Depiction of Prehistory in Historical Books of Japan Written by Japanese Scholars in the Early 21st Century

The past can only be imagined and discussed by employing our language and terms familiar to us. In addition, particular word choices promote certain associations. Critical discourse analysis based on the social semantic theory sees language as a resource that people use for world making and their own communication goals. A critical discourse analysis can reveal possible effects that word choice or a whole text can have on readers and a range of possible interpretations of a text. This article argues that the usage of the term ‘Japan’ when discussing prehistory can be problematic due to its ambiguous meaning, which is most commonly associated with the modern nation state. The term ‘Japanese archipelago’ can as well pose a problem if not explicitly explained, since it can be imagined as a bound entity and as such superimposed onto various prehistoric periods and cultures that may not have stretched throughout the whole archipelago. Investigating the usage of the two terms in the depiction of prehistoric periods in history overviews has the possibility of revealing if prehistory is conceptualised as part of the history of the state of Japan or the territory that the modern state currently occupies.