As any other country,province, or even town...Japan had to start somewhere. They grew together as an Empire while the ice age (11000 years ago) was happening. They grew close to the Aian mainland and connected by a land bridge. They have found pottery in Japan, that they can date back to 9500. It just shows how old it really is.
Soon, people started to come to Japan. There was a culture that started, called the Jomon. The Jomon were people who were blended together from South China, the first settlers, and people from the Polynesian Islands. this culture lasted awhile, but ended around 300 B.C. These people lived off of hunting and fishing. They were people who enjoyed that, as well as gathers. Their name comes from a type of pottery that was decorated by pressing rope into wet clay, and later came to also have human figures with huge eyes, which some have seen as meaning "windows to the soul".
Around the same period, there was another type of people came to the island of Hokkaido. These people were called the Ainu. They were Caucasoid. This meant that they were tall, with fair skin and facial hair. Because of their physical features, they stuck out from the other people. Today though, Ainu are very rare, they have almost reached distinction. How they came to be is a mystery, but they still have a special place in Japanese history.
Yayoi. They also arrived at approximately the same time period. When they came to Japan, they came with a knowledge of fice culitivation, bronze, iron, glass, and mirrors. It is thought that the Yayoi culture originated from Korea and China.
