This article explains the scientific version of the beginnings of Japan.

1. SCIENTIFIC VERSION
The first signs of occupation on the Japanese Archipelago appeared with a
Paleolithic culture around 30,000 BC, followed from around 14,000 BC by the Jōmon
period, a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture of pit dwelling
and a rudimentary form of agriculture. Decorated clay vessels from this period, often
with plaited patterns, are some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world.
The Yayoi period, starting around the third century BC, saw the introduction of many
new practices, such as wet-rice farming, iron and bronze-making and a new style of
pottery, brought by migrants from China or Korea.
The Japanese first appear in written history in China’s Book of Han. According to the
Chinese Records of Three Kingdoms, the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago
during the third century was called Yamataikoku.
Prehistoric Japan
Not clear where the first people of Japan originate
There appears to have been inhabitants since at least 30,000 B.C.
Japan was connected to Asia during the ice age. It is assumed that the first inhabitants
walked in from the Asian mainland
About 10,000 BC land links submerged Japan became islands
First pottery is produced around this time. (World’s first?)
Pottery is decorated with impressions from rope
The name for the period (Jomon Age) ca. 10,000 BC to 400-300 BC originates from this
practice
The Jomon people were primarily hunters and gatherers.
Lived in pit dwellings, often near coast for the supply of fish, especially shellfish. Many
mounds of shells remain. Serve as source of information as many artifacts are preserved
in the mounds.
Small clay figurines that appear to have been used in religious rites. Seem to have been
associated with shamanism - putting unseen forces into human or animal form.
Shamanism - characterized by belief in unseen world of gods, demons and ancestral
spirits that are responsive to shamans

2. Jomon period ends with new influx of culture from Asian continent. Most importantly,
wet-rice agriculture.
Disagreement whether the Jomon people are the ancestors of the present-day Japanese
Previously it was held that a new people arrived from Asia via Korea and displaced the
Jomon. It is now felt that the Jomon culture changed under influences from China.
The new culture is known as the Yayoi from the site in Tokyo where remains were first
found. The period from ca. 300 BC - 300 AD is known as the Yayoi Period.
This period is marked by introduction of rice cultivation, use of bronze and iron, and a
new sense of design in pottery showing a more restrained decoration and emphasis on
naturalness. This style is seen as the root of contemporary Japanese aesthetic preference.
Japan did not have a long Bronze Age; bronze was mostly used for decorative objects
such as mirrors. Metal was generally more important for use in weapons. Much warfare
among various areas in later Yayoi times.
The pottery of Jomon times seems to have been used mainly for preparation and serving
of food. Yayoi sees introduction of new shapes and purposes - jars for storing rice, etc.,
pots for cooking, and vessels with pedestals for formal serving of food.
Vessels for storing rice are especially significant, as the accumulation of rice led to a
class society based on wealth measured in terms of the amount of rice possessed.