The Yayoi period marks a time of technological advances in ceramics, such as the ability to fire at higher temperatures. Aesthetically severe, Yayoi period pottery has none of the effusive decoration made by the Jomon people, the style of which preceded the Yayoi. [For example, see 1965.15.FA]. Characteristic decorative qualities of Yayoi period pottery, which was still hand-made, include symmetrical, taut profiles and only slight embellishments like incised lines and passages of cord impressions, as seen here.

Pottery-making in the Jomon and Yayoi periods shared similar materials and techniques; however, the results were profoundly different. Unlike Jomon vessels, the aesthetic impact of Yayoi ceramics relies on the balance of the form itself. Some scholars have argued that the changes in style on the Japanese islands were the result of invasions from the Korean peninsula and the new technologies that accompanied them.

Drawn from

• Label text, Arts of Asia, 2018.

• Hugo Munsterberg, The Ceramic Art of Japan. Vermont/Tokyo: Rutland. 1964, 61-62.

• Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
  Learn more about the Yayoi culture's development.