Is Japan Home to the World's Oldest Civilization? Anyone Can Be Number One by Changing the Definition

Recently, I came across a YouTube video declaring, “Japan’s Jomon culture was the world’s oldest civilization!” For readers unfamiliar with it, Jomon was a prehistoric culture that began in Japan more than 10,000 years ago. Its people lived by hunting, fishing, and gathering, formed settled communities, and produced distinctive pottery decorated with cord patterns.

Older than China. Older than Egypt. Japan had the world’s oldest civilization!

Wait a minute.

Do they even know what the word “civilization” means?

It is true that extremely old pottery has been discovered in the Japanese archipelago. The Jomon period had permanent settlements, and its people produced pottery with complex designs.

But the existence of ancient pottery and the existence of a civilization are two different claims.

Jomon Culture Was Remarkable. But Was It a Civilization?

In history and archaeology, “culture” and “civilization” are sometimes used as distinct terms.

When historians speak of ancient civilizations, important indicators generally include cities, social hierarchy, organized states, and written records. The use of metal tools is also one characteristic commonly associated with ancient civilizations.

Egypt and Mesopotamia are not called civilizations merely because old artifacts were found there.

So what about the Jomon period?

It had pottery. It had settlements. It had a distinctive culture.

But there is no confirmed use of writing, nor evidence that it developed a state organization or an urban civilization.

By the usual standards applied to ancient civilizations, the Jomon period is better described as a highly developed prehistoric culture than as a civilization in the same sense as Egypt or Mesopotamia.

And yet, people call it “the world’s oldest civilization.”

The argument starts as a contest over who had the oldest pottery, then quietly turns into a contest over who had the oldest civilization. What a convenient leap.

Change the Definition, Become Number One

“Even without writing or a state, why not call it a civilization if it had a rich culture?”

Fair enough. Then the solution is simple.

Call every Neolithic settlement around the world a civilization.

The number of candidates for the world’s oldest civilization will immediately multiply.

If you want to declare Japan number one, first broaden the definition of civilization. Remove any inconvenient requirements. Then present some ancient pottery and announce victory.

This is less like historical research and more like a competition in which you rewrite the rules yourself.

In the first place, what is so admirable about having the oldest civilization?

Even if Japan were the oldest, that would not make people in modern Japan more capable or raise their salaries.

Why should anyone feel triumphant about the achievements of unrelated people who lived thousands of years ago?

The psychology behind this is quite interesting.

Isn’t This Disrespectful to the Jomon People?

I find Jomon culture itself fascinating.

Its distinctive pottery, long-lasting settlements, and ways of life adapted to the environment are all worthy of study.

Why force it into the category of “the world’s oldest civilization”?

The Jomon people were not making pottery so that people in the distant future could boast about being number one.

They were simply living in their own time.

Thousands of years later, however, people claiming to be their descendants have entered them into a global ranking without permission.

They have even written the rules of the competition themselves.

The Jomon people surely never imagined that their pottery would become a tool for satisfying modern people’s need for validation.