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It is curious that gems
should have been profusely used for personal adornment in ancient
times by people who subsequently eschewed the custom well-nigh
altogether, as the Japanese did. The subject has already been
referred to in the archaeological section, but it may be added here
that there were guilds of gem-makers (Tama-tsukuri-be) in several
provinces, and that, apart from imported minerals, the materials with
which they worked were coral, quartz, amber, gold, silver, and
certain pebbles found in Izumo.

AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY

It appears that when the Yamato immigrants reached Japan, the coast
lands were overgrown with reeds and the greater part of the island
was covered with primeval forests. Fabulous accounts are given of
monster trees. Thus, in the Tsukushi Fudoki we read of an oak in
Chikugo which towered to a height of 9700 feet, its branches shading
the peaks of Hizen in the morning and the mountains of Higo in the
evening. The Konjaku Monogatari tells of another oak with a stem
measuring 3000 feet in circumference and casting its shadow over
Tamba at dawn and on Ise at sunset. In the Fudoki of other provinces
reference is made to forest giants in Harima, Bungo, Hitachi, etc.,
and when full allowance has been made for the exaggerations of
tradition, there remains enough to indicate that the aboriginal
inhabitants did not attempt any work of reclamation.

Over regions measuring scores of miles perpetual darkness reigned,
and large districts were often submerged by the overflow of rivers.
There is no mention, however, of a deluge, and Professor Chamberlain
has called attention to the remarkable fact that a so-called "Altaic
myth" finds no place in the traditions of "the oldest of the
undoubtedly Altaic nations."

The annals are eloquent in their accounts of the peopling of the
forests by wild and fierce animals and the infesting of the vallies
by noxious reptiles. The Nihongi, several of the Fudoki, the Konjaku
Monogatari, etc., speak of an eight-headed snake in Izumo, of a
horned serpent in Hitachi, and of big snakes in Yamato, Mimasaka,
Bungo, and other provinces; while the Nihon Bummei Shiryaku tells of
wolves, bears, monkeys, monster centipedes, whales, etc., in Harima,
Hida, Izumo, Oki, Tajima, and Kaga. In some cases these gigantic
serpents were probably bandit chiefs transfigured into reptiles by
tradition, but of the broad fact that the country was, for the most
part, in a state of natural wilderness there can be little doubt.

Under the sway of the Yamato, however, a great change was gradually
effected. Frequent allusions are made to the encouragement of
agriculture and even its direct pursuit by the Kami. The Sun goddess
is represented as having obtained seeds of the five cereals from the
female Kami, Ukemochi,* and as having appointed a village chief to
superintend their culture. She had three regions of her own specially
devoted to rice growing, and her unruly brother, Susanoo, had a
similar number, but the latter proved barren. The same goddess
inaugurated sericulture, and entrusted the care of it to a princess,
who caused mulberry trees to be planted and was able to present silk
fabrics to Amaterasu. In the reign of Jimmu, hemp is said to have
been cultivated, and Susanoo, after his reformation, became the
guardian of forests, one of his functions being to fix the uses of
the various trees, as pine and hinoki (ground-cypress) for house
building, maki (podocarpus Chinensis) for coffin making, and
camphor-wood for constructing boats. He also planted various kinds of
fruit-trees. Thenceforth successive sovereigns encouraged
agriculture, so that the face of the country was materially changed.

*The Sun goddess, Amaterasu, and the goddess of Food (Ukemochi no
Kami) are the two deities now worshipped at the great shrine of Ise.

In the matter of farming implements, however, neither archaeology nor
history indicates anything more than iron spades, wooden hoes shod
with bronze or iron, hand-ploughs, and axes. As to manufacturing
industries, there were spinners and weavers of cotton and silk,
makers of kitchen utensils, polishers of gems, workers in gold,
silver, copper, and iron, forgers of arms and armour, potters of
ornamental vessels, and dressers of leather. In later eras the
persons skilled in these various enterprises formed themselves into
guilds (be), each of which carried on its own industry from
generation to generation.

The fact that there must have been an exchange of goods between these
various groups is almost the only indication furnished by the annals
as to trade or commerce. In the name of a daughter of Susa (Princess
Kamu-o-ichi) we find a suggestion that markets (ichi) existed, and
according to the Wei Records (A.D. 211-265) there were, at that time,
"in each province of Japan markets where the people exchanged their
superfluous produce for articles of which they were in need." But
Japanese history is silent on this subject.

About the be, however, a great deal is heard. It may be described as
a corporated association having for purpose the securing of
efficiency by specialization. Its members seem to have been at the
outset men who independently pursued some branch of industry. These
being ultimately formed into a guild, carried on the same pursuit
from generation to generation under a chief officially appointed.
"Potters, makers of stone coffins, of shields, of arrows, of swords,
of mirrors, saddlers, painters, weavers, seamstresses, local
recorders, scribes, farmers, fleshers, horse-keepers, bird-feeders,
the mibu who provided wet-nurses for Imperial princes, palace
attendants, and reciters (katari) were organized into be under
special chiefs who were probably responsible for their efficient
services. It would appear, however, that 'chief of be' was sometimes
a title bestowed for exceptional service and that it was occasionally
posthumous."*

*Munro.

Be were also organized for the purpose of commemorating a name quite
irrespective of industrial pursuits. "The religious be were for
general or special purposes. For instance, there was a be of
sun-worshippers, while the Imibe, a body of abstainers, were obliged
to avoid ritual contamination or impurity. They carried out a
technique of spiritual aseptics, both in their persons and through
the utensils which they employed, much as a modern surgeon guards
against infection of his patient. Thus they were prepared to perform
sacred functions."*

*Munro.

NAVIGATION AND FISHING

No information is obtainable as to the nature of the boats used in
very early times, but it may reasonably be inferred that the Yamato
and other immigrant races possessed craft of some capacity. Several
names of boats are incidentally mentioned. They evidently refer to
the speed of the craft--as bird-boat (tori-fune), pigeon-boat
(hato-fune)--or to the material employed, as "rock-camphor boat"
(iwa-kusu-bune). "The presence of neolithic remains on the islands
around Japan proves that the boats of the primitive people were large
enough to traverse fifty miles, or more, of open sea."* Only one
distinct reference to sailing occurs, however, in the ancient annals.
On the occasion of the alleged expedition to Korea (A.D. 200) under
the Empress Jingo, the Chronicles say, "Sail was set from the harbour
of Wani." At a date nearly three centuries earlier, there appears to
have been a marked deficiency of coasting vessels, for the Chronicles
quote an Imperial decree issued B.C. 81, which says: "Ships are of
cardinal importance to the Empire. At present the people of the
coast, not having ships, suffer grievously by land transport.
Therefore let every province be caused to have ships built;"* and it
is related that, a few months later, the building of ships was begun.
Again, in A.D. 274, a vessel (the Karano) one hundred feet in length,
was constructed in the province of Izu, and twenty-six years later,
according to the Chronicles, the Emperor issued this order: "The
Government ship named Karano was sent as tribute by the Lord of Izu.
It is rotten and unfit for use. It has, however, been in the
Government use for a long time, and its services should not be
forgotten. Shall we not keep the name of that ship from being lost
and hand it down to after ages?" The Karano was then broken and her
timbers being employed as firewood for roasting salt, the latter was
given to the various provinces, which, in return, were caused to
build ships for the State, the result being a fleet of five hundred
vessels.

*Aston's Nihongi.

It would seem that there was always an abundance of fishing-boats,
for fishing by traps, hooks, and nets was industriously carried on. A
passage in the Records speaks of a thousand-fathom rope of
paper-mulberry which was used to draw the net in perch fishing.
Spearing was also practised by fishermen, and in the rivers
cormorants were used just as they are to-day.

MARRIAGE

It does not appear that the marriage tie possessed any grave
significance in ancient Japan, or that any wedding ceremony was
performed; unless, indeed, the three circuits made by Izanagi and
Izanami prior to cohabitation round a "heavenly august pillar" be
interpreted as the circumambulatory rite observed in certain
primitive societies. Pouring water over a bride seems, however, to
have been practised and is still customary in some provinces, though
as to its antiquity nothing can be said. An exchange of presents is
the only fact made clear by the annals. There did not exist in Japan,
as in China, a veto on marriages between people of the same tribe,
but this difference does not signify any reproach to Japan: the
interdict was purely political in China's case, and corresponding
conditions did not exist in Japan.

On the other hand, the Japanese system permitted a degree of licence
which in the Occident is called incest: brothers and sisters might
intermarry provided that they had not been brought up together. To
understand this condition it is necessary to observe that a bride
generally continued to live in her family dwelling where she received
her husband's visits, and since there was nothing to prevent a
husband from contracting many such alliances, it was possible for him
to have several groups of children, the members of each group being
altogether unknown to the members of all the rest.