For a long time, the prehistoric Japanese people were a mystery. Archaeologists know they created pottery over twelve thousand years ago, at a time when most societies were still hunting and gathering. As these early forerunners of modern Japanese grew more comfortable with creating pottery, it became more and more elaborate, and much of what historians know of early Japanese life comes from the information on these recovered pots, which were called "Jamon," and which also became the name of the people who created them. These pots had elaborate rope-patterns on them that gave them their name, and they became more elaborate as time went on (Benton 202-204). This early culture clearly was interested in more than simple pots to use for everyday life, as the increasingly elaborate decorations show. They were interested in beauty, and that is a trait that has continued throughout Japanese history.

             There was also a blending of cultures when peoples from the Korean peninsula came into the area and greatly changed the civilization by bringing agriculture, which was only simple and underdeveloped before. Rice became the most popular crop, and there were now enough people for a basic government to evolve, including an emperor. It is interesting to note that these first "Jamon" people were Caucasian, and their culture and people still live on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The new people were racially Asian, and they became the dominant people in prehistoric Japan. Historian G.B. Sansom notes, "The Japanese race is a compound of elements drawn in prehistoric times from different parts of the Asiatic mainland" (Sansom 1). Archaeologists have also found remains of cultures in Korea that were similar to the Japanese culture, further tying the two cultures together. Many historians believe there may also have been influences from the Kamchatka and Siberian areas (Sansom 5-8). The Stone Age culture of Japan continued until around the first century B.