Editorial
This issue of Japanese Journal of Archaeology (JJA) is to be presented to colleagues
from all over the world coming to WAC-8 Kyoto 2016. As the Chief Editor of theJournal, I feel honored to be able to introduce this ofﬁcial English language journal ofthe Japanese Archaeological Association to you all. This is a relatively new journal,
inaugurated three years ago as an open access web journal, completely open and freefor everybody. One of the important objectives of the Journal is the internationalisationof Japanese archaeology. However, it is also striving to become an arena for the sharingand exchanging of ﬁndings, thoughts and ideas that have relevance to the various
archaeologies practiced in Japan, including works by our overseas colleagues on material
excavated in Japan and that by our Japanese colleagues on sites and materials abroad. I
wish to take this opportunity for your support for and contribution to the Journal.
Japan’s unique historical trajectory, particularly that since its modernisation, hasinﬂuenced some distinctive characteristics of Japanese archaeology: 1) interest in theorigins of the human groups occupying the archipelago, not only the majority but
also the Ainu people; 2) extremely detailed culture-historical reconstruction of local
histories based upon equally detailed typo-chronological systems; 3) a unique Marxist
archaeological tradition; and 4) a distinctive heritage management system undertaken by
local governmental board of education personnel.
(1) derives from Japan’s hastened process of transformation from a feudal state to amodern nation-state; the roots of the ‘Japanese people’ was linked to that of the Imperial
genealogy, and the investigation of these ‘roots’ was mobilised for the promotion of
a sense of unity amongst the newly created citizens of Japan. The sufferings that theimperial expansion of Japan caused to the peoples of many Asian countries and theeventual defeat of Imperial Japan in 1945 led to critical reﬂection on established researchtraditions. As a result, these traditions have undergone considerable methodologicalreﬁnement and sophistication, but continue to the present day with (2), which hasdeveloped with signiﬁcant implications for (1). (3) yielded some remarkable experiments
in collaboration between specialist archaeologists and the general public in the decade
after the defeat in the Second World War in 1945, stimulated in part by the critique ofthe manipulative mobilisation of archaeological knowledge for the legitimation of thecolonial-imperial regime. These were truly public archaeological practices in every senseJAPANESE JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 4 (2016): 1–2

EDITORIALof the term, and in an indirect but profound manner, have contributed to the foundationand development of (4).
As the Chief Editor of JJA I am pleased that this issue, to be presented to all theparticipants of WAC-8 Kyoto 2016, features original articles all of which well reﬂect
those constitutive characteristics of Japanese archaeology. The article by Iwase et al.
offers us a good example of lithic traceological studies conducted by deriving from thetradition of detailed artifact observation, nurtured through detailed culture-historicalstudies. Miyamoto’s article traces the trajectory of the spread and localisation of East
Asian language groups by fully utilising the methodological characteristics mentioned
above, and shows an innovative way to make use of culture-historical approaches forthe development of the ‘archaeology and language’ genre. The article by Habu et al.
undertakes an interdisciplinary investigation into the nature of unique and unidentiﬁed
Jomon eco-facts by fully utilising rich contextual data obtained with sophisticatedexcavation techniques, nurtured in the above mentioned research traditions. Aitchison’s
article analytically describes the characteristics of the unique system of Japanese rescue
excavations in comparison with European equivalents.
Together with the Archaeologia Japonica section, summarising the trends of Japanesearchaeology in the ﬁscal year 2014, this issue offers you a panoramic glimpse of current
Japanese archaeology. I hope you enjoy the issue, feel the atmosphere of the discursive
space of Japanese archaeology, and ﬁnd topics for future dialogues and collaborations.
Koji Mizoguchi
Chief Editor© Japanese Archaeological Association2