People first came to Japan about 30,000 years ago. The first society, called the Jomon culture, arose about 12,000 years ago and then the Ainu people arrived by boat from Siberia. In 300 B.C., the Yayoi people came. In 660 B.C., Japan’s first emperor, Jimmu Tenno, came to power. Europeans first arrived in Japan in 1543 but in 1635, the ruling shogun closed Japan to foreigners and forbade Japanese to travel abroad, beginning a state of isolation that would last more than 200 years. In 1868, the shoguns were overthrown and emperors returned. During World War I Japan fought on the side of the Allies but in World War II, Japan’s military leaders sided with the Axis powers.