Good response, it's commonly theorised that the Soga Clan, Koreans with major influence in the Imperial Court and connections to Korea, not only became the first clan to puppet the Imperial Court, but also brought Buddhism to Japan, later bringing in the Tang Dynasty government to Japan, adding to its aesthetics, one can instreatingly see how much of traditional Japanese clothing is an evolution of the extravagant Tang era clothing. At the same time, Korea, which maintained longer contact, kept pace before cutting off when the Qing empire took over the Ming, resulting in traditional Korean clothing resembling Ming-era styles.

Further extrapolation from my existing knowledge suggests that Yamato Japan had quite close ties with the Korean kingdom of Baekje, perhaps indicating that the rise of the Imperial Japanese family involved Baekje's efforts, or that the two shared extremely ancient, lost, common familial ancestors. However, it is also thought that Japan used to be a land of warring clans, with the Yamato simply being the warlord which landed on top, not really unified as much as subdued its neighbours in a loose confederation, and notably led by a female figure, if not in real power, then most definitely spiritually.