Japan: prehistoric and ancient history to AD 400

Humans first settled on the Japanese islands over 30,000 years ago, but the Japanese nation probably came about from the settlement and intermixing of Mongol, Malay, and Polynesian peoples over several centuries. The Japanese language and cultural styles such as architecture, pottery, and textile-weaving offer evidence of the mixed ancestry of the Japanese people.

The Jomon period Very little is known about the early population of Japan until the Jomon culture, a society based on hunting and fishing that existed around 8000-300 BC. The Jomon culture is named after the cord-marked pottery that was developed in the period. Jomon pottery can be recognized by its high artistic quality for the period in which it was made, and is divided into five stages of development. The first and last stages show differences between east and west Japan, though the middle stage shows a common style; this suggests that immigration was continuing into both north and south Japan. Traditional sources date the first Japanese emperor, Jimmu, to about 660 BC, towards the end of the Jomon period.

The Yayoi culture Jomon culture was replaced around 300-100 BC by the Yayoi culture. The Yayoi people probably came from south China via Korea, and seem to have lived alongside the Jomon people. The Yayoi introduced rice farming, bronze- and iron-working, and textiles to Japan, and also developed the first political organization. Some local Yayoi chieftains had contacts with China by the 1st century AD, and Chinese travellers in the 3rd century AD reported the existence of a federation ruled by a shamanistic queen (see shamanism).

About this time large burial mounds (kofun) began to be erected when chieftains died. Around AD 400 the terracotta figures (haniwa) placed on burial mounds reveal the appearance of mounted warriors armed with iron swords. Apart from their symbolic role, these figures also seem to have had the more practical function of stabilizing the burial mounds. Their appearance represented a technological development, and the modernization of warfare by the Yayoi.

For subsequent history, see Japan: early feudal history 400-1192, Japan: shogunate and restoration history 1192-1869, Japan: history 1869-1912, Japan: history 1912-41, and Japan: history 1941-45. For the history of Japan since 1945 see Japan.