Yamato people
The Yamato people are the dominant ethnic group of Japan, descending mainly from the Yayoi migrants with Jōmon ancestry.
The Yamato people, also known as the Japanese, are an East Asian ethnic group that comprises over 98% of the population of Japan. Genetic and anthropometric studies have shown that the Yamato people predominantly descend from the Yayoi people, who migrated to Japan from the continent (probably the Korean Peninsula) beginning during the 1st millennium BC, with some ancestry from the indigenous Jōmon people.
- historical_significance
- Founded Japan's imperial dynasty, traditionally dated to 660 BC
Quick Facts
- Group
- Yamato
- Native Name Lang
- ja
- Languages
- Japanese
- Regions
- Majority in the Japanese archipelago, except in the Ryukyu Islands and the Sakhalin Island
- Religions
- Predominantly non-religious in modern times / Traditionally: / Shinto Buddhism / Minority: / ChristianityNew religions
- Related
- Japanese · Ryukyuan · Yayoi · Ainu · Jōmon
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Around the 6th century, the Yamato clan set up Japan's first and only dynasty. The clan became the ruling faction in the area, and incorporated the natives of Japan and migrants from the mainland. The clan leaders also elevated their own belief system that featured ancestor worship into a national religion known as Shinto. The term came to be used around the late 19th century to distinguish the settlers of mainland Japan from minority ethnic groups inhabiting the peripheral areas of the then Empire of Japan, including the Ainu, Ryukyuans, Nivkh, as well as Chinese, Koreans, and Austronesians (Taiwanese indigenous peoples and Micronesians) who were incorporated into the empire in the late 19th century (Ryukyuans in 1879). The term was eventually used as race propaganda.
Reader's Guide
The historical province of Yamato within Japan (now Nara Prefecture in central Honshu) borders Yamashiro Province (now the southern part of Kyoto Prefecture); the names of both provinces appear to contain the Japonic etymon yama, usually meaning 'mountain(s)' but sometimes having a meaning closer to 'forest', especially in some Ryukyuan languages. The etymological origins of Wa remain uncertain; Chinese historical texts recorded an ancient people residing in the Japanese archipelago, named something like *ʼWâ or *ʼWər. Carr summarizes interpretations for *ʼWâ 'Japanese' into variations on two etymologies: 'behaviorally submissive' or physically 'short.'
Did You Know?
- The Wajin (also known as Wa or Wō) or Yamato were the names early China used to refer to an ethnic group living in Japan around the time of the Three Kingdoms period.
- Ancient and medieval East Asian scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato with one and the same Chinese character that translated to 'dwarf', until the character was gradually replaced over time with a character meaning 'harm
- After Japan's surrender in World War II, Japanese statistics only count their population in terms of nationality, rather than ethnicity.
More in Ethnic & Indigenous Groups 1-23
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