Interdisciplinary Study on the Origins of Japanese Peoples and Cultures

Interdisciplinary Studies were carried out on the various cultural traditions and the human populations of Japanese Archipelago since the prehistoric times, with special emphasis on their origins, or historical aspects. Researches were as a whole accomplished as originally planned, and in the course of four years, seven joint symposia, four international symposia and four symposia organized with other related societies have been held. The main results are as follows. (1) The climatic variation during the last few tens of thousand years of Japanese Archipelago was clarified, and the accurate chronicle of major volcanic eruptions was made. (2) The new interdisciplinary research field "DNA archaeology" was set up, and investigations were made to test hypotheses on the cultivated plans and domesticated animals in the Jomon Period. Also, it was made clear that the peoples of Jomon and Yayoi Period were of different descent. (3) Comparative studies on the modern human populations of Asia showed that in agreement with the recent archaeological findings the Jomon peoples are considered to be of north Asian origins. (4) Based on the joint excavation of anthropologists and archaeologists, the process of how the Jomon cultural tradidion gave birth to the Yayoi culture under the influence of the continental Neolithic Culture. (5) The so-called fake of Early Paleolithic in Japan was examined from both sides of anthropology and archaeology. (6) Concerning the Japanese cultures, attempts were made to separate the two portions of those derived from other Asian areas on the one hand, and those independently developed in Japanese Archipelago. (7) The "Road on the Sea" hypothesis of Kunio Yanagita was examined in the light of up-to-date materials in archaeology and folklore, and new insights were obtained with respect to the rice culture that went northward along the southern islands before the Yayoi Periods.