Japan’s Deepest Roots in the Jomon World
When we look at the broad sweep of Japanese history, the Jomon period stands out for its remarkable longevity before the emergence of a centralized state. Spanning more than ten millennia, it began with the appearance of pottery around 16,000 years ago—marking the Incipient Jomon period near the end of the last Ice Age—and continued until the spread of wet-rice agriculture, which was introduced to northern Kyushu around the 10th century BCE and gradually expanded across the archipelago by the 5th to 4th centuries BCE.
In this article, we will trace the development of Jomon culture by examining it from several key perspectives—environment, technology, society, and belief systems—while also situating it within the broader continuum of Japan’s prehistoric past. Finally, we will explore how the Jomon world transitioned, not abruptly but gradually and interactively, into the succeeding Yayoi period.
Human Arrival and Environmental Shifts Before the Jomon Age
Modern humans (Homo sapiens) spread into East Asia around 50,000 to 40,000 years ago, and archaeological evidence shows that they had reached the Japanese archipelago by approximately 38,000 years ago. During the Pleistocene epoch, Japan experienced repeated cycles of glacial and interglacial periods, leading to frequent fluctuations in sea levels. During glacial stages, sea levels dropped significantly, connecting Hokkaido with Sakhalin and the Amur region and bringing the archipelago relatively closer to the Asian mainland. This likely made the movement of animals and humans easier, although Honshu itself was probably never fully connected to the continent.
In this Paleolithic phase, people in the Japanese islands lived primarily as hunter-gatherers, relying on flaked stone tools. In the later part of the period, microblades of Northeast Asian origin spread especially in Hokkaido and the Tohoku region, reflecting broader cultural interactions.
Around 11,700 years ago, the onset of the Holocene epoch brought about significant climatic warming. Rising sea levels gradually reshaped coastlines, which by the mid-Holocene had taken a form close to what we see today. Vegetation changed as well deciduous broadleaf forests of beech and oak spread across eastern Japan, while evergreen forests of Castanopsis and Cyclobalanopsis dominated the west. The fauna shifted too, with medium- and small-sized mammals such as deer and wild boar becoming more prominent. Humans responded to these dramatic environmental transformations by reorganizing their lifeways, and this adaptive process laid the foundation for the emergence of Jomon culture.
How Cord-Marked Pottery Transformed Life and Named an Era
The term “Jomon” (literally cord-marked) comes from the distinctive cord-patterned impressions made on pottery surfaces by rolling twisted cords over wet clay. The name was first introduced to the English-speaking world in 1877 by the American zoologist Edward S. Morse, who described pottery unearthed at the Omori Shell Mound as “cord-marked pottery.”
The appearance of pottery around 16,000 years ago marked a turning point in human adaptation on the Japanese archipelago. Pottery made it possible to boil, store, and leach toxins from plant foods, significantly increasing the efficiency of using starchy plants and hard-shelled nuts as dietary staples.
Archaeologists generally divide the Jomon period into six chronological phases based on changes in pottery style: the Incipient, Initial, Early, Middle, Late, and Final Jomon periods (though exact dates and boundaries vary by region). Among these, the Middle Jomon period (ca. 5500–4500 years ago) stands out as a cultural high point, when richly decorated pottery with striking regional diversity flourished. The artistic creativity expressed in these vessels is often seen as a precursor to the aesthetics of later Japanese art.
Why Jomon Subsistence Was More Than Just Hunting and Gathering
The livelihood of the Jomon people was far more complex than simple hunting and gathering. Taking advantage of the rich environment created by a warmer post-glacial climate, they combined the gathering of nuts—such as chestnuts, acorns, horse chestnuts, and walnuts—with the collection of edible tubers like yams, fishing and shellfishing in coastal and inland waters, and the selective hunting of deer and wild boar.
One of the most remarkable aspects of Jomon subsistence is evidence suggesting active environmental management. Archaeological findings indicate the maintenance and expansion of chestnut groves, as well as the possible tending or proto-cultivation of plants such as perilla (egoma), various legumes, and millet-like grains. While scholars continue to debate whether these practices should be called true “agriculture,” they nonetheless point to an early form of plant management that goes beyond opportunistic foraging.
Technological advances supported this diversification. Polished stone axes, grinding stones, and stone slabs were used for digging, food processing, and preparation, expanding the culinary repertoire far beyond that of the Paleolithic period. Bows and arrows became widespread hunting tools, and pit traps were strategically placed to capture large game.
The transgression of the seas in the early Holocene created a deeply indented coastline ideal for fishing. Shell middens scattered across the archipelago reveal a rich exploitation of marine resources. The discovery of bone and antler harpoons and fishhooks, stone and clay weights used with nets, and even dugout canoes suggests that Jomon people not only exploited nearshore waters but also possessed the maritime technology necessary for voyages between islands.
How the Jomon People Transitioned From Mobility to a Settled Village Life
As Jomon people developed a seasonal cycle of subsistence, combining different resources throughout the year, their mobility became more localized and settled life took root. The typical dwelling was the pit dwelling (tateana-jūkyo), built by digging into the ground and placing a roof over the hollow. At the center was a hearth, around which a small family—usually a few individuals, often four or five—lived together.
Clusters of these dwellings formed villages of about 20 to 30 people. From the early to middle Jomon period, many villages took the shape of circular settlements with a central plaza, serving as the community’s hub. The famous Sannai-Maruyama site in Aomori Prefecture reveals not only large pit dwellings but also raised-floor buildings and large pillar-supported structures, suggesting spaces for communal labor, gatherings, and ritual activities.
Burial areas were often placed within or near the settlement, reflecting a worldview that did not separate the dead from the living. From the later Jomon period onward, large-scale communal monuments began to appear in some regions, such as stone circles and circular earthen embankments. These constructions point to a growing degree of social organization and ritual formalization within Jomon communities.
Social Structure and Exchange Networks in the Jomon Period
During the early and middle Jomon periods, society appears to have been relatively egalitarian. Archaeological evidence reveals few signs of marked social stratification, such as large burial mounds or significant differences in grave goods. This suggests that wealth and status disparities, if they existed at all, were limited in scale. However, from the late Jomon period onward, some evidence points to increasing social differentiation and complexity, indicating that communities were no longer entirely uniform.
Division of labor was likely based on gender roles: men primarily engaged in hunting and stone tool production, while women were mainly responsible for gathering plant foods and making pottery. Social interaction extended beyond the individual settlement. Neighboring communities exchanged marriage partners and shared information, fostering interconnected regional societies.
On a broader scale, Jomon groups were part of long-distance exchange networks. Materials such as obsidian (from well-known sources like Wada Pass and Shirataki), jade (hisui, from the Itoigawa region), and shell ornaments circulated across considerable distances. In the later Jomon period, lacquerware, combs, and other crafted goods may have become valuable trade items, suggesting that the refinement of material culture was closely linked to the development of exchange systems.
Artistry and Utility in Jomon Material Culture
Jomon material culture was characterized by a close integration of practical utility and artistic expression. Pottery decorated with cord-marked patterns was essential for cooking and storage, but it also evolved into highly sophisticated forms, with distinct regional and chronological variations in both shape and decoration. Among the most iconic examples is the flame-style pottery (kaen-doki) excavated from the Shinano River basin, whose dynamic and elaborate rim designs exemplify the creativity and regional diversity of Jomon ceramic art.
This sensitivity to form and symbolism extended beyond pottery. A variety of ornaments, including shell bracelets, earrings, and magatama (comma-shaped beads), reveal a concern for beauty and social meaning. From the middle Jomon period onward, the use of lacquer became increasingly common, enriching objects with deep color and sheen. Together, these artifacts demonstrate the refined aesthetic sensibility and symbolic richness that permeated Jomon society.
Why Nature and Spirituality Were Central to the Jomon Worldview
The Jomon worldview is often described as a form of animism—a belief, in the sense used by modern religious studies, that spiritual essence resides within natural objects and phenomena. Mountains, forests, water, animals, and plants were all perceived as imbued with spiritual presence, and prayers, rituals, and acts of magic were deeply woven into daily life.
Clay figurines (dogū), most of which depict female forms, are widely interpreted as symbols of fertility, rebirth, and abundance, though their exact function remains uncertain. Their male counterpart, the stone phallus (sekibō), is thought to represent masculinity and vital force, complementing the symbolism of the dogū.
Other ritual practices reflect a worldview that bound together the body, life and death, and humanity’s relationship with animals. Tooth extraction, likely performed as a rite of passage into adulthood, and flexed burials, possibly aimed at preventing the spirits of the dead from harming the living, both reveal complex ritual concerns. Vessels decorated with boar motifs suggest reverence for the animal’s vitality and symbolic power.
From the late to final Jomon periods, monumental constructions such as stone circles and circular earthen embankments were built, most likely serving as spaces for ancestral worship and communal rituals. These developments indicate a society in which ritual practice and symbolic expression grew increasingly prominent and complex over time.
Why Climatic Change Became a Catalyst for Innovation in the Jomon Period
During the middle Jomon period (c. 5500–4500 years ago), the Japanese archipelago experienced a climate that was warmer and more humid than today, often referred to as the Holocene Climatic Optimum. Abundant forest resources supported stable subsistence strategies, and communities flourished under relatively favorable environmental conditions.
From the late Jomon period onward (after c. 3500 years ago), however, the climate began to cool gradually, and sea levels, which had peaked during the so-called Jomon transgression, fell relative to earlier highstand levels. This shift prompted changes in settlement patterns, as coastal sites were relocated or reorganized, and communities adjusted their resource use, spatial organization, and networks of interaction to the new environmental realities.
Importantly, these climatic changes did not simply weaken Jomon society. Instead, they stimulated innovation and adaptation, encouraging technological adjustments and social reconfiguration. Far from being passive victims of environmental change, Jomon communities actively reshaped their ways of life in response to shifting natural conditions.
How the Jomon World Gradually Evolved Into the Yayoi Era
Around the 10th to 9th centuries BCE, wet-rice agriculture was introduced to northern Kyushu, and by the 5th to 4th centuries BCE, it had spread across much of the Japanese archipelago. This period witnessed profound changes: the adoption of metal tools such as bronze and iron, the spread of Yayoi pottery, shifts in settlement organization, and, from the middle Yayoi period onward, the emergence of social stratification. These transformations marked the rise of a new social order.
Yet this was not a sudden break from the Jomon world. In many regions, Jomon-derived technologies, beliefs, and aesthetic traditions continued to coexist with new practices, creating a layered and overlapping transition. In northern Japan, the Epi-Jomon culture persisted well into the historical era, further enriching the cultural diversity of the archipelago.
Recognizing this continuity amid change is essential to avoiding a simplistic, linear narrative of Japan’s ancient state formation. The adoption of agriculture, metallurgy, and writing did not unfold uniformly across the archipelago; rather, it progressed at different speeds and in different forms, intertwined with enduring Jomon concepts of environment, design, and community.
From Prehistoric Roots to Modern Identity
The Jomon period provided the deep cultural foundations upon which later Japanese society was built. Its legacy includes the seasonal use of natural resources, the early signs of environmental management, the fusion of practical technology and artistic design, a communal and cooperative social order, and ritual practices that connected humans with the natural world. These elements did not disappear with the rise of agriculture or the formation of early states. Instead, they persisted in transformed forms, shaping later aesthetic sensibilities, spatial concepts, and notions of community throughout Japanese history.
Modern genetic research has also revealed that the genetic and cultural admixture of Jomon and Yayoi populationsplayed a crucial role in the formation of the contemporary Japanese people. In some regions, Jomon-derived traits and traditions remain more strongly preserved, contributing to the layered diversity of the Japanese archipelago.
For this reason, the Jomon period should not be seen merely as a distant prehistoric era. It represents a living cultural stratum—a foundational layer that continues to inform Japanese identity, values, and worldview even today.