Classical Japan and the continent

This chapter reviews historiographical trends regarding Japan’s contact with the continent during its classical age—dated from the late sixth or early seventh centuries to the twelfth-century commencement of the medieval era. Most early research on this period focused on Sino-Japanese diplomatic and trade relations, but in the last several decades, more consideration has been given to aspects of Japan’s relations with the states on and around the Korean peninsula, as well as to defining Japan’s place in the geopolitical, premodern East Asian community.