The Yayoi period in the Kansai region (Yayoi period in the Kinki region) is an Iron Age period in Japan marked by the introduction of rice farming, metalworking, cloth making, and new forms of pottery from continental Asia.
[1]
The beginning of the Yayoi period was characterized by substantial changes and the introduction of new cultural features in the daily life. In the early Yayoi period (ca. 400 BCE - 200 BCE; 300 - 100 BCE) such innovations consisted of new type of houses, burial practices, settlement structures and more importantly of the introduction of full scale farming.
[2]
[3]
The new type of house, consisting of a rectangular or round sub-types,spread throughout western Japan (from Kyushu to Kansai) by the end of the Early Yayoi period. In this period settlements started being enclosed by V-sectioned ditches.
[4]
Another important change was that, in a given settlement, burial grounds were separated by the dwelling area. The dead were mostly buried in rectangular ditch-enclosed burial compounds covered by low earthen mounds. The introduction of rice paddy field agriculture had big impact in the social structure of the Japanese Yayoi communities. The archaeological evidence of paddy fields suggest that Yayoi communities were able to set up paddies in different topographic and climatic environments. Their maintenance and construction required an unprecedented scale of collaboration and social organization.
[5]
The Middle Yayoi period saw also an increase of stone and metal tools, bronze mirrors and weapons deposited mainly as grave goods and Dokatu bronze bells deposited as ritual tools. The spread of bronze mirrors and metal objects can be interpreted as the result of trade contacts between western japanese chiefdoms and the Chinese Lelang commandery in Korean peninsula.
[6]
During the Late Yayoi period (1/50-200 CE; 100 - 300 CE) we have marked evidence of social stratification.
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During the Yayoi/Kofun Transition Period (200-250/75 CE), according to Mizoguchi’s periodization,
[8]
or the final Late Yayoi period, according to Barnes’ periodization, in western Japan emerged the polity (perhaps a chiefdom) of Yamatai ruled by the queen Himiko. Unfortunately, the evidence of the presence of this polity come from the Chinese dynastic histories and there is not agreement among the scholars about the location of Yamatai. Some scholars located Yamatai in northern Kyushu,
[9]
while others located it in Kansai.
[10]
[11]
The queen Himiko may have seized the power between the 189 and the 238 CE and her death could be dated to the 248 CE.
[12]
Population and political organization
In the Early Yayoi period, significant features such as ditch-enclosed settlements, paddy fields and irrigation systems required a hierarchical structure able to mobilize the needed labour force and coordinate different tasks. As consequence, the Early Yayoi period saw the emergence of a ranked society, where members of a "warrior class" were responsible for guaranteeing and protecting communal interests.
[13]
In the Middle Yayoi period (ca. 200 BCE - 1/50 CE; 100 BCE - 100 CE) there is a significant increase in the population, which results in the emergence of large central-type settlements. Hence, there is a two-tiered settlement hierarchy characterized by larger villages acting as regional centres and smaller satellite settlements. A Middle Yayoi settlement was composed of several residential units (hamlets)that were part of a larger kin-based corporate group cross-cutting several different villages.
[5]
This would have favoured the relations and cooperation between villages on regional scale. There is a peer-polity interaction between the chiefdoms distributed in Western Japan. Each hamlet had its own burial ground and storage facilities and perhaps was occupied by 30 individuals. The regional centres of Western Japan often contained more than 3-4 hamlets and could reach an overall population higher than 200 inhabitants. More research is needed on total Yayoi population.
We know from the Chinese documents that the Japanese chiefs acquired the title of wang (king) ad consequence of the tribute they submitted to the Chinese Han dynasty trough the Lelang commandery.
[14]
In the Middle Yayoi period burial compounds, mortuary rectangular allotments usually enclosed by a ditch and covered by an earth mound, are introduced. The spatial distribution of these burial features (usually located beside large regional centres), their skeletal remains (almost all adult males) and their grave good assemblages (bronze weapons, bronze mirrors, cylindrical beads, etc.) suggest that the individuals buried in the compounds were regional chiefs or leaders belonging to a number of corporate groups.
[15]
[16]
Overall, the evidence suggest that the status of the elite was achieved rather than being ascribed.
In the Late Yayoi period, the elites started showing their dominance within a settlement by living in clear marked compounds enclosed by ditches and containing raised-floor storage buildings. In addition, clustering of iron tools have been found in proximity of the elites compounds. This evidence suggest that the elites controlled the means of production and the storage and distribution of products.
[7]
In this period in the rectangular burial compounds, not only adults, but also children and infants were buried, suggesting that the elite status was no longer achieved during their lifetimes but inherited at birth. The population saw also an intensification of inter-communal competition.
[1]: (Mason 1997, 22) Mason, R,H.P and J.G. Caiger. 1997. A History of Japan. Vermont: Tuttle Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HC5A5QFR
[2]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 79-80.
[3]: Hudson, M. J., 2007. "Japanese beginnings."In: W. Tsutsui (ed.), A Companion to Japanese History. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 20.
[4]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 84-85.
[5]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 120.
[6]: G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 61-65.
[7]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 202-203.
[8]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 214.
[9]: Takemoto, T. 1983. ‘The Kyishi Dynasty’. Japan Quarterly 30 (4): 383-97.
[10]: Miller, R. 1967. The Japanese language. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 16-18.
[11]: Edwards, W., 1999. ‘Mirrors on ancient Yamato’. Monumenta Nipponica 54 (1, spring): 75-110.
[12]: Kidder, J. E., 2007. Himiko and Japan’s elusive chiefdom of Yamatai: archaeology, history, and mythology. University of Hawaii Press, 161.
[13]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 102.
[14]: G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 71.
[15]: Mizoguchi, K., 2002. An archaeological history of Japan, 30,000 B.P. to A.D. 700. University of Pennsylvania Press, 142-47.
[16]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 150-154.
| 53 S |
| Kansai - Yayoi Period |
| Karako | |
| Ikegami-Sone |
| Yayoi Period in Kinki region | |
| Yayoi Period in Kinai region |
| inferred jp_yayoi nominal allegiance to cn_eastern_han_dyn | 57 CE 107 CE |
| inferred jp_yayoi nominal allegiance to cn_wei_k | 238 CE 247 CE |
| Western horizon |
| Kansai - Kofun Period |
| 78,000 km2 |
| population migration |
| Succeeding: Kansai - Kofun Period (jp_kofun) [continuity] | |
| Preceding: Japan - Final Jomon (jp_jomon_6) [population replacement] |
| quasi-polity |
| unknown | 300 BCE 99 CE |
| inferred present | 100 CE 250 CE |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| present |
| absent |
| unknown | 300 BCE 99 CE |
| inferred present | 100 CE 250 CE |
| unknown |
| unknown | 300 BCE 99 CE |
| inferred present | 100 CE 250 CE |
| present |
| absent |
| absent |
| Year Range | Kansai - Yayoi Period (jp_yayoi) was in: |
|---|---|
| (300 BCE 249 CE) | Kansai |
{Karako; Ikegami-Sone} These two settlements cannot be properly defined as capital cities of a given polity. Rather, they were the largest regional centres in Kansai region. Karako (Nara prefecture) had an extent of about 30 hectares (14.8 hectares excluding circumference ditches). Ikegami-Sone’s size was about 25 hectares (7.2 hectares excluding circumference ditches) [1] .
[1]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages tthe Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 134.
{Karako; Ikegami-Sone} These two settlements cannot be properly defined as capital cities of a given polity. Rather, they were the largest regional centres in Kansai region. Karako (Nara prefecture) had an extent of about 30 hectares (14.8 hectares excluding circumference ditches). Ikegami-Sone’s size was about 25 hectares (7.2 hectares excluding circumference ditches) [1] .
[1]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages tthe Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 134.
In this period large regional settlements expanded further. This nucleated settlement pattern is the result of the migration of people from smaller satellite settlements to larger regional centres
[1]
.
[1]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 183.
{400 BCE; 300 BCE}-{200 CE; 300 CE}. According to most scholars this period spans from around 300 BCE to 300 CE [1] [2] . According to Mizoguchi (2013) this period spans from ca. 400 BCE to ca. 200 CE. [3] . This period is divided into three sub-phases: Early Yayoi (400 BCE - 200 BCE; 300 - 100 BCE),Middle Yayoi (200 BCE - 1/50 CE; 100 BCE - 100 CE), and Late Yayoi (1/50 CE - 250 CE; 100 CE - 300 CE).
[1]: Barnes,G.,1999. The rise of civilization in East Asia : the archaeology of China, Korea and Japan. New York: Thames and Hudson, 25.
[2]: Hudson, M. J., 2007. Japanese beginnings.In: W. Tsutsui (ed.), A Companion to Japanese History. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 13.
[3]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,53
Possible nominal allegiance to China? From the chinese dynastic histories Houhanshu and Weizhi it is known that people from western Japan sent envoys to the Han Dynasty court probably through the Lelang commandery in Korea in 57 and 107 CE. Also, between 238 and 247 BC four envoys were sent from western Japan to Taifang for submitting tribute, which consisted of cloths, jade, pearls, bows and arrows, cinnabar, and slaves. They returned with several gifts from the court: silk, gold, swords, bronze mirrors, read beads.
[1]
.
[1]: Barnes, G. L., 1993. China, Korea and Japan. The Rise of Civilization in East Asia. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 218.
Possible nominal allegiance to China? From the chinese dynastic histories Houhanshu and Weizhi it is known that people from western Japan sent envoys to the Han Dynasty court probably through the Lelang commandery in Korea in 57 and 107 CE. Also, between 238 and 247 BC four envoys were sent from western Japan to Taifang for submitting tribute, which consisted of cloths, jade, pearls, bows and arrows, cinnabar, and slaves. They returned with several gifts from the court: silk, gold, swords, bronze mirrors, read beads.
[1]
.
[1]: Barnes, G. L., 1993. China, Korea and Japan. The Rise of Civilization in East Asia. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 218.
Mizoguchi (2013) characterize three different broad regional cultural units: the Kyushu,the western and eastern horizons. These units developed different sets of material culture (pottery, metal object) burial practice and settlement hierarchy. The western horizon comprises the regions of Kansai (Kinki), Chugoku and Shikoku [1] .
[1]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 104-124.
"Dental evidence links Jomon to the living Ainu and Yayoi and Kofun period skeletons to the recent population of Japan." [1]
[1]: (Scott and Turner 2000) Scott, Richard G. Turner, Christy G. 2000. The Anthropology of Modern Human Teeth: Dental Morphology and Its Variation in Recent Human Populations. Cambridge University Press.
"Dental evidence links Jomon to the living Ainu and Yayoi and Kofun period skeletons to the recent population of Japan." [1]
[1]: (Scott and Turner 2000) Scott, Richard G. Turner, Christy G. 2000. The Anthropology of Modern Human Teeth: Dental Morphology and Its Variation in Recent Human Populations. Cambridge University Press.
i.e. not a unitary state.
Estimate assuming roughly 50 persons per hectare; 30ha regional centre would have 1500 people
The largest regional centres in this period are Karako and Ikegami-Sone that respectively have an extent of 30 and 25 hectares.
Many regional centres exceeded the number of 200 inhabitants.
[1]
- presumably this would be a unrealistically conservative estimate for the very largest regional centers of 30ha
[1]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 126.
Estiamte based on size of regional center + a few satellite villages
50 person per hectare, 30ha regional centre would have 1500 people. Could use a person-per-hectare estimate much higher than this but Mizoguchi says many regional centres exceeded the number of 200 inhabitants, which suggests lower densities.
[1]
The largest regional centres in this period are Karako and Ikegami-Sone that respectively have an extent of 30 and 25 hectares.
450,000: 250 CE an estimation of the population size in Japan between 300 BCE-700 CE was provided by Koyama
[2]
on the basis of his demographic study on the forty-seven-volume "National Site Maps" published by the Japanese government in 1965.During the Yayoi and Kofun periods around 16.8 % of Japan’s population lived in the Kansai region
[3]
The population size increased strongly from the Early Yayoi (ca. 300 BCE-100 BCE) period to the Late Yayoi period (ca. 100CE-300 CE). Different rates of annual growth’s local population and migrants have been estimated by scholars in order to assess how endogenous and exogenous factors shaped population size across time
[4]
[1]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 126.
[2]: Koyama, S., 1978. Jomon Subsistence and Population. Senri Ethnological Studies 2. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology
[3]: Kidder, J. E., 2007. Himiko and Japan’s elusive chiefdom of Yamatai: archaeology, history, and mythology. University of Hawaii Press, 60.
[4]: Hanihara, K., 1987. Estimation of the Number of Early Migrants to Japan: A Simulative Study. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Nippon 95, no. 3, 391-403.
1. large settlements (estimated size around 30-20 hectares)
2. small villages (estimated size around 2-0.5 hectares)
The large regional centres were surrounded by smaller satellite villages
[1]
[1]: K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 123.
Level 1: shamanistic local figures, having religious and social authority, mediating the relationship between the commoners and "the supernaturalas an Other" [1] .
[1]: Mizoguchi, K., 2002. An archaeological history of Japan, 30,000 B.P. to A.D. 700Mizoguchi, K., 2002. An archaeological history of Japan, 30,000 B.P. to A.D. 700. University of Pennsylvania Press, 153-154.
2. warrior leader.
1. Soldier.
The discovery of bronze weapons in the tombs of people, which likely belonging to the local elite, suggests the presence of war leaders. The Yayoi period was characterized by heated competition and conflict among different communities.
Transition from absent in JpJomo6 to present in JpYayoi
Transition from absent in JpJomo6 to present in JpYayoi
It is unclear whether shamans were full-time professionals.
Transition from absent in JpJomo6 to present in JpYayoi
Transition from absent in JpJomo6 to present in JpYayoi
The earliest evidence for a “bureaucratic machinery” dates to the late fifth century CE. [1]
[1]: (Steenstrup 1996: 11) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7YDV5KGG
The earliest evidence for a “bureaucratic machinery” dates to the late fifth century CE. [1]
[1]: (Steenstrup 1996: 11) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7YDV5KGG
The earliest evidence for a “bureaucratic machinery” dates to the late fifth century CE. [1]
[1]: (Steenstrup 1996: 11) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7YDV5KGG
The earliest evidence for a “bureaucratic machinery” dates to the late fifth century CE. [1]
[1]: (Steenstrup 1996: 11) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7YDV5KGG
"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche." [1] "no evidence of a formal specialized legal system" [2]
[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)
[2]: Interview with Mark Hudson by Thomas Currie, 7/4/2017 in Shizuoka, Japan
The Yayoi villages have yielded evidence of rice paddy fields, irrigation system canals and ditches. -- irrigation canals don’t count as transport infrastructure
"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche." [1] However, ’now and then Chinese characters appeared on Yayoi pottery, showing a degree of literacy among craftsmen.’ [2]
[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)
[2]: Kidder Jr., J. Edward, 2007. Himiko and Japan’s Elusive Kingdom of Yamatai Honolulu: Hawaii University Press. p. 113
"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche." [1] However, ’now and then Chinese characters appeared on Yayoi pottery, showing a degree of literacy among craftsmen.’ [2]
[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)
[2]: Kidder Jr., J. Edward, 2007. Himiko and Japan’s Elusive Kingdom of Yamatai Honolulu: Hawaii University Press. p. 113
"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche." [1] However, ’now and then Chinese characters appeared on Yayoi pottery, showing a degree of literacy among craftsmen.’ [2]
[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)
[2]: Kidder Jr., J. Edward, 2007. Himiko and Japan’s Elusive Kingdom of Yamatai Honolulu: Hawaii University Press. p. 113
"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche." [1] However, ’now and then Chinese characters appeared on Yayoi pottery, showing a degree of literacy among craftsmen.’ [2]
[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11)
[2]: Kidder Jr., J. Edward, 2007. Himiko and Japan’s Elusive Kingdom of Yamatai Honolulu: Hawaii University Press. p. 113
Wooden stakes were used to outline rice fields. A long, surrounding ditch has been identified as either a water supply system or a defensive moat. [1] Chinese texts (3rd century CE) refer to defensive stockades. [2]
[1]: J. Edward Kidder, Jr., ‘The earliest societies in Japan’, in Delmer M. Brown The Cambridge History of Japan, Cambrudge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 85
[2]: (Barnes 2007, 98) Gina L Barnes. 2007. State Formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-Century Ruling Elite. Routledge. London.
Wooden stakes were used to outline rice fields. A long, surrounding ditch has been identified as either a water supply system or a defensive moat. [1] Chinese texts (3rd century CE) refer to defensive stockades. [2]
[1]: J. Edward Kidder, Jr., ‘The earliest societies in Japan’, in Delmer M. Brown The Cambridge History of Japan, Cambrudge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 85
[2]: (Barnes 2007, 98) Gina L Barnes. 2007. State Formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-Century Ruling Elite. Routledge. London.
Site at Yoshinogari (3rd century CE) had surrounding ditch and ramparts, watchtower and inner moat. [1] Kofun succeeded the Yayoi era: "In the Kofun era, settlements were no longer enclosed by moats, but elites began to reside in mansions, enclosed by moats and spatially distinct from ordinary settlements." [2]
[1]: (Barnes 2007, 98-99) Gina L Barnes. 2007. State Formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-Century Ruling Elite. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Saski 2017, 68) Ken’ichi Saski. The Kofun era and early state formation. Karl F Friday. ed. 2017. Routledge Handbook of Premodern Japanese History. Routledge. Abingdon.
Site at Yoshinogari (3rd century CE) had surrounding ditch and ramparts, watchtower and inner moat. [1] Kofun succeeded the Yayoi era: "In the Kofun era, settlements were no longer enclosed by moats, but elites began to reside in mansions, enclosed by moats and spatially distinct from ordinary settlements." [2]
[1]: (Barnes 2007, 98-99) Gina L Barnes. 2007. State Formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-Century Ruling Elite. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Saski 2017, 68) Ken’ichi Saski. The Kofun era and early state formation. Karl F Friday. ed. 2017. Routledge Handbook of Premodern Japanese History. Routledge. Abingdon.
no evidence of fortresses with multiple rings of fortifications
Tatara furnaces, or versions thereof, existed since 300 BCE. Not sure when this steel was first produced. It is unlikely the best steel was produced from the very earliest times. Asuka period seems likely. "If black sand was used it would contain hypter-eutectoid steel (carbon content 1.2-1.7 percent) called tama hagane and pieces of iron with a lower carbon content (less than 0.8 percent). The tama hagane was the first quality steel used in swords." [1] References that support tamahagane steel being better than the first steels produced in Japan: "Present study elucidates that the tatara iron and its manufacturing procedure gives distinctive features to Japanese swords which is different from ordinary steel. It is also notable that Japanese swordsmith utilized lath martensite without knowing details about it." [2] Tamahagane steel (metal investigated was crafted by a modern swordsmith) has been "investigated with optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and electron probe micro analysis methods. Microstructures have been found to be a combination of ferrite and pearlite with a lot of nonmetallic inclusions." [3]
[1]: (Wittner 2008, 25) David G Wittner. 2008. Technology and the Culture of Progress in Meiji Japan. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: Ananda Kumar Das. Takuya Ohba. Shigakazu Morito. Muneo Yaso. "Evidence of Lath Martensite in High-C Japanese Sword Produced from Tamahagane Steel by Tatara Process." 2010. Materials Science Forum. Vols. 654-656. Trans Tech Publications. pp. 138-141
[3]: Go Takami. Takuya Ohba. Shigekazu Morito. Ananda Kumar Das. "Microstructural Observation on Materials of the Japanese Sword under Fold-Forging Process. 2010. Materials Science Forum. Vols. 654-656. Trans Tech Publications. pp. 134-137
According to a military historian, Japanese ’kuni’ warriors mentioned by early Han annals "fought with iron and bronze weapons against other kuni and other less advanced peoples, the emishi or ’toad barbarians.’ on their frontiers" [1] - are these early Han annals considered a reliable source by polity/region specialists? "The scarcity of iron tools in Yayoi sites (except in northern Kyushu) may be explained by the continual recycling of broken iron tools as well as by their rare placement and consequent rare discovery in graves or ceremonial underground deposits, and there is no possible explanation for the disappearance of stone tools in the Late Yayoi phase other than the prevalence of Iron. If we exclude bronze weapon-like ceremonial goods from the list of edged tools, the sequence of cutting-tools in Japan is as follows: stone --> stone and iron --> the complete replacement of stone by iron." [2] "The earliest arrowheads made by iron appeared during Middle Yayoi, and almost all of them are from northern Kyushu. The arrowheads in Kyushu were 3 -4 cm long and shaped like a narrow triangle with a vault-shaped base. This shape is the traditional shape of stone arrowheads." [3] ’By the Yayoi Period (50-250 CE) iron tools became more plentiful, as is evidenced by advances in woodworking technologies. By the last century of the Yayoi, iron-working technologies spread quickly across the central region of Japan from west to east. Over the course of the next several hundred years, iron completely replaced stone as the mineral of choice. Iron swords, armor, and arrowheads came to occupy prominent places in the tombs of the Kofun period. From that time onward, iron and its alloy with carbon, steel, were Japan’s pre-eminent proto-industrial metals.’ [4]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 316) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
[2]: Keiji Imamura. 1996. Prehistoric Japan: New Perspectives On Insular East Asia. Routledge. UCL Press.
[3]: Lars Vargo. 1982. Social and economic conditions for the formation of the early Japanese state. Stockholm University.
[4]: David G Wittner. 2008. Technology and the Culture of Progress in Meiji Japan. Routledge. Abingdon. p.24
According to a military historian, Japanese ’kuni’ warriors mentioned by early Han annals "fought with iron and bronze weapons against other kuni and other less advanced peoples, the emishi or ’toad barbarians.’ on their frontiers" [1] - are these early Han annals considered a reliable source by polity/region specialists?
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 316) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
According to a military historian, Japanese ’kuni’ warriors mentioned by early Han annals "fought with iron and bronze weapons against other kuni and other less advanced peoples, the emishi or ’toad barbarians.’ on their frontiers" [1] - are these early Han annals considered a reliable source by polity/region specialists? “Over 150 Yayoi period skeletons are known with embedded arrowheads, cut marks, or decapitated skulls.” [2] "The establishment of Chinese provinces in the northern Korean Peninsula conveyed knowledge of bronze and iron closer to the Japanese islands, and with Yayoi bronze spears, halberds, swords, mirrors, and bells appeared. In each case, the imported items were transformed by local bronze casters into forms more suited to local tastes and requirements. Thus the weapons were enlarged and broadened." [3]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 316) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
[2]: (Hudson, Mark. 2007. Japanese Beginnings. In A Companion to Japanese History, edited by William M. Tsutsui. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing. 21.)
[3]: Charles F W Higham. 2004. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. Facts On File, Inc. New York. p.404
"unlike the crossbows that were used as anti-personnel weapons, there does not appear to be any record of trebuchet use in Japan, simply because the siege situation did not demand it." [1] ‘it is not until 1468[CE] that we find an unambiguous reference to the use of traction trebuchets in Japan.’ [2]
[1]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
[2]: Turnbull, Stephen. 2012. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Vol. 43. Osprey Publishing.p.23.
Could find no reference to support the presence of siege engines.
"Slings, used to hurl fist-sized rocks or spheres of clay shaped roughly like miniature rugby balls, also appeared during the Yaoi age, distributed in a geographic pattern that suggests mutually exclusive regional preferences for the sling or the bow." [1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York.
"Instead, without ready access to supplies of bone and horn, the Japanese fashioned their bows from wood or from laminates of wood and bamboo. The earliest designs were of plain wood ... " [1] "The earliest arrowheads made by iron appeared during Middle Yayoi, and almost all of them are from northern Kyushu. The arrowheads in Kyushu were 3-4 cm long and shaped like a narrow triangle with a vault-shaped base. This shape is the traditional shape of stone arrowheads." [2]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York.
[2]: Lars Vargo. 1982. Social and economic conditions for the formation of the early Japanese state. Stockholm University.
Spears (probably handheld but could also be thrown?). ’The sizes and shapes of spears cast in middle Yayoi Japan, moreover, suggest that they had a ritual function. These, in contrast with the small spears imported from Korea in the early Yayoi period, ranged in length from fifty to ninety centimeters, to large and unwieldly for combat. Some were placed in graves as ritual objects that symbolized authority and power, but the longest were buried elsewhere, as if for some religious purpose.’ [1]
[1]: Okazaki Takashi. Japan and the continent in the Jomon and Yayoi periods. Janet Goodwin trans. Delmer M Brown. ed. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan. Volume 1. Ancient Japan. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. p. 279
before use of gunpowder in Japan
Crossbow known and used in Japan sometime after the invention in China (from date not stated) "but neither the ritsuryo armies nor the bushi appear to have developed much interest in it, preferring to rely instead on the long bow. The ritsuryo military statutes provided for only two soldiers from each fifty-man company to be trained as oyumi operators, and no later source indicates that this ratio was ever increased. Hand-held crossbows and crossbowmen are not mentioned in the statutes at all." "The bow staves of Chinese crossbows were composites of wood, bone, sinew and glue ... But, as we have observed, the Japanese lacked supplies of animal products, and fashioned their bows from wood and bamboo instead, which required that the weapons be long. Manufacturing crossbows with composite bow staves of wood and bamboo comparable in length to those of regular bows would have resulted in a weapon too unwieldy to be practical". However some crossbows were imported. [1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 74-76) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York.
"Compound or composite bows of the sort favored on the Asian continent - made by laminating together layers of wood, animal tendon and horn - were known in Japan by the late ninth century, but never widely adopted. Instead, without ready access to supplies of bone and horn, the Japanese fashioned their bows from wood or from laminates of wood and bamboo. The earliest designs were of plain wood ... " [1] "These first compound bows, called fusetake yumi, featured a single strip of bamboo laminated to the outside face of the wood, using a paster (called nibe) made from fish bladders. Sometime around the turn of the thirteenth century, a second bamboo laminate was added to the inside face of the bow, to create the sammai uchi yumi. In the fifteenth century, two additional bamboo slats were addeded to the sides, so that the wooden core was now completely encased, producing the shiochiku yumi. The higo yumi used for traditional Japanese archery today appeared sometime during the seventeenth century." [2]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York.
[2]: (Friday 2004, 69) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York.
Kanabou (金棒) is noted as being a club weapon in use: ’Sort of iron club used by warriors in ancient times, and a favorite weapon of some monk-warriors (Heisou) in the Heian and Kamakura periods’ [1]
[1]: Louis Frederick, Japan Encyclopedia, translated by Kathe Roth, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 202, p. 466
"The establishment of Chinese provinces in the northern Korean Peninsula conveyed knowledge of bronze and iron closer to the Japanese islands, and with Yayoi bronze spears, halberds, swords, mirrors, and bells appeared. In each case, the imported items were transformed by local bronze casters into forms more suited to local tastes and requirements. Thus the weapons were enlarged and broadened." [1]
[1]: Charles F W Higham. 2004. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. Facts On File, Inc. New York. p.404
"The establishment of Chinese provinces in the northern Korean Peninsula conveyed knowledge of bronze and iron closer to the Japanese islands, and with Yayoi bronze spears, halberds, swords, mirrors, and bells appeared. In each case, the imported items were transformed by local bronze casters into forms more suited to local tastes and requirements. Thus the weapons were enlarged and broadened." [1] ’The sizes and shapes of spears cast in middle Yayoi Japan, moreover, suggest that they had a ritual function. These, in contrast with the small spears imported from Korea in the early Yayoi period, ranged in length from fifty to ninety centimeters, to large and unwieldly for combat. Some were placed in graves as ritual objects that symbolized authority and power, but the longest were buried elsewhere, as if for some religious purpose.’ [2]
[1]: Charles F W Higham. 2004. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. Facts On File, Inc. New York. p.404
[2]: Okazaki Takashi. Japan and the continent in the Jomon and Yayoi periods. Janet Goodwin trans. Delmer M Brown. ed. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan. Volume 1. Ancient Japan. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. p. 279
"The establishment of Chinese provinces in the northern Korean Peninsula conveyed knowledge of bronze and iron closer to the Japanese islands, and with Yayoi bronze spears, halberds, swords, mirrors, and bells appeared. In each case, the imported items were transformed by local bronze casters into forms more suited to local tastes and requirements. Thus the weapons were enlarged and broadened." [1]
[1]: Charles F W Higham. 2004. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. Facts On File, Inc. New York. p.404
long halberds, some almost 50 centimeters that were produced in Japan. [1] These would have functioned as battle axes rather than polearms.
[1]: Okazaki Takashi. Japan and the continent in the Jomon and Yayoi periods. Janet Goodwin trans. Delmer M Brown. ed. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan. Volume 1. Ancient Japan. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. p. 279
I could find no evidence of elephants - but no sources saying that they were not used either (although I think this is a very safe bet)
I could find no evidence of camels - but no sources saying that they were not used either (although I think this is a very safe bet)
’Shields were commonly used in nearly all military contexts in Japan, beginning with prehistory’. [1] According to a military historian,wWarriors of the Land of Was (Japan) mentioned by early Han annals used shields. [2] - are these early Han annals considered a reliable source by polity/region specialists?
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.172.
[2]: (Gabriel 2002, 316) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth." [1] [2]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola.
[2]: Kidder Jr., J. Edward, 2007. Himiko and Japan’s Elusive Kingdom of Yamatai (Honolulu: Hawaii University Press). p. 81
The helmets were introduced in Japan in the 5th century CE [1] . "The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth." [2]
[1]: Bryant, Anthony J. 1991. Early Samurai: 200-1500 AD. Vol. 35. Osprey Publishing.p.45.
[2]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola.
Before the time of ’definite’ knowledge "The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century." [1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola.
low amount of trade and polities of Japan/Korea did not attempt to control sea routes at this time.
rivers are present, likely to have had the technology.
low level of merchant activity.