Japan does not appear in history until 57 AD when it is first
mentioned in Chinese histories, where it is referred to as "Wa."
The Chinese historians tell us of a land divided into a hundred
or so separate tribal communities without writing or political
cohesion. The Japanese do not start writing their histories
until around 600 AD; this historical writing culminates in 700
AD in the massive chronicles, The Record of Ancient Matters and
the Chronicles of Japan. These chronicles tell a much different
and much more legendary history of Japan, deriving the people of
Japan from the gods themselves. The Japanese are late-comers in
Asian history. Preceding their unification and their concern
with their own history in the latter half of the first
millennium AD is a long period of migration and settlement.
Where did the Japanese come from? Why did they settle the
islands? What did life look like before history was written
down? In order to get a handle on ancient Japanese history, it
helps to consider that it is driv