Okinawa, the southernmost islands of Japan, was once ruled by an independent ... foreign influences is reflected in its distinctive pottery called Yachimun, which are part and parcel of everyday ...

In the waning years of the Jomon Pottery Culture Period (c. 14500 B.C.-1000 B.C.), Japan had a population of 75,800, of whom a whopping 52 percent were estimated to live in the Tohoku region ...