The Ancient Japanese Culture

The ancient culture of Japan is referred to as early as the 1st century AD. The Chinese historical texts and archaeological evidence indicate the presence of people on the islands of Japan in the paleolithic period. Ancient Japanese culture is the product of a rich ecosystem and an archipelago that supported human development.

Although there is no precise date to point out when humans first made the Japanese archipelago their home, the land has thrown up some amazing Paleolithic tools. The core tools and flake tools unearthed is evidence enough of a great migration from different parts of the Asian continent.

The earliest era studied dates back between 30,000 to 10,000 years ago. The resultant Japanese culture is an amalgamation of activities surrounding hunting and gathering, and pit dwellings and caves. The best way to study ancient Japanese culture is to segregate it into the Pre-Ceramic and Ceramic eras. There are four distinct cultures that emerge from this study, Jomon, Yayoi, Tumulus and Yamato.

Jomon Culture

The term Jomon refers to a type of pottery found during the time. Jomon or cord marks were the basic patterns observed on the clay. Jomon pottery displays features that are common to Neolithic cultures around the world. The use of chipped and polished tools, pottery making and the initiation of agriculture and cattle rearing were the main features of the era. People also patronized the development of weaving and architecture. The Kyushu Pottery from the southernmost of the Japanese islands, is the result of a continental influence. Since Kyushu pottery remains predate, Jomon culture is believed to be Mesolithic.

The development of pottery generated a highly developed culture and lifestyle among the people of the era. They displayed great diversity and complexity in the art. The products of this age highlighted a lot of elaborate decoration and an ascending order of development. The people thrived on hunting, fishing and gathering edible roots that still form a major part of Japanese food. Clothes were made of organic materials and ornamentation was a necessity. The custom of extracting or filing certain teeth was a part of a rite announcing adulthood. The Jomon culture was responsible for the regional differences, many of which can be seen even today and evident in the Japanese language.

Yayoi Culture

The Yayoi culture was present in Kyushu even as the Jomon culture was witnessing development. It spread from Kyushu to the northern districts of Honshu,which is also the largest island in Japan. The name Yayoi comes from a district in Tokyo. The name suggests the first evidence of the era being unearthed at Yayoi. The pottery during this era was fired and turned on wheels to impart durability and elaborate shape. The advanced technique helped create pottery for practical use. The other signs of evidence of the Yayoi culture of Japan include a number of metal objects and the cultivation of rice.

The influx of Chinese culture into Korea and thereafter into Japan through invasion is amply proved by the iron and bronze implements that indicate traces of Han culture. The Japanese people of this era made axes, sickles, hoes and swords. They also took to the cultivation of rice along the Yangtze River delta in southern China. Their techniques of maintaining paddy fields were advanced, involving a lot of time, capital and manual labor. These people wove cloth on primitive looms and used vegetable fibers for the desired dye and print.

The migration from China and North Korea as well as South Korea to Japan was most observed in the character of the people. The addition and mixture of sanguineous elements and difference in Jomon and Yayoi skeletal remains are more nutritional than human genetics.

Tumulus or Tomb Culture

This culture thrived during a ‘blank period’ that resulted due to frequent exchanges with other countries. This era or phase in ancient Japanese culture was probably due to the imminent collapse of Yamatai and the initiation of the Yamato kingdom. The unification of the nation could be commemorated as an achievement of the fighting between Wo and Koguryo in the mid-4th century. The resultant military success led to a long period of preparation and the coining of Nihon Shoki or the Chronicles of Japan.

The people of this era and especially the survivors of the aftermath generated a culture unique to circumstance and naturally one that resulted in the term ‘Tumulus’. The large burial mounds or kofun was a common archaeological feature during the time. Tombs were large and either circular or keystone-shaped. The people built enormous tumuli with a number of modifications for grave goods.

Yamato Culture

The Yamato kings or kimi focused their rule around Mount Miwa, their object of worship. The secular and sacred functions unified in the sacred connection with Mount Miwa. During this time, agricultural techniques were quite advanced. The people used iron tools for cultivation, leveling and flooding paddy fields. The legends extolled in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki, record Yamato expansion throughout the archipelago. The religious focus at this time was the Isonokami Shrine at Tenri. Most of the treasured items found at the Isonokami Shrine were in fact the weapons! The seven-pronged sword or shichishito is a part of National Treasure.

Weaving, smithy and ideographic script are evidence of this great era. Yamato culture reached its peak in the early 5th century. The rulers were driven towards a military approach and were rather secular in comparison with the earlier priestly kings. They controlled the increased agricultural output and monopolized military technology. People involved exclusively in farming were mostly a part of lineal groups, who worshiped the ancestral deity Kami. The power of the Yamato court spread with increased production of weapons, armor and construction of irrigation systems.

Ancient Japanese culture witnessed climatic changes and influx of foreign influence. This has churned out the present amalgamation of an abundant fauna seen in Japanese gardens and unique human population. The Little Giant of the Orient has long impacted major innovations and lifestyles around the world.

By Gaynor Borade
Published: 2/11/2009

Feel free to read more about decor in Japanese homes and the traditions and flavors of Japan here: Japanese Home Decor – Japanese Decorations & Paintings – Japanese Style Furniture – Japanese Decorating & Ancient Culture – Japanese Wall Decor & Traditional Japanese Decor – Japanese Bedrooms – Japanese Rooms – Japanese Shoji Screen – Japanese Wall Fans.

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Japanese Furnishing, Edo Style

As soon as you start looking into purchasing Japanese styled furniture and decor, you are going to be confronted with a lot of different categories. In this article, we take a look at Edo furnishings.

A Guide to Edo Furnishings

Edo furnishings gets their name from a period of classical Japanese culture that flourished in the area of Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan between 1500 and 1780 AD. Kyoto was a beautiful city with cherry tree lined avenues, and a highly developed appreciation of the arts.

The area surrounding Kyoto was heavily wooded, and carpentry was a highly respected craft. Thousands of carpenters from the area were used to build the wooden castles and palaces of the country’s rulers, and they also made furniture that was typical of the art of the area and time.

It was characterized by understatement, simplicity, and restrained elegance. It was very much influenced by Zen and the harmony of nature. Much of the pieces were crafted from fine mahogany and beech. The beech tree made up the majority of the workable wood in the area, and was used frequently.

After the isolated culture of Japan came into contact with Western Culture, some of the western ideas began to find their way into the Edo furniture pieces. It was a remarkable melding of the two cultures. The older pieces tended to have little curvature in their design, but due to the western influence this began to creep into the designs. The basic English chest of drawers that was little known in Japan became a popular piece and a favorite of the Edo craftsmen.

After World War II, it was the Western World that discovered Edo furnishings. It was noticed first by servicemen in the Occupation Forces, who often brought pieces back home with them. In the industrial rebuilding of Japan following the war many of the original craftsman, who had been producing the classical furniture pieces one at a time in their little shops, were replaced by modern factories. The beauty and the elegance of the look was retained in most cases, and the secrets of the craft were transferred to the new designers.

In the West, Edo furnishings are often used as a room theme. Bedrooms are especially popular. The Bedroom was always considered the most important room in Japanese culture, and still plays a more important role in modern Japanese home design than is usual in the West. The result is that Edo beds and bedroom furniture represent some of the most popular and finely crafted examples of the Edo theme. It has been found that Edo pieces do not necessarily have to constitute the entire theme of a room, but rather they blend nicely with other types of furniture.

By: Stephan Teak

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Stephan Teak is with FurnitureStoresforYou.com – information on furniture styles.

Feel free to read more about decor in Japanese homes and the traditions and flavors of Japan here: Japanese Home Decor – Japanese Decorations & Paintings – Japanese Style Furniture – Japanese Decorating & Ancient Culture – Japanese Wall Decor & Traditional Japanese Decor – Japanese Bedrooms – Japanese Rooms – Japanese Shoji Screen – Japanese Wall Fans.

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