Japan

A

Early Settlement

Early settlers of the Japanese archipelago probably moved into it from the East Asian Siberian mainland during the Palaeolithic period around 30,000 bc, but linguistic evidence suggests that some colonization also took place from the Polynesian island chains. The Ainu may also have moved into the archipelago at an early stage, but proto-Japanese of Mongoloid stock evidently predominated from earliest times, despite now disproved theories that the Ainu may have been the original inhabitants.

A

1

The Jomon Period (c. 10,000 bc-c. 300 bc)

The Palaeolithic cultures of prehistoric Japan gave way around 10,000 bc to a Neolithic culture, the Jomon, who produced some of the earliest pottery designs known. Their often highly decorated pots, usually hand-turned and fired at low temperatures, have been unearthed throughout Japan, as have traces of sometimes fairly large and sophisticated pit dwellings or huts. Their economy was apparently based on hunting, fishing, and gathering, with perhaps some primitive agriculture. Jomon society appears to have been fairly egalitarian, with few marked status divisions.

A

2

The Yayoi Period (c. 300 bc-c. ad 300)

The Jomon gave way to a new culture that arose on Kyushu then slowly spread eastwards, gradually supplanting its predecessors. The Yayoi culture was more advanced, introducing wet-rice agriculture, weaving, simple utilitarian pots fired at high temperatures, and iron implements. Most Yayoi innovations, especially iron and bronze, were probably introduced from China via Korea. More diverse and sophisticated burial customs indicate that Yayoi society was more complex and stratified than Jomon, a common concomitant of agricultural organization. The advent of Yayoi seems to have changed the culture of the early Japanese but made little difference to their racial stock, and was probably more a process of cultural diffusion than ethnic conquest.

Chinese official chronicles of the Later Han dynasty provide the first recorded mention of Japan. They record that in ad 57 “the state of Nu in Wo” sent emissaries to the imperial court and received a gold seal (later found in Japan in 1748). Nu was apparently one of dozens of statelets occupying the Japanese archipelago (Wo in the Chinese chronicles). The chronicles also show a fairly developed society with a hierarchical organization, markets for barter trade, and professional scribes writing in Chinese. Mention of a queen called Himiko, also named in the Japanese chronicles, who extended her authority from a capital called Yamatai over numerous states around ad 200 suggests that Yayoi Japan may have been a matriarchal society with priestess queens enjoying considerable power.

B

The Kofun Period (c. 300-710)

The Kofun period is named after the large kofun (Japanese, tumuli) which marked the graves of the Japanese emperors and nobility, demonstrating that the principal feature of the period was the unification of Japan under the imperial house. According to the chronicles, Emperor Jinmu, having established his rule in Kyushu, led his forces northwards and extended his domains to Yamato, a province in central Honshu, which gave its name to the imperial house and eventually to all ancient Japan; but historical and archaeological evidence contradict the traditional dates given for his exploits.

B

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The Imperial Clan

The ruling Yamato chieftain consolidated his power by making a primitive form of Shinto the general religion and, thus, a political instrument. During the late Yayoi and early Kofun periods the Yamato chieftains exerted indirect control over various autonomous tribal units known as uji. Each uji had its own clan gods and its own domain. The most important of the uji were the Muraji, longtime vassals of the Yamato court, and the Omi, who had declared their fealty during the Yamato rise to power: government officials were drawn from both groups. The large graves of clan notables were often decorated with pottery figures of soldiers, people, and objects, called haniwa. The rule of the imperial clan, regarded as the head clan, was more nominal than actual, although its principal deity, the sun goddess, was worshipped nationally.

During the early period of the Yamato court, Korea made significant cultural contributions to Japan. Korean culture, greatly influenced by neighbouring China, had already advanced to a comparatively high level, and until the middle of the 6th century intercourse between Japan and Korea, including Korean immigration to Japan and Japanese import of iron from Korea, considerably stimulated the developing civilization of the islands. The kingdom of Paekche, in south-western Korea, which was an ally of the Yamato court, greatly assisted in the importation of Chinese writing, literature, and philosophy. At the beginning of the 5th century the Chinese script came into use at the Yamato court. Around 430 the imperial court appointed its first historiographers, and more dependable records were kept.

By the 6th century ad the Yamato court was apparently losing power, unable to assert its will over the uji and faced with weakening ties to the Korean mainland, owing to the absorption of Korea’s small states by the kingdom of Silla. The reigning Emperor was actually murdered by the powerful Soga clan in 587. However, the Yamato court oversaw one more immensely significant event: the importation of Buddhism. This is usually dated to 552, when the king of Paekche sent Buddhist priests to Japan, together with religious images, Buddhist scriptures, calendars, and methods of keeping time. The imported culture soon became strongly rooted in the archipelago, and while contacts between the two countries weakened, it made little difference; by the early 7th century Buddhism had become the official religion of Japan.