The origin of the Japanese people is a fascinating story of two different worlds meeting, which shaped the modern identity of the nation. Today's society descends from the fusion of the indigenous Jōmon people, who inhabited the islands for millennia, and continental migrants known as the Yayoi people. While the Jōmon were hunters and gatherers, the waves of migration from the areas of present-day Korea and China starting about 3,000 years ago brought revolutionary changes to the archipelago: rice cultivation and advanced metalworking.
The process of assimilation between these groups lasted for centuries, laying the foundation for the unique genetics and culture of the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun. An important, though often overlooked, element of this mosaic is the Ainu—the indigenous people of the north, whose linguistic and traditional distinctiveness still serves as a reminder of the complexity of the region's roots. Due to centuries of island isolation combined with the selective adoption of continental Asian patterns, today's Japanese have developed a genetic and cultural profile that has no equivalent anywhere else in the world.
