Japanese food traditions held strong despite the arrival of farming

Recent archaeological discoveries challenge the idea that new technologies inevitably disrupt traditional ways of life. Japanese pots from the early rice farming period have preserved more than just traces of food. They hold memories of meals, choices, and cultural traditions.

Research from the University of York, the University of Cambridge, and Japan’s Nara National Research Institute reveals something striking. When rice farming spread from Korea to Japan 3,000 years ago, it did not immediately alter how people cooked or ate.

Cooking pot residue from early Japanese settlements tells a story of cultural resistance. Despite the introduction of rice and millet, fish-based meals stayed central to the Japanese diet.

Rice farming in Japan

Rice farming arrived in Japan through contact with the Korean Peninsula. Migrants from Korea brought rice and millet together. But while rice became widespread over time, millet faded from Japanese meals. This puzzled researchers.

“Organic residue analysis has been crucial to our investigation into the earliest impacts of rice and millet agriculture. It allows us to capture how these crops were actually used, offering a direct window into the culinary practices and crop interactions of early Japanese society,” noted Dr. Jasmine Lundy from the University of York.

Seed impressions on pottery from the Final Jomon and Yayoi periods confirm both grains existed in Japan. Yet millet, a staple in Korean Bronze Age cuisine, rarely appeared in Japan’s food remains. Archaeologists wanted to understand why.

Japanese people chose traditional foods

The absence of millet was not due to climate. Millet thrives in Japan’s environment, just as it does in Korea.

“The absence of millet from Japanese food residues and human bones was a surprise to us, given that we knew both rice and millet had been introduced at this time,” said Professor Oliver Craig from the University of York.

“We know from isotope analysis of fats and oils in cooking pots that millet was a major part of the Korean diet, and continues to be eaten to this day, but it seemed that it made no impact on early Japanese cuisine.”

“Environmental factors could be ruled out because we know that millet grows just as well in Japan as it does in Korea, so there was something else going on that provided a barrier to this crop being adopted in Japanese cooking.”

This suggests social or culinary preferences shaped what foods were accepted. Even with Korean farming tools and pottery styles present in Japan, food habits stayed rooted in local customs.

Fish stayed the main food in Japan

The team found that fish-based meals remained dominant, even as rice farming expanded. Cooking pots showed continued use for fish and wild foods. Few pots showed signs of cooking rice.

“There is evidence of Korean-style pottery and farming tools in Japan, but this didn’t line-up with changes to the way people cooked and ate. Yayoi pots were still used to cook fish and other wild foods, and few show signs of being dedicated to rice-cooking,” noted study co-author Dr. Shinya Shoda.

The findings reveal that technology alone does not reshape food habits. Even as tools and crops arrived, Japanese cooks kept preparing familiar dishes. Cultural memory and culinary tastes held firm.

Lessons from Japanese rice farming

This phenomenon is not unique to Japan. In Southern Scandinavia, people kept fishing and gathering wild food long after farming arrived. By contrast, foragers in Britain quickly embraced agriculture.

“Whilst we see changes in pottery styles and other forms of material culture in Japan with the arrival of rice and millet, food culture remains remarkably consistent,” said Professor Craig.

“And whilst Japan’s culinary history eventually catches up with the ‘rice boom’ that we see in Korea, it may have taken some time to have impacted everyday practices, suggesting food culture is deeply embedded and can survive major technological shifts.”

These insights urge us to think differently about change. New tools may reach communities, but that does not guarantee quick transformation. Food culture, in particular, often moves at its own pace.

Studying the spread of farming

The research supports the work of the ENCOUNTER project, led by Dr. Enrico Crema at the University of Cambridge, which studies how farming spread and influenced life across ancient Japan.

“These latest findings add to our body of work in the ENCOUNTER project, which has so far shown the diffusion rates of farming within the Japanese archipelago, the demographic impact of farming, and how different cultural traits might have been conditioned by marriage practices,” said Dr. Crema.

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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