Yayoi and Kofun: rice, bronze and burial mounds

Rice farming brought bronze and iron, and powerful leaders were buried in keyhole-shaped burial mounds surrounded by clay figures.

In the Yayoi period wet-rice farming, bronze and iron arrived from Korea and China. Pottery became simpler and smoother, and bronze bells, dōtaku, decorated with hunting and everyday scenes were used in rituals.

In the Kofun period, named after the great burial mounds, powerful clans emerged. The largest mound, that of Emperor Nintoku, is longer than the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Around the mounds stood haniwa – tubes of fired clay whose tops were shaped into warriors, horses, houses and dancers. These simple, expressive figures are among the best-loved works of Japanese art.

• Rice paddies and a new kind of pottery
• Bronze: bells and weapons that were never used
• The mirror, the sword and the jewel
• The burial mounds and the first armour
• The workshops of the clay figures
• Close reading: the haniwa warrior from Iizuka
• Himiko and the envoys: Japan in Chinese sources
• Craftsmen from across the sea
• Images in the dark: the decorated tombs