Yayoi Culture (ca. 300 B.C.–300 A.D.)

Over time, the Yayoi people grouped themselves into clan-nations, which by the first century numbered more than a hundred.
A slider containing 3 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Dōtaku (Bronze Bell), Bronze, Japan
Japan
1st–2nd century
Jar, Earthenware with incised decoration, Japan
Japan
ca. 100–300
Jar, Earthenware with incised decoration (Kinki region), Japan
Japan
ca. 2nd–4th century

Beginning about the fourth century B.C., Jōmon culture was gradually replaced by the more advanced Yayoi culture, which takes its name from the site in Tokyo where pottery of this period was first discovered in 1884. The new culture first appeared in western Japan and then spread east and north to Honshū. While some aspects of Yayoi society evolved from the Jōmon, more important to its development was the technique of wet-rice cultivation, which is thought to have been introduced to Japan from Korea and southeastern China sometime between 1000 B.C. and the first century A.D. In keeping with an agrarian lifestyle, the people of the Yayoi culture lived in permanently settled communities, made up of thatched houses clustered into villages.

In striking contrast to Jōmon pottery, Yayoi vessels have clean, functional shapes. Nonetheless, the technical process of pottery making remained essentially the same, and in all likelihood women using the coil method continued to be the primary producers. Two technical differences, however, are significant: the fine clay surfaces of Yayoi vessels were smoothed, and clay slip was sometimes applied over the body to make it less porous. Many Yayoi vessels resemble pots found in Korea, and some scholars have proposed that the Yayoi style originated in that land, arriving first in northern Kyūshū and gradually spreading northeastward. Nevertheless, some pieces clearly show the influence of Jōmon ceramics, leading others to speculate that Yayoi wares were the product of an indigenous evolution from the less elaborate Jōmon wares of northern Kyūshū.

Metallurgy was also introduced from the Asian mainland during this time. Bronze and iron were used to make weapons, armor, tools, and ritual implements such as bells (dōtaku). The latter were frequently decorated with hatched lines, triangles, spirals, and geometric patterns, although representations of domesticated animals and scenes of daily life appear on some examples.

A class society began to emerge during the Yayoi period. Over time, the Yayoi people grouped themselves into clan-nations, which by the first century numbered more than a hundred. Throughout the second and third centuries, the clans fought among themselves until the Yamato clan gained dominance in the fifth century.


Contributors

Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2002


Further Reading

Mason, Penelope. History of Japanese Art. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.

Murase, Miyeko. Bridge of Dreams: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection of Japanese Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. See on MetPublications


Citation

View Citations

Department of Asian Art. “Yayoi Culture (ca. 300 B.C.–300 A.D.).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm (October 2002)