Course Description

In this class, it will be explained about the prehistoric cultures of the Japanese archipelago from Paleolithic age to the Kofun period. Many people think "Japanese culture" is a homogeneous single culture, but in reality it is not. Various environments exist in the Japanese archipelago, and diverse cultures have been cultivated in each environment. In this class, you will see what kind of cultures existed in various parts of the Japanese archipelago during the Paleolithic age, Jomon, Yayoi and Kofun periods, what differences and similarities exist in each of them. In archaeological data, it can be understood as migration and movement of human groups, trade between groups, propagation of information and technology. Especially after the Yayoi era, migration, movement, trade, transmission of information and technology does not stay within the Japanese archipelago, but it will be developed in the framework of East Asia such as the Korean Peninsula and China. I will also touch on this point in this class.