We know today that the Jomon people lived a tribal village lifestyle during the Jomon period (10,000 – 300BC) with many festivals that had shamanic rituals with dancing and singing.
The sounds of the percussion instrument — the clay drum are thought to have dominated the music and ceremonial scene of the Jomon people. It is thought that the drum power was associated with the gods and that drum beating was used to signal the start of the village hunt or the approach of a storm. The rumbling sounds of the drum persists till today in the taiko drum which remains a very important traditional instrument of the Japanese culture.
Besides the drum, they also had many kinds of whistles made from deer antler, stone or clay, as well as wooden primitive fiddle-like or koto-like instruments that could be strummed.
Click on the tabblo below to see excavated finds and replica musical instruments of the Jomon people and period.
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