Five out of nine cultural regions, 'Hokkaido/the southwest Ainumoshiri and the northern Tohoku region,' 'the southern Tohoku region,' 'the Kanto region,' 'the Hokuriku region,' and 'the Tokai and Koshin regions,' were consolidated into one cultural region, ('the oak forests culture' according to the culture theory of laurel forests), in the end Jomon period; also 'Kaga, Noto, Echizen, the coastal areas of Ise Bay, Chugoku, Shikoku, Buzen, and Bungo' and 'the Kyushu region (except Buzen and Bungo)' were consolidated into one cultural region, (the laurel forests culture according to the culture theory of laurel forests).
縄文後期に入ると、これら九つの文化圏のうち「北海道/アイヌモシリ西南部および東北北部」「東北南部」「関東」「北陸」「東海・甲信」の五つがまとまって単一の文化圏（照葉樹林文化論における「ナラ林文化」）を構成するようになり、また「加賀・能登・越前・伊勢湾沿岸・中国・四国・豊前・豊後」「九州（豊前・豊後を除く）」がまとまって単一の文化圏（照葉樹林文化論における照葉樹林文化）を構成するようになる。