This volume brings together for the first time a significant body of Professor Barnes' scholarly writing on Japanese early state formation, brought together so that successive topics form a coherent overview of the problems and solutions of ancient Japan. The writings are, in some cases, the only studies of these topics available in English and they differ from the majority of other articles on the subject in being anthropological rather than cultural or historical in nature.

1. Orientation  2. Theoretical Approaches  3. Edge of Empire: Yayoi Interaction with the Continent (1st Century BC to Mid-3rd Century AD)  4. From Yamatai to Yamato (3rd Century)  5. Hashihaka and Mounded Burials (3rd Century)  6. Early Kofun Polities (Mid-3rd to Mid- 4th Centuries)  7. Prestige Goods and Class Identity (Mid-3rd to Mid-4th Centuries)  8. The Miwa Court and Cult (Late 3rd to Mid-4th Century).  Epilogue.  Appendix 1: The Chinese Court Chronicles.  Appendix 2: The Japanese Court Chronicles.  Glossary and Character List