A Journey Through History: Pre-Jōmon
5 minutes read
Before starting our long journey through the Japanese prehistory, a premise concerning historical sources is due. As the term suggests, there are no written evidence corroborating hypotheses about civilization on the area of the Japanese islands until, at least, the first century of the current era. What we present here are highly plausible interpretations based on archaeologic excavations and studies conducted throughout Japan. The narrative of this period is an ever-evolving one reflecting archaeologic discoveries, and debates within the academic community are not rare.
Major migration routes of the first settlers of Japan, while it was still connected to the continent through land bridges.
The First Inhabitats of Japan
It is commonly believed that the first inhabitation of Japan very likely happened around 35.000 B.C. when many regions of the archipelago were still connected to the continent thanks to low sea levels. Migrant hunters entered those territories following their prey, such as Naumann elephants and giant deer, crossing three major land bridges.
The most viable land path corresponds to the current Tsushima Strait, or Eastern Strait, connecting Japan to Korea.
A view of the strait from Asō Bay 浅茅湾.
Another route implied some basic sailing knowledge, as such migrants crossed over through the southern islands of the Ryūkyū archipelago and the Ōsumi Islands.
Aerial view of Yakushima and Tanegashima, two of the Ōsumi Islands 大隅諸島.
The last route connected Hokkaidō to Sakhalin through the Sōya Strait, and the northern island to Honshū through the Tsugaru Strait, both accessible via land at the time. This passage was used quite late (from about 20,000 BC) as freezing temperatures made it too dangerous to be taken before that. However, it was available only for a limited span of time, as those same warming temperatures that made it practical ultimately led to a significant rise in sea water, flooding the land connection between Hokkaidō and the northern regions. From then on, populations inhabiting Japanese islands were cut from the continent, and new migrations halted for several millennia, as sailing techniques needed to be mastered to cross those newly formed straits.
Those first settlers were greatly affected by this extended seclusion, and expressed themselves through unique cultural patterns and social behaviours that subsequently spawned what is referred to as Jōmon-culture, which we are going to focus on in the next article. Archaeological studies nowadays suggest nine successive stages for the primitive habitation of the Japanese Archipelago. It is commonly believed that the Kantō plain was among the first regions where populations dwelled, and has been constantly occupied despite fluctuations in temperature forcing migrations. People moved constantly throughout the land to adapt to the challenges imposed by environmental changes, getting closer to coastal areas when temperature dropped and seeking cooler shelters, mainly towards the mountains, when temperatures rose.
Obsidian blades (microliths) found in Hokkaido, on display at Tokyo National Museum. ©Ismoon
Moving groups brought with them theirs tools and possessions, and it did not take too long before the first trades were carried out. Objects made with obsidian, andesite and agate have been found quite often in sites far from the natural sources of their materials. Those were indeed prosperous times and the overall population increased noticeably as it started to gather in the best hunting and foraging areas. They were still nomad hunters who followed wildlife migrations in response to global warming, lands were getting flooded by the rising waters and higher regions provided better living conditions.
The massive palaeolithic species failed to adapt to this hot environment that did not provide enough nourishment, and humans contributed in exterminating some species, as they hunted off the heavier animals. Only the more adaptable ones were left behind: Japanese deer, wild boars, hares and badgers.
Sculpture of a Naumann's elephant hunt at Hyogo prefectural Museum. ©663highland
How to Adapt to This Wild Environment
Two key inventions allowed mankind to prosper in the Japanese islands: northeners developed their hunting tools, namely bow and arrow, improving their hunting skills, while southeners figured out pottery, allowing previously indigestible supplies to be cooked and eaten. Both enabled a great improvement in life conditions, which consequently led to the formation of important social and cultural structures that would define the upcoming era. The northern populations, living in the Honshū mountains, mainly used long slender spears to hunt massive animals such as bisons and giant deers. Similar weapons have been found in southern archaeological sites as far as Shikoku. Meanwhile, in the South, the earliest traces of pottery have been found, in particular throughout Kyūshū: the older artifacts unearthed until now, which date back to approximatively 11.000 B.C., were excavated in the Fukui cave, near Nagasaki.
Early Jōmon potteries displayed at Tokyo National Museum. ©Ismoon
At the time dishes were quite small and round bottomed. The implementation of primitive decorative patterns is still a debated topic within the academic community. As suggested by scholars, the invention of pottery is likely due to a combination of accident and clever observation of natural phenomena, made in order to adapt to an inhabitable environment. Hypotheses have been made regarding the scarcity of food sources in the Kyūshū regions that eventually lead to experiments with cooking otherwise indigestible raw plants and seeds. It is believed that making pottery was one of the tasks of a mother, since all materials and ingredients were found near archaeological sites.
Many people underestimate the important role pottery played in human development. It did not only allow for cooking, thus leading to better nourishment and improvement of life conditions, but made longer journeys manageable as well, since migrants could carry with them gourds of fresh water. Show appreciation to clay and pottery next time you sip your green tea, because the humankind owes them a lot!
In any case, pottery had such a great influence on the lives of the first Japanese settlers, causing a significant evolution in habits and diversifying the society, that the very first prehistorical Japanese era has been named after a pottery technique: the Jōmon era (縄文時代 approximately 12.000 – 300 B.C.) refers to specific pottery patterns called ‘cord-marked’ or jōmon in Japanese. However, this will be the topic of the next post. Do not forget to tune in as we will continue our journey through Japanese history with the follow up article, to be published very soon!
Written by Marty Borsotti