Because Japan is an island, it was isolated from the advances on mainland Asia. So whereas the culture on Asian neighbors China and Korea were getting more and more modern, the culture in Japan stayed in a stone age for a much longer time. The isolation, as we shall see, was good for protecting Japan and its people but would often cause Japan to fall behind the rest of the world technologically. This first section of Japanese history is about Japan's first settlements and earliest civilizations. Within several hundred years, these earliest of Japanese looked and spoke much like the Japanese of today.

Jomon(10,000BC-300BC)

The first distinct Japanese society, Jomon, is formed and settles in south central Honshu and northern Kyushu. These people are most closely genetically linked to tribal groups that existed on Asia's northern frontier. During this time, the Ice Age ended and the climate was at its highest ever. It was this global warming that increased the life expectancy of the people of the time and also helped in the discovery of farming. They lived in round earthen-pit houses though they were nomadic at the beginning of the time period. At the end of the Jomon period, the Jomon were amore settled group with large villages and very simple farming technology. They wore robes made from mulberry tree bark and jewelry made from bones or shells. The Jomon also relied on stones and bones for tools and weapons. The Jomon were basically a peaceful race and may have traded with other regions for items such as salt but mostly stayed isolated. They were hunters, gatherers and fishers and had a diet consisting of fruits, berries, yams, nuts, seeds, wild game, fish and shellfish.

The name Jomon comes from the culture's unique decorated pottery which was made by firing coiled clay. The word jomon in Japanese means "cord marks." The pots were mainly used for utilitarian purposes such as for cooking, storage and burial but after some time a more artistic approach was used in making the pots, and the designs became more ornate. Unlike the civilization before them, the Jomon hold the title of oldest pottery in the world with a specific date assigned to it. Jomon pottery is also unsurpassed in its design variety. The Jomon also fashioned some figurines. Though they are unrecognizable to us, they represent the first Japanese sculpture ever made. The figurines were meant to have some religious significance. There was some crude religion at this time, mainly relying on natural gods and goddesses focusing on fertility. Also during this time, the foundation of the Japanese language, faintly similar to Korean, Mongolian and Turkish, was laid.

Another group of people were also living in Japan at the same time as the Jomon but who were not ancestors to the present day Japanese. These people were called the Ainu and had much lighter skin and much more hair. The Ainu also had a very different language and culture and would gradually be driven up north to the icy cold island of Hokkaido to be isolated from the Japanese.

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