A concise history of Japan

The birth of the Yamato State, 14,500 BCE-710 CE

The Courtly Age, 710-1185

The rise of Samurai rule, 1185-1336

Medieval Japan and the warring states period, 1336-1573

Japan's encounter with Europe, 1542-1640

Unifying the realm, 1560-1603

Early modern Japan, 1600-1800

The rise of imperial nationalism, 1770-1854

Meiji enlightenment, 1868-1912

Meiji's discontents, 1868-1920

The birth of Japan's imperial state, 1800-1910

Empire and imperial democracy, 1905-1931

The Pacific War, 1931-45

Japan's postwar history, 1945-present

Natural disasters and the edge of history.