of Oki.

Nitta Yoshisada (1301-1338) at Inamuragasaki, offering his sword to the sea god Ryujin.

• 1333 May -- Siege of Kamakura. Fall of the Hojo Regency and end of the Kamakura Shogunate. Nitta Yoshisada leads forces loyal to Emperor Go-Daigo and destroys Kamakura. The entire Hojo clan of almost 900 kill themselves at the family temple of Tosho-ji.

Kenmu Restoration (1333-1336)

• 1333 -- Emperor Go-Daigo seizes the Chrysanthemum Throne from puppet Emperor Kogen and restores Imperial rule. His reform policies eventually fail, however, and lead to unrest of the military class.

Muromachi "Ashikaga" Period (1336-1573)

Nanboku-cho "Northern and Southern Courts" Period (1336-1392)

Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358)

• 1336 -- Battle of Minatogawa. Ashikaga Takauji, with his brother Tadayoshi, leading forces wishing to return to warrior rule, defeats the loyalist forces of Nitta Yoshisada, who retreats and takes refuge, with Emperor Go-Daigo, in Mount Hiei, northeast of Kyoto. Loyalist Kusunoki Masashige commits seppuku. Takauji seizes Kyoto and places a puppet Emperor on the throne. Go-Daigo eventually submits and is confined.
• 1337 -- Emperor Go-Daigo escapes and establishes the Southern Court, a 2nd court to the south in Yoshino (Yamato).
• 1338 -- Siege of Kuromaru (Echizen). Nitta Yoshisada cuts off his own head after he is pinned under his own horse and unable to defend himself. A number of his fellow samurai commit junshi seppuku.
• 1338 -- Takauji appoints himself Shogun, and establishes the Ashikaga Shogunate at Kyoto.
• 1339 -- Death of Emperor Go-Daigo.
• 1351 -- Kanno Disturbance. Ashikaga Tadayoshi rebels against his brother Takauji and joins Emperor Go-Murakami and the forces of the Southern Court. He defeats Takauji, occupies Kyoto, and enters Kamakura. He captures and executes the Ko brothers, Moronao and Moroyasu, at Mikage (Settsu).
• 1352 -- Ashikaga Takauji defeats his brother Tadayoshi at Sattayama. Tadayoshi flees to Kamakura and dies the next year.
• 1358 -- Death of Ashikaga Takauji. His son Yoshiakira becomes 2nd Ashikaga Shogun.
• 1378 -- Bakufu headquarters built in the Muromachi quarter of Kyoto.
• 1392 -- Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, grandson of Takauji and 3rd Ashikaga Shogun, unites the Northern and Southern Courts under Emperor Go-Komatsu of the Northern Court.

Kinkaku-ji "Temple of the Golden Pavilion" in Kyoto

• 1397 -- Kinkaku-ji built in Kyoto to serve as Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's retirement villa. After Yoshimitsu's death in 1408, it is converted into a Rinzai Zen temple by his son, the 4th Ashikaga Shogun Yoshimochi. It is burned down twice during the Onin War.
• 1464 -- 8th Ashikaga Shogun Yoshimasa, having no heir, persuades his younger brother Yoshimi to abandon the life of a monk and is named heir.
• 1465 -- The unanticipated birth of a son to Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the infant Yoshihisa, causes friction between the two brothers.

Sengoku Period "The Age of Country at War" (1467-1573)

• 1467-1477 -- Onin War. The Ashiakaga succession dispute becomes a pretext for a civil war over military supremacy between Hosokawa Katsumoto, who supports Yoshimi, and Yamana Sozen, Katsumoto's father-in-law, who then supports Yoshihisa. Each command an army of 80,000 and wage skirmishes within Kyoto, suffering many casualties, with many buildings looted and destroyed. The fighting ends in a stalemate.
• 1469 -- Ashikaga Yoshimasa appoints his son, Yoshihisa, 9th Ashikaga Shogun.
• 1473 -- Deaths of Yamana Sozen and Hosokawa Katsumoto.
• 1490 -- Death of Ashikaga Yoshimasa.
• 1492 -- Christopher Columbus sets sail from Spain, with his crew and three ships, on a pioneering westward journey to Asia. After provisioning in the Canary Islands, he heads for Cipango, the Spanish name for Japan. He never makes it. Columbus had grossly underestimated the distance and never knew that there was a continent in the way. After five weeks at sea, he finally lands on an island in the Caribbean Sea, Columbus believes he had reached Asia. He makes three more trips to the area, but never realizes that he was in the New World.

Rock garden at Ryoan-ji "Temple of the Peaceful Dragon" in Kyoto

• Late 15th century -- Rock garden at Kyoto's Ryoan-ji is constructed. The temple was originally a Fujiwara estate inherited by Hosokawa Katsumoto, who willed it to the Rinzai branch of Zen Buddhism upon his death.
• 1542 -- 1st Battle of Azukizaka (Mikawa). Oda Nobuhide, father of Nobunaga, and his younger brother Tsuda Nobumitsu defeats Imagawa Yoshimoto. Matsudaira Hirotada, father of Tokugawa Ieyasu, fights for Yoshimoto. Oda's generals distinguish themselves and become known as the "Seven Spears of Azukizaka."
• 1543 -- 1st contact with Europeans. Portuguese passengers on a Chinese junk is driven ashore on Tanegashima, an island south of Kyushu. The Japanese witness gunfire for the first time. A passing nobleman purchases two of the guns and has his swordmaker imitate them. Within a decade, it is claimed that Japan had more guns per capita then any other country in the world, and that by 1600 their guns were the best in world.
• 1549 -- Spaniard Francis Xavier arrives in Kagoshima (Satsuma), the 1st Jesuit missionary in Japan, as a representative of Portuguese King Afonso V. He spends two years in Japan proselytizing. He and his successors establish Roman Catholic congregations in Kyushu and western Honshu. He is canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV.

Furinkazan ("Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain") battle standard of Takeda Shingen (1521-1573) "Swift as the wind, silent as the forest, fierce as fire, immovable as the mountain" --Quote from chapter 7 of Sun Tzu's Art of War

Uesugi Kenshin, "The Dragon of Echizen" (1530-1578) --From the series Stories of a Hundred Heroes of High Renown by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Izumi-ya Ichibei 1843-1844)

• 1553 -- 1st Battle of Kawanakajima (Shinano). Indecisive battle between forces of Takeda Shingen of Kai (around 10,000) and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo (around 8,000).
• 1555 -- 2nd Battle of Kawanakajima. So called, but no major battle occurs. Uesugi Kenshin attacks nearby fortress of Asahiyama, held by a Takeda ally, a number of times to no avail. He then moves his force to face the main army of Takeda Shingen. After waiting several months for the other to make a move, both sides retire to deal with domestic affairs at home.
• 1557 -- 3rd Battle of Kawanakajima. Takeda Shingen captures a nearby fortress called Katsurayama. He then attempts to take Iiyama Castle, but retreats when Uesugi Kenshin arrives.

Oda Nobunaga, "The Demon King" (1534-1582)

• 1560 May-June -- Battle of Okehazama. In a wooded gorge called Dengaku-hazama (Owari), Oda Nobunaga, daimyo of Owari province, who knew his domain well, with a force of 3,000, miraculously and decisively defeats Imagawa Yoshimoto's army of 25,000 with a surprise attack from the rear. Yoshimoto is beheaded in battle. Surviving officers join Oda's army. Hashiba Hideyoshi (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi) is one of Nobunaga's sandal-bearers at the time of the battle.
• 1561 -- An alliance is forged between Oda Nobunaga and Matsudaira Ieyasu (later Tokugawa Ieyasu) of Mikawa.
• 1561 Sept -- 4th Battle of Kawanakajima. Major battle of the Sengoku era, between Takeda Shingen with some 20,000 warriors and Uesugi Kenshin with 13,000. Kenshin reaches Takeda's command post and attacks Shingen, who famously defends himself with his war fan. Shingen's famous general, strategist Yamamoto Kansuke, suffers upwards of 80 bullet wounds and commits seppuku. Both sides lose one-quarter of their men and Kenshin is forced to retreat.
• 1564 -- 5th Battle of Kawanakajima. Forces of Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin skirmish for two months and then withdraw.
• 1564 -- 2nd Battle of Azukizaka (Mikawa). Tokugawa Ieyasu leads Oda Nobunaga's forces to a victory over the warrior-monks of Ikko Buddism, who also has samurai and peasants fighting with them. The Ikko-ikki "Ikko league" strongly opposes samurai rule and is a powerful force supported by fanatic believers, mostly peasants, clergy, and local nobles. During battle many Ikko samurai switch sides and only because of this Ieyasu is able to win the battle. 
• 1566 -- Matsudaira Ieyasu allowed to use the name Tokugawa by the Imperial Court.
• 1567 -- Ashikaga Yoshiaki requests Oda Nobunaga to help restore the Ashikaga Bakufu to power. Later that year, Emperor Ogimachi secretly requests Nobunaga to restore Imperial property which had been confiscated by his enemies.
• 1567 -- Oda Nobunaga takes Inabayama Castle from Saito Tatsuoki, makes it his primary base-of-operations, and changes its name to Gifu Castle.
• 1568 -- Oda Nobunaga drives the Miyoshi clan out of Kyoto, captures the capital, and places 15th Ashikaga Shogun Yoshiaki as puppet Shogun.
• 1570 -- Tokugawa Ieyasu makes an alliance with Takeda Shingen, daimyo of Kai province, and captures Totomi province while Shingen captures Suruga province. Ieyasu then breaks with Shingen, and allies with the latter's enemy Uesugi Kenshin, Lord of Echigo province.
• 1570 July -- Battle of Anegawa. Near Lake Biwa in Omi province, the armies of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu totally defeats the forces of Asakura Yoshikage of Echizen and Asai Nagamasa of northern Omi. Half of the losing side dies in battle.
• 1570 Aug -- Siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji. Oda Nobunaga's army of 30,000 begins the siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji (present-day Osaka), an impregnable fortress defended by the Ikko-ikki. The siege lasts ten years.
• 1570 Nov -- Oda Nobunaga sends a punitive force to put down disturbances by the Miyoshi faction in Kyoto, who are aided by warrior-monks of Ikko-ikki. When Ikko-ikki reinforcements, including some 3,000 musketeers, arrive from Negoro (Kii) and attack vigorously, Nobunaga's forces are obliged to withdraw with heavy losses.
• 1571 May -- 1st Siege of Nagashima (Owari). Nobunaga commanders Shibata Katsuie and Sakuma Nobumori, with a force of 20,000, attack Ikko-ikki's Nagashima fortresses, with 20,000 defenders. The attackers are not able to overcome the defensive measures, lose many samurai, and retreat.
• 1571 Oct -- Oda Nobunaga storms Enryaku-ji monastery on Mount Hiei, for aiding the Asakura-Asai alliance, and burns all the great buildings to the ground, killing some 3,000 to 4,000 men, women, and children in the process.
• 1573 Jan -- Battle of Mikatagahara (Totomi) -- Takeda Shingen with a force of around 30,000 defeats the smaller army of Tokugawa Ieyasu with 8,000 men, plus 3,000 reinforcements from Oda Nobunaga. Ieyasu successfully retreats to his fortress at Hamamatsu.
• 1573 May -- Takeda Shingen dies in camp under mysterious and undisclosed circumstances, perhaps from enemy sniper fire. His son Katsuyori, by Shingen's own niece, becomes head of the Takeda clan. Shingen's death is kept secret for two years. Upon learning of Shingen's demise, arch-rival Uesugi Kenshin reportedly cried at the loss of his long-time nemesis.
• 1573 July -- 2nd Siege of Nagashima. Oda Nobunaga and his commanders Sakuma Nobumori and Hashiba Hideyoshi (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi), with a force of 30,000, attack the Nagashima fortresses. The Ikko-ikki again wreak heavy casualties and force the attackers to retreat.
• 1573 Aug -- Oda Nobunaga attacks Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who was plotting an alliance of the Takeda, Asakura, Asai, and Ikko monks of Etchu to destroy Nobunaga. Yoshiaki is driven out of Kyoto, deposed as the last Ashikaga shogun, and exiled. Japan has no Shogun until Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603.

Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573-1603)

Battle of Nagashino, Mikawa (1575)

• 1574 -- 3rd Siege of Nagashima. Oda Nobunaga, with Kuki Yoshitaka, after a two-month siege, completely destroys the fortresses in Nagashima, killing the entire Ikko-ikki garrison of 20,000.
• 1575 June -- Battle of Nagashino. Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, with 25,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry, and 1,000 arquebusiers, defeat Takeda Katsuyori, who, with 10,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry, was sieging Nagashino Castle, defended by Okudaira Sadamasa with only 500 men. The Takeda suffer significant losses and eight of the Takeda's famous generals are killed in battle.
• 1576 June -- Oda Nobunaga, with Akechi Mitsuhide and Araki Murashige, leads a force of 3,000 against Ishiyama Hongan-ji, with 15,000 Ikko defenders. The attackers are repelled.
• 1576 Aug -- 1st Battle of Kizugawaguchi. Oda Nobunaga orders Admiral Kuki Yoshitaka, with over 300 ship, to blockade the Ikko-ikki stronghold Ishiyama Hongan-ji supplied by ships of the Mori clan. The more experienced Mori, with 700 to 900 ships, breaks the blockade. Both sides fight with firearms on ships for the first time.
• 1577 -- Battle of Tedorigawa (Kaga). Uesugi Kenshin with a force of about 30,000 attacks Cho Shigetsura, who is reinforced by Oda Nobunaga, along with his generals Shibata Katsuie and Maeda Toshiie, the combined force totaling about 40,000 troops. Nobunaga suffers heavy casualties and retreats to Omi.
• 1578 Apr -- Death of Uesugi Kenshin. Kenshin, having no sons, had adopted two boys to be his heirs, Kagekatsu and Kagetora, who struggle for succession.
• 1578 Dec -- 2nd Battle of Kizugawaguchi. Oda Nobunaga's naval commander Kuki Yoshitaka breaks the Ikko-ikki naval supply line to Ishiyama Hongan-ji. Several Mori ships are sunk by Yoshitaka's ships with iron plating.
• 1579 -- Otate no Ran.  Uesugi Kagekatsu defeats his foster brother Kagetora at Otate Castle (Echigo). Kagetora commits seppuku, and Kagekatsu becomes head of the Uesugi clan.
• 1579 Oct -- Tokugawa Ieyasu orders his eldest son Nobuyasu to commit seppuku. Although Nobuyasu had married Oda Nobunaga's daughter, Nobunaga suspected him of conspiring with Takeda Katsuyori to assassinate him, and ordered Ieyasu to do the deed. Nobuyasu asks his retainer and friend, the legendary Hattori Hanzo to be his second, but overcome with emotion, Hanzo could not act, so Amakata Michitsuna takes his place and beheads Nobuyasu with his Muramasa sword. Ieyasu also executes his wife for her culpability.
• 1580 May -- Abbot Kosa surrenders Ishiyama Hongan-ji, ending the longest siege in Japanese history. Oda Nobunaga spares many of the defenders, but burns the fortress to the ground. Toyotomi Hideyoshi later builds Osaka Castle on the same site.
• 1581 -- Oda Nobunaga launches an attack on Iga province, who had formed its own independent republic ruled by ninja clans, from six directions with a force of 40,000 to 60,000 men, an advantage of 10-to-1. Nobunaga ruthlessly slaughters many Iga ninja and their families before declaring a  cease fire and allowing some of the ninja to escape, many of whom turn to Tokugawa Ieyasu for asylum.
• 1582 -- Battle of Tenmokuzan. Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, with a force of 20,000, pursues Takeda Katsuyori to the mountains of Kai and destroys the entire Takeda army of 9,000. Katsuyori and his son Nobukatsu commit seppuku, ending the illustrious Takeda clan.
• 1582 June 21 -- Death of Oda Nobunaga. Called the Incident at Honno-ji, Nobunaga, with only a few guards, is attacked in Kyoto by his own general, the traitorous Akechi Mitsuhide. Nobunaga commits seppuku and the temple goes up in flames. Nobunaga's son and heir, Nobutada, upon hearing of his father's death flees to Azuchi Castle, where he is attacked by Mitsuhide's men. Nobutada commits seppuku and the castle is set aflame.
• 1582 June -- Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was near Osaka, upon learning of the death of Oda Nobunaga, makes a dangerous journey back to Mikawa to muster his troops against the traitorous Akechi Mitsuhide, whose troops were trying to find and kill him. When Ieyasu has to pass through deadly Iga territory, one of his men, the legendary Hattori Hanzo, successfully escorts the party through as he was a native of the area. This experience is considered the greatest hazard of Ieyasu's life.
• 1582 June -- Siege of Takamatsu. Hashiba Hideyoshi (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi) besieges Shimizu Muneharu of the Mori clan at Takamatsu Castle (Bitchu) and compels him to a quick surrender by changing the course of a nearby river that submerges the castle surroundings. The terms of surrender forces Muneharu to commit seppuku a few days later.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598)

• 1582 June 30 -- Battle of Yamazaki (southwest of Kyoto). Hashiba Hideyoshi, with an army of 36,500, completely defeats Akechi Mitsuhide and his army of 16,000. Mitsuhide is captured and killed by bandits as he flees.
• 1582 -- Taiko no Kenchi "Taiko's Land Survey." Hashiba Hideyoshi inaugurates a survey, which continued until 1598, where every plot of farmland is inspected and registered. The survey guarantees each farmer to a piece of land from which he could not be deprived, but it also has the effect of fixing his status and binding him to the soil.
• 1583 May -- Battle of Shizugatake (Omi). In a battle for power, Hashiba Hideyoshi, with his commanders Kato Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori, and an army of 50,000 men, routs the forces loyal to Oda Nobutaka, 3rd son of Nobunaga, commanded by Shibata Katsuie and Sakuma Morimasa, with 27,000 men. Morimasa is beheaded and Katsuie commits seppuku. Hideyoshi's chief generals famously become known as the "Seven Spears" of Shizugatake.
• 1584 -- Battle of Komaki and Nagakute. A series of battles in Owari between Hashiba Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who is allied with Oda Nobukatsu, 2nd son of Nobunaga. Though Hideyoshi suffers heavy losses, the fighting results in a stalemate. Hideyoshi makes peace with Nobukatsu, and Ieyasu eventually becomes Hideyoshi's vassal.
• 1585 -- Hashiba Hideyoshi receives the title of Kanpaku (Regent) from the Imperial Court.
• 1585 -- Invasion of Shikoku. Hashiba Hideyoshi, in a three-prong attack with some 113,000 men, defeats Chosokabe Motochika, culminating in the siege of Ichinomiya Castle. After 26 days, Motochika surrenders and submits, is allowed to keep Tosa province, and the rest of Shikoku is divided among Hideyoshi's generals.
• 1586 -- Hashiba Hideyoshi is formally conferred the name of Toyotomi by the Imperial Court.
• 1587 -- Kyushu Campaign. After a series of battles, the superior forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, totaling close to 200,000, subjugates the Shimazu clan of Satsuma, who had dominated Kyushu. The Shimazu is allowed keep a part of the island, and the rest is divided among Hideyoshi's generals and allies.
• 1587 -- Toyotomi Hideyoshi issues an edict banishing Christians from Kyushu.
• 1588 -- Taiko's Sword Hunt. Toyotomi Hideyoshi forbids peasants from owning weapons and starts a sword hunt to confiscate arms. The swords are melted down to help build a grand statue of Buddha at Hoko-ji in Kyoto.
• 1590 -- Siege of Odawara. After a three-month siege, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, with a massive force of some 200,000 men, force Hojo Ujimasa, with 50,000 defenders, to surrender Odawara Castle (Sagami). Hideyoshi completes the unification of Japan under his rule.
• 1591 -- Toyotomi Hideyoshi orders his tea master Sen no Rikyu to commit seppuku. Hideyoshi later regrets his death sentence.
• 1591 -- Toyotomi Hideyoshi imposed his Edict on Status Change that forbid samurai from working in farms, the peasants from becoming townspeople and engaging in trade, and the hiring of samurai who had deserted their previous lord. This effectively ended social mobility and stratified the country into discrete classes.
• 1592 Jan -- Toyotomi Hideyoshi, after the death of his then only son Tsurumatsu, names his nephew Hidetsugu as heir, retires as Kanpaku, and places Hidetsugu to the post. Hideyoshi takes the title of Taiko "Retired Regent."
• 1592 May -- Hideyoshi's 1st expedition to Korea. Toyotomi Hideyoshi sends Ukita Hideie and a force of over 150,000 to the Korean peninsula with the ultimate intension of conquering China. After some great success on land, with Konishi Yukinaga occupying Seoul, the capital of the Joseon Dynasty, the main invading force returns to Japan after the Ming Chinese Emperor Wanli dispatches 45,000 reinforcements, and supply lines are cutoff by Korean Admiral Yi Sun-shin's ships armed with cannons.
• 1593 -- Birth of Toytomi Hideyoshi's 2nd son, Hideyori. To avoid a succession problem, Hideyoshi exiles his nephew and heir, Regent Hidetsugu, to Mount Koya. Two years later, Hidetsugu is accused of plotting a coup, and Hideyoshi orders him to commit seppuku.
• 1597 March -- Hideyoshi's 2nd expedition to Korea. Toyotomi Hideyoshi orders an invading force of about 150,000, under the command of Kobayakawa Kideaki, to conquer Korea. After over a year of fighting, and with heavy losses on both sides, again Ming Chinese reinforcements and naval attacks by Admiral Yi Sun-shih force Hideyoshi, upon his deathbed, to order the withdrawal of troops back to Japan.
• 1598 Sep -- Death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Prior to his death, Hideyoshi forms the Council of Five Elders to rule Japan during the minority of his son Hideyori. They are Ukita Hideie, Maeda Toshiie, Uesugi Kagekatsu, Mori Terumoto, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
• 1600 -- Pilot William Adams land in Bungo in Kyushu, the 1st Englishman in Japan, aboard a Dutch trade ship that had crossed the Pacific. They are met by Portuguese Jesuit priests who accuse them of being pirates. Tokugawa Ieyasu, at the time daimyo of Mikawa, imprisons the crew at Osaka Castle. Nineteen bronze cannon are unloaded from the ship and are later used at the Battle of Sekigahara. Adams later becomes the Shogun Ieyasu's tutor, 1st Caucasian to be bestowed the dignity of a samurai, a hatamoto with a stipend of 250 koku, and the 1st builder of western-styled ships in Japan. He is subsequently honored as the founder of the Japanese navy. He never returns to England.
• 1600 Sep -- Siege of Fushimi Castle. Torii Mototada defends Fushimi Castle in Kyoto, with 1,800 men, including several hundred Koga ninja, against 40,000 of Ishida Mitsunari's Western army. In the end, the castle goes up in flames and, the defenders fight to the last man, and Mototada commits seppuku. In one of the most celebrated acts of heroism and loyalty in samurai history, Mototada successfully allows his life-long friend Tokugawa Ieyasu to escape and regroup by delaying the advance of the enemy army by almost a fortnight, helping to change the course of Japanese history.

Battle of Sekigahara, Mino (1600)

• 1600 Oct -- Battle of Sekigahara. Decisive victory in Mino by Tokugawa Ieyasu over the forces loyal to Toyotomi Hideyori. Both the Eastern army of Ieyasu and the loyalist Western army, headed by Ishida Mitsunari, numbered at least 80,000. The tide turns when several Western commanders switch sides during the battle, and the Western forces are routed and crushed. Mitsunari is caught and later beheaded in Kyoto. Ieyasu becomes de facto ruler of Japan. The legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi is present at the battle for the Western side, but escapes unharmed.

Edo "Tokugawa" Period (1603-1868)

1st Tokugawa Shogun Ieyasu (1542-1616) At his feet are two aspects of Tenkai (1536-1643), a Tendai Buddhist priest who served as a liaison between the Shogunate and the Imperial Court. He rebuilt Enryaku-ji, which had been devastated by Oda Nobunaga; was in charge of the shrines in Nikko, where Ieyasu's remains are buried; and established Kan'ei-ji, a Buddhist temple in Ueno that protected the northeast approach to Edo Castle. --By Kawanabé Kyosai (1831-1889)

• 1603 -- Tokugawa Ieyasu receives the title of Shogun from Emperor Go-Yozei. Ieyasu establishes his Bafuku at Edo (present day Tokyo), about 50 kilometers, or 31 miles, north of Kamakura.
• 1605 -- Tokugawa Ieyasu abdicates and places his 3rd son, Hidetada, as successor and 2nd Tokugawa Shogun.
• 1612 -- Legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi defeats Sasaki Kojiro in the famous duel at Ganryu Island in the strait between Honshu and Kyushu. The duel was arranged by Hosokawa Tadaoki, daimyo of Kokura (Buzen). Musashi is considered the greatest Japanese swordsman of all time, and is the author of The Book of Five Rings, a treatise on military strategy, which is popularly studied by businessmen to this day.
• 1614 -- Tokugawa Ieyasu signs the Christian Expulsion Edict which bans Christianity, expelling all Christians and foreigners.
• 1614 -- Siege of Osaka Castle, Winter Campaign. Tokugawa Ieyasu, with a force estimated at 180,000, lay siege to Toyotomi Hideyori, and his force of 90,000, at Osaka Castle. It is the largest battle ever fought within Japan. Although the castle stood firm and impregnable, after six weeks, Hideyori accepts Ieyasu's overtures for peace.

Siege of Osaka Castle, Summer Campaign (1815)

• 1615 -- Siege of Osaka Castle, Summer Campaign. Tokugawa Ieyasu, with 150,000 men, decisively defeats the 60,000-man army of Toyotomi Hideyori. Osaka Castle burns to the ground, Hideyori commits seppuku, his son Kunimatsu is captured and beheaded in Kyoto, and the Toyotomi clan is disbanded.
• 1615 Aug -- Buke Sho-Hatto "Samurai Code." Edict exacting unconditional obedience is read to an assembly of daimyo in Fushimi Castle in the presence of Shogun Hidetada. The edit is a code of conduct and describes honorable behavior that is expected of the samurai class. Each successive Shogun reissues the code, sometimes with significant changes.
• 1616 -- Death of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
• 1623 -- Iemitsu assumes the role of 3rd Tokugawa Shogun, at the age of 19, upon the abdication of his father Hidetada, who continues to rule as Ogosho (retired Shogun).
• 1633 -- 1st Exclusion Decree. The law limits ships leaving for a foreign country, limits travel outside Japan, and any Japanese residing outside the country are restricted from returning under penalty of death.
• 1635 -- Shogun Iemitsu reissues Buke Sho-Hatto with Sankin Kotai "Alternate Attendance" officially enacted.
• 1635 -- 2nd Exclusion Decree. Expansion of the 1st decree, with strict restrictions on foreign travel, Christianity, and foreign trade.
• 1636 -- Completion of Edo Castle. The expansion was started in 1593 by Tokugawa Ieyasu. At the height of construction, there were 300,000 men working on the castle. It has 38 gates, ramparts of almost 20 meters, outer walls 12 meters high, seven compounds, concentric moats, and many other defensive measures. The "tenshu" main keep is 5 stories tall and 51 meters, or 167 feet, high, and stands on a foundation 11 meters, or 36 feet, high. The perimeter measures 16 kilometers, or 10 miles. It is the largest castle in Japan.
• 1637-1638 -- Shimabara Rebellion. Peasants, mostly Catholic Christians, but also merchants, craftsmen, fishermen, and ronin, revolt, initially due to persecution of Christianity and onerous taxation by Matsukura Katsuie, daimyo of Shimabara. The uprising culminates in the siege of Hara Castle (Hizen) held by rebel forces, led by Amakusa Shiro, estimated at between 27,000 and 37,000, including non-combatants. The Shogunate forces, led by  Itakura Shigemasa, who dies in battle, and later Matsudaira Nobutsuna, numbered over 125,000, with the largest contingents under the commands of Nabeshima Katsushige and Hosokawa Tadatoshi. They suffer casualties of over 10,000, but virtually all the rebels are killed, including Shiro, with only a 100 or so escaping.
• 1639 -- 3rd Exclusion Decree. Expulsion of all foreigners and execution of Christians. Japan formally isolates itself from the rest of the world. Foreign trade is limited to medicines, books, and few other essentials.
• 1651 -- Ietsuna becomes 4th Tokugawa Shogun, at the age of 10, upon the death of his father Iemitsu.
• 1651 -- Keian Uprising. So called, but is a failed coup d'etat by disgruntled ronin who had been deprived of their samurai position due to the Bakufu policy of seizing fiefs and dispossessing daimyo. Masterminded by Yui Shosetsu and Marubashi Chuya, the uprising fails when the conspirators' plan is discovered. Chuya is arrested and executed. Shosetsu commits seppuku, and several of his cohorts do likewise. Families of the conspirators are tortured and killed, several are crucified.
• 1657 March -- Great Fire of Meireki. The fire burns for three days, claiming the lives of 100,000, and destroys 60%-70% of Edo, including the main keep of Edo Castle. The fire is popularly said to have been started by a priest who was cremating an unlucky kimono that was owned by a succession of three teenage girls who all died before being able to wear it.
• 1663 -- Tokugawa Shogunate outlaws junshi, the practice of following one's lord in death by seppuku.
• 1681 -- Tsunayoshi becomes 5th Tokugawa Shogun upon the death of his elder brother Ietsuna.
• 1687 -- Tokugawa Tsunayoshi issues a series of orders protecting living things, especially dogs. He is nicknamed the "Dog Shogun." During his tenure, he would confiscate fiefs worth 1,400,000 koku.

Genroku "Golden Age of Edo" Period (1688-1704)

• 1696 -- Nogyo Zensho "Farmer's Compendium" is written. The first practical handbook on the art of farming in Japan, the treatise increases food production. Subsistence farming eventually becomes commercial farming.
• 1697 -- The Dojima Rice Exchange is established in Osaka. Rice brokers and moneychangers, who had gathered their warehouses and shops in the Dojima area, receive a license from the Shogunate to operate a market for rice. Osaka merchants eventually hold a virtual monopoly on rice brokerage, and heavily influence the price of rice in the rest of the country. The operators issue bills of exchange for the rice, which are forerunners of paper currency. Merchants begin to accumulate great wealth and lend money in greater amounts; many eventually become bankers. Daimyo start borrowing heavily and go into serious debt. By the late 18th century, an incredible portion of the nation's monetary transactions go through independent Dojima merchants.

Ako's loyal 47 ronin attack Kira Yoshinaka's estate in Edo to avenge the death of their lord (1702) --Woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

• 1701-1702 -- Affair of the 47 Ronin of Ako. Asano Naganori attacks Kira Yoshinaka in Edo Castle, a grave offense. The assaulter is ordered to commit seppuku, and the Asano clan of Ako (Harima) is dissolved. The Asano samurai, now ronin, originally numbering over 300, plot to take revenge on Yoshinaka, led by Oishi Kuranosuke. A year and a half later, on a snowy winter night, 47 of the remaining ronin attack Yoshinaka's mansion in Edo. They overcome dozens of guards, beheads the object of their vendetta, and carries the head to Sengaku-ji, where their late lord is buried. They submit to the authorities without resistance, and are ordered to commit seppuku, after which they are buried next to their lord. The incident inspires a succession of successful plays, mostly called Chushingura, and becomes the most popular tale of samurai honor.
• 1703 -- Genroku Earthquake. Epicentered in Edo, it kills 2,300 people in the city. The quake causes a subsequent tsunami that reportedly causes over 100,000 deaths.
• 1707 -- Eruption of Mount Fuji, Japan's highest mountain and one of its "Three Holy Mountains." Much of the surrounding arable land is devastated and 400,000 ryo is allotted to remove the ashes. It has been dormant ever since. Mount Fuji is arguably the most beautiful and the most photographed mountain in the world.
• 1709 -- Ienobu becomes 6th Tokugawa Shogun upon the death of his uncle Tsunayoshi.
• 1712 -- Ietsugu, at the age of 5, becomes 7th Tokugawa Shogun upon the death of his father Ienobu. Arai Hakuseki rules as regent.
• 1715 Nov -- Chikamatsu Monzaemon's historical puppet play The Battles of Koxinga breaks attendance records in Osaka. It is about a famous 17th-century Ming Chinese general of humble origins who fought against the Manchus, and whose mother was Japanese. Chikamatsu wrote around 130 plays in his lifetime, mostly for bunraku puppet theater and some for kabuki, and is considered Japan's most prolific and greatest playwright. He is known posthumously as the Shakespeare of Japan.

8th Tokugawa Shogun Yoshimune (1684-1751)

• 1716 -- Yoshimune, from the Tokugawa branch of Kii, and great-grandson of Ieyasu, becomes 8th Tokugawa Shogun upon the death of Ietsugu. He is considered the best of the Tokugawa Shogun, having reformed the financial system and allowed the import of foreign books and their translation, initiating the development of western studies.
• 1716 -- Hagakure "Shadow Of Leaves" written. Drawn from a collection of commentaries on Bushido by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, a samurai of Saga (Hizen), it is often referred to as the Book of the Samurai. The first line of the book is: "The way of the samurai is to die."
• 1730 -- The Shogunate officially recognizes the Dojima Rice Market in Osaka. Bakufu supervisors are appointed to monitor the market and collect taxes.
• 1736 -- Kyoho Reforms. The Shogunate introduces an array of economic policies including an emphasis on frugality, formation of merchant guilds that allowed great control and taxation, and lifting the ban on western books.
• 1742 -- Kansei Code completed. As no national code of law existed, Ooka Tadasuke back in 1717 recommended a codification of the law as it was then interpreted. With the advice of influential Muro Kyuso, Shogun Yoshimune issued an order in 1720 to draw up a document to establish a code of law. Known as the Code of One Hundred Articles, it is a statement of the principles, social and political, of the Shogun's government rather than a penal code.
• 1745 -- Shogun Yoshimune retires, taking the title Ogosho, and places his oldest son Ieshige as 9th Tokugawa Shogun.
• 1832 -- Utagawa Hiroshige travels the length of the Tokaido, the major road from Edo to Kyoto. The following year he starts creating a series of ukiyo-e woodcut prints called The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, which become the bestselling Japanese prints in history. In 1850 the introduction of ukiyo-e to Paris creates enormous interest and greatly influences many Impressionist artists such as Monet and Degas. Vincent Van Gogh was an avid collector and stated that "all of my work is founded on Japanese art," and described the Impressionists as "the Japanese of France."
• 1846 July -- Commodore James Biddle enters Edo Bay with two warships and proposes the opening of trade relations with Japan. Washington sent Biddle owing to the development of whaling in the North Pacific by vessels based in San Francisco that needed shelter and supplies in the region, as well as American interest in Asian trade, and the need to protect shipwrecked seamen. The Bakufu returns a flat refusal and Biddle withdraws.

Bakumatsu (Late Tokugawa) Period (1853-1867)

Commodore Matthew C. Perry (1794-1858)

• 1853 July -- Commodore Matthew Perry and his four "Black Ships" make their first appearance in Edo Bay. Perry leaves a letter from U.S. President Millard Fillmore with the officials and promises to return for a reply.
• 1854 Feb -- Matthew Perry returns to Edo and finds that the government had prepared a treaty that agreed to virtually all the demands in Fillmore's letter.
• 1854 March -- Convention of Kanagawa ("Japanese-American Peace Treaty"). Matthew Perry and the Tokugawa Shogunate sign a treaty that opens ports in Japan for trade, guarantees the safety of shipwrecked U.S. sailors, and creates a permanent consul in Shimoda. This effectively ends Japan's isolation from the rest of the world that had lasted for over 200 years.
• 1854 Dec 23 -- Ansei-Tokai Earthquake. An 8.4 magnitude quake causes a tsunami that completely destroys 10,000 buildings and kills 2,000 people in southern Honshu. The flagship of visiting Russian admiral Putyatin is spun around 42 times on its moorings and sinks during a later storm.
• 1854 Dec 24 -- Ansei-Nankai Earthquake. Another 8.4 magnitude quake causes fires and a tsunami that completely destroys 30,000 buildings and kills at leaset 3,000 in southern Honshu.
• 1855 Nov -- Ansei Edo Earthquake. A 6.9 magnitude quake causes fires in Edo that kills 6,641 people and destroys much of the city. The quake is popularly blamed on a giant catfish thrashing about.
• 1858 Apr -- Hietsu Earthquake. A quake in Hida and Etchu provinces kills 200-300 people.
• 1858 July -- Japanese-American Commerce Treaty "The Harris Treaty." Townsend Harris, after two years of negotiations, signs a treaty with the Tokugawa government, with the support of Ii Naosuke, that allows the exchange of diplomats, opens more Japanese ports to foreign trade, allows U.S. citizens to live in those ports, provides diplomatic immunity from Japanese laws, and fixes low fixed import-export duties. Similar treaties with Russia, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands quickly follow.
• 1858 Aug -- Iemochi named 14th Tokugawa Shogun, at the age of 12, upon the death of Iesada.
• 1860 -- 1st Japanese Embassy to the United States. The Tokugawa Bakufu sends a diplomatic mission to the U.S. composed of 96 men. Numerous receptions are held in their honor in Washington D.C., including one at the White House, where President James Buchanan presents them with a gold watch, engraved with his likeness, as a gift to the Shogun.
• 1860 March -- Sakurada-mon Incident. Ii Naosuke is assassinated by xenophobic clansmen, 17 Mito ronin and a Satsuma samurai, as he and his escorts are about to pass through the Sakurada Gate leading to Edo Castle.
• 1862 -- Sakashita-mon Incident. An attempt by six samurai from Mito domain outside the Sakashita Gate of Edo Castle fails to kill Ando Nobumasa, a daimyo of the Iwakidaira domain and a roju in the Tokugawa Shogunate.
• 1862 Sept -- Namamugi Incident. Four British subject on a trip from Yokohama to visit the Kawasaki Daishi temple, is involved in an altercation with the large army retinue of Shimazu Hisamitsu, regent and father of Shimazu Tadayoshi, the daimyo of Satsuma, for not showing proper respect. One of the subjects, Charles Richardson is eventually killed. The British later demands and receives a huge indemnity of £100,000 and an apology from the Bakufu. The Satsuma domain, however, refuses to apologize, to arrest the perpetrators, or to pay the £25,000 as compensation to the surviving victims and the relatives of Charles Richardson.
• 1863 March -- Shogun Iemochi visits Kyoto with 3,000 retainers as escort, the first visit by a Shogun to the city since Iemitsu in 1626.
• 1863 Jul -- Battle of Shimonoseki Straits. The Choshu clan, under Mori Takachika, bitterly opposed to the Shogunate's recent open-door policy to foreigners, belligerently begins to attack, without warning, foreign ships crossing the strategic Shimonoseki Strait separating Honshu and Kyushu. The sloop-of-war USS Wyoming, under Captain David McDougal, engages the rebel fleet of three U.S.-built ships for two hours, sinking two and damaging the other. The Wyoming, suffering major damage, but light casualties of four men killed and seven wounded, disengages and returns to Yokohama.
• 1863 Jul-Aug -- 1st Battle of Shimonoseki. After one of their merchant ships is attacked by the Choshu clan, the French Navy sends to Shimonoseki marines and two warships, which destroy a small town and at least one artillery emplacement. French Captain Benjamin Jaurés is later congratulated by the Shogun government for his actions against anti-foreign forces.
• 1863 Aug -- Anglo-Satsuma War. A British squadron of seven warships, led by Sir Augustus Kuper, pressing for a resolution of the death of Charles Richardson is fired upon by Satsuma rebels, led by Shimazu Hisamitsu, from the town of Kagoshima. The British Navy bombard the town but only claim five lives, as the town had been evacuated in anticipation of the battle, and 500 houses are destroyed. They also burn three Satsuma steamships and five junks. The British suffer 13 dead and disengage. The two sides negotiate a quick truce, and the British agree to help Satsuma with the rapid modernization of their army and navy.
• 1864 July -- Ikedaya Affair. An armed encounter between ronin of the Choshu and Tosa clans and the notorious Shinsengumi, the Bakufu's special police force, at the Ikedaya Inn in Kyoto. The politically-active ronin, who were plotting terrorist acts, lost eight, with 23 more arrested, and the Shinsengumi lost three. The Shinsengumi was an elite force of mainly samurai, but included some commoners who desired to be of that class, that was tasked with protecting the interests of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Kyoto.
• 1864 Aug -- Hamaguri Rebellion. Pro-Imperial and anti-alien Choshu army and ronin force numbering some 1,600 men rebel at the Hamaguri Gate of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, burning 28,000 homes in the process. The combined forces of the Shogunate, the Aizu domain, and the Satsuma domain, led by Tokugawa Yoshinobu, put down the rebellion.
• 1864 Sept -- 2nd Battle of Shimonoseki. A squadron of nine British, five Dutch, and three French warships, under the command of Admiral Sir Augustus Kuper of the Royal Navy, along with 2,000 soldiers, marines, and sailors, steam out of Yokohama to re-open Shimonoseki Strait. After a two-day battle, the rebel forces of Choshu surrender.
• 1866 -- Yoshinobu becomes 15th Tokugawa Shogun upon the death of Iemochi.
• 1866 -- Satsuma-Choshu Alliance. The two provinces form a military alliance to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate. Sakamoto Ryoma of the Tosa domain mediates an agreement between Saigo Takamori and Okubo Toshimichi of Satsuma and Katsura Kogoro of Choshu.

Emperor Meiji (1852-1912)

• 1867 Feb -- Meiji ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne as the 122nd Emperor of Japan upon the death of his father, Emperor Komei. He is 14 years old.
• 1867 Nov -- Yoshinobu steps down as the last Tokugawa Shogun and formally returns governing power to the Emperor, agreeing to "be the instrument of carrying out" Imperial orders. This is the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the start of the Imperial Restoration. Although Emperor Meiji tended to support a continued collaboration with the Tokugawa, Saigo Takamori bullies the advisors to strip the ex-Shogun of all his titles and order the confiscation of all his lands. Yoshinobu protests and assembles an army from his base in Osaka Castle to prepare an attack on Kyoto, ostensively to dislodge the Satsuma and Choshu elements dominating the Court and "freeing" the young Emperor Meiji from their influence.

Boshin War "War of the Year of the Dragon" (1868-1869)

• 1868 Jan -- Battle of Toba-Fushimi. Ex-Shogun Yoshinobu orders his forces from Osaka Castle to attack Kyoto. The 15,000-strong army, under the command of Takenaka Shigekata, mostly men from Kuwana and Aizu domains, and reinforced by Shinsengumi regulars, outnumbers the combined 5,000 of the Satsuma and Choshu armies. Prince Yoshiaki is named nominal commander-in-chief of the latter army, effectively making the Satsuma-Choshu alliance the Imperial Army. When the two sides meet in an area between Kyoto and Osaka, this confuses the Bakufu forces as, if they fire upon their enemies, they would be considered traitors. They retreat to regroup, and are eventually pushed back to Osaka Castle.
• 1868 Feb -- Fall of Osaka Castle. Pro-Imperial forces from Satsuma and Choshu capture and burn Osaka Castle held by Tokugawa forces. Ex-Shogun Yoshinobu, accompanied by the daimyo of Aizu and Kuwana, escape to Edo on a warship. After the fall, many daimyo declare in favor of the Emperor.

Saigo Takamori (1828-1877)

• 1868 May -- Battle of Utsunomiya Castle. Former Tokugawa retainers, led by Otori Keisuke, leave Edo and head northward for Nikko and Aizu. Their first objective is to take Utsunomiya Castle, which was of vital strategic importance. The force of around 2,000, which included members of the Shinsengumi, successfully takes the castle. A few days later, Imperial forces counterattack and retake the castle. Otori and his men are forced to withdraw and retreat to Aizu.
• 1868 May-July -- Fall of Edo. Imperial forces led by Saigo Takamori surround Edo. Katsu Kaishu, the Shogunate's army minister, formally surrenders and spares the city from all-out war. Ex-Shogun Yoshinobu is allowed to retire to Shizuoka, the same place to which Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, had also retired.
• 1868 Sept -- Edo is renamed Tokyo. Emperor Meiji moves the capital from Kyoto to Tokyo and makes Edo Castle his residence, now the Imperial Palace.
• 1868 Dec -- Republic of Ezo is founded by remnants of the Shogunal forces headed by Admiral Enomoto Takeaki, who is elected its 1st president. The new republic is conditionally recognized by France and the United Kingdom. Through Nagai Naoyuki, one of the city magistrates of Hakodate, Enomoto petitions the Imperial Court to allow them to develop the island in the traditions of the samurai, but is denied.
• 1869 May -- Battle of Hakodate. After progressively taking over various defensive positions in Hakodate, Imperial forces surround the star-fortress at Goryokaku. Enomoto Takeaki surrenders to Kuroda Kiyotaka who spares him from execution. Ezo Republic ceases to exist and the island is renamed Hokkaido. This battle marks the end of the feudal era in Japan.
• 1871 -- Abolition of the Han System. All daimyo voluntarily surrender their domains to the Emperor in exchange for a generous stipend, absorbing of the domain's debts, and conversion of the domain currency to the new national currency at face value. The provinces are renamed as prefectures. The daimyo are re-appointed as non-hereditary governors of their former domains and are allowed to keep 10% of the tax revenue based on actual rice production. The prefectures are quickly consolidated and by 1888 there were only 47, plus three urban prefectures.
• 1876 -- Edict prohibiting the wearing of two swords in public.
• 1877 -- Satsuma Rebellion. Saigo Takamori leads a rebellion of samurai-class Satsuma men to protest government corruption, and to strengthen the military class. The Satsuma force, made up of adherents of Bushido, numbers upwards of 40,000 men. The government assembles a huge army of 300,000, led by Kawamura Sumiyoshi, that is better equipped with modern weapons, including howitzers and observation balloons. After seven months of fighting, Saigo dies in battle, and his army is reduced to the last man. With this the era of the samurai ends.

Sources

• Papinot
• Sansom, George -- A History of Japan: 1334-1615 (Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 1961)
• Sansom, George -- A History of Japan: 1615-1867 (Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 1963)
• Storry, Richard -- The Way of the Samurai
• Wikipedia

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