Prehistory and protohistory

Question 1

date paleolithic era

Answer 1

ca. 35.000-15.000 BP

Question 2

date Jōmon period

Answer 2

ca. 15.000-900 BCE

Question 3

date Yayoi period

Answer 3

ca. 900 BCE-250 CE

Question 4

Jōmon society

Answer 4

Advent of hunter-fisher-gatherer society

Question 5

Jōmon beliefs

Answer 5

fertility cults

Question 6

Yayoi agriculture

Answer 6

gradual and incomplete transition (wet rice( short rice came from the continent))

Question 7

Jōmon pottery

Answer 7

rope patterns on the pottery, crucial invention for storing food.

Question 8

Yayoi pottery

Answer 8

less elaborate than the Jōmon

Question 9

Jōmon warfare

Answer 9

the Jōmon had no (or little) wars or conflicts

Question 10

Yayoi warfare

Answer 10

the Yayoi had a lot of war and conflict between smaller political entities

Question 11

Yayoi metalwork

Answer 11

the Yayoi had bronze artifacts (bells, swords and mirrors)

Question 12

Himiko

Answer 12

she was a (maybe mythical) ruler of a large number of clans she united.

Question 13

date Kofun period

Answer 13

250 CE-600 CE

Question 14

“Japan” Kofun period

Answer 14

“Japan” developed from a land with numerous small political entities into a unified state.

Question 15

Kofun is characterized by…

Answer 15

burial mounds (kofun - “old graves”), some of them large “keyhole-shaped” tomb mounds

Question 16

Kofun power

Answer 16

In the Kofun period power was centralizing and in the hands of several clans that had vassals in the surrounding areas. Towards the end of the period, very large “keyhole-shaped” tombs in the Kinai area (roughly Ōsaka, Nara and surrounding area), indicating the rise of the so-called Yamato state headed by an ō-kimi ( originally nothing els than one of the many leaders of a small polity as they originated in the Yayoi-period). Examples of very large Kofun are the Nintoku and the Ōjin Kofun.

Question 17

Kofun warfare

Answer 17

Archeological findings (armor, weapons, etc.) suggest frequent wars between the numerous small “states”; at the end of the period wars lead to domination by the Yamato state, but burial mounds suggest that the rulers of Yamato were no more warriors themselves but had specialized vassals commanding their troops.

Question 18

Kofun period and the continent

Answer 18

Frequent exchanges with the continent, including military forces sent by political entities in Japan fighting on the Korean Peninsula. Contacts with Paekche and Silla in Korea. Possibly existence of a “Japanese” military outpost in the south of the Korean peninsula ( Minama or Kaya, but disputed). The ability to write Chinese characters starts to spread (at the end of the period).

Question 19

What are Kofun tombs surrounded by?

Answer 19

Haniwa

Question 20

What are Haniwa?

Answer 20

Ceramic sculptures portraying different social strata of people, animals, and items of daily use (representing the entourage of the deceased ruler - probably originally introduced to substitute human sacrifices to accompany the deceased into the afterlife.

Question 21

Kofun murals?

Answer 21

Mural paintings in grave chambers (i.e. Takamatsu-zuka Kofun) and most of the grave treasures are clearly influenced by models from China and Korea

Question 22

Kofun

Answer 22

(old tombs)