In this episode, we will complete our look at the premodern period by examining the long peace and relative prosperity under the Tokugawa shoguns. This sets us up to examine Japan’s “opening” to the West in the mid-nineteenth century in the next episode, and the proactive ways that Japan engaged with this new challenge.

This first class will be an overview of premodern Japanese history, from the Neolithic (Jōmon) period to the end of the period of samurai rule in the mid-nineteenth century. It will prepare us to talk about modern history in future classes. Unlike those classes, this week we will not focus on details, only on the broad contours of history.

We will cover the following periods of Japanese history:

Jōmon c.15,000BP-3000BP*

Yayoi 3000BP-250

Kofun 250–538

Asuka 538–710

Nara 710–794

Heian 794–1185

Kamakura 1185–1333

Muromachi 1333–1568

Azuchi–Momoyama 1568–1600

*BP: Before the present.