A BRIEF HISTORY OF JAPAN

Japan was settled about 35,000 years ago by Paleolithic people from the Asian mainland. At the
end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, a culture called the Jomon developed. Jomon
hunter-gatherers fashioned fur clothing, wooden houses, and elaborate clay vessels. According
to DNA analysis, the Ainu people may be descendants of the Jomon.

The second wave of settlement by the Yayoi people introduced metal-working, rice cultivation,
and weaving to Japan. DNA evidence suggests that these settlers came from Korea.

The first era of recorded history in Japan is the Kofun (A.D. 250-538), which was characterized
by large burial mounds or tumuli. The Kofun were headed by a class of aristocratic warlords;
they adopted many Chinese customs and innovations.

Buddhism came to Japan during the Asuka period, 538-710, as did the Chinese writing system.
At this time, society was divided into clans. The first strong central government developed
during the Nara period (710-794). The aristocratic class practiced Buddhism and Chinese
calligraphy, while agricultural villagers followed Shintoism.

Japan's unique culture developed rapidly during the Heian era (794-1185). The imperial court
turned out enduring art, poetry, and prose. The samurai warrior class developed at this time as
well.

Samurai lords, called "shogun," took over the government in 1185, and ruled Japan in the name
of the emperor until 1868. The Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333) ruled much of Japan from
Kyoto. Aided by two miraculous typhoons, the Kamakura repelled attacks by Mongol armadas in
1274 and 1281.

A particularly strong emperor, Go-Daigo, tried to overthrow the shogunate in 1331, resulting in a
civil war between competing northern and southern courts that finally ended in 1392. During
this time, a class of strong regional lords called "daimyo" increased in power; their rule lasted
through the end of the Edo period, also known as the Tokugawa Shogunate, in 1868.

That year, a new constitutional monarchy was established, headed by the Meiji Emperor. The
power of the shoguns came to an end.

After the Meiji Emperor's death, the emperor's son became the Taisho Emperor. His chronic
illnesses kept him away from his duties and allowed the country's legislature to introduce new
democratic reforms. During World War I, Japan formalized its rule over Korea and seized
control of northern China.

The Showa Emperor, Hirohito, oversaw Japan's aggressive expansion during World War II, its
surrender, and its rebirth as a modern, industrialized nation.
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPAIN

Most of the Iberian peninsula has been populated since prehistoric times. Early evidence of
human habitation unearthed at the Atapuerca site in northern Spain are some 800,000 years old.
Modern man made his appearance around 35,000 BC. Sometime around 4000 BC, much of Spain was
settled by the Iberians, arriving from the east. The Celts arrived later, settling in the northern third of the
peninsula. Bronze age civilization flourished in the south, culminating with the Tartessian civilization
around Seville (1000-500 BC).

Around 1100 BC, Phoenician seafarers from present-day Lebanon set up trading colonies in
Cadiz and elsewhere along the Spanish coast. Greeks also traded along the north-eastern coast. With
the fall of Phoenicia, the Iberian peninsula came under the rule of Carthage (present day Tunisia), but
was occupied by Rome following the Punic Wars. The Romans held sway in Iberia for six centuries, laying
the foundations for Spanish language and culture.

Following the fall of the western Roman empire in the fifth century AD, Spain was ruled by the
Visigoths, a Germanic people who had migrated from central Europe. In 711, the Muslims of northern
Africa launched an invasion across the Strait of Gibraltar, occupying most of the peninsula within a few
years. Their presence lasted more than seven centuries, though the Christian kingdoms to the north
increased in power over the generations, gradually driving the Moors southwards. The last Moorish
kingdom, Granada (the eastern half of present-day Andalusia), was conquered in 1492.

The discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus and the expulsion of Jews and Moors
from Spain were to mark Spanish history forever. Treasure from Spain's vast overseas empire pushed
Spain into the forefront of European countries, but constant warfare drained resources. With the
accession of the Bourbon dynasty to the Spanish throne at the beginning of the 18th century, Spain
came within the French sphere of influence for the following 100 years, up to the defeat of Napoleon's
army during the Peninsular War.

During the 19th century, Spain was sharply divided between conservatives and liberals, and rural
and urban society. Coups d'etat and changes of government were frequent. With the increasing power
of the working class, in 1931 king Alfonso XIII was forced to abdicate, and Spain was declared a republic.
Conservative reaction from the church and army sparked the Spanish Civil War, which raged from 1936
to 1939 and was a prelude to World War II. When Franco finally died in 1975, Spain was taken over by
King Juan Carlos I, who soon led Spain toward democracy. As a fruit of its new freedoms, the country
celebrated a cultural renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s, and in 1992 hosted both the Summer
Olympics in Barcelona and the Expo '92 in Sevilla.