Group items tagged

For the following 700 years, shoguns from a succession of clans ruled in Japan, while the imperial court existed in relative obscurity.

Suspicious of Christianity and of Portuguese support of a local Japanese revolt, the shoguns of the Tokugawa period (1603–1867) prohibited all trade with foreign countries; only a Dutch trading post at Nagasaki was permitted.

The Japanese began to take steps to extend their empire.

In World War I, Japan seized Germany's Pacific islands and leased areas in China.

At the Washington Conference of 1921–1922, Japan agreed to respect Chinese national integrity, but, in 1931, it invaded Manchuria.

The dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 by the United States finally brought the government to admit defeat. Japan surrendered formally on Sept. 2, 1945, aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

The U.S. and Japan signed a security treaty in 1951, allowing for U.S. troops to be stationed in Japan. In 1952, Japan regained full sovereignty, and, in 1972, the U.S. returned to Japan the Ryuku Islands, including Okinawa.

A shrewd trade policy gave Japan larger shares in many Western markets, an imbalance that caused some tensions with the U.S.

During the 1990s, Japan suffered an economic downturn prompted by scandals involving government officials, bankers, and leaders of industry. Japan succumbed to the Asian economic crisis in 1998, experiencing its worst recession since World War II.

The embattled Mori resigned in April 2001 and was replaced by Liberal Democrat Junichiro Koizumi—the country's 11th prime minister in 13 years.

Koizumi was overwhelmingly reelected in Sept. 2003 and promised to push ahead with tough economic reforms.

In April 2005, China protested the publication of Japanese textbooks that whitewashed the atrocities committed by Japan during World War II.

Princesss Kiko gave birth to a boy in September.

The child's birth spares Japan a controversial debate over whether women should be allowed to ascend to the throne.

He suffered a stunning blow in July 2007 parliamentary elections, however, when his Liberal Democratic Party lost control of the upper house to the opposition Democratic Party.

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck in northwest Japan in July 2007, killing 10 people and injuring more than 900. The tremor caused skyscrapers in Tokyo to sway for almost a minute, buckled roads and bridges, and damaged a nuclear power plant. About 315 gallons of radioactive water leaked into the Sea of Japan.

he move followed a string of scandals and the stunning defeat of his Liberal Democratic Party in July's parliamentary elections

In June 2008, the upper house of Parliament, which is controlled by the opposition, censured Fukuda, citing his management of domestic issues.

The opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which won control of the upper house of Parliament in 2007, poses a viable threat to the Liberal Democrats who have been in control for more than 50 years.

Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically powerful economy in the world after the US and the third-largest economy in the world after the US and China, measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis.

Some fear that a rise in taxes could endanger the current economic recovery. Debate also continues on the role of and effects of reform in restructuring the economy, particularly with respect to increasing income disparities.

China and Taiwan dispute both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of the Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea, the site of intensive hydrocarbon prospecting

Therefore, the warriors (samurai) were educating themselves not only in the martial arts but also in literature, philosophy and the arts, e.g. the tea ceremony.

During the Edo period and especially during the Genroku era (1688 - 1703), popular culture flourished. New art forms like kabuki and ukiyo-e became very popular especially among the townspeople.

The most important philosophy of Tokugawa Japan was Neo-Confucianism, stressing the importance of morals, education and hierarchical order in the government and society:

The social hierarchy began to break down as the merchant class grew increasingly powerful while some samurai became financially dependent of them.

n the end of the 18th century, external pressure started to be an increasingly important issue, when the Russians first tried to establish trade contacts with Japan without success

All factors combined, the anti-government feelings were growing and caused other movements such as the demand for the restoration of imperial power and anti western feelings, especially among ultra-conservative samurai in increasingly independently acting domains such as Choshu and Satsuma.

Compare this to the American team, older, taller, plucky, yet seemingly more human.

Nastia Lukin and Shawn Johnson both stumbled at critical points, and Alicia Sacramone's angst was genuine as she faltered.

Yet only a few minutes later, most of them were gabbing like typical American teenagers, the pain of defeat temporal. And you know Sacramone won't be haunted by this for too long. She'll rebound back and get up again