Religion in archaic JapanKobayashi Tatsuo and other scholars argue that Jōmon sites were built and arranged in such a
way that they aligned with the movements of the sun and moon and thereby reflected cosmo-
logical concerns.^20 Many such sites exist, especially in eastern Japan, and some scholars inter-
preted this as evidence for ritual centers. It is debated whether stone circles, such as the large
three- ringed stone circle at Komakino in Aomori prefecture represent a burial site or a ritual
center.^21
Archaeological work has uncovered a very large number of Jōmon human- and animal-
designed ceramic figurines.^22 Important sites include Shakudō in Yamanashi prefecture and the
Sannai Maruyama site in Aomori prefecture.^23 Scholars have suggested that these clay figurines
have ritual significance. Because, in this region, figurines sometimes have female form, there are
scholars who argue that at least some Jōmon cultures engaged in goddess worship.^24
At the Shakadō site, many of the figurines were purposely broken and deposited in multiple
locations, suggesting their use for some ritual purpose.^25 One theory is that the fragmented figu-
rines were connected to agricultural production: the fragments “were buried in the hope that
grains would grow from the pieces, which were believed to be the corpse of a grain goddess.”^26
This interpretation, regardless of whether it is correct or not, is derived from a grain origin nar-
rative found in similar form in both the Kojiki and Nihon shoki.^27
The Kojiki version relates the story of the food goddess who is murdered by another deity. As
a result, from her corpse grew various items: “in her two eyes there grew rice seeds; in her two
ears there grew millet; in her nose there grew red beans; in her genitals there grew wheat; and in
her rectum there grew soy beans.”^28 Is this story best understood as expressing something
important about Jōmon culture, or about culture in the eighth- century Japanese archipelago
(when the Kojiki was compiled), or about a continuity between these two eras, or some combina-
tion of elements derived from both time periods?
Jōmon burial practices varied, depending on the particular time and place. In general, given
the attention paid to body placement, the physical space designed for burials, and objects found
along with human remains, it is likely that Jōmon people had a concept of an afterlife coupled
with a notion of souls or spirits of the deceased. The late Jōmon period Mukaisamada site in Akita
prefecture provides one example of ritual practices related to death and burial. This site includes
stones arranged in two circles in a space set apart from areas where people lived and worked.
Beliefs and ritual practices are suggested by the large number of items—such as ceramic figurines
and beads—found at or in the vicinity of the burial grounds. One theory holds that these items
accompanied the soul or spirit of the deceased to the next world.^29
Yayoi period (500 BCE–300 CE) ritual practices and beliefs
The Yayoi period, named for an area of Tokyo where pottery associated with Yayoi culture was
first excavated in 1884, marks the development of agrarian subsistence farming—wet rice agri-
culture and other grains—and evidence of at least some social stratification. The relative stability
of rice cultivation was a key factor in a marked increase in population over the course of the
Yayoi period. This was also a period of increased migrations to the Japanese archipelago from the
Asian continent, and particularly from the Korean peninsula.^30 The extent and significance of
migration from the mainland is a matter of much debate and is important to arguments about
Japanese cultural continuity—both with the previous Jōmon period and forward to Nihonjinron-
style perspectives.
Not surprisingly, ritual practices and beliefs became associated with wet rice agriculture and
other technologies imported from the Chinese mainland, such as metallurgy and silk production.
An important theoretical concern in the exploration of Yayoi religion is a consideration of the