Rice-paddy cultivation had spread to the Tohoku region during the early Yayoi period and a small remains of a rice-paddy field was discovered in the Sunazawa site located in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture, and it had spread to Matsumoto-daira Basin in Chuokochi (Central Highlands) and the Shinano-gawa River area during the middle of the Yayoi period.
その後、弥生時代前期には東北へと伝播し、青森県弘前市砂沢遺跡では小規模な水田跡が発見され、中期には、中央高地の松本平、信濃川流域までひろがった。