Michael Ratovonar
Yayoi Period (弥生時代 BC 900–AD 300) The Yayoi Period overlaps the final years of the Jōmon Period and takes its name from a district of modern-day Tokyo where ancient, unembellished pottery was found. Regarded as the Iron Age of Japan, the Yayoi Period witnessed the growth of agricultural development as well as the importing of weapons and tools from China and Korea. Geographically, Yayoi culture extended from southern Kyūshū to northern Honshū, with archeological evidence suggesting the hunter-gathering culture of the Jōmon Period was progressively subsumed by agricultural cultivation. One area that has fascinated researchers has been the notable physical differences between the Jōmon and Yayoi people. The Yayoi tend to be taller than the Jōmon, with facial features closer to those of modern-day Japanese.
Michael Ratovonar
Jōmon Period (縄文時代 14,000 BC–300 BC) The earliest evidence of human habitation of the Japanese archipelago dates from over 35,000 years ago, with relics such as axes found in 224 sites in Kyūshū and Honshū. Following the end of the last glacier age, a hunter-gatherer culture gradually developed in the archipelago, one that would eventually achieve significant cultural complexity. In 1877, American scholar Edward S. Morse named this prehistorical period of Japanese history as Jōmon, the name itself meaning “cord-marked” and inspired by the way these hunter-gatherers decorated pottery by impressing rope-cords onto wet clay. Of note, foundation myths of Shintoism state the founding of the Japanese Imperial Family to have happened during the Jōmon Period. However, there is no conclusive archeological evidence supporting this claim.
Michael Ratovonar