The Jomon period is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14,000 BCE to 300 BCE.The term jomon means "cord-patterned" in Japanese.

This refers to the pottery style characteristic of the Jomon culture, and which has markings made using sticks with cords wrapped around them.

Recent DNA haplotype testing has found that the Jomon are the genetic ancestors of the Ainu and partly of modern Japanese.