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...)
Emperor Ingyō (允恭天皇, Ingyō-tennō) was the 19th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Both the Kojiki, and the Nihon Shoki (collectively known as the Kiki) recorded events that took place during Ingyō's alleged lifetime. No firm dates can be assigned to this Emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 410 to 453.
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...)
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Emperor Kōrei (孝霊天皇, Kōrei-tennō), also known as Ōyamatonekohikofutoni no Mikoto (大倭根子日子賦斗邇命) was the seventh 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. Kōrei 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. Kōrei's reign allegedly began in 290 BC. He had one wife and three consorts with whom he fathered seven children. After his death in 215 BC, one of his sons supposedly became the next emperor. Kōrei is traditionally accepted as the first emperor of the Yayoi period, which is named after the Yayoi people who migrated to the Japanese archipelago from mainland Asia. (Full article...)
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...)
The Kofun period (古墳時代, Kofun jidai) is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is the earliest era of recorded history in Japan, but studies depend heavily on archaeology since the chronology of historical sources tends to be distorted. The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mound dating from this era.
It was a period of cultural import. Continuing from the Yayoi period, the Kofun period is characterized by influence from China and the Korean Peninsula; archaeologists consider it a shared culture across the southern Korean Peninsula, Kyūshū and Honshū. On the other hand, the most prosperous keyhole-shaped burial mounds in Japan during this period were approximately 5,000 in Japan from the middle of the 3rd century in the Yayoi period to the 7th century in the Asuka period, and many of them had huge tombs, but in the southern Korean Peninsula there were only 13 from the 5th century to the 6th century, and the tombs were small. Wall decorations and Japanese-style armor, which are characteristic of older Japanese burial mounds, were excavated from 5th century burial mounds in the southern Korean Peninsula. This shows that Japan and the southern Korean Peninsula influenced each other. (Full article...)
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...)
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Japonic languages and dialects
Japonic or Japanese–Ryukyuan (Japanese: 日琉語族, romanized: Nichiryū gozoku), sometimes also Japanic, is a language family comprising Japanese, spoken in the main islands of Japan, and the Ryukyuan languages, spoken in the Ryukyu Islands. The family is universally accepted by linguists, and significant progress has been made in reconstructing the proto-language, Proto-Japonic. The reconstruction implies a split between all dialects of Japanese and all Ryukyuan varieties, probably before the 7th century. The Hachijō language, spoken on the Izu Islands, is also included, but its position within the family is unclear.
Most scholars believe that Japonic was brought to the Japanese archipelago from the Korean peninsula with the Yayoi culture during the 1st millennium BC. There is some fragmentary evidence suggesting that Japonic languages may still have been spoken in central and southern parts of the Korean peninsula (see Peninsular Japonic) in the early centuries AD. (Full article...)
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Emperor Keikō (景行天皇, Keikō-tennō), also known as Ootarashihikooshirowake no Sumeramikoto (大足彦忍代別天皇) and Ōtarashihiko-oshirowake no Mikoto (大帯日子淤斯呂和氣天皇), was the 12th legendaryEmperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Both the Kojiki, and the Nihon Shoki (collectively known as the Kiki) record events that took place during Keikō's alleged lifetime. Keikō was recorded as being an exceptionally tall emperor who had a very large family. During his reign he sought to expand territorial control through conquest of local tribes. He had a very important son named "Prince Ōsu" (Yamato Takeru), who was in possession of the Kusanagi when he died. This treasure was later moved to Atsuta Shrine, and is now a part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan. There is a possibility that Keikō actually lived or reigned in the 4th century AD rather than the 1st, but more information is needed to confirm this view.
Keikō's reign is conventionally considered to have been from 71 to 130 AD. During his alleged lifetime, he fathered at least 80 children with two chief wives (empress) and nine consorts. One of his sons became the next emperor upon his death in 130 AD, but the location of Keikō's grave (if any) is unknown. Keikō is traditionally venerated at a memorialShintotomb (misasagi) at Nara. (Full article...)
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.
Top to bottom: 倭; wō in regular, clerical and small seal scripts Wa is the oldest attested name of Japan and ethnonym of the Japanese people. From c. the 2nd century AD Chinese and Korean scribes used the Chinese character倭; 'submissive'', ' 'distant'', ' 'dwarf' to refer to the various inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago, although it might have been just used to transcribe the phonetic value of a Japonic ethnonym with a respectively differing semantic connotation. In the 8th century, the Japanese started using the character 和, wa, 'harmony', 'peace', 'balance' instead due to the offensive nature of the former. (Full article...)
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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...)
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Middle Jōmon vase (2000 BC) (from History of Japan)
The word Nihon written in kanji (horizontal placement of characters). The text means "Japan" in Japanese. (from History of Japan)
A vase from the early Jōmon period (11000–7000 BC) (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)
Miniature model of the ancient capital Heian-kyō (from History of Japan)
Territorial extent of Yamato court during the Kofun period (from History of Japan)
Later Three-Year War in the 11th century (from History of Japan)
Daisenryō Kofun, Osaka (from History of Japan)
Reconstruction of a Jōmon family from the Sannai-Maruyama Site (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)
Japan at the Last Glacial Maximum in the Late Pleistocene about 20,000 years agoregions above sea levelunvegetatedseablack outline indicates present-day Japan (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)
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)
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