Key Events

• ca. 1000

  Lady Murasaki, a high-born lady-in-waiting, writes the Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji). This lengthy, poignant description of court life, romance, and intrigue, frequently interspersed with poetry, is often considered the world’s first novel.

• ca. 1050

  The name Heiankyō is gradually changed to Kyoto, meaning “capital”.

• 1053

  Byōdōin temple (in Kyoto Prefecture), considered the finest surviving example of Fujiwara-period (894–1185) architecture, is established by the regent Fujiwara Yorimichi (992–1074) from a converted private villa. Inside the temple’s Phoenix Hall is a gilded wood statue of Amida Buddha by Jōchō (died 1057), the greatest sculptor of the period who advances the multiblock construction method (yosegi zukuri). Unlike earlier statues carved from single blocks of wood (ichiboku zukuri), those made of several pieces can be larger, assume a wider variety of postures, and can be built on an assembly-line system.

• 1087

  Emperor Shirakawa (r. 1072–86) abdicates the throne and becomes a Buddhist monk. Freed from the throne’s onerous ritual obligations, Shirakawa is able to dominate his successor and the government as the first of a series of “cloistered emperors” (the insei system).

• 1156

  The Battle of the Hōgen Era is fought in the capital between rival court factions, allied with various members of the Minamoto (also known as Genji) and Taira (also called Heike) warrior clans. This battle is the first in a series of armed struggles that result in the collapse of Fujiwara control over the court and the transfer of power to military dictators.

• 1160

  The Battle of the Heiji Era pits the Minamoto military clan against the Taira, as each fights in support of rival court factions. The Taira succeed in defeating the Minamoto and supplant the Fujiwara family as the dominant power at court. However, their victory is short-lived, and they are challenged again by the next generation of Minamoto warriors.

• 1175

  The Buddhist monk Hōnen (1133–1212) spreads the Pure Land school (Jōdoshū) among the population at large. Its appeal lies in the promise of salvation by Amida Buddha to all those who sincerely seek his assistance by calling out his name.

• 1180–85

  The Gempei War marks the culmination of the competition between the contending warrior clans, the Taira and the Minamoto. The Minamoto succeed in brutally defeating the Taira after the naval battle at Dannoura.

• 1180s

  The Buddhist monk Saigyō (1118–1190), one of Japan’s most talented poets, compiles a three-volume collection of his own compositions, entitled Sankashū (The Mountain Hermitage). Saigyō’s poems, which often have a melancholy tone, combine simplicity with deep emotion and evocative descriptions of nature, observed during the monk’s several long journeys on foot around Japan.

• 1181

  Reconstruction work begins on Tōdaiji temple in Nara, destroyed by the Taira in retaliation for the monks’ armed support of the Minamoto in the preceding years’ wars. Two of the most accomplished sculptors of the early Kamakura period, Unkei (1151–1223) and Kaikei (active 1183–1223), participate in this large project.

• 1191

  The monk Eisai (1141–1215) returns to Japan from China and begins teaching Zen Buddhism. Based in Kamakura, Eisai’s emphasis on meditation, restraint, and self-reliance appeals to the warrior class. While this is not the first time Zen is taught in Japan, it marks the beginning of its great popularity and influence.

• 1192

  Emperor Go-Toba (r. 1183–98) names Minamoto Yoritomo (1147–1199) Seii tai shōgun (“barbarian-quelling general”), legitimizing his military dictatorship, based in Kamakura, on the coast east of modern Tokyo. The establishment of the bakufu, or government by warrior chieftains (shogun) or their regents, creates a binary system whereby emperors reign but shoguns rule. This system endures for the next 700 years, a time of dramatic transformation in the politics, society, and culture of Japan.

• 1212

  The courtier-turned-recluse Kamo no Chōmei (1155–1216) completes the Hōjōki (The Ten-Foot Square Hut), which exemplifies the spirit of the new military age. In this account of his personal misfortunes and subsequent search for solitude and salvation in the Pure Land of Amida, Chōmei gives a detailed description of the famine of 1181 (in only two months, more than 42,300 people died of starvation in the capital). His documentation of the most pitiful and repellent aspects of reality, reflecting the warrior’s honest and direct outlook on life, ushers in a period of unprecedented realism.

• early 13th century

  The Heike monogatari (The Tale of the Heike) is written and becomes one of the most popular war tales of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. Through vivid descriptions of battles and military exploits, the saga of the Taira clan is told from the time of the Battle of the Heiji Era to the end of the Gempei War (1160–85). Emphasizing the eventual pathos of the Taira’s fate, the tale has a prominent Buddhist tone, lamenting the fleeting quality of life. Although the text is thought to have been written by a courtier a few decades after the main events transpired, it is transmitted by itinerant blind storytellers who recite the narrative from memory to the accompaniment of a lute.

• 1274 and 1281

  The Mongols, after establishing the largest land empire in world history, invade northern Kyūshū twice with the help of Korean forces. Each time, the valiant efforts of Japanese soldiers are decisively assisted by well-timed typhoons (kamikaze), which scatter the invading ships and force them to retreat. Despite these victories, however, the Kamakura government is rendered nearly bankrupt by the construction of fortifications along the coast.

• 1330s

  Shōin architectural style begins to be prevalent in the private quarters of Zen monasteries. Initially a “study” consisting of shelves and an alcove near a window, with tatami mats and sliding screen panels, this form of interior design later becomes the basis of the standard pattern for domestic architecture.

• 1333

  Emperor Go-Daigo (1288–1339) and his supporters overthrow the Kamakura shogunate in an attempt to restore political power to the throne, in what becomes known as the Kenmu Restoration.

• 1336

  A disgruntled ally of Emperor Go-Daigo, the warrior Ashikaga Takauji (1305–1358), usurps control from the sovereign, ending his short-lived imperial revival. Takauji drives Go-Daigo from Kyoto and enthrones an emperor of his own choosing. Meanwhile, Go-Daigo travels south and takes refuge in Yoshino. There he establishes a Southern Court, which rules in competition with Takauji’s Northern Court in Kyoto until 1392, in a period known as Nanbokuchō.

• 1338

  Emperor Kōmyō names Ashikaga Takauji as shogun. The Ashikaga shoguns, however, never succeed in consolidating their authority as effectively as did the Minamoto. The era of their reign, known as the Muromachi period, named after the district in Kyoto where their headquarters are located, is characterized by frequent warfare and political intrigue between contending provincial warlords (daimyo).