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| POLISHED STONE AXES |
Many thousand years ago the Pacific Ocean was frozen over. This
enables people to walk from the Asian mainland to today's Japan.
It is assumed that the first inhabitants to live in today's Japan
came from North Asia 100,000 years ago. There is not a lot of
evidence of these first settlers and therefore the knowledge of their way
of life is little
THE JOMON PERIOD.
However, in around 10,000 people began to make potteries and
they were found in excavation. To begin with they decorated their potteries by
drawing cords across. The Japanese word for this type of decoration is jomon
and has been adopted to this prehistoric Japanese period from 10,000 to 300 BC.
The settlers were followed by blue-eyed, white-skinned
people called Ainu, Nobody knows where these people came from. Some Japanese
people still claim to be descendant. However, there are only about 300 of pure
Ainu blood people now. Later on, during the 8th century the Ainu people were
more or less driven out by today's Japanese people who came from Asia.
During this period the people were hunter/gatherers. The
tools which were found tell of fishing, collecting fruits and killing deers and
boars. The tools were made from stone or bones.
It is known from archaeological finds that from 3,500 BC
some settlers moved inland but having no knowledge of farming yet they were not
able to find enough food to live on and therefore moved back Therefore, from
around 2000 BC many people live around the coast.
RICE PADDY FIELDS
THE YAYOI PERIOD
Life changed in Japan dramatically when people from Korea
introduced rice-growing. It was first established on the island of Kyushu about
500BC by the Yayoi people. The second period of prehistory which lasted from
300 BC to 300 AD is named after them.
The Yayoi brought the rice culture to the Japanese island of
Honshu but never went northerly to Hokkaido. They were more farmer and the
start of villages emerged with a complex hierarchy and rules. The Yayoi people
also had also a knowledge of weaving and wheel-made pottery. At the same time
bronze tools and weapons came from the Asian mainland plus iron versions of the
same.
The successful method of growing rice, it has to be grown in
flooded fields called paddies. They are low banked up earth to
contain enough water for a good harvest. Japanese villages which
grew rice started over 2000 years ago. It soon became a staple food.
Granaries were build to contain the rice after the harvest. They were
raised on stilts, one reason to keep the grains dry and the other reason to
keep rats and mice out.
THE TUMULUS PERIOD
At the end of the Yayoi Period warlike chieftains leading
communities. One of such chieftains was based in the Yamato Plain in south-east
Honshu. The Yamato people buried their rulers or chieftains. The mounds were
called Tumuli and other inhabitants adopted this practice. The era that
followed in Japanese prehistory is called the Tumulus Period (about 300-552 AD)
These chieftains became more and more powerful as the
Tumulus Period progressed. They conquered other groups and made them swear
their alliance. .It was not always military power when they conquer other
communities. One Yamato chieftain insisted that he is from the Sun Goddess
Amaterasu and with that achieved superiority over his rivals. At the beginning
of the 6th century some Yamato chieftains were ruled by an emperor from the Sun
Line and he was living in the new capital of Nara.
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