. Located in the Pacific Ocean
, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan
, China
, North Korea
, South Korea
and Russia
, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk
in the north to the East China Sea
and Taiwan
in the south. The characters
that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan is an archipelago
of 6,852 islands.
660 BC Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
708 Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708).
1180 First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan.
1183 Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures and flee to western Japan to escape pursuit by the Minamoto clan. (Traditional Japanese date: Twenty-fifth Day of the Seventh Month of the Second Year of Juei).
1188 Accession to the throne of Japan by emperor Antoku.
1192 Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the ''de facto'' ruler of Japan. (Traditional Japanese date: July 12, 1192)
1253 Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounds ''Nam Myoho Renge Kyo'' for the very first time and declares it to be the essence of Buddhism, in effect founding Nichiren Buddhism.
1281 The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a typhoon while approaching Japan.
1293 An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 30,000.
1549 The Jesuit priest Francis Xavier's ship reaches Japan.
1573 Battle of Mikatagahara, in Japan; Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu.