SocietyEast Asia
Japan takes shape
Rice farming from the mainland, and tombs larger than the pyramids
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The Daisen mound near Osaka is nearly five hundred metres long and has never been excavated, because the imperial household regards it as an ancestor's grave. That leaves a central chapter of Japanese history closed to archaeology. The period ended when Buddhism and Chinese writing arrived from Korea, and Japan began to write its own history.
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With rice farming from Korea, Japan's population grew quickly and power concentrated. Rulers were buried in enormous keyhole-shaped mounds — the largest is longer than any Egyptian pyramid is tall.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org