WHAT IS THE KOFUN PERIOD?

Name of the protohistoric tomb period of Japan, ad 300–710, and the type of tumulus used for the burials. Large tombs were built that were covered with artificial hillocks about 8 m (26 feet) high, with burial chambers about 2 m (6.5 feet) underneath the top surface. The burial chamber, enclosed with stones, contained coffins and various funerary offerings. The period when tombs of this kind were built in abundance was characterized by Haji ware and Sue ware. It is divided into Early (4th century), Middle (5th century), and Late (late 5th to 7th centuries). The Kofun period falls between the Yayoi period and the fully historic Nara period and partially overlaps the Asuka and Hakuho periods of art historians. In their writings, the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki texts, the culture was explained. Early kofun were built by modifying natural hills, as were Late Yayoi burial mounds. Haji pottery, used throughout the Kofun period, is very similar to Yayoi pottery and farmers lived in the same kinds of houses, using very similar tools. Technical advances over the Yayoi period include irrigation canals and dams. There were also silversmiths who made the ornaments deposited in the kofun, and professional potters began making Sue pottery in the 5th century. Those in the fertile and well-protected Yamato Basin actively sought new technical and administrative skills on the continent and thus artisans came to make new kinds of pottery, ornaments, and weapons. Yamato leaders gained control over much of Japan in the 7th century and moved the capital to Heijo in ad 710. The magnificent kofun tombs indicate that the Yamato court based in the Yamato area (the present Nara prefecture) succeeded in bringing almost the whole of Japan under its control.

WHAT IS THE JOMON PERIOD?

Earliest major postglacial culture of hunting and gathering in Japan, 10,000–300 bc, divided into six phases. This early culture, its relics surviving in shell mounds of kitchen midden type around the coasts of the Japanese islands, had pottery but no metal. The pottery was heavy but elaborate, especially in the modeling of its castellated rims. The term Jomon means “cord marked,” reflecting the characteristic decoration of the pottery with cord-pattern impressions or reliefs. One of the earliest dates in the world for pottery-making has been established as c. 12,700 bc in Fukin Cave, Kyshu. Other artifacts, of stone and bone, were simple; light huts, round or rectangular, have been identified. Burials were by inhumation, crouched or extended. The Jomon was succeeded by the Yayoi period. There are over 10,000 Jomon sites divided into the six phases: Incipient (10,000–7500 bc), Earliest (7500–5000 bc), Early (5000–3500 bc), Middle (3500–2500/ 2000 bc), Late (2500/2000–1000 bc), and Final (1000–300 bc). Widespread trading networks and ritual development took place in the Middle Jomon. Rice agriculture was adopted during the last millennium bc. The origins of Jomon culture remain uncertain, although similarities with early cultures of northeast Asia and even America are often cited.

WHAT IS THE HANIWA?

Unglazed earthenware funerary sculptures or cylinders of the Kofun period (4th to 7th centuries ad) in Japan. They were erected on, around, or inside mounded tomb surfaces and often had representations of horses, animals, birds, humans, and houses. They are considered to have developed out of the tall stands for the late Yayoi ritual vessels of the 3rd century.

WHAT IS THE DOGU ?

A type of clay figurine, most often depicting a pregnant female, made in Japan during the Jomon period, c. 5th to 4th millennium to c. 250 bc. The function of these figurines is unknown, but it is generally believed that they were some kind of fertility symbol and they are reminiscent of the rigidly frontal fertility figures produced by other prehistoric cultures. Archaeological evidence suggests they were aids in childbirth as well as fertility symbols. They are also found in simulated burials, indicating some kind of ceremonial function. Fired at a low temperature, they often have crumbly surfaces and many are painted red.

WHAT IS THE ASUKA ?

ASUKA:  A culture and period in Japanese history during which the development of art, the introduction of Buddhism from Korea, and the adoption of a Chinese pattern of government were important. Located in the southwestern part of the Nara Basin (Yamato Plain), the culture flourished from ad 552 to 645. In art history, the Asuka culture refers to early Buddhist art and architecture in the northern Wei style. In chronology, the Asuka period refers more to the reign of the Soga family during which Buddhism was promoted and a formal administrative structure with diplomatic relations was introduced. Many old temples and palaces are or contain surviving examples of Asuka architecture, sculpture, and paintings.

Asuka period Buddha