Ancient Japan can be divided into periods defined by the reign of each emperor. Key aspects of ancient Japanese culture included the Shinto and Buddhist religions, the social hierarchy led by emperors and warriors, and architectural styles like pit dwellings. Diet was centered around rice and seafood. Childhood differed based on social class, with education reserved for wealthy boys. Festivals celebrated events like the cherry blossom season. Art forms included origami, music genres, and the bonsai tree tradition.

1. By Derek and Malcolm

2. Map
Japan‟ history is divided into what are known as periods. Each period is a time with a different emperor.
For example the first period was called the Jomon period at -300BC. Japan stopped using this method to
track their history in 1989. The last period was the Heisei period.

3. Ancient Japanese Background
Ancient Japan is known for many things such as Sushi which is especially
important to the Japanese people. There are 4 main islands in Japan that are
called Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. They say that one of the
Japanese gods pierced his big sword on Japan (Which was supposedly 1 entire
island) splitting it up to 4 different islands. Periods are the amount of emporers
that conquered ancient Japan. It‟s like the dynasties in China. So 1 period would
be 1 emporer which would probably be around 100 years. In ancient japan, there
have been 14 periods so far.

4. Social Structure
 In ancient Japan, the emperor
was the first in command. The
reason why warriors are high
in command is because back
then, they were at war with
many countries (China,
Mongolia ect.) . As for that
reason, they need soldiers to
defend and conquer. Unlike
ancient Egypt, merchants
were well respected. Whereas
ancient Japan, merchants are
the lowest in the social
structure. Not only that, in
ancient Japan. Peasants were
not at the bottom of the class
because they were
considered to be feeding the
country food.

5. Housing
In ancient Japan their were two main types of houses. The first style of house
was the pit dwelling house. Pit dwelling houses were built around a large
circular hole. Within the hole, columns would be inserted. These columns
would later be used as walls. The roof of that certain house would be build out
of grass that would be surrounding the pit. The second type of house was
partially elevated from the ground. These houses were not normally lived in
because they were rather used for storage of grain and other resources. Not
only that, those houses were invented and used in South-East Asia but the
Japanese eventually because acustomed to that type of house as it provided
suitable storage for the Japanese climate.

6. How Wealthy..
In ancient Japan, how wealthy you were depended on what kind of job you had.
For example, the warriors lived a reasonably happy life (If they weren‟t killed in
battle) as the emperor supplied them with food, shelter and clothing (Although
they did have a limit to what they were supplied with). But the lowest class
warrior (Ronin) did not get the same privilege. The peasants get their money
from selling their goods from merchants as merchants sell the goods for a
higher price to make a profit. Merchants also does that way to make money
from crafts people making pottery.
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7. Food
Ancient Japanese food source is mainly seafood as they are surrounded by
oceans. As for that reason, they basically have an unlimited supply of fish, crab
and other sea creatures. Another extremely food source in Japan in rice. In
majority of their dishes rice is the most common. Their most plentiful dish is sushi.
Sushi is has a center of vegtable/fish then is surrounded by rice then the last
layer would be seaweed which is coated around the rice. Another well known
ancient Japanese dish is called sashimi. Sashimi is so well known is because it is
a very tasty dish yet it is so simple! Sashimi is nothing comprised of nothing but
raw fish.

8. Family life
A normal ancient family in Japan would be 1 father, 1 mother, and a son. The
father would usually go out and get food as he was the one who was expected to
bring safety, shelter and food to the family. That father would be the head of the
house. Some fathers would buy food but most would hunt/gather depending on
the period and or era. Most families would live in small villages. Daughters are
supposed to be obeyed by brothers and fathers. For rich boys, they would go and
learn how to read, right, do math, poetry, and government. Wealthy girls would
just learn how to read and write at home. Poor family lives in small huts usually 1
room. Sons and daughters would work in the rice fields.

9. Marriage
 In ancient Japan, marriages were arranged by the
parents of the man and woman. Sometimes, the
“couple” doesn‟t agree with the match but that is up
to the parents. If the parents agree, then the
marriage is set. Usually, the schedule for the
wedding would be in spring (Most likely June).
There are 2 types of ancient Japanese weddings, a
Shinto type and a Buddhist type. In a Shinto
wedding, the location is at a shrine whereas the
Buddhist type, it is anywhere that will have a big
Buddhist statue.

10. Childbirth practices
In the ancient Japenese culture Child birth and the time during
pregnancy was spent away from the father of the child and
rather with the mothers parents. The mothers parents would care
for the mother and the child until one month after birth , then
mother and child would return to the father. In the time just
before pregnancy the mother traditionally wears a cotton
abdomen band called iwati-obi. The band is supposed to bring
good luck and an easy birth.
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11. Childhood
 In poor families, boys and girls had to help
with the farm whenever they had the free
time. They were taught to have discipline in
themselves and did not had the education
like us (Math, Science ect.) Rich boys get to
learn how to be a samurai starting at the age
of 9 while learning things at school. Girls
would learn in school but in their time, they
were t aught how to be a good bride and how
to do household things.

12. Childhood Comparison (Ancient
Japan - Canada
 Ancient Japanese childhood compared
to Canadian childhood is very different
for many reason. Ancient Japan is VERY
disciplined. If the child does anything
wrong, that boy/girl would be punished
by getting beaten. Instead in modern
day Canada, the child would either get
something taken away from them or get
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13. Education
 In ancient Japan education was quite simple, sons
and daughters of peasants were usually taught to
farm, and handle livestock at a young age and
then later on taught the more valuable skills of
reading and writing. Unlike the son of a peasant
the son of a warrior would be taught the way of
battle and bushido from a very early age. Proper
school houses were not built and used until the
1800‟s.
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14. Religion
 In ancient Japan, there were 2 common
religions. Buddhist and Shinto. 51% came
from the religion Shinto, 46% came from
Buddhist, 2% came from Christianity and 1%
were others. Even right now, those
percentages still stand today in modern
Japan. There are 3 types of Buddhism. First,
is Theravada (India, Sough-East Asia),
Mahayana (China, Tibet) and Varian (Korea,
Japan).

15. Gods
 In Japan, there are a variety of gods just like ancient
Greece. The most common gods are called the Lucky 7.
There are 7 gods, Ebisu, Diakokuten, Benzaiten, Hotei,
Fukurokuji, Jurojin, Bishamonten, Marishiten, and Sanmen
Daikoku. Each god is very different in many ways and are
praised for very different reasons than the other 6. The most
popular god is called Ebisu. He gives good luck on fishing
(As fishing is a very important source for Japan), honest pay
and fair dealing.

16. Clothing
 Normal ancient Japanese clothing would be a coat
on top and a long skirt worn a the bottom. It‟s like a
robe worn for both men and women. The robe would
be out of very nice silk and obviously some Asian
styles like dragons on it. Japanese ancient clothing
was extremely influenced by China. And then the
kimono, a long silk belt. Whenever you wear the
robe, the order you wear is left to right. Right to left is
the „Barbaric‟ way. Although peasants just wear
shorts and a t-shirt. Japanese women put a
chopstick or two to make a hair bun and usually
carry around a fan as Japan is a very hot place.

17. Art, Music
 In ancient Japan, they had many different types of art. One
of the most proficient would be called Bonsai. Bonsai is the
making of dwarf trees (Miniature). Bonsai originated in China
almost 1000 years ago today. Another famous art form in
ancient Japan is origami, which is one of the most well
known. The most known music are called Minyo, Gagaku,
Biwagaku, Nohgaku, Sokyoku, Shamisenongaku, and finally
Sakuhachi. All of these types of music are based on the
singing of poems such as haiku. Their instruments are
comprised of drums, 3 stringed guitar, a type of harp with 13
strings, some just folk singing, and a bamboo flute which is
13 cm long.
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18. Conclusion
 Overall, Japan is a very unique place with
a very interesting beliefs, their living,
music, art, family life and generally their
whole background of history. (This
famous mountain is called Mount Fugi
which is in Japan). Compared to the other
vast, big ancient civilizations like China,
Greece, or Egypt, Japan already
expanded to a pretty good ancient
civilization for a short amount of time
compared to the other ancients.

19. Festivals
 One famous festival is called the Cherry-
Blossom festival. The cherry blossom festival
is celebrated once a year at the beginning of
spring. This festival is very much like new
years were you get to watch the fireworks. But
unlike this festival you watch the blossoms of
the tree come into full bloom. While watching,
they eat, play, and enjoy the beginning of
spring in the park.
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20. Information bibliography
 OURSELVES!
 Japan and It‟s Culture (Book)
 Anciend Japan (Book)
 http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112187/ancient_japan.htm (family life)
 http://www.history-timelines.org.uk/places-timelines/29-timeline-of-
ancient-japan.htm (Map)
 http://web.mac.com/lisaleiker/lisaleiker/MulticultureProject_files/14.
pdf (family life)
 http://www.hudsonvalleyweddings.com/guide/japanese.htm
(Marriage)
 http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/seven.shtml (Gods)
 http://www.ancientjapaneseclothing.org/ (Clothing)
 http://www.lannaalterationstudio.com/history/japan.htm (Another
Clothing)
 http://web.mac.com/lisaleiker/lisaleiker/MulticultureProject_files/14.
pdf (Wealth)
 http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2113.html (Art and Music)

21. Picture bibliography
 Slide 1: http://www.superchefblog.com/archive/2005_08_01_archive.html
 Slide 2: http://www.superchefblog.com/archive/2005_08_01_archive.html
 Family life: http://www.gatewaytoboston.com/2010/02/09/court-culture-in-the-floating-
world/
 Food: http://www.yuriya.com.au/
 Background: http://palingates.blogspot.com/2011/03/japan.html
 Social structure: http://www.china-cart.com/c.asp?page=7&i=865
 Housing: http://www.pbase.com/image/61118636
 http://www.dreamstime.com/fotografia-stock-ebisu-uno-dei-sette-dei-fortunati-
image15648402 (Gods)
 http://www.visit-oita.jp/sightseeing/index.e.html (Marriage . Shrine)
 http://theunexplainedmysteries.com/buddha-skull.html (Marriage . Buddha)
 http://kevintantm.blogspot.com/2008/04/contrasting-concepts-of-vanity.html (Clothing)
 http://wikitravel.org/en/Mount_Fuji (Conclusion)
 http://www.usmint.gov/kids/cartoons/coinsoftheworld/html/japan/index.cfm?s=4 (Money
1)
 http://www.chinaculture.info/2010/11/money-in-yuan-ming-and-qing-dynasties/ (Money
2)
 http://anothertime-anotherworld.blogspot.com/2011/04/sakura-brings-hopes-for-
japan.html (Festivals 1)
 http://www.abqbonsaiclub.com/?page_id=119 (Bonsai tree)
 http://listsoplenty.com/blog/?attachment_id=2982 (Origami)
 http://www.themolitor.com/2008/05/shakuhachi-flute/ (Flute)
 http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=245350&page=6 (Ancient Japanese
boy)
 http://www.flickr.com/photos/imuttoo/781254918/ (Canadian boy)