Depiction of bearded Emperor Jimmu with his emblematic long bow and an accompanying wild bird.
The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventions were introduced from Asia. During this period, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han in the first century AD.
Around the 3rd century BC, the Yayoi people from the continent immigrated to the Japanese archipelago and introduced iron technology and agricultural civilization. Because they had an agricultural civilization, the population of the Yayoi began to grow rapidly and ultimately overwhelmed the Jōmon people, natives of the Japanese archipelago who were hunter-gatherers.
Between the fourth and ninth centuries, Japan's many kingdoms and tribes gradually came to be unified under a centralized government, nominally controlled by the Emperor of Japan. The imperial dynasty established at this time continues to this day, albeit in an almost entirely ceremonial role. In 794, a new imperial capital was established at Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto), marking the beginning of the Heian period, which lasted until 1185. The Heian period is considered a golden age of classical Japanese culture. Japanese religious life from this time and onwards was a mix of native Shinto practices and Buddhism. (Full article...)
Haniwa warrior in keikō type armor, Ōta, Gunma Prefecture, c. 6th century AD. Height: 131.5 centimetres (51.8 in). National Treasure of Japan The Haniwa (埴輪) are terracotta clay figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries AD) of the history of Japan. Haniwa were created according to the wazumi technique, in which mounds of coiled clay were built up to shape the figure, layer by layer. Haniwa can also refer to offering cylinders, not the clay sculptures on top of them as well as the "wooden haniwa" found in Kofuntumuli.
Terracotta Haniwa were made with water-based clay and dried into a coarse and absorbent material that stood the test of time. Their name means "circle of clay", referring to how they were arranged in a circle above the tomb. The protruding parts of the figures were made separately and then attached, while a few things were carved into them. They were smoothed out by a wooden paddle. Terraces were arranged to place them with a cylindrical base into the ground, where the earth would hold them in place. (Full article...)
Emperor Nintoku (仁徳天皇, Nintoku-tennō), also known as Ohosazaki no Sumeramikoto (大鷦鷯天皇) was the 16th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Due to his reputation for goodness derived from depictions in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, he is sometimes referred to as the Saint Emperor (聖帝, Hijiri-no-mikado).
While his existence is generally accepted as fact, no firm dates can be assigned to Nintoku's life or reign. He is traditionally considered to have reigned from 313 to 399, although these dates are doubted by scholars. (Full article...)
Image 4
The Okhotsk culture is an archaeological coastal fishing and hunter-gatherer culture that developed around the southern coastal regions of the Sea of Okhotsk, including Sakhalin, northeastern Hokkaido, and the Kuril Islands during the last half of the first millennium to the early part of the second. The Okhotsk are often associated to be the ancestors of the Nivkhs, while others argue them to be identified with early Ainu-speakers. It is suggested that the bear cult, a practice shared by various Northern Eurasian peoples, the Ainu and the Nivkhs, was an important element of the Okhotsk culture but was uncommon in Jomon period Japan. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Okhotsk culture proper originated in the 5th century AD from the Susuya culture of southern Sakhalin and northwestern Hokkaido. (Full article...)
Image 5
Yayoi jar, 1st-3rd century, excavated in Kugahara, Ōta, Tokyo
Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon period should be reclassified as Early Yayoi. The date of the beginning of this transition is controversial, with estimates ranging from the 10th to the 3rd centuries BC. (Full article...)
Image 6
Yayoi people attires The Yayoi people (弥生人, Yayoi jin) were an ancient people that immigrated to the Japanese archipelago during the Yayoi period (300 BC–300 AD) and are characterized through Yayoi material culture. Some argue for an earlier start of the Yayoi period, between 1000 and 800 BC, but this date is controversial. The people of the Yayoi culture are regarded as the spreaders of agriculture and the Japonic languages throughout the whole archipelago, and were characterized by both local Jōmon hunter-gatherer and mainland Asian migrant ancestry. (Full article...)
Image 7
Sankakuen-shinjūkyō from the Tsubai Ōtsukayama kofun in Yamashiro, Kyoto A Shinjū-kyō (神獣鏡, "deity and beast mirror") is an ancient type of Japanese round bronze mirror decorated with images of gods and animals from Chinese mythology. The obverse side has a polished mirror and the reverse has relief representations of legendary Chinese shén (神 "spirit; god"), xiān (仙 "transcendent; immortal"), and legendary creatures. (Full article...)
Emperor Kōshō (孝昭天皇, Kōshō-tennō), also known as Mimatsuhikokaeshine no Mikoto (真津日子訶恵志泥命) was the fifth legendaryemperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Very little is known about this Emperor due to a lack of material available for further verification and study. Kōshō is known as a "legendary emperor" among historians as his actual existence is disputed. Nothing exists in the Kojiki other than his name and genealogy. Kōshō's reign allegedly began in 475 BC, he had one wife and two sons. After his death in 393 BC, his second son supposedly became the next emperor. (Full article...)
Image 10
Omi (Japanese: 臣) is a hereditary noble title (kabane) of ancient Japan. It was given to the descendants of the Imperial Family before Emperor Kōgen. Along with Muraji, Omi was reserved for the head of the most powerful clans during the Kofun period. When the Yamato court was established, the most influential families bearing these two titles were given the title Ōomi and Ōmuraji, respectively. (Full article...)
Image 11
Sukune (宿禰) is one of the hereditary noble titles of ancient Japan. In the 3rd to 5th centuries, it was used as a title to represent military and administrative officers of the Yamato court.
The Zoku-Jōmon period (続縄文時代) (c. 340 BC–700 AD), also referred to as the Epi-Jōmon period, is the time in Japanese prehistory that saw the flourishing of the Zoku-Jōmon culture, a continuation of Jōmon culture in northern Tōhoku and Hokkaidō that corresponds with the Yayoi period and Kofun period elsewhere. Zoku-Jōmon ("continuing cord-marking") in turn gave way to Satsumon ("brushed pattern" or "scraped design") around the seventh century or in the Nara period (710–794). The "Yayoinisation" of northeast Honshū took place in the mid-Yayoi period; use of the term Zoku-Jōmon is then confined to those, in Hokkaidō, who did not "become Yayoi". Despite the elements of continuity emphasised by the name, which include the continuing production of cord-marked ceramics, ongoing employment of stone technology, and non-transition to rice-based agriculture, all Jōmon hallmarks, the Zoku-Jōmon period nevertheless saw a "major break in mobility and subsistence patterns". (Full article...)
Their name may be at the origin of the name of the kudzu plant, supposedly for being associated with the harvest and sale of kudzu roots or starch extracted from them. (Full article...)
Image 14
Emperor Suinin (垂仁天皇, Suinin-tennō), also known as Ikumeiribikoisachi no Sumeramikoto (活目入彦五十狭茅天皇) was the 11th legendaryEmperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Less is known about Suinin than his father, and likewise he is also considered to be a "legendary emperor". Both the Kojiki, and the Nihon Shoki (collectively known as the Kiki) record events that took place during Suinin's alleged lifetime. This legendary narrative tells how he ordered his daughter Yamatohime-no-mikoto to establish a new permanent shrine for Amaterasu (the Sun Goddess), which eventually became known as the Ise Grand Shrine. Other events that were recorded concurrently with his reign include the origins of Sumo wrestling in the form of a wrestling match involving Nomi no Sukune.
Suinin's reign is conventionally considered to have been from 29 BC to AD 70. During his alleged lifetime, he fathered seventeen children with two chief wives (empress) and six consorts. One of his sons became the next emperor upon his death in 70 AD, but the location of his father's grave (if any) is unknown. Suinin is traditionally venerated at a memorialShintotomb (misasagi) at Nishi-machi, Amagatsuji, Nara City. (Full article...)
Image 15
A Yayoi period dōtaku, 3rd centuryDōtaku (銅鐸) are Japanesebells smelted from relatively thin bronze and richly decorated. Dotaku were used for about 400 years, between the second century B.C. and the second century C.E. (corresponding to the end of the Yayoi era), and were nearly only used as decorations for rituals. They were richly decorated with patterns representing nature and animals, among which the dragonfly, praying mantis and spider are featured. Historians believe that dōtaku were used to pray for good harvests, as the animals featured are natural enemies of insect pests that attack paddy fields.
_from_Iizuka-machi,_Ota-shi,_Gunma_-_Tokyo_National_Museum_-_DSC06425.JPG)
.JPG)
The word Nihon written in kanji (horizontal placement of characters). The text means "Japan" in Japanese. (from History of Japan)
Reconstruction of a Jōmon family from the Sannai-Maruyama Site (from History of Japan)
Buddhist temple of Hōryū-ji is the oldest wooden structure in the world. It was commissioned by Prince Shotoku and represents the beginning of Buddhism in Japan. (from History of Japan)
Middle Jōmon vase (2000 BC) (from History of Japan)
A vase from the early Jōmon period (11000–7000 BC) (from History of Japan)
Later Three-Year War in the 11th century (from History of Japan)
Daisenryō Kofun, Osaka (from History of Japan)
A handscroll painting dated c. 1130, illustrating a scene from the "Bamboo River" chapter of The Tale of Genji (from History of Japan)
Prince Shōtoku was a semi-legendary regent of the Asuka period, and considered to be the first major sponsor of Buddhism in Japan. (from History of Japan)
Territorial extent of Yamato court during the Kofun period (from History of Japan)
The Daibutsu-den, within the complex of Tōdai-ji. This Buddhist temple was sponsored by the Imperial Court during the Nara period. (from History of Japan)
Miniature model of the ancient capital Heian-kyō (from History of Japan)
.svg){kind=small}
Commons
Wikibooks
Wikidata
Wikinews
Wikiquote
Wikisource
Wikiversity
Wiktionary
