Note 3 — Chapter XVII · Culture Mixing in Japan

There was no distinct “Bronze Age” in Japan. “Ancient bronze objects are,” says Laufer, “so scarce in Japan, that even granted they were indigenous, the establishment of a Bronze Age would not be justified, nor is there in the ancient records any positive evidence of the use of bronze.”3 Although stone implements have been found, it is uncertain whether there ever was, in the strict Western European sense, a “Neolithic Age”. The earliest inhabitants of the islands could not have reached them until after ships came into use in the Far East, and therefore after the culture of those who used metals had made its influence felt over wide areas.