Archaeological culture · c. 900 BCE – 250 CE (start debated; older view c. 300 BCE)
Yayoi culture
The Yayoi culture brought wet-rice farming, bronze and iron to Japan, spreading from northern Kyushu after migrants arrived from the Korean Peninsula. Radiocarbon dating has pushed its start back from about 300 BCE to the 10th–8th centuries BCE, though this is still debated.
Villages such as Yoshinogari grew into fortified centres, and Chinese histories describe the many chiefdoms of 'Wa' and the queen Himiko.
See Yayoi culture on the map in 400 BCE
- On the map
- 900 BCE – 250 CE
How we know
The Yayoi wrote nothing themselves; the start date comes from debated radiocarbon results, though Chinese histories describe the land of Wa from the 1st century CE.
Sites
- Yoshinogari before 400 BCE – 3rd century CE