Yayoi Period

In the Early Yayoi period, rice farming introduced from the Asian continent and the Korean Peninsula spread across Japan, establishing an agricultural culture.
As food gathering shifted from the hunting and nut collecting typical of the Jomon period to agriculture centered on rice, large-scale communal living at the settlement level became common.
As rice farming expanded, various farming tools were developed and rice production increased.
When production exceeded consumption and surplus could be stored, some people accumulated large amounts of rice, creating wealth gaps between settlements.
Conflicts began, such as poorer settlements attacking wealthier ones.
Moated settlements known as “kango-shuraku” were built for defense, and rules to maintain unity within settlements also became stricter.

As inter-settlement conflicts intensified, stronger settlements brought weaker ones under their control, forming small states.
Power became concentrated in local leaders who governed communities, and figures referred to as “kings” also emerged.
When these kings died, they were buried in mound tombs built up with earth and stones.

In the Late Yayoi period, around the late 2nd century, Japan’s first large-scale war, the “Wakoku Civil War (Wakoku Tairan),” broke out.
There are multiple theories about its cause, but two leading views are a power struggle over succession within Wakoku, and conflicts over land intensified by global cooling.
“Wakoku” refers to a polity in the Japanese archipelago mentioned in several Chinese historical records, and it is thought to have held major influence by the Late Yayoi period.
The war ended when Himiko, a shamaness, took the throne of Wakoku previously ruled by male kings.
After that, the Yamatai alliance centered on Yamatai formed, the Yamato polity emerged, and Japan transitioned into the Kofun period.

Pit dwellings were the standard housing style in the Yayoi period.
Because they were semi-subterranean, they stayed cool in summer and warm in winter, and were relatively resistant to strong winds.
This style existed since the Jomon period, but by the Middle Yayoi period, more homes added improvements such as built-in hearths along the walls.
As food storage became possible, people also began building storehouses.
Yayoi storehouses were raised-floor granaries, a different architectural style from pit dwellings.
These buildings used postholes and did not extend the roof down to the ground.
They also featured rat guards to protect valuable rice.

As rice farming began, staple foods shifted from the Jomon period, and people increasingly ate rice and wheat.
Hunting and fishing continued, but it seems that, except for elites, people stopped eating wild boar and fish outside of ritual occasions.
Wooden spoons excavated in Tottori Prefecture suggest that in a few areas, people used utensils for meals.
Rice also led to the birth of alcohol.
People chewed rice, spat it into jars, and let it ferment with saliva to make alcohol.
Seasonings are also said to have emerged in the Yayoi period, for example by boiling dried shellfish to produce both salt and broth, and salt production is thought to have begun in the Setouchi region.

Yayoi pottery is among the most iconic artifacts from the period.
It was hand-shaped and then fired, producing vessels in many forms.
Beyond pottery, a wide range of tools evolved during the Yayoi period.
Among them, farming tools brought the biggest change to daily life.
Plows and hoes were made to till soil, stone reaping knives were used for harvesting rice, and mortars and pestles needed for threshing were also produced.
These tools improved productivity, making rice harvests more stable.

During the Yayoi period, bronze and iron tools began to be imported from the Korean Peninsula.
They increasingly served practical purposes as weapons and tools.
Over time, bronze ware also came to be used in rituals.

Weaving tools were introduced from the Asian continent, and textile production advanced.
A typical Yayoi garment was the kantoi, pulled over the head through an opening in the center of the cloth.
Hemp was commonly used, but silk also came into use, improving clothing quality.
With the invention of dyes, decorated garments appeared as well.
However, patterned clothing was likely limited to high-status people such as royalty.

Wealthy people began exchanging stored rice for bronze and iron goods brought from China and the Korean Peninsula, and burying these items in their graves.
By the Late Yayoi period, housing and burial areas were separated between influential figures and others.
Powerful leaders also seem to have ordered people in their settlement to build their homes and graves.
As wealth gaps grew, divisions emerged between those who ruled and those who were ruled.

In the Yayoi period, the custom of burying the dead in wooden coffins was introduced from the Korean Peninsula and became established.
A reburial method known as “saiso-bo” was also common: the body was buried once, and after only the bones remained, they were placed in jars or pots and buried again.
It is said that finger bones or teeth dug up at reburial were worn as necklaces.