History of Japan

The history of Japan spans the period from 40 millennium BC. e. to the present day. The first written mentions of ancient Japan are contained in the Chinese historical chronicles "Twenty-four stories" of the 1st century. However, according to the results of archaeological research, the Japanese archipelago was inhabited by people during the late Paleolithic period.

In the history of Japan, periods of the country's isolation alternate with periods of active relations with the outside world.
In the Paleolithic, the Earth was chained by glaciers, and the water level was 100 m lower than today. Japan was not yet an archipelago, but was connected by dry isthmuses with the mainland. The Inland Sea of ​​Japan was a vast valley. The glaciers did not reach East Asia, but their influence affected the climate. Japan was part of the Asian steppe ecozone, rich in various herbs. It was home to mammoths, Naumann's elephants, big-horned deer and other animals that came here from Siberia.

The first signs of the settlement of the Japanese archipelago appeared around 40 millennium BC. e. with the beginning of the Japanese Paleolithic, which lasted until the 12th millennium BC. e. The population of ancient Japan was engaged in hunting and gathering, made the first stone tools of rough processing. In this period, there are no ceramic products, therefore the period is also called the period of the pre-ceramic culture [3]. Stone tools from the Late Pleistocene site of Kami-Shirataki 2 (Kamishirataki 2) on the island of Hokkaido are similar to finds from the Upper Paleolithic (15.28-16.56 thousand years ago) site of Cooper's Ferry on the Salmon River (Columbia basin) , Idaho, USA), indicating the initial settlement of America along the Pacific coast.

Sites with ceramics of Fukui (12,700 ± 500 years ago) and Kamikuroiwa (12,165 ± 600 years ago) are located in southern Japan.
Jomon period
About 10 thousand years BC e. the era of glaciers has ended, with the melting of which the level of the world ocean has risen. Thanks to this, the Japanese archipelago was formed. As a result of warming and changes in the movement of sea currents, the Japanese steppes of the Paleolithic times were overgrown with dense forest. Around the same time, a new group of people from Southeast Asia moved to the Japanese islands. Members of this group were well versed in shipbuilding and maritime navigation. Probably, their canoe-like dugout boats were brought to the Japanese shores by the warm ocean currents of the Kuroshio. The newly arrived Southeast Asians mixed with the descendants of the Paleolithic population of the Japanese archipelago.

Due to climate change, Japanese flora and fauna have changed dramatically. The northeastern part of the archipelago was covered with oak and coniferous forests, while the southwestern part was covered with beech and subtropical forests. Large wild boars, deer, wild ducks, pheasants lived in them. Bonites, red pagras, and sea pike perch were found in the seas and oceans. The coasts of Hokkaido and the Tohoku region were rich in salmon and trout. Thanks to such natural resources, the inhabitants of the Japanese Isles did not need large-scale agriculture or herding, remaining a primitive society of hunter-gatherers.
About 10 thousand years ago, the ancient Japanese began to make pottery, which is considered one of the oldest in the world. Among the ceramics of that time, kitchen utensils in the form of deep-bottomed jugs for storing food, frying and cooking food prevailed. A characteristic feature of these products was the "lace ornament", which is called jomon in Japanese. A similar ornament was observed on island dishes until the middle of the 2nd century BC. BC, which allowed archaeologists to call the Japanese culture of the Neolithic period "Jomon culture", and the time of its dominance in the Japanese archipelago - the Jomon period.

In the Neolithic, the ancient Japanese moved to a sedentary lifestyle, forming small settlements of 20-30 people on low hills. Typical dwellings were dugouts and semi-dugouts. There were rubbish heaps around the settlement, which at the same time served as a burial place for the dead. Among the settlements of that era, the Sannai-Maruyama site in modern Aomori prefecture, dating back to the 5th century BC, stands out. e. and containing the remains of a large village for 100-200 people. Hunting and picking plant fruits were the basis of the inhabitants' economy. There was a gender and age division of labor. Along with the crafts, the ancient inhabitants of the archipelago were engaged in primitive breeding of chestnuts, legumes, buckwheat, as well as the cultivation of oysters. About IV-III centuries BC e. they mastered primitive dry land rice growing. Religious ideas were characterized by animism and totemism. They also made female dogu figurines from clay and worshiped the powers of the Earth, symbols of birth and life.

Yayoi period
Although rice cultivation was known in Japan as early as the Jomon period, large-scale flooded rice cultivation using irrigation appeared on the islands in the 1st millennium BC. e., by borrowing from the continent. The place of innovation was the north of Kyushu, from where this culture spread to other areas of the archipelago. With the advent of flood rice farming, people who had previously lived on small hills moved to plains and river valleys. The first rural mura communities were established, whose members were involved in the creation and maintenance of flooded fields. New tools appeared, such as a stone sickle knife, as well as new types of buildings for storing grain - barns on props. Community members began to hold holidays and prayers for a rich harvest. A new agricultural ritual and calendar was formed.

Along with rice growing, the culture of processing metals - copper, bronze and iron - came to Japan from the mainland. Until the 1st century BC e. the Japanese imported finished goods, but subsequently established their own metallurgical production. Among the main bronze items were swords, spears and ge, as well as mirrors and dotaku bells. With the spread of iron tools in the 2nd century AD. e., bronze weapons became objects of worship.
Also at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. in the Japanese archipelago, they began to produce ceramics of a new style, which was similar to the continental one. Their peculiarity was reddish color, lack of pattern and richness of types of tableware. Probably, the reform of ceramics was associated with the spread of rice growing. Such utensils were first found in the village of Yayoi, after which the new ceramic culture was called the "Yayoi culture". The time of the dominance of this culture on the Japanese islands from the 1st millennium BC. e. to the 3rd century A.D. e. called the Yayoi period.

Thanks to rice growing, the population of Japan has grown. This helped to improve relations between communities, but often provoked conflicts, especially over control over resources - land and water. From the 2nd century BC. e. most of the settlements were already surrounded by ditches and a wooden palisade. Among the population, leaders stood out, who concentrated religious and military power in their hands. The villages were often united in alliances - the first Japanese proto-state formations. One of the most fortified community settlements of the Yayoi period was the Yoshinogari site in Saga Prefecture, which testifies to the high level of organization of the ancient Japanese.

Formation of the Japanese state
The first written records of ancient Japan are contained in the historical chronicles of the 1st century AD. e. Chinese Empire Han. They indicate that the ancient Japanese wadzin lived on islands in the East Sea, had 100 small countries, by 108 BC. e. about 30 of them made contact with the Chinese, and sometimes sent tribute to China. The "Book of Later Han" preserved a message about the Japanese Wang embassy (between 26 and 56 AD) of the country of Na, which in 57 received a golden seal from the Chinese emperor.

In 107 A.D. e. the Japanese brought to China 160 subjects of the Chinese emperor, who had previously been captured by robbers and sold to Japan.

Between 147 and 190, there was internal turmoil and a crisis of supreme power in Japan.

Himiko

In the third century collection of the Wei Chinese Empire, The Legend of the Wa People, 30 Japanese countries are mentioned, of which Yamatai is the most powerful. Its ruler, a wan woman, Himiko, is reported to have held power using a "charm to stupefy the population." She had 1,000 maids, but few saw Himiko living in a heavily guarded palace. One man brought her food and clothes and listened to orders. The laws in the state were strict. In 239, the ruler sent an embassy to Wei with a tribute and received from the Chinese emperor as a gift the title "Wang of the Japanese, the second Wei" and 100 bronze mirrors. Due to a number of inaccuracies in the story about Yamatai, historians and archaeologists still cannot agree on the location of this state formation: some argue that it was in the Kinki region, while others - in the north of Kyushu.

The Chinese mentioned that not all Japanese were subjects of Himiko, for example, 1000 li "by sea" to the east of Himiko's kingdom was the kingdom of Junu .

Control
They had (in the 5th-6th centuries) officials with the following ranks: ijima , mimahaji , nuwandi . They have houses, but no cities with walls. The king's palace is adorned with gold, silver and pearls. Around a ditch of 3.33 meters wide was dug, filled with mercury, when it rains, water does not enter the ditch, but flows down the mercury.

Customs

They are cheerful in character. Not depraved. Men and women walk bareheaded, gathering their hair upstairs. The rich and noble weave embroidered strips of fabric into their hair, similar to the Chinese huguntou headdress not used for a long time) and this replaces them with a hat. They are eaten from bamboo dishes. They have coffins, but do not make external sarcophagi, they make mounds. Addicted to drinking. They don't know which month the year begins. Many centenarians are 80, 90 and even 100 years old. There are many women, few men. The rich have four or five wives, the poor two or three. Wives don't cheat or get jealous. They do not know about theft, little litigation. For a minor crime, a criminal's wife and children are taken away, for a serious one, the whole family is exterminated. They can also punish with sticks for light things, and for heavy things they can give to animals for devouring. If the animals do not touch the criminal during the night, then he is released and forgiven.