In archeological terms, these are the general cultural periods of Japanese history. The Jomon to Kofun Periods are generally considered the "agrarian periods" in which rice cultivation was invented and people began to live in villages, most probably because rice cultivation required groups of people larger than a single family.

Art objects on this page were created in the Muromachi through the Edo Periods, when the wealthy could afford "works of art." Each object's time period is identified.