History of the Japanese Paleolithic

English translations of Lost Historian's History of Japan, Chapters 1-3, covering the Paleolithic Period of Japanese historiography (until 14,000 BCE).

Originally released in Japanese as “Lost Historian’s History of Japan,” Chapter 1 - Looking Down from the Bridge of Heaven, Chapter 2 - 1,500 People Each Day, and Chapter 3 - Kami no Manimani on the @LostHistorian22 Twitter account.

When doing historical research and presenting a historical narrative, I strongly believe that myths and legends should not be omitted. History is read to understand the people that came before. One cannot understand the people who came before without understanding what they believed in. That is why my History of Japan starts with a re-telling of some important stories from Shinto mythology. 

In the beginning, there was nothing. And then, through the powers of the kami, the world was created. While the kami inhabited the divine world of Takamagahara, the other realm was the chaotic world of Earth. The two kami, the male Izanagi and the female Izanami, were sent to Earth by the kami to populate the Earth. Standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, they used a jeweled spear called Amenonuhoko to raise the island of Onogoroshima from the water. They now had a place they could live on Earth. 

Izanagi and Izanami fell in love and became married on Onogoroshima but, because it was the woman Izanami who proposed that they should have children, the first children Izanagi and Izanami produced were considered to be monsters and imperfect. They also created Awashima at this time.

Izanagi and Izanami decided to repeat the ritual with Izanagi proposing first. This time, they succeeded and gave birth to various kami and islands. In the following order, they created Awaji, Shikoku, the Oki Islands, Kyushu, Iki Island, Tsushima, Sado, and finally Honshu. 

However, Izanami was wounded when she gave birth to the fire god Kagutsuchi. Angry and sad, Izanagi killed Kagutsuchi and from Kagutsuchi’s death, more kami were created like Takemikazuchi (who will be important later).

Wishing to see his dead wife again, Izanagi went to Izumo Province in modern-day Shimane Prefecture and found the entrance to Yomi, the land of the dead. Entering Yomi, Izanagi finds Izanami in the dark but Izanami tells him that, since she has already eaten food from Yomi, she is unable to leave. When Izanagi is able to see Izanami with his torch, he sees that Izanami is a rotting corpse. Izanami suddenly attacks Izanagi. Izanagi ran back to the entrance of Yomi and uses a huge boulder to seal off the entrance to Yomi. Izanami curses Izanagi, vowing to kill one thousand people every day. Izanagi replies to the demon that he will then create one 1,500 people every day. So began the endless struggle of life and death.

The Last Ice Age is an important era in human history. In my research into the origins of some of the oldest humans groups, it always comes back to the Ice Age. The northern polar ice cap was at its greatest extent in human history. With all of that water held inside the ice, the sea levels of Earth were much lower. Because of that, the land that would become known as Japan was not an archipelago, but part of the continent of Asia. 

For a long time, humans (Homo sapiens) were not the only hominids on Earth. During the Ice Age, humans shared Earth with their sibling species, the gentle Neanderthals and the large and intelligent Denisovans. They also shared the Earth with their ancestor species, Homo erectus. While Humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans were pretty much sentient and communicated with each other, Homo erectus was different. The mental difference between Humans and Erectus was similar to the difference between Humans and chimpanzees. 

To put it simply, although Erectus looked similar to humans, their behavior seems to be more similar to intelligent chimpanzees than humans. 

From what we can tell, much of the Ice Age was a war between humans and Erectus. In combat, Erectus would win. Erectus was stronger than the humans. They were faster than the humans. Erectus could run long distances at a sprinter’s speed without tiring. On top of that, they also knew how to use spears. Erectus could not speak, but communicated with its fellow hunters with grunts and screams. It did not wear clothes. It ate other Erectus without reservation just as it would eat humans. On top of that, there were simply more Erectus than there were Humans. Humans could only survive by their intelligence, hiding their footprints in the sand with brooms and staying quiet in the shadows. 

The Ice Age was a terrifying time to live. 

It appears Homo erectus may have been the first group of human-like creatures to inhabit Japan. The oldest hominid fossil in Japan is a Homo erectus-like fossil found in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. Similar Erectus-era sites can be found in other places in Honshu. For a time, Japan was populated by a small number of Homo erectus, the original founders of Japan. 

There is also a possibility that Denisovans came to Japan but there has not been enough significant evidence for it yet. 

Around 35,000 years ago, the savage Homo erectus era in Japan came to an end as humans appeared to make their way to Japan. All across the world, Erectus was beginning to go extinct alongside the slowly warming climate. In their place, different groups of humans migrated to new lands to hunt for food, pushing back the weakening Erectus as they went. Whether Erectus in Japan went extinct naturally due to the climate before humans arrived or if their weak remaining members were killed by arriving humans is unclear. 

35,000 YA begins the paleolithic period with a new group of humans arriving in Japan coming from Southeast Asia. One of the first groups of humans to leave Africa 70,000 YA were the Australoids, a group of people most similar to Australian Aboriginals and Papua New Guineans. They had traveled down the southern coast of Eurasia. They had gone into southern Arabia, India, into Southeast Asia and Indonesia, Australia, and south China, clashing with Homo erectus as they did so. Now that Erectus was disappearing, the Australoids were able to go north. One such group went into the land that would one day become the Ryukyu Islands, inhabiting places like what would become Ishigaki, Miyako, Naha, Yaese, and Nanjo in Okinawa Prefecture. These people slowly moved north into Kyushu and mainland Japan. If Homo erectus still lived in Japan, the Australoids replaced them. These groups may have gone as far north as Sakhalin but their density was definitely towards western Japan, hunting and fishing as they traveled. 

It appears that in some areas without many resources, the Australoids would eat themselves, throwing away the bones in a trash pile. Indeed, life became difficult for the Australoids 29,000 YA when a volcanic eruption in Kagoshima spread ash all across Japan, killing wildlife and making animals and food more scarce. Perhaps sometimes the Australoids were only just barely alive. 

When food becomes scarce, paleolithic people often become more violent. The 29,000 YA volcanic eruptions marks a new period inside the paleolithic period where the Australoids begin to create more weapons and knives. Perhaps they needed to fight each other more?

That being said, after a period of time, Japan’s environment stabilizes and an abundance of food returns to the country. The next big change in the paleolithic is the arrival of Ancient North Siberians (distant relatives of modern day Siberians, Amerindians, and East Asians), a group of hunter-gatherers from Siberia who cross over into Japan, probably around Hokkaido, around 15,000 years ago. The ANS found Japan filled with animals to hunt. One way you can tell that there was an abundance of food is that usually, if there is not an abundance food and two different groups come into contact with each other, one group kills the other. Instead, 15,000 years ago in Japan, when the ANS and Australoids made contact, it seems they were somewhat friendly with each other. Instead of attacking each other, the ANS and Australoids mixed with each other, quickly creating a new culture that spread from Hokkaido to the Ryukyu Islands. 

The arrival of the ANS quickly brought an end to the paleolithic era and began the Jomon Period. 

Let’s take a moment to return to the world of mythology. After his adventure in Yomi, Izanagi needed to purify himself from the evil energies of the land of the dead. While taking a ritualistic bath, Izanagi was made clean but also created several more kami. 

Among these kami was Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, Tsukiyomi, the god of the Moon, and the storm god Susanoo. These three siblings would become the great leaders of the kami of Japan. 

Tsukiyomi and Amaterasu were very close at first. The sun and the moon shared the sky. Day and night were the same. One day, the goddess of food, Ukemochi, asked Amaterasu to attend the feast but Amaterasu was unable to attend. Instead, she sent Tsukiyomi to represent her. Tsukiyomi enjoyed the feast but he was curious about where Ukemochi’s food came from. Eventually, Tsukiyomi discovered that Ukemochi was producing the food out of her various body holes which disgusted Tsukiyomi. Tsukiyomi was so disgusted, he killed her. Amaterasu was angry to hear about Tsukiyomi killing Ukemochi and refused to see him ever again, banishing him to the other side of the world. And so, where the sun was, the Moon wasn’t. And where the Moon was, the Sun wasn’t. So began day and night. 

As Izanagi looked over the people populating Japan, he decided his job in Japan was over and that it was time to return to Takamagahara. Before he left, he decided to pass his authority on Earth to Amaterasu. And so, Amaterasu was now the leader of the kami of Japan. However, Susanoo was jealous of his sister and began to create chaos in Japan. Izanagi noticed this and asked Susanoo why he was doing such a terrible thing. Susanoo argued with Izanagi, telling Izanagi that he didn’t want to live in this world anymore. Instead, he wanted to live in Yomi with Izanami. Izanagi was angry and banished Susanoo. Before leaving, Susanoo went to Amaterasu. The two had a competition to make more kami, a competition that Amaterasu won. Susanoo was upset by his defeat and went on a rampage, killing one of Amaterasu’s weavers with a dead pony. 

Amaterasu was sad after Susanoo’s attack and hid in a cave, blocking the entrance. The sun disappeared and it was a time of great darkness. The other kami knew that this was a problem. They tried to convince Amaterasu to leave her cave, but she refused. Finally, the gods created a mirror and held a party outside the cave entrance. Amaterasu heard the party from inside the cave and looked outside the cave to see what was happening. Thanks to the mirror, Amaterasu saw herself alongside the gods having fun. Realizing that life was supposed to be enjoyed, Amaterasu returned to the world and the sun returned as well. Everything was back to normal. 

Susanoo was punished for his crimes and he was banished to Izumo province. In Izumo, he found an elderly couple and a beautiful woman. They were crying. The old man explained that every year, a massive dragon named Yamata no Orochi would come and steal one of his daughters. Now he had only one daughter left. Susanoo thought the woman was beautiful and asked her to marry him, which she accepted. In return, Susanoo promised to protect the woman. 

When Yamata no Orochi came for the daughter, Susanoo used skill and cleverness to kill the dragon and he discovered the legendary sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi inside Yamata no Orochi’s body. Susanoo took the legendary sword and brought it to Amaterasu as an apology to the bad he had done. Amaterasu thanked Susanoo. But Susanoo decided to return to Izumo to live with his wife rather than return to the gods. Susanoo and his wife would have many children in Izumo. Amaterasu would have her own descendants as well who will become very important in the history of Japan later.