JAPAN 50 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1-10: History Of Japan, Analects, East China Sea
Japanese 50 Reading Notes
Chapter 1 – The Prehistory of the Japanese Archipelago
Geography
• Before indigenous written records, people lived and culture flourished in the Japanese
archipelago
o Paleolithic, Jomon, Yayoi, Tomb Periods
• Four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu
• Japan is part of a chain of islands separated by three bodies of water:
o Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan, and East China Sea
• House cultures dependent on the ocean for food and transportation
• A major factor in Japanese history: contrast between the steep mountain ranges and the fertile
plains they surround and isolate
• Four important plains
o Tsukushi Plain: in northern Kyushu, early center of social and technological development
o Kinai Plain: in Honshu, the site of the famous former capitals at Nara and Kyoto
o Nobi Plain
o Kanto Plain: largest, surrounds modern Tokyo
• Distinctive weather patterns
• Various repertoire of plants and animals
Paleolithic Culture
• Groups of humans were living throughout the archipelago in the Late Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)
o Foragers who gathered plants, hunted, and fished
• Toward the end of the last Ice Age, cultural change led to a new period
Jomon Culture (c.14,500 – 400 B.C.E)
• The Jomon is the first and longest period of Japanese prehistory, lasted over ten thousand years
• Distinctive new features appeared
o Bows, arrows, and traps for hunting
o Greater reliance on seafood
o Awareness of agriculture
o Settlements grew in size
o Pottery served many purposes
• large loosely integrated cultural complex
• Jomon pots are among the world’s earliest
o Some clay artifacts had religious or magical significance
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• Jomon culture was rich and complex, with sophisticated ceramic arts and extensive settled
communities
Yayoi Culture (c. 900 B.C.E – 250 C.E)
• New technologies appeared
o Ironworking, bronze casting, glassmaking, weaving, new techniques of woodworking,
and food-producing technologies for intensive agriculture
• Wet rice cultivation
o Paddy fields were constructed and maintained on higher ground
• Also show evidence of a range of dry cultivation
o Millet, barley, wheat, buckwheat, beans
• Ocean yielded fish, shellfish, and seaweed
• Jomon-Yayoi transition did not occur at once
• Scholars disagree about whether spread of Yayoi was the result of introduction of new ideas or
of the migration of large numbers of people
Political and Social Developments
• Rise in population led to a more complex organization of society
• Rise of clear division of labor and greater class stratification within communities
• Few signs of violent conflict in Jomon sites
• Numerous weapons have been found from Yayoi sites
o Skeletal remains with missing heads or embedded arrow points
The Tomb Period (Mid-Third to Late-Sixth Century C.E.)
• The Tomb Period is named for the great tombs
o These tumuli developed out of the Yayoi mounded tombs
• The mounds came in different shapes and sizes
o Classic format was the keyhole shape, which joined a square and a circular mound
The Yamato Kings
• Relationship between wealth and power
• Agricultural production grew
• Trade grew
• The huge tombs indicate political differentiation
Chapter 2 – The Early State: Chinese and Korean Influences
Chinese and Korean Backgrounds
• China was both the oldest and the most successful state in East Asia
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Document Summary
Chapter 1 the prehistory of the japanese archipelago. Geography: before indigenous written records, people lived and culture flourished in the japanese archipelago, paleolithic, jomon, yayoi, tomb periods, four main islands: hokkaido, honshu, shikoku, and kyushu. Jomon pots are among the world"s earliest: some clay artifacts had religious or magical significance. Jomon culture was rich and complex, with sophisticated ceramic arts and extensive settled communities. Yayoi culture (c. 900 b. c. e 250 c. e: new technologies appeared. Jomon-yayoi transition did not occur at once of the migration of large numbers of people. The yamato kings: relationship between wealth and power, agricultural production grew, trade grew, the huge tombs indicate political differentiation. Chapter 2 the early state: chinese and korean influences. Interaction of passivity and activity (yin and yang: five phases (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) Early heian and the rise of the fujiwara (7 94-930: the initial period of imperial assertion was followed by over a century of fujiwara ascendancy.
