History of Japan
Paleolithic 35000–14000 BC Jōmon period 14000–400 BC Yayoi period 400 BC – AD 250 Kofun period 250–538 Asuka period 538–710 Nara period 710–794 Heian period 794–1185 Kamakura period 1185–1333 Kemmu restoration 1333–1336 Muromachi period 1336–1573 Nanboku-chō period 1336–1392 Sengoku period Azuchi-Momoyama period 1568–1603 Nanban trade Edo period 1603–1868 Bakumatsu Meiji period 1868–1912 Meiji Restoration Taishō period 1912–1926 Japan in WWI Shōwa period 1926–1989 Japanese militarism Occupation of Japan Post-Occupation Japan Heisei period 1989–present
Economic history Educational history Military history Naval history
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The Yayoi period (弥生時代, Yayoi-jidai^?) is an era in the history of Japan from about 500 BC to 300 AD. The written history of Japan begins with brief references in the 1st century AD Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of Chinese historical texts The covers the period from around 100000 to 30000 BC when the earliest Stone tool implements have been found to around 14000 BC at the end of the last Ice-age, which corresponds The is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14000 BC to 400 BC. The is an era in the History of Japan from around 250 to 538 The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating from this era The, was a period in the History of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592-645 although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The of the History of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 by the first Kamakura Shogun The was a period of Japanese history that occurred from 1333 to 1336. The Muromachi period ( Japanese: 室町時代 Muromachi-jidai, also known as the Muromachi era, the Muromachi bakufu, the Ashikaga era The, spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the early years of the Muromachi period of Japan 's history The came at the end of the Warring States Period in Japan, when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place The Nanban trade ( Japanese: 南蛮貿易 nanban-bōeki, "Southern barbarian trade" or the Nanban trade period ( Japanese: 南蛮貿易時代 The, also referred to as the Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 are the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate came to an end The, or Meiji era, denotes the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor, running in the Gregorian calendar, from 23 October 1868 to 30 July The, also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan 's political and social structure The, or Taishō era, is a period in the History of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign Japan participated in from 1914 to 1917 as one of the major Entente Powers, played an important role in securing the sea lanes in South Pacific The, or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa ( Hirohito) from December 25, 1926 to refers to the Ideology in the Empire of Japan that Militarism should dominate the political and social life of the nation and that the strength of the military is At the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers, led by the United States with contributions also from Australia, British Following the end of the Allied occupation in 1952 Japan emerged as a global Economic power is the current era name in Japan. The Heisei era started on January 8, 1989, just one day after the death of the reigning Emperor Hirohito The economic history of Japan is one of the most studied for its spectacular growth after the Meiji Revolution to be the first non European Power and after the Second World War The history of Education in Japan dates back at least to the sixth century when Chinese learning was introduced at the Yamato court The military history of Japan is characterised by a long period of Feudal Wars, followed by domestic stability and then foreign conquest The naval history of Japan can be said to begin in early interactions with states on the Asian continent in the early centuries of the 1st millennium, reaching a pre-modern peak This is the glossary of Japanese history including the major terms titles and events the casual (or brand-new reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Events By place Roman Empire The Franks penetrate into what is now northern Belgium (approximate date ^[1] It is named after the neighbourhood of Tokyo where archaeologists first uncovered artifacts and features from that era. officially, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new pottery styles and the start of an intensive rice agriculture in paddy fields. The Yayoi followed the Jōmon period (14,000 BC to 500 BC) and Yayoi culture flourished in a geographic area from southern Kyūshū to northern Honshū. The is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14000 BC to 400 BC. or Kyushu is the third-largest Island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. or Honshu is the largest Island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of

A new study used the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry method to analyze carbonized remains on pottery and wooden stakes, and discovered that these were dated back to 900 BC–800 BC, nearly 500 years earlier than previously believed. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS differs from other forms of Mass spectrometry in that it accelerates ions to extraordinarily high kinetic energies before mass ^[2] These artifacts came from the northern region of Kyūshū, and to further confirm this finding, artifacts from China and Jōmon earthenware from the Tohoku region of the same time period as the initial study were compared with the same results. or Kyushu is the third-largest Island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. The is a geographical area of Japan. Tōhoku is Japanese for "northeast" and the Tōhoku region occupies the northeastern portion of Honshū Another researcher used other artifacts from similar Yayoi period sites and found that these were dated back to 500–400 BC. Events By place Persian Empire Artaxerxes II King of Persia appoints Tissaphernes to take over all the districts in

Features of Yayoi Culture

A Yayoi jar, 1st-3rd century, excavated in Kugahara, Ōta-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo National Museum. is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan.As of 2008 the ward has an estimated Population of 677341 and a density of 11360 persons per Established 1872 the, or TNM, is the oldest and largest Museum in Japan.

The earliest archaeological evidence of the Yayoi is found on northern Kyūshū. or Kyushu is the third-largest Island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. ^[3] Yayoi culture quickly spread to the main island of Honshū, where Yayoi farmers displaced the native Jōmon, although there was some mixing of the two distinct genetic stocks. Yayoi pottery was simply decorated, and produced on a potter's wheel, as opposed to Jōmon pottery, which was produced by hand. Pottery is the Ceramic ware made by potters It also refers to a group of materials that includes Earthenware, Stoneware In Pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping of round ceramic wares Yayoi craft specialists made bronze ceremonial bells (Dōtaku), mirrors, and weapons. Bronze is any of a broad range of Copper alloys, usually with Tin as the main additive but sometimes with other elements such as Phosphorus are Japanese bells smelted from relatively thin Bronze and richly decorated By the 1st century AD, Yayoi farmers began using iron agricultural tools and weapons. Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26

The Yayoi population increased, and their society became more complex. They wove cloth textiles, lived in permanent farming villages and constructed buildings of wood and stone. They also accumulated wealth through land ownership and the storage of grain. These factors in turn promoted the development of distinct social classes. Yayoi chiefs in some parts of Kyūshū appear to have sponsored, and politically manipulated, trade in bronze and other prestige objects^[4]. This was possible due to the introduction of an irrigated, wet-rice culture from the Yangtze estuary in southern China via the Ryukyu islands or Korean peninsula. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The Ryukyu Islands, in Japanese called the (literally Southwest Islands are a chain of Japanese islands in the western Pacific Ocean at the eastern limit Physical geography See also Geography of North Korea, Geography of South Korea Mountains cover 70 percent of the Korean Peninsula and arable plains are ^[5][1] Wet-rice agriculture led to the development and growth of a sedentary, agrarian society in Japan. Local political and social developments in Japan were more important than the activities of the central authority within a stratified society.

Direct comparisons between Jōmon and Yayoi skeletons show that the two peoples are noticeably distinguishable. ^[6] The Jōmon tended to be shorter, with relatively longer forearms and lower legs, more wide-set eyes, shorter and wider faces, and much more pronounced facial topography. They also have strikingly raised browridges, noses, and nose bridges. Yayoi people, on the other hand, averaged an inch or two taller, with close-set eyes, high and narrow faces, and flat browridges and noses. By the Kofun period, almost all skeletons excavated in Japan, except those of the Ainu and Okinawans, resemble those of modern day Japanese. are megalithic Tombs or tumuli in Japan, constructed between early 3rd century and early 7th century. ^[7] The modern Japanese are believed to be descendants of the immigrants mixed with the indigenous Jōmon people, while the Ainu are believed to be relatively purer descendants of the Jōmon people, with some intermingling of genes from Nivkhs and from Yayoi immigrants. ʔáinu (also called Ezo in historical texts are an ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. The Nivkhs (also Nivkh, Nivkhi, or Gilyak; ethnonym Nivxi language нивхгу - Nivxgu are an indigenous ethnic group inhabiting the

History

Bronze mirror excavated in Tsubai-otsukayama kofun, Yamashiro, Kyoto. Bronze mirrors preceded the glass mirrors of today This type of mirror has been found by was a town located in Sōraku District, Kyoto, Japan. The town was named for the old Yamashiro Province.

Origin of the Yayoi people

The earliest archaeological sites are Itazuke site or Nabata site in the northern part of Kyūshū. The origin of Yayoi culture has long been debated. Chinese influence was obvious in the bronze and copper weapons, bronze mirrors (Dōkyō), bells (Dōtaku), as well as irrigated paddy rice cultivation. Bronze mirrors preceded the glass mirrors of today This type of mirror has been found by Three major symbols of the Yayoi Culture - the bronze mirror, the bronze sword, and the royal seal stone.

In recent years, more archaeological and genetic evidence have been found in both eastern China and western Japan to lend credibility to this argument. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Between 1996 and 1999, a team led by Satoshi Yamaguchi, a researcher at Japan's National Science Museum, compared Yayoi remains found in Japan's Yamaguchi and Fukuoka prefectures with those from early Han Dynasty (202 BC-8) in China's coastal Jiangsu province, and found many similarities between the skulls and limbs of Yayoi people and the Jiangsu remains. The is located in the northeast corner of Ueno park in Tokyo. WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines--> is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines --> is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū Island. The Han Dynasty ( 206 BC–220 AD followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. Events By place Carthage Accused of treason by the Carthaginians after being defeated by the Romans at the Battle of the Year 8 was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. ( Postal map spelling: Kiangsu) is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country ^[8] Two Jiangsu skulls showed spots where the front teeth had been pulled, a practice common in Japan in the Yayoi and preceding Jōmon period. The genetic samples from three of the 36 Jiangsu skeletons also matched part of the DNA base arrangements of samples from the Yayoi remains.

Some scholars also concluded that the Korean influence existed. These include "bunded paddy fields, new types of polished stone tools, wooden farming implements, iron tools, weaving technology, ceramic storage jars, exterior bonding of clay coils in pottery fabrication, ditched settlements, domesticated pigs and jawbone rituals. "^[9] This assumption also gains strength due to the fact that Yayoi culture began on the north coast of Kyūshū, where Japan is closest to Korea. Yayoi pottery, burial mounds, food preservation was discovered to be very similar to the pottery of southern Korea. ^[10]

However, some argue that the rapid increase of roughly four million people in Japan between the Jōmon and Yayoi periods cannot be explained by migration alone. They attribute the increase primarily to a shift from a hunter-gatherer to an agricultural diet on the islands, with the introduction of rice. It is quite likely that rice cultivation and its subsequent deification allowed for mass population increase. Regardless, there is archaeological evidence that supports the idea that there was an influx of farmers from the continent to Japan that absorbed or overwhelmed the native hunter-gatherer population. ^[10]

Some pieces of Yayoi pottery clearly show the influence of Jōmon ceramics. In addition, the Yayoi lived in the same kind of pit-type or circular dwellings as that of the Jōmon. Other examples of commonality are chipped stone tools for hunting, bone tools for fishing, bracelets made from shells, and lacquer skills for vessels and accessories.

Today the theory, the Yayoi people are that mix of the native Jōmon with immigrants from China and Korea, is believed widely and most textbooks of Japan have described that.

Emergence of Wa in Chinese history texts

Imprint of the Golden Seal, inscribed King of Na of Wa in Han Dynasty(漢委奴國王)

The earliest written records about people in Japan are from Chinese sources from this period. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Wa (倭), the Japanese pronunciation of an early Chinese name for Japan, was mentioned in 57 AD; the Na or Nú state of Wa (倭奴國, literally "Wa slave country") received a golden seal from the Emperor of the Later Han Dynasty. Japanese, is the oldest recorded name of Japan. Chinese Korean and Japanese scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato "Japan" with the Year 57 was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. The Han Dynasty ( 206 BC–220 AD followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. This was recorded in the Book of Later Han (Hou-Han Shu). The Book of the Later Han ( is one of the official Chinese Historical works which was compiled by Fan Ye in the 5th century, using The seal itself was discovered in northern Kyūshū in the 18th century. ^[11] Wa was also mentioned in 257 in the Wei zhi (The Records of Wei), a section of the San Guo Zhi. Events By Place Roman Empire Valerian I recovers Antioch from Shapur. The Records of Three Kingdoms ( is the official and authoritative historical text on the period of Three Kingdoms covering from 189 to 280, ^[12]

Early Chinese historians described Wa as a land of hundreds of scattered tribal communities, not the unified land with a 700-year tradition as laid out in the 8th-century work Nihongi, a part-mythical, part-historical account of Japan which dates the foundation of the country at 660 BC. The, sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. Events and trends 669 BC: Ashurbanipal succeeds his father Esarhaddon as king of Assyria. Archaeological evidences also suggest that frequent conflicts between settlements or statelets broke out in the period. Many excavated settlements were moated or built at the tops of hills. Headless buried human bones^[13] discovered in Yoshinogari site are regarded as the typical example of the presumption. Yoshinogari (吉野ヶ里 遺跡 Yoshinogari iseki) is the name of a large and complex Yayoi Archaeological site in Yoshinogari and Kanzaki In the coastal area of the Inland Sea, stone tips of arrows were often included in the burial goods. An inland sea is a shallow Sea that covers central areas of continents during high stands of Sea level that result in marine transgressions In modern days

Third century Chinese sources reported that the Wa people lived on raw fish, vegetables, and rice served on bamboo and wooden trays, clapped their hands in worship (something still done in Shinto shrines today), and built earthen grave mounds. A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine" a Shinto Kami, and is usually characterized by the presence of a (also called They also maintained vassal-master relations, collected taxes, had provincial granaries and markets, and observed mourning. Society was characterized by violent struggles.

Yamataikoku

Hashihaka kofun, Sakurai, Nara

The Wei Zhi (Records of Wei), which is part of the San Guo Zhi, first mentions Yamataikoku and Queen Himiko in the 3rd century. is a city located in Nara, Japan. As of 2007 the city has an estimated Population of 63321 and the density of 630 The Records of Three Kingdoms ( is the official and authoritative historical text on the period of Three Kingdoms covering from 189 to 280, was an ancient country in Wa (Japan during the late Yayoi period. was an obscure Shaman queen of Yamataikoku in ancient Wa (Japan. The 3rd century is the period from 201 to 300 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. According to the record, Himiko assumed the throne of Wa, as a spiritual leader, after the large civil war. Her younger brother carried out practical affairs of state, which included diplomatic relations with the court of the Chinese Kingdom of Wei. Cao Wei ( was one of the empires that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period ^[14] When asked of their origins by the Wei embassy, the people of Wa claimed to be descendants of the Grand Count Tàibó of Wu, a historic figure of the Wu Kingdom (吳國) around the Yangtze Delta of China. Wu (吳 or Wuyueh (吳越 is a region in the Jiangnan area (the south of Yangtze River) surrounding Suzhou, in Jiangsu province Wu (吳 was a state during the Spring and Autumn Period in China. The Yangtze River Delta or Yangtze Delta, also called Chang Jiang Delta, or the Golden Triangle of the Yangtze ( Hanyu Pinyin:) generally (Original Chinese from the Records of Wei: 「倭人自謂太伯之後」. ).

The location of Yamataikoku and the identity of Queen Himiko have been subjected to study for many years. There are two possible sites, Yoshinogari in Saga Prefecture and Makimuku in Nara Prefecture. WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines --> is located in the northwest part of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines --> is a prefecture in the Kinki region on Honshū Island, Japan General consensus centers around these two likely locations, either northern Kyūshū or the Kinki region of central Honshū. Recent archaeological research in Makimuku suggests that Yamataikoku located in the area. ^[15][16] Some scholars assume the Hashihaka kofun in Makimuku was the tomb of Himiko. Its relation of the origin of the Yamato polity in the following Kofun period also under debates. The is an era in the History of Japan from around 250 to 538 The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating from this era

References

External links

• Yayoi Culture, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Yayoi period at Japanese History Online (under construction)
• An article by Richard Hooker on the Yayoi and the Jōmon. Wikisource is a Wikimedia project to build a free, Wiki Library of Source texts along with translations into any language
• Article "Japanese Roots Surprisingly Shallow" from Japan Times