CW: This episode features discussions of slavery in a Japanese context. There is also some language that sensitive listeners may find objectionable.

We made it to the land of Yamato, the country of the Queen of Wa! We also talked a little bit about what life was like,and now we’ll get into a little more of what Society was like overall. There are, after all, some striking similarities to today, and also some clear differences. Yet every clue helps us to better understand the people of this time.

We’ll talk about the apparent gender equality—at least among the elite—where everyone had a voice. We’ll talk about some of the early customs, such as how peasants were supposed to get off the path of their superiors, as well as some customs for greeting and showing respect.

Perhaps one of the strangest customs we’ll talk about is the custom of the jisai, or abstainer. In a society where we usually think of purity as a high virtue, who would think you could be rich and successful by not bathing? But there you have it.

Finally, we’ll talk about the rituals that went with the inevitable in any society: Death. This is the transition point from the Yayoi period to what we know as the Kofun, or Ancient Tomb, period. These mounded tombs had their start in the Yayoi period, but really took off around the 3rd century and beyond.

References

• Barnes, Gina L. (2015), Achaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilization in China, Korea and Japan

• Soumaré, Massimo (2007), Japan in Five Ancient Chinese Chronicles: Wo, the Land of Yamatai, and Queen Himiko. ISBN: 978-4-902075-22-9

• Kidder, J. Edward (2007), Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai: Archaeology, History, and Mythology. ISBN: 978-0824830359

• Nelson, Thomas. (2004), Slavery in Medieval Japan. Monumenta Nipponica, 59(4), 463-492. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/25066328

• Kyodo. (2000, Nov 04) “Archaeologists unearth settlement mentioned in Wei Chronicle”; https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2000/11/04/national/archaeologists-unearth-settlement-mentioned-in-wei-chronicle/#.XiI9r2hKiUk

• Barnes, Gina L. (1988); Protohistoric Yamato: Archaeology of the First Japanese State;

• Han, Kangxin and Nakahashi, Takahiro. (1995, May 12), “A Comparative Study of Ritual Tooth Ablation in Ancient China and Japan”; Anthropological Science, Volume 104 (1996) Issue 1; https://jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ase1993/104/1/104_1_43/_pdf/-char/en

• Hudson, M., & Barnes, G. (1991). Yoshinogari. A Yayoi Settlement in Northern Kyushu. Monumenta Nipponica, 46(2), 211-235. doi:10.2307/2385402