The military history of Japan covers a vast time-period of over three millennia - from the Jōmon (c. 1000 BC) to the present day. After a long period of clan warfare until the 12th century, there followed feudal wars that culminated in military governments known as the Shogunate. Japanese history records that a military class and the Shōgun ruled Japan for 676 years - from 1192 until 1868. The Shōgun and the samurai warriors stood near the apex of the Japanese social structure - only the aristocratic nobility nominally outranked them. The sakoku policy effectively closed Japan from foreign influences for 212 years - from 1641 to 1853. Feudal militarism transitioned to imperialism in the 19th century after the arrival of Admiral Perry in 1853 and the elevation of Emperor Meiji in 1868. We