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An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art
| Jōmon period 縄文 (10,000–300 BCE) |
| Yayoi period 弥生 (900 BCE-250 CE), state of Yamatai 邪馬台 (1st-3rd cent. CE) |
| Kofun period 古墳 (c. 250–538), Wa 倭 countries |
| Asuka period 飛鳥 (538–710), state of Wa 和 or Yamato 大和 |
| Nara period 奈良 (710–794) |
| Heian period 平安 (794–1185) |
| Kamakura period 鎌倉 (1185–1333), Kamakura Shogunate (Kamakura bakufu 鎌倉幕府), Kemmu Restoration (Kemmu no shinsei 建武の新政, 1333–1336) |
| Muromachi period 室町 (1336–1573), Southern and Northern courts (Namboku-chō 南北朝) 1336-1392, Ashikaga Shogunate (Ashikaga bakufu 足利幕府) |
| Sengoku period 戦国 "Warring States" (1467–c. 1603), "Feudal lords" Sengoku daimyō 戦国大名 |
| Azuchi–Momoyama period 安土桃山 (1568–1600), Oda Nobunaga 織田信長, Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉 and Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川家康 |
| Edo 江戸 or Tokugawa period 徳川 (1603–1868), Tokugawa Shogunate (Tokugawa bakufu 徳川幕府, Edo bakufu 江戸幕府), seclusion policy (sakoku 鎖国) |
| Meiji period 明治 (1868–1912), Meiji restoration (Meiji ishin 明治維新), the Meiji Emperor Mutsuhito 睦仁 |
| Taishō period 大正 (1912–1926), the Taishō Emperor Yoshihito 嘉仁 |
| Shōwa period 昭和 (1926-1989), the Shōwa Emperor Hirohito 裕仁 Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP, Rengōgokugun saikō shireikan sōshireibu 連合国軍最高司令官総司令部) 1945-1952 |
| Heisei period 平成 (1989-), Emperor Akihito 明仁 |
| Itō Hirobumi 伊藤博文 | 1885-1888 |
| Kuroda Kiyotaka 黒田清隆 | 1888-1889 |
| Sanjō Sanetomi 三條實美 | 1889 |
| Yamagata Aritomo 山縣有朋 | 1889-1891 |
| Matsukata Masayoshi 松方正義 | 1891-1892 |
| Itō Hirobumi (2nd time) | 1892-1896 |
| Kuroda Kiyotaka | acting 1896 |
| Matsukata Masayoshi (again) | 1896-1898 |
| Itō Hirobumi (3rd time) | 1898 |
| Ōkuma Shigenobu 大隈重信 | 1898 |
| Yamagata Aritomo (again) | 1898-1900 |
| Itō Hirobumi (4th time) | 1900-1901 |
| Saionji Kinmochi 西園寺公望 | acting 1901 |
| Katsura Tarō 桂太郎 | 1901-1906 |
| Saionji Kinmochi | 1906-1908 |
| Katsura Tarō (again) | 1908-1911 |
| Saionji Kinmochi | 1911-1912 |
| Katsura Tarō (again) | 1912-1913 |
| Yamamoto Gonnohyōe 山本權兵衛 | 1913-1914 |
| Ōkuma Shigenobu 大隈重信 | 1914-1916 |
| Terauchi Masatake 寺内正毅 | 1916-1918 |
| Hara Takashi 原敬 | 1918-1921 |
| Uchida Kosai 内田康哉 | acting 1921 |
| Takahashi Korekiyo 高橋是清 | 1921-1922 |
| Katō Tomosaburō 加藤友三郎 | 1922-1923 |
| Uchida Kosai | acting 1923 |
| Yamamoto Gonnohyōe (again) | 1923-1924 |
| Kiyoura Keigo 清浦奎吾 | 1924 |
| Katō Takaaki 加藤高明 | 1924-1926 |
| Wakatsuki Reijirō 若槻禮次郎 | acting 1926, serving 1926-1927 |
| Tanaka Giichi 田中義一 | 1927-1929 |
| Hamaguchi Osachi 濱口雄幸 | 1929-1931 |
| Shidehara Kijūrō 幣原喜重郎 | acting 1931 |
| Wakatsuki Reijirō (again) | 1931 |
| Inukai Tsuyoshi 犬養毅 Assassinated. |
1931-1932 |
| Takahashi Korekiyo 高橋是淸 | acting 1932 |
| Saitō Makoto 齋藤實 | 1932-1934 |
| Okada Keisuke 岡田啓介 | 1934-1936 |
| Gotō Fumio 後藤文夫 | acting 1936 |
| Hirota Kōki 廣田弘毅 | 1936-1937 |
| Hayashi Senjūrō 林銑十郞 | 1937 |
| Konoe Fumimaro 近衞文麿 | 1937-1939 |
| Hiranuma Kiichirō 平沼騏一郞 | 1939 |
| Abe Nobuyuki 阿部信行 | 1939-1940 |
| Yonai Mitsumasa 米内光政 | 1940 |
| Konoe Fumimaro (again) | 1940-1941 |
| Tōjō Hideki 東條英機 | 1941-1944 |
| Koiso Kuniaki 小磯國昭 | 1944-1945 |
| Suzuki Kantarō 鈴木貫太郞 | 1945 |
| Prince Higashikuni no Miya Naruhiko Ō 東久邇宮稔彦王 | 1945 |
| Shidehara Kijūrō 幣原喜重郞 | 1945-1946 |
| Yoshida Shigeru 吉田茂 | 1946-1947 |
| Katayama Tetsu 片山哲 | 1947-1948 |
| Ashida Hitoshi 芦田均 | 1948 |
| Yoshida Shigeru 吉田茂 | 1948-1954 |
| Hatoyama Ichirō 鳩山一郎 | 1954-1956 |
| Ishibashi Tanzan 石橋湛山 | 1956-1957 |
| Kishi Nobusuke 岸信介 | 1957-1960 |
| Ikeda Hayato 池田勇人 | 1960-1964 |
| Satō Eisaku佐藤榮作 | 1964-1972 |
| Tanaka Kakuei 田中角榮 | 1972-1974 |
| Miki Takeo 三木武夫 | 1974-1976 |
| Fukuda Takeo 福田赳夫 | 1976-1978 |
| Ōhira Masayoshi 大平正芳 | 1978-1980 |
| Suzuki Zenkō 鈴木善幸 | 1980-1982 |
| Nakasone Yasuhiro 中曽根康弘 | 1982-1987 |
| Takeshita Noboru 竹下登 | 1987-1989 |
| Uno Sōsuke 宇野宗佑 | 1989 |
| Kaifu Toshiki 海部俊樹 | 1989-1991 |
| Miyazawa Kiichi 宮澤喜一 | 1991-1993 |
| Hosokawa Morihiro 細川護熙 | 1993-1994 |
| Hata Tsutomu 羽田孜 | 1994 |
| Murayama Tomiichi 村山富市 | 1994-1996 |
| Hashimoto Ryūtarō 橋本龍太郎 | 1996-1998 |
| Obuchi Keizō 小渕恵三 | 1998-2000 |
| Mori Yoshirō 森喜朗 | 2000-2001 |
| Koizumi Jun'ichirō 小泉純一郎 | 2001-2006 |
| Abe Shinzō 安倍晋三 | 2006-2007 |
| Fukuda Yasuo 福田康夫 | 2007-2008 |
| Asō Tarō 麻生太郎 | 2008-2009 |
| Hatoyama Yukio 鳩山由紀夫 | 2009-2010 |
| Kan Naoto 菅直人 | 2010-2011 |
| Noda Yoshihiko 野田佳彦 | 2011-2012 |
| Abe Shinzō (again) | 2012- |