Editing Japan (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Japan}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of Japanese history}}

===Prehistoric to classical history===
[[File:Emperor Jimmu.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Legend]]ary {{Nihongo|[[Emperor Jimmu]]|神武天皇|Jinmu-tennō}}]]
Modern humans arrived in Japan around 38,000 years ago (~36,000 BC), marking the beginning of the [[Japanese Paleolithic]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kondo |first=Y. |last2=Takeshita |first2=Y. |last3=Watanabe |first3=T. |last4=Seki |first4=M. |last5=Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group |date=April 2018 |title=Geology and Quaternary environments of the Tategahana Paleolithic site in Nojiri-ko (Lake Nojiri), Nagano, central Japan |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618217300307 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=471 |pages=385–395 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2017.12.012}}</ref> Around 14,500&nbsp;BC (the start of the [[Jōmon period]]), a [[Mesolithic]] to [[Neolithic]] semi-sedentary [[hunter-gatherer]] culture characterized by [[Pit-house|pit dwelling]] and rudimentary agriculture emerged.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Habu |first1=Junko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vGnAbTyTynsC&pg=PA43 |title=Ancient Jomon of Japan |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-77670-7 |page=43}}</ref> [[Jōmon pottery|Clay vessels]] from the period are among the oldest surviving examples of pottery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jomo/hd_jomo.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|title=Jōmon Culture (ca. 10,500–ca. 300 B.C.)|accessdate=August 28, 2020|archive-date=December 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213222716/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jomo/hd_jomo.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Japonic languages|Japonic]]-speaking [[Yayoi people]] later entered the archipelago from the Korean Peninsula,<ref>{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Nicholas |date=May 4, 2011 |title=Finding on Dialects Casts New Light on the Origins of the Japanese People |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/science/04language.html |url-access=limited |archivedate=March 31, 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331175152/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/science/04language.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | surname = Vovin | given = Alexander | author-link = Alexander Vovin | chapter = Origins of the Japanese Language | doi = 10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.277 | doi-access = free | title = Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2017 | isbn = 978-0-19-938465-5}}</ref><ref name="Yayoi culture" /> intermingling with the [[Jōmon people]];<ref name="Yayoi culture">{{cite journal |last1= Watanabe |first1=Yusuke |last2=Naka |first2=Izumi |last3= Khor |first3=Seik-Soon |last4=Sawai |first4=Hiromi |last5=Hitomi |first5=Yuki |last6=Tokunaga |first6=Katsushi |last7=Ohashi |first7= Jun |title=Analysis of whole Y-chromosome sequences reveals the Japanese population history in the Jomon period |journal= Scientific Reports |date=June 17, 2019 |volume=9 |issue=1 |page =8556 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-44473-z |doi-access=free }}</ref> the [[Yayoi period]] saw the introduction of innovative practices including [[Paddy field|wet-rice farming]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Road of rice plant|url=http://www.kahaku.go.jp/special/past/japanese/ipix/5/5-25.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430010530/http://www.kahaku.go.jp/special/past/japanese/ipix/5/5-25.html|archivedate=April 30, 2011|publisher=[[National Science Museum of Japan]]|accessdate=January 15, 2011}}</ref> a new [[Yayoi pottery|style of pottery]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Kofun Period (ca. 300–710)|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kofu/hd_kofu.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=August 28, 2020|archive-date=February 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221210151/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kofu/hd_kofu.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and metallurgy from China and Korea.<ref>{{cite web|title=Yayoi Culture (ca. 300 B.C.–300 A.D.)|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=August 28, 2020|archive-date=January 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104161858/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> According to legend, [[Emperor Jimmu]] (descendant of [[Amaterasu]]) founded a kingdom in central Japan in 660 BC, beginning [[Imperial House of Japan|a continuous imperial line]].<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last=Hendry |first=Joy |url=https://archive.org/details/understandingjap00hend |title=Understanding Japanese Society |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-136-27918-8 |page=9 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese ''[[Book of Han]]'', completed in 111 AD, where it is described as having a hundred small kingdoms. A century later, the ''[[Book of Wei]]'' records that the kingdom of [[Yamatai]] (which may refer to [[Yamato Kingship|Yamato]]) unified most of these kingdoms.<ref>{{cite book |last=Henshall |first=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vD76fF5hqf8C |title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-230-34662-8 |pages=14&ndash;16}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> [[Buddhism]] was introduced to Japan from [[Baekje]] (a Korean kingdom) in 552, but the development of [[Buddhism in Japan|Japanese Buddhism]] was primarily influenced by China.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Delmer M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3_6lp8IOK8C&pg=PA141 |title=The Cambridge History of Japan |last2=Hall |first2=John Whitney |last3=Jansen |first3=Marius B. |last4=Shively |first4=Donald H. |last5=Twitchett |first5=Denis |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-521-22352-2 |volume=1 |pages=140–149, 275}}</ref> Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class, including figures like [[Prince Shōtoku]], and gained widespread acceptance beginning in the [[Asuka period]] (592–710).<ref>{{cite book |last=Beasley |first=William Gerald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AivK7yMICgC&pg=PA42 |title=The Japanese Experience: A Short History of Japan |publisher=University of California Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-520-22560-2 |page=42}}</ref>

In 645, the government led by [[Emperor Tenji|Prince Naka no Ōe]] and [[Fujiwara no Kamatari]] devised and implemented the far-reaching [[Taika Reform]]s. The Reform began with land reform, based on Confucian ideas and [[Chinese philosophy|philosophies]] from [[China]].<ref name="Totman 2005">{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref> It nationalized all land in Japan, to be [[Equal-field system|distributed equally]] among cultivators, and ordered the compilation of a household registry as the basis for a new system of taxation.<ref name="Sansom" /> The true aim of the reforms was to bring about greater centralization and to enhance the power of the imperial court, which was also based on the governmental structure of China. Envoys and students were dispatched to China to learn about Chinese writing, politics, art, and religion.<ref name = "Totman 2005"/> The [[Jinshin War]] of 672, a bloody conflict between [[Prince Ōama]] and his nephew [[Prince Ōtomo]], became a major catalyst for further administrative reforms.<ref name="ritsuryo" /> These reforms culminated with the promulgation of the [[Taihō Code]], which consolidated existing statutes and established the structure of the central and subordinate local governments.<ref name="Sansom">{{cite book|first=George|last=Sansom|year=1961|title=A History of Japan: 1334–1615|publisher=Stanford University Press|pages=57, 68|isbn=978-0-8047-0525-7|url={{Google books|0syC6L77dpAC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} }}</ref> These legal reforms created the {{transliteration|ja|[[ritsuryō]]}} state, a system of Chinese-style centralized government that remained in place for half a millennium.<ref name="ritsuryo">{{cite book|first=Conrad|last=Totman|year=2002|title=A History of Japan|publisher=Blackwell|pages=107–108|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref>

The [[Nara period]] (710–784) marked the emergence of a Japanese state centered on the Imperial Court in [[Heijō Palace|Heijō-kyō]] (modern [[Nara, Nara|Nara]]). The period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent [[Japanese literature|literary culture]] with the completion of the {{transliteration|ja|[[Kojiki]]}} (712) and {{transliteration|ja|[[Nihon Shoki]]}} (720), as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired artwork and [[Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara|architecture]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Conrad|last=Totman|year=2002|title=A History of Japan|publisher=Blackwell|pages=64–79|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="Courtiers">{{cite book |author=Henshall, Kenneth |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p5OL-k7A4mAC&pg=PT40 |title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-230-36918-4 |pages=24–52 |chapter=Of Courtiers and Warriors: Early and Medieval History (710–1600)}}</ref> A [[735–737 Japanese smallpox epidemic|smallpox epidemic in 735–737]] is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population.<ref name="Courtiers" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Hays |first=J.N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GyE8Qt-kS1kC&pg=PA31 |title=Epidemics and pandemics: their impacts on human history |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-85109-658-9 |page=31}}</ref> In 784, [[Emperor Kanmu]] moved the capital, settling on [[Heian-kyō]] (modern-day [[Kyoto]]) in 794.<ref name="Courtiers" /> This marked the beginning of the [[Heian period]] (794–1185), during which a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged. [[Murasaki Shikibu]]'s ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'' and the lyrics of Japan's national anthem {{transliteration|ja|"[[Kimigayo]]"}} were written during this time.<ref>{{cite book|first=Conrad|last=Totman|year=2002|title=A History of Japan|publisher=Blackwell|pages=79–87, 122–123|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref>

===Feudal era===
[[File:Mokoshuraiekotoba.jpg|thumb|Japanese [[samurai]] boarding a Mongol vessel during the [[Mongol invasions of Japan]], depicted in the {{transliteration|ja|[[Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba]]}}, 1293]]
[[File:The Three Unifiers of Japan.jpg|thumb|Three unifiers of Japan. Left to right: [[Oda Nobunaga]], [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] and [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]].]]

Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors, the [[samurai]].<ref name="Leibo2015">{{cite book|first=Steven A.|last=Leibo|title=East and Southeast Asia 2015–2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1yX-CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA99|year=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4758-1875-8|pages=99–104}}</ref> In 1185, following the defeat of the [[Taira clan]] by the [[Minamoto clan]] in the [[Genpei War]], samurai [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] established a [[military government]] at [[Kamakura]].<ref>{{cite book|title=World Monarchies and Dynasties|last=Middleton|first=John|year=2015|page=616|publisher=Routledge}}</ref> After Yoritomo's death, the [[Hōjō clan]] came to power as regents for the {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}}.<ref name="Courtiers" /> The [[Zen]] school of Buddhism was introduced from China in the [[Kamakura period]] (1185–1333) and became popular among the samurai class.<ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|pages=106–112|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref> The [[Kamakura shogunate]] repelled [[Mongol invasions of Japan|Mongol invasions]] in 1274 and 1281 but was eventually [[Kenmu Restoration|overthrown]] by [[Emperor Go-Daigo]].<ref name="Courtiers" /> Go-Daigo was defeated by [[Ashikaga Takauji]] in 1336, beginning the [[Muromachi period]] (1336–1573).<ref name="Shirane2012a">{{cite book|first=Haruo|last=Shirane|title=Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E8qq6zhhM5kC&pg=PA409|year=2012|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-15730-8|page=409}}</ref> The succeeding [[Ashikaga shogunate]] failed to control the feudal warlords ({{transliteration|ja|daimyō}}) and [[Ōnin War|a civil war]] began in 1467, opening the century-long [[Sengoku period]] ("Warring States").<ref>{{cite book|first=George|last=Sansom|year=1961|title=A History of Japan: 1334–1615|publisher=Stanford University Press|pages=42, 217|isbn=978-0-8047-0525-7|url={{Google books|0syC6L77dpAC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} }}</ref>

During the 16th century, Portuguese traders and [[Jesuit]] missionaries reached Japan for the first time, initiating direct [[Nanban trade|commercial]] and [[Nanban art|cultural]] exchange between Japan and the West.<ref name="Courtiers" /><ref>{{cite book|title=Tanegashima|year=2005|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=0-203-47957-2|last=Lidin|first=Olof}}</ref> [[Oda Nobunaga]] used European technology and firearms to conquer many other {{transliteration|ja|daimyō}};<ref>{{cite journal|title=The impact of firearms on Japanese warfare, 1543–98|last=Brown|first=Delmer|journal=The Far Eastern Quarterly|volume=7|issue=3|date=May 1948|doi=10.2307/2048846|pages=236–253}}</ref> his consolidation of power began what was known as the [[Azuchi–Momoyama period]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://collections.dma.org/essay/dAg2pDvx|publisher=Dallas Museum of Art|title=Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573–1603)|accessdate=October 3, 2020|archive-date=November 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106110854/https://collections.dma.org/essay/dAg2pDvx|url-status=live}}</ref> After [[Honnō-ji Incident|the death of Nobunaga]] in 1582, his successor, [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], unified the nation in the early 1590s and launched [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98)|two unsuccessful invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597]].<ref name="Courtiers" />

[[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] served as [[Council of Five Elders|regent]] for Hideyoshi's son [[Toyotomi Hideyori]] and used his position to gain political and military support.<ref name="Turnbull2011">{{cite book|last=Turnbull|first=Stephen|title=Toyotomi Hideyoshi|year=2011|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-84603-960-7|page=61|url={{Google books|x8govgAACAAJ|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref> When open war broke out, Ieyasu defeated rival clans in the [[Battle of Sekigahara]] in 1600. He was appointed {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}} by [[Emperor Go-Yōzei]] in 1603 and established the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] at [[Edo (Tokyo)|Edo]] (modern Tokyo).<ref name="Closed">{{cite book|chapter=The Closed Country: the Tokugawa Period (1600–1868)|pages=53–74|author=Henshall, Kenneth|title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower|isbn=978-0-230-36918-4|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2012}}</ref> The shogunate enacted measures including {{transliteration|ja|[[buke shohatto]]}}, as a code of conduct to control the autonomous {{transliteration|ja|daimyō}},<ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|pages=142–143|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref> and in 1639 the isolationist {{transliteration|ja|[[sakoku]]}} ("closed country") policy that spanned the two and a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as the [[Edo period]] (1603–1868).<ref name="Closed" /><ref>{{cite journal|last=Toby|first=Ronald P.|title=Reopening the Question of Sakoku: Diplomacy in the Legitimation of the Tokugawa Bakufu|journal=Journal of Japanese Studies|year=1977|volume=3|issue=2|pages=323–363|doi=10.2307/132115|jstor=132115}}</ref> Modern Japan's economic growth began in this period, resulting in [[Kaidō|roads]] and water transportation routes, as well as financial instruments such as [[futures contract]]s, banking and insurance of the [[Osaka rice brokers]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy|author=Howe, Christopher|publisher=Hurst & Company|year=1996|isbn=978-1-85065-538-1|pages=58ff|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XkCRcv0iXn0C}}</ref> The study of Western sciences ({{transliteration|ja|[[rangaku]]}}) continued through contact with the Dutch enclave in [[Nagasaki]].<ref name="Closed" /> The Edo period gave rise to {{transliteration|ja|[[kokugaku]]}} ("national studies"), the study of Japan by the Japanese.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ohtsu|first1=M.|last2=Imanari|first2=Tomio|title=Japanese National Values and Confucianism|journal=Japanese Economy|year=1999|volume=27|issue=2|pages=45–59|doi=10.2753/JES1097-203X270245}}</ref>

===Modern era===
{{multiple image
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 | image1 = Meiji tenno1.jpg
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 | caption1 =  {{nihongo|[[Emperor Meiji]]|明治天皇|Meiji-tennō}}; 1852–1912

 | image2 = Japanese Empire (orthographic projection).svg
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 | caption2 = The [[Empire of Japan]] and its influence, 1942
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The [[United States Navy]] sent Commodore [[Matthew C. Perry]] to force the opening of Japan to the outside world. Arriving at [[Uraga, Kanagawa|Uraga]] with four "[[Black Ships]]" in July 1853, the [[Perry Expedition]] resulted in the March 1854 [[Convention of Kanagawa]].<ref name="Closed"/> Subsequent similar treaties with other Western countries brought economic and political crises.<ref name="Closed"/> The resignation of the {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}} led to the [[Boshin War]] and the establishment of a [[Abolition of the han system|centralized state]] nominally unified under the emperor (the [[Meiji Restoration]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|pages=289–296|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref> Adopting Western political, judicial, and military institutions, the [[Cabinet of Japan|Cabinet]] organized the [[Privy Council (Japan)|Privy Council]], introduced the [[Meiji Constitution]] (November 29, 1890), and assembled the [[National Diet|Imperial Diet]].<ref name=modernnation>{{cite book|chapter=Building a Modern Nation: the Meiji Period (1868–1912)|pages=75–107|author=Henshall, Kenneth|title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower|isbn=978-0-230-36918-4|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2012}}</ref> During the [[Meiji period]] (1868–1912), the [[Empire of Japan]] emerged as the most developed state in [[Asia]] and as an industrialized world power that pursued military conflict to expand its sphere of influence.<ref>{{cite book|last=McCargo|first=Duncan|title=Contemporary Japan|year=2000|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-333-71000-5|pages=18–19|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8au8QgAACAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Political Economy of Growth|last=Baran|first=Paul|publisher=Monthly Review Press|year=1962|isbn=|page=160}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|pages=312–314|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref> After victories in the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] (1894–1895) and the [[Russo-Japanese War]] (1904–1905), Japan gained control of Taiwan, Korea and the southern half of [[Sakhalin]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Matsusaka|first=Y. Tak|title=Companion to Japanese History|year=2009|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-1690-9|pages=224–241|editor=Tsutsui, William M.|chapter=The Japanese Empire}}</ref><ref name=modernnation/> and annexed Korea in 1910.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=October 15, 2019 |title=Japanese Colonial Ideology In Korea (1905&ndash;1945)|journal=The Yale Review of International Studies |url=https://yris.yira.org/essays/japanese-colonial-ideology-in-korea-1905-1945/S|author=Yi Wei}}</ref> The Japanese population doubled from 35&nbsp;million in 1873 to 70&nbsp;million by 1935, with a significant shift to urbanization.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hiroshi|first=Shimizu|title=Japan and Singapore in the world economy: Japan's economic advance into Singapore, 1870–1965|year=1999|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-19236-1|author2=Hitoshi, Hirakawa|page=17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7k0F8YoZ6P0C}}</ref><ref name=excesses>{{cite book|chapter=The Excesses of Ambition: the Pacific War and its Lead-Up|pages=108–141|author=Henshall, Kenneth|title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower|isbn=978-0-230-36918-4|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2012}}</ref>

The early 20th century saw a period of [[Taishō period|Taishō democracy]] (1912–1926) overshadowed by increasing [[expansionism]] and [[Japanese militarism|militarization]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Pursuit of Power in Modern Japan 1825–1995|chapter=Taisho Democracy and the First World War|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205890.001.0001|last=Tsuzuki|first=Chushichi|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-820589-0}}</ref><ref name=ramesh>{{cite book|chapter=The Taisho Period (1912–1926): Transition from Democracy to a Military Economy|title=China's Economic Rise|last=Ramesh|first=S|pages=173–209|isbn=978-3-030-49811-5|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2020}}</ref> [[Japan during World War I|World War I]] allowed Japan, which joined the side of the victorious [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], to capture [[German colonial empire|German possessions]] in the [[Pacific]] and China in [[Treaty of Versailles|1920]].<ref name=ramesh/> The 1920s saw a political shift towards [[Statism in Shōwa Japan|statism]], a period of lawlessness following the 1923 [[Great Tokyo Earthquake]], the passing of [[Peace Preservation Law|laws against political dissent]], and a series of [[May 15 Incident|attempted coups]].<ref name=excesses/><ref>{{cite book|title=Nationalism Today: Extreme Political Movements around the World|page=20|editor=Burnett, M. Troy|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|page=268|title=Embracing 'Asia' in China and Japan|year=2018|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|last=Weber|first=Torsten}}</ref> This process accelerated during the 1930s, spawning several radical nationalist groups that shared a hostility to liberal democracy and a dedication to expansion in Asia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Louise |chapter=The Breakdown in Democracy in 1930s Japan |date=2024 |title=When Democracy Breaks |pages=108–141 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-776078-3}}</ref> In 1931, Japan [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|invaded China and occupied Manchuria]], which led to the establishment of [[puppet state]] of [[Manchukuo]] in 1932; following [[Lytton Report|international condemnation of the occupation]], it resigned from the [[League of Nations]] in 1933.<ref name="Inc1945">{{cite magazine|title=The Japanese Nation: It has a history of feudalism, nationalism, war and now defeat|magazine=LIFE|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t0kEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA109|date=September 17, 1945|volume=19|issue=12|pages=109–111}}</ref> In 1936, Japan signed the [[Anti-Comintern Pact]] with [[Nazi Germany]]; the 1940 [[Tripartite Pact]] made it one of the [[Axis powers]].<ref name=excesses/>
[[File:Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Instrument of Surrender, officially ending the Second World War.jpg|thumb|Japan's imperial ambitions ended on September 2, 1945, with the country's surrender to the Allies.]]
The Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] (1937–1945).<ref name="Paine2012">{{cite book|first=S. C. M.|last=Paine|title=The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bAYgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA123|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-56087-0|pages=123–125}}</ref> In 1940, the Empire [[Japanese invasion of French Indochina|invaded French Indochina]], after which the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan.<ref name=excesses/><ref>{{cite book| first=Roland H. Jr. |last=Worth|title=No Choice But War: the United States Embargo Against Japan and the Eruption of War in the Pacific|publisher=McFarland|year=1995|pages=56, 86|isbn=978-0-7864-0141-3|url={{Google books|ezBnAAAAMAAJ|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} }}</ref> On December 7–8, 1941, Japanese forces carried out surprise [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacks on Pearl Harbor]], as well as on British forces in [[Battle of Malaya|Malaya]], [[Bombing of Singapore (1941)|Singapore]], and [[Battle of Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], among others, beginning [[Pacific War|World War II in the Pacific]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Introduction: December 7/8, 1941|last1=Bailey|first1=Beth|last2=Farber|first2=David|pages=1–8|title=Beyond Pearl Harbor: A Pacific History|year=2019|publisher=University Press of Kansas}}</ref> Throughout areas occupied by Japan during the war, numerous abuses were committed against local inhabitants, with many forced into [[Comfort women|sexual slavery]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Yōko|first=Hayashi|title=Issues Surrounding the Wartime "Comfort Women"|journal=Review of Japanese Culture and Society|year=1999–2000|volume=11/12|issue=Special Issue|pages=54–65|jstor=42800182}}</ref> After [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] victories during the next four years, which culminated in the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria]] and the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] in 1945, Japan agreed to [[Surrender of Japan|an unconditional surrender]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pape|first=Robert A.|title=Why Japan Surrendered|journal=International Security|year=1993|volume=18|issue=2|pages=154–201|doi=10.2307/2539100}}</ref> The war cost Japan millions of lives and [[Territorial conquests of the Empire of Japan|its colonies]], including ''[[de jure]]'' parts of Japan such as [[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]], [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan]], [[Karafuto Prefecture|Karafuto]], and the [[Kuril Islands|Kurils]].<ref name=excesses/> The Allies (led by the United States) repatriated millions of [[Japanese diaspora|Japanese settlers]] from their former colonies and military camps throughout Asia, largely eliminating the [[Empire of Japan]] and its influence over the territories it conquered.<ref>{{cite book|last=Watt|first=Lori|title=When Empire Comes Home: Repatriation and Reintegration in Postwar Japan|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-674-05598-8|pages=1–4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_F3AN6x6AQ8C}}</ref><ref name=phoenix/> The Allies convened the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]] to prosecute Japanese leaders except the Emperor<ref>{{Cite web |last=Frank|first=Richard|date=August 26, 2020 |title=The Fate of Emperor Hirohito |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/what-happened-to-emperor-hirohito |publisher=The National WWII Museum |archivedate=May 9, 2024 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509105645/https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/what-happened-to-emperor-hirohito |url-status=live }}</ref> for [[Japanese war crimes]].<ref name=phoenix>{{cite book|chapter=A Phoenix from the Ashes: Postwar Successes and Beyond|pages=142–180|author=Henshall, Kenneth|title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower|isbn=978-0-230-36918-4|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2012}}</ref>

In 1947, Japan adopted [[Constitution of Japan|a new constitution]] emphasizing liberal democratic practices.<ref name=phoenix/> The [[Occupation of Japan|Allied occupation]] ended with the [[Treaty of San Francisco]] in 1952,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/03/06/national/52-coup-plot-bid-to-rearm-japan-cia/|title='52 coup plot bid to rearm Japan: CIA|first=Joseph|last=Coleman|date=March 6, 2007|newspaper=The Japan Times|archive-date=April 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411091335/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/03/06/national/52-coup-plot-bid-to-rearm-japan-cia/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Japan was granted membership in the [[United Nations]] in 1956.<ref name=phoenix/> [[Japanese economic miracle|A period of record growth]] propelled Japan to become the world's [[List of countries by largest historical GDP|second-largest economy at that time]];<ref name=phoenix/> this ended in the mid-1990s after the popping of [[Japanese asset price bubble|an asset price bubble]], beginning the "[[Lost Decade (Japan)|Lost Decade]]".<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/1467-9701.00522|title=The bubble and the lost decade|last1=Saxonhouse|first1=Gary|last2=Stern|first2=Robert|journal=The World Economy|year=2003|pages=267–281|volume=26|issue=3|hdl=2027.42/71597|hdl-access=free}}</ref> In 2011, Japan suffered one of the largest earthquakes in its recorded history—the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|Tōhoku earthquake]]—triggering the [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster]].<ref name="nytimes-tsunami">{{cite news|last1=Fackler|first1=Martin|author1-link=Martin Fackler (journalist)|last2=Drew|first2= Kevin|title=Devastation as Tsunami Crashes Into Japan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12japan.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12japan.html |archive-date=January 3, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 11, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On May 1, 2019, after the historic [[abdication of Emperor Akihito]], his son [[Naruhito]] became Emperor, beginning the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Reiwa]]}} era.<ref>{{cite web|title=Japan's emperor thanks country, prays for peace before abdication|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Japan-s-Reiwa-era/Japan-s-emperor-thanks-country-prays-for-peace-before-abdication|website=Nikkei Asian Review|date=April 30, 2019|archivedate=May 11, 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511172939/https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Japan-s-Reiwa-era/Japan-s-emperor-thanks-country-prays-for-peace-before-abdication|url-status=live}}</ref>