Japan Studies: Japanese Time Periods

Prehistoric Japan   --   Ancient Japan  -  library searches:

• Prehistoric to about 13000 BC:  Japanese Paleolithic Period  ==  旧石器時代 
  • (alternative English spellings: Palaeolithic, Palæolithic, Paleolithic)
• About 13000 BC - 300 BC:  Jōmon Period ==  縄文時代
• 300 BC - 250 AD:  Yayoi Period  ==   弥生時代

Classical Japan  -  library searches:

• AD 250 - 710: Yamato Period  ==  大和時代 
  • 250 - 538:   Kofun Period  ==  古墳時代 
    • This era is also known as: ● Tumulus Period and  ● Tomb Period.
  • 538 - 710:  Asuka Period  ==  飛鳥時代
• 710 - 784:  Nara Period  ==  奈良時代
• 794 - 1185:  Heian Period  ==  平安時代

Feudal Japan  --  Medieval Japan  -  library searches:

• 1185 - 1333:  Kamakura Period  ==  鎌倉時代
• 1333 - 1392:  Northern and Southern Courts Period == Nanboku-chō Period == 南北朝時代
• 1392 - 1573:  Muromachi Period  ==  室町時代
  • also known as:  ● Ashikaga Period  ● Ashikaga Shogunate (足利幕府),  and  ● Muromachi Shogunate (室町幕府)
• 1568 – 1603:  Azuchi–Momoyama period  ==  安土桃山時
• 1467 - 1615: Sengoku period  ==  戦国時代   (decline of the feudal system and transition into early modern Japan)

Early modern Japan  -  library searches:

• 1603 - 1868:  Edo Period  ==  江戸時代
  • also known as:  ● Edo Shogunate (江戸幕府),  ● Tokugawa Period (徳川時代), and  ● Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府).
• 1866 - 1868: Meiji Restoration  ==  明治維新

Modern Japan  -  library searches:

• 1868 - 1912:  Meiji  ==  明治
  • alternate searches:  ● Meiji period  or  ● Meiji era  ==  明治時代
• 1912 - 1926:  Taishō  ==  大正 
  • alternate search: ● Taishō Period   ==  大正時代
• 1989 - 2019:  Heisei   ==  平成 
  • alternate search : ● Heisei period  or  ● Heisei era  == 平成時代 
• 2019 - present:  Reiwa  ==  令和