Interdisciplinary Study on the Origins of Japanese Peoples and Cultures

对日本群岛自史前时代以来的各种文化传统和人口进行了跨学科研究，特别强调其起源或历史方面。研究总体上按计划完成，在四年的时间里，共举办了7次联合学术研讨会、4次国际学术研讨会和4次与其他相关学会组织的学术研讨会。主要结果如下：(1)厘清了日本列岛近几万年来的气候变化，准确编制了各大火山喷发的年表。(2)建立了“DNA考古学”这一新的跨学科研究领域，对绳纹时代的耕地和家畜进行了调查，验证了假设。此外，绳纹时代和弥生时代的民族是不同的后裔，这一点也很清楚。(3)对亚洲现代人口的比较研究表明，与最近的考古发现一致，绳纹民族被认为是北亚人的祖先。(4)通过人类学家和考古学家的共同发掘，揭示了绳纹文化传统在大陆新石器文化影响下孕育弥生文化的过程。(5)从人类学和考古学两方面对日本所谓的旧石器时代早期赝品进行了考察。(6)关于日本文化，曾试图将来自亚洲其他地区的文化与日本列岛独立发展的文化区分开来。(7)根据最新的考古学和民间传说资料，对柳田邦夫的“海上之路”假说进行了检验，并对弥生时代之前沿南部岛屿向北迁移的水稻文化获得了新的见解。

Interdisciplinary Studies were carried out on the various cultural traditions and the human populations of Japanese Archipelago since the prehistoric times, with special emphasis on their origins, or historical aspects. Researches were as a whole accomplished as originally planned, and in the course of four years, seven joint symposia, four international symposia and four symposia organized with other related societies have been held. The main results are as follows. (1) The climatic variation during the last few tens of thousand years of Japanese Archipelago was clarified, and the accurate chronicle of major volcanic eruptions was made. (2) The new interdisciplinary research field "DNA archaeology" was set up, and investigations were made to test hypotheses on the cultivated plans and domesticated animals in the Jomon Period. Also, it was made clear that the peoples of Jomon and Yayoi Period were of different descent. (3) Comparative studies on the modern human populations of Asia showed that in agreement with the recent archaeological findings the Jomon peoples are considered to be of north Asian origins. (4) Based on the joint excavation of anthropologists and archaeologists, the process of how the Jomon cultural tradidion gave birth to the Yayoi culture under the influence of the continental Neolithic Culture. (5) The so-called fake of Early Paleolithic in Japan was examined from both sides of anthropology and archaeology. (6) Concerning the Japanese cultures, attempts were made to separate the two portions of those derived from other Asian areas on the one hand, and those independently developed in Japanese Archipelago. (7) The "Road on the Sea" hypothesis of Kunio Yanagita was examined in the light of up-to-date materials in archaeology and folklore, and new insights were obtained with respect to the rice culture that went northward along the southern islands before the Yayoi Periods.