Japanese people

The Japanese (日本人, Nihon-jin) are the native people of the Japanese Archipelago. While most Japanese live on the islands, some emigrated, predominantly to Hawaii, the west coast of the United States and Canada, Latin America (particularly, Brazil), and Russia, (particularly, Sakhalin and Primorsky Krai).

Origins

Archeological evidences show that Stone Age people lived in Japan between 33,000 and 21,000 years ago in the Paleolithic period. Japan was then connected to Asia by land bridges, and nomadic hunter-gatherers crossed over from the continent. They left flint tools, but no evidence of permanent settlements. The most accepted theory is that present-day Japanese are descended principally from both the Jomon, a paleo-Asiatic people, and the Yayoi, a neo-Asiatic people, with cultural influences from the Korean kingdoms of Gaya and Baekje, and also from the Sui, and Tang Dynasty of China. The Ainu, Koreans, and Japanese are believed to be derived from the paleo-Turkic peoples of the Tungusic-Altaic group.

Related Topics:
Archeological - Stone Age - Paleolithic - Japan - Asia - Nomad - Hunter-gatherer - Continent - Flint tools - Jomon - Paleo- - Yayoi - Neo - Korean - Gaya - Baekje - Sui - Tang Dynasty - China - Ainu - Turk - Tungusic - Altaic

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The Northern Mongoloid peoples of North Asia and Central Asia, have relatively tall statures, well-defined features (such as longer noses, and higher cheekbones), and relatively hairy bodies and faces, features that are considered to define the "prototype" Mongoloid physical type. As with the Koreans, the Japanese and Ainu inherit these prototypical physical features. The Japanese trace their ancestry to Malay, Polynesian, Korean, Jomon, and the Yayoi people, thus making their Mongolian traits unique. Their comparatively shorter-nosed and hairless counterparts to the south, however, are believed to be due to adaptation to the damper climates, and to their mixing with Austronesian prototypes, when migrating to the Pacific Ocean.

Related Topics:
Northern Mongoloid - North Asia - Central Asia - Cheekbone - Mongoloid - Ainu - Malay - Polynesian - Korean - Trait - Austronesian - Pacific Ocean

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Jomon People

Pottery was first developed by the Jomon people in the 11th millennium BC. The name, "Jomon" (繩紋 Jōmon), which means "cord-impressed pattern", comes from the characteristic markings found on Jomon pottery. The Jomon people were Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, though at least one middle to late Jomon site ca. 1200-1000 BC had rice agriculture (南溝手 Minami misote site). They had, very likely, migrated from Central Asia, or from the North Asia, farther north from the believed origins of the Yayoi peoples.

Related Topics:
Pottery - 11th millennium BC - Mesolithic - 1200 - 1000 BC - Rice - Agriculture - Central Asia - North Asia

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Yayoi People

In around 400-300 BC, the Yayoi began to displace the Jomon. Yayoi left no records of their language, but many assume that modern Japanese should have descended from Yayoi speech. Although there are no evidences, it is speculated by some scholars that modern Shinto religion descended from Yayoi beliefs.

Related Topics:
400 - 300 BC - Scholar - Shinto - Religion

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Contrary to their Jomon counterparts, the Yayoi are believed to have come from mainland China, and to have brought the concept of agriculture into Japan. The Jomon people accepted this new concept, yet unlike the Chinese who reared sheep and cows, they decided on fish as their main source of protein. Agriculture slowly spreaded, making hunter-gathering unnecessary.

Related Topics:
Sheep - Cows - Fish - Protein

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