Archaeological evidence indicates that Stone Age people lived in the Japanese archipelago during the Paleolithic period between 39,000 and 21,000 years ago.

Mark J. Hudson claims that the main ethnic image of Japanese people was biologically and linguistically formed from 400 BCE to 1,200 CE.

[29][30] Some of the world's oldest known pottery pieces were developed by the Jōmon people in the Upper Paleolithic period, dating back as far as 16,000 years.

At least one middle-to-late Jōmon site (Minami Mizote (南溝手), c. 1200–1000 BC) featured a primitive rice-growing agriculture, relying primarily on fish and nuts for protein.

[27][31][32] Beginning around 300 BC, the Yayoi people originating from Northeast Asia entered the Japanese islands and displaced or intermingled with the Jōmon.

The more productive paddy field systems allowed the communities to support larger populations and spread over time, in turn becoming the basis for more advanced institutions and heralding the new civilization of the succeeding Kofun period.

Taking the growth rates of hunting and agricultural societies into account, it is calculated that about one-and-a-half million immigrants moved to Japan in the period.

On the other hand, many Sakhalin Koreans who had held Japanese citizenship until the end of the war were left stateless by the Soviet occupation.

Japanese phonology is characterized by a relatively small number of vowel phonemes, frequent gemination and a distinctive pitch accent system.

[41][42][43] Japanese people's religion functions mostly as a foundation for mythology, traditions and neighborhood activities, rather than as the single source of moral guidelines for one's life.

Western observers have often attempted to evaluate Japanese society as well, to varying degrees of success; one of the most well-known and controversial works resulting from this is Ruth Benedict's The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (1946).

Some of the most notable authors included Natsume Sōseki, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Osamu Dazai, Fumiko Enchi, Akiko Yosano, Yukio Mishima, and Ryōtarō Shiba.

Beginning in the Nara period, painting, calligraphy, and sculpture flourished under strong Confucian and Buddhist influences from China.

After the cessation of official relations with the Tang dynasty in the ninth century, Japanese art and architecture gradually became less influenced by China.

Extravagant art and clothing were commissioned by nobles to decorate their court, and although the aristocracy was quite limited in size and power, many of these pieces are still extant.

During the Edo period, the polychrome painting screens of the Kanō school were influential thanks to their powerful patrons (including the Tokugawa clan).

In stark contrast to the restrained refinement of noh, kabuki, an "explosion of color", uses every possible stage trick for dramatic effect.

Contemporary decorative, practical, and performing arts works range from traditional forms to purely modern modes.

[60] There are also significant cohesive Japanese communities in the Philippines,[61] East Malaysia, Peru, the U.S. states of Hawaii, California, and Washington, and the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Toronto.