Periods of Japanese history
Fifteen periods, from the Jomon to the Reiwa era, each with its timeline, politics, society, culture and legacy.
Jomon periodJōmon jidaiTwelve thousand years of pottery, shell mounds and settled foragers14000 BCE–300 BCEYayoi periodYayoi jidaiPaddy fields, bronze bells and the first kingdoms of Wa300 BCE–250Kofun periodKofun jidaiMonumental tombs and the making of a Yamato state250–538Asuka periodAsuka jidaiFrom clan alliance to imperial state538–710Nara periodNara jidaiA Tang-style capital, state Buddhism and the first histories710–794Heian periodHeian jidaiThe capital of peace and the flowering of court culture794–1185Kamakura periodKamakura jidaiWarrior government, Mongol invasions and new Buddhist paths1185–1333Muromachi periodMuromachi jidaiAshikaga shōguns, Zen aesthetics and the road to civil war1336–1573Azuchi-Momoyama periodAzuchi-Momoyama jidaiThe great unifiers, golden castles and the art of tea1573–1603Edo periodEdo jidaiTwo and a half centuries of peace under the Tokugawa1603–1868Meiji periodMeiji jidaiFrom feudal realm to modern nation-state in one reign1868–1912Taisho periodTaishō jidaiBetween Meiji and militarism: a brief democratic opening1912–1926Showa periodShōwa jidaiSixty-two years from militarism and defeat to affluence1926–1989Heisei periodHeisei jidaiThree decades of stagnation, disaster and quiet transformation1989–2019Reiwa periodReiwa jidaiThe era of Emperor Naruhito, named from Japan's oldest poetry2019–present