| 1868 | The Yokohama Cricket Club is founded by English merchants in the port city. A club in Kobe was founded shortly afterwards. |
| 1884 | First match between Yokohama and Kobe. |
| 1888 | Regular series of matches between Yokohama and Kobe begins, which continues into the 1930s. |
| 1890s | Attempts are made to introduce cricket into Japanese schools, but are largely a failure due to the parallel rise of baseball in Japan. |
| 1893 | Shanghai Cricket Club, the de facto national team of China tours Japan for the first time. Visits continue occasionally into the 1920s. |
| 1930s | Cricket begins to die out in Japan as foreign residents leave due to the political situation in the country. |
| 1980 | Professor Makato Yamada of the Kobe University of foreign studies becomes interested in cricket after researching it, and starts a student team at the University. This leads to the formation of the Japan Cricket Association later in the year. |
| 1989 | Japan become an affiliate member of the ICC.
First Japanese national side is formed, touring the Pacific islands. |
| 1990 | University championship is started. |
| 1993 | Women's university championship is started. |
| 1996 | Japan take part in the first ACC Trophy, losing all five of their games. |
| 1998 | Japan take part in the second ACC Trophy, losing three games and having one lost to the weather. |
| 1999 | National women's team play for the first time, touring Australia. |
| 2000 | The final ACC Trophy for Japan sees them again lose all their matches. They move to the new East-Asia Pacific region the following year. |
| 2002 | Japan take part in the East Asia 8s in Perth. They lose to an ACB Indigenous team in the final. The tournament also involved South Korea and Indonesia. |
| 2003 | The Japan women's national side take part in the IWCC Trophy in the Netherlands, losing all five matches heavily, including conceding 104 extras against the hosts. The matches were all given ODI status. |
| 2004 | Japan host the EAP Challenge, beating Indonesia in the 3rd place play off. |
| 2005 | Japan win the EAP Cricket Cup in Vanuatu.
Japan become an associate member of the ICC. |
| 2006 | Japan finish third behind Fiji and the Cook Islands in the EAP Cricket Challenge.
Japan women play a three match series against Papua New Guinea, losing all three matches. |
| 2007 | Japan field an Under-19 side for the first time, losing heavily in all matches for World Cup qualification, most notably against Fiji when Josefa Rika scores 257 against them.
Japan win the EAP Cricket Trophy in New Zealand, qualifying for Division Five of the World Cricket League in 2008. |
A Timeline of Japanese Cricket