Nock of a bow

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Jōmon period is the earliest period in Japanese history, lasting from roughly 14,000 to 300 BCE. This device, called a nock, would have held the string onto a bow, facilitating the use of the bow and arrow to hunt a wide variety of land animals which were key to the survival of the Jōmon people’s hunter-gatherer society. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Jōmon hunted over 60 species of mammal throughout the Japanese archipelago, including tanuki (Japanese raccoon dogs) and monkeys, both of which would likely be considered unpalatable in contemporary Japanese society.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art