Editing Japan (section)

===Prehistoric to classical history===
[[File:Emperor Jimmu.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Legend]]ary {{Nihongo|[[Emperor Jimmu]]|神武天皇|Jinmu-tennō}}]]
Modern humans arrived in Japan around 38,000 years ago (~36,000 BC), marking the beginning of the [[Japanese Paleolithic]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kondo |first=Y. |last2=Takeshita |first2=Y. |last3=Watanabe |first3=T. |last4=Seki |first4=M. |last5=Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group |date=April 2018 |title=Geology and Quaternary environments of the Tategahana Paleolithic site in Nojiri-ko (Lake Nojiri), Nagano, central Japan |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618217300307 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=471 |pages=385–395 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2017.12.012}}</ref> Around 14,500&nbsp;BC (the start of the [[Jōmon period]]), a [[Mesolithic]] to [[Neolithic]] semi-sedentary [[hunter-gatherer]] culture characterized by [[Pit-house|pit dwelling]] and rudimentary agriculture emerged.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Habu |first1=Junko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vGnAbTyTynsC&pg=PA43 |title=Ancient Jomon of Japan |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-77670-7 |page=43}}</ref> [[Jōmon pottery|Clay vessels]] from the period are among the oldest surviving examples of pottery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jomo/hd_jomo.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|title=Jōmon Culture (ca. 10,500–ca. 300 B.C.)|accessdate=August 28, 2020|archive-date=December 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213222716/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jomo/hd_jomo.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Japonic languages|Japonic]]-speaking [[Yayoi people]] later entered the archipelago from the Korean Peninsula,<ref>{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Nicholas |date=May 4, 2011 |title=Finding on Dialects Casts New Light on the Origins of the Japanese People |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/science/04language.html |url-access=limited |archivedate=March 31, 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331175152/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/science/04language.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | surname = Vovin | given = Alexander | author-link = Alexander Vovin | chapter = Origins of the Japanese Language | doi = 10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.277 | doi-access = free | title = Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2017 | isbn = 978-0-19-938465-5}}</ref><ref name="Yayoi culture" /> intermingling with the [[Jōmon people]];<ref name="Yayoi culture">{{cite journal |last1= Watanabe |first1=Yusuke |last2=Naka |first2=Izumi |last3= Khor |first3=Seik-Soon |last4=Sawai |first4=Hiromi |last5=Hitomi |first5=Yuki |last6=Tokunaga |first6=Katsushi |last7=Ohashi |first7= Jun |title=Analysis of whole Y-chromosome sequences reveals the Japanese population history in the Jomon period |journal= Scientific Reports |date=June 17, 2019 |volume=9 |issue=1 |page =8556 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-44473-z |doi-access=free }}</ref> the [[Yayoi period]] saw the introduction of innovative practices including [[Paddy field|wet-rice farming]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Road of rice plant|url=http://www.kahaku.go.jp/special/past/japanese/ipix/5/5-25.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430010530/http://www.kahaku.go.jp/special/past/japanese/ipix/5/5-25.html|archivedate=April 30, 2011|publisher=[[National Science Museum of Japan]]|accessdate=January 15, 2011}}</ref> a new [[Yayoi pottery|style of pottery]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Kofun Period (ca. 300–710)|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kofu/hd_kofu.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=August 28, 2020|archive-date=February 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221210151/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kofu/hd_kofu.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and metallurgy from China and Korea.<ref>{{cite web|title=Yayoi Culture (ca. 300 B.C.–300 A.D.)|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=August 28, 2020|archive-date=January 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104161858/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> According to legend, [[Emperor Jimmu]] (descendant of [[Amaterasu]]) founded a kingdom in central Japan in 660 BC, beginning [[Imperial House of Japan|a continuous imperial line]].<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last=Hendry |first=Joy |url=https://archive.org/details/understandingjap00hend |title=Understanding Japanese Society |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-136-27918-8 |page=9 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese ''[[Book of Han]]'', completed in 111 AD, where it is described as having a hundred small kingdoms. A century later, the ''[[Book of Wei]]'' records that the kingdom of [[Yamatai]] (which may refer to [[Yamato Kingship|Yamato]]) unified most of these kingdoms.<ref>{{cite book |last=Henshall |first=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vD76fF5hqf8C |title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-230-34662-8 |pages=14&ndash;16}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> [[Buddhism]] was introduced to Japan from [[Baekje]] (a Korean kingdom) in 552, but the development of [[Buddhism in Japan|Japanese Buddhism]] was primarily influenced by China.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Delmer M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3_6lp8IOK8C&pg=PA141 |title=The Cambridge History of Japan |last2=Hall |first2=John Whitney |last3=Jansen |first3=Marius B. |last4=Shively |first4=Donald H. |last5=Twitchett |first5=Denis |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-521-22352-2 |volume=1 |pages=140–149, 275}}</ref> Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class, including figures like [[Prince Shōtoku]], and gained widespread acceptance beginning in the [[Asuka period]] (592–710).<ref>{{cite book |last=Beasley |first=William Gerald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AivK7yMICgC&pg=PA42 |title=The Japanese Experience: A Short History of Japan |publisher=University of California Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-520-22560-2 |page=42}}</ref>

In 645, the government led by [[Emperor Tenji|Prince Naka no Ōe]] and [[Fujiwara no Kamatari]] devised and implemented the far-reaching [[Taika Reform]]s. The Reform began with land reform, based on Confucian ideas and [[Chinese philosophy|philosophies]] from [[China]].<ref name="Totman 2005">{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref> It nationalized all land in Japan, to be [[Equal-field system|distributed equally]] among cultivators, and ordered the compilation of a household registry as the basis for a new system of taxation.<ref name="Sansom" /> The true aim of the reforms was to bring about greater centralization and to enhance the power of the imperial court, which was also based on the governmental structure of China. Envoys and students were dispatched to China to learn about Chinese writing, politics, art, and religion.<ref name = "Totman 2005"/> The [[Jinshin War]] of 672, a bloody conflict between [[Prince Ōama]] and his nephew [[Prince Ōtomo]], became a major catalyst for further administrative reforms.<ref name="ritsuryo" /> These reforms culminated with the promulgation of the [[Taihō Code]], which consolidated existing statutes and established the structure of the central and subordinate local governments.<ref name="Sansom">{{cite book|first=George|last=Sansom|year=1961|title=A History of Japan: 1334–1615|publisher=Stanford University Press|pages=57, 68|isbn=978-0-8047-0525-7|url={{Google books|0syC6L77dpAC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} }}</ref> These legal reforms created the {{transliteration|ja|[[ritsuryō]]}} state, a system of Chinese-style centralized government that remained in place for half a millennium.<ref name="ritsuryo">{{cite book|first=Conrad|last=Totman|year=2002|title=A History of Japan|publisher=Blackwell|pages=107–108|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref>

The [[Nara period]] (710–784) marked the emergence of a Japanese state centered on the Imperial Court in [[Heijō Palace|Heijō-kyō]] (modern [[Nara, Nara|Nara]]). The period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent [[Japanese literature|literary culture]] with the completion of the {{transliteration|ja|[[Kojiki]]}} (712) and {{transliteration|ja|[[Nihon Shoki]]}} (720), as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired artwork and [[Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara|architecture]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Conrad|last=Totman|year=2002|title=A History of Japan|publisher=Blackwell|pages=64–79|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="Courtiers">{{cite book |author=Henshall, Kenneth |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p5OL-k7A4mAC&pg=PT40 |title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-230-36918-4 |pages=24–52 |chapter=Of Courtiers and Warriors: Early and Medieval History (710–1600)}}</ref> A [[735–737 Japanese smallpox epidemic|smallpox epidemic in 735–737]] is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population.<ref name="Courtiers" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Hays |first=J.N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GyE8Qt-kS1kC&pg=PA31 |title=Epidemics and pandemics: their impacts on human history |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-85109-658-9 |page=31}}</ref> In 784, [[Emperor Kanmu]] moved the capital, settling on [[Heian-kyō]] (modern-day [[Kyoto]]) in 794.<ref name="Courtiers" /> This marked the beginning of the [[Heian period]] (794–1185), during which a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged. [[Murasaki Shikibu]]'s ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'' and the lyrics of Japan's national anthem {{transliteration|ja|"[[Kimigayo]]"}} were written during this time.<ref>{{cite book|first=Conrad|last=Totman|year=2002|title=A History of Japan|publisher=Blackwell|pages=79–87, 122–123|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}</ref>