The Entire History of Japan

On a spring day in 1185, in the strait of Shimonoseki, a grandmother took the six-year-old emperor of Japan in her arms and stepped into the sea with him and a sacred sword, and the samurai who won that battle ruled Japan for almost seven hundred years. This is the history of Japan from its first emperor to 1945, told through the warriors who took the country from its emperors: Minamoto no Yoshitsune and the Genpei war, the divine wind that broke the Mongol fleets, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, two centuries closed to the world, Commodore Perry's black ships, the last samurai at Shiroyama, Admiral Tōgō at Tsushima and the Pacific War. It ends at noon on 15 August 1945, when the whole country stood still to hear its emperor's voice for the first time. 0:00 Introduction 2:37 Chapter 1: The Land of the Rising Sun 7:35 Chapter 2: The Court of Peace 12:01 Chapter 3: Red Against White 17:00 Chapter 4: The Divine Wind 21:51 Chapter 5: The Country at War 26:03 Chapter 6: The Three Unifiers 31:14 Chapter 7: Sekigahara 34:45 Chapter 8: The Closed Country 39:08 Chapter 9: The Black Ships 43:52 Chapter 10: The Race 47:34 Chapter 11: Run Wild 51:26 Chapter 12: Endure the Unendurable Sources and credits Borders: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0) Coastlines, rivers and lakes: Natural Earth (public domain) Land imagery: NASA Blue Marble Next Generation (public domain) Elevation: AWS Terrain Tiles (SRTM, ETOPO1 and other open data) Paintings, prints and photographs (public domain), each credited in full on screen as it appears; among the artists: Tosa Mitsunobu, Utagawa Yoshitsuya, Shunsai Toshimasa, Adachi Ginkō, Sumiyoshi Jokei, Sumiyoshi Gukei, Shiba Rinken, Ogata Kōrin, Hasegawa Kyūzō, Tosa Mitsuoki, Kikuchi Yōsai, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Utagawa Yoshitora, Fujiwara no Gōshin, Enrōsai Shigemitsu, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Monkan-bō Kōshin, Kamon no Suke Hisakuni, Torii Kiyomasu, Utagawa Hiroshige, Kanō Sōshū, Utagawa Toyonobu, Yōsai Nobukazu, Maruyama Ōkyo, Byeon Bak, Kitagawa Utamaro, Kanō Tan'yū, Saitō Shūho, Kawahara Keiga, Sugiyama Sanpū, Katsushika Hokusai, Edward Duncan, Kobayashi Kiyochika, Uchida Kuichi, Edoardo Chiossone, Takamura Kōun, Utagawa Hiroshige III, Utagawa Kuniteru II, Toyohara Chikanobu, Tōjō Shōtarō, Hayashi Shigeo Music (YouTube Audio Library): Drum Meditation - Jeremy Black; Solo Cello Passion - Doug Maxwell / Media Right Productions; Sunrise - Nat Keefe; Minyo San Kyoku - Doug Maxwell / Zac Zinger; In the Temple Garden - Aaron Kenny; Peaceful Conclusion - Asher Fulero; Fear The Wind - Sir Cubworth; Samurai Showdown - Sir Cubworth; Melancholy Lake - Sir Cubworth; Elegy - Asher Fulero; Lurking Shadows - Myuu; Lau Tzu Ehru - Doug Maxwell; Thunderstorm - Hanu Dixit; Sad Minuet - Sir Cubworth; A Tale of Vengeance - Aakash Gandhi; Chariots of War - Aakash Gandhi; The Rising - Aakash Gandhi; Running - Nat Keefe; Eyes of Glory - Aakash Gandhi; Dawn of Man - Quincas Moreira; Yearning - Nat Keefe; Pastoral - Asher Fulero; Night Snow - Asher Fulero; Curse Of Old - Density & Time; Inception - Aakash Gandhi; No.8 Requiem - Esther Abrami; March to Victory - Silent Partner; Hopeful - Nat Keefe; Apocalyptic Echoes - Jimena Contreras; Alone - Aakash Gandhi; Missing Persons - Jeremy Blake; No.6 In My Dreams - Esther Abrami; Final Reckoning - Asher Fulero; Edge of Eternity - Norma Rockwell; First Dream - Brian Bolger