I have stumbled across a new source for Japanese archaeological news!
Along with the History Review, I am excited to keep the blog updated with archaeological news.
February 25, 2008
February 20, 2008
Shinoda Masahiro’s 1974 ‘Himiko’
Over Christmas break, I received a videotape recording of the 1974 feature film ‘Himiko‘, directed by Shinoda Masahiro. A friend of mine living in Japan recorded and sent it my way.
Similar to ‘Hi no Tori’, it is amazingly cheesy. It’s 4,000 miles away right now, so I can’t give a good review, but if you can get your hands on it, there’s a certain…”entertainment” value to it.
Kojiki Podcast
Very interesting news.
Apparently, you can listen to the Kojiki as a podcast at Eureka.
Thanks to Shikisoku at the Samurai Archives Citadel for providing the link (there are more links in the forum thread).
February 19, 2008
Jomon Period Textbook Revival
Thanks to Shikisoku at the Samurai Archives Citadel for the heads up.
A speaker at a 2005 meeting of the Japan Archaeological Society (Tokyo; around 4000 members) lamented that elementary school Japanese history education begins at the Yayoi Period, skipping the Paleolithic Era and the Jomon Period. In order to rectify the unnatural omission of these earlier periods, the Society planned to add a section on “the lives of the hunter-gatherer people” (「狩猟・採集を行っていた人々の暮らし」) that inhabited the archipelago before the spread of wet-rice agriculture.
“教科書 一教諭の熱意、国動かす 小学校社会「縄文」復活”
１５日に発表された新学習指導要領案で小学社会に縄文時代が復活した。きっかけは平成１７年、東京都内で開かれた日本考古学協会（会員約４０００人）の総会に、１人の小学校教諭が議案を提出したことだった。
「みなさんご存じでしょうか。いま、小学生が学ぶ歴史は弥生時代から始まります。旧石器・縄文を教科書に戻すように、協会として働きかけてもらえませんか」
そんな指摘をしたのは釼持輝久さん（５９）。当時、神奈川県横須賀市立長井小の１年生の担任だった。１１年の改訂時から胸を痛めていた。
日本考古学協会は、すぐに各教科書を調査。弥生以前の記述がなくなっていることを確認し、教科書問題小委員会を設置した。釼持さんは総会でも「教科書に載っていないと教えられません」などと発言。３００人あまりの参加者は、その指摘に驚いたという。
「（発掘する）地面ばかりを見ていて気付かなかった。衝撃をもって受け止められましたね。石器、土器の時代を素通りして稲作から教えるのは不自然。そうい う声は瞬く間に広がりました」（黒尾和久委員）。その後、１８年に協会は声明を発表。１９年、中教審は文科相に復活を答申した。
新要領案では、弥生を指す「農耕の広まり」の前に「狩猟・採集を行っていた人々の暮らし」が加わった。新要領案に沿った教科書は、編集、検定、採択を経て２３年に登場する予定だが、小学校では２１年から現行の教科書を使い、指導が前倒し実施される。
釼持さんは「私自身も小学生のころ、ナウマンゾウや貝塚に胸をときめかせました。旧石器・縄文時代は、人間と自然の関係や社会生活の基盤を学ぶのにふさわ しい時代だと思います。子供たちには、日本列島に人が暮らし始めたころから、今日へ至る歴史に思いをはせてほしい」と話している。（牛田久美）
February 17, 2008
Hist3.4: Yayoi Immigrants
“Conflicts that accompanied political change — Chou [dynasty] decay and collapse, the creation of the Han dynasty in 206 BCE, its subsequent vicissitudes, and the related disorder that convulsed the Korea-Manchuria region off and on into the fourth century CE –all produced surges of disorder and migration that repeatedly spilled into Japan” (38-39).
We often read of immigrants from Korea and China (the continent) bringing wet-rice agriculture, bronze, iron, and other new elements into Japan at the beginning of the Yayoi Period, but why did immigrants come at *that* specific time? Why didn’t they come earlier, during the Jomon Period? Why didn’t they come later, during the Kofun Period? That last question is a bit ridiculous, as the Kofun Period would never have come about if it weren’t for the monumental changes during the Yayoi, but my point is about timing. Why did the Yayoi immigrants chose *that* time for their emigration?
Warfare and other disruptions forced droves of people from their lands — western Japan was their stop. It is no wonder that northwestern Kyushu offers the earliest Yayoi archaeological evidence!
If you look at the following picture, you’ll see the close proximity between northern Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula.
Totman does note, however, that people traveled some distance up the Sea of Japan coast (on the main island of Honshu). If you look at the above picture, you can see the ease of travel given refugees up the Honshu coast. This map shows the Noto Peninsula (about halfway up the main island of Honshu): “…migrants settled all along Honshu’s western coastline, mostly on the San’in littoral but some even north of the Noto Peninsula” (39).
If you look on the following map, the darkened area is the Chugoku Region of the Japanese archipelago. The northern half is the area in question: the San’in littoral. The southern half is the San’you, which rests right on the Inland Sea.
So, most refugees either landed in northern Kyushu (from previous readings, I’ve learned that middle and southern Kyushu was inhospitable due to previous and possibly concurrent volcanic eruptions. The soil there was unsuitable for agriculture, due to the eruptions, apparently) or on the San’in littoral. Interestingly, the Yayoi chiefdom (kingdom) that the San’in littoral corresponds to is Izumo 出雲 (sometimes romanized as Idzumo).
If you return to Hist2.2: Jomon Housing and read the following passage, a flag should be raised:
You may remember that Paleolithic people lived in caves or natural shelters, but the Jomon Period saw a change in housing: “larger and more substantial pit dwellings” with “thatched roofs…supported by sturdy posts set well into the ground” (25-26). These pit dwellings are iconic ancient Japanese houses. Another Jomon-Yayoi oversimplification is that the Jomon Period is characterized by thatched, sunken, dirt-floored pit dwellings, while the succeeding Yayoi Period is characterized by raised-floor, wooden dwellings. The latter are commonly associated with rice storage and early shrine architecture. Totman notes the fascinating existence, circa 2000 BC, however, of “buildings with raised floors and more rugged framing…” (26). According to J. Edward Kidder, Jr., Yayoi (commonly dated to 300 BC – 250 AD, but some schools are now pushing the beginnings back to c. 900 BC in light of older rice grains recently found) Japan was broken up into geographically distinct chiefdoms or organized communities (such as Yamatai, Izumo, Kibi, Tsukushi, etc…). By around 100 BC – 50 AD, Izumo (a “kingdom” or “chiefdom”) was a powerful force to be reckoned with, existing long before the Yamato rise to power. This begs the question: how early did the Izumo polity arise? The houses or buildings that Totman mentions sound very similar to typical Yayoi rice granaries (storage facilities raised off the ground to keep the rice from rotting or being eaten), but were located specifically “along the Sea of Japan littoral.” The ancient polity of Izumo was located along the Sea of Japan along the coastline of present western Honshu. Totman writes what we are pondering: “[these buildings] may betray the presence of immigrant groups” (26).
February 16, 2008
Hist3.3: Yayoi Spiritualism
Daily life away from the movers and shakers at the elite level of society changed little throughout much of Japanese history.
The beginning of the Yayoi Period saw a great influx of immigrants from the continent. We already noted that the Yayoi introduction of wet-rice agriculture, bronze, iron, etc…were very important. However, how did Japanese religious life change? “It seems likely that [local] practice retained much of its Jomon character, although immigrants surely added new elements” (31). There have been many theories thrown about on which new spiritual elements were brought into the archipelago. The topic is a very wide one: for the question to be answered responsibly, one would have to investigate Asian spiritualism far beyond that found in Korea and China.
This post is purposefully short: I feel that the topic should be covered, but the topic is not Totman’s area of expertise. Therefore, it is glossed over. After the History Review, I will be returning to some of these glossed-over issues and investigate them in more depth.
February 8, 2008
Hist3.2: Pottery
You may remember that the Jomon Period is famous for earthenware pottery — in fact, Jomon 縄文 refers to the rope patterns found on the pottery, itself.
Yayoi pottery is different from Jomon pottery. Yayoi pottery was “simpler”, “thinner”, and “smoother” (31). We tied together climate changes and the emergence of pottery at the beginning of the Jomon Period a few posts ago. Let’s look at the conditions on the archipelago to see why the pottery would change designs once again.
The Yayoi Period saw sweeping changes across the archipelago. Most of these developments (bronze, iron, wet-rice agriculture, etc…) were introduced from China and Korea. Not only would temporary visits by boat introduce the Japanese to new technology — immigrants, refugees, and invaders all had their place in the archipelago’s transformation. I don’t believe in a massive, external, Yayoi military assault on the Jomon People. Archaeologically, it simply doesn’t make sense. I believe in a gradual mixing of immigrant groups.
Therefore, with the increase in foreign peoples, new designs and styles would be incorporated into native developments.
Yayoi people were becoming more and more sedentary, which means they didn’t need as durable of pots. The Yayoi people were also moving away from cooking tough plants and nuts in pots over open fires: the pots were now serving a different purpose.
Jomon pots typically look like the example in the first picture, while Yayoi pots typically look like the second example:
A typical view of social progression in Yayoi Japan is: The introduction of rice > the spread of wet-rice agriculture > increase in population > increase in personal wealth > social stratification (have and have nots) > warfare between disparate groups
The existence of a new upper class means that fine, delicate, quality goods now had an influential market. The pottery would change to meet this demand, as well.
February 7, 2008
Hist3.1: Bronze, Iron, and Community Life
It is commonly said that wet-rice agriculture, bronze, and iron were all introduced simultaneously – at the beginning of the Yayoi Period. However, as mentioned in the previous History Review post, the date for the introduction of wet-rice agriculture is being pushed further and further back (as far back as 900 BC). Therefore, such a statement reflects outdated scholarship. This history series relies almost exclusively on Totman’s general text, so I won’t attempt to dive into concrete dates for early iron and bronze use (also applicable books will be 1,000 miles away for the next 5 months).
Nevertheless, iron and bronze tools and weapons were a huge improvement over the obsidian or bone implements previously used. Metal was more “durable and efficient”, “made cutting tasks much easier”, “facilitated land clearance”, and other such tasks (30).
Metal was definitely imported: the tools and weapons “came from the continent in finished form or else they were cast from imported pig iron” (30). Either the finished products or the raw materials were brought over in ships to the archipelago ; either way, metalworking was not an indigenous development.
While wet-rice agriculture was flourishing (the new iron tools greatly helped production), it is important to keep in mind that dry-field agriculture was practiced as well. Most interestingly, “In the far northeast…reliance on foraging and simpler forms of cultivation continued to prevail until 1,000 CE or later” (30). In other words, the Tohoku region was technologically far behind southwestern Japan until the late Heian Period, at the earliest.
Totman notes that mountains were difficult to convert to paddy fields. Therefore, most of the people lived “on and around alluvial plains” (30). Naturally, the mountains that surrounded such valleys separated communities from each other. It follows that chiefdoms (such as Yamatai, Yamato, Kibi, Tsukushi, Izumo, etc…) would naturally spring up in geographically distinct areas as time passed.
Life in the communities was changing: “local notables had significantly more elegant dwellings, with raised wooden floors and with posts…” Basic houses “retained the basic character of Jomon antecedents…” Jomon people relied heavily on sea life, lending to the creation of large shell mounds; similarly, Jomon people used storage pits. As the Yayoi Period brought change, the Japanese “relied less on storage pits and more on elevated storehouses for preserving the harvest…” (31). With the increased reliance on rice, it is natural that rice would need to be elevated away from the animals and moist ground. Professor Szostak supposes that commoner life barely changed even through the Heian Period — most influential changes seem to have taken place at the chieftain, elite, and, later, aristocratic level. Case in point: most of what we know about Japanese art, life, diet, housing, architecture, beliefs, mythology, etc…applies only to the thousand or so individuals cloistered in the effete capital. There is a historical movement (in no way new) to study history from the commoner’s point of view called “History from the bottom up.” Dr. William Wayne Farris (Heavenly Warriors and other excellent books) practices this method.
Totman gives another improvement in daily Japanese life owing to the introduction of metalworking (specifically iron): “Iron needles facilitated the sewing of clothes, with the better social classes enjoying woven garments of silk and hemp, while most people continued to clothe themselves in ramie” (31). My above statement about the rapidly advancing state of aristocratic life and the greatly stable life of commoner life is once again shown to be true.
February 2, 2008
Hist3.0: The Emerging Yayoi Period and Agriculture
As we learned in the previous post (on the final stages of the Jomon Period), around 500 BC, global warming allowed coastal waters to reclaim land that the Jomon people had once migrated out to during previous periods of global cooling. During the cooler periods, they fished and gathered sea life, nurtured wild grains, and hunted smaller game (the larger game died out thousands of years earlier, if you remember).
Around this time, “people in northwest Kyushu began learning about wet-rice cultivation through the introduction of hardy varieties of short-grain rice (Oryza sativa japonica), which almost certainly were brought by migrants from peninsular Korea” (29). This section of Totman is already dated — the beginnings of wet-rice agriculture in northwestern Kyushu (nearest Korea) are being pushed back to circa 900 BC.
The Yayoi people used “a comparatively complex system of canals, dams, paddy-field walls, and water intakes and outlets” to irrigate their fields (29). It should be obvious that a completely new style of agriculture had been introduced: instead of “nurturing” naturally-growing wild grains that would spring from the earth, the Yayoi people created paddy-fields, created complex irrigation systems, and grew temperamental rice. In order that the wrong idea not be thought, let me clarify that hunting and foraging still provided food for the Yayoi Japanese: “…foraging activity continued to provide significant amounts of food, with products of the hunt richly supplemented by acorns, other nuts, tubers, and various other wild plant foods” (30).
Rebounding from the circa 1300 BC global cooling population decline, “The yield from this mixed system of provisioning enabled the archipelago’s human population to grow again”:
6000 BC – 22,000 people
2500 BC – 260,000 people
1300 BC – 160,000 people
0 AD – 600,000 ~ 1,000,000 people
During the later heyday of Japanese agriculture, a common sight was the transplanting of rice seedlings from the seedbed to the paddy-field. This practice began very early: “…by the third century CE, if not earlier, tillers were starting to improve their yield by transplanting rice seedlings from seedbed into paddy field in more orderly and weedable rows” (30). Totman notes that it was during this time of improvements in rice agriculture that foraging began its decline.
