While evidence of a human presence on the Japanese archipelago dates back to at least 30000 BCE, the earliest traces of a more settled lifestyle and attendant management of land and food sources date from around 13000 BCE with the appearance of the Jomon people (literally 'cord marked'), so-called because of their practice of creating decorative patterns on ceramic vessels by impressing the wet clay with braided or unbraided cord.

Though primarily hunter-gatherers, the Jomon are known to have engaged in a rudimentary form of agriculture and constructed various types of dwelling using wooden poles and reeds, including the heichi jukyo (flat land dwelling), the tateana jukyo (pit dwelling) and the hottatebashira tatemono (stilted dwelling).

All of these types of domestic architecture continued in use during the Yayoi period (c 300 BCE-300 CE) and even persisted into historic times amongst the common folk.

Several Jomon- and Yayoi-era settlements have been reconstructed in recent years, notably the Jomon villages of Sannai-Maruyama Iseki in Aomori Prefecture and Fudodo Iseki in Toyama Prefecture and the Yayoi villages of Yoshinogari Iseki in Saga Prefecture and Ikegami-sone Iseki in Osaka Prefecture.