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Japan Timeline
Travel through our timeline of major events in Japan's history.
500-600
Buddhism comes to Japan. Today, more than 70% of Japanese are Buddhists.
TIME & LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES
1274-1281
Military dictators known as shoguns rule Japan and successfully keep invaders out of their country.1853
United States commodore Matthew Perry enters Japan. He demands that Japan trade with the U.S.1868-1912
Under Emperor Meiji, Japan becomes wealthy and powerful. The country wins wars against China and Russia.1910
Japan takes over the Korean peninsula and rules it for 35 years, until 1945.1923
The Great Kanto Earthquake, one of the worst quakes in world history, destroys Tokyo and Yokohama. More than 140,000 people are killed.
TIME & LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES
1926
Hirohito becomes emperor.1931
Japan invades Manchuria, China. In 1937, Japan goes to war against China.1940-1941
Japan becomes an ally of Germany and Italy in World War II. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, the U.S. naval base in Hawaii.1945
The U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders.1964
Tokyo hosts the Summer Olympics. It's the first time the Games are held in Asia.1995
A major earthquake hits central Japan.2001–2006
Crown Princess Masako gives birth to a baby girl, Princess Aiko. Five years later, Princess Kiko gives birth to a baby boy. The baby, Hisahito, is third in line to the throne.2010
China overtakes Japan as the world’s second largest economy.
NOBORU HASHIMOTO—AFP/GETTY IMAGES