History - Ancient and Medieval Japan
What this domain tests
Chronology and causation from the Jōmon and Yayoi periods through the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunates: how power moved from clan federation to the ritsuryō state to warrior government, and how the land system changed each time.
Turning points to memorise
Yayoi wet-rice farming with bronze dōtaku and iron tools; keyhole-shaped tombs showing stratification. 604 Seventeen-Article Constitution; 607 embassy to Sui led by Ono no Imoko; 645 Taika Reform; 701 Taihō Code. The 743 Act Permitting Permanent Private Ownership of Reclaimed Land opened the way for private estates. 794 capital moved to Heian-kyō; Fujiwara regency; cloister government by retired emperors. 1185/1192 Kamakura shogunate with reward-for-loyalty ties, shugo and jitō. 1274 and 1281 Mongol invasions repelled. 1333 Kenmu Restoration; Muromachi shogunate; 1467 Ōnin War opening the Sengoku age.
Worked example
"Why did the Kamakura shogunate weaken after the Mongol wars?" Reasoning: the defensive victory produced no new land to distribute, while the cost fell on the bakufu; loyalty resting on land rewards eroded, and the 1297 debt-cancellation order turned creditors against the regime. The chain ends in the fall of 1333 - a reward-crisis argument, not a military defeat.
Religion and culture
Buddhism arrived in the 6th century; Prince Shōtoku patronised it. Pure Land and Zen spread in the medieval period; Kitayama culture (Kinkaku-ji) and Higashiyama culture (Ginkaku-ji, Noh, ink painting) mark the Muromachi courts.
Traps
Mixing dates with periods - 1192 marks the shogun appointment, while 1185 marks the establishment of military government. Do not confuse estates with later daimyō domains, or the 1221 Jōkyū War with the Mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281.