The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayo
Reconstruction of a Jōmon family from the Sannai-Maruyama Site
A vase from the early Jōmon period (11000–7000 BC)
Middle Jōmon vase (2000 BC)
Dogū figurine of the late Jōmon period (1000–400 BC)
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the period of Japanese history spanning 79 years, starting with the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868, and ending with r
The Naval Battle of Hakodate, May 1869; in the foreground, Kasuga and Kōtetsu of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Emperor Meiji, the 122nd emperor of Japan
Prominent members of the Iwakura mission. Left to right: Kido Takayoshi, Yamaguchi Masuka, Iwakura Tomomi, Itō Hirobumi, Ōkubo Toshimichi