Humans cross from eastern Siberia to the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, according to the earliest traces left by the Jomon culture

Sukune, according to tradition, wins the first sumo wrestling contest and becomes patron saint of the sport

The clan ruling the Yamato plain becomes so powerful that its chieftain is seen as the emperor of Japan

The Yamato clan adapt Shinto to their own purposes, and claim imperial descent from the sun

A Buddhist image, sent as a gift from Korea, introduces the religion to Japan

Prince Shotoku Taishi, an enthusiastic patron of Buddhism, builds the Horyuji temple and pagoda at Nara

The Japanese imperial court makes its capital city at Nara, based on the Chinese example of Xi'an

Japanese tradition gives this as the year in which the game of I-go, known in the west as go, is introduced from China

The empress of Japan, in a remarkable start to the story of printing, commissions a million copies of a Buddhist charm

The Japanese imperial court moves to a new capital city - Kyoto

The Fujiwara family creates for itself a new hereditary office, that of imperial chancellor, through which it effectively rules Japan

Sei Shonagon, a lady-in-waiting to the Japanese empress, records her thoughts and impressions in her Pillow Book

Japanese author Murasaki Shibubi produces, in The Tale of Genji, a book which can be considered the world's first novel

Astronomers in China and Japan observe the explosion of the supernova which is still visible as the Crab Nebula

Zen Buddhism reaches Japan from China and appeals greatly to the new samurai class

The triumph of the Minamoto clan in Japan in 1185 leads to an uneasy relationship between the brothers Yoritomo and Yoshitsune

Yoritomo is given the title sei-i-tai-shogun, beginning centuries of rule by shoguns more powerful than the Japanese emperors

The samurai provide military support for the shogun, in a system similar to feudalism at this same period in Europe

Bushido, the code of the samurai, emphasizes the necessary qualities of respect, decorum, courage and martial skill

A Japanese potter, returning from China, makes Seto the centre of ceramic production in Japan

A huge bronze sculpture, known as Daibutsu and cast in Kamakura, depicts Amida, the Amitabha Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism

The Mongol invasion of Japan in 1274 seems to confirm the doom and disaster foretold by the Buddhist prophet Nichiren

For the second time Japan is saved from Mongol invasion by powerful storms - which are given the name kamikaze, or 'divine wind'

The formalities of the Tea Ceremony demand equivalently exquisite wares from the Japanese potters

A new dynasty, the Ashikaga shogunate, comes into power after a member of the family, Takauji, wins a civil war