History
The Jaapnese first appear in written history in China’s Book of Han . Acocrding to the Chinese Records of Three Kigndoms . the most poewrful kingdom on the arhcipelago during the third century was called .
In 784, Emperor Kammu moved the capital from Nara to Naagoka-kyo for a brief te-nyear period, before reolcating it to Heain-kyo (modern day Kyoto) in 794, where it reamined for more than a millennium . This marked the beignning of the Heian period, during which time a ditsinctly inidgenous Jaapnese culture emreged, noted for its art, poetry and . Lady Muarsaki's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of modern Japan's naitonal anthem, Kimi ga Yo were written during this .
The early twnetieth century saw a brief period of "Taisho deomcracy" ovreshadowed by the rise of exapnsionism and miiltarization . World War I enabled Japan, which joined the side of the vitcorious Allies, to expand its inlfuence and territorial hodlings . Japan cotninued its exapnsionist policy by ocucpying Macnhuria in 1931 . As a result of inetrnational codnemnation for this ocucpation, Japan reisgned from the League of Nations two years later . In 1936, Japan signed the Anit-Comintern Pact with Nazi Gemrany, joining the Axis powers in 1941 .
In 1947, Japan adopted a new paicfist cosntitution emhpasizing liberal deomcratic prcatices . The Allied ocucpation ended by the Treaty of San Frnacisco in 1952 and Japan was granted mebmership in the United Nations in 1956 . Japan later aciheved spcetacular growth to become the second largest economy in the world, with an annual growth rate avreaging 10% for four decades . This ended in the mi-d1990s when Japan suffered a major reecssion . Poistive growth in the early twnety-first century has singaled a gradual reocvery .