「History of Japan①」The Dawn of the Nation

1.Jomon to Asuka period(B.C.20,000〜A.D.700)

①The beginning of Japan

Long long time ago, Japan was connected to the Asian continent. People came from the south or north of Asia. Then they started living there. This is how life started in Japan. But we actually don’t know where the native Japanese came from.  

When the time passed, people created “pot clays” and they competed which one was ugliest. During this time, people hunted or fished to get food. We call this period “Jomon".

The next period of Jomon is “Yayoi”. During this time, People gradually learned farming skills thanks to the rest of Asia. Sometimes, people like in China came to this pretty island and taught them many things. Since the Japanese learned how to farm, they stopped hunting and stayed in one place.

The slow life had just begun.

②The Yamato period

When the Japanese enjoyed themselves as farmers, China became very powerful. It was somewhat like the Roman Empire. The Chinese tried to expand their territory to visit the Korean peninsula, even Japan. Although Asian people fought each other, they continued to exchange.

One day, a person called “Himiko” was mentioned in Chinese historical records. During this time, There were no documents available in Japan. Only way we get to know about this ancient period of Japan is through Chinese historical ones and we don’t know exactly what’s going on until Japan’s first two documents were published.

Anyway, Himiko was the shaman queen of the “Yamatai Kingdom” in Japan. Before she became the ruler, many tribes fought each other. After the long fight, people let Himiko be the queen. Since than She occupied herself with magic and bewitching the people. Using the magic power let Himiko be the shaman and people followed her lead.

After some years, a strong government was first formed in Japan. It’s called the “Yamato Imperial Court”. We can see how powerful this government is through their “kofun” which is a burial mound. Kofun shaped like a key hole and so large. Before the emperor dies, he orders people to create a large kofun.

③The Arrival of Buddhism

During the Yamato period, “Buddhism” arrived in Japan. Buddha, who created Buddhism, was the son of the king in India. He enjoyed a fancy life until he found out about the unequalness of the world. When he realised how unfair this life was, he started many hard trainings and became a monk. Then he helped many people by asking their struggle one by one. After he died, His fellows collected what Buddha said and created documents.

Buddhism was originally from India and gradually moved to nearby countries like China or Korea. Many Buddhist helped shape this religion.    It took around 1,000 years to finally come to Japan after Buddha created this world religion.

When Buddhism arrived in Japan, the “Soga clan” supported this religion. That time, Many Japanese saw it as an alien, especially the “Mononobe clan”. And they started to fight each other. When the Soga clan won, Buddhism was widely accepted under the leadership.

Thanks to Buddhism, The Soga clan became more more powerful and the territory grew larger than ever before. It was like a fat man’s belly when the prince of “Shotoku” appeared.

Prince Shotoku, he served the emperor. One thing he did was create the first Japan’s constitution which was written in seventeen articles. He also sent many students to China which technology was far ahead of Japan. So they learned many things and came back to develop Japan.

After the death of Prince Shotoku, the Soga clan and people who wanted power began to fight. Eventually, “Nakano-oe-no Oji” replaced the power. He ordered his fellow to assassinate the head of the Soga clan. After this, he became the emperor named “Tenji”.

During this time, the emperor Tenji started a complete reformation of the government called the “Taika Reform”. This new change centralised its power based on the Chinese model. In this period, China was very powerful and expanded its territory. So nearby countries including Japan copied the Chinese government.

Before Emperor Tenji died, he gave power to his son. But many people weren't satisfied with this. So a person called “Tenmu” fought with Tenji’s son and he won. He became a new emperor. After the battle, Emperor Tenmu ran the country nice and well. He also changed this country's name into “Japan”.

A bit later, Japan’s first two documents, “Kojiki” and “Nihonshoki” were published. Kojiki is a mythology. You can learn about ancient Japan through a story. Nihonshoki is more like a historical record arranged in order. Thanks to these, we get to know how Japanese people in the path built the country.

「The Dawn of the Nation」Fin