Before tonight's session I had no idea how mysterious the origins of Japan remain. I find it interesting that there is still no definitive theory as to how the Japanese first found their way to the islands. I learned that the Japanese probably had diverse origins and came to the islands from various directions, although some experts contend they likely came from the northern regions of East Asia, while others assert that the Japanese more likely came from Southeast Asia. The mainstream cultural influence came to Japan from Korea and the Japanese were in Korea as early as the first century when there was no fixed boundary between the territory of the Koreans and the Japanese.