Rice-growing immigrants from the Korean peninsula are often credited with initiating the Yayoi culture/period in Japan. However, it is now apparent that certain aspects of this culture can be traced back into the preceding Jomon period. This includes the growing of rice. In this paper, I suggest that the beginning of the Yayoi transition was not concurrent with and thus not due to the arrival of large migrations. Rather, change took place among the indigenous Jomon population as the result of acculturation. This would best account for the apparently smooth transition between the Jomon and Yayoi peoples and cultures. In this thesis, I examine evidence of maritime exchange between the archipelago and the continent during the Jomon period. I believe it was this exchange that enabled the Jomon people to become acculturated to continental culture.