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'{{about|the Yayoi period in Japanese history|other uses|Yayoi (disambiguation)}} {{History of Japan |periods |image=YoshinogariIseki.jpg |caption=[[Yoshinogari site|Yoshinogari]] reconstruction.}} The {{nihongo|'''Yayoi period'''|弥生時代|Yayoi jidai}} is an [[Iron Age]] era in the history of [[Japan]] traditionally dated 300 BC–300 AD.<ref name="keally-yayoi">{{cite web |url=http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/yayoi.html |title=Yayoi Culture |first=Charles T. |last=Keally |date=2006-06-03 |work=Japanese Archaeology |publisher=Charles T. Keally |accessdate=2010-03-19}}</ref> Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the [[Jōmon period]] should be reclassified as Early Yayoi.<ref>{{cite book |surname=Habu |given=Junko |title=Ancient Jomon of Japan |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-77670-7 |page=258}}</ref> The date of the beginning of this transition is controversial, with estimates ranging from the 10th to the 6th centuries BC.<ref name="Shinya">{{cite journal |url=http://www.seaa-web.org/bul-essay-01.htm |title=A Comment on the Yayoi Period Dating Controversy |journal=Bulletin of the Society for East Asian Archaeology |surname=Shōda |given=Shinya |year=2007 |volume=1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Archaeology of Japan: From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State |given=Koji |surname=Mizoguchi |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-521-88490-7 |pages=35–36 }}</ref> The period is named after the [[Yayoi, Tokyo|neighborhood]] of [[Tokyo]] where [[Archaeology|archaeologists]] first uncovered artifacts and features from that era. Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new [[Yayoi pottery]] styles and the start of an intensive rice agriculture in [[paddy field]]s. A hierarchical social class structure dates from this period. Techniques in [[metallurgy]] based on the use of [[bronze]] and [[iron]] were also introduced to Japan in this period. The Yayoi followed the Jōmon period (14,000–1,000 BC) and Yayoi culture flourished in a geographic area from southern [[Kyūshū]] to northern [[Honshū]]. Archaeological evidence supports the idea that during this time, an influx of farmers from the Asian continent to Japan absorbed or overwhelmed the native [[hunter-gatherer]] population. == Features == [[File:YayoiJar.JPG|thumb|upright|left|A Yayoi jar, 1st-3rd century, excavated in Kugahara, [[Ōta, Tokyo]], [[Tokyo National Museum]] ]] The Yayoi period is traditionally dated from 300&nbsp;BC to 300 AD.<ref name="keally-yayoi"/> The earliest archaeological evidence of the Yayoi is found on northern [[Kyūshū]],<ref>[http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/e_kenkyuu/report2004.html The Origin of the Farming in the Yayoi Period and East Asia: Establishment of High-Precision Chronology by Carbon 14 Age Analysis], [[National Museum of Japanese History]]</ref> but that is still debated. Yayoi culture quickly spread to the main island of Honshū, mixing with native Jōmon culture.<ref>[http://ejournal.anu.edu.au/index.php/bippa/article/viewFile/255/245 EASTERN JAPANESE POTTERY DURING THE JOMON-YAYOI TRANSITION: A STUDY IN FORAGER-FARMER INTERACTION] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923052256/http://ejournal.anu.edu.au/index.php/bippa/article/viewFile/255/245 |date=2009-09-23 }}, Seiji Kobayashi, [[Kokugakuin Tochigi Junior College]]</ref> A recent study that used [[accelerator mass spectrometry]] to analyze carbonized remains on pottery and wooden stakes, suggests that they dated back to 900–800 BC, 500 years earlier than previously believed.<ref name="Shinya"/> Yayoi [[pottery]] was simply decorated and produced using the same coiling technique previously used in Jōmon pottery.<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm</ref> Yayoi craft specialists made [[bronze]] ceremonial bells (''[[dōtaku]]''), mirrors, and weapons. By the 1st century AD, Yayoi farmers began using [[iron]] agricultural tools and weapons. As the Yayoi population increased, the society became more stratified and complex. They wove [[textiles]], lived in permanent farming villages, and constructed buildings with wood and stone. They also accumulated wealth through land ownership and the storage of grain. Such factors promoted the development of distinct social classes. Contemporary Chinese sources described the people as having [[tattoos]] and other bodily markings which indicated differences in social status.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Lock |first=Margaret |title=Japanese |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of World Cultures CD-ROM |url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/fiske/135b/japan.htm |access-date=July 10, 2015 |year=1998 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |location= |id= }}</ref> Yayoi chiefs, in some parts of Kyūshū, appear to have sponsored, and politically manipulated, trade in bronze and other prestige objects.<ref>[[Richard J. Pearson|Pearson, Richard J.]] Chiefly Exchange Between Kyushu and Okinawa, Japan, in the Yayoi Period. ''Antiquity'' 64(245)912–922, 1990.</ref> That was possible by the introduction of an irrigated, wet-rice culture from the [[Yangtze River|Yangtze]] estuary in southern [[China]] via the [[Ryukyu Islands]] or [[Korean Peninsula]].<ref name="keally-yayoi"/><ref>[http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2003/05/earlier-start-japanese-rice-cultivation Earlier Start for Japanese Rice Cultivation], Dennis Normile, Science, 2003 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160707223555/http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2003/05/earlier-start-japanese-rice-cultivation archive])</ref> 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.<ref>https://japanese101blog.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/japanese-history-yayoi-period-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%8F%B2%EF%BC%9A-%E5%BC%A5%E7%94%9F%E6%99%82%E4%BB%A3/ http://www.wa-pedia.com/history/yayoi_period_era.shtml https://books.google.com/books?id=BDKqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT1162&lpg=PT1162&dq=yayoi+local+developments&source=bl&ots=n7okKQ3e6n&sig=9k9WA8ZZhXFguvjkydLx98tvKxM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjemYG9gOfQAhWKCywKHWqJDQ8Q6AEIJzAB#v=onepage&q=yayoi%20local%20developments&f=false</ref> Direct comparisons between Jōmon and Yayoi skeletons show that the two peoples are noticeably distinguishable.<ref>[http://www2.edu.ipa.go.jp/gz/k-kda1/k-kca1/k-ksa1/IPA-joe100.htm 縄文人の顔と骨格-骨格の比較] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223125145/http://www2.edu.ipa.go.jp/gz/k-kda1/k-kca1/k-ksa1/IPA-joe100.htm |date=2007-12-23 }}, Information-technology Promotion Agency</ref> 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 brow ridges, 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 brow ridges and noses. By the [[Kofun period]], almost all skeletons excavated in Japan except those of the [[Ainu people|Ainu]] are of the Yayoi type with Jomon admixture,<ref>[http://ir.lib.u-ryukyu.ac.jp/bitstream/123456789/146/2/04_doi.pdf 南西諸島出土人骨の形質人類学的・人類遺伝学的研究], Doi, Naomi, [[University of the Ryukyus]]</ref> resembling those of modern-day Japanese.<ref name="JapaneseRoots">{{cite journal |author= [[Jared Diamond]]|date=June 1, 1998 |title=Japanese Roots |journal=Discover Magazine |volume=19|issue=6 June 1998 |url=http://discovermagazine.com/1998/jun/japaneseroots1455/ |accessdate=<!--08:36 (UTC)--> 14 December 2013}}</ref> == History == ===Origin of the Yayoi people=== [[File:Korea Strait.png|thumb|right|Northern Kyushu is the part of Japan closest to the Asian mainland.]] The origin of Yayoi culture has long been debated. The earliest archaeological sites are Itazuke or Nabata in the northern part of Kyūshū. Contacts between fishing communities on this coast and the southern coast of Korea date from the Jōmon period, as witnessed by the exchange of trade items such as fishhooks and obsidians.<ref>Mizoguchi (2013), p. 54.</ref> During the Yayoi period, cultural features from China and Korea arrived in this area at various times over several centuries, and later spread to the south and east.<ref>{{cite book | chapter = The earliest societies in Japan | given = J. Edward, Jr. | surname = Kidder | pages = 48–107 | title = Cambridge History of Japan, vol. 1: Ancient Japan | editor-given = Delmer | editor-surname = Brown | editor-link = Delmer Brown | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1993 | isbn = 978-0-521-22352-2}} p. 81.</ref> This was a period of mixture between immigrants and the indigenous population, and between new cultural influences and existing practices.<ref>Mizoguchi (2013), p. 53.</ref> Chinese influence was obvious in the bronze and copper weapons, [[Bronze mirror|dōkyō]], [[dōtaku]], as well as irrigated paddy rice cultivation. Three major symbols of Yayoi culture are the bronze mirror, the bronze sword, and the royal seal stone. Between 1996 and 1999, a team led by Satoshi Yamaguchi, a researcher at Japan's [[National Science Museum of Japan|National Science Museum]], compared Yayoi remains found in Japan's [[Yamaguchi Prefecture|Yamaguchi]] and [[Fukuoka Prefecture|Fukuoka]] prefectures with those from China's coastal [[Jiangsu]] province and found many similarities between the Yayoi and the Jiangsu remains.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kahaku.go.jp/special/past/japanese/ipix/5/5-14.html|title=Long Journey to Prehistorical Japan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150421054014/http://www.kahaku.go.jp/special/past/japanese/ipix/5/5-14.html|archive-date=21 April 2014|publisher=National Science Museum of Japan|language=Japanese}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trussel.com/prehist/news111.htm |title=Yayoi linked to Yangtze area: DNA tests reveal similarities to early wet-rice farmers|newspaper=The Japan Times|date=March 19, 1999}}</ref> [[File:DotakuBronzeBellLateYayoi3rdCenturyCE.jpg|thumb|left|A Yayoi period [[dōtaku]] bell, 3rd century AD]] Some scholars have concluded that Korean influence existed. Hudson has cited archaeological evidence that included "bounded 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."<ref>{{cite book | author=Mark J. Hudson | title=Ruins of Identity Ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands | publisher =University Hawai'i Press | year=1999 | isbn=0-8248-2156-4}}</ref> The migrant transfusion via the Korean peninsula gains strength because Yayoi culture began on the north coast of Kyūshū, where Japan is closest to Korea. Yayoi pottery, burial mounds, and food preservation were discovered to be very similar to the pottery of southern Korea.<ref name="Diamond">{{cite journal |author= [[Jared Diamond]]|date=June 1, 1998 |title=Japanese Roots |journal=Discover Magazine |volume=19|issue=6, June 1998 |url=http://discovermagazine.com/1998/jun/japaneseroots1455/ |accessdate=2008-05-12 | quote = Unlike Jomon pottery, Yayoi pottery was very similar to contemporary South Korean pottery in shape. Many other elements of the new Yayoi culture were unmistakably Korean and previously foreign to Japan, including bronze objects, weaving, glass beads, and styles of tools and houses.}}</ref> [[File:Bronze Mirror in Ancient Japan.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bronze mirror]] excavated in Tsubai-otsukayama kofun, [[Yamashiro, Kyoto]]]] However, some scholars 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 a slow and gradual population increase.<ref>Mizoguchi (2013), p. 119.</ref> 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.<ref name="Diamond"/> Some pieces of Yayoi pottery clearly show the influence of Jōmon ceramics. In addition, the Yayoi lived in the same type of pit or circular dwelling as that of the Jōmon. Other examples of commonality are chipped stone tools for hunting, bone tools for fishing, shells in bracelet construction, and lacquer decoration for vessels and accessories. ===Emergence of ''Wa'' in Chinese history texts === [[File:King of Na gold seal faces.jpg|thumb|The golden seal said to have been granted to the "King of [[Wa (Japan)|Wa]]" by [[Emperor Guangwu of Han]] in 57 AD. It is inscribed ''King of Na of Wa in Han Dynasty'' (漢委奴國王)]] The earliest written records about people in Japan are from [[China|Chinese]] sources from this period. [[Wa (Japan)|Wa]], the Japanese pronunciation of an early [[Chinese language|Chinese]] name for Japan, was mentioned in 57 AD; the [[Nakoku|Na state]] of Wa received a golden seal from the [[Emperor Guangwu of Han|Emperor Guangwu]] of the Later [[Han dynasty]]. This event was recorded in the ''[[Book of the Later Han|Hou Han Shu]]'' compiled by [[Fan Ye (historian)|Fan Ye]] in the 5th century. The seal itself was discovered in northern Kyūshū in the 18th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://museum.city.fukuoka.jp/en/exhibition.html|title=Gold Seal (Kin-in)|publisher=Fukuoka City Museum|accessdate=2007-11-10}}</ref> Wa was also mentioned in 257 in the ''Wei zhi'', a section of the ''[[Records of Three Kingdoms|San Guo Zhi]]'' compiled by the 3rd century scholar [[Chen Shou]].<ref>[http://www.geocities.jp/mb1527/wajinden.htm 魏志倭人伝], Chinese texts and its Japanese translation</ref> Early Chinese historians described Wa as a land of hundreds of scattered tribal communities rather than the unified land with a 700-year tradition as laid out in the 8th-century work [[Nihon Shoki]], a partly mythical, partly historical account of Japan which dates the foundation of the country at 660 BC. Archaeological evidence also suggests 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 human skeletons<ref>[http://www.nipec.niigata.niigata.jp/cec/yosinogari/09_ohaka1/03_syutudo_hito/k-yic2.jpg 首なしの人骨]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Niigata Prefectural Education Center</ref> discovered in [[Yoshinogari site]] are regarded as typical examples of finds from the period. In the coastal area of the [[Seto Inland Sea|Inland Sea]], stone arrowheads are often found among funerary objects. 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 shrine]]s today), and built earthen-grave mounds. They also maintained vassal-master relations, collected taxes, had provincial granaries and markets, and observed mourning. Society was characterized by violent struggles. ===Yamataikoku=== [[File:Hashihaka-kofun-1.jpg|thumb|right|Hashihaka kofun, [[Sakurai, Nara]]]] The ''Wei Zhi'' ({{zh|魏志}}), which is part of the [[Records of Three Kingdoms|San Guo Zhi]], first mentions [[Yamataikoku]] and Queen [[Himiko]] in the 3rd century. According to the record, Himiko assumed the throne of Wa, as a spiritual leader, after a [[Civil war of Wa|major civil war]]. Her younger brother was in charge of the affairs of state, including diplomatic relations with the Chinese court [[Cao Wei|Kingdom of Wei]].<ref>[http://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%AD%8F%E5%BF%97%E5%80%AD%E4%BA%BA%E4%BC%9D 魏志倭人伝], Chinese texts of the ''Wei Zhi'', [[Wikisource]]</ref> When asked about their origins by the Wei embassy, the people of Wa claimed to be descendants of the [[Wu Taibo|Grand Count Tàibó]] of [[Wu (region)|Wu]], a historic figure of the [[Wu (state)|Wu Kingdom]] around the [[Yangtze River Delta|Yangtze Delta]] of China. For many years, the location of Yamataikoku and the identity of Queen Himiko have been subject of research. Two possible sites, [[Yoshinogari, Saga|Yoshinogari]] in [[Saga Prefecture]] and [[Makimuku]] in [[Nara Prefecture]] have been suggested.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sitereports.nabunken.go.jp/1446|title=ヤマト王権はいかにして始まったか|last=Karako-kagi Archaeological Museum|first=|date=2007|website=Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan|publisher=|access-date=2016-09-01}}</ref> Recent archaeological research in Makimuku suggests that Yamataikoku was located in the area.<ref>[http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/shakai/20080306AT5C0501C05032008.html 古墳２タイプ、同時に出現か・奈良の古墳群で判明], Nikkei Net, March 6, 2008</ref><ref>[http://sankei.jp.msn.com/culture/academic/080306/acd0803060039001-n1.htm 最古級の奈良・桜井“３兄弟古墳”、形状ほぼ判明　卑弥呼の時代に相次いで築造], Sankei Shimbun, March 6, 2008</ref> Some scholars assume that the Hashihaka kofun in Makimuku was the tomb of Himiko. Its relation to the origin of the [[Yamato polity]] in the following [[Kofun period]] is also under debate. == See also == {{portal|Ancient Japan}} * [[Japanese era name#Unofficial era name system|Japanese era name]] * [[Xu Fu]] * [[Emishi people]] PERIOD LA YOYAS == References == {{reflist}} == External links == {{Commons|Yayoi period}} *[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm Yayoi Culture], Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art *[http://www.yamasa.org/history/english/yayoi_jidai.html Yayoi period] at [http://www.yamasa.org/history/english/index.html Japanese History Online (under construction)] *[http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ANCJAPAN/YAYOI.HTM An article] by Richard Hooker on the Yayoi and the Jōmon. *[http://sitereports.nabunken.go.jp/en Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan], Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties *[http://www.trussel.com/prehist/news146.htm Article "Japanese Roots Surprisingly Shallow" from Japan Times] {{Japan topics}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Yayoi Period}} [[Category:Yayoi period| ]] [[Category:Japanese eras]] [[Category:Ancient peoples]] [[Category:Archaeological cultures of East Asia]] [[Category:4th-century BC establishments in Japan]] [[Category:4th-century disestablishments in Japan]]'