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This article is about a Japanese historical era. For the town, see Yayoi, Oita.

The Yayoi period (Japanese: 弥生時代 Yayoi-jidai) is an era in Japan from 300 BC to AD 250. It is named after the section of Tokyo where archaeological investigations uncovered its first recognized traces. The Yayoi period is marked either by the start of the practice of growing rice in a paddy field or a new Yayoi-style earthenware.Following the Jōmon period (10,000 BC to 300 BC), the Yayoi period flourished from southern Kyushu to northern Honshu. Recent discoveries suggest that it may have started as early as 900 BC. Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC - 300s BC - 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC Years: 305 BC 304 BC 303 BC 302 BC 301 BC - 300 BC - 299 BC 298 BC... Centuries: 2nd century - 3rd century - 4th century Decades: 200s - 210s - 220s - 230s - 240s - 250s - 260s - 270s - 280s - 290s - 300s Years: 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 Events Crisis of the Third Century End of Yayoi era and beginning of Kofun period, the first part of the... Headquarters of Tokyo Metropolitan Government (City Hall) View of Tokyos Shibuya district Tokyo ) (help· info), literally eastern capital, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and includes the highly urbanized downtown area formerly known as the city of Tokyo which is the heart of the Greater Tokyo Area. ... The Jomon period (Japanese: 縄文時代 Jōmon-jidai) is the time in Japanese history from about 10,000 BC to 300 BC. Most scholars agree that by around 40,000 BC glaciation had connected the islands with the mainland. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC - 300s BC - 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC Years: 305 BC 304 BC 303 BC 302 BC 301 BC - 300 BC - 299 BC 298 BC... Kyushu region, Japan Kyushu (九州 kyÅ«shÅ«) is the third largest island of Japan and most southerly and westerly of the four main islands. ... todo mal de [ [ Shikoku ] ] a través del [ [ mar interior ] ], y noreste de [ [ Kyushu ] ] a través del [ [ estrecho de Kanmon ] ]. Es la séptima isla más grande, y la segunda isla populosa en el mundo después de [ [ Java (isla)|Java ] ] (véase [ [ lista de las islas de la población ] ]). < style=float del div... Centuries: 11th century BC - 10th century BC - 9th century BC Decades: 950s BC 940s BC 930s BC 920s BC 910s BC - 900s BC - 890s BC 880s BC 870s BC 860s BC 850s BC Events and Trends 909 BC - Zhou xiao wang becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China. ...

Features of Yayoi Culture

A Yayoi jar, 1st-3rd century, excavated in Kugahara, Ōta-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo National Museum.

The earliest Yayoi people, themselves using chipped stone tools, appear to have started from northern Kyushu and intermixed with the Jōmon. Although the pottery of the Yayoi was more technologically advanced—produced on a potter's wheel—it was more simply decorated than Jōmon ware. The Yayoi made bronze ceremonial bells, mirrors, and weapons and, by the 1st century A.D., iron agricultural tools and weapons. As the population increased and society became more complex, they wove cloth, lived in permanent farming villages, constructed buildings of wood and stone, accumulated wealth through land ownership and the storage of grain, and developed distinct social classes. Their irrigated, wet-rice culture was similar to that of central and south Chinese mainland, requiring heavy human labor, which led to the development and eventual growth of a highly sedentary, agrarian society. Unlike Chinese mainland, which had to undertake massive public works and water-control projects, leading to a highly centralized government. On the Japanese Archipelago, then, local political and social developments were relatively more important than the activities of the central authority and a stratified society. Yayoi Jar (1-3rd century), Tokyo national Museum. ... Yayoi Jar (1-3rd century), Tokyo national Museum. ... ÅŒta (Japanese: 大田区; -ku) is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. ... The Tokyo National Museum. ... Unfired green ware pottery on a traditional drying rack at Conner Prairie living history museum. ... Assorted ancient bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ... The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 AD to 100 AD, or from 0 to 99 in a more scientific notation (using a year zero), as in astronomical year numbering. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... In this map of China, the light-coloured areas represent Mainland China, while yellow coloured area refers to Taiwan. ... The Japanese Archipelago which forms the country of Japan extends from north to south along the eastern coast of the Eurasian Continent, the western shore of the Pacific Ocean. ...

The Origin of Yayoi Culture

The Origin of Yayoi Culture is a controversy and there are several theories as shown below.

• Yayoi Culture was created by continental immigrants.

The emergence of the Yayoi Culture was sudden. The Yayoi Culture was very advanced compared to the Jomon Culture it replaced. It introduced skills to the Japanese Archipelago such as the manufacturing of bronze and copper weapons, bronze mirrors, bells, as well as irrigated paddy rice cultivation. The most notable fact that lends evidence to this claim is that three major symbols of the Yayoi Culture - the bronze mirror, the sword, and the royal seal stone - are exactly the same symbols used by Qin dynasty China.[1] The Jomon period (Japanese: 縄文時代 Jōmon-jidai) is the time in Japanese history from about 10,000 BCE to 300 BCE. Most scholars agree that by around 40,000 BCE glaciation had connected the islands with the mainland. ... The Japanese Archipelago which forms the country of Japan extends from north to south along the eastern coast of the Eurasian Continent, the western shore of the Pacific Ocean. ... The Qin Dynasty (Chinese: 秦朝; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chin Chao) (221 BC - 206 BC) was preceded by the Zhou Dynasty and followed by the Han Dynasty in China. ...

• Yayoi Culture was created by Hybrids of Jomon and continental immigrant peoples.

This is claimed beause the tradition of Jomon culture has been handed down to Yayoi culture. Some pieces of Yayoi pottery clearly show the influence of Jomon ceramics and Yayoi people lived in the same kind of pit-type or circular dwellings of the Jomon period. Other examples are chipped stone tools for hunting, bone tools for fishing,bracelets made from shells and lacquer skills for vessels and accessories. There are arguments about the roots of Yayoi people, but in 2001, the National Science Museum of Japan has held an exhibition named "Long Journey to Prehistorical Japan" which estimates the Yayoi people came from southern Chinese mainland where bones resembling Yayoi people were discovered. [2]This theory explains well about the dual structure of physical types of people who were on the Japanese Archipelago. The Japanese Archipelago which forms the country of Japan extends from north to south along the eastern coast of the Eurasian Continent, the western shore of the Pacific Ocean. ...

• Yayoi culture emerged out of the Jōmon culture with only limited immigration from the continent.

The practice of rice farming that was once believed to have been passed on from Chinese mainland through Korean peninsula is instead thought to have been passed from southern Chinese mainland by way of Okinawa, and continued into southern Korean peninsula. Different physical types of people in Japan are explained by changes in the diet and way of life. The fact that the Japanese are a homogenous people, with the exception of the Ainu, and because the Japanese people are biologically undistincitive and are most similar to the Koreans, suggests that the Japanese people did not evolve separately from peoples of the continent. [3]. In this map of China, the light-coloured areas represent Mainland China, while yellow coloured area refers to Taiwan. ... The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. ... This article is about the prefecture. ... For Ainu in J.R.R. Tolkiens fictional universe of Arda, see Ainur. ...

• Yayoi culture was brought to the Japanese islands by immigrants from Korean peninsula.

As Korean peninsula is the most accessible location, a theory publicized in the early Meiji period in Japan argued that the Yayoi culture was brought to the Japanese islands by immigrants from Korean peninsula. Whether these immigrants constitute Korean in modern sence is contested. Still, this theory is further continued on by both western and Japanese scholars due to many archaeological findings that "clearly derive from the Korean peninsula" including, "bunded paddy fields, new types of polished stone tools, wooden farming implements, iron tools, weaving teachnology, ceramic storage jars, exterior bonding of clay coils in pottery fabrication, ditched settlements, domesticated pigs, jawbone rituals, and megalithic tombs"- Mark J Hudson (1999). Ruins of Identity Ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands, University Hawai'i Press. 0-8248-2156-4.. Writers such as Jared Diamond have also theorized that the Yayoi may have been related to the Goguryeo or the Baekje, two of the Three Kingdoms of Korea[4]. However, he specifically states that modern Korean language which originated from Silla would be a poor model for understanding the origin of Japanese language.. Some argue that roughly 4 million in the population gap between the Jōmon and Yayoi periods can not be explained by migration alone, but could be accounted for a shift from hunt-gatherer to agricultural diet. As for the link between Korean and Japanese languages, the grammatical structures are similar, and some aspects of the Japanese language closely resemble that of Goguryeo (modern Korean being closer to the Silla variant than Goguryeo or Baekje). Information on the Goguryeo language is limited, but analysis by Christopher Beckwith and others support a connection with Goguryeo/Baekje and ancient Japanese.[5] The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. ... The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. ... The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. ... Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American nonfiction author, evolutionary biologist, physiologist, and biogeographer. ... Goguryeo (traditional dates 37 BCE – 668) was an empire in Manchuria and northern Korea. ... Baekje was a kingdom that existed in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. Together with Goguryeo and Silla, Baekje is known as one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. ... The Three Kingdoms of Korea were Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium CE. The Three Kingdoms period in Korea is usually considered to run from the 1st century BCE until Sillas triumph over Goguryeo in 668... Goguryeo (traditional dates 37 BCE – 668) was an empire in Manchuria and northern Korea. ... Silla (also denoted as Shilla) was one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea. ... Goguryeo (traditional dates 37 BCE – 668) was an empire in Manchuria and northern Korea. ... Baekje was a kingdom that existed in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. Together with Goguryeo and Silla, Baekje is known as one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. ... Christopher I. Beckwith is a professor of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. ...

Additionally, direct comparisons between Jomon and Yayoi skeletons show that the two peoples were readily distinguishable, quoting "Japanese Roots" by Jared Diamond, "Jomon and Yayoi skeletons, researchers find, are on the average readily distinguishable. Jomon people 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, with strikingly raised browridges, noses, and nose bridges. Yayoi people averaged an inch or two taller, with close-set eyes, high and narrow faces, and flat browridges and noses", and by the Kofun period all Japanese skeletons except those of the Ainu resemble modern Korean and Japanese. [6]. Genetic evidence also supports this theory. Firstly, the Ainu are the genetic decendants of the Jomon people along with some intermingling of Korean genes from the Yayoi colonists and modern Japanese. Secondly, modern genetics has also determined that the Yayoi genes predominate over Jomon genes in the genetic make-up of modern Japanese, and thus Koreans did make a "big contribution" to the modern Japanese. [7]. These findings directly contradict theories of Yayoi origin from non-Korean sources. Daisenryo Kofun,the tomb of Emperor Nintoku,Osaka,5th century. ...

Building at a Yayoi settlement (reconstructed)

This photo shows buildings reconstructed on the site of the Yoshinogari remains of the Yayoi period of Japanese history. ... This photo shows buildings reconstructed on the site of the Yoshinogari remains of the Yayoi period of Japanese history. ...

Yayoi in Chinese History

The earliest written records about people on the Japanese Archipelago are from Chinese sources from this period. Wa 倭 (the Japanese pronunciation of an early Chinese name for Japan) was mentioned in A.D. 57; Na state of Wa has received an golden seal from the Emperor of the Later Han dynasty which is written in the Book of Later Han, "Hou Han Shu". The seal itself has been discovered at northen Kyushu in the 18C.[8] Wa has been also mentioned in A.D. 257 in the Wei zhi, or "Record of Wei", a Chinese historical record. 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, the part-mythical, part-historical account of Japan which puts the foundation of the country at 660 BC. 3rd century Chinese sources reported that the Wa people lived on raw vegetables, rice, and fish served on bamboo and wooden trays, had vassal-master relations, collected taxes, had provincial granaries and markets, clapped their hands in worship (something still done in Shinto shrines), had violent succession struggles, built earthen grave mounds, and observed mourning. A ruler known as Himiko in Japanese, a female ruler of an early political federation known as Yamatai, flourished during the 3rd century. While Himiko reigned as spiritual leader, her younger brother carried out affairs of state, which included diplomatic relations with the court of the Chinese Kingdom of Wei (A.D. 220–265). The Japanese Archipelago which forms the country of Japan extends from north to south along the eastern coast of the Eurasian Continent, the western shore of the Pacific Ocean. ... Ideogram for Wa, formed by the radical for person (on the left), and the phonetic element Wa on the right (itself represented by a rice plant in the upper part and a woman in the lower part). ... The Book of Later Han (Chinese: 後漢書/后汉书; Pinyin: ) is one of the official Chinese historical works which was compiled by Fan Ye (Traditional Chinese: 范瞱; Simplified Chinese: 范晔; 398-445), using a number of earlier histories and documents as sources. ... Kyushu region, Japan Kyushu (九州 kyÅ«shÅ«) is the third largest island of Japan and most southerly and westerly of the four main islands. ... Events Pope Sixtus II succeeds Pope Stephen I Births Saint Gregory the Illuminator, founder and patron saint of the Armenian Church (approximate date) Deaths Pope Stephen I Categories: 257 ... Nihonshoki (日本書紀) is the second oldest history book about the ancient history of Japan. ... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 710s BC 700s BC 690s BC 680s BC 670s BC - 660s BC - 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC Events and Trends 668 BC - Egypt revolts against Assyria 668 BC - Assurbanipal succeeds Esarhaddon as king of... // Overview Events 212: Constitutio Antoniniana grants citizenship to all free Roman men 212-216: Baths of Caracalla 230-232: Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east 235-284: Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire 250-538: Kofun era, the first... A torii is a gate leading to a jinja. ... Himiko (卑弥呼. ... Yamataikoku (邪馬台国) was an ancient country in Japan, recorded in an old Chinese history book, Gishiwajinden. ... // Overview Events 212: Constitutio Antoniniana grants citizenship to all free Roman men 212-216: Baths of Caracalla 230-232: Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east 235-284: Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire 250-538: Kofun era, the first... The Kingdom of Wei (ch. ... Events Han Xiandi abdicates his throne to Cao Pi, symbolizing the end of the Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period in China. ... Events Wei Yuandi abdicates, end of the China. ...

A recent study

A new study that used the AMS method to analyze carbonized remain on pottery and wooden stakes discovered that these were dated back to 900–800 BC, nearly 500 years earlier than previously believed. These artifacts came from the northern region of Kyushu and to further confirm this finding, artifacts of the same time period from Korea and the Tōhoku Region's Jōmon earthenware were compared with the same result. Another researcher used different artifacts from similar Yayoi period sites and found that these were dated back to 400–500 BC. AMS is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below: American Meteorological Society Advanced Management Systems Aerospace Material Specification Accelerator mass spectrometry or accelerator mass spectrometer. ... Kyushu region, Japan Kyushu (九州 kyÅ«shÅ«) is the third largest island of Japan and most southerly and westerly of the four main islands. ... Tohoku region, Japan The Tōhoku region (東北地方; Tōhoku-chihō) is a geographical area of Japan. ...

See also

Origin of Korean and Japanese To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

External links

• Long Journey to Prehistorical Japan (in Japanese) by the National Science Museum of Japan
• Yayoi Culture by Charles T. Keally
• Yayoi Culture at the Metropolitan Museum
• Yayoi period at Japanese History Online (under construction)
• An article by Richard Hooker on the Yayoi and the Jomon.
• Photos of Yoshinogari Historical Park at PHOTOGUIDE.JP
• Yamato Wa at Korean History Project

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Yayoi period