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Japan became a country in 11,660 B.C. In 794 B.C. Japan learned to grow rice from Korea and China near the end of the Jomon period. They also settled in communities near the rice paddles.

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When the leaders of these groups died, their relatives buried them in large tombs called kofun that were often shaped like keyholes. They also learned how to make tools and weapons out of bronze and iron.

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When the leaders of these groups died, their relatives buried them in large tombs called kofun that were often shaped like keyholes. They also learned how to make tools and weapons out of bronze and iron.

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In 794, the imperial household moved to a new capital city called Heian-kyo. The male heads of noble families assisted the emperor by administering the government, collecting tax revenues, maintaining small armies, and judging legal disputes. During the 700's, the government also began to allow tax exemptions to those who developed new lands for growing rice.

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By the 1100's, two large military clans—the Taira and the Minamoto—had armies of samurai under their command. In the late 1100's, the Taira and Minamoto clashed in a series of battles for power. The Minamoto finally emerged victorious in the 1180's. The Minamoto established a new military government headquartered in Kamakura, a town in eastern Japan far from Heian-kyo.

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In 1603, the emperor gave Tokugawa Ieyasu the title of shogun. For the next 265 years, leaders of the Tokugawa house governed Japan as shogun. The Tokugawa shogun presided over a delicately balanced system of authority. The shogun directly controlled about 25 percent of the farmland in the country. He also licensed foreign trade, operated gold mines, and ruled the major cities, including Kyoto, Osaka, and the shogun's capital—Edo, which is now Tokyo.

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By the early 1600's, Japan was also home to five groups of foreigners: the Portuguese, Spanish, English, Dutch, and Chinese. Their presence disturbed the shogun, in part because the Tokugawa did not support Christianity, the religion of most of the outsiders. In addition, the shogun wanted to control Japan's international trade to prevent any daimyo from gaining too much wealth and power through trade with the outsiders.

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For these reasons, the Tokugawa had most foreigners expelled from Japan during the 1630's under orders known as seclusion edicts. Only a few Dutch and Chinese traders were allowed to remain in Japan to conduct their business. But they could live only in the distant city of Nagasaki. That town served as Japan's sole window on the European world until the mid-1800's.

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At this time, Japan laid the foundation for its future economic growth. People in all walks of life developed a strong work ethic and devotion to their craft and duty. Hard-working farmers in the countryside and merchants in the cities saved money and learned to invest it wisely. Trading firms in the large cities developed skills in finance, organization, and personnel management.

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Entertainment and the arts also flourished, particularly in Edo. In the 1700's, Edo became one of the world's largest cities. It developed thriving industries to entertain the many samurai and merchants living there. Entertainers perfected the form of stage drama called kabuki and the puppet theater called bunraku. The entertainment districts, called ukiyo (the floating world), became the subjects of a new Japanese art style named ukiyo-e. Colorful wood-block prints in this style depicted the men and women of the entertainment districts.

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But the Tokugawa era was also a time of critical difficulties. The military government grew dull and strict. It discouraged individual freedoms and slowed commercial development. Government financial problems led to cuts in the income of samurai. Their declining incomes added to the samurai's growing dissatisfaction with Japan's rigid social structure, which prevented them from rising to better stations in life.

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Finally, poor harvests and harsh lords drove many peasants to join together in protest. In 1853, renewed contact with the West led directly to sweeping changes. That year, a small fleet of American naval vessels sailed into the bay south of Edo. The fleet's commander, Matthew C. Perry asked Japan to open its ports to international trade. The shogun rebuffed Perry, but Perry returned in 1854.

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After many discussions, Japan allowed the United States to station a negotiator, Townsend Harris, in the small port of Shimoda, far from Edo. In 1858, Harris succeeded in his negotiations on behalf of the United States, and Japan signed a treaty of commerce. The treaty permitted trade between the two countries, called for opening five Japanese ports to international commerce, and gave the United States the right of extraterritoriality. This right enabled American citizens to be governed only by U.S. laws while they were on Japanese soil.

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In 1867, a small group of samurai and aristocrats pressured the shogun into resigning and restored the emperor to his previous position as head of the government. The revolutionaries disapproved of the trade treaties and wanted to increase Japan's security and well-being in what they considered a dangerous and competitive world. They acted without the support of the Japanese people.

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On Jan. 3, 1868, the emperor officially announced the return of imperial rule. The emperor, a teenager named Mutsuhito, adopted Meiji, meaning enlightened rule, as the name for the era of his reign. He reigned from 1868 to 1912, a span of time known as the Meiji era. The revolution that placed him in power is known as the Meiji Restoration.On Jan. 3, 1868, the emperor officially announced the return of imperial rule.

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In due course, the Meiji government's emphasis on military might and the educational system emphasis on Japanese superiority led to war. In 1895, Japan began to build an empire like those of Britain and other European powers. Three Asian regions were the initial targets of Japanese expansion: Taiwan, Korea, and Manchuria.

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They beat China in a short  war to consume Taiwan. Korea fell under Japanese control in 1910, following a bitterly fought war between Japan and Russia in 1905. The Russo-Japanese War also gave Japan a small foothold in Manchuria. There, Japan's army of occupation gradually expanded its control.

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World War I began in 1914. Japan, as an ally of Britain, at once declared war on Germany. The war gave Japan an opportunity to enlarge its empire slightly. More importantly, the war gave Japan an economic advantage in India and the rest of Asia. As Western nations became preoccupied with the war in Europe, they stopped their investment and trade in the East. Japanese exporters and manufacturers took that opportunity to move into Indian and other Asian markets. The zaibatsu expanded, and Japan's economy boomed.

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The 1920's were a time of great difficulties for Japan. After the war, Western nations re-established trade with India and the rest of Asia, and the Japanese economy suffered. In 1923, a terrible earthquake struck the Tokyo-Yokohama area and led to the deaths of about 143,000 people. A worldwide depression during the late 1920s further hurt the Japanese economy. About this time, China began to strengthen its administration in Manchuria. Japan feared it might lose the rights it gained in the Russo-Japanese War.

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Japan's prime minister and other government leaders could not deal with the problems troubling Japan. Officers in the Japanese army decided to take matters into their own hands. In 1931, the Japanese occupation force took control of Manchuria. At home, nationalist groups began to threaten members of the government who opposed the army. On May 15, 1932, nationalists assassinated Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai.

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By 1936, Japan's military leaders were in firm control of the government. As Japanese armies marched across China and into Southeast Asia, the United States grew increasingly concerned. Japan moved toward closer relations with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy by signing anti-Communist pacts with the two nations.

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World War II began in Europe in September 1939. In September 1940, Japanese troops occupied the northern part of French Indochina. When they moved into the southern part of Indochina the next year, the United States cut off its exports to Japan. In the fall of 1941, General Hideki Tojo became prime minister of Japan. Japan's military leaders began preparing to wage war against the United States.

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Japanese bombers attacked the U.S. military bases at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. They also bombed U.S. bases on Guam and Wake Island and in the Philippines. The bombing brought the United States into war against Japan and Japan's European allies, Germany and Italy. The Japanese fleet suffered its first major setback in May 1942, when the United States Navy, with assistance from the Royal Australian Navy, fought the Battle of the Coral Sea to a draw.

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The U.S. victory in the Battle of Midway the following month helped turn the tide in favor of the United States. As Japanese defeats increased, political discontent in Japan grew. On July 18, 1944, Prime Minister Tojo's Cabinet fell. Early in 1945, the battle for the Japanese homeland began. American bombers hit industrial targets, and warships pounded Japanese coastal cities. American submarines cut off the shipping of vital supplies to Japan.

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On August 6, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare on the city of Hiroshima. Two days later, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria and Korea. The next day, U.S. fliers dropped a second and larger atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Japan agreed to surrender on August 14. The next day, Emperor Hirohito announced to the Japanese people that Japan had agreed to end the war.