The Yayoi period is the era in
Japanese history from approximately
300 BC to AD
300. The Yayoi period marks the transition by the
Japanese from a
hunting and gathering society to an agricultural society. The first evidence of
rice cultivation, which was introduced to
Japan from
Korea, dates to this period.
Yayoi culture was more sedentary than the Jomon culture that preceded it. Occupational specialization appeared for the first time, as did bronze and iron tools and weapons. The Yayoi people began to make use of the potter's wheel and enclosed kilns for the first time, but the mass-produced Yayoi pottery was much more plain and showed less artistry than the highly decorative Jomon pottery. Yayoi culture is also noted for its practice of burial in great earthen jars.
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