Professor Tatsuo Kobayashi is Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at Kokugakuin University, Tokyo, Honorary Director of the Niigata Prefectural Museum of History, and Senior Advisor at the Sainsbury Institute.

 

Kobayashi is a leading scholar of pottery of the Jōmon period, which encompasses a great expanse of time and essentially constitutes Japan’s Neolithic period. Its name is derived from the “cord markings” that characterize the ceramics made during this time.

 

His publications in English include Jomon Reflections: Forager Life and Culture in the Prehistoric Japanese Archipelago. His books in Japanese include a conversation with archaeologist Makoto Sahara in The Jomon in World History.