The Entire History of Japan: Who Actually Ran the Country?

15,000 years of Japan, and one question: who actually ran the country? Chieftains, great kings, emperors, aristocrats, warriors, shoguns, a modern state, and finally the people. We tell it from the records: Jomon pottery, the gold seal of the King of Na, a sword with a hidden gold inscription, the Shosoin treasures, the Tale of Genji scroll, a samurai's own Mongol invasion scroll, Hokusai, the original 1946 Constitution. And we separate the records from the legends (Emperor Jimmu's 660 BC, Prince Shotoku, the "divine wind," "closed country"). If you enjoy it, please like the video and subscribe to Japan Before Now. ▼ Chapters 0:00 Opening 0:56 Chapter 1 Before Kings 3:27 Chapter 2 The Great Kings 5:07 Chapter 3 The Emperor's State 7:22 Chapter 4 The Aristocrats 9:07 Chapter 5 The Warriors 11:22 Chapter 6 Lords Without a Master 12:49 Chapter 7 The Unifiers 14:20 Chapter 8 The Shogun's Peace 16:04 Chapter 9 Black Ships and a Modern State 18:00 Chapter 10 Empire and War 19:37 Chapter 11 The People's Japan 21:11 Ending ▼ Notes • Dates before the 1870s follow Japanese sources; years are Western. • Ancient dates and numbers vary between sources (e.g. the Daisen Kofun is 486 m by Sakai City's figure; a 2018 survey measured about 525 m at the moat floor). • Some portraits were painted after the subject's death. Some scrolls were retouched later. • Some scenes are illustrative recreations made to convey the atmosphere of the time. • Names are family name first. ▼ Main sources National Museum of Japanese History; Tokyo, Nara and Kyoto National Museums; Fukuoka City Museum; Saitama Prefectural Museum (Inariyama sword); Sakai City; Imperial Household Agency; National Diet Library; National Archives of Japan; Columbia University Asia for Educators; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; U.S. National Archives; Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; Statistics Bureau of Japan (population, Oct 2026); Nikkei Inc. ▼ Image credits (Wikimedia Commons unless noted) CC BY 2.5: 663highland CC BY 4.0: Jakub Hałun, ganden CC BY-SA 2.0: Roger Wollstadt CC BY-SA 3.0: Bigjap, Samuraiantiqueworld, Taro Nagoya CC BY-SA 3.0 de: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-C1012-0001-026 / Kohls, Ulrich CC BY-SA 4.0: Azukigohan, Kawahara Keiga, Manishprabhune, Martin Falbisoner, Netherzone / Wikimedia Commons, Nikos Kitsakis, Ximonic (Simo Räsänen) Public domain / CC0 works and photos: Fujita Art Museum, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Imperial Household Museum / National Diet Library, Kobe City Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, National Archives of Japan, Osaka Castle Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokugawa Art Museum, Tokyo National Museum, Waseda University Library, Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum, U.S. government archives, and others. Map: based on Natural Earth (public domain). #JapaneseHistory #Japan #History