Rituals and Burials: The Jōmon Spirit World | Jomon Period | Japan

It is difficult to know the religion, beliefs, and spiritual culture of the Jōmon people. Nevertheless, archaeologists have inferred the spiritual culture of the Jōmon period from clay figurines, animal-shaped clay objects, and other artifacts excavated from archaeological sites.

Clay figurines depicting women, dating from the late Palaeolithic period, a period which spans all of human history until the end of the last Ice Age, have been found all over the world. These clay figurines, clearly depicting a female body, are thought to represent female fertility.

Earthenware, and decorations on pottery, representing animals such as boars, bears, snakes, and frogs have also been found. The fertile wild boar, powerful bear, and repeatedly shedding snake may have symbolized immortality, while the amphibious frog may have symbolized the ability of a creature to transcend boundaries like entering different worlds.

Although there is no clear evidence, it is likely that the Jōmon people, like other hunter-gatherers around the world, and the Ainu people of Hokkaido, held pantheistic or animistic beliefs.

The Jōmon people carefully buried their dead, often with ornaments, pottery, and stone tools as burial goods. Sometimes the dead were buried in the center of the village, and in other cases they were buried close to their dwellings. In some cases, the dead were buried once, and when they were reduced to bones, they were dug up and carefully reburied. The appearance of Jōmon-period graves indicate that the Jōmon people were not afraid of the dead but felt close to the spirits of their ancestors.

There are no notable disparities in Jōmon graves or in the burial goods found, so it is believed that there were no major differences in social stratification throughout the Jōmon period. However, there may have been religious leaders, such as shamans, sorcerers, and witch doctors. There may also have been natural leaders who were well-liked. However, there does not seem to have been an institutionalized status hierarchy. Jōmon people, who lived by hunting, gathering, fishing, and simple plant cultivation, had no need for a powerful political elite.