Ancient Japan and the Northern Peoples

Who lived in ancient Japan before the court of Yamato, and how did the "Japanese nation" come to be?

Kita Sadakichi (1871-1939) was one of the first Japanese historians to bring documents, archaeology, folklore and ethnology to bear on that question together. This collection gathers seven of his essays, written between 1910 and 1929, in a new English translation.

The essays are historical documents of their time. They use period terms for the peoples of the archipelago and express the assimilationist views of Meiji and Taishō scholarship; the translator's note and endnotes explain them without endorsing them. About 25,900 words of text, with 77 endnotes, a translator's note, and full source information.