ABSTRACT

The Japanese islands, located in the seas off the eastern edge of the Asian mainland, have quite naturally shown evidence of having been part of the Asian cultural area and signs of isolation where unique features not seen on the continent developed. These periods of contact and isolation have been prominent at different times. In fact, it has become a feature of Japanese prehistory and history that, alternately, there were times of active importation of the continental culture, and times when the continental cultural influence was passive but maturing indigenously, when the uniqueness of the domestic culture progressed.