Origins of the People and State to 710

The early history of the Japanese people is, in many ways, similar to the history of the Native Americans and the British, French, and Spanish immigrations. To understand where the people of Japan come from you first need to understand that there are two "races" of people living in Japan now, the "Japanese" people and the Ainu, who live chiefly in the northern part of the country areas like Hokkaido and northern Honshu. The Ainu are similar to Native Americans of the United States in so far as they are the indigenous people of the land. (Henshall, 7)

About thirty to fifteen thousand years ago, during the last glacial age, groups of immigrants crossed over several land bridges conn

During this time Japan was effectively closed off from the rest of the world, by 1639 all of the westerners had either been driven out or voluntarily left. Christian missionaries were thrown out even earlier, by 1614. Japan was starting to develop a national consciousness and closed of its borders to any foreigners, including all the Japanese who were traveling overseas, these people, perhaps numbering in the thousands, were forbidden from ever returning under penalty of death.

2. The Japanese have also had an incredible ability to learn from and emulate other cultures, beliefs, and opinions. They did this to the Chinese until they felt they had nothing left to learn from them. They also did this to the United States, but to a greater extent, they did this to all the western world. (Sansom - History to 1334, 67)

During this intrigue the Mongols decided to invade, Genghis Khan's grandson, Kublai, came to power in 1260 and conducted two invasions of Japan, one in 1274 and the other in 1281. Both failed due in part to resistance of the Japanese and two well time typhoons. During both invasions the Mongols landed on and penetrated the Japanese island of Kyushu but on each occasion after they landed a severe storm damaged most of their ships, both killing a significant number of men and preventing them from pushing any further. (Sansom - History to 1334, 442)

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Approximate Word count = 3059
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)