While many argue that most of cultural
elements in ancient Japan were influenced by Chinese
culture, in this book the cultural history of Korea is seen
as pivotal in the development of Japanese traditions.
Major sources for these inferences include linguistic,
historical, archaeological and bioanthropological studies.
This strategy attempts to interweave large-scale phenomenon
and small-scale events from the Korean peninsula, based on
historic and archaeological investigations of Korean, and
how these features influenced the people of the Japanese
archipelago. While there are still unanswered questions it
seems clear from this overview that there were extensive
and intensive contacts between Japan and Korea. It is
likely that these connections extend into the pre- and
proto-historic periods. It also seems likely that there
were large and small migrations from Korea to Japan even
into the end of Kofun period (A.D. 7th). This book argues
that the origins of both Japanese and Korean are very
closely linked and deserves a more objective interpretive
effort than has been previously
formulated.