page_title: Economic history of Japan
section_title: Kofun period (c. 250–538)
hierarchical_section_title: Economic history of Japan / Prehistoric and ancient Japan / Kofun period (c. 250–538)
caption_attribution_description: 古墳時代の高床式倉庫(大阪歴史博物館, 大阪市, Japan)
context_page_description: The economic history of Japan is most studied for the spectacular social and economic growth in the 1800s after the Meiji Restoration. It became the first non-Western great power, and expanded after the Second World War. When Japan recovered from devastation to become the world's second largest economy behind the United States, and from 2010 behind China as well. Scholars have evaluated the nation's unique economic position during the Cold War, with exports going to both U.S.- and Soviet-aligned powers, and have taken keen interest in the situation of the post-Cold War period of the Japanese "lost decades".
context_section_description: The Kofun period recorded Japan's earliest political centralization, when the Yamato clan rose to power in southwestern Japan, established the Imperial House, and helped control trade routes across the region. Much of the material culture of the Kofun period demonstrates that Japan was in close political and economic contact with continental Asia (especially with the southern dynasties of China) via the Korean Peninsula; bronze mirrors cast from the same mould have been found on both sides of the Tsushima Strait. Irrigation, sericulture, and weaving were brought to Japan by Chinese immigrants, who are mentioned in ancient Japanese histories; the Chinese Hata clan (秦, read "Qín" in Chinese) introduced sericulture and certain types of weaving.
caption: Reconstructed Kofun-era warehouse
exif: {"Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS Kiss Digital N", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "350", "Image YResolution": "350", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Digital Photo Professional", "Image DateTime": "2006:11:08 10:41:34", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "148", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1020", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8971", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:11:08 10:41:34", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:11:08 10:41:34", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "125237/16384", "EXIF ApertureValue": "108853/16384", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-2/3", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "30", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3456", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2304", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1728000/437", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "384000/97", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}