Kofun period

The Kofun period (古墳時代, Kofun jidai) is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538, the date of the introduction of Buddhism in Japan, following the Yayoi period. The Kofun period and the subsequent Asuka period are sometimes collectively referred to as the Yamato period. This period is the earliest era of recorded history in Japan, but studies rely heavily on archaeology because the chronology of historical sources is often distorted. Kofun is Japanese for the type of tumuli dating from this era.

It was a period of cultural import. Continuing from the Yayoi period, the Kofun period is characterized by influence from China and Korea; archaeologists consider it a shared culture across the southern Korean peninsula, Kyushu and Honshu. On the other hand, wealthy zempō-kōen fun (keyhole kofun) during this period were approximately 5000 from the middle of the 3rd century in the Yayoi period to the 7th century in the Asuka period in the Japanese archipelago, and many of them were massive.

In comparison, in the southern Korean peninsula, there were only 13 from the 5th century to the 6th century, and the tombs were small. Wall decorations and Japanese-style armour characteristic of kofun were excavated from 5th-century burial mounds in the southern Korean peninsula. This indicates that Japan and the southern Korean peninsula influenced one another.

According to the Nihon Shoki (720), Buddhism and the Chinese characters were introduced near the end of the period from Baekje. The Kofun period recorded Japan's earliest political centralization, when the Yamato Kingship rose to power in southwestern Japan and helped control trade routes across the region.