Rewriting Japan’s Dawn: Sodai & Sojin Unveil Our Origins
Forget “Paleolithic”! Japan’s roots deserve native terms. Sodai & Sojin connect Jomon to First Americans. Japan’s origin (42k-16kya) is mislabeled “Paleolithic,” hiding Jomon continuity. RSoJS proposes Sodai (Ancestral Dawn) and Sojin (Ancestral People)—standalone terms, unlike Jomon. Sojin migration hypothesis from Sundaland to N. Kyushu→Hokkaido→Kuril→Beringia aligns with kelp highway (Science, 2025).
Title: Proposal for Indigenous Japanese Terminology: “Sodai Era” and “Sojin People” in Prehistoric Studies Abstract/Introduction
In Japanese historiography, the foundational period from approximately 42,000 to 16,000 years ago—bridging the Late Paleolithic to the Jomon era—remains underrepresented due to the use of Western-derived terms like “Paleolithic” and “Late Paleolithic.”
These global labels often obscure the unique continuity of Japan’s indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures, fostering misconceptions in international scholarship (e.g., equating it with European cave art traditions). The Research Society of Japanese Sojin (RSoJS) proposes “Sodai Era” (祖代Sodai: “Ancestral Dawn Era”) for this period and “Sojin People” (祖人Sojin: “Ancestral Origin People”) for its inhabitants.
This indigenous nomenclature emphasizes cultural continuity with the Jomon period (a pottery-based, non-agricultural “Neolithic equivalent”) and aligns with global decolonization efforts in archaeology, such as UNESCO’s Jomon Prehistoric Sites registration.
Rationale
- Linguistic and Cultural Integrity: Japanese historical eras (e.g., Jomon, Asuka, Heian, Kamakura, Edo, Meiji, Reiwa) employ native Yamato language terms, highlighting endogenous development. Exclusively applying foreign “Paleolithic” terms to the origin era severs this continuity, portraying it as disconnected from Jomon despite genetic and archaeological evidence of tripartite origins (East Asia + Siberia + Ancient North Eurasian, as confirmed in Science Advances, 2021).
Addressing Academic Inertia: Mainstream academia’s reliance on guild-like peer-review systems prioritizes international comparability over local nuance, leading to “怠慢” (negligence) in terminology. RSoJS, a voluntary network of unbound researchers, counters this via SNS dissemination (e.g., blog New Winds of Asia’s Paradise at sunda-wind.net and X @NaraAkinara), ensuring free expression without ideological coercion or harassment. - International Relevance: “Sodai Era” integrates with global prehistory, linking Sojin migrations (e.g., Northeast Asian plains to Kyushu via dawn sea routes, onward to Hokkaido and Beringia) to First Peopling of the Americas models. This fosters cross-cultural dialogue, excluding hate/discrimination while promoting diverse viewpoints.
Implementation Goals
- Dissemination: Integrate into textbooks, UNESCO dialogues, and journals (e.g., Journal of Archaeological Science). Fund research via knowledge-sharing platforms.
- Call to Action: Scholars are invited to adopt “Sodai/Sojin” in publications, citing RSoJS sources. Contact: @NaraAkinara (X) or sunda-wind.net for collaboration.