Yayoi period
A period of Japanese history, roughly 300 BCE to 300 CE, marked by wet-rice agriculture, metalworking, and distinctive pottery.
Wet-rice cultivation: Rice farming in flooded fields, usually managed through irrigation and seasonal water control. Its spread transformed food production and settlement across much of the Japanese archipelago.
Irrigation: The deliberate supply and management of water for growing crops. Managing water made wet-rice cultivation possible in suitable landscapes.
Korean Peninsula: A peninsula in East Asia occupied by North Korea and South Korea. People, crops, and technologies reached the Japanese archipelago through contacts with the peninsula.
Tōro site: A Yayoi archaeological site in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, known for preserved rice paddies and settlement remains. Its wet fields provide unusually direct evidence of Yayoi rice farming.
Yamatai: A polity described in third-century Chinese records as ruled by the shaman-queen Himiko; its location remains disputed. It represents political organization documented near the end of the Yayoi period.
Yayoi pottery: Pottery associated with the Yayoi period, typically characterized by simple forms and reddish surfaces. Its distinctive vessels give the period its archaeological name.
Agricultural surplus: Food produced beyond what a community immediately consumes, which can be stored, exchanged, or redistributed. Rice surpluses could support larger settlements and specialized work.
Rice domestication: The development of cultivated rice from wild ancestors through human selection and farming. The rice varieties that supported Yayoi agriculture had a long history of cultivation on the Asian mainland.
Karako-Kagi site: A major Yayoi settlement site in Nara Prefecture, Japan, with evidence of buildings, moats, and craft production. Its scale and remains illuminate settlement organization in the Nara Basin.
Himiko: A third-century ruler of Yamatai described in Chinese historical records as a queen with ritual authority. Her reported rule offers a rare written glimpse of late Yayoi leadership.