Defined cultures started to appear when Homo sapiens shed their role as hunter-gatherers and decided to settle in larger groups. The first signs of Homo sapiens on the landmass now referred to as Japan was thirty thousand years ago (Ancient Japan). These nomads were a blank slate for a culture to take root, because the land bridges closed and the natives were able to develop their own culture free from out-side influence. “Being isolated from the mainland for over ten thousand years allowed the inhabitants to hold onto stone-age life long after many countries had westernized” (Ancient Japan). The people progressed from an agricultural and metal-working society till 1869, when Japan rapidly became a revolutionized powerhouse in the world (N. Taylor). The Japanese culture has gone through many impressive changes.
The geography plays its own role in the development of a culture. Japan is comprised of four large islands, as well as the Ryukyu Islands and more than 1000 lesser adjacent islands (Japan). It is surrounded by the Sea of Okhotck, the Pacific Ocean, and the Korean Strait (Japan). Seafood from these surrounding waters is Japan's largest natural resource. The Sakhalin Mountains run through Japan forming the Japanese Alps which create a lot of natural borders (Japan). It is estimated that only 11% of the land is arable (Japan). A low percentage of arable land is a set-back to large crops and agriculture. Japan is often subjected to natural disasters; such as tsunamis and earthquakes (Ancient Japan). Mt. Fujiyama may have once been an active volcano, but today it is dormant. Disasters demonstrate to humans the power of nature and often lead to the formation of gods. Understanding that land plays a role in the formation of a culture one can then better examine the peoples that grow from it.
The Jomon arose from the original inhabitants of the Japanese islands around 10000 years ago. The distinguishing feature of the Jomon was their pottery (Jomon & Yayoi). Pottery is a sign of Neolithic people yet the Jomon were Mesolithic, which means they were hunter-gathers (Jomon & Yayoi). Their pottery was special because of the corded design that was shown through dating techniques to have been developed before it appeared elsewhere in the world (Jomon & Yayoi). When the Earth reached a warm-point between 5000 and 2500 B.C., the Jomon people, totally isolated from other cultures at that time, began to settle and live in large villages (Jomon & Yayoi). Between 2500-1500 B.C. the Jomon developed proto-agriculture and their villages were growing even larger (Jomon & Yayoi). The Jomon started to produce a remarkable amount of female shaped figurines around this time (Jomon & Yayoi). This indicated that the Jomon had an idolized goddess based religion (Jomon & Yayoi). The Jomon thrived for around eight centuries but in 300 B.C. new cultural influence arrived in Japan.
Immigrants came from the mainland Asia in 300 B.C. and were called The Yayoi. Yayoi brought sedentary agriculture, metal working of bronze and iron, and a new religion that would later become Shinto (Jomon & Yayoi). Yayoi was the dawn of Japanese language, social structure, and religion (Jomon & Yayoi). The Yayoi lived in clans called uji and each uji worshipped its own Kami which were demigods (Jomon & Yayoi). The Kami represented forces in nature or of the unknown (Jomon & Yayoi). The different uji would become the basis for the aristocracies that would appear later. Clothing of the Yayoi was primitive, fashioned from hemp and bark (Jomon & Yayoi). In the Yayoi culture women were at equal status and had prominent roles (Jomon & Yayoi). This element was easily lost though with later influence from the main land.
The Kofun derived from the Yayoi in 300 A.D. and were unique because they built extremely large burial mounds for their kings (The Yamato State). Up until 500 A.D. the mounds were filled with prize possessions similar to the smaller Yayoi tombs, but with the next stream of influence from the main land in 500 A.D. armor and weapons started to appear in tombs signifying a new wave of culture passing over from Korea (The Yamato State). From the first written records of Japanese history, the Japanese Chronicles, the dawn of the Yamato state can be dated to 500 A.D. (The Yamato State). The Yamato kings located their capital in Naniwa (modern day Osaka) and ruled over the surrounding aristocracies (The Yamato State). The aristocratic families constantly struggled for who would maintain power in the Yamato court (The Yamato State). During the rule of the Yamato kings, the Yamato people had land in Korea and potters, artists, and metal workers were imported to the island (The Yamato State). The next place of cultural influence was China.
