Changes

*''Period: 1000 BCE - c. 250 CE''

*''Period: 1000 BCE - c. 250 CE''

*''Japanese'': 弥生時代 ''(Yayoi jidai)''

*''Japanese'': 弥生時代 ''(Yayoi jidai)''

Technologies including intensive agriculture, ironworking, and bronze casting, along with new techniques for weaving and woodworking, appear earliest in [[Kyushu]], and are gradually seen to have spread north into the rest of the archipelago. Jômon culture persisted in [[Tohoku|Tôhoku]] and [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]] for centuries afterwards, while the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] similarly followed its own distinct path.<ref>See [[Periods of Okinawan History]].</ref> In most of Japan, people began to cultivate rice in wet rice paddies, as well as other grains including barley and millet; use of seafood and marine products, as well as fruits, nuts, and other forest products, expanded as well. [[Bronze mirrors]], symbols of wealth, power, and prestige held by local and regional elites, were largely imported in this period, becoming more widely produced within Japan only in the Kofun period.<ref>Gallery labels, "Mirrors," Japan Gallery, British Museum.</ref>

Technologies including intensive agriculture, ironworking, and bronze casting, along with new techniques for weaving and woodworking, appear earliest in [[Kyushu]], and are gradually seen to have spread north into the rest of the archipelago. Jômon culture persisted in [[Tohoku|Tôhoku]] and [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]] for centuries afterwards, while the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] similarly followed its own distinct path.<ref>See [[Periods of Okinawan History]].</ref> In most of Japan, people began to cultivate rice in wet rice paddies, as well as other grains including barley and millet; use of seafood and marine products, as well as fruits, nuts, and other forest products, expanded as well. [[Bronze mirrors]], symbols of wealth, power, and prestige held by local and regional elites, were largely imported in this period, becoming more widely produced within Japan only in the Kofun period.<ref>Gallery labels, "Mirrors," Japan Gallery, British Museum.</ref>

Settlements grew larger and more complex, and physical, violent conflict between communities seems to have increased dramatically. Some communities began to construct walls, stockades, and watchtowers, and to locate their homes in strategically defensible positions; remains with evidence of violent injury by axe, arrow, or the like have also been found. There is also evidence of the emergence of class divisions within communities, as leaders or elites began to receive more elaborate burials, and were buried alongside larger groups of grave goods. By the end of the Yayoi period, relatively distinct polities emerged, with local chieftains, or "kings," some of which traded with, or otherwise were in contact with, polities on the Korean Peninsula and the Chinese mainland; some appear in ancient Chinese records, which made reference to the Kingdom of [[Na]], the Kings of [[Wa]], etc. One community particularly prominent in these records is called [[Yamatai]], and is said to have been ruled by a queen named [[Himiko]] (or Pimiko); debate continues as to whether this powerful political center was located in Kyushu, in the [[Kinai]], or elsewhere.

Yayoi period settlements were generally comprised of pit dwellings with thatched roofs, gathered together in groups of roughly five homes organized around elevated storehouses. Villages of three, four, or five such groups (thus, approx. 15-25 homes) were surrounded by dry moats, earthenworks and fences, defending the village against outsiders.<ref>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15925222368/in/dateposted-public/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/16086859646/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> These settlements were larger than in earlier periods, and more complex, and physical, violent conflict between communities seems to have increased dramatically. Some communities began to construct walls, stockades, and watchtowers, and to locate their homes in strategically defensible positions; remains with evidence of violent injury by axe, arrow, or the like have also been found. There is also evidence of the emergence of class divisions within communities, as leaders or elites began to receive more elaborate burials, and were buried alongside larger groups of grave goods. By the end of the Yayoi period, relatively distinct polities emerged, with local chieftains, or "kings," some of which traded with, or otherwise were in contact with, polities on the Korean Peninsula and the Chinese mainland; some appear in ancient Chinese records, which made reference to the Kingdom of [[Na]], the Kings of [[Wa]], etc. One community particularly prominent in these records is called [[Yamatai]], and is said to have been ruled by a queen named [[Himiko]] (or Pimiko); debate continues as to whether this powerful political center was located in Kyushu, in the [[Kinai]], or elsewhere.

The end of the Yayoi period is marked by the expansion of these developments, with the beginnings of a firmer consolidation of power in the [[Yamato]] plain, and the construction of grand burial tomb-mounds called ''[[kofun]]'', after which the succeeding period, the [[Kofun period]], is named.

The end of the Yayoi period is marked by the expansion of these developments, with the beginnings of a firmer consolidation of power in the [[Yamato]] plain, and the construction of grand burial tomb-mounds called ''[[kofun]]'', after which the succeeding period, the [[Kofun period]], is named.