The Early History of Japan and Early Kyushu

Japan's prehistoric anthropology is very unclear. We do not know what the first Japanese looked like. There is a site in Oita, in northern Kyushu, that has hand axes and stone blades that are more than 100,000 years old (the oldest in Japan being up to 350,000 years old). The oldest Japanese skull dates back 8000 years and could have possibly been or Mongoloid origin. The 'classic Mongoloid' is known by a stocky build, short extremities, flat face, fat padded epicanthic-shielded (slant) eyes and course straight hair on the face and body. These are all traits that are ideally suited to evolve in a frigid climate: no nose to freeze, no beard to ice, slanted eyes providing natural sun-snow glare reduction, fat insulating etc... Add to this a yellow-brown skin, medium to dark brown eyes, predominantly A-blood, shovel incisors (buck teeth) and a broad head and you could possibly be describing the guy driving your taxi or serving your dinner in Japan. But then again, if you look beyond the surface you will see that the Japanese are more diverse than you might initially think. Many other races besides the Mongols migrated to Japan; the Polynesians, Melanesians, Turks and Aryans have all fused together to create the Japanese people.

South Pacific islanders came to southern Kyushu at about 300 BC, while southeast Asians came directly, or through Korea, to northern Kyushu. These people, from Hong Kong and Indonesia, brought their culture and festivals with them, and introduced dragon myths and boat races, which are the highlight of Nagasaki summer festivals. From Kyushu, the early Japanese moved up Honshu and reached the Kyoto area by 100 BC. By 100 AD they had passed Tokyo and reached their northern most limit, Tohoku. This is more than a scattering of people however, it is a true base as a nation.  

Kyushu, and particularly Fukuoka, was the most powerful area in Japan until the Great Tomb Period, from 250 AD, when clans in the Osaka-Nara area rose to prominence.  Contact with Korea is constant and there are many disputes and naval battles. In 562, the Japanese Yamato clan loses the last Japanese colony in Korea and then in 663 most of the Japanese navy is sunk by a Chinese fleet. The Mongols also warred with the Japanese and tried to invade twice, in 1274 and 1281 but were defeated by a typhoon (Kamikaze - divine wind). During the history of Japanese there were constant disputes between different clans and also strife between Buddhists and Shintoists and this prevented Japan from developing as a whole nation.

The first contact with the west came in 1542 when Francis Xavier, a Jesuit priest, became shipwrecked near Kagoshima.  He was followed by Portuguese traders, which introduced firearms and gunpowder. Francis Xavier undertook a mission to Kyoto in 1549-50. Despite Buddhist opposition, most of the Western warlords welcomed Christianity because they were keen in trade with overseas nations mainly for military reasons.