12,500-300 BC

This period of Japanese prehistory is referred to as the Jômon (Japanese for ‘cord-markings’), after the widespread ‘cord-pattern’ decoration on pottery vessels of the time. It started around 12,500 BC, when the last Ice Age came to an end and rising sea levels separated the islands of Japan from the Asian continent.

People lived by gathering foods such as nuts, berries, and shellfish, by hunting deer, wild boar and racoons, and by fishing. They lived in simple pit houses with thatched roofs. In the Middle Jômon (3500-2500 BC) rising temperatures prompted people to move from the humid coastal regions to higher areas. Villages grew in size, and the large-scale production of ceramics indicates there was a stable economy. Elaborate decoration on some pottery vessels suggests that they were used in specialised rituals and ceremonies.

In the Late Jômon (2500-1000 BC) the climate cooled and people moved down from the highlands to the coastal areas. Increased communication between communities meant that people began making similar pots and other objects. There also appears to have been a greater concern with ritual, which might have been due to a rapid decline in population. Although forms of Jômon culture continued in the far north of Japan, major changes occurred around 300 BC in the rest of the islands through contact with the Asian mainland.