History of Japan: Introduction

Introduction

My decision to write an article about the history of shibari was an easy one, actually writing it was much, much, more difficult than it sounds. For one there is no unanimous agreement on the history, information is difficult to find and more often than not incomplete which leaves you guessing a lot.

Most authorities in the field of shibari agree on the fact that shibari as we now know it has its origins in the ancient martial art hojojutsu. Since shibari’s probable forefather hojojutsu is deeply rooted in the Japanese cultural it is impossible to NOT add some of Japan’s history to this article. Even if it’s only to properly outline the history of shibari. This article tries to expose through a timeline how hojojutsu evolved from an ancient martial art into the shibari style to date.

History in a Nutshell

Before we start talking about Japanese history I would like to present the Japanese history in a commonly accepted periodization. It should give you a rough outline for a better understanding of names, times and periods we will talk about.

One commonly accepted periodization of Japanese history:

History of Japan
Dates	Period	Sub period	Major Government
prehistory – circa 300 BC	Jomon		Unknown
circa 300 BC – 250 AD	Yayoi		Unknown
circa 25 – 538 AD	Yamato	Kofun	Yamato Imperial Government
538 – 710 AD	Yamato	Asuka
710 – 794	Nara
794 – 1185	Heian
1185 – 1333	Kamakura		Kamakura shogunate
1333 – 1336	Kemmu restoration		Emperor of Japan
1336 – 1392	Muromachi	Nanboku-cho	Ashikaga shogunate
1392 – 1573	Muromachi	early Sengoku period
1573 – 1603	Azuchi-Momoyama	latter Sengoku period
1600 – 1867	Edo		Tokugawa shogunate
1868 – 1912	Meiji		Emperor Meiji (Mutsuhito)
1912 – 1926	Taisho		Taisho (Yoshihito)
1926 – 1945	Showa	Expansionism	Hirohito
1945 – 1952		Expansionism
1945 – 1952		Occupied Japan
1952 – 1989		Occupied Japan
1952 – 1989		Post-occupation
1989 – present	Contemporary		Emperor Akihito