KIDDER, J. E., Himiko and Japans Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai. Archaeology, History, and Mythology, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulú, 2007

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J. EDWARD KIDDER, JR., is emeritus professor of

Japanese at International Christian University,Tokyo.
Japanese history
This volume is the most comprehensive treatment in English to date of the
problem presented by the Wei zhi. It brings to bear the most recent developments in historical and especially archaeological research in Japan and combines
them with a thorough re-interpretation of the early Japanese myths. Given the
authors long and distinguished career in the archaeological study of Japan, a
retrospective summary of the archaeology alone is a significant event. Add to
this his very thorough examination of textual sources, and the result is a truly
unique, multifaceted study of ancient Japanese society.
Walter Edwards, Tenri University
Using a balanced combination of archaeology and historical texts, Professor

Kidder gives a marvelously rich portrait of life in Yayoi Japan. Although the
location of Yamatai has long been one of the major problems in Japanese
historiography, this is the first book-length treatment of the topic in English
to consider archaeology. The addition of a new translation of the Wei zhi
account of Japan is a major contribution and adds considerably to the value of
the book. I have no doubt that it will be widely used by scholars and students
of Japanese history, art history, and archaeology.
Mark Hudson, University of Tsukuba
Jacket art:
Tattooing on haniwa figure: Shijo Tomb, Kashihara city, Nara. Middle Kofun.
Detail of triangular-rim-deities-animals mirror #M34,Tsubai- o tsukayama Tomb,
Yamashiro-cho, Kyoto (courtesy Higuchi Takayasu).
Jacket design:
Janette Thompson, Jansom
University of Hawaii Press

Honolulu, Hawaii 96822-1888
www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
Himiko and Japans Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai
Himiko and Japans Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai is a masterful summary of Japanese archaeology, making it required
reading for Japan historians as well as scholars with an
interest in literature and art history during this formative stage in Japans past.
KIDDER
(Continued from front flap)
Himiko and Japans

Elusive Chiefdom
of Yamatai
Archaeology, History, and Mythology
J. EDWARD KIDDER, JR.
The third-century Chinese chronicle Wei zhi (Record

of Wei) is responsible for Japans most enduring ancient
mystery. This early history tells of a group of islands off
the China coast that were dominated by a female shaman
named Himiko. Himiko ruled for more than half a
century as head of the largest chiefdom, traditionally
known as Yamatai, until her death in 248.Yet no such
person appears in the old Japanese literature. Who was
Himiko and where was the Yamatai she governed?
These questions about a critical period in the rise of the
Japanese state have puzzled scholars for more than two
centuries. Although the postwar boom in archaeology
has provided a more panoramic picture of Japan in the
centuries following the introduction of rice, bronze, and
iron, and the transformation into an agrarian society,
scholarly discussion and archaeological evidence have
been inconclusive. Nevertheless, the flood of new information, combined with the perennial interest in national
origins, has produced a staggering amount of commentary and speculation.
In this, the most comprehensive treatment in English to
date, a senior scholar of early Japan turns to three
sourceshistorical, archaeological, and mythological
to provide a multifaceted study of ancient Japanese
society. Analyzing a tremendous amount of recent
archaeological material and synthesizing it with a
thorough examination of the textual sources, Professor
Kidder locates Yamatai in the Yamato heartland, in the
southeastern part of the Nara basin. He describes the
formation in the Yayoi period of pan-regional alliances
that created the reserves of manpower required to build
massive mounded tombs. It is this decisive period, at
the end of the Yayoi and the beginning of the Kofun,
that he identifies as Himikos era. He maintains, moreover, that Himiko played a part in the emergence of
Yamato as an identifiable political entity. In exploring
the cultural and political conditions of this period and
identifying the location of Yamatai as Himikos area of
activity, Kidder considers the role of magic in early
Japanese society to better understand why an individual
with her qualifications reached such a prominent position. He enhances Himikos story with insights drawn
from mythology, turning to a rich body of commentary
for explanations buried deep in mythological stories
and the earliest descriptions.
(Continued on back flap)
Himiko and Japans

Elusive Chiefdom
of Yamatai
Himiko and Japans

Elusive Chiefdom
of Yamatai
Archaeology, History, and Mythology
J. EDWARD KIDDER, JR.
University of Hawaii Press

Honolulu
2007 University of Hawaii Press

All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
12 11 10 09 08 07
654321
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kidder, J. Edward (Jonathan Edward)
Himiko and Japans elusive chiefdom of Yamatai : archaeology, history,
and mythology / J. Edward Kidder, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8248-3035-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Yamatai (Japan) 2. Himiko, 3rd cent. 3. JapanHistoryTo 645. I.Title.
DS855.3.K527 2007
952.01dc22
2006035363
University of Hawaii Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the
guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources.
Designed by Janette Thompson, Jansom
Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group
Contents
List of Illustrations and Tables, vii
Acknowledgments, ix
Introduction, xi
Chapter 1
Ancient Texts and Sources, 1
Chapter 2
The Wei Zhi and the Wa People, 8
Chapter 3
The Initial Problem and Three Centuries of Compounding It, 21
Chapter 4
Travel by Land and Water to Neighboring Countries, 36
Chapter 5
Han Commanderies, Korean Kingdoms, and Wei China, 53
Chapter 6
Japan in Transition from Yayoi to Kofun, 59
Chapter 7
The Izumo-Yamato Contention, 114
Chapter 8
Himiko, Shamans, Divination, and Other Magic, 127
Chapter 9
Mirrors and Himikos Allotment, 160
Chapter 10
The Japanese View of the Wei Zhi Years, 186
Chapter 11
The Endless Search for Yamatai, 229
Chapter 12
Makimuku and the Location of Yamatai, 239
List of Abbreviations, 283

Notes, 285
Wei Zhi Text, 339
Select Glossary, 343
Bibliography, 359
Index, 391
Illustrations and Tables

FIGURES
2.1
2.2
Wei zhi text 11

Schematic plan of directions and distances to Yamatai from Daifang,
and number of households 13
2.3 Tattooing on Yayoi and Kofun haniwa faces 14
3.1 Map showing the Japanese islands lying parallel to the China coast 28
4.1 Pictures of boats, Yayoi period 43
4.2 Models and picture of boats, Kofun period 44
5.1 East Asia in the third century AD 55
6.1 Population densities: Latest Jmon period and Yayoi period 61
6.2 Major Yayoi sites, round and keyhole tombs of the Kofun period
in north Kyushu 62
6.3 Representative Yayoi-period skulls from regional sites 64
6.4 Yayoi cemetery, Doigahama,Toyokita-machi, Yamaguchi 65
6.5 The moated Hiratsuka-kawazoe site, Amagi city, Fukuoka 73
6.6 tsuka component of Santonodai site, Yokohama city, Kanagawa 75
6.7 Yayoi-period buildings 77
6.8 Kofun-period buildings 79
6.9 Yayoi-period burials 93
6.10 Four-cornered mounded grave, Miyayama Tomb, Yasugi city, Shimane 104
6.11 Ritual objects of steatite, Early Kofun period 109
7.1 Yayoi-period sites in the Nara Basin and northern foothills 120
7.2 Areas of distribution of bronze weapons and bells 125
8.1 Shamans illustrated on ceramic vessels 128
8.2 Haniwa koto players 134
8.3 Middle Yayoi bronze bells with pictorial decoration 145
8.4 Oracle bones and carapace 154
8.5 Distribution of oracle bones from the Yayoi period through the Heian 155
9.1 Triangular-rim-deities-animals mirror no. M34,Tsubai-tsukayama
Tomb, Yamashiro-ch, Kyoto 161
9.2 Ground plans of early tombs; burial chamber of Kurozuka Tomb 167
9.3 Location of tombs yielding mirrors dated 235244, the so-called
Himiko mirrors 173
vii
viii
ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES
9.4
9.5
Four dated mirrors 176

Mirrors matched with mirrors retrieved from the Tsubai-tsukayama
Tomb, Kyoto, forming the basis for the Kobayashi thesis 181
Incised monster/serpent figures on pottery sherds 200
Wooden models of flying birds as grave markers with holes for
supporting poles 219
Distribution of tombs on the southeast side of the Nara Basin
between Tenri and Sakurai 240
Large clay stands for libation pots (tokushu-kidai) 246
Ground plans of Makimuku tombs 250
Aerial view of Chausuyama Tomb, Sakurai city, and Hashihaka Tomb,
Sakurai city 252
Makimuku area, west of Mt. Miwa, with ritual sites outlined 255
Mt. Miwa; sacred stones (iwakura) alongside road in front of haiden,
miwa Shrine 257
Wooden objects with incised patterns from Makimuku sites 260
Probable route from Daifang to Yamatai 279
10.1
10.2
12.1
12.2
12.3
12.4
12.5
12.6
12.7
12.8
TABLES
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Wei zhi distances 38

Population statistics from Middle Jmon to Yayoi 60
Immigrant to native ratios in dentition differences by period
and region 67
Rulers 1043 102
Tombs in Nara prefecture containing more than ten mirrors 110
Number of other mirrors/triangular-rim mirrors by region
and prefecture 163
Comparative decoration on the triangular-rim mirrors from the
Tsubai-tsukayama and Kurozuka tombs 168
Mirrors dated to Himikos hegemony 172
Rulers from Sujin to Suiko 188
Identified locations of Yamatai (preWorld War II) 232
Identified locations of Yamatai (postWorld War II) 233
Model for identifying relationships between tombs in Nara and
Osaka prefectures 248
Makimuku tombs 249
Titles of officials of major chiefdoms under Yamatai in the Wei zhi 277
Kamo-iwakura bells matched with bells found elsewhere 320
Evaluation by Mori Kichi (1965) of designations of imperial tombs 334
Acknowledgments
Whether the faculty and graduate students in the Department of Archaeology of
Kyoto University realized it or not, my year as a Fulbright scholar in that department in 19521953 made me a convert to the Kyoto positionif I was not fully
persuaded before. To be in the company of the heavyweights of Yayoi and Kofun
archaeologyUmehara Sueji, Arimitsu Kyichi, Kobayashi Yukio, Higuchi
Takayasu, Tsuboi Kiyotari, Kanaseki Hiroshi, and Nishitani (then Kawabata)
Shinjiwas an invigorating and memorable experience. I had been accepted there
because of the friendship between Umehara and Alfred Salmony, my professor at
NYU, whose common interests were early Chinese bronzes. It was a dramatic
moment when the Tsubai-tsukayama Tomb grave-goods were recovered. Most
important were thirty-three bronze mirrors of a special type belonging to the time
of Himiko and perhaps the generation that followed her. By matching them with
similar mirrors from other tombs, Kobayashi developed his thesis of a Yamato federation of chieftains, a thesis critical to the rise of the Yamato state.The sheer focus
and drive of the department was contagious, the general views of its members were
convincing, and I found each one imparting knowledge in a special way. Not all survive today, but the many kindnesses they extended me since that time have always
been very much appreciated.Additionally, Suenaga Masao, then director of the Nara
Prefecture Museum of Archaeology at Kashihara, was most generous with the use
of his museum materials.
Despite more than thirty-five years in Tokyo, my association with the Kydai
department put the stamp on me, which I look on as a badge of honor.The years at
International Christian University brought me in contact with many archaeologists
and others. My particular thanks go to the staff of what was then the ICU
Archaeology Research Center: Charles Keally, Koyama Shz, Oda Shizuo, Kobiki
Harunobu, and Chiura Michiko (until her demise in 1982). The staff of the ICU
Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum, Hara Reiko and Fukuno Akiko, have provided
many helpful services for which I am eternally grateful.Akikos generosity and technical skills made a glossary possible. Translation problems were enlightened by the
wisdom, patience, and stamina of Koyama Shz, Yatsunami Hirokazu, and Dorothy
Wong.Their wide-ranging views were exceptionally valuable. Other help in various
forms came from Oikawa Akifumi, Hongo Hitomi, Hayashi Tru, Koyama Yoko, and
Igata Michiko. Special kudos go to those working in the ancient heartland: Walter
Edwards, Yamamoto Tadanao, Ishii Kayoko, and Kaneko Hiroyuki.The expert guidance and the remarkable erudition of Shimizu Shinichi in the Sakurai/Makimuku
area and Yonekawa Jinichi in the Sakurai and Tenri areas were very much appreciated factors in the study. I wish also to acknowledge the contributions of others who
ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
have in different ways imparted information and of students who have been communicative in advanced studies classes. Over the years, not all of these favors are fully
remembered, so I would offer my apologies to any others I may have missed.
Three readers made many useful and practical suggestions in terms of organization, focus, and redundancy, and included some corrections; most of these I have
tried to incorporate into the text. Where our views differed, I have respectfully
retained my own. Special thanks are due to the helpful staff of the University of
Hawaii Press, Patricia Crosby and Ann Ludeman.The sharp eye of Joanne Sandstrom
caught imprecise references in the text, notes, and bibliography; her meticulous
work has been a major contribution to the usefulness of this book.
It required the wizardry of my son Jim to deal with a balky machine and prepare the manuscript in the required form, for which I am forever thankful. Lastly,
my wife, Cordelia, has been a resilient sounding board for many of my ideas, and her
shared interests and constant encouragement have made the projects most enjoyable.
Introduction
Chinese historians, in meeting their obligations to document the activities of their
dynasties or the debt they believed they owed to their predecessors, collected and
eventually recorded information on their neighbors.This material became a store of
useful data for managing political relations, trading guides, and military strategy.
Earlier historic events were sometimes used to justify later actions. In the case of
Japan, two histories are particularly valuable: the Hou Han shu (History of Later Han;
J: Gokansho), recording the period from AD 25 to 220, and a section of the Sanguo zhi
(History of the Three Kingdoms; J: Sangokushi) called Wei zhi (Record of Wei; J: Gishi
Wajin-den), chronicling their short history of AD 221 to 265. The Three Kingdoms
were Wei (221265),Wu (222280), and Shu Han (221264).The people occupying
the Japanese islands at that time were known as Wo (J: Wa), and it appears that the
Chinese writers did not then distinguish them from the residents of south Korea.
Within these accounts, along with descriptions of the political structure of several
Wa kingdoms (guo/koku) and their environmental features, is an intriguing description of the dominant polity that the Japanese have traditionally called Yamatai. This
political unit, perhaps best referred to as a chiefdom, was ruled by a woman known
today as Himiko. Through magical means she controlled the people of Yamatai and
about thirty other chiefdoms, and in 238 she initiated emissarial exchanges with the
Wei court, giving the Chinese writers the primary reason to describe that neighbor.
Extant Japanese records, the Kojiki and Nihon shoki, finished in 712 and 720, do
not mention the name of Himiko, but the editors of at least the latter were familiar
with the Wei zhi and believed that Himiko and the woman who was called the wife
of Emperor Chai, known posthumously as Jing, were the same individual because
they assigned Jing to the years that Himiko was involved with the Chinese missions. This mistake went unrecognized until the entire question received serious
study only two centuries ago.
The Chinese text created its own confusion. It was apparently not realized until
even later that the directions or distances given for reaching Yamatai were incompatible and that, working from a modern map of east Asia, it would be impossible to
reach Yamatai by following both.As a consequence, scholars were faced with the classic twofold riddle:Who was Himiko and where was the Yamatai that she governed?
These questions have haunted Japanese scholars for more than two hundred
years, yet no common views on the problems have been reached. Progress was slow
before World War II, but in the years of intellectual liberation that followed, as the
economy improved and commercial and residential building took off, the mandatory archaeology opened up huge new fields. Not only was this the case in archaeology, but the booming economy boosted every academic discipline. Article and
xi
xii
INTRODUCTION
book production reached astounding proportions in the 1970s and 1980s as literally
hundreds of articles and books poured out on the issue. A complete bibliography
cannot exist, but the one in this book will give some idea of the magnitude of the
problemand the impossibility of dealing with every viewpoint and theory so far
proposed. Inevitably, one must be selective.Television, newspapers, and popular magazines never let the questions rest. Any original view received notice. One supposes that the media would feel greatly deprived of excitement if any solutions
were to be found to the problems in this untidy jungle. Nevertheless, the divergent
differences are now being narrowed, and it seems possible, given the present state of
knowledge, to make a convincing case for the location of Yamatai.
My own interest in the Yamatai problems started in the early 1960s when I
found a copy of John Youngs The Location of Yamatai: A Case Study in Japanese
Historiography, 7201945, although I do not recall even then knowing enough about
the problems to have actually looked for the book.1 Youngs study was so thoroughly
researched one could begin from the 1945 platform he so carefully constructed.
Nevertheless, to help the reader see the broader picture as a coherent and comprehensive whole and to understand how and where the lines were drawn at the end of
World War II, I provide a retrospective of those developments. Later, in regard to
locating Yamatai, critical landmark arguments of the postwar years will be outlined.
When time finally allowed, I had three aspects of a study in mind.The first was
to work with the basic and commendable translation of the Wei zhi by Tsunoda and
Goodrich that has been our standard fare for half a century, commenting on details
with information from later studies and amending a modest number of places.2
Archaeological data provide better interpretations of many points in the Wei zhi
account. I had spent several years with that translation when it was suggested that a
new translation would furnish an updated working base. This translation has been
carefully examined by one Chinese and two Japanese scholars, and where a range of
interpretations existsand there are not a fewI take the responsibility for this version (see chapter 2).
Second, to consider Himikos era, whicharchaeologically speakingis the
critical stage at the end of Yayoi and the beginning of the Kofun period.3 She died
in 247 or 248. In political terms, the era involves the emergence of Yamato as an
identifiable entity in which she must have played a part. Inasmuch as Himikos position was gained through her shamanic practices, a history of magic from its recognized beginnings opens insights into the manner in which shamans exercised their
perceived supernatural powers and leads to a look at the way later writers viewed
the nature of rulership at this time. Thinking that they had solved the problem in
the Himiko equals Jing equation and given her all she was due, the writers of the
ancient Japanese chronicles seem to have been unaware that she was actually still
there, described by them as a force behind the throne of the first or second emperor
of the Kofun period. Her involvement with east Asian politics requires consideration of events transpiring outside Japan and the Japanese response to them.
To meet these objectives of updating the translation, analyzing the cultural and
political conditions of the late Yayoi and early Kofun periods of which Himiko was
INTRODUCTION
xiii
a part, and identifying the location of Yamatai as her arena of activity, it will be
essential to look more deeply into the role of magic in early Japanese society and
therefore to better understand why an individual with her qualifications had reached
such a prominent position. Divination preceded every move, as described in both
the Wei zhi and the Japanese accounts.The archaeology has provided good data on
the artifacts of the practice. Bronze mirrorsa particular one eventually symbolizing the Sun Goddess, and a component of the imperial regaliareinforced
Himikos magical resources. A gift of one hundred from the Chinese court added
exponentially to her power.Their importance cannot be overestimated in the paraphernalia of the magical arts, although some archaeologists prefer to see them as statistical artifacts in a political context.The validity of that archaeological view will be
considered in the light of recent discoveries.
And third, to nominate the largest, most dynamic and cosmopolitan population
center in the latter half of the third century AD as Yamatai, where the formalization
of Yamato religious practices was taking place. Only archaeology, which by its very
nature is an interdisciplinary study, provides this information.
In my view Himiko fits at the very point where the Yamato tribe formed its
alliances and so had the reserves in manpower required to build the massive tombs.
The Kojiki and Nihon shoki attribute this stage of Yamato ascendancy to the reigns of
emperors Sujin and Suinin, who kept palaces in the Makimuku area of the Nara Basin.
The archaeology of this area will be dealt with in detail, and a case made for Himikos
being described by later Japanese historians as a royal relative, either intentionally or
otherwise. Officially, however, by assigning the dates of Himiko to Jing, Chais wife,
they assumed that Himiko and Jing were one and the same individual.
Along with the Wei zhi and a few details on early Japan that do not appear in
that text but are in the Hou Han shu, it will be necessary to pick and choose useful
information from the early Japanese literature. Archaeologists tend to regard the
ancient Japanese texts as too biased and historically unreliable to be helpful, but it
would be irresponsible not to use all available materials in examining this time
period in Japan.The old literature is, in fact, a rich body of commentary on almost
every aspect of daily life and thought. One looks for explanations for archaeological problems wherever they can be foundburied in the mythological stories or
tucked into some historical descriptions. Although I see it less used this way, the
archaeology may contribute to correcting the sequence of events as the writers
claimed they occurred or bolster support for the manner in which certain relationships were described, such as those between Yamato and Izumo.
In regard to terminology, regardless of their distorted or inflated implications, I
may speak of the islands of Japan when they were occupied by the Wa people, and
use emperor for Yamato rulers before the title tenn was adopted by Temmu (r.
672686). If the arguments for accuracy call for the use of terms of the time period,
one reads such strings of names as chief of chiefs Iku-me-iri-hiko-i-sachi and
Tarashi-nakatsu-hiko for emperors Suinin and Chai. The unwieldiness precludes
this. Centuries ago the Japanese discovered that such a litany of personal names
could not be imposed on the public.4
CHAPTER 1
Ancient Texts and Sources
As already mentioned, Chinese historians dealt with early Japan primarily in two
works that concern these events: Hou Han shu and in a section of the Sanguo zhi
called Wei zhi. The Han history is a collection of records pieced together, chiefly by
Pan Ye (398445), and first printed between 994 and 1004.1 It is a later retrospective, and some sections were copied directly from the Wei zhi, but other texts were
available as it does include a few items not appearing in the Wei zhi.
The Wei history was compiled by Chen Shou (233297), professional historian
for the Jin dynasty, the dynastic successor following Weis conquest of the kingdoms
of Shu (Han) and Wu.The historys first printed form was produced in 10001002,
but extant texts date to between 1131 and 1162, and the one kept by the Imperial
Household Agency, known in Japan as the Shki-hon version, is an edition of
11901194, the Chinese era of Shao-xi.
Texts with less content on the eastern barbarians and not of equal value for this
time period are the Song shu, Sui shu, and Xin Tang shu. The first is the History of
Song. It records the events of the Liu Song (420479) by Shen Yue, who died in 513.
The extant text is medieval in time. The History of the Sui (581618) was written
shortly after the periods close, between 629 and 636, under the editorial supervision of Wei Zheng, who died in 643. Scholars work from a printed version of
10241027.The New Tang History (618907) was the product of an editorial board
between 1045 and 1060 and printed in the following year.2 Although these are
extremely brief for earlier times as an accounting for Han and Wei is not their intention, any useful information not appearing in the Wei zhi will be used.
Jin contrived a semblance of unity for north China from 280 to 420. Chen Shou
wrote not only a history of Wei, but chapters on Shu and Wu as well, although neither is as full as the Wei section, political wisdom demanding more attention for Wei.3
During this period of relative stability Chen expanded his History of the Wei Dynasty to
include other neighbors, notably the Xian-bi in eastern Mongolia; the Puy, who
lived in the Sungari river region, apparently the stock from which the Paekche
(J: Kudara) people came; and the Kogury (Kkuli; J: Koma), largely south of the
Yalu (K: Amnok) river. He also dealt with the political units farther south, Ma-han,
Chin-han, and Pyon-han (Pyon-chin, Bian-chen), the Three Han tribal groups that
occupied the general areas later referred to as the states of Paekche and Silla. Among
1
HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI
the descriptions of the eastern barbarians, the Japanese received the most scrutiny, the
account of the Wa some 30 percent longer than its nearest rival, Kogury.
The Relevant Japanese Texts

The counterpart Japanese texts are the classics Kojiki (Records of ancient matters)
and Nihongi (probably the original name) or Nihon shoki (Chronicles of Japan), the
title now in common use. Both books were many arduous years in the making, the
Nihon shoki apparently commissioned by Emperor Temmu on 681.3.16 when he
gathered a committee of learned individuals and told them to commit to writing a
chronicle of the emperors and events of ancient times.4 While not all agree that this
convocation initiated the Nihon shoki, the constituency of its editorial staff looks
more capable of a larger work than that of the Kojiki. It was written in Chinese historiographical style and was ready in 720. The Nihon shoki became the first of the
standard Six National Histories (Rikkokushi), which take the chronicles of imperial
reigns to 887. In the introduction to the Kojiki, on the other hand, an explanation
of the difficulties of adapting the Chinese written language to Japanese is intended
to make the reader more sympathetic to idiosyncrasies and inconsistencies.To simplify the reading it was written in a hybrid style.5
An oblique statement in the Nihon shoki may describe the initiation of the
Kojiki. Emperor Temmu, in contemplating major restructuring of the rank system
to reward those who fought with him in the war of succession, lamented the fraudulent claims for hereditary status of some families and demanded that all records be
examined and truth and fiction be separated.6 Since it was known then that political reorganization was on the drawing boards, families were inflating their pedigrees.
According to its prefacebut which may be a later additionthe production
of the Kojiki depended to a great extent on the talent of a professional reciter at the
court named Hieda-no-are, who had been given the task of committing to memory the history of the emperors and the aristocratic families, stories now becoming
so confused that if they were not soon sorted out, any semblance of accuracy would
be lost forever. Hieda, sex uncertain, was twenty-eight, of extraordinary intellectual
capacity, although quite likely illiterate.The assignment was probably made around
682, but nothing seems to have been done with his or her store of knowledge until
711.9.11, when Empress Gemmy (r. 707715) ordered Yasumaro, a high-ranked
nobleman, to transcribe everything known to Hieda. I, Yasumaro, say,7 opens the
preface of the Kojiki, and he closes it by saying that he has presented three books of
transcription to the empress, dated the twenty-eighth day of the first month, Wad
5 (AD 712).8 Doubtless, Yasumaro did a great deal of editing, but arguments continue as to how much of the book is his handiwork.9
To fulfill its mission of substantiating the divine origins of the Yamato Sun Line
and show a linear imperial ancestry, the sequence in the Kojiki begins book 1 with
the cosmogony stories, three deities who became, the proliferation of deities in
Takamahara (High Plain of Heaven), the creation of the Eight Island Country by
Izanagi and Izanami, the death of the latter and her replacement by spontaneous creation of Amaterasu--mikami (Sun Goddess), and the birth of her brother, Susano-o.
His appalling behavior brought on his banishment, after which he wandered to
ANCIENT TEXTS AND SOURCES
Izumo, where he became a local hero after rescuing the people from a woman-eating
eight-tailed monster/serpent. A magical sword was lodged in its tail. His offspring
deities proliferated. One in the sixth generation was kuninushi, who is later said
to have migrated to Yamato (under another name), and thereby signifying a reconciliation of the brother-sister split and the eventual Izumo-Yamato union.
From the first, Izumos strength was of major concern to the deities of
Takamahara, who negotiated a semblance of peace by dividing up religious and secular authority and guaranteeing a good livelihood for the resident deity.This set the
stage for an earthly conquest by the grandson of the Sun Goddess, who descended
to Takachiho in southeast Kyushu. Seen in retrospect, much editorializing in these
stories gave the Sun Goddess a prominence she probably did not enjoy at that time.
They were written later to enhance the relationship between the Ise Shrine and the
imperial family and to play astute politics while Empress Jit was on the throne.
Empress Jit was sole sovereign after Emperor Temmus death in 686 and therefore during much of the time the books were being compiled.The editorial committee would not have overlooked the wisdom in stressing the divine role of female
rulers. Empress Gemmy was on the throne when the Kojiki was submitted to the
court. The idea was judicious, and Jits maneuvering to put her grandson on the
throne, thus introducing a new succession system, was justified by the choice of the
grandson of the Sun Goddess as ruler.10
In book 2 of the Kojiki, Emperor (sumera mikoto) Jimmu and his associates start
their long trek north and east, each lap marked by delays for supernatural reasons or
because of encounters with and the need to conquer or pacify local, often strange
and sometimes subhuman, people.11 Guided by signs, dreams, and divinely sent
benign spirits, they progress first to Tsukushi (north Kyushu, for a year), then into
the Inland Sea to Aki (Hiroshima, for seven years), next east to Kibi (Okayama, for
eight years); eventually they skirt the Kii peninsula and enter the Yamato plain from
the east, settling in a palace at Kashihara in the Nara Basin, where Jimmu is given a
wife. He dies at the age of 137. A list of eight rulers follows, their ages at death
noted, places of burial indicated, and offspring enumerated in copious pages. They
are figments of the imagination, included for greater time-depth.
With the reign of number 10, Emperor Sujin, a new chapter in the sequence
opens. The processing of information was changing. There are actual stories, albeit
told in such fanciful ways as to be unrecognizable as history.Archaeologically speaking we should be in the transitional stage at the end of Yayoi and the beginning of
the Kofun (Old Mound) period. The succession in the Nihon shoki is smooth, but
the Kojiki says that Sujin was the founder of the country, that is, beginning the
Yamato line.12 For long this assertion was unacceptable to those whose credo was
an unbroken Sun Line, but the lesser-known gazetteer Hitachi fudoki, of about 730,
states it the same way.13 A similar expression is used in the Nihon shoki for Emperor
Jimmu, where its appropriateness would go unchallenged except by modern scholars, but at this juncture it borders on disqualifying the Kojiki from its mission. The
Nihon shoki was called on to heal the breach.
The stuff of Sujins reign are epidemics, disorder in the country, and the remedy for the problems answered in a dream.The crux of the matter was the discordant relations between the deities, the kami. In the political field, battles were fought
in the north and east, euphemistically referred to as the pacification of rebels. The
usual intrigue and treachery went on. Sujin died at the age of 168.The Nihon shoki
has him living to 120, a later note saying he had died in the Year of the Tiger. His
interment may have occurred in AD 258. Fortunately or otherwise, a later editor felt
that events had floated in time long enough and his research had uncovered a reference point in the sexagenary cyclical calendar.The Year of the Tiger, the fifteenth
of the cycle, could be AD 198, 258, 318, or 378, but relative history narrows the
choices to either 258 or 318. Postwar Japanese scholarship tended to adopt 318,
using this date as better suited to the archaeologists claims for the construction of
the first large tomb mounds. For my arguments I have accepted 258, as more
Japanese are now doing,14 because I believe the building of mounded tombs was
started earlier, and some of these stories may well be disguised components of the
Himiko account.
According to the Kojiki, Suinin, the next in line, had some sixteen children by
eight wives.A daughter of his second wife, her fourth child, known as Yamato-hime,
was assigned to Ise Shrine as a special liaison with the court, which incidentally is a
point argued by those who think the Sun Goddess cult was written in later. Once
the genealogy is out of the way, in the succeeding anecdotes the supernatural events
are as real as daily events, and mystify a reader as to their apparent lack of connection. One item of note: female shamans are mentioned as active at the court, indicating a newly recognized authority for women.
Like Sujin before him, Suinin survived a challenge for the throne, this one
involving his wife and her brother.The two conspirators died, his wife perhaps a suicide. Yamato was still apprehensive of Izumo, although the problems were supposed
to have been resolved in the Age of the Gods, when a dumb prince gained his voice
by making offerings to kuninushi, the great deity of Izumo. In return, the Yamato
people were to maintain the shrine properly.Apparently the Yamato court had neglected its contract with Izumo.
Tucked in here is the dispatch of a man with Korean ancestry to look for the
elixir of life, believed to be the tachibana, oranges growing on a tree that bore fruit
out of season. He returned after ten years of searching only to find that the emperor
had just expired and the elixir could not be tested.
Much of the rest of book 2 deals with the reign of Emperor Keik and the
foolhardy exploits of his wily son and great warrior, Yamato-takeru, whose whole
life was consumed with subjugating lawless fringe groups and enlarging Yamato territory.15 Periodic stops at Ise were made to consult with his great aunt, Yamatohime, priestess to the Sun Goddess. These stories are told at great length often in
more than one version or in an obvious variation, evidently expanding on what was
already a substantial cult of Yamato-takeru by the eighth century.There follow the
questionable reign of Emperor Seimu and the aborted reign of Emperor Chai, who
refused to attack Korea despite his wife Jings divine revelations calling him to do
so. He preferred to fight the Kumaso in southeast Kyushu. It was the wrong choice;
he was killed in one of the skirmishes.
Told in the Kojiki as events in the reign of Chai, Jing took the helm, communed further with other deities to confirm the instructions, and attacked Korea
with overwhelming success.A son was born on her return. Known primarily for her
exploits in Kyushu, Jing actually spent most of her life in Yamato, reaching there
by fighting her way into the region. According to the Nihon shoki she ruled in
Yamato for about sixty-five years and died at the age of one hundred in the year
equivalent to AD 269. Jing did not receive full recognition by later Japanese scholars of the imperial system. They claimed that evidence failed to show she had
received the royal insignia. In Naokis opinion she may have been a fabrication by
later writers who used Himiko as the model.16 Women leaders pursued one major
goal in these stories: engineering the enthronement of a son.
The reign of Emperor jin saw a change in policy toward Korea from invasion
to political exchange. A man literate in the Chinese classics brought a sword and a
large mirror as gifts from the king of Paekche. jin died at the age of 130, and the
later editor, who periodically inserted sexagenary dates, said it occurred in the first
Year of the Horse, ninth month, ninth day. As the thirty-first year of the cycle, this
converts to AD 394, but Nihon shoki writers had him dying in the forty-first year of
his reign at the age of 110 converted to AD 310.
The Kojiki and the Nihon shoki were aimed at different constituencies, the former more earthy with its emphasis on origins and early reigns, the latter more
stylish with its attention to later history for a sophisticated court. In completing the
historical account where the genealogies of the Kojiki had left off, the Nihon shoki
not only added valuable data of reasonable accuracy but by doing so gave a seamless appearance that made the earlier accounts more credible. In effect, the Kojiki
was the staple of domestic consumption. The Nihon shoki tied the emerging state
into east Asian history.
The Nihon shoki, in two books, is much more thorough, frequently giving several versions of the early stories. These get more complicated in the reign of
Emperor Suinin, called the eleventh ruler, and are told in more involved ways with
a larger cast, but they still intertwine the supernatural with the real. In less primitive
and occasionally more restrained language, raw and brutal power is somewhat modulated, the heroes being less cunning and slightly more humanized. But laid bare is
all the conniving, double-crossing, and methodical disposal of rivals. The annalistic
style starts immediately with Jimmu. For instance, he reached Kibi (Okayama) on
the 6th day of the 3rd month in the kinoto-u year (the fifty-fifth year of the cycle,
the equivalent of 666 BC),17 which is so preposterous it undermines confidence in
later, more acceptable dates.
Japanese scribes had adopted this Chinese traditional annalistic method of
recording past events, but the late arrival of Chinese-style writing in Japan put them
in the awkward position of a short learning period. More historicity in the Nihon
shoki begins with the reign of Emperor Keitai (c. 530), when contacts with Korea
may have improved the writing style.And in the following century Emperor Temmu
showed special concern for accurate genealogical listings. In reorganizing the ranking system of the nobility (kabane), he needed verifiable information.18 His research
staff could go to material collected more than half a century earlier, each family
of any consequence keeping some records to ensure its status. Some were padded,
others forged. For the year 620 the Nihon shoki says Prince Shtoku, Empress
Suikos regent, in conjunction with a high-ranked official at the court, drew up a
history of the emperors (Tenn-ki or Sumera-mikoto no fumi), a history of the country
(Kokki or Kunitsu fumi), and basic records (Hongi or Mototsu fumi) of the noble families and the citizens.19 These were in the hands of Soga scribes when the palace
coup (645) that initiated the Taika Reform (646) wiped out the Soga family. An
attempt by their supporters to burn the documents was partially successful, only
quick action rescuing the history of the country.20 The salvaged papers were given
to the prince who later became Emperor Tenji (r. 668671).
This may sound as though the writers of the Kojiki and Nihon shoki were then
deprived of much fundamental source material. However, it is believed that still
available to Hieda and Nihon shoki scribes were some individual family histories, a
small number of personal records usually referred to as diaries, one or more genealogy lists, and a fairly standard book of Yamato history, that is to say, the stories
that made their claims for great antiquity and supernatural origins. A consistent and
regular style of introducing the genealogy in the Kojiki indicates the existence of a
model, and two eighth-century references to a single book, Nippon teiki, and a twovolume book, Teiki (now missing, of course), bear out this view.21
The Nihon shoki periodically uses expressions like one book says or an old
record states, indicating the availability of unidentified texts,22 and once the events
impinged on Korea beginning seriously with Jings attack, there was massive
dependence on Korean histories through the middle of the seventh century. In fact,
large sections were lifted bodily; citations were sometimes made, the source credited, but otherwise not felt necessary. Events in Korea are told at great length. The
chief earlier Korean text was the Paekche hongi (Paekche chronicle), probably written in the very late decades of the sixth century.23
It might be added that many expressions in the Nihon shoki are based on
Chinese philosophy and written in Chinese phraseology, in particular the kind
referring to heaven-approved reigns, implications of parallels between natural cataclysmic phenomena and earthly events, and omens and the official response to them.
In fact, Sakamoto goes into great detail on the sources,24 referring to studies by
Kojima Noriyuki, who matched scores of passages from numerous Chinese sources
with phrases worked into the mosaic of the Nihon shoki. Most acceptable is that
common expressions were rampant in Chinese writing, with borrowing an
approved practice, so the Nihon shoki editors made it their business to be familiar
with Chinese documents and their historical style.
Hieda, Yasumaro, and the team that put the Nihon shoki together had a similar and official list of rulers, apparently one drawn up for the basic documents compiled earlier, so this was a well-established sequence by the late seventh century, the
succession problems already glossed over. But what is most telling is that the age at
death for the emperors is never the same in the two books. Death dates are not consistently given until after the time of Emperor Yryaku (perhaps in the 480s). Nihon
shoki writers may have felt that rectifying misinformation in the Kojiki was a part of
their mission, the Kojiki being too dependent on the memory of one individual and
fewer sources. After so much research, the Nihon shoki committee, even if they had
been given the Kojiki to peruse, probably felt their facts were justified.They were
not concerned with perplexing disparities. The two books do bear out Emperor
Temmus contention that no one knew the truth.25 Scholarship today faces the
same problems.
A common but contrived view is that the writers of the Nihon shoki followed
the Chinese thesis of full revolutionary change running the course of 1,320 years,
which can be shown to be the case by coordinating the zodiacal years with Emperor
Tenjis reign, honoring Tenji who received the manuscripts only after fast deliverance from the 645 fire. If he took sole authority in 661 (although probably not
crowned until 668), the full cycle would start with 659/660 BC, the time calculated
for the first emperor Jimmus reign.26 Revolutionary change will appear at the other
end of the cycle1981.
CHAPTER 2
The Wei Zhi and the Wa People
Much discussion regarding the origin and meaning of the term Wa1 cannot evade
the Chinese intention: it identified little people or dwarfs, and from the Chinese
vantage point in north China doubtless had some implications for the relative
stature of the people to Chinas south and east. The Japanese continually tried to
escape the burden of this appellation and, by referring to themselves as people of
Nippon (Ch: Riben), the (land of the) sunrise, achieved some success from at least
the seventh century.
Once Japanese scholars of recent centuries began to seriously study the Chinese
text, they resented their relegation to second-class status and allowed the inferences
to influence their attitude toward its content. Apparently the Chinese did not want
to or could not distinguish between the inhabitants of the southern half of the
Korean peninsula and those on the Japanese islands, making Wa a culturally
sweeping term for people living as far east as central Honshu. Inoue thinks the term,
used essentially for barbarians virtually surrounding China, changed from its original meaning of barbarians to a somewhat more dignified people who live in the
sea, its initial implications lost.2
All of the Japanese names and titles in the Wei zhi have been minutely and endlessly analyzed without common agreement.The name Yamatai as such does not
actually appear in the Wei zhi, and what has been transposed to Yamatai is there only
once. Going south from the guo of Toma, one arrives at the guo of Xie-ma-i (J:
Yamaichi), a name, it says, meaning literally depraved-horse-one. In the Hou Han
shu, however, the third, twelve-stroke character i is written as the fourteen-stroke tai
(pedestal, platform, tableland), the difference only in the lower part. Since it was used
only onceas most references are simply to the queens polity (nu wang guo/jokoku)rather than several times in which an error would have been caught, early
Chinese scholars reasoned that it was a clerks slip that had been recognized by the
time the Hou Han shu was written.3 Later books use Xie-ma-tai. With minor variations, such as Yamadai in Tsunoda and Goodrich, Yamatai is in standard use, the
written form of tai now simplified to five strokes.
The name or title Bei-mi-hu appears four times, and then only toward the end
of the Wei zhi text, and is evidently a Chinese effort to give a phonetic equivalent to
Japanese words. It was probably a title, but has been applied to no other but this
8
THE WEI ZHI AND THE WA PEOPLE
woman, so by practice has become Himikos name. Because it is not in any extant
Japanese text, the problem is arriving at the correct original. Several have been used.4
Archaic Japanese was probably close to Pimeko. Himiko is widely accepted today.
Hime, princess, historically a term connoting divinity and frequently used for
female offspring of Yamato rulers, is often seen in names of female kami in the
mythological period, and hime-miko are generically female kami in contrast to hikomiko, male kami. The title was carried into the historical period. Jing, whose own
name was Okinaga-tarashi-hime, was associated with many deities in many places,
owing a special debt to the Three Female Deities of Munakata, the water spirits that
guarded her when she was attacking south Korea:Tagore-hime of the Okitsu (Inner)
Shrine on the sacred island of Okinoshima, Tagitsu-hime of the Nakatsu (Middle)
Shrine on the island of shima, and Ichikishima-hime of the Hetsu (Outer) Shrine
(also called Munakata Taisha) on the island of Kyushu in Genkai-ch, Fukuoka prefecture.5 It may be assumed, then, that hime as a title had venerable antiquity, and the
writers of the Nihon shoki had little reason not to identify Himiko with Jing. In
view of the unwieldy names of the time, the title was adopted as one.
The ubiquitous and loosely used guo (koku or kuni)mandatory for the cover of
every Japanese book on the topic: Yamatai-kokurequires patience with its imprecision and forbearance for imaginative translations.To Chinese historians it was a political unit of undefined size and unclear structure with some degree of autonomy. For
instance, in introducing the description of Japan in the Wei zhi, Wa once consisted of
one hundred guo; now thirty are in contact with Wei.And later, about twenty guo are
subject to Himiko, who rules the queens guo. Size is therefore irrelevant, and guo may
be at the top or within the tiers.These rulers were wang () kings, using a term equally
applied to rulers as a whole but in a framework most familiar with hereditary systems.
It is true, however, that in the references to Yamatai there is only incidental suggestion
of heredity in the succession.The country was formerly ruled by a man, the text says.
His death was followed by many years of chaos that was terminated when a woman
(Himiko) was made ruler. She remained unmarried. On her death the attempt to
replace her with a man again created lawlessness, and peace returned only when a
relative, a thirteen-year-old girl, was installed in that position. So there is something to be said for the use of kingdom in the Chinese genre of writing. In view
of such limited information, descriptively, chiefdoms seems to be the most suitable
for the Wa federation, a designation that makes Himiko the chief of the chieftains.
Polity is the domain under her.6 Outside areas are here referred to as polities or lands,
depending on whether a political unit or a geographical area is implied.
The word emperor (tenn) is commonly understood to be an inflated term in
early Japanese use, borrowed from the Chinese to elevate the level of prestige and
make similar claims for the mandate of heaven. The term suggests geographically
inclusive rule. Its easy comprehension in English accounts for its use in the translation of Japanese texts even when kimi, great chief or great king, is actually
intended. In view of its omnipresence in writing, there is no disposition to change
it, but some resolution is being reached on the long-standing argument over its first
use and therefore the literal beginning of the tenn system.
Among thousands of wooden tallies (mokkan) recovered in 1997 and 1998 in
excavations in Asuka of the Asukagaike site, east of the Asuka-dera in Nara prefecture,
10
a workshop site for the court and perhaps a disposal dump for official files from the
Kiyomihara palace, one tally bearing a single column of inscription on both sides
introduces each with the graphs ten n. The tally was apparently an imperial order
for an assembly in the temple courtyard. Other tallies connect the assembly with
the Niiname-sai, one saying that in the 12th month of the hinoto-ushi year (677),
Satono miyatsuko (chieftain) of Ena, Toki-kri (county) of Mino-kuni (province;
Aichi prefecture), presented suki kome (special rice) for use in that ceremony.7
Emperor Temmu was on the throne from late 672 to 686, and the Nihon shoki for
677 says that on the 21st day of the 11th month the festival of first-fruits was
held.8 Regardless of whether the tally date and the classical text date coincide for
the ceremony, the term tenn was therefore in use by the time of Temmu, whose
many Chinese-style edicts leads one to believe that he was probably the ruler who
adopted the title.
Daifang (J:Taifu; K:Taebang) was one of the commanderies the Chinese held in
north Korea, this one on the west side of the peninsula, its chief town in the vicinity of modern Seoul.The Chinese had conquered north Korea in 108 BC and over
a period of time had set up four colonial administrative zones commonly spoken of
as prefectures (xian), the most notable being Lelang (J: Rakur; K: Nangnang). The
ready accessibility of Lelang from the Shandong coast and its geographical position
as the avenue of entry into Korea combined to produce a thriving community, the
material culture of its administrators thoroughly Chinese. Even before the Wei took
over north China following the fall of Han in AD 220, Korean tribal uprisings, internal Chinese strife, and ambivalent foreign policies had created periods of unrest for
which the Chinese had restationed their troops and reorganized the administrative
zones. Daifang was established in the early years of the third century to consolidate
the Chinese position farther south.9 The Chinese commanderies are usually said to
have been lost in 313, but there is evidence for residual Chinese administration or
occupation after that.10 Nevertheless, the book was being closed on Japans contacts
with China through north Korea. References to Daifang in the Wei zhi may be
understood once the name is introduced at the beginning of the text.
Daifang was therefore the conduit when the Japanese wanted to visit the
Chinese court. Its governor-general acted as the intermediary. He had to transmit
the gifts, requests, and messages to Luoyang, a slow process indeed and one subject
to his discretion. How much initiative he could exercise in these transactions is
largely speculation. Zhun/gun (county, district), which Tsunoda and Goodrich
translate as prefecture, I have translated as commandery, simply for more specific identification.
The Wei zhi writer was relatively orderly in his presentation, organizing the
material into three sections: travel and brief political sketches; customs, flora, and
fauna; and Himiko and her international affairs. Several scholars have transposed the
twelfth-century version of the text from Chinese to Japanese and extensively annotated it, sometimes putting it into modern language. Doing so is often a prerequisite for their intricate arguments. The most useful are Yasumoto, Hirano, Niizuma,
Tamaru, Yamao, and the work of the Nihon Shiry Shsei Hensankai.11 The
Yoshinogari exhibition catalog of 1990 contains a helpful text with furigana (phonetic notations) readings by an unidentified analyst.
Fig. 2.1 Wei zhi text (Asahi Shimbunsha,Yamatai-Koku e no michi, 180185; Shki-hon. See
pp. 339341 here.)
12
The Shao-xi/Shki-hon (era: 11901194) text is twelve pages long, ten columns
to a page except for the last page, on which each of the last five columns has two
lines of characters, averaging nineteen characters to a column throughout the manuscript. In only one place is there disagreement on paragraphing.The other standard
text, Shao-xing/Shk-hon (era: 11311162), or Keigen-hon, a northern Song product, already mentioned, differs in only eight places, none of which is crucial to any
of the arguments, measurements, or calculations of time.12
The translation of the Wei zhi text is of interest to me more as a literal than literary work. Its literary style inevitably leaves many passages open to wide interpretations and liberal language.Tsunoda and Goodrich provided some literary elegance.
In cases where the differences of opinion with Tsunoda and Goodrich are worth
noting, I quote their translation in the notes. I do not feel that anything more can
be made of the place names and the Japanese titles for local officials, so I am using
the ones most often seen today.
Translation of the Wei Zhi (Shoki-hon)

Distances, Directions, and Political Structures
The Wa people live on mountainous islands in the middle of the ocean southeast of
Daifang. Earlier, more than one hundred chiefdoms13 were seen at the imperial
court in Han times. Now envoys and interpreters14 of thirty of their chiefdoms go
back and forth.
From the commandery to reach Wa, one travels by water along the coast, passing the land of Han. Going sometimes south and sometimes east, one arrives at the
north coast of Kuyahan polity,15 totaling more than seven thousand li.16
Going for the first time over the sea more than one thousand li one arrives at
the Tsushima chiefdom.17 The high official is hiko and the subordinate hinamori.18
This isolated island may be more than four hundred li square.19 The land has steep
hills and dense forests, with roads like bird and deer paths.20 There are more than a
thousand households.21 The rice fields are not good, so they naturally live on
seafoods.They travel by boat to buy grain in markets to the north and south.22
Again, crossing south more than one thousand li over the sea named Han-hai
one arrives at a large chiefdom.23 The official is hiko and the subordinate hinamori.
It may be three hundred li square, and has many bamboo trees and thick forests.
There are about three thousand families.They cultivate rice fields, but they need still
more and also make up the shortage of food by buying grain24 in markets to the
north and south.
Going again across the sea for over one thousand li, one arrives at the Matsura
chiefdom.25 There are more than four thousand households who live along the
mountain foot and seacoast.The grass and trees are so luxuriant that a person walking in front cannot be seen. The people are fond of catching fish and collecting
abalone; regardless of shallow or deep water all go down to catch them.26
Going southeast on land five hundred li one reaches the Ito chiefdom.27 The official is niki, the subordinates imoko and hikoko.28 There are over one thousand households, ruled by a hereditary king.These people are all subjects in the queens domain.
When an envoy from the commandery comes and goes he always stays at this place.
Fig. 2.2 Schematic plan of

directions and distances to
Yamatai from Daifang, and
number of households
14
Going southeast29 a hundred li is the Na chiefdom.30 The official is shimako, the

subordinate hinamori.31 There are more than twenty thousand households.
Going east a hundred li, one arrives at the Fumi chiefdom.32 The official is tamo,
the subordinate hinamori. There are more than one thousand families.
Going south twenty days by water is the Toma chiefdom.33 The official is mimi,
the subordinate miminari. There may be more than fifty thousand households.
Going south ten days by water or one month by land is the Yamaichi chiefdom,
the place where the queen has her capital.The officials are ikima, next mimato, next
mimawaki, next nakato.34 There may be more than seventy thousand households.
From the queens domain35 north, the households and the distance by li can be
roughly recorded, but other chiefdoms are too far to describe. Next is Shima, then
Ihaki, then Iya, then Toki, then Mina, then Kokoto, then Fuko, then Sona, then Tsuso,
then Sona, then Ko-o, then Kanasona, then Ki, then Igo, then Kina, then Yama, then
Kuji, then Hari, then Kii, then Una, then Na.The queens border ends at this place.36
To the south is the Kona chiefdom, ruled by a male king.The official is kokochihiko.37 It does not belong to the queen.38
From the commandery to the queens domain is more than twelve thousand li.39
Ethnology and Environment
Aristocrats and commoners40 all tattoo patterns on their faces and bodies.41
From antiquity envoys who visited China called themselves Grand Masters.42 A
son of the ruler Shao-kang of Xia43 as ruler of Kuai-ji cut his hair and decorated his
body with patterns to avoid harm from dragons.44 Now, the Wa water people, who
are fond of diving to catch fish and for clams,45 also decorate their bodies in patterns
to prevent being annoyed by large fish and water fowl. Later, they became somewhat
decorative, differing in chiefdoms, some on the right, some on the left, some large,
some small, and some [on] aristocrats and some [on] commoners, according to rank.46
Fig. 2.3 Tattooing on Yayoi and Kofun haniwa faces. (1) Osagata, Ibaragi. Middle Yayoi. Ht.
11 cm. (2) tsuka tomb group,Tochigi city,Tochigi. MiddleLate Yayoi. Ht. 13.7 cm.
Heads of full haniwa figures: (3) Shij Tomb, Kashihara city, Nara. Middle Kofun. (4) Horiki
Tomb 7,Tanabe-machi, Kyoto. Late Kofun
15
The distance [to Wa] if measured is equal [to that] to Kuai-ji, east of Tong-zhi.47
Their customs are not indecent. All the males have looped hair, with a cotton
cloth around their heads.Their wide, unsewn clothes are tied together.The women
wear their hair in curvy loops.The clothes are like a single cloth, worn by sticking
the head through the pierced center.48
They plant grains, rice, flax, and mulberry trees for silkworms. They spin fine
threads for linen, silk, and cotton fabrics.49
The place has no cattle, horses, tigers, leopards, sheep, or magpies.50
The weapons they use are spears, shields, and wooden bows.The wooden bows
are short below and long above. Some bamboo arrows have iron arrowheads and
some have bone arrowheads.51
What they have and what they do not have is comparable to Dan-erh and
Zhu-yai.52
The Wa land is warm in winter and summer.The staple food is vegetables, and
all walk around barefoot.53
The houses have rooms. Father and mother, brothers and sisters sleep separately.54 They paint their bodies with red ochre like the Chinese use powder.55 For
eating and drinking they use stands, eating with their fingers.56
At death they use a coffin with no outer sealing box.57 Earth is built up like a
mound.58 At death they observe more than ten days of obsequies, during which
time they do not eat meat. The chief mourner wails, and others sing, dance, and
drink sake. After interment the family assembles to go in water for purification, just
like ablutions.59
When missions cross the ocean to visit China there is always one man who does
not comb his hair, does not remove the lice,60 lets his clothes become dirty, does not
eat meat, and does not get near women. He is like a mourner and works like a
diviner or an ascetic/abstainer. If there is good luck, in view of this they all give him
slaves and valuable things, but if disease or injuries occur, they dispatch him because
as the diviner he had not been respectful [of his vows].61
The land yields pearls and jasper.62 There is cinnabar in the mountains.63
The trees are mountain camphor, horse-chestnut, camphor tree, Japanese quince,
oak [Quercus serrata], cryptomeria, oak [Quercus dentata], mulberry, and maple.64 The
bamboos are shino, arrow bamboo, and rattan bamboo.65 There [are] ginger, citrus,
and pepper.There is zingiber mioga, the tastiness of which they do not know.66
There are monkeys and black pheasants.67
It is the custom on the occasion of an event or a trip, whatever they do, to
divine by baking bones so as to determine future good or bad fortune.The words
are the same as those for tortoise shell divination. The fire cracks are examined
for signs.68
In their meetings, [whether] sitting or standing, there is no distinction between
fathers and sons or between men and women by sex.69 They are fond of sake.70 To
show respect, aristocrats clap their hands instead of kneeling and bowing.71
The people live long, some perhaps to one hundred and others to eighty or
ninety years.72 The custom is for all aristocrats to have four or five wives, commoners perhaps two or three.73 Women are not morally loose or jealous.
16
There is no thievery and litigations are few. If a crime is committed, for a minor
offense the persons wife and children are enslaved, and for a major offense members of the persons household together with his relatives are eradicated.74
There are higher and lower social classes, subordinate to supervisors. Taxes are
collected for which each chiefdom has buildings. The chiefdoms have markets for
trading, though not without a controlling high Wa representative.75
North of the queens domain76 is a particular place from which a high official
conducts inspection of all the chiefdoms. For this reason all the chiefdoms are always
in fear and terror. He governs from the chiefdom of Ito, and throughout the domain
he is like a Chinese magistrate.77 When the ruler dispatches envoys to visit the capital
and when the Daifang commandery or the envoys of the various Han polities arrive
at the Wa domain, all at the port must open everything to be examined, then [be]
escorted on so that messages and gifts sent to the queen reach her in an orderly way.78
When commoners meet aristocrats on the road they step back modestly into
the roadside grass and wait. If they wish to say something, some may crouch and
some may kneel with two hands on the ground in order to show respect.79 When
replying, they say ai, which is sort of like yes.
Before that the polity had a male ruler. Seventy or eighty years ago, year after year
in the Wa polity there was chaos as they fought each other.80 Then they made a female
the ruler, named Himiko.81 She was skilled in the Way of Demons, keeping all under
her spell.82 Although well along in years, she remained unmarried.A younger brother
assisted her in governing the domain. Once she became the ruler there were few people who saw her. One thousand maidservants waited on her and only one man.83 He
served her food and drink and carried her messages in and out. She lived in a palace
resembling a stockade, normally heavily protected by armed guards.84
Across the ocean more than one thousand li east of the queens domain are
more chiefdoms, all like the Wa.85
Again going south is the land86 of dwarfs occupied by people three or four feet
tall. One goes more than four thousand li from the queens [domain].There is also
the land where the naked [people] and the land where the black-teeth [people]
live.87 They may be reached by traveling southeast by boat for one year.
Concerning the Wa, to go to the end of where the Wa dwell on islands in the
middle of the ocean, some isolated, some connected, a circuit of all may be more
than five thousand li.88
Himiko and International Affairs
In the 6th month of the 2nd year of Jing-chu [AD 238],89 the Wa ruler dispatched
Grand Master Natome90 and others to visit the commandery and to request an
audience at the imperial court in order to present tribute. Governor-general Liu-xia
sent an officer-escort with them to the capital. In reply to the rescript from the
queen of Wa, an imperial edict was issued in the 12th month of the same year:
Himiko, queen of Wa, is designated a friend of Wei. Governor-general Liu-xia of
Daifang has sent a messenger to accompany your Grand Master Natome and his
subordinate Toshi-gri.91 You have presented your tribute of 4 male slaves and
6 female slaves and 2 pieces of mottled linen 20 feet in length. You have come from
17
where you reside in a distant land92 and you have sent an envoy with tribute. We
truly recognize this loyalty and filial piety. For this you are now given the title Ruler
of Wa Friendly to Wei and a gold seal with purple ribbon. This will be presented
to you by the governor-general of Daifang.93 You should do your best to bring
about peace and comfort for the people and strive for filial piety.94
Your envoys, Natome and Gri, have made a long and lonely trip on the road,
and on account of this Natome is made Commandant/Leader of the Court
Gentlemen and Gri Commandant.95 We also decorate them with the silver seal
with blue ribbon and grant them individual audience,96 now sending them on their
return trip with 5 bolts of red brocade with mixed dragon patterns,97 10 ch of a
woven, red-background, woolen textile,98 50 bolts of red cloth, and 50 bolts of dark
blue cloth.99 These are in reciprocation and as contributions for your services.
Moreover, as a special gift we present you with 3 bolts of dark blue brocades
inscribed with patterns of characters, 5 ch of fine, florid, mottled woolen cloth,100
50 bolts of white silk, 8 taels of gold,101 2 swords 5 feet in length, 100 bronze mirrors, and 50 catties each of pearls and cinnabar.102 All are packaged and sealed and
given to Natome and Gri. Upon arrival and record of receipt, you as the envoy
may show them to all the people of your country. Our deep feeling of friendship is
the reason for presenting these things to you.103
In the 1st year of Zheng-shi [AD 240] Governor-general Gong-zun sent
Commandant Ti-zhun and others with an imperial rescript, seal, and purple [ribbon] to visit the Wa country and pay respects to the ruler.104 Along with the rescript
he took gifts of gold, white silk, embroidered silk, woolen cloth,105 swords, mirrors,
and other things. Consequently, in reply the Wa ruler sent an envoy with a message
expressing gratitude for the rescript.
In the 4th year [AD 243] the Wa ruler again sent as envoy Grand Master Itogiyayako and others, a total of 8 people, and presented slaves, Japanese brocades, red
and blue silk, wadded clothes, white silk, cinnabar, a bow grip, and a short bow and
arrows.106 Yayako was appointed Commandant/Leader of Court Gentlemen and
awarded a seal with ribbon.
In the 6th year [AD 245], by imperial decree, Natome of Wa was granted a yellow banner, to be presented at the commandery.107
In the 8th year [AD 247] Governor-general Wang-qi arrived to take office.
Queen of Wa Himiko had been in conflict with Himikoko, the male ruler of Kona,108
and had sent Kishi-uo and others of Wa to visit the commandery and to make a report
on the circumstances of the attack.109 Zhang-zheng, Deputy Officer of the Border
Guard, and others were dispatched with the rescript and the yellow banner for the
appointment of Natome. He sent an official letter admonishing them.110
Himiko died and a large mound was built more than 100 paces in diameter.111
Over 100 male and female attendants were immolated.112 Then a male ruler was
installed, but in the ensuing protests within the domain bloodshed and killing exterminated more than 1000 people.113
To replace Himiko a 13-year-old relative named Iyo was made ruler of the
domain.114 Stability prevailed. Zheng and others issued a proclamation concerning
Iyo. Then Iyo sent the Grand Master Yayako, Commandant/Leader of Court
Gentlemen, and 20 other people to escort Zheng back, and to visit and present
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30 male and female slaves. The tribute was 5,000 white beads, 2 large blue perforated comma-shaped beads,115 and 20 bolts of brocades with variegated patterns.
Hou Han Shu, Sui Shu, and Later Addenda

As mentioned earlier, the Hou Han shu was written chiefly in the early fifth century,
well after the Wei zhi, and while it contains a condensed version of the Wei zhi
account, it includes a small number of items that are not in the Wei zhi or are
worded in a significantly different way as to warrant mentioning.116 These items are
given below with connectors, not verbatim.
The Wa live on mountainous islands in the ocean southeast of Han. Since the
conquest of Zhao-xian [in north Korea] by Emperor Wu [187140 BC], thirty of
their one hundred chiefdoms have been in contact through envoys or written messages. Each chiefdom has a hereditary ruler. The king/queen of Great Wa rules in
Yamatai. It is twelve thousand li from the commandery of Lelang, and lies east of
Dong-ye of Kuai-ji and is close to Zhu-yai and Dan-er.
The men wear a single-piece cloth garb tied across the front, and the women
slip theirs over the head.There are more women than men.
In Jian-wu Zhong-yuan 2 [AD 57], the Na chiefdom, which is located at the
south end of Wa, sent an envoy with tribute. Guang-wu honored him with a seal.
In Yong-chu 1 [AD 107], in the reign of An-di [107125], the ruler of Wa sent
160 slaves and requested an imperial audience. During the reigns of Huan-di
[147168] and Ling-di [168189], the country of Wa was in a state of war. For some
years there was no ruler, then a woman named Himiko was installed. She was
unmarried and was involved with magic and sorcery.117 One man attended to her
attire and cuisine and was her mouthpiece.The laws were strict.
Lying off the Kuai-ji coast is the home of the Dong-ti, who constitute more
than twenty communities.Also there are Dan-zhou and I-zhou.Tradition claims the
first Qin emperor dispatched Xu-fu with thousands of boys and girls to find Penglai, the island of the immortals. But being unsuccessful and afraid of returning, he
established a community there. Generation after generation produced thousands of
families. Sometimes they do their market buying at Kuai-ji. Some people of the
eastern sea coast of Kuai-ji were blown to Dan-zhou in a storm. It is located so far
away normal communication is almost impossible.
The Sui shu of the seventh century presents the problem of its writers not
being able to discriminate between information from old texts and recent developments. It says that Himikos chief administrative assistant was her younger
brother; she had two male attendants.118 This may be useful information, but the
text goes on to say, among other things, the Wa have no li measurement, but measure distances by days, do not marry within the kinship circle, enslave a thief who
cannot make restitution of stolen property, put the corpse of an aristocrat in mogari
for three years, and have twelve ranks of officials. And in one sentence they have
no writing, but worship the Buddha and writing was introduced.They know only
notched sticks and knotted ropes. While some of this is true for that date, some
19
perhaps, and some not, it is all such a mixed bag the material requires a great deal
of sifting and sorting.
The Xin Tang shu lists all the early rulers of Japan through Kgyoku (r. 641645)
(which is indicative of later editing, after the Japanese rulers had received posthumous names), but does not mention Himiko. Prior to Jimmu, however, it claims
there were thirty-two generations of rulers living in Tsukushi. Even the Nihon shoki
does not claim this, so another old text must have been accessible. One point all the
Chinese texts make in common is the overpopulation of women in the Wa country, a point apparently interesting to male writers, and perhaps thus rationalizing
their belief of a general state of polygamy.
The Hou Han shu served the purpose of Han history and therefore embodied
different emphases than the Wei zhi. It notes the physical environment of Wa, mild
climate, barefoot people, cloth production, tattooing, features of weapons, and other
cultural and material traits, but omits entirely the mystifying travelog, thumbnail
sketches of the major chiefdoms on the way to Yamatai, and long list of associated
chiefdoms. Little help is provided on the route by saying the chiefdom of Na is at the
extreme south end of Wa. Also omitted, of course, is the series of diplomatic
exchanges with Wei.There is nothing about the end of Himiko and the subsequent
chaos and female successor. What may be useful is the note on the seal of AD 57
and the identification of the Wa internal struggles with particular Han rulers. The
story of Shi Huang-di (r. 222210 BC) sending youths east to the reputed Isles of
the Blest had been around for some time, variously embellished, and has been used
in modern times to introduce rice to Japan, initiate the Yayoi period, and account
for other forms of enlightenment of the Wa.119 Given that they sailed from
Shandong province in the north, as the story goes, there must be some other explanation as to how rice reached the Japanese islands from a millet- and wheat-growing region.
The conventional view is that the Wei zhi speaks of a civil disturbance of seventy or eighty years, but the Hou Han shu narrows this to a period with outer limits of forty-one or forty-two years. In other words, there would be about two
generations of tribal warfare rather than the three to four generations implied in the
usual interpretation of the Wei zhi passage.The Liang shu speaks of a great disturbance in the five years between 178 and 183,120 a comment that suggests that other
skirmishes were not worth mentioning. Whatever might be the case, intense tribal
fighting dominated the political scene for some time, the historical outcome of
which was the end of the Yayoi culture as it is recognized archaeologically and the
beginning of the Kofun culture.A generalized remark like for some years there was
no ruler implies a normally existing semblance of centralized control and political
unity that could only have been of a local nature in the Yayoi period.
Despite the impression that the later Chinese histories were increasingly copyistic and therefore less useful, it is interesting to note whether any new information
had surfaced regarding access to the Japanese islands. In the Sui shu (mid-seventh century), the Japanese islands are 3000 li southeast of Paekche and Silla, by water and by
land.121 In the Xin Tang shu, dealing with the Tang dynasty (618906) but finished in
the eleventh century, Japan is 24,000 li from the Chinese capital (then Chang-an),
and the land requires five months to cross from east to west and three months from
20
north to south.122 In the Song shi, which is thirteenth to fourteenth century but from
tenth-century and later material, the land runs many thousands of li from east to
west and from south to north.123 The answer to the question, therefore, is that the
unchanged formula only multiplies the mathematical conundrums.
The information in these later histories was often badly dated and either failed
to take note of new developments in Japan or could not sort out the old practices
no longer current. And although there was much reliance on earlier texts, in some
instances, glaring gaps suggest ignorance of those texts. For instance, the Xin Tang shu
says the country has no castles or stockades, only high walls built by placing timbers together,124 yet many stone defenses had been constructed in the late seventh
century for fear of an attack from Korea, and the roofs are thatched with grass, a
statement that overlooks the tile-roofed temples that were built after 588 and the
tile-roofed palace buildings in the early cities. There was still the high official
appointed for surveillance over the communities, a practice impossible to maintain,
which must have been discontinued centuries earlier, and the women still outnumber the men, an imbalance that intrigued the Chinese. Diplomatic relations began
with China in the Sui dynasty, it says, yet making a record of the reciprocal missions
with China seems to have been a major reason for writing sections of the Hou Han
shu and the Wei zhi, events that occurred three and a half centuries earlier. Only
these two texts and the Sui shu mention Himiko.
CHAPTER 3
The Initial Problem and Three

Centuries of Compounding It
The Chinese historian described the location of Yamatai as beyond the koku of Toma
to the south another ten days by water, one month by land, but if a naive traveler were
to follow these directions going southas we know the geography todayhe may
well have found himself floating aimlessly in the middle of the ocean. If, on the other
hand, he had gone roughly the right distance in a more or less easterly but quite wrong
direction, he would have gone to or through the Kinki region, the heart of which
eventually cradled the Yamato state. Where was Yamatai in the geography of the day?
The seeming inoffensiveness of the question is deceiving. Its sensitivity took on
a specially charged political character in the Meiji and preWWII periods because
of its implications for early Japanese history and the reemergence of the imperial
system. By way of reference, the two dominant schools of thought put Yamatai
either in the old Yamato area of Nara or, more loosely, the Kinki regionessentially,
Osaka, Kyoto, and Naraor in north Kyushu, referred to historically as Tsukushi.
The Wei zhi text speaks of a reclusive female as paramount of the queens
country (jo- koku). As mentioned above, the early historians of Japan identified
this woman with Jing, known in the old stories as the attacker of south Korea
after the death of her husband.Anything but a recluse, Jing later settled in Yamato
where, by tradition, she is buried in a large tomb, the Kosashi Tomb, in the Saki
group in the northwestern part of Nara city. But the recognition was immutable
from the time the material was recorded in the eighth century: Yamato and Yamatai
were one and the same.
Himiko had to be Jing through history because canonical literature said as
much. In the Jing story, actual paragraphs were quoted from the Wei zhi for the
Himiko years of 239, 240, and 243, referring to two missions from Japan and one
sent in return.1
Given this orthodox belief, it would be a slow process to disconnect the two
and dislodge Himiko from the imperial line. Urabe Kanekata, from an ancient and
distinguished family, compiler of the thirteenth-century Shaku nihongi, a collection of commentaries by his father, Kanebumi, on different aspects of the Nihon
shoki, including genealogies of the emperors,2 is the first recorded writer since
early times to speak of Yamatai, accepting, as all did, that Yamatai was Yamato and
Himiko was Jing.3
21
22
Normally, the third and fourth decades of the twentieth century come to mind
when one reviews political restrictions on speculative thought, but restraints already
existed when Yamatai was first brought to national attention.The early, heady successes of the Tokugawa made them ambivalent toward the ineffectual imperial system, but it was necessary to control the position so as to command their own claim
to legitimacy. This unspecified degree of latitude allowed Hayashi Razan
(15831657), the leading Confucian adviser to the shogunate, the freedom to doubt
the supernatural origin of the imperial family and to wonder if a member of
Chinese royalty had not started it all.4
Once established, the Tokugawa set about containing criticism of the government, past and present. Any deviant view of history became suspect. Arai Hakuseki
(16571725), briefly in the service of Ienobu (shogun from 1709 to 1712) and again
with Ietsugu (until 1716) was the first Japanese scholar to make a serious study of
the Chinese texts. Trained as he was in Confucian thought, his scholarly influence
elevated the Wei zhi as genuine history and a fundamental source of information on
early Japan. Moreover, his identification of places in north Kyushu with the first
kingdoms encountered on the tripMatsura, Ito, Na, and Fumiwas so convincing that they are still widely accepted today.This is not to say that the location
of Na and Fumi are still not debated, but few better suggestions have been heard.
Arai did not question the Himiko-Jing equation, but he was wary of the pitfalls
and wondered about the value of investigating the entire problem in the name of
national harmony, recalling that a fourteenth-century scholar had received severe
punishment from the government because his commentary on the Nihon shoki
raised some doubts regarding the ideal imperial sequence.5
Himiko, a Southern Chieftain

The politics of the problem were fully exposed in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries when the self-absorbed studies of the Kokugaku (National Learning)
scholars examined the Chinese texts and matched them with the early Japanese histories, seeing the issues in the light of national honor. Despite an apparent Chinese
admiration for Himikos indefinable ability to manage so many koku under her control, their description of her social milieu and supporting political structure contained
some arguable points, a few embarrassments, and a failure to assign to her the qualifying hereditary standards for a Japanese sovereign of the time. So even though she
was never in the Japanese imperial sequence, it was still important to make sure she
was not confused with any ruler in that divine Yamato line. These Chinese comments, and doubtless her sex, were factors in requiring her complete removal from
the imperial scene and relegating her to Kyushu. And after further thought, the two
women were also separated in time, Jing losing a century of her antiquity.
Breaking new ground as one of several nationalists, the astute and influential
Motoori Norinaga (17301801), author of the Kojiki-den, written to claim a superior position for the Kojiki because of its Japanese style of writing, saw Jing as having no connection with China, only Koreaif she had sent messengers to China
there would have been clear notice of it in Japanese textsand nothing in the
Japanese records to indicate the existence of two successive female rulers, Himiko
THE INITIAL PROBLEM AND THREE CENTURIES OF COMPOUNDING IT
23
and Iyo. If they did exist they should not have been in the Yamato sequence. The
name Himiko might have been taken by an insignificant local ruler in Kyushu and
someone who was totally associated with China. She and Jing were a complete
mismatch. Yamatai may not have been in the Kinai region.
Norinaga did not overlap with Hakuseki, but represents the next generation of
Kokugaku scholars. His huge corpus was intended to promote a better understanding of Shinto, support the imperial system, and neutralize the contemporary emphasis on Chinese literature. He was certainly one of the first to realize that Yamatai
could not be found if the Wei zhi travel directions were taken literally.
The discovery of a gold seal subverted the accepted pairingsYamatai and
Yamato, Himiko and Jingand shattered the premise of the ages.This find in 1784
by a farmer in a stone-lined pit under a stone on Shiga island, Fukuoka prefecture,
was a major impetus in the pendulum swing toward Kyushu.This object, the recovery of which seemed all too fortuitous for the Kyushu proponents, has not been
without its skeptics, but has survived wishful scrutiny to become a National
Treasure. Described in numerous accounts of later times,6 but not introduced into
archaeological discussions until 1914,7 it was quickly matched with a statement in
the Hou Han shu recording the gift of a seal to a Japanese ambassador by Emperor
Guang-wu in AD 57.
Arguments over the field conditions in which the seal was found were heated
but inconclusive. Jinbei, the individual who discovered it, claimed the hole in which
it lay was lined with three stones and covered by a fourth. Kasai Shinya thought it
was the grave of the king of Na, but Nakayama Heijir disagreed. For him the civil
war preceding Himikos rule was a power struggle between Yamatai and Na. Hans
condition at the time made it impossible to help Na.The seal was given in lieu of
material aid, but it was hidden after Nas defeat by Yamatai.8
A small number of other seals or signets found in east Asian countries, including a similar example in China from the same dynasty, made this one acceptable, but
the conditions of its find will always remain unclear.The decoration is a high-relief,
squat, snakelike creature, the head turned back. Its five characters have gone through
various interpretations that mean essentially that the ruler of China sent a seal of
recognition to a leader in Japan.9 Regardless of how it is read, its discovery was taken
as proof of such emissarial contacts and Chinese munificence as described in the Wei
zhi and the likelihood that its recipient was a resident of north Kyushu, despite the
almost two hundred years that separated it from Himikos time.
The pendulum was swinging toward Kyushu. To Tsurumine Shigenobu
(17881859) goes the credit for obliquely introducing an archaeological interest to
the problem. To him the abstractions dealt with earlier were insufficient. Himikos
palace and tomb should be identifiable. His ultimate answer was a mound traditionally attributed to Ninigi-no-mikoto in Kagoshima.10 However, the cause of
archaeology was little advanced by this conjecture because, among other things,
Ninigi was the grandson of the Sun Goddess and the ancestor of Jimmu, and not of
the right sex. Shigenobu had subtly suggested that some traditional designations of
ancient mounds could be unreliable.
His fixation with south Kyushu led to a remarkable thesis that he published in
1820: Yamatai was the name given by the Kumaso people to their capital, and
24
when the Kumaso were finally defeated by the Yamato after Emperor Keiks time,
they usurped the name of Jing for their female ruler, calling her Himiko.11
It need not be said that there is little documentary evidence to support such a
thesis and no way of knowing whether south Kyushu and the Kumaso/Hayato were
ever under female rule, but Himiko had finally been pried loose from Yamato, thus
shattering a hoary article of faith as old as the Nihon shoki.
Han Nobutomo (17731856) reluctantly left Yamatai in Yamato, saying nothing
large enough in Kyushu could qualify.12 All signs pointed to Yamato, however, and
the list of neighboring koku seemed to fit that area. However, Himiko was not the
passive, retiring pawn as normally accepted, but an aggressive, ingenious schemer, in
power through her own manipulative dexterity and cunning. In this way, Han was
giving her a life, and crediting her with intelligence and diplomatic skills that she had
not had before. She gained a personality through this humanizing process.
An increasing sense of national identity in the reestablishment of the Meiji
emperor as the symbol of the state in 1867, heightened by exposure to Western culture, culminated in the Sino-Japanese War of 18941895 and the Russo-Japanese
War of 19041905. For Japan, dominating east Asia for the first time in history and
united under one traditional symbol, it was as though the centuries of imperial
nonentities had faded into oblivion and the country was once again basking in the
great royal light of the Sun Line.
The floodgates opened after the middle of the nineteenth century. The topic
was no longer regarded as the bailiwick of professional men of literature or historians. Himiko was portrayed by Gunga Michiyo (18511908) as an exceptional
female in a patriarchal system, instrumental in winning the civil war to the point
that male chieftains happily put her on the throne.13 Shiratori Kokichi (18651942)
said Himiko was a collective idea of rulers, not simply one, and the content worth
studying was the social and political structure of Japan at that time. And Tomioka
Kenz (18711918), whose particular interest was ancient mirrors, represented a
rather common theme in his writings: Himiko was a strong figure, the unifier of
Japanese culture.14
As a group the National Learning school accepted the views of the Nihon shoki,
but some individuals strayed from the standard line. Naka Michiyo (18511908)
believed that by correct dating it would be possible to separate Jing and Himiko.
He assumed that the Korean twelfth-century Samguk sagi (History of the Three
Kingdoms) was more reliable than the Nihon shokiwhile his contemporaries
claimed the Korean history was written too late to be usefuland, since the Korean
records failed to mention the invasion by Jing, it was likely to be just a Japanese
invention.15 In his view, adjustments in the Nihon shoki chronology would have been
desired by its imperial sponsor, who would have been pleased with the upgrading
of information to a level unknown to the original writers. Even the sequence associating Jing with the missions to the Chinese commandery was tied in by footnotes added by Nara or Heian editors.16 Nakas calculations put the death of the
tenth emperor (Sujin) at 258,17 thereby showing remarkable erudition in his work.
From our perspective today, his timing was expeditious. Had his studies been done
a few years later as political pressures closed in, he may have suffered the same
unemployment or incarceration that befell others.
25
Kume Kunitake, a Chinese classics scholar who was familiar with Western
approaches to history, lost his position at Tokyo Imperial University in 1892 for an
article entitled Shinto is the ancient custom of venerating Heaven,18 an article of
two pages in the second volume (1891) of the Shigaku zasshi (Journal of the study
of history), the publishing organ of the Kokushi (National History) Department of
the university. (A much longer article came out in three issues the next year.) This
department had been set up in 1888 after the government invited the German historian Ludwig Riess to introduce Western methodology.The mission of the department was to collect documents and record facts. Kumes thesis strayed from this
mission by theorizing that Shinto was not a religion in the strictest sense but a form
of heaven (ten) worship not unlike other east Asian cults.19
By this action the limits of historical studies were more sharply defined, but
even old documents required some interpretation. However, because the department did not meet its assigned mission, its work was halted in 1893 while the government planned a reorganization with a more compliant faculty. When the
department was reopened in 1895under another name and leadershipthe
guidelines were specified: produce a factual chronology of Japanese history. Needless
to say, when the department thus became nothing more than a collection agency,
historical studies stagnated.
One contributing factor to the narrowing of independent inquiry had been the
state support provided Shinto shrines since 1871. This became coupled with the
teaching of the countrys origins as unquestioned truth in the morals (shshin)
courses at an early age in the schools, thus ensuring public indoctrination.
Perhaps the dismissal of Tsuda Skichi, professor of cultural history at Tokyo
Imperial University, is the best known case in this precarious environmentthis
despite the fact that he removed Himiko completely from the imperial line. His first
major work, in 1913, was called Kamiyoshi no kenky (Study of the history of the
Age of the Gods), and six years later he published Kojiki oyobi Nihon shoki no shin
kenky (New study of the Kojiki and Nihon shoki, popularly called just Kiki no
kenky). At this point some relaxation in the oversight of political thought seemed
to make Tsudas studious scrutiny of ancient history acceptable, but he was later fired
from his university position and the circulation of his writings was banned. His
influential position, however, carried much weight, as he believed Yamatai was
located in Kyushu, in fact, at the place named Yamato in Fukuoka. He reasoned that,
as neither the Kojiki nor the Nihon shoki mentions Himiko, the writers of these early
texts had limited themselves to the activities of the Yamato court.Therefore Himiko
was not a part of the Yamato court, had been outside their scope of record, and must
have been in Kyushu.
It would be expected that philologists in particular would note the similarity
in place names, which abound in Kyushu and elsewhereoften with changed
characters todayand so theorize Yamatais location somewhere in southwest
Japan. A casual look through a standard atlas for the decades of the last quarter of
the twentieth century lists a Yamato county (gun) in Fukuoka, a city (shi) in
Kanagawa, townships (ch/machi) in Niigata, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, and Saga, and
villages (mura) in Ibaragi, Yamanashi, Gifu, and Kagoshima. There is a section of
Kikuchi county, Kumamoto prefecture (northeast of Kumamoto city) called
26
Yamato, not on most maps. Obviously, most of these are irrelevant. In any event,
unless it could be shown through archaeological data that some kind of ancient
community had existed in the area, the exercise was pointless. Nevertheless, philologists felt their position had been greatly strengthened by the discovery of the gold
seal. Like Meiji historians, they tended to find a place for Yamatai in Kyushu, but
this left little rationale for locating Kona.20
The issue of slaves (seik) overshadowed all other arguments for a brief spell
in the 1920s and became, in a sense, a diversion from the more politically charged
aspect of the problem.21 Because dorei was not used, interpretations ran from calling
these people servants to individuals with special skills.The disagreement was tinged
with Marxist thinking.The Hou Han shu says the king of Wa sent 160 slaves to the
emperor of China in the early second century,22 and in 238 the Chinese acknowledged the receipt of four male and six female slaves among other tribute items. In
243 Himiko sent an unspecified number of slaves, and after her death, Iyo sent a
total of thirty male and female slaves. If a diviner/abstainer, who sailed on a boat to
ensure good luck, was credited with a successful trip, his reward included slaves
along with liberal tips from his fellow travelers.According to the Nihon shoki, at the
time of Emperor Kimmei (r. 539571) the king of Paekche sent six slaves who had
been captured in battle against the Kogury and gave the emissary a single slave.23
Empress Saimei (r. 655661) received more than a hundred Chinese prisoners
( furyo) from the Paekche king.24 Presumably, the battle captives were male, and
while the last are not said to be slaves, they were undoubtedly to be treated as such.
The female slaves may have been their relatives.
Since slaves were common currency on all sides, there need not have been an
effort to disavow their existence in ancient Japanan underlying nuance in some
of the argumentsbut for the Wa to be without might imply a more humane style
of life. While the voluminous literature on the problem shows chiefly the breadth
of the human imagination, slaves were apparently either foreigners taken in warfare, such as the Chinese sent by Paekche to Japan, or local people, presumably
minorities, such as the Japanese ruler sent to the Chinese emperor. In any event,
including slaves in political tribute was not an exceptional occurrence, and the head
count was no different from bolts of cloth and sets of mirrors.
One of the outspoken Kyushu advocates was Hashimoto Masukichi
(18801956). He put Yamatai in Yamato county in Fukuoka prefecture and Kona in
south Kyushu.25 As the archaeological viewpoint gained ground in the early 1920s,
his views were voiced more strongly in the same historical journal, Shigaku zasshi.
Incidentally, Yamato, written as mountain gate, is a coastal county on the east side
of Ariake Bay in the most southwestern corner of Fukuoka prefecture.The countys
biggest town today is Yamato-machi, and the dominant urban center is Yanagawa
city, 3 km to the north. Yamato-machi has two rivers, to the north the Shiozuka and
to the south the Yabe.The area has many Yayoi sites and numerous mounded tombs.
Events on the Korean peninsula and the political problems of the Han and Wei
were of concern to Hashimoto, who saw Himiko in the broader context of north
Asian shamans. He kept up a running argument with Umehara Sueji (18931983)
of Kyoto University through the late 1930s on the dating of mirrors, disagreeing on
the finer points such as the production period of the mirrors with patterns on the
27
back resembling the letters T, L, and V (TLV type). Umehara, in defense of the
Yamato position in 1925, said that 147 mirrors came from tomb sites in Yamato, 43
from Chgoku, and only 47 from Kyushu.26 One can hardly imagine today the relative paucity of provenanced archaeological artifacts then available in mirror studies, a situation caused by centuries of tomb pilfering and the ban on the systematic
excavation of tombs. In retrospect, the position of the Kyoto school was both consistent and essentially correct from their first pronouncementsthat the TLV type
was Han and primarily of the Wang Mang interregnum (AD 923), and a special
type with a triangular-rim profile was at least post-Han if not Wei. Umehara used
the argument that most of the Han-dynasty mirrors found in Japan had been recovered from Yayoi graves in Kyushu, whereas most of the Wei mirrors had been found
in mounded tombs in the Kinki.
In contrast to Hashimoto, Nait Torajir (or Konan) (18661934) was an early
supporter for the Kansai view. He wrote extensively after 1910, his work culminating in a compilation of his articles in 1929. He believed that Himiko was
Princess Yamato and worked on the premise that, since the Chinese often confused
directions especially for water travel, if east were substituted for south, the results
would be approximately right to put Yamatai in Yamato.27 Toma/Tsuma would
then be in Yamaguchi prefecture and on the normal Inland Sea route to Yamato.
Some Kyushu proponents had taken the one month travel following that as a
clerical error for one day, but to him the Chinese had never been known to
describe a one-day trip. According to references in Chinese books, one in the Bei
shi of about 629, the other in the Sui shu, produced between 629 and 636, the Wa
capital of Yamatai should be equated with Yamato.28 He believed the names of the
four ranked officials that constituted the governing structure of Yamato could be
identified with a variety of royal and other individuals at the Yamato court, and he
identified places listed as south of Yamatai as in the vicinity of Ise.Among the connections he made: Himikos right-hand man was her younger brother; Princess
Yamatos brother was Emperor Keik.
Two important points made by Meiji and later historians should be kept in
mind. One is recalling the Chinese belief that the Japanese islands lay parallel to the
China coast, that is to say, they were a chain of islands stretching toward the south,
and therefore the directions in the Wei zhi may be 45 degrees off; and two, that the
statement of traveling ten days by water and one month by land might be read ten
days by water or one month by land.29
The cycles of nationalism reached a new peak in the early twentieth century.
Critical studies of ancient history could not avoid an assessment of the imperial
system, and early-twentieth-century historians who had the temerity to try are
best remembered for breaching the boundary of governmental tolerance, being
dismissed from their university positions, and, by about 1920, precipitating an
abrupt halt of all efforts. However, they were pursuing an important new tack:
inferences in the Chinese texts on the social and political structure of Japan in the
third century and their significance for the development of the Japanese state.
Holy writ said the state had been founded by Emperor Jimmu in a date calculated
back to 660 BC. Emperor Jimmu, the stories claim, started his earthly conquests
from south Kyushu.
Fig. 3.1 Map showing the Japanese islands lying parallel to the China coast: Suo zai dong
yang er guo tu (Map of two countries in the East Sea) by Xu ji-yu, 1850 (Unno, Chizu no
shinwa, 222)
29
The Contributions of Archaeology

Archaeology before the 1920s, while active as a practice, made only limited contributions to the questions of early cultural developments and locating Yamatai, faced
as it was with the same problems historians had on speculation and interpretation.
Nevertheless, a school of thought promoting the Yamato area as Himikos arena of
action was gaining a substantial number of adherents at and influenced by Kyoto
Imperial University.
The Palaeolithic was then an unknown quantity, and the shell-mounds of the
Jmon period (after about 9000 BC) were regarded as unrelated to Japanese history.
Some had questioned whether the shell-mounds were even human work. They
were undatable in the 1920s and early 1930s, although calculations were made based
on their distance from the present coastline against estimates of sea-level recession.
The Yayoi period (when finally demarcated was regarded as roughly 300 BC to AD
250), the critical stage of the adoption of rice cultivation and the introduction of
metals from China and Korea, was so enigmatic it was not fully defined until 1923,
the year the Archaeological Association accepted its position in the prehistoric
chronology.30 And it was not until after 1945 and the large excavations that preceded industrial and residential expansion that it became possible to fully interpret
the complex multifaceted character of this stage of Japans course toward history.31
Less ambivalent was the archaeology of the mounded tombs that were first
constructed in the third century AD and built in outlying areas well into historic
centuries. Many of the largest had been traditionally assigned to early emperors
whose death and place of burial were faithfully recorded in the old literature.The
tumuli were a visible feature of early Japanese history, represented the ancestral
link, and seemed to symbolize the unmistakably supernatural driving forces of the
earliest rulers.
The annexation of Korea opened new fields for Japanese archaeologists. What
inhibitions had restrained their digging of Japanese tombs did not exist in Korea.
Along with Han-dynasty and later mortuary remains in north Korea, scores of
ancient mounds in the south were excavated, revealing a staggering quality and
quantity in burial techniques and grave-goods. The Japanese had found an outlet
unknown at home, but the more the archaeology and the accompanying recognition of the high level of Korean craftsmanship the more wounded the ego and the
more evasive the admission of cultural origins and extensive borrowings.
Nevertheless, the large volume of imposing site reports and artifact catalogs of the
Korean excavations later proved their usefulness when economic expansion and
geographical encroachments from the late 1950s created a whole new scene for
Japanese Kofun-period archaeology. No experience could have been more valuable
when Japanese archaeologists started to dig their own tombs.
Even before Edward S. Morse had discovered and excavated the mori shellmounds in September and October of 1877,32 the government had decreed a law in
1874 (Meiji 7) forbidding the excavation of tombs.33 Because many tombs were being
looted and a few were being dug, and the peace of the ancestral spirits was thereby
being threatened, this law was designed to give blanket protection. Committees were
still struggling with designations of imperial tombs. None should be disturbed that
might in any way interfere with the process. Meanwhile, excavations of shell-mounds
30
multiplied, initiated by Morses students and continued primarily by faculty of Tokyo

Imperial University. It was inconceivable for these remains to be associated with
national history and the imperial system. Private financial resources were also used.
The yama Shizengaku Kenkyjo (Ohyama Institut fr Praehistorie), headed by
yama Kashiwa, dug numerous Jmon sites and published reports in its journal
Shizengaku zasshi (Zeitschrift fr Praehistorie) from 1929 until the section of Aoyama in
Tokyo that it was in was destroyed by aerial bombing during World War II.The institute produced many distinguished archaeologists.
Tokugawa Mitsukuni (16281700), lord of the domain of Mito, who sponsored
the Dai Nihon shi (Great history of Japan), excavated tumuli in his fief in Ishioka city,
Ibaragi. This constituted the first official investigation of mounded tombs.34 With
wide cultural and antiquarian interests, in 1692 he dug two keyhole-shaped mounds
named Upper and Lower Kurumazuka. They yielded mirror(s), stone bracelet(s),
beads, iron armor, arrowhead(s), and haji pottery, the number not specified. The
objects were kept out only a few days, were illustrated by artists, and were then
boxed and returned to the tomb(s). The trenches were filled in and the mounds
beautified by additional planting. He therefore met expectations of criticism and the
latent fear of the spirits of the dead by minimizing the disturbance both to the original occupants and the site itself.
To the best of my knowledge, not until the last quarter of the nineteenth century
was any tomb digging thought to have had a connection to Yamatai and Himiko. One
of the better-known ones investigated at that time is the modest, keyhole-shaped,
fifth-century Eta-funayama Tomb in Kikusui-machi,Tamana county, Kumamoto prefecture, dug by Kyoto Imperial University archaeologists.35 The public revelation of
its splendid contents was for a while a persuasive argument to some that Kyushu was
the home of Himiko.36 But once it was properly dated (more than fifty years after its
discovery), the tomb was dissociated from Himiko. In more recent times an inscribed
sword found among its grave-goods has been connected with the sword recovered
from the Inariyama-sakitama Tomb in Gyda city, Saitama prefecture. Both swords
are now associated with Emperor Yryaku.37 Despite damage to critical characters
on this sword, both inscriptions seem to include Wakatakeru, the personal name of
Yryaku, who should have ruled about the middle of the fifth century.38 Among its
remarkable grave-goods, along with the inscribed sword, are six bronze mirrors, a
gold crown, a pair of gilt bronze shoes, iron armor, and horse trappings.
The royal quality of the grave-goods coming out of these tombs unsettled those
who feared disturbance of imperial ancestral graves, hence the passage of the comprehensive law to protect all tombs and to eliminate any further private investigations. However, academic pressures did result in permission to dig a few in more
remote regions. Torii Kunitars Nihon kko teiy (Summary of Japanese archaeology) of 1889 included mounded tombs.39 Nevertheless, it will be noted that the
parts of the country he dealt withtombs in the prefectures of ita, Nagasaki,
Kchi, Shimane, and Naganoare all distant from the cultural heartland and devoid
of traditions of imperial tombs.
Kyoto Imperial Universitys interest in the problem began with the dating of
bronze mirrors and progressed to analyzing their political implications. Three to
four generations, here roughly fitted in by decade, started with Tomioka Kenz
before 1920, Umehara Sueji from 1920 to 1950 minus the war years, Kobayashi
31
Yukio (19111989) out from under the shadow of Umehara from 1950 to 1960,
and Higuchi Takayasu (1919) in the years to follow.Their scattered students keep
the tradition alive.
These generations, of course, spanned the critical early 1940s. In fact, the Kyoto
group was the only one that had a firm prewar base of research on which it could
build in postwar years. In effect, the archaeologists had a running start.The study of
mirrors was innocuous and apolitical, and certainly Kobayashis studies following
World War IIeven though the political issue had been seriously underminedran
parallel to customary views of the imperial system. His investigations could be done
in detached archaeological terms, avoiding their application to ancient personalities.
World War II, with its physical and psychological devastation, caused the
emperor to lose his divinity, but left him on the throne and the Sun Line intact. His
philosophical support was gone, the system itself vulnerable.As the millions of overseas Japanese drifted back, the survivors (who could recite by heart the names of the
early emperors) channeled the national energy into reconstruction. One no longer
died for the emperor, but many lived for him.The younger people seemed disinterested except on the occasion of a royal marriage or a royal birth, but even the most
abjectly cynical view of the mythology could not depoliticize a concept so deeply
ingrained in practice and history. The noisy rightists not only threatened but were
actually violent if an official or some public figure made a recordable statement construed to criticize the emperor or the imperial system. Private university professors
and others today question the designations of many of the early imperial tombs
(misasagi or ry), but there is no public clamor to dig them for academic or other
reasons, and the Imperial Household Agency is not in the habit of admitting errors
in identification for this or any other generation.
The broken national spirit and the absence of secret service censorship and governmental pressures opened most but not all doors. Historians were quickly back in
business, picking up where the 1920s left off, almost as though the quarter-century
hiatus had never occurred. Textbooks were rewritten and archaeology was on the
verge of becoming a major industry; but just when it appeared that the next intellectual plateau would be reached, the socialists and radical students, relying on much
public support against the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty initiated in 1960, took to the
streets, barricaded the universities, and generally brought most productive academic
activity to a standstill for the next decade. The collapse of the academic programs,
physical disruptions of faculty research, refusal by archaeology students to excavate
(because digging contributed to the status quo and everything needed to be
changed, and some claimed to be fighting the runaway industrial development),
continued until the year 1970 came and went, and the treaty automatically continued. At that point the economic miracle was on the horizon. The socialists and
red-led students were discredited, the universities opened again, and intellectual
activity was back in style.
Yamatai Mania
Printing houses began to deluge the public with books on Yamatai.The flood was
started by Miyazaki Kheis Maboroshi no Yamatai-koku (The phantom kingdom of
Yamatai, 1967) and spread when popular writers such as Matsumoto Seich
32
(Kodai-shi-gi, Doubts about ancient history, 1968; Yamatai-koku no nazo o saguru,

Searching for the riddle of the Yamatai kingdom, 1972) added glamor and intrigue.
Whole sections of retail bookstores were devoted to the subject. In fact, in the
1970s any book with Yamatai in the title or on the jacket was believed to have sales
value, apparently regardless of the respectability of its content.The speed with which
a book could be handwritten, often virtually illegibly, set in type and printed, and
on the booksellers shelves was both stunning and appalling.
The amateurs seemed to be vying for the prize of most imaginative.
Humanistic scholars inclined toward the meaning of words and phrases, international relations with the continent, definitions of stages of political development,
and the nature of rule in Himikos time. Many tended to remain aloof of the political element, though perhaps not always consciously, especially those in the national
universities who, until the recent privatization of the national universities, served
as civil servants.
The possibility of getting into print encouraged individuals from every walk of
life, and the richness of the field is evident in the various identifiable disciplines of
the writers over and above the usual historians and archaeologists: epigraphers and
linguists, ethnologists, cultural anthropologists, zoologists, biologists and botanists,
chemists, seafarers and would-be travelers, philosophers and psychologists, and geographers and meteorologists. Pinpointing the location of Yamatai was not the object
of all of these, but an inserted map in Saishin Yamatai-koku ron (The latest studies of
the Yamatai kingdom) edited by Tamaru (1989) marks the location of Yamatai as
determined by 157 named writers.40
If the 1980s brought more moderation and sanity to the book-publishing business, the same can hardly be said for the mass media that were sensationalizing the
archaeological discoveries. Newspapers, weekly magazines, television and radio programs, to say nothing of lectures by popular writers and hired archaeology commentators, gave nightly reports on the progress of any late Yayoiperiod site,
customarily exaggerating its significance.As the overheated economy reached its climax, a proportionate amount of money was going into archaeology, and thousands
of sites were dug annually. The excavation of every large Yayoi site was the answer
to the Yamatai question, the solution to Japans greatest historical mystery. Especially
was this the case with the discovery and continued excavations of Yoshinogari in
Saga prefecture, starting in 1986.41
Saga prefecture had acquired a vast open space of chiefly rice fields in order to
develop an industrial park. Himiko was entrenched in her residence behind watchtowers, the Wei zhi said. In the required prior archaeology, the features of a large
double-moated, defended village showed up, with approximately three hundred pits
of dwellings, locations of about twenty big storehouses, and four watchtowers situated to guard entrances across the moats. A mound with several graves of elite individuals was a major feature of the site, and roughly twenty-four hundred jar burials
were lined up in long rows. The village had its densest occupation from about the
first century BC to the second century AD, or through the Middle and into the Late
Yayoi period. But, ironically, only one of those 157 identifiers of Yamatais location
had placed Himikos domain in Saga.42
The Chinese said their ruler had sent Himiko one hundred bronze mirrors, and
on her death she was buried in a mounded tomb. (Several bronze mirrors with dates
33
between AD 238 and 244 have been recovered from mounded tombs, but not one
of these dated examples has been found in a Yayoi grave.) She belonged to the brief
but critical transitional stage at the beginning of the Kofun period marked by the
construction of mounded tombs and was to some extent responsible for the changes
from the Yayoi culture. But because the Kyoto school of archaeologists had declared
that the first tumuli were not constructed before the second half of the third century, Himiko, who died in 247 or 248, was assigned to the last of the Yayoi period.
No evidence was then available to refute the pontifical decree, so the issue went
publicly unquestioned. Currently, the passing of the World War II generation has
opened the door for more flexible attitudes that, coupled with improved dating
techniques, have obligated revision of this ide fixe.
Looking in the wrong place at the wrong time was dramatically corrected with
the opening of the third-century Kurozuka tomb in Tenri city, Nara prefecture in
19971998.43 At the head of the deceased and lining the sides of remnants of the
wooden coffin were thirty-four bronze mirrors, most belonging to a type notable
for its triangular-profile rim, a type known to be closely associated with Himikos
time. Some carry inscriptions, but not one of these includes a date.The same number of mirrors had been found in the Tsubai-tsukayama Tomb in Yamashiro-ch,
Sraku county, Kyoto prefecture, in 1953, and armed with the knowledge that many
mirrors with similarly shaped rims had been recovered from numerous other tombs,
Kobayashi Yukio analyzed this Kyoto hoard and came up with the thesis of mirrors cast in the same mold (dhanky) and the political significance of their distribution after receipt from some Chinese source.44
Some comments may be helpful in understanding the process of fitting tombs
into the now established chronological sequence. Giving them a date is another
question, and depends on whether or not the framework itself is reliable.Thorough
archaeological investigation will not yield useful epitaphs as may be the case in
Chinawhere even the occupant may be identified by namebut if a tomb has
been spared looting, the grave-goods embody a wealth of information that, along
with the internal structure and disposition of artifacts, can work to pinpoint its relative position in time.To these data can be added the shape of the mound, its topographical context (such as in a group), and possible external artifacts, like haniwa,
all of which are guides to the place in the chronology if excavation is not possible.
With a firm typology of not only Han- but also Wei-dynasty mirrors from China,
along with Japanese copies, the presence of mirrors in the grave-goods is a key factor
in determining where a tomb fits in a slot in time. Later discussion will look at the
details, but it is not oversimplifying the problem to say here that the reasoning behind
the late dating of the first tombs was the cultural lag philosophy and the mind-set
that the bronze mirrors had made a long trip from China to get that far, were prized
as heirlooms, and were therefore retained in the family, not buried with their first
owners.As for those found in Yayoi jar burials in Kyushu, they were just over the horizon from their starting point, and their status symbolism was so inviolable that they
could not be separated from the physical remains of their one and only owner.
The slackened pace of Yamatai book production by the early 1990s may have
reflected the weakening economy, as archaeology budgets were also beginning to be
hit hard, but it also signified a badly worn and bruised subject, drained of all its vitality. The existence of fundamental flaws in the Chinese travel description obligates
34
being selective in the support of any hypothesis, and no combination of nuances in

the Wei zhi text has been left untried. Extracting an original idea from it is almost
inconceivable today.
It is now generally conceded that archaeology will be most instrumental in providing the answers, two developments since the early 1980s making this a genuine
possibility. First, in connection with the end of the Yayoi period, urban sprawl has
forced rescue archaeology for large tracts of land in many parts of the country,
revealing substantial settlement sites of the second and third centuries (Yoshinogari
is only one of many); second, regarding the beginning of the Kofun period, despite
the recognized restrictions on digging the designated imperial tombs, some
immediately neighboring, undesignated mounds (which are probably burial places
of relatives) are being excavated, and excuses have been found to dig right to the
edge of an occasional imperial tomb. Recovered shelved-off artifacts and materials discarded after use in the construction of these tombs, especially when the wood
can be tree-ring dated, have been exceptionally informative. Greater precision in
dating the earliest mounds is quickly becoming a reality.
If late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Westerners in Japan knew the
Yamatai problem at all, they seem to have looked on it as either too abstract and
irrelevant or saw no reason to voice their opinions in written form in the current
climate. Making Japan known to the rest of the world, Westerners were not writing
for a Japanese audience.
With no specific references to Yamatai in any of the old Japanese texts, the need
to deal with it did not arise for W. G. Aston when he translated the Nihon shoki
(Chronicles of Japan), which he called Nihongi, published in 1896. However, his view
of the contents of the two volumes is superbly sketched and is worth repeating in light
of the arguments constantly made about the value of the ancient texts. He leaves little doubt of his feeling toward the canonical versions of early Japanese history:
The first two books are manifestly mythological.They are followed by an account
of Jimmus Conquest of Yamato, which has probably a basis of truth, though the
legendary character obviously predominates. Most of the meagre details given us of
the reigns of the next eight Emperors . . . must . . . be pronounced simply fictitious.
. . .Then we have a series of legendary stories . . . but in which grains of truth may
here and there be discerned. . . .The narrative becomes more and more real . . . until
about the fifth century we find ourselves in what . . . may be called genuine history, while from the beginning of the sixth century until A.D. 697 . . . the Nihongi
gives us . . . a trustworthy record of events.45
In the mix of Himiko and Jing we are in the period of Astons legendary stories,
with some grains of truth.
John Young ended on a pessimistic note for 1945, writing before the rewards
of freedom were reaped from the downfall of the authoritarian government:
[H]istorians . . . were forced to advocate whatever version of history was approved
by the government. Hence the Yamatai problem was left unsolved. It is likely to
remain in this state as long as the imperial system continues to exert an influence
35
upon historians, as long as political measures continue to inhibit historians in the

pursuit of their calling.46
Young has had no successors in Western languages who have dealt with the
Yamatai question at book length. There are, however, a number of significant articles and recommended chapter-length studies and many quoted excerpts from the
Tsunoda and Goodrich translation.47 Among other difficulties, the task of coordinating the archaeology with the history is daunting. Japanese historians are disconcerted by the sheer number of people working in the field of archaeology, their
highly publicized finds, and the staggering production of site reports. Traditionally,
Japanese historians and archaeologists have regarded their disciplines as engaged in
separate, disparate inquiriesone accusing the other of never leaving the field, the
other of never leaving the librarya situation that did not improve as developing
methodologies diverged. But archaeology, if not separate, is as often as not within a
history department in Japanese universities, and historical and cultural approaches
have dominated the field. The archaeology of early historic, medieval, and even
modern sites in which quantities of inscribed objectsfor example, wooden tallies
(mokkan)have been recovered, has forced the disciplines to interact well beyond
the customary nodding respect they gave each others work. Himiko and Yamatai
have furnished this common ground.
An unnamed writer (perhaps preferring anonymity) of an article in the Kagaku
asahi provided a quick sketch of the history of the studies outlined above.48 He
based his analysis of the evolution of the studies on specific issues that elicited the
greatest debate of the time and their consequences: (1) c. 17001850, a stage during
which Arai Hakuseki, Motoori Norinaga, and others disliked the inferences in the
Chinese text and attempted to separate Jing from Himiko and break the Yamato
preconception. (2) 18881907, a stage marked by the dispute over setting the date
for the founding of the country; the organization of the Kokushi Department at
Tokyo Imperial University; the development of its journals and its receipt of the
commission by the government to compile a national history; the discontinuation
of the project (1893) because of what was seen as the departments lack of nationalistic fervor (slightly earlier, the firing of Kume Kunitake in 1882 for an article
seeming to rank the emperor subordinate to the higher deities). The collecting of
materials in the Kokushi Department went on apace, and history was regarded as
only the record of the state. (3) 19101928, a stage in which the Kyushu and Yamato
views became irreconcilable. Near Emperor Meijis last years, the studies were led
by Shiratori Kurakichi, a strong Kyushu proponent, and Nait Knan, who was
beating the drums for Yamato, claiming the Chinese had regularly made errors on
directions, mixing indiscriminately east and south and west and north. This stage
terminated when the argument over the slaves sent twice by Himiko to the
Chinese sovereign and once by her successor, Iyo, turned bitter. (4) 19301945, a
totally nonspeculative stage, with those regarded as having subversive views of the
state and the imperial system in jail; studies in these years avoided all political
nuances by concentrating on material problems in the text. (5) 19461965, a period
of great change when all the political implications of the problem could be examined. (6) 1965 and after, the Yamatai boom.
CHAPTER 4
Travel by Land and Water

to Neighboring Countries
Even a quick glance at the Chinese record gives the impression of sophisticated
politicians surrounding Himiko. The Wa behaved in a statesman-like manner,
exchanged envoys with China, and presented gifts of notable variety and quality. On
the other hand, if one takes the Japanese texts literally, when the Wa first became
involved with a foreign region they were being told by their kami to plunder the
Korean coast. It was as though the Wa were playing two games: kowtow to the powerful Chinese and attack the weak south Koreans. In fact, something of this sort was
probably going on, quite likely with Chinese encouragement. If one looks only at
the Japanese accounts, it was a protracted process of recognizing the value of foreign
missions and occurred only after the Chinese had withdrawn from their commanderies and the increasing strength of the south Korean kingdoms forced the Japanese
to treat them civilly.
The problems these later missions encountered are important for any understanding of the coastal and ocean conditions Himikos representatives faced. In the
case of the first mission, sent in 238, the envoys went all the way to the Chinese capital, as apparently did the mission sent by her successor in about 248. Later descriptions inform on sailing times, weather, and other concerns, factors that led the Wa
to require the services of a man with a supposed special relationship to the spirits
responsible for the caprices of nature.
Throughout the old Chinese texts land and offshore water distances were measured in li, a linear unit today about one-third of a mile. But the li was not then a
fixed unit. It fluctuated over the centuries and apparently regionally, leaving a legacy
of greatly divergent opinions on its length during Wei times. It is little help that the
li are noted only in round numbers, often as obviously very rough estimates. To
make matters worse, the Wei zhi writer shifted from li to travel days when he set out
from north Kyushu for Yamatai. Yet for some scholars, finding the length of the Wei
li was seen as crucial to the success of their theories.
For Furuta, for instance, it was all-essential, as it contributed immeasurably to
his thesis of a Kyushu-based Yamaichi.1 However, the very fact that only round
numbers were given (such as 1,000, 500, and 100) is enough to show that long distances were only abstractions to the Chinese writer, and when the same distance is
listed between Tsushima and Iki and Iki and the north Kyushu coast (1,000 li)
36
TRAVEL BY LAND AND WATER TO NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES
37
which any veteran sailor would know was not the caseeven a casual observer
should realize that these estimates were far from realistic. Another point: the water
distances all appear to be proportionally longer than the land distances. Why the
designation was changed from li to number of travel days can be conjectured from
a remark in the Sui shu. This seventh-century text says, These barbarians do not
know how to measure distance by li and estimate it by days.2 In other words, one
was from Chinese sources, the other from Japanese sources.3 The Chinese thought
they had relinquished their responsibility for any imprecision at that point, but there
are, in fact, instances of Chinese references to water travel in number of months.
Chinese tradition has it that a pedestrian can cover a hundred li in a day, a figure apparently derived from, among other things, the long distances traveled toward
the northwest frontier.The length of the li varied according to the length of a pace
(bu), which tended to get longer over the centuries, perhaps owing to some increase
in the stature and stride of the north Chinese people.The length of the pace is the
key unit. Tsunoda and Goodrich say the Han li was just over one-fourth of an
English mile (therefore about 410 m);4 Ishida says a Wei li was roughly 415 m;5
Yamao says it was about 435 m6 (the figure Edwards used), and a pace was 1.45 m.7
Young refers to the reports by explorers and archaeologists of the recovery of
Han foot rules in Central Asia measuring close to 9 English inches, and quotes two
measurements for an inch, one for 22.9 mm, the other for 22.7 mm.The information is then passed on that, unless the length of the li has changed, 15,000 Chinese
inches is the equivalent of 346.5 meters.8
Yasumoto reproduces detailed calculations from Kakugawa specifying to the
meter the length of the li from the tenth century BC to the seventeenth century
AD.9 For another approach to the problem of the li, Yasumoto combined the studies of four writers who matched the li distances in the Wei zhi with measurements
made today. But the results are so varied that one wonders what has been accomplished. For instance, the 1,000 li distance between Tsushima and Iki, by their calculations, ranges between 58 and 138 m for a li.10 It is almost enough to say that
port to port was not necessarily a beeline between the closest land points, and landfall could have been any number of places. Nevertheless, all sailors would look for
suitable inlets and modest harbors where provisions were available. Somewhat more
useful is knowing whether modern calculations using 435 m to a li would come
close to matching the listings in the Wei zhi. Table 1 starts with the number of li
given in the Wei zhi; the second column is the approximate distance in kilometers
between the points I suggest, the third is the distance for each lap for a li calculated
at 435 m, and the last is the average of the four calculations quoted by Yasumoto.
If two points are obvious, it is that the observers and scribes were overestimating water travel by as much as five times and that even short distances in land travel
(if the identifications of the locations of Ito, Na, and Fumi and the calculation of
435 m to a li are more or less right) can be off by as much as 70 percent. Since these
figures totally undermine any belief in the Wei zhis record of distances, would the
averages at the right end in the table be more useful? These figures all come out
strikingly low, in fact, only about one-third of the accepted length of a li, suggesting they are too radically different to be usable. They do, however, make Furutas
selection of between 75 and 90 m for a li (closer to 75) more understandable.11
38
Table 1. Wei zhi distances

Ancient places/modern places
Places in the Wei zhi text/corresponding
modern places
Daifang to Kuyahan/Inchon to Namae Island

Kuyahan to Tsushima/Namae to
Kami-agata in the NW; from Koje Island
is 53 km.Tsushima from N to S is 72 km
Tsushima to Iki/Izuhara in the SE to
Katsumoto
Iki to Matsura/Iki from N to S is 27 km.
Leave from Gonoura; arrive Karatsu
Matsura to Ito/S coast of Itojima peninsula
Ito to Na/To Hakata and S to Kasuga city
Na to Fumi/To Umi-ch and Honami-ch,
10 km S of Fukuoka city and 18 km ENE
of Kasuga city
Total
Wei zhi
distance
in li
Actual
distance
in km
Distance
in li at
435 m/li
Average
Yasumoto
li length
7,000
600
1,379
96 m
1,000
120
276
92 m
1,000
60
138
98 m
1,000
500
100
50
35
35
115
80
80
50 m
80 m
265 m
100
20
46
150 m
10,700
920
2,114
93 m
or more
From later descriptions, it might be thought that the Chinese were becoming
more and more uncomfortable with the idea that Japan was nothing more than a
string of islands running south, parallel to the China coast.The writer of the fourteenth-century Song shi was conceding that the old idea was not flawless, but was
not yet willing to describe the islands as lying chiefly east and west. It says the
country once called Wa but now Nippon is many thousands of li from east to west
and from south to north.12
Whether Yamatai was in south Kyushu or in the Yamato area, almost the
entire trip could have been made by waterif one wanted to risk circumventing
the Ito inspection. The Kammon Strait separating present Kita-kyushu from
Shimonoseki would let a ship into the Su Sea and so into the Seto Inland Sea
and east to Osaka Bay at its east end. Even from there, little travel on land would
be necessary because of the boats operating on the Yamato and other rivers. And
any distance along the east coast of Kyushu would make a water approach to
Yamatai possible wherever it might be located. If north Kyushu is the choice,
rivers could also be used. No settlements of any size whatsoever would be without access by at least shallow-draft boats or rafts.
To the Wa, China was Daifang, and it was the extent of most of their official
travels. Daifang can be assumed to have been where the population has always gathered: in the Inchon-Seoul area, the Han River its chief water thoroughfare. Beyond
that, going to China proper required a Chinese guide, as in 238 when the
Japanese mission requested an imperial audience.The story says an official was sent
along, in effect, a pilot familiar with Chinese bureaucracy. He may have been in the
same boat or, as indicated by later accounts, in a bought, borrowed, or rented Korean
boat. Chinese officials rode in Japanese boats on some later trips.
39
After the withdrawal of the Chinese from their commanderies, Japans traditional enmity with the rising state of Silla forced an alliance with Paekche.The military efforts were indecisive for more than two centuries, the climax reached in 660
in the disastrous naval battle off the west coast of south Korea. Japan evacuated its
troops, but made the immediate decision to go directly to the heart of Chinese culture. At that point they faced the rigors of regular open-ocean voyages. To the old
familiar northern coast-hugging route, which crossed to the Shandong peninsula, so
well known to the surviving diviners/abstainers, was added a central and southern
route to gain better access to the east Chinese sources of goods. The central route
meant ocean sailing to the old Yue district, the Shanghai area today, and the southern route crossed toward present Guangzhou by way of the Ryukyu island chain
and the southern East China Sea.
The winter months, with the winds blowing down from the north, was a dangerous time, and few Japanese boats are recorded as having left port in those
months. In fact, in the Nihon shoki there are no departures from the Japanese islands
mentioned for the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and first lunar months. Moreover, some
of the northern harbors were ice bound two months of the year, doubtless a major
deterrent to unimpeded sailing. Northern travel in May was greatly benefited by
tailwinds. In August, at the start of the summer storms, the winds blew unpredictably in several directions, from the Korean and Japanese side on the west toward
the China coast, in a southerly direction right along the coast, and, farther south,
from southwest to east, making the coastal currents particularly treacherous. Winds
and currents are adverse in the South China Sea, the typhoons spawned there
blowing into the south Chinese coast between June and September and their
accompanying rough weather reaching as far north as the Shandong peninsula. By
late October, when the years typhoons had blown themselves out, ocean travel
again improved. For every ship expected to be lost on the northern route, two
would wreck or sink on the southern route and three on the central route. For all
practical purposes, the safest sailing schedules were limited to two or three months
in the spring and two months in the late fall.
Early Chinese Seamanship

Written references to boats start with the oracle bones of the Shang dynasty, which
bear graphs interpreted as the original signs for a boat, a boat propelled by an oar,
and the way to caulk the seams of a boat. Caulking suggests considerable sophistication in construction at such an early date.13 Rare boat illustrations can be seen
in the reliefs of mythological subjects that decorated the stone walls of Handynasty tombs, such as the Wu tombs in Shandong, where the boats are two- or
three-man sampans, one man sometimes poling, the other holding or working an
oar at the stern. All have gently curved up bows and sterns without noticeable difference between the two.
The Chinese were essentially an inland, sedentary people, their lifestyle and
mythology not the result of experiences in overseas migrations or concepts of the
soul being transported by boat to an ideal place in the heavens. Unlike the island
Japanese, where boats are commonly represented in the early arts, the little thought
40
given to boats in the Chinese philosophical thinking is reflected in the scarcity of

funerary illustrations. Early Chinese seamen learned a directional sense through
astronomical observations, which they used to develop a theory of heaven and earth
relationships. A diagrammatic scheme of the universe was based on the significance
of the four directions. Chinese geomancers were highly trained in characteristics of
the earths natural features. In fact, the Chinese were making grid maps of land formations as early as the first century AD. Their constellation maps came soon after.
They used homing pigeons from early times and had a lodestone available before
they attempted their medieval ocean voyages.
Models are the most useful early guide, and most clay models are from archaeological sites around Guangzhou (old Canton) in the southeast coastal area. Between
209 and 207 BC the second Qin emperor, Zhao-tuo, established his southern Yue
kingdom capital, called Panyu, where a mass of fast-flowing tributaries empty into
the effluence of what foreigners used to call the Pearl River.The models are of simple to fairly well-equipped boats that plied the local rivers. One of the better known
has three roofed compartments, gunwale walks for poling, a large, hinged rudder at
the stern, and three thole pins for oars on each side toward the bow, forward of
which hangs a stone anchor.14
Chinese boats are usually said to have developed from the idea of the raft and
not the dugout, in contrast to the Japanese evolution.The shallow-draft river boats,
of which there have been traditionally a great variety,15 depended largely on being
poled upstream and cruising downstream with the current.Their sails have been proportionally higher than those of coastal boats, as the water surface may be well below
that of the surrounding land.They remained flat-bottomed, without keels, the sampan (literally, three boards) and junk being products of shallow river conditions.
Yulohing, simultaneous propelling and guiding from the stern, was developed
by the Chinese.The yuloh is balanced over the stern on an iron pin acting as a fulcrum and held down at the manipulating end by a rope. The yuloh is pulled back
and forth with one hand and twisted for each movement, its sweep controlled by
the rope held in the other hand, in a motion perhaps more efficient than the
kayakers. In addition, unlike the kayaker, the yuloher can see in all directions, and
stands in a commanding position in such a way that he can put his whole body into
the action. In the usual Chinese manner, a bigger job generally means adding more
manpower, and bigger junks on Chinas long navigable rivers require more yulohers, even more than ten for the huge boats plying them.16
The junk, the basic early type, was so serviceable and seaworthy that little need
was ever seen to change it.The ocean-going vessel was an enlarged junk with three
sails, the ones at the bow and stern usually set off the central longitudinal axis. Large
junks ranged between 40 and 55 m in length, displacing up to 400 tons.The cargo
was stored in watertight compartments separated by bulkheads, this system a
Chinese invention preceding the European design.The rudder could be tilted forward when the boat entered shallow water.17
If one were to judge by the archaeology, art subjects, and literary references, it
would be thought that the early Koreans had at most only a nominal interest in
boats. The archaeology and art is that of the Han Chinese administrators of the
commanderies, and the literature is constituted of books that postdate the Japanese
41
texts by several centuries.There is nothing in Korea like the ubiquitous boat theme
of the Japanese tomb paintings. What does exist is a very small number of fifth- to
sixth-century high-fired, gray clay models and boat-vessels from Silla tombs. One is
an oval-shaped bowl with boat features on top; another is a crude, wide-bodied version of the haniwa boat found on one of the Saitobaru tombs in Miyazaki prefecture, but intended for a far smaller crew. Both of these are in a private collection,
and their provenance is not now known. Another is a pair of boat-vessels, on
pedestals, that have dangling pendants and a little seated man at the stern. In only
the last two is the dugout principle clear, but all have high flares at both ends, and
the first two have as many as four thole pins to a gunwale, so the connection seems
reasonably close to the Japanese boats.18
In this early KofunThree Han stage of intercontinental history, the aggressive
use of boats was largely on the part of the Japanese. Provocation from the Korean
side was suicidal. Korea was seen as possessing much needed resources, iron in particular. Japanese writers proudly boasted of pillaging south Korea, each attack ending with the subjugation of an ineffectual and meek Korean king who gave
everything the Japanese demanded. Only later, when Paekche and Silla evolved as
states, were the Japanese forced to rein in their ambitions and eventually shut out of
Korea. Ironically, it was a naval battle that ended their Korean connections.
Japanese Boatbuilding
Japanese boats had their origin in the hollowed-out log, many or fragments thereof
having been found in damp sites of the Jmon period. But implications of moving
across a fairly large body of water occur even before that time. Some Upper
Palaeolithic sites on Honshu have yielded obsidian tools, the obsidian of which is
traceable to Kzujima, one of the northern Izu Shichit, (Seven Islands of Izu), the
fourth in the chain that runs south of Sagami Bay.19 Also, the oldest pottery in the
Uenoyama site on Kzu island is Earliest Jmon in type, a stage usually dated to
between 8000 and 5000 BC. Material of later Jmon stages, Yayoi, Kofun, and historic times has been recovered from a dozen sites in the northern group of islands.20
Kzu island is more than 50 km from Irzaki, the tip of Izu peninsula, part of
Shizuoka prefecture.
Reaching Kzu was easier than getting back. Currents off the east coast of
Honshu are notoriously strong, creating the rough waters spoken of by old Pacific
Ocean travelers as the Cabbage Patch. In this case the Kuroshio (Black Current)
flows up from the south and between the northern and southern groups of the Izu
islands making navigation tricky, especially for a mariner bucking the current if
returning to Honshu. And, parenthetically, in case one should think that stray fishermen from some place on the southern Japanese coast were swept into the Black
Current then stranded on the island, the archaeological artifacts of Kzu consistently match better with the cultural remains of the Kant region, northwest of Izu.
Ancient dogs and wild boar also got there, more likely intentionally taken rather
than floating along with drifting fishermen.21
The exploration of offshore islands that later proved to be important stops on
the KoreaJapan route or constituted the west coast alternate route to Japan was
42
equally as early. People were on Okinoshima, the sacred island off the Fukuoka
coast, in Early Jmon, and were even earlier on the islands of Oki and Sado.22 The
largest of the Oki islands is 25 km from Shimane, and Sado island is 35 km from
Niigata. Tsushima has two shell-mounds with nondescript pottery thought to be
Jmon. Okinoshima, which is almost on a beeline from Pusan to the Shimonoseki
Strait, is 55 km from Iki, 65 km from Tsushima, and 49 km from shima, on which
sits the Nakatsu Shrine. From there it is another 11 km to the Fukuoka coast.
From this evidence, it is now theorized that Japanese seamanship in Jmon times
was more enterprising and advanced than is customarily believed and that their boats
most likely had some kind of device that employed wind power. Simple dugouts
would not make these trips, but two or more set apart, connected by transverse split
logs lashed downa kind of catamaranwould provide the necessary seaworthiness.
A great variety of early basketry and cord-marked pottery shows much ingenuity and
expertise in using fibers of all sorts for tying and binding materials.
Few of the several dozen recovered Jmon dugouts are complete, but estimates
are for a maruki-bune (one-man, canoe type) averaging between 3 and 4 m, over 50
cm wide.The oldest recovered boat may be the second one found in the Torihama
shell-mound in Mikata-ch, Fukui prefecture, hollowed out of a cryptomeria (sugi)
tree, the remnant measuring 3.47 m in length.23 Dugout fragments found on the
other side of the country in Kant sites are usually of kaya or inugaya.
Several incomplete Yayoi-period dugout log boats have been excavated, from
sites as widely scattered as Niigata, Wakayama, and Shizuoka prefectures. One is
from the landmark site of Toro in Shizuoka, the site of dwellings, storehouses, and
rice paddies that made Yayoi a recognizable cultural period after World War II. All
are estimated to have ranged between 3 and 4 m in length.24 The Toro boat is cryptomeria, while the remains from Osaka sites are chiefly of camphor (kusunoki).
The chief new feature, although not universal, is thinner sides and working
toward a V-shaped hull as a means to reduce water resistance. Also, slight differences
between bow and stern begin to appear, such as widening of the latter. Two poles
might be masts.The pictures cast on bronze bells and scratched on pottery tell of a
major advance. Larger boats, gondola-shape in profile, were built to be propelled by
rows of paired oarsmen. Despite this development, there is little indication that these
changes can be attributed to foreign contacts, but it might be assumed that the yulohing technique for smaller boats had to be taught to the Japanese.
As to the general shape of the boat, bows and sterns throughout all of these
countries were being elevated as larger vessels were built for travel in heavier seas.
The foreign contacts, however, did provide the iron tools with which the basic
dugout type was elaborated with edge-joined side boards. Planks could be bent by
applying heat and weights for the slight narrowing of the boat just at the ends and
for shaping the bow and stern. Caulking may have been done with something like
asphalt, which was used in the Jmon period for repairing broken artifacts. The
Chinese caulking material is known by foreigners as chunam, which is a compound
of lime and tung oil.25
The bronze bell of the first century AD retrieved many years ago from a site in
Imukai, Fukui prefecture, just north of Fukui city, has a row of three boats on one
side resembling a convoy, only the right side one fully readable because of the bells
43
Fig. 4.1 Pictures of boats, Yayoi period. (1) Cast on a bronze bell, Imukai, Fukui. Middle.
Incised on pottery sherds: (2) Kamo site, Okayama city, Okayama. Late YayoiEarly Kofun.
(3) Shimizudani, Nara. Middle. (4) Inayoshi-kakuda,Tottori. Late
seriously damaged condition.The others may have come from the same model, but
the bell is an early, primitive, thin casting for which much surface patching was
needed, and the details never had much clarity.The boat is the first to have the very
high bow and stern, a development that is not necessary for normal river use.A large
figure at the stern holds a rudder. Excluding a couple of vertical lines near the
prowwhich may be that box-shelter seen on some boatsabout twelve equidistant vertical lines above and about eleven slanting lines below give the impression
of a large ocean-going boat powered by a dozen oarsmen, if not twice that many
rowing on alternate sides. One imagines seeing a slight rise just forward of midships,
like a cover over a hold or compartment. Parts of about ten oars can be seen on the
port side of the first boat in the convoy.Artistic license may well be at play, of course,
but the gondola shape itself is an indication of the more adventurous use of boats,
and whether five or twenty-five oars, there is also unquestioned indication of added
manpower for propulsion. The serviceability of this type of boat must have been
well accepted as it continued to be built centuries later.
Several pottery fragments of the Yayoi period bear incised drawings of all or
parts of boats, and all illustrate the chief advance of the time: a bank of oars, four or
more to a side. One from Karako in Nara prefecture is of a large dugout with a
square structure at the bow and a trailer that might conceivably be called a primitive sail but is more like a streamer, and two men, one standing at the stern with oar
44
in hand and the other a seated rower.The latter and a bank of four oars on one side
are the full complement, for what appears to be a yulohing coxswain and four oarsmen, as if every known means of propulsion had been adopted.
The boat on the fragment from Tottori prefecture has, unfortunately, required a
good deal of reconstruction. It is possible that a box should be in the middle rather
than more rowers, but these are plumed men in a decorated boat, involved in some
kind of ceremonial activity.This is the first archaeological indication that boats were
employed for festivities, whether for celebration or memorial, but the literature
speaks of bedecked boats, and here the operators wear distinctive headgear.
The use of the pictorial arts to enhance the funeral activities greatly widens
the scope of understanding of Kofun-period water transport. Coupled with incised
pictures on haniwa cylinders and scratchings and paintings on walls of tombs are
many clay models of boats and stone boat-shaped votive offerings. These do not
suggest any radical changes in design, other than sails becoming commonplace in
later boats. Dugouts of camphor and pine have been excavated from sites in Osaka
and the Kant.26
The first find of a clay model of a dugout with built-on gunwales was in the
excavation of the Nigore Tomb in Yasaka-machi, Kyoto prefecture, but the top part
was not then recognized as fitting on, as the extreme form of this type of boat was
still unknown.The upper part was later found to fit, illustrating the process of simply piling on top of the basic frame. In this case, six single tholes line each side.
When the pieces of a boat model were found on the Takamawari 2 Tomb in Osaka
3
4
Fig. 4.2 Models and picture of boats, Kofun period. (1) Sue model, miwadera, Sakai, Osaka. Middle.
L. 27 cm. (2) Incised on haniwa cylinder, Higashi-tonozuka Tomb,Tenri city, Nara. Early. L. 35 cm. (3)
Haniwa model boat,Takamawari Tomb 2, Nagahara, Osaka. Middle. L. 128.7 cm. (4) Haniwa model
ceremonial boat, Murozuka Tomb 1, Matsuzaka city, Mie. Middle. L. 140 cm
45
prefecture in 1988, its reconstruction was then a relatively easy process.The middle
section is segregated toward the stern, with a small deck the level of the seats (which
are missing) and a small hole in the backboard.Apparently both bow and stern areas
could be covered for inclement weather. Much red paint still remains on the model.
A model need not have accurate proportions, but these boats begin to appear topheavy and underoared for their size. Resembling huge gaping jaws, they look ready
to swallow tons of waterbefore being swamped.
A small, fragmentary Sue model of a boat was found in the fifth-century
niwa-dera kiln site, Sakai, south of Osaka city. The vast number of sherds recovered along the north edge of Suemura are indistinguishable from Korean ware, and
production was probably the work of first-generation Koreans.27 The boat is the
dugout type with the superposed, Japanese style structure, built for four oarsmen to
a side.This design may have been borrowed from the Japanese, and its size was then
a common type plying the waters between Japan and Korea.
The most familiar haniwa boat is the frequently reproduced old find from Tomb
169 of the Saitobaru group in southeast Miyazaki prefecture. Copied from a very
large built-up dugout of the kind with sharply upturned bow and stern, both ends
with high, winglike flares, and cut lower toward the middle, the side planks were
joined flush, the joint covered by a curved board for water tightening resembling a
waterline marker (probably nailed on), called a strake. Seats and thole pins are for six
oarsmen to a side (many restored). A roller above a transverse board at the ends
could be used for anchor ropes. In some respects the width of the bow and stern
above the waterline resembles a Chinese junk, but the means of propulsion distinguishes the Japanese from the Chinese boat.This was a boat for coastal waters, not
inland waterways like the superstructured dugout.
In the early stages of the Yamatai boom (1975) a 16-m-long wooden boat called
Yaseigo was built to test the waters between Japan and Korea. Modeled after this
Saitobaru haniwa boat, the Japanese were to row one way, the Koreans the other.The
months of June and July were selected. Displacing thirteen tons, the Yaseigo had
seven oars to a side moving on thole pins.The oarsmen stood going one way, sat the
other, and found the trip was far longer and more arduous than anticipated. Some
bad weather was encountered, and the open-ocean exposure was debilitating.
Tsushima was reached thirty-three days after leaving Inchon, and the Japanese coast
after a total of fifty days, though not without the help of a tug.
Several lessons were learned, not to mention the obvious one that good weather
for that length of time is sheer luck: the lack of sail and the inefficiency of exclusive use of manpower make such distant travel impractical; the propulsion system
occupies too much space for a boat that size, leaving little room for storage of provisions and other needs; the gunwales are too high above the water, making longer
oars too heavy and shorter ones inadequate for a full sweep.
Supplemental textual evidence for the archaeology, whether plausible or not,
suggests that some preparations for Jings attack may have preceded her. Emperor
Sujin told all the provinces to build boats, rationalizing the order by rating the
ease of boat travel over the unnecessary travails of land travel.28 The provinces were
not yet defined, but even as far away as the Kansai, it is surprising how few are landlocked, Yamato and Yamashiro being the two chief ones. Jing herself ordered the
46
provinces to get their boats together once the kami had assured her of the wisdom of the plan. She set sail and the wind kami did the rest.
Ceremonial Boats
The funeral cortege of Empress Saimei may give some idea of traveling time. Her
remains were put on a funeral boat in Kyushu, where she had died on 661.7.24.The
boat set out on 8.1 and after traveling through the Inland Sea reached Naniwa
(Osaka) on 10.23, only a week short of three months.29 No en route delays are
mentioned, but sailing days became progressively shorter toward the end of the trip.
Many factors have to be considered, among which are length of daylight, anchoring each evening, laying in provisions, and the likelihood of crew replacements.
Inland Sea travel is aided by winds blowing from the west toward the east.
Not only are the funeral boats (ss no fune) incised on cylindrical haniwa magnificently decorated vessels, they are very professionally drawn. One, about late fifth
century, is incomplete, but much can be reconstructed. The other, from the earlyfourth-century Higashi-tonozuka Tomb in Tenri city, is a particularly grand fourteen-oared vessel flying six wind-blown streamers on a bent pole. In the direction
of the bow is a pole with radial ribs for something probably intended as a sunshade
(now looking tattered) and a bridge, and toward the stern is an oar used for steering and another structure. According to the excavator, a bird once sat on the tip of
the prow, but it was effaced when a patch on the cylinder had been rubbed off.30
Just visible above the starboard gunwale is a long, low shape, much like what I imagine I see on the Imukai boat on the bronze bell. Granted the difficulty of ascertaining space relationships and the artists discomfort with drawing human figures, that
may be the coffin or sarcophagus.
Archaeologists speak of funeral boats, but the literature opens up another possibility: a boat flying symbols of the rank of its aristocratic owner, streamers used for
identification. They were decorated much the same way. The same story about a
bedecked boat is told twice for two different encounters on Emperor Chais trip
to Kyushu. A local chieftain on hearing the emperor was coming put a sakaki tree
with five hundred branches on the bow of his large boat, hung a white copper mirror on upper branches, a ten-span sword on middle branches, and curved jewels
(magatama) on lower branches and sailed out to meet him.That front tree on the
Higashi-tonozuka Tomb boat might be hung with such ornaments. The chieftain
then gave these precious heirlooms to the emperor when the latter arrived in Anato
(now Yamaguchi prefecture). On the next lap of the journey, exactly the same procedure transpiredas though it was an established ritualand the chieftain made
the same donation.31 The donations are recognized as the Three Regalia: a mirror,
sword, and string of beads, the later mark of royal authority, here probably a chieftains symbols of rank.
Coastal Navigation
Boats scratched on pottery and cast on bronze bells of the Yayoi period are without
sails, but those of the early Kofun period are equipped with them. Some kind of
wind propulsion must have been in use before sails appeared in the arts. The sails
47
shown there are fixed and could have been of only limited use, but they made openwater and distance traveling possible, revolutionized international contacts, and initiated a new era of warfare. In fact, for a while, sails may have been a distinguishing
feature of warships in international waters. Identification remained a problem
throughout most of Japanese history, which had both advantages and disadvantages.
At the time of Emperor Tenji a mission returning from China in 671 had collected
a flotilla of forty-seven boats and two thousand passengers. Sailing from the south
coast of Korea for north Kyushu, the flotilla, in order to dispel fears of an invading
armada, sent advance units to explain its peaceful intention.32 The sheer number of
boats was unnerving, but no signal devices or markings could telegraph its purpose.
Fleets of boats can be seen in the incised drawings in a small number of tombs,
where andesite- or liparite-block surfaces and poor lighting made the artistry
extremely difficult.The antiquity of the incisings on the east wall of the Midorikawa
village tomb in Kumamoto prefecture has been questioned, but the representations
are in character with pictures in other tombs and the features of boats at that time.
About a dozen boats can be counted, most without masts, and leaf-shaped objects
are probably oars.Two rectangles and some lines and hatches may be sails. For centuries steering was done with an oar to one side at the sternthe outcome of
expanding a basic dugout shape.
Navigating by visual geographical features along coastal routes within sight of
land throughout the East China Sea and Yellow Sea areas is not difficult, although
sailors wish the landmarks were more evenly spaced.The west coast of Korea is studded with bays and inlets, the north China coast less so, and these are ideal for night
havens after ten hours of daylight sailing during the summer months. Early Japanese
seamen probably preferred the landmarks of the west shorelines of the country to
the long, flat beaches of the east. The headlands and mountain profiles are much
more distinct, the many coves offering good evening and bad-weather protection.
Winds are harsher and colder on the west side, the currents more treacherous on the
east side. North of the Kant, sailors encounter the cold currents flowing south,
against which they must navigate.
The choices of reaching the Kinki from any southern Korean port were two: the
northern coastal route, then short hops via Lake Biwa, most of which was by water;
or through the Inland Sea, which had dangerous currents only at the east end but
spawned a great deal of piracy, probably long before it became a matter of record.
Much evidence exists for substantial trade along this west side of Japan beginning in Early Jmon centuries: small objects of jade in sites as far north as south
Hokkaido, the source of which was near the coast in Niigata prefecture; asphalt used
for glue noted on artifacts a great distance from the pits; amber for ornaments
appearing well away from its points of origin; and obsidian for small tools traceable
to collecting places in other parts of the country.33 This is not to denigrate east coast
water travel. It has been argued that such transport may have accounted for facets of
the Yayoi culture appearing far north in Honshu with some seemingly unaffected
intervening areas.34 The presence in the Thoku of pottery similar to the Early
Yayoi Ongagawa type in Kyushu must be explained in this way.35
Sailors would have been familiar with the common signs of distant land, such
as inquisitive land birds and floating clouds or cloud trails. For low-profile land
forms, visibility on the horizon would not exceed 8 to 9.7 km. The full circuit of
48
the east Asian countries can be made with only two breaks in this kind of visual
landmark sailing: between the islands of Okinawa and Miyako in the Ryukyus
chain, a distance of over 250 km to which is attributable the great differences in the
northern and southern Ryukyuan cultures; and the Bashi Channel between Taiwan
and the Batan Islands of the Philippines, a distance reduced to about 125 km by offlying islands at each end of the lap.
Water and Sky Deities

Some of the mythological ideas had taken pictorial form by the fifth century in
north and central Kyushu, culled from the stories in the so-called Age of the
Gods. Boats were used for supernatural transport: the deformed leech-child, original offspring of Izanagi and Izanami, was put out to drift in a bird-rock cavecamphor-boat (tori-iwa-kusu-fune); Susano-o made a boat of clay and crossed to
the land of Izumo; Yamato will make a bird-boat for an Izumo deity, and so on.
Boat-shaped sills were cut in some rock-cut tombs, forming compartments for
three individuals, each body laid as though in a boat (Ishinuki tombs, Kumamoto).
Similarly suggesting the journey of the spirit, boats were painted in strategic places
in collections of motifs on tomb walls (Goroyama and Takehara tombs, Fukuoka),
and boats may have a bird as lookout, as the crow performed the duties for
Emperor Jimmu when he and his troupe were lost in the wilderness (Benkeigaana
Tomb, Kumamoto; Mezurashizuka Tomb, Fukuoka). Perhaps in a more realistic
vein, boats may carry boxlike objects that are construed to be coffins or sarcophagi
(Benkeigaana and Goroyama tombs). These could be funerary boats in their simplest form. The earliest sarcophagi are copied from dugouts and resemble boats,
these too probably thought of as means of conveying the spirit overseas to a
higher level of existence.
Jing, it will be recalled, spent an inordinate amount of time soliciting the
assurance of success from the kami for an attack on the coast of south Korea. When
she got it, and prepared her pregnant self, according to the fancified Nihon shoki
story, she left from the bay of Wani, aided by the kami of wind and propelled by
the kami of waves. Under sail, without the need of rowing or steering, she reached
the shores of Silla.36 Various shrines were later dedicated to the triad of water kami
to which she was beholden.
When the Wa go on voyages they send along a diviner/abstainer, the Wei zhi
says. Was he accompanying only the official missions the writer was describing, or
was he also along on long coastal trips? Most probably it was routine practice, given
the dependence on clairvoyance and kami approval.The terminology may be different, but Chai had a man on board that he could appoint as hafuri on his trip to
Kyushu. A hafuri, a lesser-used title and in changed graphs, is today a shrine official.
On the first encounter, when the emperors boat refused to move, the chieftain
explained why.At the entrance to the harbor were a male and female kami who were
obstructing his route.The emperor soothed their feelings with solicitations and told
his helmsman (kajito), a hafuri named Igahiko, a Wa man, to make an offering, and
the imperial boat was then allowed to proceed.37 Whatever the problemcross currents, lack of wind, an uncharted sandbarthe story tells of reliance on an individ-
49
ual believed to be able to influence the water spirits that were demanding attention
and the feeling that he alone knew how to reach an understanding with them.
This belief in the water spirits upsetting the course of progress or their collusion with higher powers to thwart the perverse actions of Jonah-style humans has a
continuing history. When Emperor Bidatsu returned envoys from Kogury in north
Korea in 573, in the usual distrustful manner two Japanese hostages rode on the
Kogury boat and two Korean hostages on the Japanese boat. After a little rough
weather the Korean hostages were thrown overboardand the Japanese made the
trip smoothly and returned. Eventually the Koreans sent messengers demanding retribution.The Japanese emperor complied.And incidentally, the Kogury envoys frequently came to and went from the coast of Koshi, the region on the Japan Sea side,
now the prefectures of Niigata, Ishikawa, and Toyama.
In this vein, one more small point of interest. At various times, usually national
emergencies, the provinces were ordered to build boats. Empress Kgyoku gave
such an order in 642 as tensions mounted with Korea. International relations with
Korea and internal conditions resulting from her despotic ways deteriorated drastically during her second reign as Empress Saimei (655661). Unexplainable happenings were perceived as signs and omens signaling serious defeat and her destruction.
She had ordered the construction of a boat in the province of Suruga (Shizuoka prefecture), perhaps a special boat for her own use. It was hauled off overland, and people woke up one morning to find the bow and the stern switched.38 The kami were
showing displeasure at the way it was being used and had turned to frustrating her
plans. By that time some slight distinction between bow and stern was recognizable, but the terminology for old boats must have already been set. The commonly
used he means only the end of a boat and needs qualifiers to be specific. Also, one
ideograph can be read in two ways: ro for bow and tomo for stern.
In sum, the basic techniques of boatbuilding changed little from Yayoi to Kofun
times, but as formal international interests grew, boats were enlarged in size and in
number. Cross-channel boats were fitted with sails. Designs varied a little, with some
boats constructed with speed in mind, others as cargo carriers. Smaller, sleeker, more
maneuverable wind-propelled craft received special notice. Karano, a famous boat
that Emperor jin, Jings son, had built in the province of Izu, was 10 j in length.
It floated lightly, and was swift as a racer, and when the king of Paekche was desperately seeking military support in 553 and needed quick action from Emperor
Kimmei he sent a light-sailing vessel.39 Exaggeration in size and number is a feature of Nihon shoki writing, symbolizing large and numerous, so some of these statistics can be taken as efforts to impress. Literally, jins Karano would have been one
hundred feet long.When this same ruler assembled his fleet in a harbor in the Inland
Sea, it numbered five hundred boatssome of which caught fire from visiting Silla
boats nearby. It may be no coincidence that the early writers identified jin so
much with boats, perhaps hedging, as is sometimes thought, in calling him a Korean.
He is supposed to have crossed the Korean strait twice in his mothers womb, was
born on her return, and, to avoid attempts on his life, was secreted as a baby by boat
to the Kii peninsula while Jings boat headed for Osaka to divert the conspirators
attention. But even that ruse met with snags. Water deities forced her boat back. She
divined for advice, was admonished by the Sun Goddess, and could not proceed
50
until she found suitable worship places for several deities, including the three water
spirits who had guided her to Korea. This is how the Sumiyoshi Shrine in Osaka
was founded, at a place where the water kami could gaze out and see passing boats
in a familiar environment.40
Nintoku, jins successor, sent eighty Awaji fishermen to Korea on an informationgathering mission, and eighty boats of tribute arrived from Silla. As a return gift,
Paekche envoys took back with them seventy-four horses and ten boats. A mathematical teaser is the troop boats and cargo sent by Kimmei (554) to south Korea to
aid Paekche in their battles: forty boats, a hundred horses, and a thousand men.41
Ishii sees the archaeology and the literature as giving a picture of very substantial boats in Himikos time. A boat of twenty-four oars, as implied on the bronze
bell, could carry 160 people. jin, who is an important figure in more than one
Fudoki, may have had a boat 150 feet long and 10 feet wide. Forty oars for a boat
about 100 feet in length would not have been unusual, putting such a boat in the
30-ton class.42
From Walking to Riding

Boarding a boat or debarking was not likely to have been done at a dock or jetty.
References are made to wading ashore and waiting for tides to rise before sailing,
and so far there is little serious archaeological evidence for wharfs or other landing
devices. Once on land, commoners were all pedestrians, but the similarity between
classes stopped there.Animals available for heavy-duty use, such as horses and cattle,
existed in north China as the Shang historic period opened, and the Shang (from
about the fifteenth century BC) had horse chariots as a mark of the elite. Horse riding eventually came in from northern nomadic people, the horse itself becoming a
status symbol.The use of wheeled vehicles required improved roads, which in turn
promoted better forms of land communications. Unlimited, driven human labor
performed massive feats of engineering. The construction of canals became major
projects in the process of Chinese political unification. Bridges were needed. Under
relatively stable, unified conditions, Han-dynasty tomb arts flourished, replete with
wall decorations and models of horses, horsemen, and aristocrats riding chariots.
Korea was relatively peripheral in the third century AD, the northern part under
Chinese rule and developing only as such development enhanced Chinese authority.
There is little to suggest that these Chinese transport systems or aids were pushed for
their own sake in Korea. Wall paintings in Kogury tombs illustrate gaily caparisoned
horses being ridden, some horses wearing helmets and scale armor. Fifth- to sixthcentury AD pottery vessels from tombs in Kaya and Silla may be equipped with a
pair of wheels, and a model of a cart from a Silla tomb has thirteen spokes to wheels
set on revolving axles. In Japan, about one-third of a spoked wooden wheel calculated to be 110 cm in diameter recently came up in the Iware site group in Yamada,
Sakurai city. Typical wheels known to have been in use in the Heij capital in the
eighth century were only about half this size.These fragments were associated with
pottery dated to the latter half of the seventh century.43 The law dealing with mortuary practices issued in 646 implies a prohibition on the use of animal- or humandrawn carts when it specifies that coffins were to be carried on the shoulders.
51
Advances in overland travel were slow in reaching Japan. The level of technological development in Himikos time kept the wheel, carts, the use of draft animals
for hauling and plowing, canal construction, and bridge building out of reach.The
wheel, carts, and bovine or equine quadrupeds usually traveled as a package. The
other features moved independently.
Haniwa horses have been found on numerous tombs in widely scattered prefectures.The extensive use of the horse for riding and fighting does not precede the
fifth century in Japan, and most of the horse trappings as grave-goods in tombs
belong to the latter half of the fifth century and later. Cattle were certainly in Japan
by the same century, but before they could be properly harnessed or bred for meat
consumption, application of the Buddhist principles prohibiting the killing of
domesticated animals seriously inhibited their full use.There are a small number of
bovine haniwa from the mounds of tombs in the Kinai.
Excerpted from the Nihon shoki before 697 and from the Shoku nihongi after,
these imperial orders give some insights into the use of cattle. Emperor Ankan (c.
540) ordered certain islanders to graze cattle, an order that was cancelled in 717.
Empress Kgyoku sacrificed cattle in 642 when the country was suffering a
drought. Emperor Temmu, in his concern for the Buddhist teachings, told the people in 675 to abstain from eating cattle, horses, dogs, monkeys, and chickens. Two
provinces presented the court with bezoar (cattle gallstones for medicinal use) in
698, and Emperor Mommu ordered the provinces to make pastures and keep horses
and cattle in 700. At the height of a decimating plague in 706, clay models of cows
were made as charms for driving out the responsible evil spirits. In 707 iron seals
were sent to twenty-three provinces to brand colts and cattle. The province of
Yamashiro (Kyoto) was told in 713 to appoint fifty families to breed milk cows.44
This litany could go on, but the point here is that nowhere in these sources of
information from the early centuries is it suggested that oxen were used as beasts of
burden. Rinoie recalls only one Japanese illustration of stones being moved on a
wheeled vehicle, a seventeenth-century lacquer box.45 Archaeology may eventually
fill the gap here, but looking at the situation now, one has to conclude that if water
transport was available, it was usedoften quite ingeniously in historic centuries. On
land the tendency was simply to apply sheer manpower. In fact, there was an early
history of ritualizing these efforts into social festivals, affording group solidarity in the
face of hostile forces of nature or threats from human enemies. Beginning with the
stone circles in the Late Jmon period, the great community projects in successive
periods were digging protective ditches around villages in the Yayoi period and constructing massive mounds for tombs of the upper class in the Kofun period. One can
add to the latter the river-control systems and irrigation channels, the scope of the
projects relative to the size of the population. After the civil and penal codes were
enacted in the early eighth century, thousands were put to work building palaces and
cities. Many kami-soliciting festivals still survive as community affairs.
Carts and carriages appear in later scroll and screen paintings, most often serving as vehicles for aristocrats and their ladies. Single bullocks may pull them, but in
what is left of the seventeenth-century sliding door ( fusuma) paintings by Kan
Sanraku of a Tale of Genji incident, now mounted as a screen (bybu) and kept in the
Tokyo National Museum, only three carriages are shown drawn by an ox between a
52
pair of shafts. Unless other oxen have been put out to pasture in the interlude, ten or
so of the more or less visible carriagessome are partially hidden behind the
cloudshave two dozen or more men clustered around the shafts to haul them.
A piece of yoke of an ox cart made of pine was recovered from the site of the
Fujiwara capital, which was occupied from 694 to 710, leading to the suggestion
that such carts were in use much earlier than had been supposed.46 The eighth-century level in the Fujiwara capital excavations averages about a meter below the surface. Aristocratic families had space to raise rice on their own lots; it is not unusual
to find remains of their paddies. Oxen need not have been used for plowing.
Shura were huge forked wooden sledges on which stones for building the
internal corridors and chambers of tombs were hauled over rollers.A complete shura
was found in 1978 in Fujiidera city, Osaka prefecture, in a buried ditch containing
the discarded debris from the construction of a tomb initially dated to the fifth century. Some five years later, archaeologists working experimentally with a model realized that the size and weight of stones in these tombs, which came from Mt. Nij,
the ridge separating Osaka and Nara prefectures, could not have been moved without a sledge this size, probably making it seventh century.47
The major development of the hinterland of Osaka and across into the Kyoto
area was carried out by Emperor Nintoku, Jings grandson, who promoted an
immense program of river controls, canal building, irrigation, land reclamation, and
conversion of forest to rice fields.The largest tomb in the country, with three moats,
lying on the Sakai plain, is identified with him.The writers of the Nihon shoki gave
Nintoku high praise for his wisdom and compassion: the people no longer faced
lean years,48 a statement made as though some social benefit had been discovered
for the corve masses put to work constructing mounded tombs in the off-season.
Included at this time is one reference to building a bridge at a ferry, but elsewhere
stories are told of tying boats side by side in order to cross rivers.Traditionally, Priest
Gyki (668749) came back from a visit to China with engineering expertise and
taught the Japanese the techniques of building bridges and docks.
CHAPTER 5
Han Commanderies,
Korean Kingdoms, and Wei China
Himiko would not be known if the Chinese had not had their historians and if the
Wei had not been successful in putting down rebellions in north Korea and requiring all subdued people to show their respect and pay tribute.Those who were one
step removed, like the Japanese Wa, were sufficiently intimidated to follow the wise
course of professing goodwill and sending missions, even flattering by asking for aid.
Himiko was an astute fringe neighbor. Her court circle had learned the mechanics
of international politics and ways of enhancing the Wa position, for which the
Chinese recognized her and found good reason to make favorable note of her.
The other effect of the Chinese occupation in north Korea and battles to
extend their influenceor to save their holdingswas pressure on less cooperative
Koreans whose presence was threatened or others who were merely seeking work
or land to settle on. Some may have been led to believe that conditions were more
peaceful in Japan. Migrationswhatever the events that triggered themincluded
members of the elite class to judge by Korean weapons and Chinese mirrors in
graves, artisans who showed the Wa the rudimentary techniques of iron and bronze
working, craftspeople who instructed in methods of textile production, and others
who became farmers and laborers. Rice, probably from coastal China, helped to initiate an economic base for a society that took on the characteristics of social stratification familiar to north Korea. It was, therefore, out of this milieu that the Wa
became civilized, if one accepts a popular view that raising rice has a civilizing
effect. Because the very record of Himiko owes so much to events on the peninsula
and the known cultural level of the north at the time, a look at these events will
show why and how she brought Japan into the international world.
Western or Former and Eastern or Later Han were historically divided by the
interregnum of Wang Mang from AD 9 to 23. Wangs efforts to reform corrupt
practices in landholdings, agricultural loans, control of slaves, and currency management and to further centralize the governments authority cost him his life in a
peasant rebellion.1 The Eastern Han (AD 23220) capital was at Luoyang, but on
peripheral affairs east of China the Chinese delegated the responsibility to their outpost at Daifang. Later Han, with which the Wa had to deal, was much concerned
with preserving the lines as established in earlier times. The Xiongnu along the
northern border of China had broken up through internal squabbles, and the more
53
54
amenable group had joined Hans tribute system.The trade routes were active, court
politics were no less intense, and uprisings among farmers were periodic threats.
The administrative units here called commanderies (jun/gun, kri;
prefecture/county) were inherited by the Han from the Qin and the term not
changed until several centuries later.The rush to consolidate and reform was on in
the first century of Han rule, especially under Wen-di (r. 180157 BC) and Wu-di
(r. 141187). Civil service examinations were set up for appointment to offices
(165), the Imperial Academy was founded (124), and in the interest of revenue, the
state took control of the mining and distribution of iron and salt, and alcohol in the
following century.The state also sponsored lacquer and silk production. Lelang, the
chief of the commanderies in north Korea, was established (108) as part of a major
move to prevent the population of southern Manchuria and the old Choson region
from joining forces with the nomadic enemies along the northern frontier.
Social conditions at home were stable, the size of the population rose dramatically, and agricultural production increased with the use of the wheelbarrow and
water mill. Paper was being made. But the dynastys problems of its second century
were the direct outcome of the Inner Asia expansionist policies of its first century
a continuous pattern of northern border skirmishes, negotiations, and compromises
with the aggressive and virtually indestructible Xiongnu. Access to the trade routes
was important, but just as important was protection of the north Chinese from the
raids and incursions by these nomadic barbarians.Among other methods of defense,
much construction was done on the Great Wall, sections of which had been built
even before it became a major project of the Qin regime.
Another face of the Han legacy was the cultural effort to revive the Confucian
classics, emphasize education, and write history to preserve ancient traditions and
stress the heavenly mandate for rule. Beginning with Sima Qian (145c. 86 BC),
Chinese historians practiced the art of recording the ethnological and geographical
scene of their world and began the pattern of documenting to which the Wei zhi
belongs. In the Shi ji (Historical records) Sima Qian dealt chiefly with Han history
and was concerned with heavenly revelations relating to the quality of rule. Past
events were evaluated in terms of adequacy of response to heavenly signals, the
course of human existence measured against a master design. Because the learned
man interpreted the omens and signs, he served in two inseparable roles, Grand
Astrologer and Grand Historian.The historian was therefore in an exceptionally
powerful but delicate position, history seen as assessing the performance of a ruler
against the theoretical ideal.As an official at the time of Emperor Wu-di, Sima Qian
suffered imprisonment and castration for his honest judgments. However, his genre
of historical writing took a safer turn when later historians retrospectively documented the dynasty that they had succeeded.
The Han dynasty fell in AD 220 under the last emperor, Xian-di, who ruled for
thirty years. He should have been on the throne throughout much of Himikos early
tenure. Rising cynicism toward generations of intransigent traditions, internal rebellions originating in religious movements, factional fights at the court, trouble with
the eunuchs, and the independence of local military commanders brought the collapse of the old regime, but Han had created the civil service substructure for all
later Chinese history, and its bureaucratic systems were models for neighboring
countries maneuvering toward statehood.
HAN COMMANDERIES, KOREAN KINGDOMS, AND WEI CHINA
55
Fig. 5.1 East Asia in the third century AD
Japan eventually became beholden to the major Chinese material traditions, as

filtered through Korea and over a period of time, although not without local interpretation: monumental architecture, tiled multistoried buildings, large burial
mounds, decorated stone-chambered tombs, funerary arts, high-fired glazed ceramics, fine silks, lacquer, gold and bronze crafts. Government-sponsored factories,
designed to meet the demands of the capitals residents, were situated near the
source of the raw materials. Chinese architects and craftsmen often worked for the
highest bidder, attracted by the projects and their income rather than political allegiances, a fact that may account for Wu-era dates on two of the so-called Himiko
mirrors possibly sent by the Wei ruler.
The subdivision into the so-called Three KingdomsWei, Wu, and Shu
involved north China and the expanded area into north Korea and the southeast and
southern areas into Vietnam (Annam).The coastal belt, inhabited by the Dong Yue,
Min Yue, and Nan Yue, was started on the road toward sinification. Commanderies
had been stationed by the Han toward the south of the Yue region, just as they were
in north Korea, leading the Wei zhi writer to make comparisons between these
southern people and the Wa.
56
As Chinese management in north Korea deteriorated with the eventual demise

of the Han dynasty, a local family from the Liaodong region, roughly north and west
of the Yalu River, seized Lelang and moved farther south, forming the administrative unit known as Daifang in AD 206.After the fall of Han the Wei set out to regain
lost territory and to maintain a buffer area.Their successful military campaign in 238
brought all the Gong-sun-controlled land under their authority. The Chinese had
then pushed too close to Japan for comfort, so Himikos dispatch of an envoy to
Daifang that same year (or possibly 239) was a carefully calculated maneuver to
sound out the intentions of the Chinese and to show the proper deference within
their sphere of influence.
Political Units in Korea

For the Chinese, access to the Korean peninsula meant sinicizing the Liaodong
peninsula, the body of land the western tip of which projects toward Shandong, and
establishing Lelang as its gateway, but the formation of three other commanderies
brought much of Korea into the Han orbit: Lintun (K: Imdun; J: Rinton) on the
mountainous west side, the territory of the Ye people; Xuan-tu (K: Hyondo;
J: Gento) in the northeast, straddling the Yalu River; and Zhen-fan or Chen-pan
(K: Chinbon; J: Shinban).2 However, Sima Qian did not define the jurisdictional
areas of each, and the location of Zhen-fan is only assumed to be toward the south
of Korea inasmuch as the approximate territories of the others can be identified.3
Sohn says the three-Han federation involved some 70 tribal states, the larger
ones up to ten thousand households, the smaller ones ranging between six hundred
and seven hundred households.4
It was finally realized that the lines were overextended and it was not possible
to hold the most distant territories. During the reign of Emperor Zhao (8774 BC)
retrenchment involved giving up Zhen-fan and consolidating Lintun with Xuantu.
In effect, the Chinese came to recognize that south and east Korea would always
remain beyond their direct control.
The formal relations between Yamatai and Wei could transcend the endless battles fought for territory among local groups on the Korean peninsula, so that as long
as Lelang maintained a reasonably strong position, Korean politics on the chieftain
level could be circumvented by the Wa.Travel by sea to Daifang made this possible.
Lelangs fortunes rose and fell with those of the supporting government.
Particularly precarious was the breakdown of Early Han and the ensuing Wang Mang
era, when communications and supplies were cut. Around AD 20, farmers from the
south Korean tribal groups, eyeing the wealth of the northern colonies, attacked
Lelang and kidnapped fifteen hundred Chinese. Not long after, in what may have
been a palace coup, the governor of Lelang was assassinated, and a local man took
over. Following the reinstitution of the legitimate dynastic line in AD 25 and consolidation of his power, Emperor Kang-wu turned his attention to the colonies and
reestablished control there five years later. However, local chieftains were given more
autonomy, and, indeed, affected Chinese areas were slowly shrinking.5
Three loosely organized groups, sometimes called tribal leagues, occupied the
southern half of the peninsula by the third century ADMa-han, Chin-han, and
HAN COMMANDERIES, KOREAN KINGDOMS, AND WEI CHINA
57
Pyon-han6and a group was rising in the north that came to be known as Kogury
(J: Kkuri),7 the first of the three major states. Paekche (Kudara) and Silla (Shiragi),
with which Japan contended from the fifth through most of the seventh century,
emerged progressively later. Proximity to China and Chinese culture gave Kogury
a head start, but Kogury was especially resistant to Chinese encroachments, often
forcing the Chinese to bypass its territory. Chinese entering Korea might be able to
do so by way of the Liaodong peninsula, but the other route, across the middle
course of the Yalu River and to Wonson on the east side of the peninsula and so
down, was made difficult by the presence of the Kogury.8
Fast-moving events from 190 centered on turmoil in the capital and generals
declaring autonomy for their territories. The south Korean Han people used the
opportunity to encroach on old Lelang. A local warlord retook Lelang and added
the new commandery of Daifang to the south, in the area of Seoul, for the protection of the resident Chinese. Each generation fought or held off Kogury. Undercut
by the local warlord, Wei attacked, but failed.The second attack in 238 was successful, and the Wei followed it up by devastating the Liaodong capital and slaughtering
its citizens. Lelang and Daifang were reoccupied, but administrative mismanagement
led to more tribal rebellions and the killing of the Daifang governor. Retaliation by
the Chinese secured the commanderies again, but Kogurys attacks on Liaodong
required attention, and the Chinese achieved a series of spectacular victories, subduing all of the northeastern region and forcing its various peoples to subscribe to
their tribute system. These wars took about seven years (238245), not by coincidence concurrent with the peak of Himikos tenure.The Wei saw to all of its neighbors sending tribute to its court, Himiko just one of several.Without these victories,
Himiko would be unknown to history.
The use of iron for warfare was a critical factor in the evolving strength of these
tribal groups. Irons contribution to improved farming techniques is common
knowledge. Iron artifacts were available to the north Koreans by the fourth and third
centuries BC, while bronze artifacts had been introduced from northern Eurasia
well before that time.9 And the native challenges to Han Chinese domination grew
more and more bitter as the natives armed themselves with better weapons. Much
of the Chinese population in the commanderies lived on a plane above the local
people, most remaining distinct from the Koreans for generations. But like the native
population the Chinese residents too were subjected to taxation and forced labor.
The composition of the grave-goods in the Lelang Chinese tombs reflects
conditions and laws set in Xian and Luoyang. Dates on lacquer objects and tomb
bricks ranging from the first century BC to the early fifth century AD have provided a good chronology for the changing styles and materials of tomb construction, burial objects, and possible status differences. What is more, until the Japanese
excavations started in 1916, the quality of Han Chinese lacquerware had gone
unrecognized. Inscriptions on the bowls and cups identify the work with the best
factories in Sichuan.
In the chiefly wood-chambered tombs of high administrative officials or entrepreneurial families in the Pyongyang region, which span the first to the last of the
Han-dynasty centuries, the lacquer and metal grave-goods are in an aristocratic class,
not initially intended for burial. However, by the time the brick-chambered tombs
58
were being built in the last century of the regime and until the Chinese were forced
to abandon the commanderies in the early fourth century, changing views on the
needs of the dead in another life and the governments pressure to conserve on such
mortuary expenditures had modified the nature of the buried artifacts to mainly clay
models with only a few metal objects, most made exclusively for burial.10
As chiefdoms affiliated to form the four embryonic states on the two sides of
the straitthree in Korea, one in Japanthe peninsula became too small to accommodate the demands each made on the others borders and resources, and the threat
became proportionally more ominous to Japan. The turning point for Japan was
reached in Jings timeregardless of whether one gives a Japanese or a Korean
interpretation to the events.The commandery system was Japans conduit to China,
but once it collapsed, there was no escaping involvement in Korean political affairs.
As seen from across the strait, Japan was either an enemy or a friend and, if the latter, a potential source of manpower and supplies.
It would be pointless to continue the argument between Japanese and Korean
scholars as to the success of Jings military exploits. Jing ranges from being a
nonentity to a dashing military hero who conquered and began the colonization
of south Korea.The less familiar Samguk sagi, written in the twelfth century, is said
to have forty-nine references to Wa before AD 500, thirty-six of which speak of
invasions by Wa.11
Nationalistic interpretations of the old writings have changed few minds. The
long inscription on the stele of the Kogury king Kwanggaeto in Jilin province put
up by his son in 414 seems to tell of a history of Japanese incursions into the Korean
peninsula.12 Inscribed for propaganda purposes, much as the Japanese accounts were
written, it still might be regarded as reasonably reliable.
A date the equivalent of 391 is given for violent attacks on Paekche and Silla,
the results of which made the people subjects.13 Several references are made to
Wa, such as Wajin (Wa people), wazoku (Wa bandits), and wak (Wa pirates).
Kwanggaeto roundly defeated the last group, the pirates. Symposia in Japan and
China and one in North Korea culminated in a number of scholars finally being
allowed to study the monument ten years after filing the request.The report contained
many views. Such suggestions as these were made: the translation for the kanoto-u year
(391) and the phraseology could be read began to rather than actually done in
that year; the inscription does not specify who the Wa arethey need not be the
Yamato Japanese; the inscription says nothing of Jings invasion or a Mimana
colony; Japans early history should be rewritten in the interest of greater accuracy.14
To all of this one might say: intellectual progress is not on the march.There can be
no question that Japan frequently harassed coastal areas of south Korea, perhaps, if
nothing else, to replenish its supply of slaves, and that little of it was fomented from
the Korean side.
CHAPTER 6
Japan in Transition
from Yayoi to Kofun
Since Himiko was dead before AD 250 and Nara archaeologists are pushing the earliest mounded tombs back several decades, as will be discussed later, the first major
evidence of a center of authority with the power to build large tumuli occurs in the
first half of the third century. Social grading, a feature initiated by Yayoi immigrants
in their preference for an agricultural lifestyle and the necessary supporting metal
crafts to maintain it, had made this possible.These immigrants, many probably coming over as family groups that evolved into chiefdoms, produced not only the invigorating cultural mix but also the competitive spirit that fought for land and assets
throughout much of the period. When one dominant group organized the loose
aggregate of Yayoi chieftains into a federation, the Kofun period began.
Population and Immigration

Early population fluctuations in Japan reflected climate changes and the relative
sources of food supplies.The Jmon population was decreasing at an alarming rate
by the end of the period.1 Looking back as to how this may have happened, we see
that by the end of Early Jmon the temperature had peaked a few degrees above
todays average and was going down. During this relatively temperate period
(Middle Jmon) much of the countrys population had discovered the rich forest
products in central Honshu, chiefly the annual nut cropswalnuts, chestnuts,
acorns, kaya, and even horse chestnuts (buckeyes). But with the temperature declining and probably short-term rapid vacillations and poor conditions, the deterioration disrupted normal life and forced large groups to disperse centrifugally, most
moving toward the east coast and north into the Thoku. The temperature fell
below todays normal then rose slowly about the time rice growing took hold, to
be then about what it is in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. However, the
Yayoi period itself was a slow cooling stage. The temperature of today has been
reached by a steady rise since about the thirteenth or fourteenth century. By Latest
Jmon the population had further declined and was concentrated in forested upland
and coastal plains. Large quantities of shell foods were consumed.
There is no consensus as to why the population was decreasing so precipitously,
but there is no evidence that rice was adopted to compensate for any deficiencies
59
60
in the diet or as a remedy for a declining population. A general view is that good
conditions had produced an abnormally large population and it was adjusting itself
to a less congenial environment and leveling off at a number more in keeping with
the environments natural carrying capacity.2
The difficulties in computing population size from the number of sites are wellknown, but until a better method is found, the calculations made by Koyama will
be the basis for the statistics that follow. Koyama based his demographic study on
the forty-seven-volume National Site Maps published by the government in 1965,3
superimposing a grid system of 1,000 km2 on the map of Japan, thus arriving at
307 tracts for which all the sites within each were determined by period.Tracts with
0 to 8 sites were classified as thinly populated, 9 to 48 as well populated, and 49 or
more densely populated.This is the legend for the comparative maps that illustrate
the distributional difference between the Latest Jmon and the Yayoi populations.
Each region has its own geographical characteristics, so the quantity and quality of
food resources, topographical features, and habitability of each were evaluated.The
statistics listed in table 2 show the percentage of sites by region, from the population peak of Middle Jmon through the successive declining stages, which may then
be compared with data of the Yayoi period. Although the exact number of sites is
considerably greater today, and arguments are always current as to whether some
should be called components, the basic trends are apparent.4
Taking the regions all thought to be outside Himikos jurisdiction, that is to say,
going north from the Tkai and including the central more mountainous Chbu,
the west side Hokuriku, and the northern Thoku, or about half of Honshu, we see
that this enormous territory was home to roughly 86 percent of the population
when rice was being brought in, leaving only some 14 percent living in the southwestern regions, where the first foreign components of the Yayoi culture made their
appearance.5 What is most revealing is that if Yamatai was in Kyushu at the end of
Yayoi, given generous margins, Himikos domain embraced between 15 and 20 percent of the Yayoi sites and approximately the same percentage of the countrys residents. If, however, Yamatai was in Yamato, one starts with Kyushu and to that adds
Shikoku, Chgoku, and Kinki, so that her sphere of control covered almost 55 percent of the countrys Yayoi sites and about 50 percent of the population.6 Kyushu
proponents have found the thought so dismaying that the issue is carefully ignored.
Kyushu was reasonably well populated when the Jmon period opened (2,100
people or 9.9 percent of the total population), presumably because of what had been
its easy accessibility from the continent, but it started to decline after Early Jmon
while the remainder of the country enjoyed a steady increase. Before the rising temTable 2. Population statistics from Midldle Jomon to Yayoi (% of total population)
Period/region
Middle Jmon
Late Jmon
Latest Jmon
Yayoi
Tohoku
Kanto
Hokuriku
Chubu
Tokai
Kinai
Chugoku
Shikoku
Kyushu
17.9
27.2
52.5
5.1
36.5
32.1
10.2
15.3
9.4
9.8
6.8
3.2
27.5
13.7
8.0
13.0
5.0
4.7
8.8
8.6
1.1
2.7
2.8
16.8
0.5
1.7
1.9
16.8
0.1
1.7
0.7
4.7
2.0
6.3
8.3
16.3
JAPAN IN TRANSITION FROM YAYOI TO KOFUN
61
Fig. 6.1 Population densities. Upper: Latest Jmon period. Lower: Yayoi period (Koyama,
Jomon Subsistence and Population, 4, fig. 9, modified)
perature of Early Jmon it was as hospitable as other parts of the country with warm
deciduous forests of oak and some hackberry (Celtis-aphananthe; J: mukunoki), pine, fir,
hemlock, elm, and zelkova.7 However, from about 4500 BC, as temperatures and water
levels rose and fully separated the southwestern islands, warm temperate evergreen
laurilignosa (laurel) forests took over. In Koyamas calculations, through Earliest, Early,
and Middle Jmon the number of sites remained remarkably constant (243, 233, and
221), but this was while the EarlyMiddle Jmon population expansion was taking
place elsewhere, so the corresponding percentages tailed off to 2 percent.
Although these forests were less productive for foragers, the failure of Kyushus
population to increase has much to do with the unfriendly environment. The
Kirishima Volcanic Belt (or the northern volcanoes sometimes called the south end
of the Aso Chain) dominates the island in a unique way.This row of frightening and
unpredictable volcanoes, some only a few miles apartTsurumi-dake, Kuj-san,
Aso-san, Unzen-dake, Kirishima-yama, Sakura-jima, Kaimon-dake, and the offshore
I-jimahave since Pleistocene times laid down volcanic ash, known locally by different names.8 One is shirasu (white sand), deposited by the tremendous Aira volcanic eruption about twenty-two thousand years ago. Layers of ash were blown as
far northeast as the southern Thoku. In short, the top geological layer of south
Kyushu can be said to be almost clayless, relatively poor soil.9 The periodic damage
to the flora and fauna and long recovery periods made human occupation there less
Fig. 6.2 Major Yayoi sites, round and keyhole tombs of the Kofun period in north Kyushu
63
desirable; fewer utilizable plants grew around the laurel forests, and wild boar and
deer preferred cooler conditions. The Jmon people doubtless read the first signs,
feared the spirits of the mountains, and departed for coastal plains elsewhere. The
region developed a reputation for a difficult life.10 By later Yayoi, south Kyushu had
regained much of its habitability.
The questions to ask at this point: Why did a (proportionally) large number of
people make their way to Wa territory? Was there one wave, a series of waves, or a
steady stream? About how many went to stay? What kind of a mix did Himiko preside over? All the answers depend on archaeological interpretations, and the areas of
agreement diminish noticeably the more questions that are asked. For a start, simplistic mathematics puts the increase in population at 440,500 (601,500 minus
161,000), a number that therefore includes immigrants and assumes that conditions
in Japan were normal enough to lead to a natural increase among the local people,
although given Yayoi as a known era of widespread strife, even this can be argued.
Chinese politics were the key to east Asias population dynamics. Major dynastic changes in China always caused considerable displacement of people, both internally and on the fringes.The large waves affecting Korea were at least ripple effects
in Japan. The breakup of the Qin, the rise of the Han, their expansion into north
Korea, and the pressures to sinicize coastal areas absorbed the cooperative and complacent, but pushed out resisters. Personal safety, avoiding conscription, and trading
and work opportunities were reasons to leave. The Chinese commanderies moved
the boundaries of the advanced Chinese civilization and its businessmen closer after
108 BC, and the Japanese market was new, the people receptive to more advanced
crafts techniques. It is well known that in later centuries the Japanese welcomed
immigrants in appreciation for Korean contributions to Japanese culture and also
political refugees from the Korean border wars. They were generously treated.11
Japan, however, was not an automatic escape from local Korean hostilities; in fact, it
may be assumed that this substantial influx was the reason for the Yayoi bloodshed,
not its solution.
Again, simple arithmetic suggests a gain of 96,300 people in Kyushu, in this case
primarily through immigration. In Haniharas study, the natural growth rate of the
population then can be taken as 0.2 percent annually.12 If we think in conventional
terms for the length of the Yayoi period (300 BCAD 250+), the calculation would
go this way: 10,000 .02 = 200 600 = 120,000.As Hanihara says, regardless of the
variables, the increase was too great not to be attributable to migrants. No natural
population growth could produce such exponential figures. Moreover, Yayoi sites in
Kyushu are consistently larger than Jmon sites.
Human skeletal remains of the Jmon period have been recovered on all of the
islands, chiefly in shell-mounds, so that in an estimated six thousand individuals,13 a
cross-section of physical types is well known. Even among these there is considerable variation, but their common characteristics distinguish them from the immigrants of this time.14 When more interest was turned toward identifying the home
of the original Yayoi people and how they differed from the native Jmon population, the latter tended to be lumped together and their differences minimized.
The Yayoi sampling is much smaller and less comprehensive, and may be even less
representative of different regions and lifestyles.
64
Fig. 6.3 Representative Yayoi-period skulls from regional sites
The nature of the burials from the Kofun period has assured posterity of less
material than Yayoi. Shell food went out of fashion in the Yayoi period, so mounds
of shellsthe best preserver in ancient times of organic materialdid not accumulate and the social cross-section that characterized the Jmon and most Yayoi burials had been replaced by tombs for the elite, thus limiting the human remains largely
to an aristocratic class.Added to that, personal experience in slogging through some
tombs showed that many were built well enough to work like wells or created such
damp conditions that the survival rate of human remains has been very low.
From skeletal material in north Kyushu and southwest Honshu cemeteries,
bioanthropologists now generally agree that the new Yayoi population in that area
was composed primarily of immigrants, largely displacing the scattered Jmon people, who moved northwest and south, but the scholars differ on the degree of
importance these people had on the formation of the Japanese race. These arrivals
are not distinguishable from the Chinese and Koreans of the time. This thesis of
arrival and displacement followed by mixing has come to be known as Haniharas
dual structure hypothesis.15
The Nichibunken (International Research Center for Japanese Studies in
Kyoto) took up this thesis in 1997 as one of its projects, analyzing it in several different ways. Its greater elaboration is that the proto-Japanese are essentially southeast Asian in origin, whereas the immigrants are north Asian.16 The modern
Japanese are a mix of proto-Japanese and immigrants.
As this new group of people moved into Honshu, intermarriage with the
indigenous Jmon population occasioned different rates of admixture.This includes
65
Kofun-period groups where, in the Kant, the admixture was high.17 The characteristics of the immigrantswho were taller and had longer faces and flattened foreheadsare recognized, for instance, from more than two hundred Early Yayoi
skeletons in and outside cist graves in the large Doigahama cemetery in Yamaguchi
prefecture and more than one hundred Middle Yayoi skeletons in and near jar burials in the shell-mound site of Takuta-nishibun in Saga prefecture.18 The older
Jmon-type people can be seen in more than one hundred Early to Middle Yayoi
skeletons in the Matsubara site on the northernmost island of the Got island chain,
Nagasaki prefecture. Both sexes of these last compare favorably in facial measurements and indices with the Late Jmon skeletons in the Tsukumo shell-mound in
the Inland Sea prefecture of Okayama.19
The Matsubara skeletons indicate that the old Jmon males averaged 158.79 cm
and the females 147.91 cm (5' 2'' and 4' 8''). Farther south, on Tanegashima island in
the jurisdiction of Kagoshima prefecture, the Hirota males were barely 154.7 cm.
Eighteen Early Yayoi skeletons at Doigahama ranged between 155.9 and 166.8 cm,
a range very typical of the Yayoi arrivals.20 The average Yayoi male is said to have
been about 162 cm tall, but slowly shortened until about the eighteenth century,
when stature was almost back to Jmon height.21 This decline is likely to have been
the result of a fairly rapid expansion of the population in the later seventeenth and
Fig. 6.4 Yayoi cemetery, Doigahama,Toyokita-machi, Yamaguchi. Early (Sahara and Kanaseki, eds.,
Kodai-shi hakkutsu 4:89)
66
early eighteenth centuries, but one still dependent on farming techniques in use for
centuries that were by then inadequate, and accompanying malnutrition.
The Yayoi immigrants have been exceeded in height only by postWorld War
II Japanese. Great improvement in living conditions and the variety and quality of
foods have made the difference in heightand in the countrys increased
longevitywith no major environmental changes and no foreign influx as contributing factors. This fact and, one thinks, an aversion to crediting the overseas
neighbors led an earlier generation of scholars to either ignore the question or claim
the Yayoi stature to be an indigenous development, attributable to a change in environment, the better diet of the time, or a combination of the two.22
Kofun-period population differentials in south Kyushu indicate the movement
of immigrants into an old traditional area. Excavations in some of the estimated
hundred underground tombs in the Shimauchi site in Ebino city, Miyazaki prefecture, of the late fifth and early sixth centuries have yielded valuable human remains
for analysis.23 These tombs may once have had low mounds, but today they exist
under level ground, making many of the finds accidental. Nevertheless, from the
data here and other material in south Kyushu, the male skeletal types have been
divided into two groups: the mountain type, which had Jmon and northwest
Kyushu characteristics, and the Miyazaki plain type, which had Yayoi immigrant
characteristics.24 The Shimauchi people were found to be close to the Jmon people in metric but not in nonmetric traits. In the latter they were close to the Yayoi
immigrants and the modern Japanese. A cluster analysis of eight Japanese populations showed they fit with the immigrant cluster.
Seeming contradictions of this sort may occur between the morphology and the
genetic element, but the relationship can be explained as little modification of the
physical structure of the people, yet exposure to the gene pool brought by the immigrants. A similar explanation has been given by Baba for the fact that the Ainu, who
are now thought by many to have been the Jmon people, have a closer genetic affinity with northeast Asians than with southeast Asians, yet morphologically are closer
to the latter. Also, the teeth of the Jmon people are similar to those of modern
Southeast Asians.This does not make the Jmon people immigrants from southeast
Asia. In Babas view, the original Pleistocene population in northeast Asia, among
whom were the Ainu, was faced with a cold environment about twenty thousand
years ago.This lower temperature caused a rapid morphological change, but had little genetic effect. Others moved into northeast Asiathe present people thereand
forced out some groups, the Ainu being one, who then migrated into what became
the Japanese islands.The Ainu, therefore, originated in northeast Asia.25
It is hard to argue against a major change in lifestyle by the middle of the Yayoi
period, but no consensus will be reached on how many immigrants were needed to
effect this. Both Koyamas and particularly Haniharas original estimates seem overwhelmingly high. Resistance to accepting such a high ceiling has elicited remarks
claiming that the physical anthropological evidence is inadequate to support a
large-scale migration.26
This opens another approach to the problem: a different reproductive rate
between the farmer newcomers and the forager-hunter-gatherer natives. The former would increase at a more rapid rate while the latter would maintain only a
67
steady, nominal increase. Nakahashi points out that if the natives multiplied at 0.1
percent annually and the immigrants at l.3 percent and, hypothetically, the latter
were only 10 percent at first, they would be 80 percent in three hundred years.This
is partly based on his calculation of the 1 percent annual increase in number of
graves in the Middle Yayoi Kuma-nishioda site, Fukuoka prefecture. From the end
of Early Yayoi, he says, the immigrant-type skeletons amounted to between 80 and
90 percent of the population.27
Some sites are interpreted as both mixed and segregated living. Many sites from
north Kyushu to the Kinki have yielded undecorated Korean pottery. Forty-five were
listed in 1987 by Got, as referred to by Imamura, most said to span the end of Early
Yayoi and the beginning of Middle Yayoi.28 In a rare case only Korean pottery existed
in the site, but in most both Korean and Yayoi pottery were mingled. In one site in
Fukuoka city, Korean pottery was found on a slope, Japanese pottery on the hilltop
above. The two groups were apparently living in close proximity but not mixing.
Eventually, the Korean ceramic characteristics disappeared altogether, a development
not unlike the human mixing process and the final loss of physical distinctiveness.
The gradient of a mixing population extending into the Thoku is supported
by dental differences between the immigrants and the natives. Even if the samples
do not seem largeas historic period samples are proportionally fewthe differences are quite distinct according to Matsumura (table 3). For the Kofun period, he
examined the teeth of thirty individuals in north Kyushu for immigrant to native
ratio, forty-two in the Chgoku and Kinki, eighty-three in the Kant, and thirteen
in the south Thoku.29 Percentages are indicated in parentheses.
The Ryukyu islands today are 62 percent immigrant. Skeletal material is far from
representative of times and regions in the historic periods, but by way of comparison
the Kant is looked at throughout its history. Starting with the Yayoi and Kofun periods, dental differences indicate that the former is about 73 percent immigrant and
the latter about 60 percent. Immigrant characteristics appear to have dominated in
early stages, but tapered off slowly with distance from Kyushu, with the exception of
the small northern sample. However, the ratio changed little in the Kant in historic
centuries. The Japanese population flow into the Ryukyus is relatively recent. The
islanders are distantly related to the Ainu, all under the umbrella called protoJapanese, the early divergence quite likely due to pressures from immigrants.
Jmon people had a full mouth of thirty-two teeth and good pincerlike occlusion, 81 percent having four, almost unused, wisdom teeth, as against the modern
Table 3. Immigrant to native ratios of dentition differences by period and region (percentages in parentheses)
Period/region
N Kyushu
Chugoku/Kinki
Kanto
S Tohoku
Kofun
Kamakura
Muromachi
Edo
Modern
27:3 (90:10)
34:8 (81:19)
60:23 (72:28)
(63:37)
(64:36)
(76:24)
(77:23)
11:2 (85:15)
Source: Matsumura, Shi n keitai kara mita torai-jin no kakusan prosesu, 2000.
68
Japanese with twenty-eight teeth and a pronounced overbite.30 By the Kofun

period the wisdom teeth were down to 63 percent of the population, and today
are 36 percent. Second molars are no longer growing in many children.31 The
Jmon diet required much chewing. Tooth wear was at first extreme, but always
considerable, because the teeth substituted for tools or activities that were later performed with hand implements. However, since Jmon times a diet of cultivated
foods has caused progressive degeneration, and the teeth now show little wear, and
various irregularities.32 One Japanese friend opened his mouth to show me a row
of supernumeraries.
Tooth ablation was practiced intermittently from Early Jmon, increasing in
popularity in the Kant and Thoku from Middle Jmon, and more common in
the western part of the country. No site seems to yield skeletons in which all had
teeth bashed out, suggesting intermarriage between practicing and nonpracticing
groups, but a high percentage had, only slightly higher among males. From two to
as many as fourteen teeth were knocked out, some 96 percent of those involved losing their two upper canines.33 Japan was not alone in the practice, which was done
in China, southeast Asia, Taiwan, and elsewhere, but it is best studied in Japan
because of the many examples and their great variety.
Working with forty-nine Jmon sites, beginning with Middle Jmon, and
twelve Yayoi sites, Watanabe made a case for an unbroken tradition between Jmon
and Yayoi.34 Now, the male skeleton in the Early Jmon layer of the Oguruwa shellmound in Nagoya city with eight teeth missing is thought to be the oldest case.35
The practice declined in the Yayoi period to be given up in Kofun times.
Harunari sees the practice as a ritual marking progressive events in an individuals life, explaining the evidence for some having undergone the ordeal more than
once on such occasions as reaching maturity, marriage, and death in the family and,
further, to differentiate those who had intermarried with the group. Broad areal
similarities have allowed Harunari to define three large zones: some nine Yayoi sites
in a northeast zone, where the preference was for removing lower incisors and upper
canines; about ten sites in a southwest Honshu and north Kyushu zone, where usually one or more upper canines were removed; and, with a little overlap, about fifteen sites in a southern zone, where one or more lower incisors and upper canines
were removed.36
Dominating the available material of the southwest zone are the more than two
hundred Early Yayoi burials in the massive Doigahama cemetery, in a region that
then shared a common culture with northeast Kyushu. Valuable social interpretations have been made from the grouping and alignment of the physical remains
there. Some 76 percent of eighty-seven adequately preserved skulls had undergone
tooth removal, the most common being the two upper canines.Very rarely are lower
teeth missing, but for those without them, it is perhaps indicative of having joined
the group as adults.37
Tooth bashing had been in practice thousands of years before the arrival of
Yayoi immigrants, but some of these newcomers were already familiar with the custom and after arrival became a part of it, as Doigahama demonstrates. But in view
of the depth of the tradition and its seeming durability among the natives, the immigrants may have been responsible for its fast becoming extinct shortly after Himikos
69
time. It is least represented in the Yamato area, but this absence may be explained as
due to the exceedingly poor preservation conditions.
Climate and Wild and Cultivated Plant Life

The Wei zhi makes several sweeping statements that show a limited knowledge of
the country as a whole.The land is warm in winter and summer, it says.Vegetables
are the chief crop. In other words, by implication, temperate conditions provided
more than one growing season. It must be true that the lack of domesticated animals did mean a slim meat diet, but fish were not in shortage. As to the climate,
however, only the southwestern part of the country was described, by a writer
familiar with many cold winters in China.
The Chinese description fits the southern island and the Pacific coast, the latter enjoying the benefits of the Kuroshio. A substantial and destabilizing temperature increase and rise in water level created havoc in Middle Yayoi. Residential areas
along the coast and on lower plains were inundated and abandoned. A well-studied
area is the hinterland of Osaka Bay, the Kawachi Basin, the drainage field of the
Yamato River and its tributaries.38 The warming conditions accounted for considerable displacement of the population in this and other coastal regions of the country, to which the construction of more village fortifications as far northeast as the
Kant should be related. For some observers it is no coincidence that the Chinese
spoke of long years of internal warfaredisruptive climate changes and population
shifts were contributing factorsduring the time archaeologists call Late Yayoi.
The Nara Basinthe Yamato region, a flood plain with potential inundation
protected by the Ikoma and Kong hills on the west, inevitably felt the effects of
arriving residents requiring social adjustment.39 The larger number of Late Yayoi
sites, most somewhat more upland than the earlier sites, is evidence of an expanding population and their use of higher ground, possibly as a defensive measure.The
warmer weather lengthened the rice-growing season and should have facilitated the
more rapid adoption of rice farther east.
The relatively warm climate has been highly combustible fuel for those whose
thesis places Yamatai in south Kyushuas though when describing Wa country, the
climate of the windward side of the Japan Sea coast, with its cold and snowy winters, could be ignored. Winter crops, and multiple croppingbarley and wheat in
rice fieldsis still being done today in north Kyushu and the western Inland Sea.
Todays plastic covers have revolutionized the traditional vegetable-growing seasons
and obliterated their history.
The Wei zhi says the people grow various kinds of grains (kat, loosely used for
rice), rice (ine), ramie (karamushi, choma, China grass; not hemp), and mulberry trees
(kuwa) for silkworms (kaiko). They spin fine threads for linen (saich), silk (ken) fabrics (kinuorimono), and cotton (men) goods.
The problem of the introduction of rice (Oryza sativa japonica) to Japan has
been studied by entire institutes with the results now becoming acceptable. The
route of transmission is still a question mark and probably will always remain so.
The likelihood of its coming from the Yangzi River valley seems very good inasmuch as that area, south Korea, and Japan share common temperature and climate
70
conditions and raise a similar rice today. The survival rate on the open sea being
what it was, some theorize that rice is unlikely to have come directly across but
made its way along the northern coast of China, across from the Shandong peninsula and down the western coast of Korea, in a route that became a standard commercial course in later centuries.40
Japans rice has been called temperate japonica interbred with tropical japonica
from more southern areas.41 Rice grain impressions and carbonized grains have been
found in walls of pots, on their bases, and as clumps of charred rice. While some
remains may be the debris of houses burned to deter the weevil that attacks it, rice
was customarily toasted lightly before it was stored. Some burned.An analysis of soil
for plant opals can indicate the presence of rice. Pollen is less helpful in this respect
because rice is difficult to distinguish from the other grains in the grass family
(Gramineae) that were in use at the time: hie (barnyard millet; Echinochola frumentacea);
awa (foxtail [or Italian] millet; Setaria italica); and perhaps some kibi (broomcorn millet; Panicum miliaceum), and shikokubie (shikoku hie; Eleusine coracana).
Rice has been found in at least Latest Jmon sites in not only such Kyushu prefectures as Nagasaki, Saga, Fukuoka, and Kumamoto, but also in Okayama in the
Inland Sea42 and in Osaka.43 As for the Jmon designation of north Kyushus culture of the last millennium BC, the pottery has so few Jmon characteristics it
should not be under the Jmon umbrella. Some refer to the last two centuries
before Yayoi as Initial Yayoi,44 and, as has been explained, some now see the opening of the period as early as 900 BC. At the other end of the country, by the end of
Yayoi in the third century, rice was being cultivated as far east and north as Nagano
and Gumma in central Honshu and Iwate and Aomori in the Thoku region.The
northern distribution is explained as the rice being of a primitive, hardy type, little
evolved from wild rice and able to withstand the cold.45
The myth of the Japaneseness of rice cultivation has confused the use of the
word kat (grains), now merged with rice because rice is the symbol of all grains.
Yasumoto calls kat rice and ignores ine,46 since anything else today is unthinkable.
But because the writer of the Wei text says they plant grains (kat) and rice (ine), he
is referring to other grains.The millets are the chief wild grains and were in use well
before rice was brought in. They have short maturing periods and require little
maintenance while growing. Awa stores particularly well, even under poor conditions. It might be noted that even today when the emperor is observing the niinamesai and meets the Sun Goddess in the imperial palace, together they eat the first
fruits of rice along with awa, seaweed, and nuts and drink sake. Awa retains its honored place from ancient times.
Hie has been identified from the Middle Jmon period.The grains are small and
are hard to harvest, thresh, and cook. More than that, hie does not grow well in the
second year in the same place and almost not at all by the third year, yet it is more
nutritious than rice and is the chief crop in areas of Aomori today. A great deal of
time and effort is required for turning over the soil.The Middle to Late Jmon site
of Sannai-maruyama in Aomori prefecture, in which large quantities of hie seeds
were recovered, had considerable old surface disturbance as though some kind of
tilling had been going on constantly. Hie accounted for about 25 percent of the
grain crop in Japan into the Meiji period.47 Other grains available to the Wa by the
71
third century include barley and wheat, found on Iki island and elsewhere. Barley
has been recognized in Latest Jmon sites in southwest Japan.48
Wild and Domesticated Creatures

Cows (ushi), horses (uma), tigers (tora), leopards or panthers (hy), sheep (hitsuji), and
magpies (kasasagi) do not exist, the Wei zhi says.
A number of haniwa cows suggest that bovines were not a familiar sight until
about the sixth century AD. Unless the identification of horse bones has erred badly,
there was a pony-size wild horse later named after the Kiso valley it inhabited.49
Since most shell-moundsin which the bones are well preservedwere in the
Kant and farther north and therefore far outside Himikos domain, its existence
was less likely to be noted. Yayoi horses were a little larger.50 According to the shellmound database, horse bones have been reported for 532 of these sites and, after
deer (in 1,572 sites), wild boar (1,217), and dogs (627), constitute the fourth most
common mammalian remains in shell-mounds.51 Oikawa, who tabulated the data,
assumes the bones of these various animals were discarded because the meat had
been eaten. Some probably were, although Mori says that most of the animals seem
to have died of old age, the bones are unmarked, and the burials look as though the
horses were treated with the same degree of care afforded the dogs.52 If they were
not eaten, it would have to be explained why so many were in the vicinity and what
use was being made of them or, on the other side of the coin for the disbelievers,
why so many were taken to shell-mounds to be buried.
Big cats did once live on the islandsbones of creatures called Siberian
mountain lions have been discovered in numerous Early Jmon sites from Aichi
prefecture to Hokkaidobut they disappeared as a result of climate changes or
overhunting or both.53 Cats skeletons in Jmon sites are so similar to modern cats
there is little way of knowing whether they were domesticated. The major candidates for meat consumption are deer, wild boar (inoshishi), and serow (kamoshika;
goat antelope). Deer and wild boar were plentiful, the latter sporting to hunt, especially in the winter when they became a nuisance while foraging near houses.The
serows solitary habits in high altitude and rocky habitats made hunting difficult and
impractical, at least with primitive weapons.54
Villages and Their Protection

Regarding the settlements as a whole and the unique Yayoi phenomenon of
defended villages, the term kang-shraku as now used, meaning circular moated
settlement, is a slight exaggeration if one accepts the European definition of a moat
as a wide and deep encircling trench, usually filled with water. Some may have been,
but such moats require a degree of engineering for water levels not always seen in
the ditches around the Yayoi villages. If the moat is very wide and there is some
indication of bridges having been built, such as at the Hiratsuka-kawazoe site,Amagi
city, Fukuoka prefecture, Karako in Nara prefecture, and Shimotsuka in greater
Tokyo, flooding of the ditch was probably intended.55 Dry moats were dug for many
sites at higher elevations. Perhaps depending on factors less clear today, such as the
72
topography and availability of manpower, some ditches are hardly wider than an
individual can jump, suggesting a more symbolic than practical use. Nevertheless, the
term is adequately descriptive to be all-embracing, and some archaeologists qualify
their statements to mean either a ditch or a moat. Greater protection was sometimes
afforded by strategically located watchtowers.A reconstructed one at Karako is based
on one scratched on a pottery sherd.
V-shaped gutters were noted in the 1951 excavations of the Itazuke site in
Fukuoka prefecture, a large site chiefly along the left bank of the Mikasa River, their
purpose uncertain, but suggested as boundary outlines for the village or some kind
of device to control water.56 Itazuke had been recognized as having transitional
Jmon pottery and the earliest Yayoi pottery, so any other features or artifacts discovered there could well be their first appearance in Japan. As soon as the ditches
were identified as defensive formations the claim was made for moated villages
developing in tandem with rice cultivation.57 No conclusion was reached at an
international forum. In fact, rice cultivation must have preceded the construction of
such defensive measures as rice has been recovered from late Jmon sites, but there
is much to support the likelihood of defensive ditches moving up the Japanese
islands in conjunction with rice raising. In 1978 the footprints of several adults and
children were uncovered in a Latest Jmon rice paddy at Itazuke.
The light that dawned at Itazuke illuminated Yayoi archaeology elsewhere.
Digging chiefly pit-dwellings and burials, archaeologists had not been looking at the
outer edges of the settlements. To do so required a great deal more time and what
seemed to be less productive work, and in any case, rarely was excavation of the
whole area possible. As the 1990s opened, almost no complete encircling moats had
been excavated, so that recognition of this aspect of village life and its significance
for regional Yayoi studies has been slow in evolving. Now, with warfare in the Yayoi
period a popular forum theme, the defense mechanisms of a cluster of houses is a
factor every archaeologist must deal with.58 Frustratingly limited space for excavation often generates only very rough estimates.59
As the Middle Yayoi population expanded, highlands were also selected for settlements, larger villages probably breaking up, some groups possibly believing these
less accessible places afforded greater security. But most highland sites were evacuated by the end of Middle Yayoi, the most contentious stage in Yayoi history, perhaps in the realization that greater safety was actually in numbers or, as Kanaseki and
Sahara say, reflecting a late stage in the process of unification, that is, with Yamato.60
Some villages went to great lengths to build their layers of protection, perhaps
finding themselves outposts in hunter-gatherer-marauder territory.The Asahi site, in
Kysu-ch,Aichi prefecture, was in a vulnerable location below a bluff. From several
series of holes and wooden remains archaeologists were able to reconstruct a defensive system of increasingly larger circles, starting with a fence around the village, followed by a water-filled moat, two successive fences about 10 m apart, and finally, a
picket line of hundreds of impaling stakes at the foot of the bluff, many of these with
20 to 30 cm of their length still in place when the digging exposed them.61
The oldest village protected by a double moat is the site of Naka in Fukuoka
prefecture, built close to the time Itazuke was in its prime, but the two moats of
the tsuka site in Nakagawa-ch, Yokohama city, were built successively, the ear-
73
lier one outgrown as the village expanded. The older moat was about 4 m wide
and between 1.5 and 2 m deep, but its replacement was much narrower.62 tsuka
is also an example of expansion followed by dispersion. During Middle Yayoi,
approximately ninety different dwellings stood on a roughly kidney-shaped hilltop
plateau about 200 m in length and about 130 m at its widest point; many of them
were reconstructions and replacements on the same spot or overlapping, but by the
Late Yayoi century only about six occupied the space.The drastic drop in number
of pit-dwellings may explain the decline in human labor available for digging
moats. Villages broke up, their members branching out, searching for their own
agricultural land, unworked neighboring forests, other mate pools, and, for artisan
groups, sources of metal materials.
The Hiratsuka-kawazoe site, situated about 20 m above sea level, was a thriving
settlement at the close of the Yayoi period. At first it appears to be a quite compact,
double-ditched community of scores of dwellings, some of which were raised
probably storehousebuildings. The occupied space runs about 260 m north and
south.Trenching in the west, however, shows an additional four ditches like widening arcs, and can be read as a tripling of the defense system against pillaging bands.
These dwellings may have then been successively abandoned as the dwindling population retreated behind a shrinking defense line.
Fig. 6.5 The moated Hiratsuka-kawazoe site, Amagi city, Fukuoka. Late Yayoi (Takemitsu
and Yamagishi, Yamatai-koku o shiru jiten, 338)
74
The Inland Sea region and the Osaka Plain were host to Middle Yayoi hilltop
hamlets grouped for defense, some more than 100 m above ordinary rice-raising
terrain.The Nakariyo site in Mita city, Hygo prefecture, consisted of five small settlements, each of three or four houses situated around a central well.63 Wells were
doubtless dug at first to determine the habitability of a spot, and experience with
the technique made higher elevations attractive.The commanding position of these
sites gives them the qualifications of lookout stations, and indeed, the two almost
side by side sites of Kygayama and Syama in tsu city, Shiga prefecture, on the
top of a hill 171 m above sea level, each had five pit-dwellings and a place for sending smoke signals.64 Most of these locations had been evacuated by Late Yayoi.
For most Yayoi communities, a cluster of eight to ten houses was most characteristic. Refinements in pottery typology separate them by time-use, and may tell a
grim story of the destruction of a village. The Santonodai site on the outskirts of
Yokohama, now subdivided into components, such as tsuka, mentioned earlier, was
dug in the 1960s. Inhabited over several centuries, it occupied a plateau about 140 m
long and about 90 m wide at the north end and 40 at the south end. It rises 14 m
above the surrounding land. More than 250 house pits were exposed, 8 of the Jmon
period, 151 of Middle to Late Yayoi, 43 of the Kofun period, and about 50 unassignable.65 Eight contemporary Yayoi houses were destroyed by fire, perhaps wiping
out the village in a lightning incursion.The largest ever built on the plateau was one
of these, some 10 m in length. Several large pots were on the floor of this big house,
but common storage seems to have been on the edge of the site where two huge pits
were located. Other Yayoi houses ran between 6 and 7 m in their longest dimension.
The village size is indicated in about ten Late Yayoi house floors, by which time each
house had its own storage pit. Farming was done on lower, level ground.
This greater self-sufficiency and family independence was behind the breakup
of many of the larger settlements and probably reflected a growing sense of security
within expanding political units. Many smaller Yayoi sites lie around Santonodai,
presumably offshoots from the parent community.
Houses were one-room structures with sunken floors in a round, oval, or squarish shape with rounded corners, many with an eccentrically placed fireplace, virtually all with four relatively equidistant posts, heavy beams lashed to their tops, and a
superstructure of a large number of slanted poles over which was laid thick thatch
reaching the ground.An open extension at the top, capped by a ridgepole, served as
a smoke ventilator. Some had an earthen seat built up around the room that,
together with an outside ditch for water runoff, kept the interior reasonably dry.
Wooden slats could also surround the interior near the juncture of roof and ground,
thus shoring up the bench. Houses built almost on rice-field level or by unpredictable rivers, however, had no indoor fireplaces.Toro in Shizuoka is one of these.
Surface dwellings and raised dwellings with wooden floors account for fewer house
pits of Late Yayoi, a development directly related to the greater availability of iron
tools and experiences with the habitability of the locations.
Toro was discovered during World War II, and its later excavation, finished in
1950, became the largest in Japan at the time.66 Its excavation opened a whole new
vista on Yayoi life and revived sagging Japanese sensibilities toward their early history while doing much to identify Japaneseness with rice.67
75
In contrast to an elevated settlement such as Santonodai, Toro is one among

many for which little higher land was available for residential use. In Toro, set as it
was in muddy marshland and pulling water off a stream from the Abe River to fill
the fields, paths between rice paddies would not hold without wooden-slat reinforcements, thousands of which marked the outlines of the paddies when first
exposed. These were about l m long and 30 cm wide. The enormous amount of
Fig. 6.6 tsuka component of Santonodai site, Yokohama city, Kanagawa. Eight Middle
Yayoi houses destroyed at the same time (Ito, Sumai, 22, modified)
76
work involved is staggering and could not have been done without ready access to
iron tools. Little iron has been found at the site, but the conditions that preserve
wood well destroy iron, and it is theorized that either the occupants had enough
forewarning of a flood to pack up their belongings and flee or returned after the last
flood to retrieve their valuables.The flood evidence seems conclusive: about 2 m of
alluvial soil above the remains and the numerous wooden tools and debris lying in
the direction of the water flow.
Houses were built on rising ground about 1 to 1.5 m above the paddies, and
the cedar forest where wood for houses, tools, and wooden slats was cut is just to
the northwest of the clustered residences. The houses were entered on the south.
Two wells at the west end of the residential area served about eleven houses. One
of these wells was lined with boards approximately 10 cm wide. Elsewhere, tree
trunks were hollowed out and sunk for wells.The rice fields occupied about 330 by
210 m of fenced-in land, in some places the rows of fences running four deep. Over
thirty individual paddies of varying sizes were exposed, an average said to be about
400 tsubo (1,324 m2),68 which is, in fact, a little larger than standard paddies in historic centuries. Most were rectangular at that time, in about an eight to five proportion, and the layout at Toro suggests initial planning, not random growth. The
fields were irrigated from a main water channel some 510 m in length, running
more or less north and south.Two sluice gates directed the water flow both east and
west.A wooden pipe below the lower gate was used for draining some of the fields,
thereby drying them out for annual rejuvenation.
The general lack of metal artifacts at Toro (a small house floor yielded a bronze
ring) leaves little information on local production, work places, and ritual areas.
Clay pots were relatively scarce, probably meaning that both cooking and food
storage were done chiefly in outdoor hearths and pits. Toros remains are particularly interesting for the wooden agricultural tools, kitchen utensils, parts of looms,
and lathe-made cups, bowls, and stands.The floor of one house was almost covered
with tools, as though they were parceled out from one holding center. Large clogs
(tageta) were worn for stomping fertilizer into the mushy soil after the vegetable
fertilizer had been pounded with tategine (long, dumbbell-shaped rods). Rice
seedlings may have been grown in the smaller fields (nawashiro).
Raised-floor buildings were first recognized at Toro. Eight postholes defining
a rectangular space without a sunken floor were the initial clue. Wooden base
plates gave underground support to the foot of the posts, and rat guards at the top
hindered the field mice from reaching the stored foods. A notched log used as a
ladder was found at the site. This kind of storehouse was reconstructed with a
plank floor and solid plank walls and given a simple pitched roof of thick thatch.
The same archaeological features that led to identifying the existence of such
structures have now been found at many sitesincluding later Jmon sitestheir
relative location in the settlement often the key to whether they were elevated
dwellings or granaries.
Toro, then, like several other large Yayoi settlements, was regarded as economically independent. Others have been put in the same category, such as Itazuke,
Harunotsuji on Iki island, Yoshinogari in Saga, Nishigomen in Kumamoto, Ninoazeyokomakura in Shiga, and Karako in Nara prefecture.69
77
Timeworn Toro is still useful as an example of the genre, but a far more comprehensive view has materialized through numerous excavations of Yayoi sites, so
that the particular activities poorly represented at Toro, such as specialized stone-tool
production, ritual practices, and various concurrent forms of burial are today recognized in all Yayoi areas and in each region by their local characteristics. For more
studies of rice paddies and their relationship to residences and the cemetery, the
great Hattori site, Moriyama city, Shiga prefecture, is informative.70 A simple, openair kiln in which burial jars were fired was identified at the kubo site, Tosu city,
Saga prefecture, a discovery considered to be remarkable because such firing places
for both Jmon and Yayoi pottery have been almost impossible to locate.71
Some communities apparently made special, raised-floor dwellings for their
spiritual-political leaders.The largest residence in a complex at one end of the inner
moated precinct at Yoshinogari was probably one of these.The type persisted as an
elite dwelling and was the structural form adopted for the first of the religious
shrinesIzumo Taisha and Ise Jing both have elevated floorspresumably because
it was the shamans house.
Fig. 6.7 Yayoi-period buildings, 13 incised on pottery sherds. (1) Inayoshi-kakuda,Tottori.

Late. (2), (3) Karako,Tawaramoto-machi, Nara. MiddleLate. (4) Palace reconstructed
from features at Yoshitake-takagi site, Fukuoka city, Fukuoka. Late (GBHSJ 1993, 1:142)
78
The largest raised structure known to have been built in Middle Yayoi was at
the Yoshitake-takagi site, Fukuoka city, now regarded as a component of the huge
Iimori site.72 It was dug in 1984, but its real importance was recognized only in a
later reassessment of the results. Now generally referred to as a palace (miya)of a
tribal chieftain in north Kyushuit was one-third larger than the floor size of the
large building erected at the Ise site, Moriyama city, Shiga prefecture, its discovery
then claimed to be the largest. In this case the building was a 5 4 bay structure
with a surrounding porch, the large postholes estimated to have held supports for a
floor and superstructure about 12 m high.73 The floor space of 120.96 m2 compares
favorably with that of the present Izumo Shrine, which is 132 m2. In view of the
fact that the architectural style of Izumo derives from Yayoi traditions and that it was
built to retire the ruler of Izumo to a grand palace if he would withdraw quietly,
the evidence that Yayoi builders were capable of erecting such structures gives good
reason to consider the old literature more seriously.
Yoshitake-takagi had already been noted in the excavation of 1984.At that time
a bronze mirror, sword, and beads (magatama) were found in a jar burial; this rare
juxtaposition came to be known as the Three Regalia (Sansh no shinki).As the possessions of a local chieftain they may have signified little more than his status, but
they were adopted as a set by the Yamato as the symbol of rule and essential to
investiture ceremonies. By way of authentication, after the practice was established,
the Nihon shoki writers had the Sun Goddess give these to Ninigi-no-mikoto when
he was sent down to earth from the High Plain of Heaven.74 There seems to have
been no consistent practice until about the time of Emperor Keitai around the
beginning of the sixth century. Nevertheless, it has served as argument for the Yamato
chieftain or chieftains having moved up from Kyushu.
As it turned out, the kami the objects embodied were incompatible. They were
unable to live together in peace and made trouble until they were comfortably settled
in their own niches with round-the-clock human supervision.The mirror went to Ise
Shrine, the ultimate home of the Sun Goddess, the sword to Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya
as late as AD 686, when it was determined by divination that a curse75 from it was the
cause of Emperor Temmus illness76; the beads stayed with the ruler like a talisman.
Kofun Houses and Settlements

The many haniwa buildings of the Kofun period tell much about architectural features and construction techniques. All types of residences were in use: pit, surface,
and raised-floor types, some two-storied as seen in one of the reliefs on the Samidatakarazuka mirror. Granaries are well-known in Kofun settlements, but watchtowers and chieftains housesif they were not community meeting centersare less
identifiable than they were in Yayoi sites. The field archaeology matches with the
squarish or rectangular shape of the haniwa houses, which had four supporting pillars set at roughly equidistant intervals. It was probably regarded as the most useful
shape to subdivide. Many houses are smaller in floor space than a typical Yayoi residence, and the standardized plan gives a strangely egalitarian flavor to the appearance of a settlement. However, the archaeology has not been able to show whether
some were two-storied and therefore in all probability homes of the elite.
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Fig. 6.8 Kofun-period buildings. (1) Four buildings cast on back of bronze mirror, Samidatakarazuka Tomb, Kawai, Nara. Middle. (2) Haniwa pillared building, Fujiyama Tomb,
Mibuta,Tochigi. Ht. 156 cm. Late. (3) Haniwa building in enclosure, Shionjiyama Tomb,
Yao city, Osaka. Wall dimensions: 44 42 cm. Middle. (4) Haniwa high-roofed building,
Fujiyama Tomb, Mibuta,Tochigi. Ht. 168 cm. Late
The creation of bed towns for the big cities has revealed some Kofun settlements, but few are in the area recognized as Himikos domain. Population density
in the older urban areas has caused much destruction and obliteration of sites and,
in any event, allows only small patches for excavation. Also, the communities seem
to have been more dispersed, probably as a result of an improving social state, and
surface dwellings were becoming more popular.
One development, known from haniwa, are well-constructed enclosing fences
or walls for individual buildings. Working with an example from the Shionjiyama
Tomb in Yao city, Osaka prefecture, and others from sites in Hygo and Mie,
Ogasawara points to the implication of chieftains houses with patios and sunshades
and landscaped grounds inhabited by birds as seen on the mirror with four buildings.The enclosure of this Shionjiyama haniwa building could symbolize an aristocratic residence, but there is a further possibility.77 The door to the enclosure is in
a narrow jog in the wall, perhaps to make it harder to approachthe prototype of
the Japanese indirect entrancewayand the top of the wall is jagged for further
80
protection. But under the building runs a drainage system, seen to represent a water
purification device. Ogasawara cites old Chinese expressions relative to the soul of
the dead being able to drink from the rivers and seas and eat from great warehouses
as support for his theory that these are buildings for a chieftains home in the next
world. He mentions clay models of wooden tanks and clay pipes and troughs from
sites in Shiga and Nara, including Makimuku.
Yayoi Production Centers

Much archaeological data lend support to a favorable picture of the Wa economy
and their business practices: rich forestation, a variety of year-round crops, ambitious
fishermen, and proficient crafts.All the chiefdoms have markets where the goods are
traded under the watchful eye of the authorities.
Stone reaping knives (ishibch) were widely used in rice and gaoliang growing
areas of east Asia, so they were adopted when rice eating became more standard fare
in Early Yayoi. These double-edged, curved knives average about 15 cm in length
and usually have two holes for passing string around the hand. Infrequently, they can
be of iron, bronze, or shell.
Tateiwa in Iizuka city, Fukuoka prefecture, where ten Han-dynasty bronze mirrors were recovered from in and around jar burials, was a village supplying the north
Kyushu Plain with agricultural tools.78 Six kilometers west of Tateiwa is Mt. Kasagi,
the quarry for a greenish-gray tuff (gykaigan). Unfinished tools and blanks were in
the workshop.Tateiwa-made rice reapers, stone axes, and knives were traded in the
prefectures of Fukuoka, Saga, ita, and Kumamoto, in sites up to 50 km away.
Nagasaki, with a primary population of Jmon people who had either been pushed
into the northwest or moved to dissociate themselves from the immigrants, is not
included in Tateiwas distribution range. And in the other direction, little of the
Tateiwa trade was going south of Kumamoto, that is to say, into areas where rice
raising was also slow in being adopted. Tateiwa was not the exclusive supplier of
stone tools, as some sites contain implements made of stone from elsewhere, but it
was by far the most productive center. Those who managed this trade were the
recipients of Chinese bronze mirrors, some of which were buried with them.
The sites along the Niu (meaning cinnabar) River in ita prefecture facing the
Bungo Channel (looking toward the western tip of Shikoku), where traders went
for cinnabar, were another instance of enterprising exploitation of the local
resources that evoked the Chinese writers reference to markets. To judge by the
swords and ceremonial ceramics found there, the Niu area constituted a notable ritual center. The control of the business was probably in the hands of a family that
performed the ceremonies.79
Metallurgy, Weapons, and Yayoi Warfare

According to the Wei zhi, the Wa use spears (hoko), shields (tate), and wooden bows
(motsuky) that they shoot from below the middle, and their bamboo arrows may
have points of iron or bone.
This is a short checklist of a mans personal armament, all very much in evidence to the Chinese observers.Turbulent conditions in the Yayoi period started the
81
long tradition of soldiering as a mans second profession. To this was later added a
kind of officer class of horse riders, initiating a somewhat more professionalized
group among the elite. In early historic centuries, every able-bodied man was
expected to have his own weapons and to be trained in their use: bows and arrows,
swords, shields, and drums. Periodically, for its own protection, the government had
the weapons collected and stockpiled in designated places, but it was impossible to
prevent home production of the kind of weapons that doubled for hunting.
Bronze spearheads, swords, halberds, and daggers had all been brought from
Korea, the originals found in and around jar burials and used as models for locally
cast weapons. Sandstone molds are known from several southwestern sites. By the
Middle Yayoi period the copies were designed for ritual purposes, probably with the
express intention of being buried. It may be assumed that the recasting of Korean
bronze objects had dissipated so much tin that it was no longer possible to make
practical weapons; they became symbolic.As a later Yayoi development, more to the
east, bronze bells were being made and served the same ritual purpose. By Late
Yayoi, or the second and early third centuries AD, few weapons were being cast;
most had already been buried in lower hillside sites in southwestern Japan, and
bronze was then being recycled for the last of the bells.
Spears were bamboo, and shields were made of wood or leather, in roughly rectangular shapes. Both bone and iron arrow points were unearthed at Yoshinogari.80
Many Yayoi sites have yielded hundreds of stone arrowheads. Yayoi hunters had
gone to a long bow, said to be of southern origin, about 1.5 m in length, with a
range less than 50 m. Line reliefs of hunters or hunting scenes on bronze bells show
this bow, the arrow being shot from well below the middle.The relatively short bows
of Jmon times were made of strips of cryptomeria (sugi; Cryptomeria japonica D.
Don) bound together, but the Yayoi choice for long bows was the yew (inugaya;
Taxaceae, Torreya nucifera Sieb. & Zucc.; closest equivalent: California nutmeg), a
native tree growing south of Thoku, known also for its useful nuts and oil.Twentyfive pieces of bows at Karako in Nara prefecture are of this wood.A medium-length
bow (just short of 60 cm), covered with black lacquer, is birch (kaba; Betulaceae,
Carpinus japonica Blume).81
While usually of bamboo, the two arrow shafts from the Kitoragawa site in
Higashi-saka city are of oak (kashi), each about one meter in length.82 However,
preserved examples in the Hry-ji, the seventh-century temple in Nara prefecture, and in the Shs-in, the eighth-century storehouse of the Tdai-ji in Nara
city, are bamboo.
It has been theorized that it was necessary to tip the arrowhead with a poison
for a quick kill of the larger deer and wild boar, and this poison was the alkaloid in
the roots of aconite (yamatori-kabuto; Ranunculaceae, Aconitum japonicum/
napellus), which then grew widely throughout the country.83 Because of its deadly
toxicity its growth has over the centuries been carefully restricted, and it can now
be seen only in certain mountainous places.
Archaeologically speaking, Middle Yayoi was the peak of hostilities. The social
impact was considerable. Just as demands stretched trade lines, so was cultural mix
stimulated. Kanaseki and Sahara see the conversion of tools to weapons and the
manufacture of stone weapons as starting in the south Kinai and moving from there
to production in quantity in sites along the Inland Sea.84 Highland settlements
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appeared at the same time, leading to the view that these developments may be a
part of the process of unification of the ancient Japanese state. However that may
be, moated villages had already existed, and stone tools doubled as weapons long
before that time. In fact, one reason for seeing the conversion to making weapons
of war in Middle Yayoi is that the skull of an Early Yayoi individual lying in the
Doigahama cemetery in Yamaguchi prefecture was pierced by an arrowhead of the
traditional hunting type. Broken tools were discarded in Jmon times, but Yayoi
people husbanded their equipment in the best farming fashion and, when possible,
reworked their damaged or broken weapons.85
Individual cases of presumed death by shot arrows have been well noted: the
middle-aged Nejiko woman, Nagasaki prefecture, thought by many to be a battle
leader, with a piece still embedded in her skull;86 the man buried in a hastily made
wooden coffin in the Yamaga site, Yao city, Osaka prefecture, with five sanukite
arrowheads, probably once in his flesh;87 and an individual in one of the graves at
Yoshinogari with twelve arrowheads, unlikely to be grave-goods.
More problematic are two burials, each with the broken point of a stone sword.
Such replicas were not useful weapons; on the other hand, small pieces could hardly
have been respectable grave-goods.88
The headless skeleton in a Yoshinogari jar burial, at first believed to be a battle casualty, is now said to have lost its head after farming sheared off half the jar
and someone made off with it. A stain can be seen where the head was, at the very
foot of the jar.The strange illustration on the bronze bell from Sakuragaoka, Kobe,
of three figures in some kind of physical tussleseemingly so out of character with
all of the other symbolic scenes of deer and wild boar hunting, rice pounding, leaping shamans, insects, birds, fish, and animalsthe middle, round-headed, righthanded, slightly larger person holding the right one by the hair and swinging a
long, straight sword (or stick?), the left, triangular-headed individual either a participant or trying to avert the action, should be simply a picture of common events,
as the other illustrations are.
This raises the question of the availability of an efficient beheading weapon.The
most effective early weapon was the widely used Kofun-period single-edged iron
sword, by which time it is certain the Japanese were making their own, but some like
it were already in north Kyushu hands by the end of Middle Yayoi.89 The standard
Chinese sword was then about 50 cm long. Shorter examples, in the neighborhood
of 20 cm in length, are sometimes referred to as knives, which were no less deadly.
Forming another contemporary Yayoi type are the iron daggers/swords of
varying lengths with blades of medium width used as far east as Shikoku.90 It is
assumed that these were foreign-made, presumably in Korea, and perhaps for the
metal-hungry Wa market.
The Sakuragaoka bronze bell sword wielder is a little larger than the other two
(an immigrant vs. natives?; a male vs. females?) and is probably about 160 cm in
height. His weapon is exactly one-fourth his size; therefore he has a suitably large
40-cm-long sword for the business at hand. One found in a cist grave at Maeharakami-machi, Fukuoka, is 118.9 cm in length, and a ring-handled one from Aritahirabaru in the same prefecture is 75 cm.91 In both cases, these must have been
special acquisitions, probably marks of distinction rather than weapons employed in
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battle. Few of these early simple ring-handled knives or swords92 have been
unearthed in Korea because preservation conditions were not suitable, but they were
an east Asian type that eventually found great popularity in Japan.
The bronze halberds, dagger-swords, and socketed spearheads can be matched
many times over with examples from numerous Korean sites.93 But local production
was shortly under way in Japan, using sandstone molds for copies.These proved to
be inadequate once the weapons were converted to ritual use. Casters in Kyushu
soon started to use clay and sand molds, and the spread of this technique made possible the large examples distributed east through Inland Sea prefectures to the outskirts of Osaka Bay.Among the three types of weapons, halberds had the shortest life
and did not qualify as symbols. The most popular type was the dagger-sword, the
single find of 358 of these at Kanba-kjindani in Shimane more than doubling the
number previously known in other parts of the country. The socketed spearhead
enjoyed the widest eastern distribution, sets of up to sixteen deposited at one time.
The longest range in length between 83 and 90 cm.
Ultimately, the production of bronze bells in the eastern area went through the
same process of conversion from stone to clay molds.The largest type of bell, measuring as much as 134 cm in height, common to the Kinki and peripheral areas such
as Osaka, Shiga, Wakayama, and Aichithin-bodied with fine raised lines usually
defining six panels to a side and pairs of projecting spirals along the edge of the
flangewere cast in clay molds.94
Another aspect of the tumultuous Yayoi era, less considered than the defended
villages and the making of better weapons, is the mythology. While not in the
archaeological realm of research and, in fact, its merit loudly discounted by some
archaeologists,95 the theme of the early chapters in the literature is a simple one
devoted to describing territorial conquest through destruction of the unsubmissive
and unreconstructable. No one questions the cultural shift from north Kyushu to
the Kinai during the Yayoi period, but despite extreme disparagement by minimalists in this era of revisionist thinking, some stories and trends in the old literature
can be better sorted out and illuminated by archaeology. To the credit of todays
Nara archaeologists, some are using references from these stories. Kamu-yamatoiware-biko-no-sumera-mikoto,96 known posthumously as Emperor Jimmu, as the
personification and symbol of a Yayoi chieftain, led a tribal group that worked its
way toward the Kansai, constantly gaining experience in battle strategy and techniques, using better weapons than their enemies.They were kami-reliant and kamidriven, moving on despite several setbacks, and were settled in the Nara Basin by
the end of the Yayoi period. Jimmus veterans were merciless.The natives are characterized as naive simpletons taken in by offers of peace or the most obvious of
ruses, or as freaks (little people [Jmon?] over whom nets could be thrown). This
chieftain avoided some already too populated, hazardous areas.97 So, regardless of
how much disbelief the mythology generates, fighting was unarguably the way of
life during the peak of the Yayoi era.
Local rulers had gained considerable control over the Kinai and probably neighboring areas by the semihistoric reigns of Sujin and Suinin, as suggested by a redirection of the manpower from fighting to building tombs, implied evolving political
administration, and an anecdotal style of description.98 Their reigns of relative peace
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in the Yamato areaother than intrafamily conspiraciesopened the Kofun

period, known for its conspicuous massive tomb mounds.
As fighters should be, the mythology shows they were obsessed with weapons,
often supplied by deities who had invested the weapon with supernatural powers.
Each sword had its own personality and thus eloquent name. Each required special
treatment, and if not held in adequate awe could create a turbulent atmosphere. As
for spears, they might be described by qualifying adjectives to identify their divine
nature, such as jewel-spear (tamaboko) and sun-spear (hiboko).
Both spears and swords could be procreative. The jewel-spear pointed toward
earth by Izanagi and Izanami, the seventh generation of deities, found water, and
drops from its tip hardened into a small island called Onokoro-shima,99 the center
of the Eight Island Country; blood dripping from the edge, the point, and the head
of Izanagis sword produced deities successively, all this as he took revenge for the
birth of Kagutsuchi, the fire kami, which killed Izanami, his spouse. The Sun
Goddess created deities by breaking her brother Susano-os sword into three pieces,
cleansing them with water, chewing them up, and breathing on the pieces.100
Spears could be iconic. When the Sun Goddess was offended by her brother
and hid herself in a rock cave causing the land to be darkened, the other deities tried
a variety of imaginative ways to lure her out. One was to have a bronze artisan make
a sun-spear, which was the female deity Hinokuma-no-kami,101 who resided in Kii
province (Wakayama prefecture). In other words, the spear symbolized the deity, the
hi (sun) mae (before) kami (deity), a reference to a previous light-providing deity.
From the first,Amaterasu--mikami was not the exclusive source of light, a fact that
merely points to the original regionality of the higher spirits.
Swords were used to destroy evil spirits masquerading as vicious creatures.
Susano-o killed the monster serpent, the scourge of Izumo, and saved the local
maidens with his ten-fist ( jkot) sword.Another sword was discovered in the tail of
the monster that is said to have first been called Orochi-no-aramasa (Rough Spirit
of the Monster/Serpent) or Ama-no-murakumo-no-tsurugi102 (Sword of the
Assembled Clouds of Heaven) but was later in the time of Yamato-takeru renamed
Kusanagi, the Grass Cutter, because of its own accord it cut away the vegetation that
had been set afire by his enemies and so saved the trapped warriors life.
When Susano-o realized the sword he had extracted from the monster-serpent
in Izumo was a divine sword and gave it to the heavenly deities, he was yielding
Izumo authority to Yamato.The Sun Goddess bequeathed it to her grandson when
she sent him to subdue earthlings. As mentioned, this Kusanagi became one of the
three symbols in the Yamato rulers regalia.
The two deities who sat on the points of their ten-fist swords to deal with
namochi in Izumo were negotiating from a position of power.103 At the end of
the discussions, namochi turned over the wide spear104 that he had used to
pacify the land (i.e., Izumo) and so surrendered.This reference to a wide spear105 is
the closest any writer came to describing a Japanese-style spear, but it was a misplaced note; Izumo had no wide spearheads. As referred to here, a wide spear
could only mean a mark of authority.
When particular swords and mirrors were of heroic size they were spoken of
as eight- and ten-fist (ko) in size, translated by Aston as spans. The unit was the
width of four fingers or between 7 and 8 cm. A jkot, a ten-fist sword (literally,
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upper-old-sword, in reference to its size), such as that owned by Susano-o, could

actually run a little over 90 cm, but it is rare to find any in the Kofun period more
than 85 cm in length. Early Kofun-period iron swords averaged between 70 and
80 cm, but one recovered from the Shinzawa-chausuyama Tomb in Kashihara city,
Nara prefecture, one tomb among five hundred or so in the Shinzawa group, had
a length of 122 cm.106 The Sun Goddess chewed up her ten-fist sword, signifying
she wanted peace.
Given the magical characterization of swords and spears, it is not then surprising that they were buried in the ground in order to fertilize the soil as male symbols, guard the crops, and ward off unseen noxious elements. Since the symbols of
authority in the mythology are beads, swords, and mirrorsbronze bells failed to
work themselves into the regaliathe basic mythology is probably largely the work
of Middle Yayoi reciters in the region of north Kyushu and the western Inland
Sea.107 Supplemental editing by Yamato writers gave Amaterasu and the mirror their
religious significance, adapted the body of stories, and tied the narratives together to
construct Yamato history. The complete omission of bronze bells from the ancient
histories suggests that the fundamental themes of the mythology were put in place
while weapons were ascendant symbolically. Bells would be later and concentrated
more around the eastern end of the Inland Sea.The Yamato may have stamped out
bell users as practitioners of black magic, intentionally breaking the bells when they
found them, and later avoiding reference to them.108
Bronze and Social Stratification

Bronze has traditionally been the mark of social distinctions.This status differentiation is first indisputably seen in the jar burials of north Kyushu, where foreign articles appear with the human remains.These articles are chiefly Han-dynasty bronze
mirrors, bronze swords and daggers, and beads and ornaments. Additionally, shell
bracelets seen on the wrists of many skeletons were brought up from the southern
islands via Tanegashima in the Satsuma chain.109
Certain shells could be cut in such a way as to shape a ring, large examples of
three kinds of shells being the most useful: gohra (a south Pacific triton; Tricornis
latissimus Linn), imogai (cone shell; Conus geographus Linn), and tatsunoha (a spiked
limpet; Penepatella stellaeformis Reeve).These bracelets appear on the wrists of a small
number of Early Yayoi individuals in north Kyushu. One adult male in a jar burial
at Tateiwa had fourteen gohra-shell rings on his right arm, a bronze halberd lying
across his pelvis, and an Early Han mirror under his head.110 By Middle Yayoi many
shell bracelets were funneled through a distribution point on the southwest side of
Kagoshima prefecture around what is today called Kaseda city before being acquired
by people in north Kyushu, the Inland Sea, and on the Japan Sea side. By late Yayoi
they had moved farther up the west coast, but Shikoku residents had by then quit
trading for them. Only a few have been found in mounded tombs as the styles of
body ornaments were changing.111
Bronze mirrors are a status mark of immigrants in north Kyushu. Most of the
traditional dating of the Yayoi stages has been done through the recovery of different types of Chinese mirrors, almost 290 Early and Later Han mirrors unearthed in
burial sites in the northern prefectures of Kyushu alone.112 By far the lions share of
86
Early Han mirrors has been found in Fukuoka.Their numbers farther east are at best
nominal. In fact, the progression of Han mirrors is vital evidence for the culture shift:
as Early Han mirrors decrease by distance from Fukuoka, Late Han mirrors increase
substantially, outnumbering Early Han mirrors over this distance by about six to one.
It goes without saying that status recognition followed this pattern of movement.
Despite a weapons being instrumental in creating the Japanese islands and therefore
the seniority accorded it in the literature, the writers made every effort to give equal
coverage to mirrors, the emblem of the Sun Goddess, and mirrors lived to play a
more important symbolic role in the mythology of the Kofun period.
Daggers in the Yayoi period do not necessarily signify male burials.The female
shamans who led their tribes in battle should have been more entitled than bead
entrepreneurs to have dagger-swords accompany them to their next existence.
Mirrors were prized by all, of both sexes. In all likelihood, grave-goods in Yayoi
times were largely undifferentiated status indicators.
Yoshinogari in Saga prefecture has been the best recent example of a fully tiered
social system. Its wealthy leaders were given grand burials for their day.The jar burials for the rank and file had numbered over two thousand by 1989,113 and twentyfour hundred to twenty-five hundred by 1990,114 more than three hundred sealed
well enough to have preserved bones. The villages shrine was a burial mound
(funkybo) of the chieftains,115 near the outer moat where eight pairs of large
mouth-to-mouth jars had been deposited in holes dug into a pounded earth platform, today about 2.5 m high, but originally half again as high. A path leading in
from the south suggests a southern orientation, and ceremonial ceramics scattered
along it were perhaps libation receptacles and their stands.
The pair of jars in the center grave are an earlier type of pottery; all the others
are said to belong to the middle of Middle Yayoi.116 The center grave should contain the village patriarch, the others close descendants. Only some teeth of an adult
survived from his remains.All but two jars have red painted interiors, and all but one
has substantial blackening on the interior, apparently lacquer used in an attempt to
waterproof the jars. Only two were without grave-goods. In the first chieftains burial, some forty-eight blue beads of rather coarse workmanship, once forming a diadem, lay scattered.
As for bronze weapons, the earliest grave contained a single handleless daggersword 29 cm long. Among the seven later graves, one had a magnificent one-piece,
hilted dagger-sword of 44.8 cm, a second had a dagger-sword with separate pommel to fit to a wooden handle (total length of bronze pieces: 34.2 cm) and the
extremely deteriorated remains of an adult male, and a third had a short daggersword (21 cm). Random finds elsewhere in the Yoshinogari site include the broken
end of a dagger-sword, or about one-third of it (14.3 cm), and about half of the
lower part, rib, and tang of another (16.3 cm).
From the presence of these here, the logical deduction is that a bronze daggersword at Yoshinogari signified a special position of authority, each chieftain being
presented with a newly acquired one, which remained his or her property. Also
recovered were fragments of stone molds for casting daggers, socketed spearheads,
and shield ornaments of the type with central knob and seven whirling tails (tomoe).
Examples of the last of these bronzes from the Mukaebaru site in Fukuoka are noted
as Middle Yayoi. The shield ornament is thought to have been modeled after the
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gouty spider conch shell called suijigi (Harpo chiragra), usually with six sharply curved
spikes.117 The habitat of this shell ranges from the Kii peninsula toward the south.
In other military equipment are the broken handle section of a stone dagger
(13.5 cm) and the lower part of a stone halberd (7.7 cm). Additionally, there is a
stone pommel of a sword in fine condition and of remarkable workmanship. It could
fit the hilt of a bronze sword if inadequate bronze was available. A much deteriorated iron dagger with ring-handle was found in a jar burial. Arrowheads are of
stone, bone, and iron.Three of the last material are blunt-ended, their points ranging from angles of 90 to 110 degrees, made this way as more useful in battle. The
longest is 9.9 cm.118
Yoshinogaris early finds in mirrors amounted to four small, locally cast ones.
Their condition is poor, the decoration unreadable. One is 7.6 cm in diameter.
Three fragments of Chinese mirrors were recovered from the moat, near it, and on
the floor of a pit-dwelling. One is a piece of a rim of an Early Han mirror, and
another is the broken out central knob.119 Weapons were obviously the bronze of
choice at Yoshinogari. Mirrors are in consistently greater numbers in sites in northern Fukuoka, some 217 Han mirrors listed for there in contrast to 32 for Saga.120
Chinese mirror workshopsone or more probably located in north Koreaknew
they had a marketable commodity of great value to the elite of Wa, while Korean
workshops produced weapons for the same market.
A cluster of sites in the general Yoshinogari area, all in SagaMitsunagata,
Yokota, and Futatsukayamaconcentrated within a radius of not much more than
10 km should have constituted a koku by Wei zhi standards. Excavations on the same
scale have not been possible at these sites, but all indications are for smaller villages
than Yoshinogari. No mounded burials like those given to the Yoshinogari leaders
have been reported for them. Yoshinogari should have been the koku headquarters,
the headmen of the other villages very probably related.
Bronze mirrors had been graded in value by their owners in the early years of
the Kofun period. It was apparently believed that the soul resided in the head, and
if the deceased was fortunate enough to have several mirrors, the disposition of these
started at the head or under the head and continued alongside the body.
Alternatively, the most unusual and highly prized mirror could be at the head, others by the body. Several tombs, for instance, have Chinese mirrors around the head,
Japanese copies elsewhere.121 As for swords, in the many hundreds found, the classic examples in Nara prefecture are the Fujinoki Tomb in Ikaruga and the Kurozuka
Tomb in Tenri.122 They guarded the spirit of the dead, in Kofun times lying on
either side of the deceased. Shorter weapons were laid across the body.
Local Production of Iron Weapons and Tools

When the Wa started to produce their own iron tools and weapons is a question
related to the expansion of rice raising since iron carpentry tools were needed for
making the wooden farming implements, and iron-tipping increased the life of the
wooden tools and their efficiency. The same can be said for improved weapons. In
fact, one does not doubt that this new ownership of iron swords stimulated more valorous exploits, implied in the legendary feats of Yamato-takeru. In any event, battles
were not going to be won without iron weapons as history so aptly demonstrated
88
when the Qin conquered the other Zhou states that fought with traditional bronze
arms. It might be added that, although hierarchical social systems are more closely
associated with monopolies of bronze, the use of iron tools created a new style in
architecture of upper-class buildings with plank walls and wooden floors, a fact that
made its own contribution to the class distinctions.
Another point to be considered is the easy reuse of iron, the broken or damaged tools remade and the tools passed on for generations.123 There was little excuse
for discarding iron since it continued to be so serviceable. In contrast, recycled
bronze became progressively less durable and practical as the tin alloy was dissipated,
mitigating other uses, and perhaps even creating a steady disillusionment with a
once good weapons material.
Nakamura sees the decline in number of stone tools from Middle Yayoi as evidence for more available iron, especially in view of the great increase in wooden
objects showing cut marks from iron axes and chisels.124 Wood was being chopped
and shaped; no saw marks have been seen. The extensive inventory of Yayoi iron
farming, carpentry and leather working tools includes plow- (suki) and hoe-blade
tips (or shoes) (sukisaki), sickles (kama), axes (tatefu), adzes (chna), point planes (yariganna), files (yasuri), chisels (nomi), knives (kogatana), mallets (kinuta), hammers
(tsuchi), nails (kugi), awls (kiri), wedges (kusabi), and bow drills (maikiri), and for fishing, fishhooks (tsuribari), harpoons (mori), and weights (omori). Missing from the
Yayoi inventory were only saws (nokogiri) and scissors (hasami).
Adding iron tips to wooden spades and hoes was a Japanese device, an invention of necessity to compensate for the relative shortage of iron.The straight-edged
sickle (chokuba) and the striking hoe (uchiguwa) are Japanese. It has long been thought
that the Wa imported iron bars, ingots, or plates from Korea for their use until their
own smelting processes were of a sufficient proficiency to provide for their own
needs.125 Shins view is that after Kaya was established in south Korea by the end of
the third century it became the main source for Wa iron, and the presence of late
Yayoi objects from north Kyushu and early Kofun objects from the Kansai in several Korean tombs is evidence of substantial trade across the strait.126
The reason for the archaeological problem is the relative speed of deterioration
of iron in low, damp terrain, where Yayoi sites often are. Nevertheless, by the Kofun
period iron tools had replaced stone tools, and it is inconceivable that every lowly
farmer in the country was tapped into the network of foreign exchange.Artifacts or
their lack, it is evident that local production had by the early Kofun period reached
the point where supply could meet the demand. Production centers then bolstered
the local economies and established the secular power of the chieftains.
Then, when did the Japanese start to make their own iron? The Wa probably
gained information on the use of bronze and iron at about the same timearound
the fourth or third century BCand once the value of iron was recognized by all
social levels, the search for the basic materials of both was on. Murakami, in explaining the relatively late appearance of iron production in Japan, believes there was a
one-for-one trade with Korean states that made local production unnecessary: Japan
sent copper to Korea and received iron goods in exchange.127
It is now generally believed that local production started in Middle Yayoi.128
Writing in the late 1960s, Nakamura listed all known Yayoi iron artifactsaxes, halberds, drills, and nailsfrom thirteen sites in north Kyushu (Fukuoka, ita, and
89
Nagasaki), middle Kyushu (Kumamoto), south Kyushu (Kagoshima), and on

Honshu (Shimane, Okayama, Osaka, Nagano, and Kanagawa).129 The north Kyushu
sites are Early Yayoi, the others later, but once into Honshu the sites are so widely
scattered the finds represent no coherent distribution but are simply the fortuitous
nature of the preservation conditions. With the explosion of archaeological work in
the 1970s into large open areas for bed towns, this count changed exponentially. The
Nishigomen site in tsu-machi, Kumamoto prefecture, alone yielded over three
hundred iron objects, chiefly arrowheads, hoes, and axes.130 One-third of the settlement had been burned, and perhaps was the cause for abandonment of the site.
As Yamamoto says, it was once thought that tatara needed to be found for proof,
evidence of foot-bellow furnaces, but iron dross does not appear except in the
smelting process, so its presence is sufficient for confirmation of local production.
By 1994, examination of numerous sites showed some thirty with evidence of ironworking places, including pits inside circular and square-shaped dwellings and outdoor pits.131 The evidence is one or more of the following: pits that were clearly not
fireplaces, often elongated shallow holes; some slag; stone tools or fragments thereof
used in the smelting process; and pieces of iron chisels, the only iron tool needed
for what was then a relatively simple procedure. Among those listed, eight are
Middle Yayoi: four in the prefecture of Fukuoka, two in Okayama, and one each in
Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
The almost forty workshop sites located along the banks of rivers feeding into
Osaka Bay of the fourth through the early decades of the sixth century led Hanada
to view the power base of those who built the huge tombs of Furuichi (now
Habikino city)some of which are designated as imperialas control of the iron
industry in the region.132 The raw material should have been brought in by boat, and
specialized workshops met the demands for farm and industrial tools and weapons.
From Nihon shoki accounts, starting with the time of Jing and again in the reign
of Keitai, the king of Paekche gave iron to Japanese envoys to take home with them.
At the time of Nintoku, Kogury sent tribute of iron shields and iron targets, and a
Japanese bowman proved his prowess by shooting an arrow through one of the targets, thereby astonishing and intimidating the visiting Kogury mission. And on two
occasions Temmu and Jit in the later seventh century received tribute of iron from
Silla.133 Iron is not in the many gifts given to Korean envoys or sent by the Japanese
to the Korean courts, but one grants a briefer record for goods leaving than arriving.
One event was a mark of great progress. In 670 iron was smelted with the aid
of power supplied by water mills.134 In other words, water-driven bellows, the
method probably learned from China, were put into use, systematizing the draft and
contributing to a better product. Until the change to coal and coke, which did not
occur in the West until the eighteenth century, the use of charcoal was devastating
the landscape, whole countrysides being depleted of their trees. North China sacrificed many forests to better iron tools and weapons.135
Crafts and Equipment

All of the parts of looms for weaving simple cloth have come up in Yayoi sites, the
marshy conditions conducive to the preservation of wood: warp beams (chimaki),
rods right in front of the seated weavers around which the warp threads are passed;
90
thread beams (chikiri), rods at the other end of the loom to which the warp threads
are in some way attached or wrapped around; heddles (s), strips of wood used to
separate alternate warp threads; and shuttles (hi).136 Both stone and clay spindle
whorls (bosuisha) have been excavated from many sites.
The Wei zhi writer seemed to believe that cotton (Gossypium; men, wata) was
known to the Wa. Probably some form of it was, although the popular use of cotton
for heavy clothes was most likely a historic-period development. Flax (Linum) (wild
linen; ama), ramie (Larix leptolepsis Murray; known regionally in Japan by such terms
as karamushi, fujimushi, and nikkmushi), and hemp (Cannabis sativa; asa [hemp], ma
[linen]) were used for clothes and bedding. Ramie and hemp are native Asian plants,
the former utilized in Japan since Earliest Jmon times.137 But like rice to the less
commanding grains, silk has overshadowed these plants, so they have received less
attention and study. Early writers never confused silk with cloth. It was always
reserved as a separate category. Differences in weaving or knitting techniques
between Jmon and Yayoi distinguish the finished textile products: Jmon people
were either building up the fabric vertically or knitting it; Yayoi people were working on a horizontal loom.138 From the archaeological evidence it may be assumed
that the Yayoi-type loom was introduced by the end of the first century BC.
Textile fragments have been found in many sites, chiefly in north Kyushu.These
include wrappings for bronze mirrors and weapons and for human remains in secondary burials.Textile impressions are known on the bases of Yayoi pots. Silk fragments of Yayoi times have not so far been reported outside of north Kyushu
(including south Nagasaki), but for the later Kofun period, pieces have been recovered among the contents of several mounded tombs as far east as Toyama city.139
The Wa people probably learned basic working techniques for sericulture from
immigrants, rather quickly translating those techniques to local production. By the
time of Himiko silk was regarded as such a refined product that it was a major part
of a formal gift to the Chinese court. It was included among the gifts the Japanese
exchanged with their Korean friends and enemies, and given to deserving members
of the aristocracy and others. Many references in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki emphasize its value. From the sixth century, rulers periodically instructed the people to
plant more mulberry treespatently self-serving after the Taika Reform of 646
specified that silk was to be used in the payment of taxes.
Himikos tribute, called wa-kin, can be translated as Japanese brocade. Since
kin/nishiki was written descriptively in manygana as ni-shi-ki (red [ochre], white,
yellow), the standard bolt at that time probably consisted of successive bands of these
colors with something like lozenge patterns running through them.140 Vegetable
dyes used for red and yellow were akane (madder plant) or benibana (safflower), the
boiled roots of which produced the strong red color, and kuchinashi (gamboge or
cape jasmine), kihada (phellodendron) or kariyasu, a pampaslike grass of the rice family, for the yellow.These plants grew naturally throughout the country.
Silkworms had adapted to conditions by spinning layers of filaments for the
cocoon in the process of protecting themselves as they grew from the stage of caterpillar through pupa and then to moth. In Korea there are three layers. In China there
are four layers, making larger cocoons with thicker threads.The four-layer type has
been identified in the sites of Arita,Yoshitake-takagi, Hie, and Kuriyama in Fukuoka
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prefecture, all of which ranged in time from Early Yayoi into the earlier decades of
Middle Yayoi. But the three-layer type appears at Asahikita and Yoshinogari in Saga
prefecture in Middle Yayoi, implying a new source of raw material for the Japanese
or the importation of a new subspecies of silkworm. Japanese silk after that is a
hybrid product.141
Yoshinogari is remarkable in the recovery of so many fragments of hemp and
silk. While most sites yield one type of silk, claims are made for three if not four
types in a single jar burial there, and the quality of the silk is of the highest. Silk
thread was coming from Lelang, the Chinese commandery in north Korea, and
there may have been local weaving already in Middle Yayoi.142
Hair ornaments as lacquered wooden combs are known from the Yayoi period,
as well as a variety of body and costume ornaments of stone, bone, and shell. Bracelets
were made of shell and bronze, and bracelets and necklaces of jasper (hekigyoku).
Glass (ruri) beads may be round, cylindrical, or comma-shaped (magatama), more
often of lead glass in Middle Yayoi and of alkali-lime (or soda) glass in Late Yayoi,
as if the source of supply had changed.The forty-eight blue glass tubular beads of
uneven length and thickness from one of the jar burials in the mound of elite
graves at Yoshinogari that have been restrung as a diadem were analyzed against
Chinese and Korean glass.143 The quality does not meet Chinese standards, firing
at a higher temperature would have made the color clearer, and bubbles and irregularities indicate recycled material.These are of Korean manufacture.144 Many Yayoi
glass artifacts have come from widely scattered sites as far north as the southern
Thokuthough remarkably nonexistent in the Izumo region (Shimane-Tottori)
and stone molds have been found in ita and Yamaguchi prefectures for making glass
magatama, but it is still believed that only the simplest glass objects would have been
made in Japan. The raw materials at least may have been imported, if not most of
the finished products.
Woodworking had reached a high art.The original Karako excavations unearthed
lathe-made bowls, stands, and other utensils. Some were carved in elegant flowing
water patterns and painted in leaflike motifs in quite skillful ways.145 The technique
required an iron knife and some understanding of how to operate a simple lathe. One
individual cut on a wooden block that was nailed to a rod, which another individual
turned by pulling on two ends of a rope. A wooden frame supported the contraption. Remains of baskets and other wickerwork were recovered as well. Stemmed
bowls made of clay are a Middle Yayoi addition, illustrating the increasing ritualization of agricultural ceremonies. They may have served for votive offerings such as
food displays or sake, or as stands for pots or jars.
Early Mortuary Systems

By and large, progressively from Middle Jmon the dead were buried in a flexed
position, particularly when laid on their backs. Most of the heads were pointed
toward the east in the Yoshigo shell-mound. Deposit of the dead somewhat together
and apart from the livingthe cemetery conceptbegan in Late Jmon, with
skeletons sometimes paired. Grave-goods as such were not in the mortuary practice,
but in a small but increasing number of later burials costume and body ornaments
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accompany the inhumations, a fact accepted as indication of more socially prominent individuals within the group. These are mostly bracelets and earrings on
females, such as at Tsukumo. Nevertheless, however it is stated, the information
applies almost exclusively to coastal dwellers and is therefore geographically biased.
Preservation conditions in acidic soils are relatively poor for inland sites, leaving the
burial methods of the huge montane Middle Jmon subculture less well known.
In the Taika Reform laws, the regulations on funerals and burials start with a quotation from the emperor who in turn is quoting a Chinese court source advocating
greater frugality. He says that an inner and an outer coffin were enough for the ancestors. Their dead were only to be removed from the sight of the living; the graves
made the land otherwise unusable. No valuable metal objects and no jades should
accompany the dead or jade suits clothe themonly models in clayand after several generations the land should be plowed and turned into productive use.146
Which Chinese ruler is being quoted is not clear, but he should have issued his
edict after the demise of the Han dynasty. Emperor Wen (180157 BC) had outlawed the use of metals for grave-goods for all but royalty,147 but later writers
described the Han rulers proclivity to being buried in jade suits, the orifices of the
body plugged with pieces of jade, done in the belief that the body could be preserved. This practice was prohibited by an early Wei ruler.148 The Japanese law
grades the size of the tombs and the number of days and men allowed for their construction, and forbids the burial of valuable grave-goods, but makes no mention of
number of coffins, so it may be presumed that the usual single coffin is understood.
Noted in this section of the Wei zhi are only wooden coffins, an interesting
point, as so many other burial systems were prevalent in Yayoi times, often quite
mixed in cemeteries. Broadly speaking, wooden coffins went out of style in north
Kyushu in Middle Yayoia very small number there are said to be Late Yayoito
be replaced by large burial jars, so an observer collecting current information in
the early third century probably would not have seen wooden coffins until he had
reached the Kinai. There was a direct line from these to the coffin burials of the
early mounded tombs. Himiko should have been put in one of the latter. A yew
called kyamaki (podocarpus [mistakenly: umbrella-pine, parasol-fir], Sciadopitys verticillata Sieb. & Zucc.) was used, a native tree growing in the mountains of the Kinai
and Chbu, a wood with such a fine reputation it was exported to Korea for coffins
for Paekche kings.149 Its traditional use for coffins is rationalized in the mythical
story of Susano-o, who, lamenting the lack of gold and silver, saw the natural
resources as plentiful and pulled hairs from his head and body to produce the trees:
hinoki ( Japanese cypress) for palaces and shrines, sugi (cryptomeria) and kusunoki
(camphor) for boats, and kyamaki for coffins.150 These wood selections were
already being made by Late Yayoi, about the time the story came into being as an
explanation of the practices.
The oldest known Yayoi coffin burials involved a sophisticated method of
assembling a minimum of six boards: ends, sides, floor, and lid. Thirty-seven were
found in components of the Itazuke site in Fukuoka, the site that acted as the funnel for new techniques entering Japan. Residents of the four sites in Fukuoka with
assembled coffins (Itazuke with two components) abandoned this method of interment around the beginning of Middle Yayoi, but the practice moved on through the
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Inland Sea route to Okayama (four sites, 217 coffins), Hygo (one site, 14 coffins),
and Osaka (four sites, 60 coffins), where it lasted into Late Yayoi.151 The site of
Shimomichiyama in Tsuyama city, Okayama, is especially impressive. Most of its
135 coffins were jammed together in an eastern part of the cemetery in a seemingly
2
1
Fig. 6.9 Yayoi-period burials. (1) Dolmen, Satodabaru, Nagasaki. L. 1.93 m. Middle. (2) Cist
grave, tomo, Saga. Middle. (3) Double jar burial, Yoshinogari, Saga. Middle. (4) Wooden
coffin, Yasumi, Osaka. L. 2.085 m. Middle. (5) Square-shaped trench burials, Saikachido,
Yokohama city, Kanagawa. Late. (6) Secondary burials in pots, Izuruhara,Tochigi. Middle
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haphazard way, many touching each other, but about a dozen were in the western
part of the cemetery, roughly 40 m distant, 8 of which were carefully lined up side
by side. One is reminded of the exclusive feature of the finer graves and their gravegoods at Yoshinogari in Saga that were clustered and well separated from the long
lines of jar burials or the segregation at Doigahama in Yamaguchi, but in this case
the grave-goods are meager. All of the western coffins belong to Fukunagas category I, which have a large movable end board, but so do most of the eastern coffins.
His types II and III have simple permanent ends. One is therefore reduced to the
facts of segregation and orderliness if distinctions are to be drawn in social ranks.152
Double wooden coffins have been found to exist, but they are so rare it is
unlikely they would have been reported as a normal burial method. They seem to
belong to Middle Yayoi, and have been noted in sites in Fukuoka, Okayama, and
Osaka prefectures.153
The Chinese writer looked back on the history of their aristocracys indulging
in sumptuous burials, providing protection for the body in regions known for their
high humidity with as many as three enclosing lacquer-sealed boxes packed with
charcoal. However that may be, the description is of only those who could afford it.
The average Chinese was and is buried in a single coffin.
Described without qualifiers, a mound (tsuka/zuka) that is heaped over the
interment could be a typically small one as seen in the fields in China today, with
which the low Yayoi mounds might be compared in height but not in shape, or a
much enlarged eminence in the late-third-century context that now goes by the
term kofun. Zuka carries no particular connotation of size. An ancient hump a few
feet in diameter and a few feet high can be called a kofun, but the term kofun is a
retrospective one that entered the archaeological vocabulary in modern times and
conjures up pictures of small mountains towering over a plain.
Hired mourners for show and as leaders were a part of the funeral proceedings
since history has been written, and were still prominent in China into the first half
of the twentieth century.The occupational group of professional singers and dancers
was known as asobi-be. Buddhism put a damper on the most rambunctious and
repulsive behavior at funerals in an appendage law of the Taika Reform. The law
banned self-strangulation, the strangulation of others for sacrificial reasons, sacrificing the horse of the deceased, cutting ones hair, slashing the legs, and provocative
and loud eulogies. Also forbidden, but for economic reasons, was the deposit of
grave-goods.154 The time was no longer an excuse to behave wildly or dispose of
an undesirable relative.
Eight to ten days was the length of time required for the obsequies. Secondary
burials since Late Jmon and a continuation of the practice or its revival by Yayoi
people suggest that to them death and the separation of the spirit from the body were
not of immediate finality, but may have been suspendable or even reversible if the
proper ceremonies were undertaken. Masking the actual grief was the showy demonstration designed to solicit the spirits return, the concerted effort lasting at least a
week.The literature and later practice indicate that a special hut (moya) was built for
this purpose, and as time went on it was ritualized as the mogari custom (today, formally, hing).The Taika Reform banned the building of a funerary hut for all but royalty. But for the ruling family, a few members of the aristocracy, and possibly others
95
who could afford it, until the capital was established at Fujiwara in 694, the interval
between death and burial might run for months and occasionally years.The elite built
their tombs during their lifetime; mogari was the period for calling back the soul.
In the long and entangled stories in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki concerning testing the
strength of the Izumo area by the deities of Takamahara, on the death of Ame-nowaka-hiko, the deity-prince messenger who was killed by a returning arrowor the
one thrown back by a disgruntled deitywhich he had used to shoot a pheasant, his
wifes wailing was heard in heaven, the family built a mourning hut, and for eight
days and eight nights they wept and sang dirges.155
The burial system in Japan was described so simplistically by the Wei writer one
can only imagine that his information came exclusively from old Yamato or from
some much outdated stories circulating among residents of north Kyushu. Interment
in a single wooden coffin, covered by an earthen mound, describes the style just
materializing in the Yamato region around the time of Himikos death. Elsewhere
the methods were so diverse the historian would have had to go into uncharacteristic detail to describe all of the ways, and even then could not have done so without
resorting to many specifics.
As with metallurgy and rice, some burial methods were brought in by new
arrivals in the early decades of the Yayoi period.These precede Himikos time and
can be dealt with relatively briefly.The dolmens, cist graves, and jar burials have usually been attributed to immigrants, although burial in pots had been going on in
parts of Japan since the Middle Jmon period, starting with inland areas.156 The
practice was actually rather lightly scattered in Korea, but Yayoi-like pots were found
in the Kimhae shell-mound on the southeast coast many years ago,157 leading to the
traditional view that the Japanese practice was derivative. But given the two-way
exchanges and, subject to more precise dating on either side of the strait, it is not
inconceivable that the Japanese introduced their burial way to Korea. North China
had its jar burials, from prehistoric times to Han, but the practice was such a natural and common way to care for the dead in areas of advanced ceramic production
that unless, or until, dating, pottery typology, and comparable field conditions can
be coordinated, the questions will not be conclusively answered.
The Yayoi dolmens are few in number and have little of the pomp of their
Korean prototypes.158 Smaller stones support a large slab up to 2 m in length and
about a ton in weight. Unlike their Korean models, which may have only cists
below with a modest number of grave-goods, the Japanese ones may have both cists
and jars. Dolmens were constructed primarily in Fukuoka, but a handful were
assembled in Nagasaki, Saga, ita, and Kumamoto, where they are presumed to
mark the graves in places settled by immigrants. Four dolmens constituted the
cemetery at Hayamajiri in Higashi-matsuura county, Saga prefecture. Under the top
slabs were jars without grave-goods.159
Why dolmens had such a short run is difficult to say, but the excessive time and
labor involved may have been too much for succeeding generations, especially since
enterprising ceramicists quickly made a virtual industry out of burial jars. Middle
Yayoi jars are often large enough to accommodate a small adult. Social, not geological, conditions caused the demise of the dolmens, as attested to by the presence of
later stone-chambered tombs.
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Cistslarge flat slabs of stone forming the shape of a coffin, often one to a side
and one for a lidas water collectors offered poor preservation conditions for the
corpses or bones in cemetery sites on Tsushima, Iki, and in the north Kyushu prefectures of Fukuoka, Saga, and ita.They also became easy targets for looters, and,
while doubtless graves of the elite, they have only rarely yielded grave-goods.They
tend to predate the spread of the practice of depositing personal possessions with
the deceased, which I take to mean the arrival of more affluent groups of immigrants from regions with the custom. Fortunately, in Yamaguchi prefecture, at the
cemetery of Doigahama, dug in the 1950s, the dead were interred in soil with a high
content of pulverized shell, forming a good preservation environment.160 These
were people who had continued to move from north Kyushu, settling in southwestern Honshu in the second half of the Early Yayoi period.
The social interpretations of the relationships of bones in Doigahama graves
have been informative.161 Most skeletons appear to have been the result of regular
inhumations, the remains laid with the heads in an easterly direction.They had been
placed in an extended position or were flexed on the back or partially flexed and
turned toward the side. Many burials were simply outlined with stones.The direction and positions of the dead do not materially differ from the skeletons in the
Latest Jmon shell-mound of Yoshigo in Aichi prefecture.162
Three times as many male as female burials were in what came to be called the
central part of the Doigahama cemetery, but elsewhere the ratio was roughly equal.
Most of the children were in that central part. Five randomly scattered cists contained the remains of eleven individuals, one of which (no. 5) had five male skeletons.Two others contained two skeletons each, and two had only one.The cist used
for collective burials was progressively enlarged for the purpose, its total length running 2.95 m. Some jasper and shell ornaments were with the remains in the middle
group, but none elsewhere. These were body or costume ornaments on the dead
when interred.
Adult men received preferential treatment and were accorded the central location. Females may be lying at their feet, squeezed up to fit in. Individuals near cists
probably had a close kinship connection. From known historic practice in some
fishing villages of west Japan in which outsiders who married into the community were not buried in the heart of the cemetery, it is reasoned here that those
interred toward the edge had joined the group after reaching adulthood and had
remained in that relative social relationship.163
Why the men were buried together is less easily accounted for, but the fact
should precede the acceptance of a taboo against common male burials, which was
strictly kept in early historic centuries. By way of explanation, the Nihon shoki
includes the rationalization in a story told at the time of Jing.164 The skies turned
dark for several days, and as people looked for the cause it was reported that two
priests (hafuri) of separate shrines, good friends in life, had been buried together.The
grave was investigated, the report was true, the individuals were reburied in separate
coffins, and the condition of azunai (disaster of sunlessness) disappeared.
Here at Doigahama one might expect other cists to be built rather than one simply enlarged, but apparently the kinship intimacy was desired and this one was turned
into a family vault: its location was known to all, if not marked, and it was modified
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to receive successive burials. Constant changes in structure suggest a series of steps

rather than secondary burial of remains deposited on just one or two occasions.
North Kyushualways reflecting outside influences and hence the great varietyburied their dead in every known way of the time: wooden coffins, cists, and
dolmens in Early Yayoi; cists and jar burials in Middle Yayoi; and pit graves165 and an
occasional wooden coffin in Late Yayoi (Kamenok, Fukuoka). In contrast, the more
conservative Kinki saw the use of wooden coffins in Middle and Late Yayoi. At Tano
the coffins tended to be paired. Four were aligned with north and south, five with east
and west, and three with northwest and southeast.Another was uncertain.Among the
nine remaining skeletons four had the heads directed toward the south, four to the
west, and one to the east. None was pointing toward the north. Four jar burials were
close by.166 Speaking of orientation, most of the skeletons in the Doigahama cemetery
had the heads in a southeastern direction.167 Sait repeats the usual supposition in
dealing with mixed burials in Kyushu cemeteries. Applied here, burial was selective.
Some individuals were deemed entitled to coffin burials, others to jar burials, and the
remainder were deposited either in pits or in such a simple way as to leave no trace.168
Battles notwithstanding, as immigrants and their descendants settled, the culture thrived in Middle Yayoi. The sites increased in number and size, driving the
cultural shift, and personal possessions were more likely to be placed with the dead.
This was chiefly the case in north Kyushu. Yayoi-type jar burials are occasionally
found as far north as Miyagi and Iwate prefectures in the Thoku, as though some
immigrants had threaded their way through and maintained their distinctiveness,
but the grave-goods practice declined relative to the impact the immigrants had on
the social system.
The Kinki, the heart of the Kansai region, had its own history of mortuary systems. Around the middle of Early Yayoi the trend was toward what are called
square-shaped moated burials (hkei-shkbo). In these a central trench is surrounded by four others, all longer, and laid out in a neat, square formation. By and
large the middle ditch is on a slightly higher level.The squares are often very close
together. In some instances the entire group of burials is outlined by a ditch. The
central trench, designed in most cases to take a wooden coffin, should be regarded
as the final resting place of the most important individual of the group in that generation.The human remains have disappeared, and virtually no objects were placed
with the dead. Jar burials for children were sometimes deposited in the ditches.The
four side ditches are long enough for multiple burials, each sometimes reaching a
length of 10 m. When looked at as a group, an arrangement of five trenches resembles an ideal, symmetrical, controlled family size, which of course is socially most
unlikely. Whatever the order of death, the plan involved the reservation of land for
a certain population unit at that time and a respect for its hierarchy.
According to Tashiro these burials spread outward from the Kansai from early
Yayoi times, reaching the Kant by Middle Yayoi and Kyushu by the end of the Yayoi
period.169 In other words, in our frame of reference, if burials were being conducted
in Kyushu in this way in Himikos time, the Chinese writer should not have failed
to receive a report to that effect. However, conceivably, his simplistic reference to one
coffin could be applied to this system, but it is more likely that, in the usual way, he
accepted one practice in one place as typical of the Wa.This does not seem to be it.
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When the classic site of Hirabaru in Fukuoka prefecture was dug in 1965, it
was not recognized as a square-shaped moated burial precinct. Forty-two mirrors
were recovered (elsewhere thirty-nine, probably due to a confusing count because
so many are in a fragmentary state), including several of staggering size.This should
be Ito polity. The mirrors might be used to date the site, but the covering earth
contained pottery sherds of the early third century, the report claimed, so one conclusion is that the grave itself is slightly older. Beads and a sword were found in the
site, leading to the suggestion that the grave is Yayoi and the regalia therewhich
reappeared in the Kansaiillustrates the conquest by Kyushu chieftains of the
Kinki and the establishment there of Yamatai. A consensus on this will be a long
time in coming.170
Not only physically, but psychologically, these square-shaped moated burials
have an explicitness in their pattern that sets them well apart from the residential
areas. At the Uryd site in Osaka, where pit burials were also found, a ditch separated the two sections of the cemetery.171 This exclusiveness of these square-shaped
moated burials needs more analysis. An orderly, fixed-arrangement cemetery
reminds one of a battleground siteas though sixty bodies were to be buried at one
time, each identifiable with a family. As has been said, there are too many to be the
elite of the community and too few to be all of its inhabitants.172 In fact, the balance itself is often perplexing.The gigantic Hattori site in Moriyama city, Shiga prefecture, where only 120,000 m2 could be dug, but was estimated to be three times
as large, was occupied continuously from Latest Jmon through Yayoi and into the
early Kofun period.The excavation uncovered 360 graves but only thirty houses of
Middle Yayoi.173 Some twenty pit-dwellings of Late Yayoi were found. This may
well be a problem of the available space for excavation, but one suspects that full
exposure of the site would fall short of answering many of these questions.
Since the Kansai burials of all kinds rarely contain grave-goods, and in the
unlikely state of a more egalitarian society in the non-grave-goods areas, one must
look for regional differences in ways of marking status.These square-shaped moated
burials may represent not individual rank but a social upper class. Theories have
included the smallest family unit, agricultural work associations, and corporate
groups solidifying claims to territorial inheritance.174
While it is generally believed that the Korean immigrants or those who came
via Korea became part of the racial mix and lost their specific identity, the literature
makes it clear that some families (uji)expanding into housesdid not, notably the
Hata and Aya, and this must have been the case with others from which the imperial family did not expect so many services and were thus less newsworthy.The writing of the Shinsen shjiroku (New compilation of the register of families) in the early
ninth century bears out how long the lineage distinctions were recognized, the families still separated into the three groups, kbetsu, shinbetsu, and shoban, or banbetsu,
those descended from emperors, from the deities of heaven and earth, and from
immigrants.175 At that time it was still possible to identify 326 uji from alien stock,
as against 335 of the first category and 404 of the second. The seriousness of the
effort is reinforced by the compilers admission of being unable to authenticate the
backgrounds of 117 others.Therefore, out of a total of 1,182 uji listed in the Shinsen
shjiroku, more than a quarter were then still seen as of foreign origin. This tells a
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story of greater exclusiveness than normally believed, which might allow for an
archaeological interpretation of these segregated graves.
Since no lists could have been assembled without a long history of family
record keeping, the chief question is how to trace the information back into preliterate centuries. Miller sees the same stratification among the aristocratic families in
the late seventh century in Temmus time, when the ranking (kabane) system was
drastically reorganized.176 The genealogies in the Nihon shoki at the beginning of the
reigns and in the latter half of the Kojiki represent centuries of compilations for the
kbetsu group. In 620 when Prince Shtoku and the Soga began to write a history
of the emperors, the country, the noble classes (omi and muraji), the court officials
(tomo no miyatsuko), and local officials (kuni no miyatsuko), the many crafts and occupation groups (be), and the free subjects,177 the entire social spectrum of consequence was included. It would have been impossible to institute the twelve cap rank
system (kan-i), which the prince did in late 603 and early 604, without adequate
lists. In other words, for the categories to have been so sharply distinguished as late
as the ninth century, credible oral histories must have existed from the time the third
group appeared to be blurring the established divisions, and later written records
kept their genealogies separate. I would suggest that these square-shaped moated
burials were those of this third group that had found their exclusiveness to be politically useful and by which they maintained their higher social standing.
Secondary burials (saisbo), as mentioned earlier, had a long history prior to
Yayoi, but the practice took on a very different character, involving much more
sophistication. Differences in the process explain the variations in the archaeological remains.178 Working with sites generally east of the Kansai as far north as Iwate
and Akita, some transitional Jmon to Yayoi, Harunari outlined the procedures in
this way: the deceased was buried and later exhumed; certain bones were selected
and buried in a jar; the remaining bones were burnt, or the corpse was dissected following death in order to separate the flesh and the bones; selected bones were split
or burnt; the remains were buried in a jar.The latter procedure is explained as being
done to prevent the return of the spirit since people lived in dread of being possessed by the spirits of the departed. In fact, the whole secondary burial practice was
probably driven by this fear.Apart from Harunaris dispassionate analysis of the practice, he describes the frame of mind the exploitation of which formed the foundation of what I believe to have been Himikos power.
Yayoi primary burials may have been in pits, but for secondary burials the
remains were put in jars, and several were often placed together in one large hole.
The number ranges from one to about ten clustered jars, such as at Izuruhara, Sano,
Tochigi prefecture.179 While the Meiji University archaeologists saw these burials as
evolving from Latest Jmon, appearing as they do in entrenched Jmon territory,
the process by which the final result was achieved was so different as to justify an
argument for greater independence of origin.180 There are indications of a modest
amount of cremation (kas) in some Latest Jmon sites, but to what extent it was
practiced and how the practice related to secondary burials is still under study.181
Izuruhara had thirty-seven burial pits. No. 11 had roughly ten pots arranged in
a partial ringperhaps leaving space for moreand on one side, apart from the
others, was a vessel with a face in relief.The patriarch and members of his family?
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In the six burial pits at Tenjinmae, Sakura city, Chiba prefecture, nos. 1 and 2 had
six pots each, while no. 3 had two and the others one each. The remnants of leg
bones in nos. 1 and 2 were said by Suzuki to have the flattish characteristic of the
Jmon people.182
Single interments need little explanation, but multiple burials in pottery jars of
a similar type in one pit raise as many questions as the square-shaped moated burials. The community must have kept a spot (subterranean or otherwise) for the
decomposition of the corpses and, after an understood length of time following the
last death, exhumed or extracted them, cleaned the bones, broke them up, and perhaps burned some. Pots with narrow necks and openings were made or chosen
some had been repairedas the smaller the opening the better the chance of
preserving the contents, but this obligated the reduction of the bones to very fragmented pieces. Then all were deposited upright in a pit, often tightly packed as
though they were stacked there at the same time and more were expected. As for
single burials, they may conceivably be recognition of higher status, although
Tanaka claims an egalitarian society in eastern Honshu because of the general lack
of grave-goods and the undifferentiated burials.183 This claim, however, does not
take into consideration examples like the isolated vessel with relief face in the
Izuruhara burial pit.
Diggers of the Oki II site in Fujioka city, Gumma prefecture, added more steps
to this procedure.184 After recovery of the bones for cleaning, some teeth were
removed and perforated for wearing by relatives; the bones were then buried in a
jar in the main pit, any excess fragments being burned. At this point burnt animal
bones were added, perhaps as offerings, and eventually the teeth in the possession of
the relatives were returned to the main pit following their demise.The Nekoya site
in Fukushima prefecture yielded both perforated teeth and human bones, the latter
all taken from right hands and right feet.185
In this case the archaeological interpretation is stretched to idealize the ritual
cycle on the basis of an orderly sequence of deaths in successive generations. Also,
the perforated teeth from Early and Middle Yayoi sites may well have been procured
through the current ablation practice, and a participant may have proudly worn his
or her lost teeth and been buried with them.
Perforated teeth made special amulets. Perforated teeth and bones of sacrificed
pigs are reported from several sites, the latter especially from the Shimogrikuwanae site in ita prefecture.186 There they were lined up where they had fallen.
The lower jaws had been perforated and hung or impaled on poles, a rite seen in
sites as widely scattered as Nabatake in Saga prefecture and Karako in Nara prefecture. Some overlapping with sites where oracle bones are found fosters the belief
that the shamans involved with divination were a part of the larger ceremonies in
which these anatomical parts were used.
In regard to the secondary burial system, the prevailing opinion is that it was
superseded in Middle Yayoi by the square-shaped moated precincts, the former seen
as a process involving a considerable period of time before total death was accepted,
the latter where status was already fixed before death and therefore a logical transformation.187 In fact, the secondary burial system never disappeared until the late
seventh century after the time the Fujiwara capital was built and the experience
101
with corpses in the crowded life of the city proved their presence to be intolerable.
It may have continued in more rural areas, but the archaeology has not revealed it.
Secondary burials are apparent in some of the relatively few preserved human
remains in the mounded tombs, such as in the Fujinoki Tomb near the Hry-ji in
Nara prefecture.188 Red paint, still used on bones, is traced back into the Jmon
period. The Nihon shoki accounts illustrate how the secondary burial process was
formalized into a mogari period. The death, mogari, and burials of the rulers after
Sujin, who opened the Kofun period, are recorded.189 His lasted 246 or 306 days
(there are two descriptions). While the early ones may be little more than guesses,
greater accuracy after written records took over provides the same picture.The mogari
of Empress Jit, who built the grid-plan city of Fujiwara in 694, went on for 369 days,
and that of her successor, her grandson Mommu, 155 days. Empress Gemmy relocated the capital to Heij (Nara) in 710, after which no Nara ruler was in mogari
more than seventeen days. In other words, the time was just long enough to make
all the funeral arrangements and carry out the ceremonies. Large mounded tombs
for rulers were disappearing at the same time. In fact, the mogari system died with
the tumuli, Mommus the last real misasagi.
To help the reader better understand the practice from the time of Himiko,
table 4 provides a list of emperors whose existence is acceptable, their traditional
datesgiven not for any degree of reliability before Keitai, but because they represent the pattern in the mogari practicethe site of the main palace occupied, and
death and burial dates. In a few cases the information is lacking. Data from the Nihon
shoki, except where noted, are used to the time of Empress Jit, and from the Shoku
nihongi to the time of Emperor Kammu.
By way of comment, while the length of time was doubtless exaggerated with
retelling, the mogari practice was in full swing when the first mounded tombs were
constructed. Specific references to a mogari start before Kimmeis time, but no
locations are named. Chai was placed in an araki-no-miya, mentioned by both the
Kojiki and Nihon shoki authors. When mogari was not noted after Kimmeis time,
political or some other unusual conditions made it impossible to conduct the
associated rituals. Saimei, for instance, died in Kyushu before the disastrous naval
campaign against Silla and China, and the subsequent turmoil precluded any normal procedures.
In the first two references to locations, Kimmei in mogari in Furuichi, Kawachi
(now Osaka prefecture), and Bidatsu in Hirose, now a noted shrine site, it will be
seen that both places are a substantial distance from the last occupied palace, for
which a good reason should exist. Bidatsu died in a plague, and subsequent isolation
would have been desirable. So did Ymei, but in his case there is no reference to a
mogari site. Perhaps the plague was so severethe description resembles smallpox190even record keeping was disrupted. In any event, it is clear that from
Suikos reign, which started only five years later, the practice of placing the corpse
within the palace compound was begun. She, Ktoku, and Temmu were enshrined
in the south court of their palaces, while Jomei was placed north of the palace,
Tenji in the new palace, and Jit in the west palace. None of these were
plague-related deaths. Temmu and Jit were the only ones occupying the same
palace, yet each was put in a different spot, implying that no one spot was planned
Table 4. Rulers 1043

Traditional
reign dates
Ruler
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
Sujin
Suinin
Keik
Seimu
Chai
Jing (F)
jin
Nintoku
Rich
Hanzei
Ingy
Ank
Yryaku
Seinei
Kenz
Ninken
Buretsu
Keitai
Ankan
Senka
Kimmei
Bidatsu
Ymei
Sushun
Suiko (F)
Jomei
9730 BC
BC 29AD 70
71130
131190
192200
200269
270310
313399
399405
406410
412453
454456
456478
480484
484487
488498
499506
507531
534535
536539
540571
572585
585587
587592
592628
629641
Kgyoku (F)
Ktoku
Saimei (F)
Tenji
Kbun
Temmu
Jit (FAC)
Mommu (C)
Gemmy
(FAC)
641645
645654
655661
661671
672
672686
690697
697707
707715
Palace site
Mogari interval
in days
Death date
Burial date
Tomb site
Shiki, N
Makimuku, N
Makimuku, N
Saki, N
Kashii, Fu*
Iware, N
Habikino, O
Naniwa, O
Iware, N
Shibagaki, O
Anaho, N
Isonokami, N
Hatsuse, N
Iware, N
Mikakuri, N
Isonokami, N
Namiki, N
Iware, N
Kanahashi, N
Hinokuma, N
Shiki, N
Kudara, N
Iware, N
Kurahashi, N
Asuka, N
Kudara, N
12.5
7.14
11.7
6.11
2.6
4.17
2.15
1.16
3.15
1.29
1.14
8.9
8.7
1.16
4.25
8.8
12.8
2.7
12.17
2.10
4.15
8.15
4.9
11.3
3.7
10.9
32.8.11
12.10
132.9.6
191.9.6
202.11.8
10.15
Yamanobe, N
246/306
Sugahara, N
146
Yamanobe, N
723
Saki, N
445
Kawachi, O
633
Saki, N
178
Furuichi, O*
Mozu, O
261
Sakai, O
199
Mimihara, O
1,422
Naganohara, O
266
Sugawara, N*
1,095*
Habikino, O
62
Habikino, O
293
Iwatsuki, N
158
Misasagi-ch,O
57
Iwatsuki, N
655
Ibaraki, O
298
Furuichi, O
Kashihara, N
277
Hinokuma, N
135+
Taishi-ch, O*
Taishi-ch, O
102
Kurahashi, N
Taishi-ch, O
197
Namehazama, N/ 432/255
Oshizaka, N
(see Saimei)
Naniwa, O
Asuka, N
mi, S
10.10
7.24
12.3
Kiyomihara, N
9.9
Fujiwara, N
703.12.22
Fujiwara, N
6.15
Heij, N
12.7
Notes: K= Kyoto; N= Nara; O= Osaka; S= Shiga; Fu= Fukuoka.

F =female; A= abdicated; C=cremated.
*Information from the Kojiki.
**No day given.
10.7
10.4
417.11.11
10.10
10.9
11.9
10.3
10.5
508.10.3
12.5
12.**
11.17
9.**
7.21
11.3
9.24
642.12.21/
643.9.6
12.8
667.2.27
Taishi-ch, O
Ochi, N
Yamashina, K
58
2,434
688.11.11
704.12.26
11.20
12.13
Asuka, N
Asuka, N
Asuka, N
Nahoyama, N
782
369
155
6
103
for it and no place should be stigmatized. Ankan and Sushun were assassinated, the
former buried in the same month he died, the latter on the same day that he was
killed, according to the text. Ebersoles thesis that the mogari period was primarily
one to select the rulers successor and conduct accession ceremonies, and was
presided over by a select female closeted to protect the mitama, the power of the
deceased ruler, which had to be transferred to the next in line,191 is true only as far
as it goes. More than half of the successors were installed after the final burial of the
ruler.The chief survivor was often the shaman-wife (Kgyoku and Jit), former wife
(Suiko), or even the mother (Gemmy), whose own future might mean taking the
throne, so the rate of female participation was inevitably high.
The major changes in mortuary practice took place on two fronts: the length
of mogari and the reduction of tombs to simple graves. These modifications, however, were only indirectly related, since it has never been shown that the length of
mogari had anything to do with the need for more time to finish the building of a
tomb. A Buddhist conscience contributed to both. After the move to Heij the
length of time dropped radically: from Gemmy to Kammu there was an average of
only 12.8 days for which there is only one rational explanationrecognition of the
crowded city situation and the bitter experiences of the plague and the desirability
of disposing of the human remains at the earliest possible moment, especially if they
were thought to be still contagious. History has recorded notable conditions when
plagues were so devastating that even the removal of corpses was beyond the collective strength of the survivors. Summing up, laws and changing philosophies were
minor factors in truncating the practice. Practical conditions obligated it.
In review, some cultures have refused to accept the finality of death, perhaps as
a result of experience with individuals in a coma or near death.The secondary burial procedure involved this thinking: death can be a process, not a sudden event, as
understood by many early and some present people in several parts of the world, but
in all cases the bones are considered to be indestructible and represent the permanence of the spirit that will continue on in another existence.192 Its comfort must
be assured by the survivors; if not, it will cause them much torment. In the Daoist
frame of reference, the period was used for calling back the soul,193 an idea inseparable from the Daoist effort to prolong life at all costs. A modern survival of the
secondary burial system has been prevalent in Okinawa, where its nature and procedure have been studied in great detail.194
Another Yayoi method of burial was limited to the Sanin region of Honshu,
eventually concentrated in the Izumo area, from which its unique features never
spread.195 Known by the term four corner projections type grave mound (yosumi
tosshutsugata funkybo), the tombs are low rectangular or square mounds with sloping sides, now flattish on top, and have fingerlike projections sticking out from the
four corners as though representing extended diagonals sloping toward the ground
level.There is some resemblance to two bridges crossing at right angles.196 The side
walls were faced with rather large stones, with the projections receiving special
attention in this respect.The largest has a side length of about 50 m.
On the top, often close to the middle, are one or more pits very carefully dug
in two steps, the receptacles for the remains of the leaders and close kin. Otherwise,
several pits were hollowed out on ground level outside the mound, between the
104
projections. Grave-goods in the Kyushu sense are almost nonexistenttwo strings

of tubular greenish jasper beads came from two different gravesbut a great deal
of ceremonial pottery was recovered from near the pits, which is significant because
much of the pottery was manufactured elsewhere. Some pottery from the Nishitani
no. 3 mound was brought in from north Kyoto prefecture, some from the ToyamaNiigata region also on the Japan Sea side, and some from Okayama along the
Inland Sea. Pottery of the Shnai type of the Makimuku area of Nara prefecture
(i.e., exactly Himikos time) and from north Kyushu and south Korea has been
found in other sites in Shimane, a prefecture constituted of the old provinces of
Izumo, Iwami, and Oki.197
Rather little archaeological data exist on burial practices in the region before
this time. Small square-shaped graves started in Middle Yayoi, but the type with corner projections became a consistent elite type in use by the end of Late Yayoi.198
The initial distribution included upper Hiroshima and coastal Shimane, but only
one later example of this type was built in Hiroshima, and such tombs ultimately
were concentrated near the Shimane coast while spreading by sea into Toyama and
farther northeast. The corner projections were eliminated at the beginning of the
Kofun period in favor of simple two-stepped, square mounded tombs. At the same
Fig. 6.10 Four-cornered mounded grave, Miyayama Tomb, Yasugi city, Shimane. Early
Kofun (tsuka and Kobayashi, Kofun jiten, 309, modified)
105
time, several received fronts, a single projection that widened as it extended from
a square side, in what appears to be a half-hearted effort to keep up with the emerging keyhole style.
Throughout the Kofun period the Izumo region built keyhole tombs (with
round knolls) only modestly, but it had a flourishing crafts industry and related
grave-goods business. From the Middle Kofun period the bead-manufacturing center maintained a prosperous trade well into historic centuries with its products
reaching even Hokkaido and south Kyushu.199 Materials, called Izumo stone
(agate or onyx, men, and jasper [SiO2], hekigyoku), were gathered on Kasenzan, a hill
with a height of 199 m somewhat south of Lake Shinji, and worked in shops in
Tamayu-machi. In greatest demand were tubular (kudatama) beads and magatama,
which are still made there today.
Izumo jasper was highly prized for grave-goods in the earliest Yamato tombs.
Yamato lapidary shops used it and supplemented it with green tuff from the
Hokuriku region. Talc [Mg3Si4O10(OH)2] or steatite (kasseki) was also used, but
probably as a less expensive way of enlarging the desired cache for burial.
Particularly valued were the so-called hoe-shaped bracelets (kuwagata-ishi), which
were copies of the Yayoi shell bracelets. Along with these were wheel-shaped
(sharinseki) and ring-shaped bracelets (ishikushiro), the former outnumbering all
other shapes by almost a three to one margin.Those made of the cheaper and more
easily worked stone have been referred to since early in the twentieth century as
replicas and given little attention. Hj sees them as not ancient copies of more
valuable pieces, but just part of the changing practices in the production and use
of ritual objects.200
The magnitude of their role in the grave-goods business can be seen in early
Yamato tombs such as Kushiyama in Tenri city and Shimanoyama in Kawanishi-ch.
The former contained 252 and the latter 140 stone bracelets.201 In Shimanoyama
they lined the trench in which the wooden coffin had been set. Although no physical features remain, the placement of a bead necklace, three bead bracelets, and several large tubular beads above the head that once formed a diademlikened to the
ornaments worn by certain female haniwaled to the suggestion that Shimanoyama
was the tomb of a female shaman.Three mirrors were near the head.The tomb contained no iron swords.202
From Yayoi Graves to Kofun Tombs

The dramatic start of the Kofun period, identified with the construction of
immense tomb mounds in the Yamato area, required the centralization of power
through a strengthened confederacy, a population concentration for a large labor
pool, and the political structure to organize its efforts. The accompanying practice
of depositing grave-goods in the tombsnegligible in the area in Yayoi times
obligated the existence of competent craftsmen, an active trade in copper and alloys,
and a flourishing iron industry.
In case there is any doubt about the place Yamato holds in early history, if
sheer tomb size is a valid criterion of judgment, from the time of initiating their
construction to the abandonment of huge mounds in favor of simpler burials and
106
cremation, Yamato led in this respect. Taking 160 m as a cutoff point for length,
the number in each prefecture with longer tombs points up Yamatos ascendant
position: Miyagi, Ibaragi, Yamanashi, Mie, Shiga, and Hygo one each; Gumma
and Miyazaki two each; Kyoto and Okayama three each; Osaka eighteen; and
Nara twenty-two.203
The rapid elimination of known Yayoi practices in the area and the sudden
burst of energy in tomb building encouraged radical explanations, such as Egamis
horse-rider thesis.204 While this thesis seemed to follow the trends of Late Yayoi in
moving the cultural center from Kyushu to the Kinki, and could be tied to Emperor
Sujin, it was two centuries ahead of the arrival of good rideable horses in Japan,
which came in on strong Korean waves in the early fifth century.
While no single factor may have initiated the events that culminated in Yamato
preeminence, one worthy idea makes much of a rapid climate change in Late Yayoi,
noted in the Chinese records for 194. It caused widespread famine and cannibalistic behavior. Disillusionment with the deities, whose duty it was to provide protection, may have led to their rejection and the abandonment of weapons and bells as
offerings for good harvests and community protection. More than that, as mentioned earlier, some bells were actually smashed. Such cases sound like violent rejection, perhaps even the work of the incoming group represented by Himiko. She
introduced mirror worship and the new kami associated with mirrors, thus steering
the rituals in a wholly different direction with fresh promise. It was a cult of tomb
building and mirror symbolism.205 By way of example, a bell found at Kutadani,
Hidaka-ch, Hygo prefecture, was unearthed in 117 small pieces, each only a little larger than a postage stamp. There is no possible way such neat breaking could
have been accidental.206
There is doubtless much to be said for a theory that takes into account serious
weather fluctuations, great disruption of the normal harvests, and inevitable population movements.All of east Asia was affected. Out of this chaos emerged the group
that had won the battles in the disturbances and warfare.207 Whatever the social
issue, the political issue was replacing the leader who had not survived the anarchy.
Himiko assumed that exalted position as the medium for the kami who was credited with terminating the strife; later writers introduced Amaterasu--mikami as
that kami.
Yamato appears to have had a near monopoly on iron and was hoarding bronze
artifacts for reuse.The local manufacture of iron swords should have been a critical
factor in reaching supremacy. Along with iron tools, iron armor, stone bracelets,
beads, a few ceremonial objects, and bronze mirrors, iron swords are a chief component of the grave-goods deposits. As Yamato widened its controls, before the first
historic century dawned the main centers for the production of swords were in
what came to be called the provinces of Yamato and Yamashiro (Kyoto) in the
Home Provinces, in Bizen (Okayama) for the western provinces, in Mino (Gifu) for
the eastern provinces, and in Sagami (Kanagawa) for the Kant.208
Grave-goods were of several types and were used in several ways: body and
costume ornaments, lying by the remains of the deceased in the space occupied by
the coffin or in the sarcophagus; personal possessions of the dead, in or outside that
space or in the sarcophagus; objects made specifically for burial with him or her,
107
such as pottery for votive offerings, usually in the earthen pit or stone enclosure;
and paraphernalia used in the funeral ceremony and sometimes tools or equipment
employed in the tombs construction. Beads as necklaces, armlets, or anklets could
have once been used during a lifetime, but randomly dispersed beads in a grave are
more like the Buddhist ritual of scattering flowers on such occasions. Styles
changed in preferences for grave-goods, but personal treasures were for future use
and marks of rank in another existence, and their nature identified the primary
concerns of the deceased.
Many sets of grave-goods in the Early Kofun chieftain class (over 100 m in
length) keyhole tombs in old Yamato were liberally stocked with iron swords.There
is, for example, the recently opened Kurozuka Tomb,Tenri city, with twenty-three,
most of which lay on both sides of the wooden coffin in the stacked-stone enclosure.209 The Mesuriyama Tomb in Sakurai city had forty-five double-edged iron
swords, the longest about 40 cm, all quite neatly piled up at the south end of the
simple stone enclosure.210 A little farther north is the Tdaijiyama Tomb in Tenri
city that had twelve ring-handled swords, about seven more without handles, and
about eight double-edged dagger-swords, along with several iron spearheads.Their
fragmentary state makes the actual count difficult.These swords were buried in two
long pits on either side of the main trench. In this group is a bronze Chinese sword
with a handle ornament in the shape of a house roof. The blade bears an inlaid
inscription with a Zhong-ping era date the equivalent of AD 184188/189. The
tomb has been placed in the latter half of the fourth century.211
Iron armor often accompanies swords, as a further display of the quantity of iron
held by the Yamato leaders.The armor is more likely to be cuirasses (tank) in early
tombs, such as in Shinzawa Tomb no. 500 (Kashihara city), in the Uedono Tomb
(Tenri city), and in the Shiroyama no. 2 Tomb (Kry-ch). Scores of iron lamellae
(kozane) were neatly laid out to overlap each other in the Shiroyama Tomb.212 As the
local economy grew, cuirasses continued into Middle Kofun (Shinzawa tombs 109,
115, and 281; Ushirode 3; Ichio-imada 1; and Ikedono-oku 5), which were sometimes supplemented with iron helmets and partial or full suits of armor (Shinzawa
115 and 139).These took the form of semicircular strips of iron designed to overlap each other horizontally.213 An incomplete suit either had been broken up before
deposit or had been finished in leather.
Other than being used for swords, iron was proportionally less common in the
Late Kofun repertory of grave-goods largely because the grave-goods trend had
moved toward the use of the more elitist bronze: horse trappings, shoes, crowns, earrings, and other ornamental objects. In horse trappings, iron served for bits, parts of
stirrups, and backing sheets for rump pendants. Throughout the fifth century the
Yamato region retained its lead in quality and quantity of grave-goods, but after
horse breeding supplemented the agricultural economy of outlying regions, some,
notably Gumma, equalled if not surpassed the standards for grave-goods set in
Yamato. Rare exceptions include the Fujinoki Tomb in Ikaruga, Nara prefecture,214
in which the fortunes of preservation played a part. However, these fortunes, as is
well known, worked against the passageway tombs. They were standing invitations
to pilferers, and the grave-goods recovered in the era of modern archaeology are
unrepresentative of what actually existed.
108
The modification of functional objects for symbolic purposes was a persistent

theme since Yayoi times. Bronze and iron arrowheads recovered from tombs represent the same process. In both cases they were transformed by enlarging their size
and blunting their points. Limited actual use of iron arrowheads is suggested by the
fact that iron arrowheads had no standardized shapes. Many found in tombs are simply copies of bronze types.215
Stone bracelets in imitation of the old Yayoi shell bracelets (hoe-shaped), trapezoidal with well rounded corners, radial grooves, and a central hole (wheel-shaped),
or simply circular and grooved (ring-shaped) were especially popular. After the earliest copies, the holes are inclined to be smaller, meaning there was no possibility of
wearing them, in an evolution reminiscent of the transformation of Yayoi weapons
to symbolic objects. Large numbers of these have been found in tombs.216 The
material is green siliceous tuff collected from the Kaga district on the west side, now
Ishikawa prefecture, a source already well known to later Yayoi people. Many objects
in widely distributed early tombs are made of this Kaga stone.
Somewhat later but still in the Early Kofun period, numerous replicas of little
knives, adzes, arrowheads, mortars, cups, tables, boats, horses, and other things of
steatite (kassekisei-mozhin) were put in tombs and sometimes left in residential
areas. These latter may have been workshops or distribution points. The proliferation of stone objects and the thriving grave-goods industry were doubtless partly
due to the relative ease of working the material, and the change seemed to only
enhance the traditional belief in the magical protective value of the objects. The
1949 excavation of the round Katonboyama Tomb in the Mozu group, Sakai city,
Osaka, recovered a very large number of these, suggesting the burial of an entrepreneur in the business. Among the stone objects are 725 magatama beads, 2,000
mortar-shaped (usudama) beads, 13 sickles, and 360 knives.217
Three other kinds of ritual stone articles among the grave-goods in early tombs
might be mentioned: little containers with lids, known as gosu, probably replicating
wooden vessels, almost all from about twenty tombs in the Kansai, mostly of green
siliceous tuff; objects shaped like the bridges for the strings of a koto (kotojigata), possibly worn as amulets, also largely from Kansai tombs; and sword-shaped ceremonial
rods known as gyokuj. The rod from the Chausuyama Tomb in Sakurai is particularly well-known.218 It has a length of 11.3 cm, but is shortened by two breaks.The
breaks expose an iron bar that runs through the middle of the rod and reveal the
method of sectional construction. One in the Tokyo National Museum is more than
twice its length. While several steps removed from the model, such a rod was
inspired by the Yayoi bronze dagger-sword, but here with round section and a flared
end. The handles are missing. The National Museum rod has a pair of magatama
attached where the guard joins the rod.
The lidded containers may have held some magical trance-inducing potion as
they have been found with the little objects believed to symbolize koto bridges.
Music was all-important in the shamans craft, but one grants that the shape of these
little bridges may hardly resemble the appearance of bridges for koto strings today.
The rods were emblems of authority, which was to a great extent religious, and were
therefore perhaps prototypes of the wooden wands (haraigushi) now used in purifying spaces, individuals, and objects in Shinto ceremonies.
1
6
Fig. 6.11 Ritual objects of steatite, Early Kofun period. (1) Scepterlike rod, Chausuyama
Tomb, Nara. L. 11.3 cm. (2) Rod with forked end, Ishiyama Tomb, Mie. L. 18 cm.
(3) Object with forked end and attached magatama, Maruyama Tomb, Nara city, Nara. L.
6 cm. (4) Notched magatama, near third torii, Mt. Miwa, Makimuku, Nara. L. c. 10 cm.
(5) Bracelet, Ishiyama Tomb, Mie. L. 15.4 cm. (6) Hoe-shaped bracelet, Ishiyama Tomb,
Mie. L. 20.4 cm
110
The gift of one hundred mirrors from the Chinese emperor kept Himiko from
being an insignificant footnote to Japanese history. The Chinese had an eye for
approval, and mirrors were at the top of the list. As important as the receipt of these
was to the revitalization of Himikos flagging authoritypresumably received with
much fanfare and public recognitionthey are the most trenchant element in the
effort to identify Himiko and in the hunt for Yamatai. For this reason they will be
considered separately, but preceded at this point by some mention of their prominence as grave-goods in the tombs of Himikos time.
Statistical information alone points to old Yamato as the home of mirror veneration. In 1980 it could be said that about 250 mirrors had been recovered from tombs
in Nara prefecture. Roughly 26 percent of those tabulated at that time have a rim of
triangular cross-section.219 This particular type is known to be very early, the earliest
of which are associated with Himikos time and became the building blocks for the
theory of their political use as proposed by Kobayashi Yukio and discussed later.
About two-thirds of Naras total come from fewer than ten large tombs.At this
point the stage may be set by including a roster of these early Nara tombs with more
than ten mirrors among their grave-goods. For comparative purposes, the length of
the tomb is given, if available, and the date of the recovery of the mirrors (table 5).220
The Tsubai-tsukayama Tomb in Kyoto prefecture contained thirty-four mirrors, the Bizen-kurumazuka in Okayama city, thirteen.221 Numerous tombs have
yielded only one or two. Regardless of the number, from their extensive use as gravegoods it can be appreciated how highly prized they were as status indicators, and the
importance of that status being recognized when the owner entered the next world.
While the transition from late Yayoi to early Kofun would be better understood
if some of the imperial tombs could be excavated and the Kyoto-Osaka-Nara area
had not been lived over so densely as to disturb or destroy many sites, or make currently occupied sites inaccessible, some changes can be remarked on and a few satisfactorily explained.
Against the backdrop of the continuing dispersal eastward of immigrants and
the chronic spread of rice cultivation, to which I attribute the Yayoi civil disturbances, there is by the end of the period the apparent abandonment of several practices, one or two already remarked on: the principle of defended villages, purposeful
selection of higher terrain for habitation, jar burial cemeteries, square-shaped
moated graves, deposit in the ground of large bronze bells, and the Jmon legacy of
Table 5. Tombs in Nara prefecture containing more than ten mirrors

Tomb name
Samida-takarazuka, Kawai-ch
Shinyama, Kry-ch
Saki-maruzuka, Saki-ch
Chausuyama, Sakurai city
Tenjinyama,Tenri city
Kurozuka,Tenri city
Length in meters
Date of discovery
Number of mirrors
100
137
1881
1885
1913
19491950
1960
1997
25
34
14
12
23
34
110
113
130
111
decorated domestic pottery. The conversion process turned many stone farm tools
to iron.Tooth ablation was a dying practice, departing with the old order.
Out of the wars that had enthroned Himiko emerged a new elite and dominant military class, whose iron swords and iron body armor went with them to their
graves. Jar burials had limited the cemeteries to individual interments, often requiring hundreds of vessels. Mounded tombs created family vaults, or were at least family centered.The mogari process and greater veneration of the dead became a major
feature of social life.
Himikos Language
Himiko spoke proto-Japanese, but how widely was she understood at the time? The
Wei zhi starts by speaking of some thirty guo of the Wa maintaining contact through
envoys and interpreters. The latter were needed in the Chinese relationship, but
were the natives of the Korean peninsula also in need of intermediaries? Some personal names, place names, terms, and all officials titles in the Wei zhi are unquestionably Japanese.The Chinese offered pronunciation equivalents when necessary.
Few issues are more contentious than the origin of the Japanese language. At
this juncture the greatest dispute is between those who believe the language was
attendant on a very early arrival of people whose language was or became protoJapanese and those who think its appearance was associated with rice cultivation,
metallurgy, and other features constituting the Yayoi culture.222 At the short end,
perhaps the most extreme is seeing Proto-Japanese connected with the Kofun
period.223 Earlier or later in time, Himiko is bracketed. It is not possible here to go
into the intricacies of the arguments. A widely held view is of an Altaic language in
the Tungusic stock of considerable antiquity, perhaps brought into Japan in the
neighborhood of 5000 BC.224 To some it belongs to the Ural-Altaic language family. Its genetic relationship to Korean is generally accepted, and much borrowing from
Korean and Chinese is well known. Japanese and Korean had probably diverged well
before the Japanese speakers arrived on the islands.
Japanese and Ainu, which has similar word order to Japanese, the same five vowels, and nouns without gender and number, probably had a very distant common
Uralic-Altaic origin, with an early east-west split, the Ainu entering Japan and occupying much of the country while several western counterparts spoke forms of
Finno-Ugric. At some point, however, there was apparently a modest amount of
contact with Austronesian (for instance, Malayo-Polynesian has a remarkable similarity in the phonemic system).
The proportionally small population of north Kyushu toward the end of the
Jmon period must have set the stage for discussion of language replacement.225
Full replacement has rarely been the case as it involves population displacement. In
Yayoi times it was most likely language imposition comparable to a conquerors language used by a ruling group for diplomatic and legal purposes.
Proto-Ainu was one Jmon language. If there were speakers of other Jmon
languages they were not so physically distinctive, making assimilation the normal
course. If the features were too different, they were aliens, and the early Wa set out
to annihilate them, a point the old literature makes very clear.
112
Well aware of recent arguments to the contrary and as yet unconvinced, and
granted that measuring language change in time-depths is nothing but a series of
pitfalls, I believe Japanese is distinctive because it has been isolated for so long.
Such great divergence from Korean in only two thousand years seems unlikely in
view of the fact that features of the language can be traced back to Old Japanese of
at least the Nara period or eighth century AD.
The closest genetic relationship with Ainu seems to be Japanese. Glottochronologists would like to place the separation of the two between five thousand
and eight thousand years ago.226 In other words, this reasoning opens the door to consider events on the Japanese islands during those millennia of the Jmon period.
The language problem is a sociological one, in which a cultures initial phase of
unusually rapid development should be attributable to an equally evolving communication system.227 Miller concentrated on the combed-pattern kammkeramik Sobata
pottery type of Early Jmon in north Kyushu, which implied a common culture
zone across the Korean Strait.228 An obsidian trade was also going on at the time.
The greatest expansion of the Jmon population was initiated in the Early
Jmon period.The temperature then rose to a level somewhat warmer than today,
creating the conditions for lush forests. Marine transgression formed numerous
inlets for breeding grounds for sea life; shell-mounds exist far inland, up to 60 km
from todays coastline. Shikoku became a separate island. Quercus (oak) dominated
both the cool, temperate, deciduous forest zone and the warm, temperate, evergreen
zone. A variety of nuts became staple foods. Grinding stones and mortars are typical artifacts. Hunting methods improved. Dogs proliferated. More and larger pitdwellings mark the population increase, some houses now with an indoor fireplace.
Storage pits signify concern for food retrieval. Houses were organized around open
meeting spaces (hiroba), planned for group activitiesattributable only to improvements in communication techniques. Seasonal movement is evident, the mobility a
major factor in language spread.
Often overlooked is a physical change that was unlikely to have occurred without outside contacts. Skulls had been largely mesocranic before this time, but
between Early and Middle Jmon they became consistently more brachycranic
(broad-headed).229 In my view, these were probably the speakers of the earliest form
of Proto-Japanese to be used on the islands.
The southern routewhich has been suggestedwas virtually impassable for
thousands of years, limiting entry to Japan during that stage to north Kyushu and
the northern Chgoku coast. Periodic volcanism of unprecedented proportions in
south Kyushu made habitation unrealistic. Somewhat like the Aira-Tanzawa (AT)
eruption of about twenty-two thousand years ago in the extreme south of Kyushu,230
Kikai-Akahoya (K-Ah), a little to the south of AT, exploded about seventy-three
hundred years ago, leaving an immense submerged caldera. Forests were destroyed.
Mountains and coastlines through Shikoku and on the western side of the Kinki
were reshaped.The fallout matched AT in extent and either killed all of the population or forced their evacuation.231 It is believed that environmental recovery
required eight to nine hundred years. Pottery below the ash layers is Earliest Jmon.
The cultural hiatus created by this event finally ended when the Early Jmon
Todoroki-type pottery appeared, the presence of which has been interpreted as people
113
moving from central Honshu into south Kyushu. Sobata pottery was the type then
made in north Kyushu.
South Kyushu was scheduled for still more punishment. The reoccupation of
the area by Early Jmon people was once again dramatically disrupted by the
Ikedako eruption of about 4400 BC,232 archaeologically roughly the end of Early
Jmon. Even after this only slightly less disastrous catastrophe, Sakurajima kept the
air foul with periodic eruptions as it still does today, and volcanoes of the Kirishima
chain contributed to the inhospitality of central to south Kyushu.
The oldest boats recovered in archaeological sites are Early Jmon.The first pottery to appear on Okinoshima is Early Jmon. Outside contacts show up for the first
time. It seems unlikely that these were local inventions: finely polished stone earrings,
the practice of tooth ablation, and the painting of human bones, that is, as a component of a secondary burial system. The Jmon period was not a deterrent to
Japanization as so many seem to think. It kept the Japanese from speaking a hybrid
form of Korean. Historians and others who grew up on the sweep of uninterrupted
Japanese history see the beginnings of Japaneseness in Yayoi. Yayois contribution was Koreanizing the Wa.The Jmon culture gave Japan its Japaneseness.
While unrelated to the spoken language, examples of Chinese characters have
been found on Yayoi pottery as early as the second and third centuries AD. A sherd
from the Mikumo site in Fukuoka bears a character like ky/owaru (probably here
meaning finish), while one from the Daij site in Mie bears the character
h/tatematsu, offer, dedicate, serve.233 The latter should be a fragment of a vessel used for a votive offering. These particular ones are unlikely to have been near
Himikos court, and random appearances like these contributed little to the art of
writing in Japan, but do show that an occasional craftsman could exhibit a modest
degree of literacy.
CHAPTER 7
The Izumo-Yamato Contention
The obsession Yamato had with Izumo, as described by the writers of the Nihon
shoki, was a mystery until the discovery of the 358 Kanba-kjindani swords and the
thirty-nine Kamo-iwakura bells.The revelation of these caches of bronze objects, so
much larger than any finds known elsewhere in the country, was astounding. Izumo
has relatively few Jmon sites, but the artifacts do include pottery from Kyushu of
the Middle and Late Jmon and from the Inland Sea of Late Jmon.There is Yayoi
pottery, some also brought up from Kyushu, and a few shell bracelets, which must
have followed the same route. But the finds in Shimane prefecture prior to 1984 had
yielded only thirteen bronze swords from six sites, three of these recorded in 1665,
two halberds from two different sites, and no spearheads, and before 1996, fifteen
bronze bells from seven sites.1
Izumo is the name of the westernmost of nine districts from which the
province received its name.A coastal area west of Lake Shinji, its heart is Kizuki, the
locale of the Great Shrine (taisha), first known as Kizuki yashiro. At the eastern end
is a district called Ou, which appears archaeologically to have frequently rivalled
Izumo in power.The governor who went to the Nara court to pay his respects and
offer the provinces greetings (kanyogoto/kamuyogoto) did his purification and abstinence at Imbe (i.e., abstinence) in Ou, suggesting that it had an earlier claim to
sacred spots with ritual use. The name of Shimane, eventually given to the prefecture, was derived from the peninsular district lying north of Lake Shinji. The lake
was more or less an open sea in Yayoi and Kofun times, its east end only narrowing
in early historic centuries. The term Izumo is rather loosely used today, but can
be regarded as the eastern third of Shimane prefecture.
As mentioned earlier, from the observation platform in Takamahara the Izumo
area was seen as the only obstacle to the subjugation of the Central Land of the
Reed Plains (Ashihara-no-nakatsu-kuni), a place too well defended to risk a direct
attack, such as Jimmu is said to have mounted in other hostile areas later. Izumo may
appear peripheral on the map, but this was not the way it was perceived by the
Yamato people. They saw it as being able to build unlimited strength by using the
coastal route directly to Korea, all of which was beyond Yamatos reach.
The mythology puts a fairy-tale face and an earthy explanation on all the diplomatic maneuvers, but because concealed within the tale are many implications of
114
THE IZUMO-YAMATO CONTENTION
115
relations with Yamato it should be considered.The stories are particularly pertinent

to the second century AD, and without Yamatos achieving supremacy, the Himiko
account would not exist.
Told in four versions, the last extremely shortened, the Izumo episode is
recounted as the contest between the Sun Goddess and her brother Susano-o and
the latters banishment to Izumo and his killing the predator snake/monster. This
opens the second stage of the Age of the Gods. The approach is deity to deity, the
Izumo deity then recognized as the supreme kami of the land below. The story
appears at one point in general terms, Izumo not specified, when the Sun Goddess
sent her best warrior, Ame-waka-hiko, armed with special bow and arrows to the
Central Land of the Reed Plains, a term used for the Izumo region and probably
adopted from Izumo mythology. His all-consuming passion for earthly female
deities went on for eight years. On advice she sent a pheasant, which perched on a
tree by Ame-wakas house and inquired why he had failed to report, to investigate.
A mistrustful female deity suggested that Ame-waka shoot the pheasant, which he
did, the arrow passing through the bird and landing at the feet of the Sun Goddess.
Suspicious, she put a curse on it and threw it back, for evil or good intent. It hit and
killed Ame-waka. His body was removed to heaven by his family, who put it in a
mourning hut (moya). Aji-suki-taka-hikone-no-kami, an earthly friend, went to
Takamahara to console them, but resembled Ame-waka so closely they believed he
had been reincarnated and harassed him to the point of distraction. With his ten-fist
sword he cut down the hut, which became a mountain in Mino province (Gifu).
His fame spread quickly, his glow covering two hills and two valleys, and the land
was reported as clear for the Sun Goddess to send her offspring down to rule it.The
son declined and the grandson was sent.2
In one version the pacification story is repeated and is narrowed to the specific
problem of Izumo,Takamimusubi in charge.3 He initiated the first approach and eventually made all of the concessions.4 Izumo was the chief obstacle to be overcome. In
a convoluted and lengthy way, the negotiations were a protracted process.The land was
alive with lit-up and buzzing deities, talking trees and shrubs, and animated rocks. In
this state of chaos the evil ones had to be destroyed.Takamimusubi sent down an otherwise unheard of kami, but he befriended the Izumo kami namochi and failed to
communicate with his heavenly base. Three years later his son was dispatched, with
similar results.The next emissary,Ame-waka-hiko, was given a sacred bow and arrows,
but he succumbed to the charms of a local woman.The story then follows the other
version fairly closely. Ame-waka was killed by his own arrow thrown from the sky,
which is why people fear a returning arrow. A related deity had a strong wind whisk
Ame-wakas body heavenward after hearing his wifes wailing and realizing that her
husband was dead. Birds were recruited for the eight days and eight nights of mourning near the hut. His kami friend from earth,Aji-suki-taka-hikone offered his condolences, but his resemblance to the dead man was so great the family drove him crazy
and in a frenzy he chopped down the moya. It turned into a mountain.This is why
people are careful not to mistake a living for a dead person. One version in the
Kojiki is so similar, the two must have been copied from the same document.5
Following another conference, in order to solve the problem of defections two
deities were sent, Futsu-nushi-no-kami and Take-mika-tsuchi-no-kami, who then
116
met namochi6 while sitting on the points of their swords. In one version they did
this on the waves. To their opening question as to what the Izumo deity intended
to do, namochi said he would have to consult with his son Kotoshironushi, then
fishing (or bird shooting in another version). A messenger traveled by the pigeonboat of heaven and found Kotoshironushi agreeable to conceding to the heavenly
deities request. namochi inquired of Kotoshironushi what language he would
have to use. Then the former turned over his spear to the deities as a sign of surrender, and according to one account, both he and his son disappeared. In a different version they went down a road of eighty windings.All of the malevolent deities
were eliminated by the sword-sitters.
This was an unsatisfactory, abrupt, and dismal ending. It makes Yamatos fears
appear unfounded, does not conform to the history of the obstreperous Izumo region,
and fails to explain the presence of one of the earliest and largest shrines in the country. In another version, two swordless deities arrived and made the offer, but namochi
refused. One went back to Takamahara for consultations, and Takamimusubi outlined
the generous terms he would offer in the negotiations: Izumo could have charge of
the religious affairs of the country; a large palace/shrine (miya) named Ama-nohisumi would be built of massive pillars and huge boards for namochi, so big that
a rope of a thousand strides (hiro) would go around it (occupying a periphery of more
than a mile); rice fields would be farmed for him; a heavenly bird-boat would be provided for water travel and a bridge over the Tranquil River (to heaven) constructed,
white shields (shirotate) made, and Ame-no-hohi-no-mikoto placed in charge of the
ceremonies (matsuri) (i.e., worship of namochi).7
All of this was too good to decline. The terms were accepted, the grandson to
be sent down would handle public affairs, namochi would retire and deal with
secret matters. He turned his tenure over to Kunato-no-kami (Monkey-fieldman-deity), giving him the Yasaka beads, the symbols of his authoritywhich the
heavenly grandchild then was able to carry down with himand disappeared.
Kunato was appointed guide, and he and the surviving Takamahara deity, Futsunushino-kami, set out to pacify the country. Those who resisted were exterminated; the
others were rewarded. Vowing their loyalty were the deities mononushi and
Kotoshironushi. The two assembled the eighty myriads (80 10,000) of earthly
deities in Takamahara and made them swear their loyalty. In these stories the Kojiki,
however, speaks of 800 myriad deities, thus tabulating the familiar eight million.
mononushi was warned against taking an earthly kami wife, and married the
daughter of Takamimusubi.
Deities were appointed heads of crafts groupscloth workers, shield makers,
metallurgists, basket makers, and bead manufacturersthus recognizing the magical
element in the ultimate miracle of production.Takamimusubi ordered two kami to
set up a himorogi, probably several trees used for demarcation of a sacred area, and to
be in charge of the abstinence practices. Actually, this injunction is not specifically
tied in with Izumo, but is at the end of the Izumo story and gives the Imbe family
claim to their ancestry. This negotiation is the first and last constructive piece of
work attributed to Takamimusubi, kami-generalissimo of the planned invasion.
Following this, what direct heavenly guidance the first emperor Jimmu needed was
received through dreams and signs, although some of the deities instrumental in
117
these communications were involved with the whole process of transferring the
activities from heaven to earth.
Whenever these dense and dark stories were written, they were magnified by the
paranoia of the tribe occupying the Yamato region through frequent telling and local
embellishments. Kinship with Izumo was claimed through the Sun Goddess and her
brother, hence an unspoken genetic reason for uniting. Yamato mustered all its negotiating skills and offered half the kingdom. As the stories accumulated the personalities became confused. A point of interest is the different names used for the Izumo
deity. Takamimusubi liked to negotiate with namochi-no-kami, and the Sun
Goddess at first negotiates in her version, but after his surrender he was Yamatoized
to mononushi-no-kami in her dealings with him. In describing Susano-os procreativity in the populating of Izumo with the right stock, the Kojiki says another
nakuninushi-no-kami is namuchi-no-kami (using another written character).8
namuchi-no-kami means Great Name Possessor Deity, which is only one of about
a dozen of his names, as used for the key figure in numerous, widely dispersed stories.9 For instance, among the many places, he is the deity of Kotohira Shrine on Mt.
Kompira in Kagawa prefecture on the island of Shikoku. He was, therefore, a typedeity venerated in many different areas and the subject of much folklore, inevitably
incorporated into the Yamato pantheon.
As the stories are told, the identification with Yamato begins when the Sun
Goddess bargains directly with him. In the Jimmu story a beautiful woman is singled
out for the emperor because her desirability had been proved by the attention
given her by Miwa-no-mononushi-no-kami.10 Many, but not all, had recognized
him as the deity of the Miwa region of Yamato, the Makimuku area, but he was
demanding more. He appeared to Emperor Sujin in a dream offering to curb the
current plague if he was worshiped as the Great Deity of Miwa (kami; the shrine
name pronounced miwa, using the characters for -kami). The ruler would have to
find tataneko, the deitys descendant.11 In the Kojiki story, messengers were sent
out, the man was found in Sue village, present Osaka, properly identified as fourth
generation in the line, and appointed as priest to conduct the worship of the Great
Deity. In the Nihon shoki he could claim to be the first-generation son of
mononushi-no-kami.12 The emperor was greatly pleased and found by divination that no other deities should then be worshiped; the existing kunitama-nokami and mononushi-no-kami were enough. Rivalry between kami often caused
much grief for humans, the writers said, and the health of the people had already
suffered drastically because the latter resented his lack of attention.
In the reign of Suinin that follows, the Great Deity of Izumo is said to be
responsible for a curse (tatari) on an imperial prince, which had made him dumb.
For relief, the prince had to be taken to the Great Shrine at Izumo. In other words,
this deity, while retaining his presence in Izumo, had gained a commanding position
in the Yamato kami hierarchy. Also, as the story is told, Izumo now had its Great
Shrine. Politics were the current driving such religious developments, but Izumo
still kept its place as the master of religious affairs and the source of religious power,
centered at the shrine.The danger of antagonizing resident deities when accepting
others is a hazard frequently referred to, but acceptance had been written into the
agreement. On the other hand, mononushi became characteristically territorial
118
once in Yamato: after the rulers no longer lived in the Makimuku area he played no
significant part in the ensuing mythology.
It would be pointless to dismiss the mythology outright because by doing so
one would lose much valuable information relative to the Izumo-Yamato contention. More than that, this rivalry can now be given a time frame that leads to a
better understanding of when Yamato was consolidating its position. Yet one does
not forget that the stories were written retrospectively as Yamato history, so
Yamato is made out to be a cohesive political entitya stage of political development quite likely exaggerated for Yayoi times.
One reads the slaying of the serpent/monster as Yamatos physical destruction of
Izumo power, to which were added the negotiations, set on a higher human level,
intended to be humane and demonstrate the generous way Wa retired the undesirables.
Archaeologically one may say that Izumo headed the strongest association of chiefdoms
by Middle Yayoi.The Yamato chiefdom(s) had to use a combination of force, guile, and
persuasion to subdue the region. At the same time, defections from Izumo were
accounting for some serious losses.The number of attackers was doubled, and from all
appearances, a Yamato-generated alliance of chiefdoms of Kibi, northeast Shikoku, and
the eastern Inland Sea forced Izumo into a negotiated peace and subservient position.
The shaman-chieftain of Izumo kept his honor by retaining some, but insignificant,
authority while accepting the creature comforts of the finest buildable dwelling of the
time and thus the outward marks of power. In other words, the leading religious figure, to whom the family of official abstainers traced their ancestry, designated to conduct the local ceremonies, became at that moment in time a Yamato appointee.
Kanba-kojindani and Kamo-iwakura: Swords and Bells

The hillside site of Kanba-kjindani, about 6 km southwest of Lake Shinji, was an
accidental discovery during logging work. Near the Hi River (sometimes written as
Hiigawa in the old texts), it is a days walk from Izumo Taisha.All the bronze swords,
in mint condition, were meticulously deposited in four groups, some at least
wrapped in cloth, then covered with earth, and apparently protected under a leanto shack to judge by the presence of postholes. It was not expected that they be
buried very deep. In the four groups of 34, 111, 120, and 93 swords, those of the
first group were all laid alternately east and west, the first four of the second group
were laid with points toward the west after which they were alternated, and the last
two groups were all laid with points toward the east.13
Further digging the next year unearthed sixteen bronze spearheads and seven
bronze bells only 7 m away.Taken together, not only is the sheer number staggering,
but the quality of workmanship, including special polishing, and consistency in style
are unusual, and the mix of weapons and bells is rarely encountered elsewhere.The
uniformity of the swords is taken to mean they were cast locally, but no evidence of
a workshop has been found in the area. All but fourteen of the swords have an
X carved into the handle stem. One is tempted to call it a workshop signature, but
the Xs were cut after the casting.They have been spoken of as a sign to repel evil and
disaster.14 Archaeologists call the bells Early Yayoi and the spears Middle Yayoi, meaning, if they were buried together, some antiques were on hands for final interment.
119
Kamo-iwakura was a similarly accidental hillside find twelve years later, less than
an hours walk to the southeast from the Kanba-kjindani site. Oddly enough, of
the thirty-nine bells, fifteen were packed inside larger bells as though there had been
a surfeit.They average about 38 cm in height and are less consistent in style than the
swords of Kanba-kjindani. Because of this and because many match with bells
found elsewhere, it is generally assumed that they were not cast locally but acquired
from several Kinki sources. Local casting for some bells, however, is a real possibility, as the quality does not meet normal Kinki standards. Again, no molds or other
indications of workshops have been uncovered in Shimane prefecture.
Seven other sites in Shimane prefecture have yielded an aggregate of fifteen
bells. By way of contrast to the fifty-four bells now recovered in that prefecture,
ten sites in Nara prefecture, or old Yamato, have yielded a total of only fourteen
bells. Moreover, all but two of the sites have contained only one. The largest
number ever discovered in one site prior to 1996 had been at Sakuragaoka on
the outskirts of Kobe city (Hygo prefecture) in 1964, where fourteen came up in
highway construction.
Almost four hundred bronze bells are known today, but fewer than half of these
have been discovered in the era of modern archaeology of reliably reported field
conditions. During this time only four sites have yielded more than four bells each.
Most contain no more than two.
Small bells are found in Kyushu and Korea and show the latter to have been the
origin of the type. As mentioned earlier, stone molds worked very well for the earliest small bells, but were inadequate when more material became available and
larger bells were desired.A handful of the earliest bells have clappers, but larger bells
of recycled bronze with flanges lost their resonance and, at least by the time clay
molds were used, their value as musical instruments, so they had been transformed
into purely nonfunctional symbols. In any event, while the casting became exceedingly refined, the technique, which left clamp holes in the top and sides and notches
in the foot, would not have produced a respectable musical sound.
Why weapons were given up in favor of bells, which seem to have served much
the same purpose, is difficult to say.They may have outlived their usefulness or were
thought to have failed in their function after several years of poor harvests. Bells
became the next choice for a ritual still socially demanded.
The finding of molds is usually an indication of the presence of a workshop.
Stone molds have come from several sites, from Kyushu to Osaka, whereas pieces of
clay molds are mostly from eastern Inland Sea sites. The largest workshop discovered to date was at Higashi-nara, Ibaraki city, Osaka prefecture.15 Among the artifacts are six types of molds, some of which are sandstone pairs. One of these molds
was used for a bell found in Kagawa prefecture on the island of Shikoku. At least
four bells could be produced from a single stone mold, as that many identical bells
have been found. On the other hand, clay molds were broken away when the casting was finished, but clay impressions were often taken from the surface of existing
bells, accounting for similar examples. The art of matching bellsnot necessarily
from the same mold, but so similar as to leave no doubt of the modelhas led to
the belief that the chief workshops were in the Osaka area, since within five groups
of bells that match, at least one in each group has come from a site in the Kinki.
Fig. 7.1 Yayoi-period sites in the Nara Basin and northern foothills (adapted from Barnes, Protohistoric
Yamato, fig. 62; Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta, Sakurai no Yayoi jidai, 2; NKKKFH, Yamato
o horu 16, opp. 1; Yamato o horu 18, 1)
121
Thirty of the Kamo-iwakura bells were cast in stone molds, regarded at this time as
a Kinki technique.
The Kamo-iwakura bells are bigger and better in quality than the Kanbakjindani bells and therefore placed a little later in time, fitting them to the earlier
half of Middle Yayoi. Since the former vary considerably in their details, they are
believed to come from several different workshops.Their time is the threshold stage
of decoration with little thread-relief figures in panels separated by wide, hatched
bands.There is obvious familiarity with Kinki work, but the quality here is inferior.
Nos. 18 and 35 have dragonflies in panels, 23 and 35 have two deer and a strange
quadruped, and 10 and 29 have a tortoise and human face on their handles.
The Kamo-iwakura bells are essentially two types: four or six panels separated
by bands of hatching, and flowing-water patterns, this sometimes within two panels. Only two came from the same mold, nos. 1 and 26, both of the panel type. Since
a few have not been removed from the mother bell in which they were nestled, not
all the details are certain, but three have six panels, twenty-three have four panels,
one has two panels, and eight have the flowing-water motif. Six of the panel type
and five of the flowing-water type bear X marks incised on the handles, which must
have been added locally.
Nevertheless, the evidence of Kinki workshops is seen by matching bells from
other sites with bells in this group. Thirteen are similar to bells in nine other sites,
most located in the eastern Inland Sea area. Those matching with bells from the
same side of Honshu on which Shimane lies are three from Kamiyashiki, Tottori,
and two from Kehi, north Hygo. Kamiyashiki and Sakuragaoka have the same
three matches, indicating acquisition from common sources.16
The facts are clear: the Izumo chieftain in the area of the present Great Shrine
had a direct line to the production center or centers, that is to say, twelve matches
are with bells in sites within a radius of about 75 km from the metallurgy shops,
today the sites buried somewhere under the modern city of Osaka.To this, another
point may be added: Izumos demands in bells were more for quantity than quality.
Izumos own mythology reveals how closely related the region was to other parts
of the west Honshu coast and south Korea. The Izumo no kuni fudoki, presented to
the court in 733, tells the land-pulling story of the deity Yatsuka-mizuomi-zununo-mikoto, who noted that Izumo had been shortchanged when land was formed
and other areas had been overendowed.17 Taking a shovel he carved out sections of
Silla (Korea) and the Koshi coast above Izumo (chiefly Toyama and Niigata) and
hauled these in with a rope to increase the land spaceexplained by pragmatists as
silting up from the Hii River, and by diffusionists as a major immigration from
Korea.18 This mythology has namuchi, not Susano-o, destroying the serpent in
Koshi, not in Izumo, which is named Yakuchi Eight Mouths, not Yamata Eight Forks,
leading Ueda to claim that this is not the same storydespite Yamato thinkers equating the twoand indicates that Izumos sphere of influence was much greater than
normally recognized.19 He goes on to describe connections with south Korea and
the substantial traffic that came down the east coast of Korea from the kingdom of
Kogury and later from Bohai, until 919. Moreover, the connections with Tsukushi
in north Kyushu were close, such as kuninushi marrying one of the trio of female
deities of the Tsukushi Shrine of Munakata, the existence of a Tsukushi shrine near
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the Great Shrine of Izumo, and a Munakata Shrine listed in the Engi-shikithe
tenth-century records of ritualas in Hki province (Tottori prefecture).
The conquest of Izumo is not limited to the implications of Susano-os
killing the serpent and the truce brokered between the sword-sitting deities and
namochi.The ancient literature implies continuing tensions and internal struggles,
the source of many divided loyalties, including within families.The broader picture
is unmistakable, regardless of the specific interpretation of each story. In the account
of the reign of Emperor Sujin, when Furune Izumo, the custodian of the divine
treasures (shinp) in the Great Shrinewho is said to be the ancestor of the aristocracy of Izumowas solicited for the treasures by two emissaries from the Yamato
court, he went to Tsukushi. His younger brother Ii-iri-ne gave the treasures to his
younger brother and son, who then turned them over to the Yamato officials.20
When Furune Izumo returned and found the treasures gone, he reproved his
brother, asking why he could not have waited.The act so embittered him he decided
to kill his brother, and was later able to do so by tricking him into exchanging
swords. One was only a wooden fake, the other a real sword.
These were not the Yamato regalia, but the symbols of local authority, in some
cases apparently bestowed by the Yamato kimi. The timing is the explanation.
Several points need little elucidation. For instance, Furune had heard of the plan in
advance and had gone to Tsukushi for advice and to enlist aid against the Yamato.
Ii-iri-ne could not bring himself to hand over the treasures and made every effort
to avoid the responsibility and the stigma. Furune had not expected his brother to
succumb to the pressure, and believed the treasures would be safe in his absence.
There was a shortage of iron in Izumo, replicas of swords being used symbolically
for status. Surrendering the treasures was the work of a traitor relinquishing the
throne to an outsider, and traitors had to pay for their disloyalty.
Acquiring the Great Shrines treasures at this point was all-important to the
Yamato. Sujin is called the first ruler of the land in the Kojiki and Fudoki,21 and their
possession would not only reinforce his position but make the transfer of power
complete. Although very general agreement had been arrived at initially, Izumo
chieftains were being forced into additional concessions as Yamato power expanded
and pressures increased. Resistance continued.
Kakubayashi argues for an anti-Yamato alliance between Izumo and Tsukushi,
explaining a major source of Izumos trade and therefore strength.22 Susano-o
roamed freely throughout the two areas. His daughters are the three female deities
of the Munakata Shrine. One, Itsukushima-hime, is enshrined at Miyajima, the
Inland Sea shrine island in Hiroshima prefecture, which can be taken as evidence of
extending the alliance. While the Chinese Wei zhi in no way hints at who the contending sides were in the fighting between 178 and 183, Kakubayashi believes it was
probably Yamato versus the combined forces of north Kyushu and west Honshu.
Yamato won and enthroned Himiko.
Nihon shoki writers hammered home the Izumo subjugation story. The oddly
composite tales of the exploits of Yamato-takeru put in the time of Emperor Keik
to give the reign some substance has the Yamato Brave going to Izumo to take on
their strongest warrior.23 The story was an Izumo one, composed of oblique versions of its conquest at the hands of Yamato invaders and used by Yamato histo-
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rians to emphasize lordship over the region. In this case it was duplicity between
friend and friend, not brother and brother. Yamato-takeru befriended the Izumo
warrior and, having made a wooden sword, they bathed together in the Hi River.
The same fake sword was exchanged with the real one. Yamato-takeru suggested a
fencing match, the outcome of which was predetermined.The death of the Izumo
warrior initiated the conquest of the region, and Yamato-takeru returned to the
capital to report his success to Keik, his father.
Ensuing political relations are revealed in the kanyogoto, the Shinto liturgy read
at the court, as prescribed in the eighth volume of the tenth-century Engi-shiki.24
Only the Izumo text is now extant (or its copies), but the same ceremony was
required of other provinces and read by their governors at the capital. The kunino-miyatsuko, or kokus, of Izumo was the chief priest of the shrine.The ceremony
probably originated in declarations of submission and assurances of loyalty, the
Izumo liturgy retaining this beyond the regular congratulatory messages
(yogoto = gashi = greetings/congratulations) most of these statements embodied.
The presentation at the court in the presence of the emperor was of great ceremonial importance and was the exclusive business of the day.25
Izumos prominent position in religious affairs is borne out by the Fudoki count
of shrines and as supplemented by the Engi-shiki. Although difficult to compare
because of only partial Fudoki texts remaining elsewhere, the Izumo fudoki lists 399
shrines, 184 registered with the Jingi-kan, the governments Religious Affairs
Office, and 215 not registered. The district of Izumo has 122 of these shrines, 58
registered and 64 unregistered. Ou claims only 67, but of these 48 are registered and
only 19 are unregistered. The former group implies older and more established
shrines, meaning that the ratio therefore favors Ou as a district with a longer religious history. In fact, the Izumo fudoki begins with the district of Outhe landpulling story is told from that vantage pointand after the Yayoi period Ou has
larger tombs.26 If one can go by tomb size, as most Japanese archaeologists do in the
measurement of power, Ou held its ground against Izumo. The early-fifth-century
keyhole tomb known as Nokiy-kitayama in Thaku-gun,Tog-machi,Tottori prefecture, has a length of 110 m27 and may be taken as indicating some eastward shift
of power from the old Izumo area, but by the late fifth century the old Tango district, the Oku-tango peninsula, now the north Kyoto coast, dominated that coastal
region, with three keyhole-shaped tombs in the so-called chieftain class size, that is
to say, over about 100 m in length.These have the usual large clusters of neighboring smaller, round tombs: Shimmeiyama in Tango-machi at 190 m, Aminochshiyama in Amino-machi at 198 m, and Ebisuyama in Kaya-machi at 132 m.28
Matsue city in Shimane was the scene of a power revival at the same time with a
tomb called Sandai-futagozuka of 100 m.29 The middle- to late-fifth-century keyhole tombs south, east, and northeast of Izumo city, such as Kanba-iwafuneyama and
dera, are only about 50 m long. Excavations have yielded fine grave-goods in
them, many probably made in the Kinki region.
The Engi-shiki lists 187 registered shrines for Izumo, leaving the impression of
little change in the region from the eighth through the tenth centuries, or a possible
reflection of the Jingi-kans preoccupation with local affairs and disinterest in other
regions. In the Engi-shiki only Yamato and Ise exceeded Izumo in the number of
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shrines,30 a fact that can be attributed to the relative proximity of their shrines to
Nara and Heian, direct familiarity with their personnel, and the Jingi-kans concern
with writing the Engi-shiki, much of which was concentrated on the courts rituals
at Ise Jing. Over fifty shrines are in the Ise shrines precincts. It need hardly be added
that towering individual deities generated many more kami, as the myriads at Izumo
represent, and therefore corresponding numbers of shrines.
It can now be imagined that Izumos formidable position by Middle Yayoi had
energized the emerging alliance of chieftains in the Yamato area to hone their
intimidating methods and approach the problem directly.This was effectively done.
Izumo has no wide bronze spearheads and no later bells, so was no longer in the
trading business for such symbols in the last Yayoi century. Its sources had been severed, removing it from contention. Instead, the spearheads were being made and circulated in north Kyushu and west Shikoku, and the bells in the Kinki and east
Shikoku. Izumo may have buried its riches for later retrieval when Yamato emissaries were reported to be on the waybut there is no evidence that either weapons
or bells were ever recovered from their initial intermentsor had invested too
much of its resources in terminal use in the current ritual manner.
I would suggest that the intensity of the ritual, implied by the burial of so many
swords and bells, is a mark of the depth of religious tradition in the area, the source
of political power, and is why the Yamato were so deferential in the negotiations.
Offending the deities could bring on endless misfortunes. Compensating for its
losses, Izumo withdrew, diversified and strengthened its religious activities more
toward offerings and abstinence practices using large amounts of ritual pottery, kept
some local distinctiveness by building moderately large tombs with projecting corners, and eventually turned to the acquisition and production of iron artifacts, particularly swords, as one mainstay of its economy.
However one wants to argue much later union with the Yamato confederacy,31 at this point Izumo was at its most vulnerable, a position from which it
never fully recovered. Those who favor Yamatai as being in Yamato look on the
Izumo area as accepted in the queens domain by the Chinese writer. If by joining the confederacy all chieftains were expected to follow a prescribed set of rules,
the square-shaped keyhole tombs would have kept the Izumo chieftains out, but
if the receipt of a bronze mirror from the queens court dated to 239 meant membership in the confederacy, as the Kobayashi theory of mirrors cast in the same
molds seems to imply,32 then the Kanbara Jinsha Tomb in Kamo-machi, Shimane
prefecturea medium-size, square tomb with much strange ritual pottery and several iron swordsqualified a local aristocrat.
No Izumo tomb has yielded more than three mirrors.The only one with three
is Tsukuriyama no. 1 Tomb in Yasugi city on the south side of the Nakaumi lagoon.
One of four tombs in the Tsukuriyama tomb group, it is a fairly large squarish
mound measuring 50 by 60 m.Also found were two iron swords and a knife, a stone
spindle whorl, cylindrical pottery, and glass beads.33 Two of these mirrors are of the
TLV type, both with an inscription band, but to judge by the distortions in the decoration, they are Japanese copies. The third is the triangular-rim-deities-animals
mirror type that goes with Himikos time, but it is not inscribed and therefore not
dated. It should be of foreign manufacture. According to the Kobayashi theory, it
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Fig. 7.2 Areas of distribution of bronze weapons and bells. Upper: Early to Middle Yayoi.
Lower: Late Yayoi (adapted from Shimane-ken Kyiku Iinkai, Kodai Izumo bunka-ten, 59)
links Izumo with the distributor of these mirrors in the Kinki. Taking the gravegoods together, this Tsukuriyama Tomb is one of the earliest of the Kofun period in
Izumo and, in respect to current styles, shows that Izumo was abreast of the times.
By the end of the fifth century the areas elite sometimes mixed tombs of fundamentally keyhole shape, but with either a square-shaped or a round knoll, and built
fine stone passageways and chambers.They had switched to a variety of finely made
Sue for their ceremonial pottery; were putting many cylinders, human, animal and
house-shaped haniwa on the slopes of the mounds; and were depositing some giltbronze horse trappings with the dead.The sarcophagi are unusual in being end- or
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side-loaded, that is to say, provided with a hole through which the human remains
could be inserted. In most cases this obligated building the chamber around the sarcophagus.Tombs served as family vaults, available for multigenerational use.
The famous Nukatabe iron sword has been used to close the chapter on the
alliance.34 Found in the Okadayama Tomb near Matsue in 1983, the broken, latesixth-century sword bears an inscription of twelve inlaid gold characters, not all legible because of serious deterioration, missing lines, or much damage.The first four
read nuka ta be omi. This is the name of two important chieftains referred to in the
hara-district section of the Izumo fudoki.35 The only other recognizable characters
are numbers ten and eleven, which are dai and ri, meaning great profit. Be is the
occupation group and is often attached to a name, while omi is a Yamato rank
bestowed on those whose contributions to the courts welfare had been of material
value.The Nukatabe had a history of serving the Yamato court, for which the local
chieftain had received recognition, and gifts of swords were one means of commendation since at least the last quarter of the fifth century.
Two other swords have raised much controversy, particularly in regard to the
extent of state control by the end of the fifth century, coming as they do from the
two ends of the rising state, Kyushu and Kant: the sword from the Eta-funayama
Tomb in Kumamoto prefecture,36 with 75 characters in silver inlay, and the sword
from the Inariyama Tomb in Saitama, with 115 characters in gold inlay. While no
consensus has been reached, one plausible theory is that both contain references to
Wakatakeru/Wakatake-no-sumera-mikoto, or Emperor Yryaku, whose personal
name was hatsuse-wakatakeru.The Inariyama sword was made in the shingai (kanoto-i) year, which in the sexagenary cycle would be 471 if in the reign of Yryaku.37
Interestingly enough, after the fiasco of 663, when the Japanese in trying to aid
Paekche were disastrously routed in a naval battle off the west coast of Korea, they
rushed home to start building defenses against an expected invasion from Silla.
About eighteen hilltops were fortified with stone walls in north Kyushu, at points
along the Inland Sea, and one as far east as the Osaka-Nara border called Takayasu.38
But not a single fort was built on the northwest side of Honshu, including the
Izumo area, despite its long coastline exposure to hostile southeast Korea. I take this
to mean that what had once been a heavy Korean population was by that time, even
with tensions at their peak, regarded as fully loyal, with no fear of a fifth column or
of local disturbances.
To sum up, Izumo, Tsukushi, Kibi, and Yamato were all vying for domination
by Middle Yayoi, Izumo the front runner.Then its supply lines were cut. A greater
regional uniformity in bronze spearheads by Late Yayoi suggests some consolidation
of power, but outside the Izumo region. One or more workshops in the Osaka area
had been meeting regional demands for bells in Middle Yayoi, but by Late Yayoi not
one was sent to Izumo, and Kibi was fading from the picture. As the distribution
map (map 7.2) shows, Tsukushi, however, was still very much in contention, now
producing the largest spearheads, while somewhere in the Kinki the largest bells
were being cast.The emerging center of power was in the Kinki.
CHAPTER 8
Himiko, Shamans,
Divination, and Other Magic
The roster of magic practitioners, pre-Buddhist magicians and divinersusing the
term magic (majinai) in the general sense of trying to achieve a natural occurrence
through nonnatural means that includes through the medium of occult forces in
natureis led by the diviners, geomancers, and soothsayers, formally known as
urabe. Other methods of reaching these goals are pursued by abstainers (jisai; imibe
or imbe), purifiers (specialists in harai), and shamans (for whom the male title has
almost disappeared in favor of kannushi, the shrine priest, while female shamans are
called miko).The necromancers, who became professionalized in medieval times, are
known as itako. Exorcists and conjurors are perhaps better known in their Buddhist
roles as ajari and jugon. All were prominent figures in early Japanese life because of
the dependence on oracles for future action, preoccupation with signs and omens,
extreme sensitivity to potentially hostile spirits and especially to churlish spirits of
the dead, and the ever-pressing need to curry favor with the kami in order to invite
their benefactions.
The loose use of the terms shamanism and Shinto for Japan has clouded the
view with such generalizations as all practitioners of magic were female shamans and
all folk religious practices were components of Shinto. Shamanism by definition is
genderless. It is rooted in polytheistic beliefs, the shaman dealing with the diseased
and with the communitys future through access to the spirit world by various methods of autohypnosis. In an ecstatic state he or she receives the kamis desired message,
which is then transmitted to the participants in the ceremony after a normal condition has been regained.Also, in the spirit-possessed state the shaman is believed to be
in the company of fellow spirits and exceedingly persuasive so that they can be influenced to do his or her will. Since the majority of shamans in history have been male,
the fact of a substantial presence of female shamans is often noted.Various ways of
consciousness transformation are used such as drug taking, extended meditation, selfflagellation, food deprivation, trance-inducing music, dancing, and drumming.
Shamanism has a long history in Japan, the earliest for which there is evidence
is in Middle Jmon. Figures with raised arms in a dance posture were appliqued on
large pots, especially on drum-shaped vessels. Since rattles are also known, it is most
likely that drumming and rattling accompanying dancing were the chief methods
then used for achieving an ecstatic condition.
127
128
Fig. 8.1 Shamans illustrated on ceramic vessels. (1) High-relief figure on large pot, Hayashioji
site, Atsugi city, Kanagawa. Middle Jmon. (2) Relief figure on large pot,Tonai site, Fujimimachi, Nagano. Middle Jmon. Ht. of pot: 51.8 cm. (2 and 3: Kamikawana, Chki Jmon
bunka-ron, 252, fig. 79/4; 386, fig. 140/9). Incised on pottery sherds: (3) Shimizukaze site,
Nara, Middle Yayoi. (4) Tsuboi site, Nara. Middle Yayoi
Many pottery sherds with incised complete or fragmentary dancing figures

show much continuity throughout the Yayoi period.They have been dug up in such
diverse areas as Nara, Hiroshima, and Saga.The heavy scraping of the surface of the
pots to give the walls a more uniform thickness seems to contribute to the crudity
of the incision work.The two figures shown, from the Shimizukaze and Tsuboi sites
of Nara, have billowy sleeves, vaguely reminiscent of the long-sleeved dancers familiar to Han-dynasty art. There is a single hornlike projection from the head of the
Kawaki-yoshihara figure in Saga and one of the Karako figures. These are believed
to be male individuals. The man who arrived at Tsunoda from Kaya, offering to
serve Emperor Sujin, had one or more horns on his head.
The best-known Yayoi religious paraphernalia are the bronze bells recovered
from random sites. Several of these have little thread-relief figures of leaping shamans
HIMIKO, SHAMANS, DIVINATION, AND OTHER MAGIC
129
holding a rod, seemingly in a state of ecstasy.The small clay object from the Kawakiyoshihara site, broken at the bottom, with this horned figure on it, is bell-shaped, as
though bells in their original use were an important aspect of this process.
Haniwa drummers have been excavated, but drumming was probably more of a
middle-class technique in Himikos time. Undoubtedly various techniques were
tried and some combined. Jingle-bell mirrors have been recovered from widely scattered tombs. One enthroned female haniwa has a jingle-bell mirror hanging at her
waist, and jingle bells can be seen on crowns on haniwa figures, as parts of necklaces
and bracelets, and strung like a belt. However, most of these haniwa are from the
Chbu region, far beyond Himikos domain. Flutes were used. Dancing may have
been indulged in, as it was in later Japanese history, but references in the literature
and the haniwa point to trance-inducing music as at least the royal method. Several
seated male haniwa figures play a zitherlike koto. Wooden pieces of such instruments
have been found as far back as the end of the Jmon period. Until standardized in
the Chinese six-stringed type in the eighth century, they could have between four
and six strings, the flat-board earlier type eventually being made with a sound box.
After Jings time, when the early literature describes shamanic activity, the psychological condition was reached by cursing or through the removal of intimate personal items, the use of poisons, or the application of spells. Recorded instances of the
practice were often politically motivated. If Himiko had not been on the winning
side, the ki-d she practicedwhich surely was in private, highly suspect, and could
be regarded as a form of blackmailshould have made her a target for elimination.
For various reasonstoo limited social value to become communitywide ceremonies, overemphasis on death, supplanted by more civilized behavior, or impractical in congested areassome of the folk religious practices never found their way
into Shinto and thus did not survive to gain official sanction. Human sacrifice fell
to advances in culture, and secondary burials and accompanying mogari succumbed
to the realities of city life. Nevertheless, these were just as deeply embedded in dayto-day activities as those that survived in formal Shinto.The Wei zhi describes those
that did: abstinence and divination.
As certain magical devices and methods seemed to prove their worth, standardization took place through family and hereditary performances. Practitioners
gained eminence because they could speak for the higher powers of the supernatural world and serve as oracles for future action, so were accepted as leaders. This
particular sense of authority was enjoyed and exercised as secular power and the rituals were formally incorporated into the social system. Heredity played an important role, since the techniques of kami-possession could be taught and acceptably
acted with equal results. Given time, political centralization emphasized secular
affairs, resulting in some reduction of the role of female shamans at the court. Rapid
changes occurred in this evolution in the seventh century, notably in the persons of
Empress Suiko (d. 628), Empress Kgyoku who ruled again as Empress Saimei (d.
661), and Empress Jit (d. 702).
Much magic had official sanction, but other magic that seemed to upset the status quo and disrupted routine life was looked on as black magic (wu-gu/fuko) and
violently suppressed. The distinguishing criteria are not clear and impossible to
determine in preliterate times, if such a distinction existed, but once records were
130
kept, black magic included magic conducted in secret and therefore suspiciously
subversive, magic intended to destroy individuals, and magic that excited people to
behave foolishly and antisocially.
Nara was a hotbed of occult activity, but before that, during the reign of Empress
Kgyoku, among the many weird happenings, an individual named fube-no-, supported by all the male and female sorcerers, enticed the people to worship a caterpillarlike insect claimed to be the deity of Tokoyo (the Eternal World).The people threw
away their belongings and danced in the street, completely ignoring their daily work.
Eventually, a friend of Prince Shtoku put a permanent stop to it, thereby intimidating the sorcerers to cease and desist.1 This practice, however, was said to be tied into
an established philosophy of which fube was accused of being a false prophet.
Frenetic cults reached their climax in Kgyokus reign and were so socially disruptive that productivity was threatened. One reason for the palace coup and the
consequent Taika Reform was to strengthen the governments hand in dealing with
such social crises. Nevertheless, the popularity of ecstatic activity as release from
daily drudgery needed only an articulate instigator, and the authorities were periodically faced with cult groups led by charismatic mediums. Various suppressive
measures were employed against the instigators. In 781, the last year of Emperor
Konins reign, the sorcerers, both male and female, were ejected from the capital.2
As regards Shinto, or kami-no-michi, it was given its title and formalized to distinguish it from the newly arrived Buddhism and help it maintain some semblance
of equality. Its ceremonies include the survivors among the folk practices of Jmon
and Yayoi times, especially the later ones associated with spring and fall agricultural
activities.The deities of chiefdoms were retained after political consolidation, hence
the large number and the prominence of local kami. Yamato or Yamato-embraced
kami were elevated to national rank. Inevitably, as the bureaucracy expanded, the religious practices were put under official management, an office known as the Jingikan. The ceremonies were codified in the Engi-shiki. Once there, their future was
guaranteed by state approval and the strength of history. While emphasizing the
imperial obligations and the relationship with the Ise shrines, the Engi-shiki tells
much more than the dry sticks and stones of each ritual because behind most
recorded ceremonies and the manner of conducting them were centuries of practice.
Himiko: From Symbol to Personality

In the Japanese descriptions, the known shamans were highly visible and notably
individualistic, making their own decisions and pronouncements.Those singled out
for mention, perhaps because they were female, were Kamunashi-hime in Su
(Yamaguchi) and Hayatsu-hime in Tsukushi (Fukuoka).3 Better known, of course,
are Jing in Kyushu and Yamato and the empresses Kgyoku and Jit in Asuka.
Jing is said to have had a male collaborator in her quest for kami help, but she was
essentially a person of independent action, quite unlike Himiko, who was said to be
totally dependent on a chamberlain-spokesman. Mythology or otherwise, linked to
the story of Emperor Keiks pacification campaign of southwest Japan, Kamunashi
and Hayatsu were in the forefront of the troops when approached, Kamunashi in
control of a large area, leading many followers.4
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From what is known, through the time of Jing the female shamans were both
oracular and battle-tested. And Jit is given credit for her morale-boosting contribution under fire in the Jinshin-no-ran, the revolt that put Temmu on the throne
in 672: she addressed the troops and mingled with the throng . . . from the beginning until now [she] had assisted the emperor in pacifying the empire. And, as
Temmus empress before she took the throne after his death, it constantly happened that in the conduct of business, her ready advice on government matters was
of the greatest assistance.5
The fact that the nature of the imperial person was a product of this phase of
cultural evolution and by virtue of lineage always retained some aura of divinity in
the minds of the people accounts for the durability of the kingship system. The
power ultimately lay with the kingmakers, who, out of respect for the aura of
divinity and accepting the strict limits on eligibility, exercised their power as a form
of control. The one selected could be manipulated. Given the polygamous character of Japanese rulers the candidates were often numerous, and narrowing rival
claimants down was an understood device for social stability.
Within two centuries, by the time of Emperor Keitai (r. c. 507531), the Yamato
court had solidified its power to the extent that fighting was needed only against
rebellions in fringe areas, troops dispatched for that purpose. By then the character of female shamans had changed considerably, but in the early decades of the third
century there seems to have been no other way for Himiko to have earned her status except on the battlefield and as the augur of the team that won the last skirmish.
But as the Chinese writer pointed out, there was one more dimension to her
powerthe frightening kind of magic she possessed. It became safer for all to have
her confined and incommunicado.
The critical questions regarding Himiko inquire into the composition of her support and the source of her power, the nature of it, and the ways it was exercised. As
explained earlier, assuming that the Chinese used characters to imitate the pronunciation of the Japanese name, they came up with bi (the phonetic for maid servant); mi
(long, distant); and hu (exhale).The similarity to hime (female deity/princess) and miko
(female shaman) makes it a type denomination and, without another individual surviving historically, has become the name of this particular person.
The theme of the argument running through the writings of Inoue Mitsusada
and Ueda Masaaki, the former a Kyushu supporter, the latter a Yamato supporter,
was whether Himiko was elected by the collective chieftains of the Yamatai polity
or whether a powerful inner circle selected her as their leader.The latter would be
the embryonic stage of concentrated power in the hands of a few, the families of
kingmakers known by name once the process was recorded.While he did not phrase
it in archaeological terms, Inoue was seeing her as a member of the Yayoi communities of relatively coequal chieftains, pre-Yamato in nature, while Ueda gave her the
trappings of Kofun and historical times, the product of a quite centralized power
structure. In view of the implications in the Wei zhi of an existing monarchical systemwhich cannot be of a very long traditionI see Himiko as a compromise
candidate in a power struggle between chieftains that led to the control of a central
line of rulers by two, three, or four families whose authority did not obligate them
in any way to select the first-born male of the primary wife.
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Himiko was no ordinary shaman. She is the only one to whom is ascribed a specific practice. On the other hand, she is the only one described by the Chinese, and
they used the inclusive term guei-dao for sorcery in general and may not have been
clear beyond that point as to what her communication devices were.The phrase the
Way of Demons was in the Han-dynasty vocabulary for Daoist popular religious
practices. Guei were demons or souls of the dead, invoked on such occasions as raising the spirits of the deceased and negotiating contracts for buying grave sites.6 Guei
can be disaffected, malevolent spirits unless incessantly appeased by the living through
offerings and sacrifices, and may be responsible for droughts and famines. By entering human bodies they may cause physical and mental ailments.
Certain of these cults came in for much criticism by Daoist writers because of
their excessive practices, which are taken to mean taxing rituals, such as time- and
energy-consuming daily offerings. In any case, Stein points out specific characteristics of these excoriated cults, some if not all features of which must have been current in Japan: elaboration causing undue expense, prayers, animal sacrifices, songs
and dances, oracular male and female mediums, rites directed toward curing disease,
and a large number of associated lesser deities.7 Government approval of the cults
operating under the rubric of guei-dao were erratic and unpredictable, perhaps the
less excessive ones receiving endorsement. That their practitioners walked a
tightrope can be seen in the fact that recognized, established Daoist masters could
be executed for deviation from the approved ways, one in 277 and another in 324.8
Cults tend to develop in deteriorating social conditions as these cults had in lateHan times, and nervous rulers relied on irrational decisions. Whatever those deviations, called diabolical arts, the point is apparent: guei-dao was thriving in the
popular culture of China during the time of Himiko, and the Chinese writer
described her practice in familiar terms.
Not even all agree that Himiko was a shaman (miko), a term not used by the Wei
zhi historian. Kuroiwa, a popular writer, says she was nothing but a pharmacist, dispensing medicines,9 but even among those who do consider her a shaman, the nature
and extent of her power are points of disagreement. By way of understanding, in her
closeted way she was awesomely mysterious, by virtue of which she had public support. From the description, she remained virginal and had oracular proficiency and a
channel for her pronouncements. She was probably a daughter of the chief kingmaking family. As was so often the case in Japan, she was paired in a complementary
way with a male of shamanic proclivitieswho often engaged in the trance-creating
processin this case her brother, the only one with access to her and who therefore
was her voice. This family practice should have bolstered confidence in their joint
utterances. The Chinese saw her as a sacerdotal figure and believed they were conducting diplomatic affairs with her through her emissaries. One suspects that her
chief envoy, Natome, was part of the small and tight fraternity.
Himiko was an aberration, as was her successor, since normal rule was held by
a male. Saeki saw early Japanese scholars such as Hakuseki and Norinaga, who were
wrestling with her place in Japanese history, the latter trying to disengage her from
Yamato, as considering her primarily as a symbol of national unity in the cloak of
Jing, a view that reflected their own seventeenth- and eighteenth-century outlook.10 Tomioka Kenz (18711918), who was the first to consider the problem of
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the mirrors, also saw her as the unifier of Japanese culture.11 As Himiko became
more and more characterized as an individual rather than a symbol, Gunga Michiyo
(18511908) regarded her and Jing as diametrically opposed personalities, one
dealing with China, the other with Korea, one enthroned by a corporate group of
chieftains, the other fighting her way into a position of power, one never married,
the other widowed, one ignored, the other aggrandized.The two could not be the
same person and should be separated in time, despite the implications in the authoritative Nihon shoki. Shiratori Kurakichi (18651942) viewed her as a composite
type, located in Kyushu. Refining the definition of Himiko from symbol to personality inevitably draws qualifiers. The name carries implications of a sun worshiper, a point reinforced by her interest in mirrors for shamanic rituals.12
The multigenerational views of Japanese scholars tend to fall into three categories: those who assume her obligations were exclusively sacral in nature, the political business the province of others, such as Shiratori (writing in 1910), Hashimoto
(1932), Inoue (1965), and Sakurai (1966); those who see her as a shaman, but also
fully involved in every facet of governmentpolitical, military, judicial, economic,
and socialin other words, endowed with indistinguishable secular and religious
authority, such as Maki (1968); and those who see divided but equal authority,
Himiko and a male counterpart, neither able to totally separate the secular from the
religious, such as Inoue (1965).
For Inoue, this was the general pattern.13 Cases can be cited in historical times:
Emperor Chai, a shaman who played his koto, and regent Jing, his wife and successor; Emperor Sujin and his aunt Yamato-totohi-momoso-hime; Emperor Jomei
and Empress Kgyoku, whose shamanic talents earned her a second reign as
Empress Saimei; Emperor Temmu and Empress Jit, who made many trips to
Yoshino to commune with the spirit of her husband and who, against all advice,
went to Ise in the agricultural season to converse with the Sun Goddess.14 Granted,
by the time of Jomei, the shamanic character of the emperor had greatly lessened,
but this diminution only put additional demands on the services of his female associate, and both Kgyoku and Jit more than met expectations.
One gets some insight into the intricacies of this cooperative relationship and
how it worked in the story of Jing as understood and told by Yamato scribes.This
is not an exercise in historicity, which is irrelevant here. These details are the best
existing account of the divination process in early Japanese pseudo-history.As usual,
the story is brief and unadorned in the Kojiki, but both it and the Nihon shoki story
came off the same shelf, the former missing the pages describing Jings preparations for her assault on south Korea. Her husband, Emperor Chai, was Tarashinakatsu-hiko, son of Futaji-no-iri-hime-no-mikoto, who was the daughter of
Emperor Suinin, a man known by the personal name Ikume-iri-hiko-isachi-nomikoto.Those individuals with iri in their names went down in history as shamans,
as discussed elsewhere.The Kojiki says that Jing was often divinely possessed.15
Chai, hearing of a rebellion by the Kumaso in southwest Japan, sailed there
planning an attack. He consulted with his advisers, who doubtless recommended
seeking the will of the deities. Chai played the kotothe customary way of inducing a trancein the presence of -omi Takeshi-uji-no-sukune, the interpreter
(saniwa) of his utterings, but Jing, who had traveled south by another route, received
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one of her many messages, loud and clear. Her source directed her to attack south
Korea (the Nihon shoki writers by then called it Silla), a place with far greater riches
that could be theirs unhindered.The Kumaso problem would take care of itself.
Chai quit playing, said no distant land could be seen from the mountaintop, and
claimed the deity had deceived her.The angered kami in effect told him his disbelief
disqualified him from governing and his life would be forfeited.Takeshi was dismayed
and recommended that Chai continue to play. He did so, but only half-heartedly.
When he stopped and the lights came up, he was dead.This is the Kojiki story.
It was not judicious to admit to his death, and in the Kojiki his body was put in
a mortuary shrine (araki-no-miya), numerous offerings and sacrifices were made, and
exorcism was done for every known sin, the most comprehensive expiation possible
for the divine curse.16 Takeshi entered the abstinence shack and received the same
message. In fact, it went one step further: the unborn child of Jing would rule that
rich land, he was told. When asked who was speaking, the Sun Goddess herself
replied, identified three more deities to support her claimit was psychologically
Fig. 8.2 Haniwa koto players. Left: Funeyama Tomb, Kawamoto-machi, Saitama. Late Kofun.
Ht. 63 cm. Right: Harayama Tomb 1, Fukushima. Late Kofun. Ht. 47.3 cm
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important that they were sea kami who could protect ocean travelersand Jing
received advice to proceed with the attack on Korea. To ensure success, offerings
should be made to the deities of heaven and earth.
In the first version of the story, the more historically minded writers of the Nihon
shoki do not have Chai playing a shamanic role, nor was he struck down for exerting his will over that of the kami. He hears only the oracular pronouncements of the
empress, but insults that kami by doubting its veracity after gazing across the ocean.17
In this account he did not die for another five months, and then after a one-day illness. However, a later insertion says one version notes him as dying in battle from an
enemy arrow. Chief minister Takeshi, who is the first named omi, the higher of two
ranks (omi and muraji) in pre-seventh-century Japan, took the responsibility for concealing Chais body and removing it to Anato (Yamaguchi prefecture) for a preliminary clandestine burial called fireless. Burial was done, in other words, without light
at night to ensure secrecy. Incidentally, Chais final interment in Kawachi (Osaka) is
described in the Jing chapter as taking place two years and nine months later.
In the truncated second version the emperor while living in Tsukushi heard
oracular reports from three individuals whose kami contacts said he could have the
land of riches if he wanted it.18 The empress played the koto, and she too spoke for
the kami, repeating their words of advice. But the emperor claimed unfamiliarity
with these deities and asked their identity.Three gave their names. Nevertheless, he
refused to recognize them and their authority to the empress. One of the deities further made an effort to identify himself/herself by other names, including the term
mitama (rough spirit). This further mystified and antagonized the emperor, who
reacted with insolent language.The offended deity told Chai he would not get the
land now being offered, but his son, the child being carried by his wife (i.e., Emperor
jin), would do so. Chai died suddenly that night.
Oddly enough, the Kojiki editors, whose secondary mission was to gild the personalities with sacrosanct qualities in such a way as to make their divine connections
unmistakable, completely omitted Jings continuous spiritual consultations that led
to the invasion. The Nihon shoki fills the gap.19 Following the main story in the
Nihon shoki is a tedious course, each step fraught with uncertainty and the need to
confirm the right moves by signs. She had read the signals on Chais death, but
needed her own verification. Therefore, to discover which deity had caused his
death and had told him to attack Korea, she had the purification ceremony (harai)
carried out, and an abstinence shrine (iwai-no-miya, saig) built.20 Picking the right
day by divination, she entered the hut and assumed the duties of a priest (kannushi;
i.e., a shrine head, here a male shaman). Her spiritual cohort Takeshi-no-sukune
played the koto, and Nakatomi-igatsu-no-omi was there to interpret her utterances.
Muffling the koto with layers of cloth so as to hear the lowest voice, she solicited the
name of the deity that had been responsible for her husbands death. Seven days and
nights of trances transpired before she received an answer. I am, it said, the kami that
resides at Watarai in Ise, and my name is Tsuki-sakaki-itsu-no-mitama-ama-sakurumuka-tsu-hime-no-mikoto, translatable as rough spirit of the sakaki (sacred tree)
princess of heaven-distant Mukatsu.21 Watarai, incidentally, was one place where
the shrine at Ise was settled. Jing was, therefore, closing in on what would be the
highest authority, searching for the ultimate answer.
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Jing asked if there were other deities out there. An earthly deity identified
himself/herself. She asked again. A heavenly deity identified himself. She asked
again, and received an answer: it is not known whether there are others. Nakatomi
said they would answer later.They didthree water spirits in southeast Kyushu. She
asked one more time if there were others, with the answer again being it was not
known. All communication stopped at that point.
The deities who had responded were worshiped, and Jing had one of her generals subdue the Kumaso. They surrendered in a short engagement. She next
destroyed an obnoxious individual who had wings and when flying around had
looted the land and intimidated the people. A tsuchigumo (earth spider) uprising was
suppressed. In Matsura (northwest Kyushu) she bent a needle into a hook, took
threads from her robe, stood on a stone in the middle of the river, and fished where
men catch nothing, using rice for bait.The test? If she caught a fish they were proceeding in the right way. A trout snatched the bait just as the hook hit the water.
She sacrificed to the kami of heaven and earth.As part of the ritual she then worked
a paddy in order to offer sacred rice, but ran into a huge stone while building the
irrigation ditch. Takeshi was offered a sword and mirror and asked to worship the
deities of heaven and earth and request removal of the obstruction. In a blast of
thunder and lightning, the rock split, letting the water pass.
Next, if when she bathed, her hair parted naturally in the middlelike a
mansthe sign would indicate success lay ahead. It did. She then discussed with
her generals the nature of the undertaking, and it was finally agreed that the credit
for its success would go to them and the responsibility for its failure would be hers.
Their reply is on an ethereal level, meaning they were only carrying out the will of
the kami. They agreed that her enterprise was entirely to please the spirits of the
ancestors, placate the deities of the land and millet (kibi), and absolve the people of
all blame.22 They bowed their heads in reverent acquiescence.
Boats had to be assembled, soldiers mobilized and trained. Boats were available,
but the cause attracted no young men. Jing saw this as the will of a deity, so she
built an miwa Shrinemodeled after the one in Yamatoand offered a sword
and spear.This symbol of her will attracted recruits who flocked to her banner. Spies
were sent by boat to reconnoiter the distant land. The first said he found nothing,
but the second saw a vague clouded shape in the northwest, which was enough for
the empress to plan the attack. Divining determined the day. She exhorted the
troops, and a deity said her personal protector would be a gentle spirit (niki-tama)
and the guard for the convoy would be a rough spirit (ara-mitama).23
On the receipt of divine instructions Jing sacrificed and appointed Yosamino-a-hiko-o-tarumi to manage the worship ceremonies for the deity. As deities
come and go and identification is not always apparent, this should be the last one
spoken to or the one that gave her the final go-ahead signal.At this juncture, due to
give birth, she tied a stone to block her birth canal and prayed for a delay in delivery until her return. The gentle spirit then took over the guardianship of the
empress boat. Some three weeks later, on the third day of the tenth lunar month,
the account says, the flotilla sailed from Tsushima, reaching the Korean coast by the
exclusive aid of the wind and the ocean kami. No rowing was needed. The rest of
the story makes little additional contribution to her shamanic prowess except to say
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that the results were spectacularly successful, therefore demonstrating that total obedience to the will of the kami was an assurance of victory. Consulted and flattered
kami went to great lengths to justify the confidence in them.24
Much has been made of the whole divination ritual, for which Jing is the
archetypal militant practitioner. She led in battle, worshiped the deities of heaven
and earth, built shrines and offered spears and swords, scanned the network of
deities for helpful ones, publicized the received word, isolated herself in a special
darkened hut with mesmerizing music, and became entranced until she heard the
message from the kami. She had imaginative ways of verifying the course of action
recommended by the kami. All of this was deemed for the good of the people. All
was done in quest of riches, it was said, a virtuous goal in itself. Divination was,
in this story, directed exclusively toward the acquisition of power and resources.
The raw materials in Korea were still coveted, and conquest was a more effective
method of acquisition than trade.
After this style of international relations proved to be impractical because of
the rising strength of the Korean kingdoms, and negotiations and trade became
the method, the tests the shamans went through were of a different order. Jing
and Suiko were never tested on the social problems of droughts, famines, and diseases. When Saimei was tested on international warfare, her divination calls were
a national disaster.25
Regarding the characteristics of the female shaman, there may be a significant
difference between Himiko and the female shamans dealt with above since she
never married. By choice or otherwise, she was not going to contribute to the royal
line. Nevertheless, she may mark the turning point from the communitywide,
spontaneously selected female to the hereditary, more formally appointed type.The
others were daughters of court families, and most were expected to provide offspring for the continuation of the line.Their shamanic abilities were the major factor in their choice. Normally the dead emperor would have been replaced with
another male, but since these women had abnormal powers, it was more desirable
to retain those services that had determined their initial selection. While the power
was indivisible, secular authority came from divine sources. Those arguing that
female rulers were simply stakeholders put in office until a suitable male reached
maturity underestimate the will, determination, and cunning of individuals such as
Kgyoku and Jit.
Himiko has been categorized as a theurgic sacral paramount . . . enchanting the
people.26 Nothing suggests that she conjured up benign spirits, and the nuances of
bewitching, enchanting today tilt toward the positive, which is not implied in the
Chinese account. I would characterize Himiko as a charismatic shaman, possibly
involved in necromancy, but at least in league with the spirits of the dead, believed
to restrain their actions and to be able to release them at will, hence controlling social
havoc by the narrowest margin. For those within her sphere of authority she was
indispensable to the maintenance of peace and order. In fact, the Chinese described
an ancient state under draconian law, a social system based on intimidationHimiko
neurotically ensconced, a virtual prisoner; families threatened with extinction if a
member misbehaved; ranks strictly observed in the most demeaning way; and human
immolation.The archaeology supports this harsh existence.
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There is little question that Himiko felt hard-pressed in her last years, and may
have sent her second mission to Wei either to solicit help in her border skirmishes
with Kona or to notify the Chinese ruler that more begging envoys would be on
the way. In the snail-paced communications of the timemonths before a reply
would be forthcoming, by which time the battles could be over and aid would be
uselessone wonders why no potential allies were approachable among the chiefdoms of south Korea. Southwest Korea seems to have always been congenial. Were
all so mistrusted, or actually quite powerless, or too frightened to take sides? Perhaps
one or all of these. Empty promises may have been made, but neighbors might have
been pleased to see the Wa in turmoil and having to mind its own business.These
points should be considered: Kona is unidentifiable on the Yamatai hegemony map.
It may have been so remotely located from south Korea as to be almost unheard of
by south Korean chieftains. Or if it was within the sphere of their activities, they
may have been so enmeshed in their own territorial problems and the constant
threat of Chinese expansion that they were unable to spare the time and effort. In
the Nihon shoki, in which the theme is court affairs, direct civilized Japanese involvement in Korean politics came only after the Japanese court received formal overtures for aid from a Korean kingdom.
Shamans and Their Political Significance

The term miko implies a medium (fujo) or shrine maiden, that is to say, a female in
the normal ideographs used, but this may not have always been the case. Also used
are ideographs kami-ko (deity-child).Traditionally, kamiko and ichiko have been separated by function, the former virginal females who performed various duties at
shrines and danced (kagura) for the deities, the latter serving as diviners and communicating with the departed during trances. Much professional training was required
in both cases; various standards had to be met, and initiations undergone, but the early
evolution of the steps in the development of a miko is not clear for the different types.
In an effort to meet modern demands, such as accommodating the huge crowds at
New Year, extra help dressed in the business uniform of white blouse and red skirt
of shrine attendants has appeared and has blurred the differences.
Why so many female shamans or shamanlike figures are identified in the ancient
mythological literature has partly to do with their prominence at the court as members of aristocratic families. On the other hand, the original male abstainers were
from other social strata and remained so until hereditary rights channeled their
occupation into specific families that had parlayed their role as spokesmen for the
deities into a secular position. Deprivations seemed to require more effort and test
of will for a male, and therefore their wills seemed stronger when challenging those
of the kami and negotiating their benefactions.
The earliest known fujo were Himiko, Iyo/Toyo, and Jing according to Uedas
evolutionary stages of the role of empresses. In this progression of female miko they
were followed by the seventh-century wives of former emperors, such as Suiko,
Kgyoku-Saimei, and Jit. By the eighth century, heredity had become the major
criterion, Gemmy, Gensh, Kken, and Shtoku forming the list.27
Mizuno pointed out that early designations differentiated miko by spontaneous vocation and hereditary transmission. In the case of the latter, both male
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and female could have iri in the name, for instance, iri hime (princess) and iri hiko
(prince); regarding spontaneous vocation, however, yori, could be only yori
hime.28 Many of these are named in the old literature, revealing both the prominent role ascribed to them in early social development and the multifaceted
nature of early shamanism.29
Both name qualifiers, yori and iri, have ideographs that were apparently selected
for their sound value, as in any literal sense they convey no useful meaning. The
most relevant for yori (remainder; reason) is spirit possess and for iri (enter) is
entered or adopted, the latter suggested by Philippi as into a collateral line.30
By and large yori is used for earlier individuals in the chronology, that is to say, in
the Age of the Gods and in the listing of the first nine so-called emperors, and iri
from the time of Emperor Sujin (10), the one who first ruled the land. Therefore,
regardless of the suspect chronology, the two terms distinguish calling and lineal
training.The literature refers to no male yori shamans.
The earliest yori can also be an alternate name for a place that, when created, had
kami status, such as Ame-no-sade-yori-hime for the islands of Tsushima, Ii-yori-hiko
for Sanuki (Kagawa), and Take-yori-wake for Tosa (Kchi). Some were in the heavenly realm, such as Tama-yori-hime-no-mikoto, a daughter of the sea deity Wata-tsumi-no-kami, while others were involved with transitional or earthly kami, such as
Isuke-yori-hime-no-mikoto, the wife of Emperor Jimmu, daughter of mononushino-kami.Accepting the official chronology, the latest in time is Kaga-yori-hime-nomikoto, a daughter of Emperor Keik (12).
Both Sujin and Suinin, father and son, the tenth and eleventh emperors, were iri,
the former Mimaki-iri-hiko-inie-no-mikoto and the latter Ikume-iri-hiko-isachino-mikoto. A son of Sujin was Ya-saka-no-iri-hiko-no-mikoto, whose daughter was
a wife of Emperor Keik and mother of Emperor Seimu (13), and a daughter was
Nunaki-no-iri-hime-no-mikoto. Another daughter was Tchi-no-iri-hime-nomikoto and another was Toyo-suki-iri-hime-no-mikoto, who served at Ise as the sai
or saig to the Sun Goddess.The iri is sometimes dropped from her name.
Suinin had a wife named Nuhatani-iri-hime-no-mikoto and a son named
Inishiki-no-iri-hiko-no-mikoto.Among the many wives of Keik, the next emperor,
was one named Yasaka-no-iri-hime-no-mikoto, one son of whom was Ioki-no-irihiko-no-mikoto.Another son from another wife was known as Waka-ki-no-iri-hikono-mikoto, and Keik had one (recorded) iri daughter, Ioki-no-iri-hime-no-mikoto.
Kaga-no-yori-hime and Waka-ki-no-iri-hiko had the same mother.
A woman called Futaji-no-iri-hime-no-mikoto, the daughter of Emperor
Suinin, was the consort of Yamato-takeru, the famous warrior, and the mother of
Emperor Chai (14). Emperor jin (15), son of Jing, had a wife named Takakino-iri-hime-no-mikoto. His reign closes out book 3 of the Kojiki and ends the use
of the iri qualifier.
Other iri personalities are noted in the Kojiki, but only those in the imperial
line are mentioned here.The lineage itself may appear from the above to be in utter
confusion and demonstrates the best reason for writing the KojikiKeik, for
instance, is listed for seven wives and is said to have had eighty children, twenty-one
of which are recorded31but what can be extracted from this is that each generation had at least one iri at the court. Moreover, styles of designations changed, and
with the arrival of the Naniwa dynasty after jins time the term was no longer
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used. It was a Yamato term for Yamato practices, and once the families of shamansdiviners-abstainers were established in the Yamato area and had appropriated the
national ceremonies, it was either understood or obsolete.
In the so-called Age of the Gods, shamanlike individuals were involved in
dances, spirit possession, body transformations, magical protection, divination, and
prognostication. Either in their actions or in their descriptive names these figures
qualify in some of these particulars:32 Ame-no-uzume-no-mikoto, who did the
strip dance that so amused the other deities that the Sun Goddess peered out of
the cave she had entered, then came out, after which light returned; Suseri-himeno-mikoto, the daughter of Susano-o, who tried to kill Suseris husband kuninushi, but saved her husband from rampaging snakes, centipedes, and bees sent by
Susano-o on successive occasions by giving him a magical scarf to wave and later
became so jealous of his diverted attention that he tried to leave her; Nunakawahime, the shaman of Koshi (Niigata prefecture) who captivated kuninushi;33
Toyo-tama-hime, daughter of the sea deity, who married the earthly prince after
meeting him at a well when he was down looking for his brothers fishhook and
turned into a wani (a mythical sea creature often associated for dubious reasons
with a crocodile) when her son was born.34 Emperor Jimmus mother was Tamayori-hime. In the first three versions of his genealogy in the Nihon shoki he was the
fourth of her four sons, in the fourth version he was the third, and in the fifth version he was the second.35 In one variation of the common story, Kotoshironushi
in the form of a great wani was the father of Hime-tatara-isuzu-hime-no-mikoto,
the woman who became the wife of Jimmu.36
Early Magical Practices: Clay Figurines, Ritual Removal,

Placenta Pots, Secondary Burials, and Human and Other Sacrifices
My intention is to deal with folk practices that are known to have bracketed Himikos
time, assuming some currency through prehistory, which are later documented or
inferred in the archaeological or literary record. It may be argued that using the early
Japanese literature is ranging too far afield from Himikos time, but practices already
existed when first mentioned, and were therefore within the realm of tradition.
The first is the earliest identifiable shamanic use of clay figures. The second is
ritual removal, a practice with an extremely long history, lasting as late as the construction of the great cities before Heian became the capital.The third is the burial
of placenta pots, still being practiced in the capital cities and, in fact, into recent
centuries.The fourth is secondary burials, terminated only by the exigencies of city
conditions. The fifth is human sacrifice, a practice roundly disclaimed by most
Japanese archaeologists, for which they point to the lack of clear archaeological evidence. This is no longer the case. The Wei zhi raises the question. The excavated
wooden tallies (mokkan) provide the supplementary data for this mode of magic.
Clay figurines can be identified as instruments in the earliest recognizable
shamanic practices. Other uses for the figurines over an eight-thousand-year span must
have been many, but it is their particular shamanic value that will be looked at here.37
Jmon sites that have yielded more than a hundred figurines were identified by
Nagamine as community ritual sites.38 At the Hiraide site in Shiojiri city, Nagano
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prefecture, among the seventeen Middle Jmon pit-dwellings uncovered in the first
excavation, all of the figurines were clustered in one house set apart from the others. The house had been destroyed by fire.39 Isolated parturition houses that were
burned after use are spoken of in the classical literature, so the implication here is
for these figurines to have been used to facilitate this event.40
Many figurines in mountain sites were constructed to be intentionally broken
by being made in parts and joined by very short wooden pegs.41 They were then
low fired. It is these that were probably used for alleviating pain, a deduction one
can make from the many figurine parts found at Shakad in Yamanashi prefecture.42
Some 164 Middle Jmon pit-dwellings were uncovered.Among the vast number of
artifacts was a count of about 1,100 parts of figurinesthe largest number ever
found in a sitebut not a single one complete. Eighty-nine percent of these had
been reduced to just one anatomical part.43
Only ten pieces were found to fit with ten other pieces, and no more than two
anatomical pieces could be assembled of a single figurine.Two fitting pieces, a head
and a torso, came from separate pit-dwellings about 7 m apart, and two other pieces
were in open spaces as much as 120 m apart.This is explained to make a point: to
reach such a degree of reduction, the process of breaking the figurines was more
than intentional, it had been ritualized.
Refined pottery typology has determined a succession of Middle Jmon types
in the mountains.The oldest house to contain figurines had twenty-seven pieces on
its floor. Later houses had progressively more. For instance, 42 of the 121 latest
houses had figurines. Many other fragments were scattered between houses or had
been discarded in waste areas, but in view of the high level of artifact recovery, and
the lack of fitting parts, one reasonable possibility comes to mind: not only were the
figurines intentionally broken, presumably to alleviate pain and release the demons
causing it, but pieces were carried away by the sufferer to perpetuate the cure and
the power by ensuring a ritual identification with the sacred place. In my view, the
mother of the shamanic tradition here probably lived in that earliest house.44
Asphalt was used as glue in many northern figurines, yet the images could
still be broken, a situation that Taniguchi explains as poor firing that needed reinforcing; such figurines were only waiting for the ultimate ritual fracturing.45
Developing statistics on the anatomical parts from Shakad and thirteen other sites
in Hokkaido, Iwate, Miyagi, Ishikawa, Chiba, and Tokyo prefectures dating from
Middle to Latest Jmon, seven of which have more than a hundred pieces, he
found there was a fairly consistent pattern in the percentage of heads, torsos, and
other parts recovered from the sites.46
The desire for personal amulets was not eliminated by the developing Yayoi
agricultural ceremonies, but the preferred materials had shifted to wood and straw.
The record is good on these, especially on wooden human effigies recovered in
many later city sites.
A lesser-known practice, as it leaves quite a different imprint, was ritual removal,
first recognized in Middle Jmon. By the early historic centuries the practice had
graduated from a settlement of pit-dwellings to entire cities. The ancient ritual
removal process was done to break a string of bad luck.The reasonssuch as sickness, droughts, famines, and plaguesare clearly specified in historic texts, but prior
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to such documentation one can only speculate except in the rare case for which
there is no other rational explanation.
This reasoning can be applied to a series of pit-dwellings and their shift as a
result of remarkable archaeological work and analysis at the Yosukeone site in
Nagano prefecture.47 In the remains of twenty-eight pit-dwellings it could be seen
that the original hamlet of thirteen houses had been picked up and moved wholesale only a few meters away, then supplemented with two more houses. Fireplace
stones were fitted into their earlier depressions, and the ritual objects, such as clay
figurines, stone phalli, and stone shafts, which had been standing near the southern
entrances, were in the newer houses.The general area had proved its habitability, but
the particular spot was bad luck and had to be relocated.
In early historic times the social faux pas that could be rectified and the supernatural forces that could be approached had been greatly expanded with the bureaucratic structure of the government, the rituals at Shinto shrines, and the services of
Buddhism.When a drought continued for months in the time of Empress Kgyoku,
the markets were relocated, animals were sacrificed at shrines, river spirits were
solicited, sutras read, and Buddhist images adorned.The deluge came only after the
empress herself went to the head of the Asuka River and prayed to the four quarters and directly to the highest power above (ten).48
Diviners notified prospective occupants where and when to build. It is customary to say that early historic rulers constructed new palaces to start afresh, vacating the residence in which the former ruler had died. In effect, when the ruler
perished the buildings perished with him or her. In this sense ritual removal was
directly related to the low survival rate of the destructible materials in the simple
form of architecture. Nine early rulers in Asuka lived in sixteen palaces between
Suikos occupancy of the Toyura palace in 592 and Jits move in 694 to the
Fujiwara palace with its surrounding grid-plan city.49 For only thirteen years of that
century did rulers live elsewhere.
The principle is recognizable in the two palaces built in parallel in the early formal cities, one for the ruler, the other for the crown prince. In other words, while
the psychology of change was important, no palace was expected to last more than
one reign or, as the Ise shrines have proved without even the wear and tear of daily
use, no more than about twenty years.
The Taika Reform of 646 saw a slow increase in the size and structure of the
courts operations, and by the time the palace of Kiyomihara was built in Asuka, a
more permanent location was desirable. However, this planned permanence did not
prevent complete city removals when conditions became desperate. Empress Jit
took up residence in the palace/city of Fujiwara in 694. It was officially completed
in 700, yet this first planned city in Japanese history was abandoned for a new capital at Heij (Nara) only ten years later, as though never given a fair chance to work.
The first decade of the 700s is marked as having some of the worst years of plagues
in Japanese experience, the intensity reached between 705 and 707. In any event, at
the opening ceremonies of the year 707 a meeting of upper-rank officials was called
to consider changing the location of the capital.The elders recommended that it be
done.50 Emperor Mommu had died by midyear, perhaps from the disease, age about
twenty-four. The site was regarded as hostile. Thus, to break the malignant pattern
the entire city was ritually removed.
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Capital removal was still a possibility in the eighth century when Emperor
Shmuwho actually did make some moveshad the heads of the Four Great
Temples (Daian-ji, Kfuku-ji, Gank-ji, and Yakushi-ji) deliberate over such a
transfer after a week of daily earthquakes.They advised against it.And Nagaoka was
in minimal use for only a decade after which the capital was shifted to Heian
(Kyoto) in 794, traditionally because of the violent death of its engineer and the
haunting specter of his spirit. It might be added that Nagaoka was spread over some
low, damp areas, a relatively poor site the selection of which did not enhance the
geomancers reputation.
Keeping the placenta or umbilical cord in a pot (umegame) sunk below the floor
has at least a Middle Jmon origin, and retaining it much like an heirloom certainly
has a long ethnographic history into modern times. It is well attested to from Yayoi
into the Muromachi period51 and, in fact, was still being done in some parts of the
country through World War II, until modern hospitals monopolized the parturition
business.The archaeological evidence shows up well in pit-dwellings and permanent
cities, less so under other conditions.
Placenta pots are distinguished from burial jars in Middle Jmon sites by being
placed upright under the entrance of the dwelling in contrast to burial jars, which
were deposited in an inverted position, either without a base or with a hole drilled
through the bottom, in pits of dwellings that had probably already been abandoned.52 Disregarding the distinction, Watanabe explains the subfloor doorway
deposits as infants burials designed to be walked over by women so the spirits
would enter their reproductive system. Umbilical cords buried with them gave them
the same sustenance they had during gestation.
Archaeologists have recovered Sue vessels in the eighth-century Heij (Nara)
city excavations said to be taiban or ena (placenta, afterbirth) pots buried under
house entrances.53 Two contained five Wad-kaichin coins (in principle in use
708760), and one also had an ink stick and a brush, the marks of a literate official.
At this stage, the practice had taken on Daoist features, a prayer for the healthy
growth and longevity of the child, and eventual ascent to a high rank.54
Secondary human burials have already been discussed in regard to changing
mortuary practices from Yayoi to Kofun times.They are recognized by the presence
of red paint on skeletal remains and the intentional, nonnatural arrangement of
bones, which includes bones being found in containers too small for a body. With
considerably better preservation conditions in the large Late to Latest Jmon shellmounds along the east coast, secondary burials become increasingly conspicuous.
Paired jars in the Yayoi period may contain complete skeletons, but numerous
examples of painted bones exist, and other evidence, like bones in the small-necked
vessels in the Kant region, are clear cases of a continuation of the practice. The
archaeology indicates several regional differences, but the principle of reburial of the
bones, usually after cleaning and often painting, remained the same.
There are progressively fewer human remains to examine in the Kofun and
into the early historic period when tombs were still being built. But even with a
skeleton lying fully extended in a natural position in a sarcophagus, there may be
paint on the bones. One of these in the fifth-century Nagase-takahama Tomb in
Tottori has red paint only on its skull. If nothing else, at least the head bones had
been given special treatment.
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The demise of the practice on the main islands of Japan may coincide with the
end of the mogari practice. Once the cities were built, starting with Fujiwara, keeping corpses around was soon discovered to be unhealthy, and relatively quick interment or disposal was preferred. As described earlier, the practice, known as wind
burials, did persist in Okinawa, where it has continued to this day.55
Appeasing the unpredictable natural forces involved several forms of ritual sacrifices: offerings of animals, humans, and eventually substitutes.And appealing to the
spirits of earth and wind to grant good harvests and to the spirits of earth to provide tranquility for the souls of the dead involved burial of selected artifacts. Bronze
weapons and bells can be identified as community investments in agricultural ceremonies, but a group of other recovered objects suggests the survival of earlier rituals. The production of some crude Yayoi figurineshollow, bell-shaped figures up
to a foot in height and pots with striated facespersisted, particularly in regions
where the old Jmon traditions were strong. Sites yielding various examples of these
are in south and west Kyushu, along the Inland Sea coast, in the Kansai, in the central mountains, and as far north as Fukushima prefecture.56 Even as rice and its associated ceremonies moved generally forward, closer examination shows some of the
areas represented by sites containing these objects to have been skirted and largely
untouched by agricultural and technical progress.
Many bronze bells, primarily from eastern Inland Sea sites, had their magical
effectiveness reinforced by thread relief figures during the middle stage of their
production. According to Harunari, some forty-one bells have pictorial decoration, on which he counted 129 deer, 58 humans, 31 fish, 27 cranes, and 18 wild
boar.57 Otherwise, individual creatures include one or more turtles, salamanders,
praying mantises, spiders, and snakes. Separate panel illustrations show storage
buildings and shamans in ecstasy as well as full pictorial treatment of two people
pounding rice, deer hunts, and boar hunts with trained dogs. Before the middle
stage, when the art took on considerable proficiency, boats may appear, along with
strange, facelike configurations.
Given that deer appear on 63.4 percent of the decorated bells and cranes or
herons/egrets on 43.9 percent, the two were without doubt the most significant
creatures in the repertory of symbols.58 Incised quadrupeds recognizable as deer
were counted on 166 Yayoi pottery sherds. Comparing these with deer on the
bronze bells, Harunari found 7 deer on the bells and 32 on the sherds to be antlered,
while 122 on the bells and 22 on the sherds are not.59 Identifying deer with rice
raising through a Harima fudoki story of rice beginning its growth overnight when
planted in the fresh blood of a deer and deer sprouting their horns in late spring,
the initial stage of rice growth, Harunari considers the antlerless deer on the bells
to mean the bells were used in a spring planting ceremony, and the horned deer on
the pots, so common in the Kansai, to mean the pots were used at harvest time.They
were primarily for storage.
However specific one may wish to be, on the bell said to be from Kagawa,
which has the largest number of decorated panels, one can recognize a fertilitybased theme of food acquisition, storage, and preparation.60 Representations of these
activities are accompanied by symbols of the harvest season. Considering both sides
together, there are two each of dragonflies, salamanders, egrets with fish in their
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beaks, tortoises, and people pounding rice. One tortoise has a fish in its mouth.Also,
filling middle and lower panels is a shaman in an ecstatic leap, a deer hunt, a wild
boar hunt with a pack of five dogs, and a granary. A praying mantis and spider are
in the top panel. Small differences in the paired creatures suggest they are male and
female, including the rice poundersone has a hollow head, the other a solid one.
If the Yayoi spiritual advisers can be credited with acute natural observation, the spider and praying mantis need no pairing as the females devour their mates.The flying, swimming, and wading creatures, usually seen in late summer, are a welcome
Fig. 8.3 Middle Yayoi bronze bells with pictorial decoration. Upper: Bell 5, Sakuragaoka,
Kobe city, Hygo. Ht. 39.4 cm. Lower: Traditionally from Kagawa prefecture. Ht. 30.75 cm.
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part of the autumn scene and therefore harvest symbols, while the rice storage and
preparation tide over into the winter boar-hunting season. The shaman opened or
closed the rice-growing season, or both.A common view is that he (or she, because
the rod held in the right hand is said to resemble a spindle, that in the left, a shuttle) should be identified with ceremonies associated with the weaving season.61
These are not mutually exclusive points. When the Sun Goddess was secluded in
the sacred weaving hall preparing clothing for the deities, she was surprised by
the antics of Susano-o and hurt herself with a shuttle.62 Indignantly, she hid in a
cave, taking the light with her. Among the evil actions that led to Susano-os banishment were his springtime demolition of the balks between the rice paddies as the
seed was being sown and the damage he caused to the grown rice in the fall by
turning loose one or more colts to wallow in it.The close of the outdoor agricultural season opened the indoor weaving season, following the acquisition of the
materials in the fall, having at least a similar if not a common ceremony.
Sacrifices, both animal and human, doubtless had a long history, but are difficult
to trace archaeologically. Horse sacrifice should have come in from northern Asia
along with other mortuary practices around the middle of the fifth century and
would have allowed the deceased aristocrat to take his trusted mount with him to
the next world.The Taika Reform was supposed to have banned it. At the time of
Empress Kgyoku just before the middle of the seventh century animals were still
being sacrificed at shrines in hopes of improving weather conditions, but none is
mentioned in the rituals connected with Emperor Temmus illness forty years later.
Temmus Buddhist persuasion had led him to ban the killing of animals, and one
can assume that his order was directed toward that practice, which was therefore discontinued during his reign.
During the Jinshin-no-ran of 672, the armed conflict that put Temmu on the
throne, when most military maneuvers were carried out following divination, one
of his military supporters, a male shaman debilitated by lockjaw, while in a trance
heard the voices of two deities, Kotoshironushi and Iku-mitama.63 Both instructed
him to offer horses and weapons at the tomb of Emperor Jimmu and at two tutelary shrines; the instructions were carried out, with the addition of cloth at the latter. After Temmus time the horsesthe messengers of the deitieswere stabled at
the shrines where an occasional one or a model horse can be seen today, hence the
so-called horse shrines.The archaeology has confirmed the existence of horse sacrifice in the Kofun period.64
Perhaps the first reference to human sacrifice is the self-sacrifice of a concubine
in Yamato-takerus entourage. His snide remark about the small size of Sagami
Bayso little it could be jumped overoffended the kami, who brewed up a raging, life-threatening storm. Oto-tachibana-hime volunteered to appease the water
kami, so she leapt overboard, causing the violent waves to subside.
The account of how the haniwa were initiated is well-known. Clay images
were made to replace live burials at imperial tombs.The story of live burials has no
credibility among Japanese, but the Wei zhi tells the same story on the death of
Himiko. The wishful thinking that only slaves might have been conscripted was
encouraged by the recent discovery of a mokkan, but the Nihon shoki suggests oth-
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erwise.65 During the time of Emperor Nintoku (fourth century), when much river
control and canal building was under way, two breaks in a dike were unstoppable.
A deity spoke to the emperor in a dream, identifying two men who should be sacrificed to the river kami. They were found, one in Musashi (Kanagawa prefecture),
the other in Kawachi (Osaka prefecture), the latter a ranked individual. The first
moaned, jumped in, and drowned, plugging the hole, but the other demanded that
the river kami prove his magical powers by making two gourds sink; otherwise he
would not give his life for a quack. But even a sudden whirlwind could not pull
under the gourds, which floated off downstream. The levee break was closed, and
the man went free.
This story was thought to have been preposterous, but the report on three
wooden tallies found at the remains of a bridge in the southwest of the capital site
of Fujiwara, the city occupied from 694 to 710, confirmed the practice of river sacrifice.66 Two female slaves, one twenty-nine years of age, the other age illegible, were
sacrificed to Shin-ry- (literally, deity-dragon-king) with a request to lower the
water level. Calculations make the date AD 705. For that year, however, there are no
references to floods. It was one of the worst years for the plague, and there were several droughts. In fact, periodic efforts were made to make rain.67
Presumably, sacrifices for rain making accompanied the early stages of agriculture, but references in the Nihon shoki start late, and although differing styles in data
gathering and recording could be partial reason for omission, the fact is that until
droughts appeared as local Yamatoand therefore nationalcrises they received little attention by the recorders.
The Buddhist attitude toward killing animals, a point given focus by Temmus
order of 675, affected the practice of animal sacrifice. Deer were not included in the
list of proscribed animal and bird meat, which named cattle, horses, dogs, monkeys,
and barnyard fowl,68 perhaps explaining Temmus hunting expedition of 683.
Kimmeis reign included a period of poor conditions described by a confusing
description of floods and famine, said to be so bad some people were reduced to
cannibalism.69 The response was the governments early foray into welfare service.
Neighboring districts were required to send food supplies.70
The disaster-stricken decade of the 690sonly 694 and 696 not beset by devastatingly bad weatherculminated in horses being offered to several shrines in
698.71 Horse shrines have been mentioned. Horses in their unwavering loyalty and
limitless stamina were seen as reliable messengers between postulants and the higher
powers believed to control the functions of nature. About one thousand clay models of horses have been found in wells, drains, and disposal areas of old Nara city,
offered as part of the rain-making rituals.72 A site in Nagaoka, the capital from 784
to 794, has yielded more than two hundred, and they are still appearing sporadically
in scattered excavations in Kyoto.
Related to this practice of offering to the deities are the haji pots, later bowls and
plates, with one or more faces painted in black ink, and often covered with red paint
inside. While primarily a Nara area phenomenon, they have been found in scores of
sites as far north as Akita prefecture, Tagaj in Miyagi, as far west as Toyama, and
southwest as far as Saga and Fukuoka, the last including Dazaifu. A great majority of
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the sites were places of close government affiliation.The Hieda site is on a riverbank
south of the Rashmon gate of Heij palace, now in Kriyama city. Among its rich
finds are 180 miniature clay horses, 70 pots with painted faces, horse-shaped wooden
figures, and horse bones.73 Such sites were once low places with running water, the
vessels used in exorcistic ways to rid an individual of disease, perhaps by blowing into
them, then throwing them off a bridge.74
In the case of pots from Heij sites, which usually bear two quite different faces,
Mizuno thinks the ogre face was the ill person, the benign face the person after
recovery. The former was a foreigner (kojin), here meaning Persian because measles
were called the Persian disease (koby) in the Nara period.75 While normally dated
from about the middle of the Nara period, a bowl with painted face recovered at the
Fujiwara capital pushes the practice back to the late seventh or early eighth century.76
Urbanization created a new audience for old practices with the workshops
converting the instruments to nonperishable materials. Many different uses have
been read into the scores of little wooden human figures (hitogata) found in early
palace sites, especially at Heij. Puppets may have movable legs. Some are figures
with damaged parts of the anatomy, symbolic of transferring a pain source to the
inanimate object or of injuring a targeted human. Others are doubtless effigies of
individuals on whom a spell had been cast. A likely use would be as objects to be
rubbed or blown on for the transfer of disease/sins, then discarded to shed the evil,
like the bowls described above.
When Ymei fell ill in 587 and the Mononobe and Nakatomi alliance wanted
to eliminate two Soga-supported princes, one in line for the throne, they made a
pair of images and put a hex on them.As it turned out, the spell was ineffective, and
the two young men were disposed of in the customary way.77 No material for the
effigies is mentioned in this earliest description of the practice. In this voodoo death
curse an instigator, a maker, and an informer cooperated. The informers overwhelming powers of suggestion undermined the human will to resist, often leading
the victim to self-destruction. As in other forms of magic, by the Nara period the
art was highly professionalized to become socially beneficial.
Codification in the Engi-shiki of the way these little effigies were used makes
this fact evident.The number is given for each ceremony that required them, and
they are spoken of as being in gold, silver, and iron.78 After the eleventh century
the effigies were cut out of paper. Their purpose is spelled out clearly. They were
for purification or cleansing and exorcizing evil (harai) and sacrifice (shoku or
aganai) and were used in annual and specially called national ceremonies, in regular ceremonies held at the Ise shrines, and in ceremonies involving the liaison
priestess sent from Yamato.
Divination and Geomancy

The Chinese writer said the Wa do nothing without divining.The differences between
a diviner and a geomancer were murky, although in principle the former dealt more
with daily activities, while the latter determined the location of living, ceremonial, and
burial places and, presumably, the timing of their associated affairs. While there is no
consensus on whether the idea of the mounded tomb was borrowed from abroad or
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evolved locally from Yayoi humped-up graves, if the former, geomancy should have
come with it, thus making the geomancer a part of the initial process of siting the
grave and timing the funeral and burial.
The great majority of the tumuli are round, but the keyhole shape and direction of the burial compartment would seem to have lent themselves to some kind
of planned orientation. In many settings keyholes are mixed with numerous circular mounds. By way of example, in the 329 tombs in the well-known Saitobaru
group on the Sadowara Plain in Miyazaki prefecture, one is square, thirty-two are
keyholes, and the remainder are round.79 In other words, 9.7 percent are keyholes.
If mounded tombs were built for the elite, these must have been for the elite of the
elite. If, in the Kyoto University archaeologists creed of the late 1940s and the
1950s, the keyhole was the Yamato trademark, how does one explain keyholes in an
area that had a known anti-Yamato bias? Nevertheless, keyholes, large or small,
should have been the badge of a chieftain and his family.
The orientation of keyholes is so conspicuously haphazard it has defied explanation. Suenaga says the problem was initiated by shaping early tombs out of hill
ends, therefore guaranteeing a limited choice of direction.80 By default, direction
was not thought to be important. In a sense this may be true, but when the choices
for orientation became unlimited after the largest keyholes were built on level
ground, it seems inevitable that certain directions would take preference.
It is inconceivable to me that orientation was not an important factor if both
the location and the timing were significant. Professionals had made their geomantic duties into an influential business from a very early date in China, and orientation had become an important feature of the whole mortuary system. Suenaga
went on to say he believed a tomb like Emperor Nintokus on the Sakai Plain
faced his palace in Naniwa, by which is meant the round knoll is pointed in that
direction.81 This may work in his case, but it was not a principle, as the tombs
attributed to most rulers have no such relationship. One can even argue which is
the front and which is the back of such mounds.82
Even more realistic ideas on orientation sound facetious: family or lineage
groups adopting a selected direction, facing the tomb of an ancestor, turning the
back side to the tomb of a despised predecessor, or seasonal predilections. I believe
it was actually a calculated randomness, which seems to be the closest to the geomantic thinking of the time. It takes as its premise the inability of malevolent spirits to deviate from routine and therefore to be confused by diversity. In effect, the
alignment of tomb mounds and burial chambers on different axes neutralized the
influence of the evil spirits.
The orientation of 394 keyhole tombs was tabulated by Saito Tadashi with
some comment on their randomness.83 By and large, these are early- and middleperiod tombs. He separated them by terrain: mounds built on plains or plateaus
where choice of direction was seemingly unhampered, and mounds built in hilly
areas where the topography was an influencing factor. Both groups show a preference for the cardinal directions, but in the upland terrain none of the four quadrants was overwhelmingly preferred (NE 11; SE 16; SW 25; NW 18). Among the
259 flatland tombs, by far the largest number lie in the southwestern arc of the compass, and if the two adjacent points are included, they constitute 179, or 69 percent,
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of the total. With the exception of due east and to a lesser extent due north, the
wide, roughly 200-degree northeasterly arc from north-northwest to south-southeast was generally avoided (only 26 or 10 percent).
Saito also listed 93 round or square tombs, chiefly of the early and middle periods, for which the axis of the internal structure is known. Rough uniformity is
arrived at only in the later stone passageway and chamber tombs, most of which
open toward the south, so the question concentrates on burials before that time.
These were divided into simple earthen trenches (17), pebble-lined trenches (35),
and rough stacked stone chambers and cistic formations (41). For 43 the axis is
eastwest, for 34 it is northsouth, for 6 it is southwestnortheast, and for 10 it is
northwestsoutheast.Therefore, one sees the cardinal points again as first choice and
beyond that, where the direction of the head could be determined, the largest number were pointed toward the east or north.
The question is then asked by all Japanese: why the east and north? North is
taboo, especially in regard to ones bed. Evil spirits still attack from the northeast,
and various ingenious forms of protection have been devised over the centuries to
protect individual residences, temples, castles, and even cities.84 One obvious case is
the Enryaku-ji on the hill in northeast Kyoto, the temple built to guard the city.
A simple answer is that the taboo arrived in Japan later. Saito found that orientation of the burial with north or east during the Jmon and Yayoi periods was not
uncommon, so he believed that the random tradition was well entrenched with no
special stigma attached to the directions. A high percentage of Jmon and Yayoi
houses were entered from the general direction of the south, but it looks as though
no psychological connection was made between residence and grave until the latter part of the fifth century.
Divination and geomancy go hand in hand and are not distinguished in the
ancient records. The former has two purposes: to determine the wisest course of
action by some occult means and to find an explanation of past events in order to
better understand future action.
If one were to accept the chronology of the Nihon shoki literally, divination
opened the very door to human existence. Deity divining was on a superhuman
scale, spoken of as Great Divination,85 a term used for the kami-to-kami search for
higher wisdom and consensus support, yet the deities had no more insights than
mortals as to why failure had occurred.
Great Divining in Takamahara took place to find why Izanagi and Izanami had
produced a defective child. In circling the maypole the man had walked from the
left, the woman from the right, but the woman had spoken first.That was the mistake. Divination was used again in the many efforts to lure the Sun Goddess from
the cave after the light had vanished. Cocks were gathered to crow, to mark the
dawn; a large sakaki tree was strung with jewels and a large mirror, to suggest the
arrival of light; liturgy was recited; more mirrors, jewels, and combs were made and
offered. Great Divining had no effect. In most of the versions the Sun Goddess simply walked casually out of the cave, but in the most appreciated version a goddess
did a noisy striptease on a tub, which brought on so much laughter the Sun Goddess
peered out to see what was going on.The last of the Great Divining was the ostentatious advent of mankind to earth. Ame-no-koyane was made chief of the diviners
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and along with another kami assigned the mission of dealing with divine matters.
He was made to divine by a Great Divination. The Sun Goddess commanded the
deities to do her service, to worship her and the mirror, her symbol, and to guard
the grandchild.Then the thunderous arrival took place.
Ordinary divination on earth required much acumen and experience on the
part of the diviner.And his advice frequently proved to be wrong.The recorded failures are fewer than the successes, but they are mentioned without implications of
blame. In fact, there was no loss of confidence in the diviners ability or his methods, only the suggestion that the right route had not been taken or the right deity
not reached. Some of the answers requested may have been a simple either/or, but
the literature writers described few of these. Most often mentioned is divining for
a fortuitous dayfor example, the day a person was to be presented at the court,
travel by boat, go on a hunt, issue the laws, and move the royal wives (of Keitai) into
their new palace. Divining was also to determine the cause of illness, such as what
to do about the complaint from Izanagi about the smells from the open branding
sores of the horse keepers, why Soga Umako was sick or why Emperor Temmu was
indisposed. Additionally, divining sought the reasons for failure, such as the inability
of Emperor Ingy to kill any animals during a hunt despite the abundance of local
fauna. Personnel were selected by divination: who should conduct the worship, who
should be delegated to visit shrines, who should be the liaison priestess at the Ise
Shrine. Annual and special occasion divination took place laterfor instance, to
determine which provinces provided the rice for the first fruits. Divination was a
detached method of absolving any one individual of blame and avoiding taking the
responsibility for a decision.
While the literature shows the breadth of the practice, divining gets much play
in regard to warfare. Interminable supplications and assurances of support were
demanded. Jimmu divined constantly, reinforcing divination with signs and dreams.
Keik was fighting the Tsuchigumo and losing. He divined, and defeated them. On
the other hand, Yamato-takeru is never said to have divined, seeing himself as totally
self-sufficient.The slighted kami did him in for his arrogance, said the editors of the
Nihon shoki, conveying the thought of the day. Jing is described in the stories as
the most successful military leader, implicit in which is that her faithful adherence
to the advice of the kami made her unconquerable. Temmu in the Jinshin-no-ran,
at an early, desperate moment in the campaign before reinforcements had arrived,
faced Ise and divined to the Sun Goddess. Once the Sun Goddess assumed oversight of the campaign, victory was assured.
In a very small number of cases it is obvious that the question raised the opportunity to address a social or political issue. Emperor Ingys soup froze in the middle of the summer. In astonishment, he ordered divination to explain why. The
answer: some kind of incest must be transpiring. An investigation revealed an
involvement between the crown prince and his natural sister. The result: he was
untouchable as crown prince; the sister was banished.
The stylistic similarity of incessant resort to divining in the Jimmu and Jing
accounts gives the impression that the two stories were contrived about the same
time. From Keik and after Jing, while such glorious conquests may have been past
history and fewer people needed subjugating, no later military action is said to have
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required such dedication to the practice. Interestingly,Temmu could reach the Sun
Goddess directly, and was perhaps the last male ruler to do so. His wife Jit later did
it for spiritual replenishment on a trip to Ise in 692 at a time when no priestess was
serving there for the Yamato court.
The most sensitive questions were phrased in the guise of spiritual matters:Who
should conduct the worship? Which kami should be worshiped? Can more than one
kami be worshiped at the same time? Since the kami represented one or more tribes,
these were in fact questions dealing with intertribal relationships. Divination gave
leads on acceptable or unacceptable alliances. A good example of territorial jurisdiction is Izanagi who, after serving as the creator and losing his wife, is spoken of
only in connection with the island of Awaji, the area said to be the center of initial
human life. Perhaps a better-known story is the Izumo deitys appearance in Yamato
as mononushi, and the subsequent search for a home for the Sun Goddess. By
accepting the secure retreat at Ise, she conceded the territory to a male kami.
Because of their political importance, the religious activities of Sujins reign need
close scrutiny, particularly since Sujin was either a contemporary of Himiko or in the
next generation. Pestilence and the death of half the population led him to suspect
that some troubles had been caused by incompatible kami. The Sun Goddess and
Yamato-no-kunitama were both worshiped in the great hall of the palace.The awesome power of the two and the potential conflict frightened him.Toyo-suki-iri-hime
was assigned the task of settling the former in some Yamato sanctum, which turned
out to be Kasanui, and caring for her, and Nunaki-iri-hime of conducting worship
for Yamato-no-kunitama.The Sun Goddess was moved, in other words, but kunitama remained. However, an immediate difficulty presented itself. Princess Nunakiiri-hime was bald and lean and therefore unable to perform the ceremonies.86
While this was a start on suitably settling Amaterasu--mikami, it was otherwise
a major and inexplicable blunder since the deity who was trying to get established
in Yamato was in fact ignored. Whatever Nunaki-iri-himes true deficiences in her
undernourished condition, the statement here places a great deal of emphasis on
physical attractiveness for a female when in the presence of the male kami. This
point was learned the hard way. Ichishino-nagaochi was eventually assigned the care
of kunitama, without further known incident.
Sujin, it is said, took the occasion of years of natural disasters to initiate a series
of religious reforms. Paralleling Chinese thought, he now recognized the conditions
as the kami venting their displeasure at his management style. He assembled the
800,000 deities, and reached them by divining with a tortoise shell. The medium
was Princess Yamato-totohi-momoso.87 The princess admonished him, If the
emperor would worship properly there would be peace in the land. Sujin asked
which deity she had quoted.The voice came from mononushi himself. I live in
the land of Yamato, he said. Sujin worshiped as directed, but natural calamities continued unabated. He then bathed, assumed a state of abstinence, purified the interior of the (abstinence) building, and prayed in his agony for a dream. Who have we
missed? Who is still angry? In other words, which deities are still neglected and sulking? He had a dream. A very lordly man stood in front of him, identifying himself
as mononushi. Conditions will return to normal, he said, if tataneko worships me. About three weeks later three reputable individuals from geographically
153
distant points reported the same dream.The search was then on for tataneko, who
was found in Sue village (Osaka) and who, on questioning, identified himself as the
son of mononushi. Sujin was delighted. tataneko was appointed to conduct the
worship of mononushi and Ichishino-nagaochi the worship of Yamato-nokunitama. Sujin then found that it would be auspicious to send Ikashiko-o to distribute offerings to the kami, and by divination that it would be unwise to add any
other kami to the offering list at this time.
Only the Kojiki explains how tataneko had divine ancestry and came to be
the serving deity at the miwa Shrine, but gives no reason how he came to live
incognito in Kawachi. He was the son of a beautiful woman/deity and a young
(divine) man who visited her only in the evening. She never even learned his name.
She became pregnant and informed her parents, who had been unaware of the relationship. They suggested she sew a thread of hemp to his jacket and sprinkle red
powdered earth around the trysting place. The next morning the thread went
through the door latch, leaving three strands, and they followed it to Mt. Miwa.They
then recognized the characteristics of a deity.88
The three strandsmi-waexplains the name of the holy mountain, it is said.Also,
one may add, only a snake could have accomplished such a feat, and the nocturnal
appearances in the pretense of a man connect this to the Princess Yamato-totohimomoso story and both with the mountain where snakes are regarded as sacred.The
prominence of Mt. Miwa in the Yamato-Yamatai equation will be dealt with later.
With no break, Sujin tried again and discovered that it would be possible to
worship other deities, so worshiped the stable of 800,000. He then settled which
would be heavenly and which earthly kami, and set aside land and shrines for
their service. Conditions returned to normal, and the country thrived.
Several implications are lodged deep in Sujins predicament.These may be suggested: an influx of people from Izumo was under way. Sorting out the shrines for
the heavenly and earthly kami and assigning land and buildings was allying with and
grading the tribes, negotiating boundaries, exchanging land, placating with gifts, and
proffering help in advancement programs. mononushi was forcibly claiming
Yamato deity status.The mandate of heaven was given to be used righteously; errors
would be punished. Personnel selections should be made with more consultation.
Divination was only one way of reaching the higher powers; some kami preferred
and were responsive to other methods. In respect to the 800,000 nameless and faceless kami that Sujin had used as the go-betweensthe bodhisattvas of later times
he worked through them coming and going, for which he believed they would treat
him kindly in his next effort.
tataneko, the son of mononushi and named as the ancestor of the chief of
Miwa, established the hereditary principle for the miwa Shrine at Sakurai. The
emperor drank sake and feasted in the shrine. After that, the door of the shrine
was opened and he left.As written, at this stage of development the deities and royalty were only one rung of the ladder apart. He was in the shrine with them. The
feeling of the unapproachable holiness of the shrine and the upgrading of the kamis
austerity was yet to evolve.
The Kojiki and Nihon shoki say rather little about the tools or equipment used
in divination, apparently assuming that by and large scapulimancy was the style. In
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the former, two deities were delegated to get the shoulder bone of a stag from Mt.
Kagu in their divining effort to obligate the Sun Goddess to leave the cave.89 In
the latter book, in the stories told above, Emperor Sujin used a tortoise shell, the
imperial signature.90
Scapulimancy was in full vogue at the Anyang capital of Shang China, but the
Chinese had turned to other divination devices long before the method was introduced to Japan.The practice found a way to continue in Korea, scapulae being recovered from sites in both the north and south.91 The excavators of the Karako site in
Nara prefecture insist that their bones are Early Yayoi,92 but most archaeologists agree
that the earliest preserved examples in Japan go back only to Middle Yayoi. Since
there is a tendency to want to associate the practice with rice cultivation and its rituals, it has been theorized that earlier bones may have failed to survive.93
In fact, Kanzawa surmises that the practice could hardly have reached Japan by
skirting north Kyushu, as few have been found in the critical north Kyushu access
area, other than on the islands of Tsushima and Iki. It was probably hard on the heels
of rice production so should have been part of the initial stages of Yayoi. Moreover,
since rice is known to have been raised in late Jmon times, divination with bones
may have preceded the conventional initial date of Yayoi. Kanzawa identifies the
point of departure and the route of travel as the Yellow River valley through Korea,
disagreeing with those who think the practice came from Siberia.The Korean sites
supposedly fit the time frame.
A large number of sites in Japan are coastal shell-mounds in which organic material is well preserved, and some are shell layers in caves used for habitation and also,
or alternatively, for ceremonies. In other words, I believe that the archaeological distribution falls far short of being characteristic of the full extent of the practice.
Nevertheless, across from Korea, in the Karakami and Harunotsuji sites on Iki
island, excavated pieces of deer and wild boar shoulder blades were recognized as
remnants of oracle bones (bokkotsu), here said to belong to the beginning of Late
1
2
Fig. 8.4 Oracle bones and carapace. (1) Koura, Shimane. Middle Yayoi. (2) Maguchi cave,
Kanagawa. Late Yayoi. (3) Bishamon C cave, Kanagawa. Late Yayoi. (4) Carapace, Maguchi
cave, Kanagawa (left: obverse; right: reverse). Kofun. L. 11.9 cm (others to scale)
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Fig. 8.5 Distribution of oracle bones from the Yayoi period through the Heian
Yayoi.94 Many other sites have yielded similar indented and cracked bones, the
northernmost for Late Yayoi being the Namani site in Nagano prefecture.95 Kofunperiod examples have been unearthed in several sites in the prefectures of Osaka,
Kanagawa, Chiba, and Niigata (Sado island).
The practice continued into the Nara and Heian periodsstill with no writing
most of the recovered bones being those of deer. Porpoise (iruka) oracle bones have
been located in four sites, all in Kanagawa prefecture.Tortoise shells (akaumigame: red
sea turtle) appear at the beginning of the Kofun period, and probably at an early point
in time were reserved for the use of the royal diviners.The Engi-shiki says they are the
instrument when the August Person is divining, and specifies fifty to be sent to the
court each year and the quotas for the provinces required to do so.96
The fact often passes unnoticed.The Wei zhi writer speaks of tortoise shells, but
these were merely added to the existing divination practice at the time the early
large tumuli were built. In other words, this information pertains to the Early Kofun
period, and so puts Himiko at this stage in history. It parallels the Wei zhi writers
statement that she was buried in the era of mounded tombs.
Oracle bones consist mostly of shoulder bones of deer (nihon shika), some ribs,
and an occasional vertebra and metatarsal; shoulder and rib bones of wild boar
(inoshishi); backbones of porpoises; and plastrons of red sea turtles.97 In actuality,
while the terminology in the literature is taken to be carapaces, or the upper covering shell, the archaeology shows that the softer undershell of the turtle was preferred. Occasionally the bones were painted red.
Over a hundred pieces are known today from more than thirty sites.98 As
explained earlier, these range from the islands of Tsushima and Iki through the prefectures of Ehime, Okayama, Shimane, Osaka, Kanagawa, and Miyagi to Sado island.
When Kanzawa noted ninety pieces in 1980, about 70 percent were dated to Yayoi,
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16 percent to Kofun, and 14 percent to the Nara period. Examples are even later.
Three from Kofun sites are turtle shells.99
Unlike boar bones in Yayoi sites, which are rather plentiful, deer bones are relatively rare, so it is likely that deer were hunted specially for this purpose with all due
ceremony, and an established business existed in supplying shoulder blades for diviners.The deer hunts pictured on the bronze bells may be illustrative of these occasions.
In the earliest bones, the technique involved burning a hole with a hot copper
rod rather than drilling it, then making cracks in the depression several times with
a pointed hot stick about 5 mm in diameter.The cracks were then read. Not very
much changed during the Kofun period, but it is thought that the cracks were read
on the back side.The process did become a little more systematic. Small holes were
made at four corners, forming a square, with one in the middle. In the last of the
methods, in historic times, drills made holes and hot points were pressed in crossshaped patterns. In shell, there was a tendency to gouge rectangular or boat-shaped
holes, then burn in cross-shaped points.
Porpoise bones tend to be Kofun or later and, like the use of turtle shells, imply
the practice was taking on more sophistication. In the latter half of the seventh century the Jingi-kan became responsible for the courts divining operations. It is not
coincidental that they employed their diviners from Tsushima and Iki islands and
from Izu, all coastal areas.The remoteness from Yamato of the islands in the Korean
Strait may at first seem strange, but oracle bones have been found in sites there, and
indicate the antiquity of the local practice. Seniority had gained much esteem. In
some seven hundred years, from Yayoi to the time of Temmu and Jit, or when the
Jingi-kan had fully matured, a calculation suggests somewhere between twentyeight and thirty generations of diviners had hailed from there.
Turtle-shell divining was regarded as a craft of greater specialty than scapulimancy, and its practitioners were accorded more social recognition, working as they
did for the emperor.100 The Jingi-kan required that fifty shells be sent annually from
three provinces: seventeen from Kii (Wakayama), nineteen from Awa (Tokushima),
and fourteen from Tosa (Kchi). These quotas had probably been set after years of
experience in fishing sea turtles or their shells out of the Kuroshio as it flowed past
these coastal regions of Shikoku and the Kii peninsula.
Turtles or tortoises appear in thread-relief on several of the Yayoi bronze bells,
but they were unrecognized as Daoist symbols until Han-dynasty Chinese mirrors
introduced them. There, the entwined snake and tortoise was the tutelary deity of
the north on TLV mirrors, a motif made little use of until Hoss Buddhism found
a place for them in seventh-century art.101
The divining process at the court took on a rigid ritualization, including the
source of all the materials employed. Even the wood for heating the divination
equipment had to come from specially grown trees, the birch-cherry (hahaka) of Mt.
Kagu, said in the Engi-shiki to be grown in the Ufu Shrine.102
The Taika Reform set up the principles of a formal governmental structure, but
the formation and implementation of policies within the departments was a protracted process.The Bureau of Divination (C: Yin-yang liao; J: Ony-ry) was situated in the chief ministry, called the Mediate Affairs Ministry (Nakatsukasa-sh) by
Miller.103 Funerals and national mourning, and the reporting of auspicious omens,
157
were within the domain of the Regulatory Ministry (Jibu-sh), the former in the
Imperial Mausolea Office (Shory-shi) and the latter in the Funeral Logistics Office
(Sgi-shi). Concerns with diagnoses, herb- and drug-based cures, and exorcism of
evil spirits fell to the lot of the Pharmaceutical Bureau (Tenyaku-ry) of the
Imperial Household Ministry (Kunai-sh).
In effect, the Bureau of Divination consisted of the meteorologists and chronologists, charged with observing the celestial phenomena, tabulating unusual natural events, calculating the calendar, and keeping and announcing the time. The
first reference to yin and yang in the Nihon shokiwhich occurs in 671 in the reign
of Tenjiwas, therefore, the adoption of the Chinese term for practices being codified in the mi Code, referred to in the Nihon shoki as the Shin-ritsu-ry, the
New Civil and Penal Codes.104 Numerous Korean names are found in the members of the bureaucracy on which many ranks at the time were conferred, indicating the continuing dependence on foreigners to staff these departments dealing
with occult practices.
Abstention and Ablutions

TheWei zhi is very specific about abstentions and ablutions, in particular the description of the jisai, who was obligated to go on long voyages, in effect as a scapegoat for
any misfortunes encountered. The mourners at funerals abstained from meat and
cleansed themselves in running fresh water after the ceremonies were over. But the
professional jisai who rode along on the boat was a celibate vegetarian who did
everything he could to avoid running fresh water, except for drinking it. By selecting the sailing date and possibly the route, he took responsibility for the success of
the trip, but he was trapped in the caprices of nature, not to mention the human hazards of poor seamanship and pirates. When boarding the boat one could only hope
to see an ageing, totally disheveled jisai, the weather-worn survivor of many years of
ocean voyaging, hibernating in his own cabin after leaving port. It would be better
that he sank with the boat than live through a shipwreck.The successors in this profession later formed the nucleus of the ordained abstainers, the imibe or imbe (which
became a family occupation), who, with the eventual formalization of Shinto practices, were in competition with the Nakatomi for political status.105
This strange phenomenon of an unsocial figure, alien to the cultural trends,
stands out uniquely at this juncture because of traditional ritual practices. Not at the
social pinnacle as a shaman should be, but a despicable outcast at the foot of the ladder, deprived of lifes natural pleasures, he lived on the thin edge of existence, his
life gambled on forces over which he had absolutely no control. At what stage he
was dispensed with is not known, but experience and more rational thought may
have proved his ineffectiveness. In connection with the unkempt appearance of the
jisai, in the injunction issued by Emperor Temmu in 684 requiring the hair to be
tied up, only the practitioners of magic were exempted.106
Ablutions probably first evolved with funerary practices.The personal, universal
Japanese practice for approaching the kami and receiving the kamis blessings, seen as
mouth rinsing and finger washing at the entrance to shrines, should have come later.
In the Japanese creation account, an appendage put at the beginning, Izanagi bathed
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after his wife Izanami had died from giving birth to Kagutsuchi, the fire deity, and
had gone to Yomi-no-kuni. He tried to extricate her but without success and, after
escaping her effort to ensnare him in the underground cavern, he went to Tsukushi
to wash in a river, finding only the water at mid-depth flowing at a suitable rate.The
cleansing process created regenerative forces: deities were born from parts of his body
as he tested the water at the bottom and near the surface, and more were born as he
washed his eyes and his nose.Today, salt is thrown for cleansing after funerals, and a
different route is taken on the way home to avoid any lurking spirits.
Collective Magic
To sum up the ways of invoking supernatural agencies to alter a deteriorating condition, nothing is more revealing than the account of Emperor Temmus last months.
Built on the practices of divination, abstention, and ablutions, already well-established traditions in Himikos time, in this polytheistic system the whole array of possibilities is an awesome spectacle of virtually limitless choices. A tortuous four
months allowed the entire repertory to be played out. While the principles can be
subsumed under named religious practices, the attitude behind them was essentially
Japanese as reflected in Shinto: the humble helplessness of the supplicant aroused to
the point of coercion in the search for a response from the one amiable force that
would listen and help.
The record follows this order. Temmu fell sick in the fifth month of 686.107
Sutras were read to Yakushi, the Buddha of healing, and special services were held
in the palace.Temple buildings were swept out (cleansing them), and prisoners were
freed from jail. Ranks were bestowed on some individuals; others were raised in
rank. A diviner then discovered that the emperors affliction was due to a curse of
the sword Kusanagi, which was immediately sent to its homestead and put in the
Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya.
After eliminating the cause, the advisers went to work in earnest. Buddhist temple monks said prayers in the Asuka-dera and made offerings, and high-ranking clergymen received imperial gifts. Special ceremonies were held at the Kawara-dera to
light the lanterns and make offerings of food, and a grand vegetarian feast was
spread.Temple abbots performed ceremonies at the palace.The provinces were told
to hold the purification ceremony (harai) (officially conducted twice a year).
Countrywide taxes were reduced by half, and corve was cancelled. Offerings were
made at several Shinto shrines. The Realm-protecting Sutra (Konkmy-ky) was read
by one hundred priests at the palace. A full amnesty was granted, and debts for the
previous year were cancelled.The name of the year was changed, and the palace was
titled Asuka Kiyomihara-no-miya (Pure Honorable-field Palace of Asuka). Seventy
practicing Buddhists entered the cloister, and another vegetarian feast was held in
the palace, this time in a courtyard. Princes and ministers carved images of Kannon,
the compassionate bodhisattva, and parts of the Lotus Sutra (Hokke-ky) dealing with
Kannon were read in the Daikandai-ji. Eighty more individuals took the tonsure,
and the following day one hundred men and women entered monasteries and nunneries. One hundred bodhisattvas were installed in the palace, and two hundred fascicles of the Lotus Sutra dealing with Kannon were read. Prayers were offered to the
159
deities of heaven and earth (amatsu kami; kunitsu kami). A messenger was dispatched
with white paper offerings (mitegura) to present to the great deity (-kami) of Tosa
(at the Ichinomiya [shrine] in Kchi city, from whom the court had received a
sword). Seven princes and four temples were awarded more household fiefs (jikifu)
for their support. Lastly, all of the imperial princes and the top officials gathered at
the Kawara-dera for prayers.Temmu died four days after these prayers were said.
Inevitably, with temples deeply involved in politics these ceremonies were heavily weighted toward Buddhist methods and show Temmus religious sensibilities, but
they included the most fundamental Shinto practices of purification and supplication and were a Confucian demonstration of the rulers power and generosity by
including grants and pardons to make amends for any wrongdoing, unfair treatment,
and failure to recognize merit. No other recorded effort rivals this one in Japanese
history. It was truly formidable pressure on the higher powers, who awarded Temmu
four more months of life.
CHAPTER 9
Mirrors and Himikos Allotment
Before looking at mirrors normally associated with Himiko, it is worth noting that
small bronze mirrors were already being cast in Japan well before her time. These
have been found as far north, south, east, and west as Gumma, Kumamoto, Chiba,
and Ishikawa prefectures. Takakura estimates that about two hundred are known
today.1 Although workshops in Korea met some of the demand, local production of
mirrors had started by about the end of the first century AD, but the productssome
if not most cast in stone moldsare unpretentious and illustrate only nominal skill.
Most are smaller than 10 cm in diameter, and many have a simplified Han pattern on
the back, particularly one derived from the concatenated-arcs motif. Nevertheless,
the technique was known and only needed more experience and improvement with
better access to materials.These were poor mans artifacts, not destined to join the
assortment of grave-goods, as almost all come from dwelling sites.2
Still dealing with the earliest, Okuno used figures available in 1988 for small
mirrors, including Early and Late Han and Japanese copies of these mirrors, to arrive
at a total of 503 with known provenance in Japan.3 The numbers would increase
slightly today, but the percentages would change little. It is the overwhelming percentages for north Kyushu that are significant for him since he sees Himiko as a late
Yayoi paramount in Kyushu. It is true that Kyushu (410) has 81.5 percent of this
total and the north Kyushu prefectures of Fukuoka (272) and Saga (62) together
make up 66.4 percent of that, but the argument falters when he takes a special interest in Yoshinogari. Mirrors were notably absent from the elite graves there, in striking contrast to the large number of Han mirrors in the burial jars at cemeteries such
as Mikumo, Sugu-okamoto, and Tateiwa.
Copies of mirrors in clay and stone appear in Yayoi sites and the latter in very
rare instances in early tombs.The clay ones may be exceptionally crude, such as the
six found in the Nakade site in Hachiji city in west Tokyo.4 The largest is only about
7 cm in diameter. Since they had absolutely no functional use, they could only have
served some ritual purpose.
When we move up to Himikos time, by the definition used here, mirrors
related to Himiko are those with dates falling within the time of her rule and her
dealings with Wei, ending with her death around 248. Many archaeologists are dubious about connecting any of these mirrors with Himiko, and Kyushu proponents of
160
MIRRORS AND HIMIKOS ALLOTMENT
161
Yamatai find the idea particularly distasteful.5 Nevertheless, the unusual number of
dated mirrors around this time seems hardly coincidental, yet, as will be seen, the
great variety of these dated mirrors makes it unlikely that more than a small number of these actually went to her.The mission of 238some archaeologists believe
it should be 239elicited this magnificent donation, called part of a special gift.
These are said in the text to have been brought to Japan by the Chinese delegation
in 240, as though all came in the same box. No mirrors are mentioned following
the second mission.
To reiterate, one particular type with a very distinctive rim of triangular crosssection has attracted the most attention.The oldest examples in Japan are clearly of
Himikos time, although only four of these have dates in their inscriptions equivalent to her years. The type is called sankaku-en (or sankaku-buchi) followed in the
description of the mirror by the number of deity and animal figures.6
Fig. 9.1 Triangular-rim-deities-animals mirror no. M34,Tsubai-tsukayama Tomb,

Yamashiro-ch, Kyoto. Inscription repeated in cartouches: tian wang ri yue (ten n nichi
getsu), emperor sun moon (i.e., the emperor the brightest). Dm. 23.3 cm. Courtesy
Higuchi Takayasu
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At first, a relative count of all the other provenanced and the triangular-rim mirrors will give a better picture of the dimensions of the problem, and the distribution
and concentrations of the latter will link them to the geography of the early tombs
and to possible Himiko connections.7 It should be remembered that these are only
the provenanced mirrors. Others that have no history exist in private and museum
collections.The total for the provenanced triangular-rim mirrors is 440.Table 6 gives
the number of non-triangular-rim mirrors and the number of triangular-rim mirrors, the percentage for a given region of all non-triangular-rim types and the percentage of that region of all triangular-rim types, then the breakdown by prefecture.8
The triangular-rim mirrors constitute less than 15 percent of all mirrors recovered from tombs, but the Kinai with 255 has over half the total number, to which
can be added the fifty-six found in the adjacent prefectures of Aichi, Gifu, and
Okayama. These constitute slightly more than Kyushus total. As the percentages
attest, these statistics alone would be convincing testimony to the concentration of
power in the Kinai.
Regarding the others, Hygo, only bordering the core region, was still within
the immediate sphere of influence. Okayama is the old Kibi region, which was handled very delicately by Yamato rulers in several ways because the local chieftains
straddled the constriction of the Inland Sea in a position to control the goods entering the port at Naniwa (Osaka). Apparently supplementing their income by milking trading ships passing through the narrows, they enriched their coffers.
Whichever way the mirrors were goingtoward Yamato or being distributing from
YamatoKibi would have found a way to get its share. Some of the largest tombs
were built in Kibi.The Tsukuriyama Tomb in Okayama city, at 350 m in length, is
Japans fourth largest, and the Tsukuriyama (using different characters meaning to
build, i.e., constructed hill) Tomb in Ssha city at 270 m is the twelfth largest.9
Aichi is also peripheral, but much more distant. It may come as a surprise that
relatively mountainous Gumma had so many of these mirrors.They were probably
second- or third-generation receipts.This Chbu region was not an area noted for
its traditional compliance with Yamato demands, and not until the late decades of
the seventh century was it possible to gain reliable support from chieftains in the
region, finish marking off the boundaries, and effectively implement the tax system.
The first of these dated mirrors appeared in 1888 in a tomb in Yamaguchi prefecture. Five had been recognized before World War II, but the provenance of one
of these and the year it was discovered are unknown. At that time the mirrors had
little more than curiosity value since archaeology and history were not inextricably
joined as they are today, and Himikos position in time was not cemented to the
early decades of the third century.
Nevertheless, even in the explosive archaeological era that took place in the
path of urban expansion and the opening or razing of countless mounded tombs in
the latter half of the twentieth century, only six more have been recovered. None
appeared in the decade of the sixties, partly because so much academic work,
including archaeology, was suspended.Averaging about one find every ten years, the
discovery of a dated mirror becomes major headline news.
As has been said, only six of the twelve mirrors that fit this time range belong to
the triangular-rim-deities-animals type. Within the sharply pointed cross-section of
Table 6. Number of other mirrors/triangular-rim mirrors by region and prefecture

Region
Thoku
Other/triangularrim mirrors
Percentage of total
16/1
0.53/0.23
Kant
312/20
10.41/4.55
Chbu and Tkai
456/52
15.21/11.81
1,160/255
38.69/57.95
Chgoku
417/49
13.91/11.14
Shikoku
168/9
5.60/2.05
Kyushu
469/55
15.64/12.50
Kinai
Total
2,998/440
Prefecture
Yamagata
Fukushima
Ibaragi
Tochigi
Gumma
Chiba
Saitama
Tokyo
Kanagawa
Niigata
Toyama
Ishikawa
Fukui
Yamanashi
Nagano
Gifu
Shizuoka
Aichi
Mie
Shiga
Kyoto
Osaka
Hygo
Nara
Wakayama
Tottori
Shimane
Okayama
Hiroshima
Yamaguchi
Tokushima
Kagawa
Ehime
Kchi
Fukuoka
Saga
Nagasaki
Kumamoto
ita
Miyazaki
Kagoshima
Other/triangularrim mirrors
3/0
13/1
20/0
39/0
119/16
77/2
18/0
10/0
29/2
15/0
4/0
19/2
41/2
23/3
69/3
101/15
108/10
76/17
123/12
67/11
229/62
195/39
202/41
301/88
43/2
97/8
39/5
163/24
78/5
40/7
32/0
73/7
61/2
2/0
169/38
70/5
16/0
62/3
45/6
99/2
8/1
164
the rim are, variously, outer rings of sawteeth, wavy lines, zigzags, and fine parallel
hatch marks, the last either slanted or as though radiating from the center. On some
a narrow ring of decoration goes by the term pictorial (or image) band (gamontai); it
is filled with tiny animal-, bird-, and cloudlike creatures and forms. The inscription
band normally encircles the main field of decoration. This field is usually occupied
by repeated motifs of corpulent or full-costumed, frontally seated figures regarded as
anthropomorphized spirits who are posed between hairy, long-tailed quadrupeds
more or less in profile, faces turned forward.These last fall within a loose description
of the feline family.The simple bilaterally balanced motif is very old: a central lordly
and fatherly figure clearly dominating a pair of flanking, roughly side-view animals.
Both deities and animals may have supernatural characteristics. Here, winglike lines
may rise on either side of the deities, which, together with headgear, signify their
divine status.The contorted animals are sufficiently imaginary to indicate that their
life is in the world of spirits.There is much variation within the genre, such as four
deities with four animals, three deities with five animals, and so on.
First, a consideration of the technical problems involved. Stone molds were
sometimes used for very small and simple mirrors and withstood multiple castings.
In the case of clay, in principle a mold could be used for several mirrors, but it is
unlikely that many survived the process of removing the cast product.The remarkable articulation in fine linear designs is apparently due to impressions made in clay
from existing mirrors, from which artisans were able to reproduce an indistinguishable replica.The academic world heard a great deal about mirrors cast in the same
mold (dhanky), but with the realization that the technique was virtually impossible for later and larger mirrors, a more accurate description has been coined, dkeiky (same model/pattern mirror).10 Circulated mirrors could be imitated by skilled
workmen in any shop.
Murakami Takashi compared a triangular-rim mirror, called mirror no. 5, from
the Yukinoyama Tomb in Shiga prefecture, with an example in the Freer collection.
The two are almost identical except for a missing nipple on the latter. This, he
explained, was more easily removed from a wax than a clay mold, meaning that this
one, if not many others, was made by the cire perdue method.11
The triangular-rim mirrors are usually very slightly convex on the reflecting
side, making the point of the rim triangle about even with the top of the knob in
sectional view.12 While this rim profile shape defies explanation in any aesthetic or
functional sense, it may have been thought to provide some advantage over the conventional flat rims in simplifying the taking of high-relief impressions.13 In any event,
once done, it was repeated endlessly.The style lent itself to copying, and the strikingly
angular cross-section of the rim gave way to a lower and less sharp edge, frustrating
the classification. These have been called half-triangular (han-sankaku). Somewhat
similar rims have been called angled or slanted rims (ha-en or sha-buchi), or the issue
is simply avoided, the shape of the rim ignored in the descriptive title.14
The Mirrors of the Tsubai-otsukayama and Kurozuka Tombs

When the Kokutetsu Nara-sen, the national train line out of Kyoto, which turns and
runs due south to Nara from Uji, was built in 1894, the bed for the tracks was cut
165
straight through the juncture point of the front and the knoll of three large keyhole
tombs, all oriented toward the southwest. These, a small keyhole tomb, and many
round mounds lie in an area mostly east of the train line, roughly between the
Tanakura and Kamikoma stations in south Kyoto prefecture.The Kizu River is not
more than a kilometer to the west.The northernmost of these big tombs is Tsubaitsukayama. Near the top of its round part is a deep burial enclosure of stacked
stones some 6.9 m in length. Repairs to the bank in 1953 led to the opening of this
vault and the discovery of grave-goods. Kyoto University archaeologists were called
in to do the work.15
These archaeologists recovered thirty-six mirrors, all but three with the distinctive triangular-rim profile.16 The very quantity, not to mention their quality, was
phenomenal, and it was almost immediately realized that many could be matched
with mirrors from other tombs. In fact, ultimately they were matched with mirrors
from forty-one tombs.Tsubai-tsukayama furnished the material for the Kobayashi
thesis of instruments of political affiliation, a thesis already mentioned, but which
will be discussed more fully later.
Two of the thirty-six mirrors are the nai-k-ka-mon type or concatenated-arcs,
and one is the shi-shin type or four deities, which are the tutelary creatures of the
cardinal directions.This one also bears three patterns resembling the letters T, L, and
V, set against a central square. The type is customarily known by the TLV designation.These two are familiar Han-dynasty types that apparently remained in production, perhaps for the foreign markets where an archaic style was no less appreciated,
or had been saved as heirlooms.
The TLVs came out of the Chinese workshops in the early decades of the first
century AD, and were thought to have been superseded by later styles, but two TLVs
from Japanese tombs bear dates of 235, Ching-long 3, the era of 233236 of the Wei
dynasty.The first to appear, in the ta-minami Tomb no. 5 in the Tango peninsula
in north Kyoto prefecture in 1994, was a shocker, as it was thought that TLVs had
been obsolete for two centuries.17 That surprise had hardly worn off when another
was found in the Amamiyayama Tomb, Takatsuki city, Osaka prefecture in 1997.18
They are mates, but tell little more than that the TLV type was still thrivingat least
for the Wa marketand, archaeologically speaking, dated examples of this TLV type
have not yet been found outside the Kinai.A third was sprung on the public in early
2002 as unprovenanced, and is now in the hands of a private collector.19 It is fruitless to speculate as to why it surfaced at this late date, but one does recall a rumor
to the effect that mirrors had already disappeared from the exposed burial pit in the
Tsubai-tsukayama Tomb before the Kyoto University archaeologists were notified.
Two of the five mirrors in the Amamiyayama Tomb have triangular rims.
Together with the TLV they appear to have been under (or immediately beside) the
head of the deceased. ta-minami no. 5 is one in a cluster of many relatively undistinguished tombs situated about 30 km from the Sea of Japan. The solitary mirror,
bearing cloth marks, lay face up in the northwest corner of a cistic formation of stone
slabs. Human remains consisted of some front teeth of an individual over thirty.
This ta-minami mirror of AD 235 (no. 1) was tested for lead isotopes, and a
Chinese origin for the galenas was announced.20 Its lead isotope ratio compared
favorably with that of the mirror of the Takeshima Tomb in Yamaguchi prefecture
166
of 240 (no. 9) and with the mirror from the Kanbara Jinja Tomb in Shimane prefecture of 239 (no. 5).The latter two are triangular-rim types.The Wu mirror from
the Kitsunezuka Tomb in Yamanashi prefecture of 238 (no. 4) is slightly different,
but in no way does its ratio suggest the material could be Korean or Japanese.The
ta-minami TLV mirror had been seen as a special problem because of a Chinese
claim that it could not have been made in China.The L is backwards and the spacing between the thirty-nine characters is uneven. The materials could have been
taken to Japan, where it was made, it was said.21 However, this would not be the
only Chinese-made mirror with mistakes.
The year before, the Nishi-motomezuka in Kobe city had yielded twelve mirrors, seven of which are of the triangular-rim type.22 Unfortunately, earth displacement had caused much of the stone enclosure to slide off the hillside, damaging the
grave-goods, but still leaving about half the mirrors intact.
The picture changed dramatically with the opening of the Kurozuka Tomb in
1997. Kurozuka is a large keyhole tomb in the Yamato-yanagimoto tomb group in
the southern part of Tenri city.23 Like Tsubai-tsukayama, the square front points
toward the west. Its grave-goods had lived a charmed life, despite some breakage. Part
of the knoll had been used as a medieval fortification, prior to which some looting
had taken place. Inept robbers had allowed one northern section to collapse thus
making the burial enclosure almost inaccessible. Excavations in 1961 revealed this
much of its history. More digging in 1989 retrieved some artifacts on the south side.
The stacked-stone burial enclosure 8.3 m long, aligned with north and south,
had a kind of corbel vault across much of its top, the stones placed closer together
until they met.The deceased lay in a split log coffin 6.2 m in length, the head toward
the north. Logs cut for this purpose may be long, and the enclosure is built to a tight
fit, but the hollowed-out space to contain the remains is not much more than the
length of the individual. Much red paint covered the bottom of the coffin and the
floor of the enclosure. While the wall stones came from the Makimuku River
nearby, a few remaining large slabs, perhaps once used as covering stones, had been
brought from the south side of Mt. Nij some 18 km distant.
One long and one short sword lay on either side of the dead in the coffin, and
a pictorial band-deities-animals mirror had been placed vertically at the head, inside
the coffin. Otherwise, all the grave-goods were outside the coffin: over twenty complete or fragmentary iron swords, numerous slats of iron armor, some U-shaped iron
pieces, and thirty-three triangular-rim mirrors.The mirrors had been neatly leaned
against the outside of the coffin, their reflecting sides turned inward. Some, if not
all, had been wrapped in silk. Seventeen were on the west side, one on the north,
and fifteen on the east.
Twenty-four of the Kurozuka mirrors have an inscription band in contrast to
only fourteen from Tsubai-tsukayama, yet despite this large number, not one
inscription includes a date. Statistically this seems more than a coincidence, but was
there someone who could read them and sort them out this way? The Kurozuka mirrors are slightly more uniform within the triangular-rim category, so in that respect
match those of only eighteen other tombs, including matching with nine of the
Tsubai-tsukayama mirrors. Within the group of Kurozuka mirrors themselves there
4
3
Fig. 9.2 Ground plans of early tombs; burial chamber of Kurozuka Tomb. (1) Tsubaitsukayama Tomb, Yamashiro-ch, Kyoto. L. 185 m (tsuka and Kobayashi, Kofun jiten,
58). (2) Hashihaka Tomb, Sakurai city, Nara. L. 280 m (Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai
Senta, Toki kikaku-ten. Makimuku iseki 100-kai chsa kinen, 10). (3) Chausuyama Tomb,
Sakurai city, Nara. L. 207 m (tsuka and Kobayashi, Kofun jiten, 187). (4) Stacked-stone
enclosure, showing arrangement of mirrors, Kurozuka Tomb,Tenri city, Nara
168
are seventeen matches.24 Tsubai-tsukayama has only nine internal matches, meaning, if the theory works, the Kurozuka occupant had distributed more duplicates.
To back up this remark on stylistic consistency, we note that the triangular-rim
mirrors fit two broad variations in decoration: one style has an inscription band and
deities and animals; on the other, the inscription band is replaced by pictorial patternsmiscellaneous sawteeth, zigzags, or arabesques (karakusa). Table 7 shows the
comparison within this type.
There was an obvious penchant for combining inscription bands with symmetrical designs, and their greater number in Kurozuka is reason for the more limited variety and the resulting fewer matches elsewhere. Simple alternation was
preferred for those mirrors lacking inscription bands, as the 4 deities4 animals pattern fully dominates the group with miscellaneous outer bands.
Inscribed Chinese Mirrors

A few remarks on inscriptions will sharpen the perspective on the singular character of the Himiko mirrors. Early Chinese inscribed mirrors number in the hundreds,
but before World War II they were the special prize of collectors in America,
Europe, and Japan (and eventually museums), so that the provenance of most is not
known. Excavated mirrors in Japan provide the most reliable field data. By 1934
Bernhard Karlgren had compiled a corpus of reasonably legible inscriptions
designed as a useful database for scholars, collectors, and museum curators.25 Much
of the material had been assembled in the early 1930s by Japanese archaeologists,
especially by Tomioka Kenz and Umehara Sueji. Karlgren selected 257 well-published mirrors with a minimum of corrosion and other damage to their inscriptions
for which provenance was not an issue. Semantic analysis could be done with no
concern for typology and chronology. One would like to knowbut will never
which among these are triangular-rim mirrors found in Japan. No description is
given of the physical features of the mirrors.
Table 7. Comparative decoration on triangular-rim mirrors, from the Tsubai-o tsukayama and Kurozuka tombs
Decoration
Inscription band-deities-animals
6 deities and 4 animals
Miscellaneous-deities-animals
Tsubai-o tsukayama
Kurozuka
0
1
6
1
5 (including 1 fragmentary)
1
0
20
0
3
0
0
9
1
1
1
1
5
0
0
169
Long inscriptions start about the time of Wang Mang (r. AD 923), the socalled usurper, the one break in the Han-dynasty continuum. A number refer to
the Xin regime, New Dynasty, a term then used to enhance and justify his reign.
From that time on, when workshop heads were willing to devote the space to an
inscription on the back of a mirror, besides the usual flowery phrases that referred
to long life, many descendants, and harmonizing the natural forces through symbolic images, the inscription might include the name of the maker, the era date in
which it was cast, where it was made, and the source of the three metals, that is,
the copper, tin, and lead. The place of manufacture, however, refers only to government workshops. And in almost no cases were all of these items included in a
single inscription.
The dating question is the chief concern here.Twenty-two of the 257 could be
assigned an AD date without argument. Three were alternate choices of era dates,
and one had obscure characters. Seven and perhaps an eighth belong to the Wang
Mang period. Most are third century AD. This means that absolute dates were
included in less than 10 percent of these inscriptions. Other than the Wang Mang
examples, which except for one (AD 10) do not bear a specific date but simply refer
to the new dynasty, not until the second century AD was there much interest in
including eras, and even then it was a relatively random practice. Some dates are
more or less clustered, and gaps can be quite large, but any grouping is arbitrary at
best. Three clusters are suggested here because the middle one (220238) is pertinent to the Himiko donation: three between 169 and 174, four between 220 and
238, and five between 278 and 291.26
The sampling is unquestionably biased in view of the fact that these are collectors specimens, but eight era names on these 257 mirrors are Han dynasty, five are
Wang Mang regime, seven are Wu, and five are Jin.Wei and Shu have only one each.
Following the fragmentation of the country after the Han collapse, Wei took over.
After about 265 the Wei eras were converted to what is today called Western Jin.
Wu was displaced in 279. So one would expect Wei eras to be better represented in
257 inscriptions, given the Wei rulers disposition to present Himiko with such a
large gift of mirrors. Why it is not is difficult to explain.
Fukunaga listed all the dated mirrors known to him ranging between AD 221
and 263.27 Ten were made in the Wei Huang-chu era (220226), seven of which,
however, cannot be provenanced. The poor provenancing is at least partially compensated for by the fact that one each from his first and third groups was recovered
from an excavated site. The consistency of style within each group allows the
assumption that most of the mirrors were made in the Hunan/Hubei region.
Fukunaga goes on to list the Himiko mirrors starting with the Qing-long era
(233236)the 235 mirror from the ta-minami no. 5 Tomband ends that section with the Zheng-shi era (240248)the 244 mirror in the Got Art Museum.
His post-Himiko group are all Wei mirrors: three of the Gan-lu era (256259/260)
and one of the Jing-yuan era (260263). Squirming beasts characterize the decoration on these.Two are in the Got Art Museum, one is in the Kurokawa Kobunka
Kenky-sho (Kurokawa Old Culture Research Laboratory), and one is in the Shod
(calligraphy) Museum. All are from the collection of a person who bought them
from the circulating market, meaning that the provenance is unknown for all four.
170
In some twenty-five cases in Karlgrens study, the manufacture of the mirrors

is attributed to a faceless government workshop named Shang-fang. While this
may have been a place name at one time (shang = upper), it came to be written
with the characters for honorable and region (J: Shh). One example refers to
Shang-fang of the Right. By Later Han three government workshops were in
operation, one on the right, one on the left, and one in the middle of the capital
city.28 One Shang-fang mirror was made by San-wu, but otherwise no name attributions are given for this group.
Private workshops were more likely to indicate the source of their metal, but
two Shang-fang mirrors, both of which are dated (105 and 174), note that the metal
came from Kuang-han. Given so few instances of dates, one might wish to assume
that the government shops dated their mirrors only on request for special occasions,
but by way of counterargument, their inscriptions include no particular congratulations or references to celebrations.
The governments shops, although sparing with information on dates and the
source of materials, are often effusive with the well wishes.These are the most traditional clichs and range through the economic, political, physical, and spiritual
sides of life. They include (may the one who owns this mirror have) wealth, prosperity, and the rank of a high dignitary; good luck and joy without end; longevity
of ten thousand years or like metal or stone; sons and grandsons; and protection. Not
a small number refer to harmonizing the yin and yang and to immortals (in the decoration) who never become old, who drink from jade springs, eat dates, roam the
world and the four seas.29 Included in the inscriptions may be references to the
Queen Mother of the West and Prince of the East, and the Four Deities, which are
in their right places, but in particular the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger, on the
left and right respectively.
Among these 257 inscriptions, other than Kuang-han, the named sources of
material are Dan-yang (9), Xu-zhou (3),Tai-shan (1), and Tung-liang (1). It may then
be surmised that Kuang-han was the governments primary mining area, probably
the best source of copper and perhaps also tin. With this implied monopoly on
Kuang-han, private mirror casters were obligated to find other sources for their raw
materials. Dan-yang was perhaps the most accessible for them.
Mirror Makers: Chen, Zhang, Wu, and Yan

Only about 14 percent of Karlgrens 257 mirrors bear a makers name.The makers
tended to be boastful of their products, often starting with the family name, calling
themselves mister (shi), taking the credit for writing the inscription, and pronouncing the mirror to be a fine product because of the special (and secret) formula they
used. Named makers were also not averse to including dates in their inscriptions.
Few familiar Chinese names are not present, although Yan, on one Himiko mirror,
is not among these. Thirty-nine mirrors bear the name of a maker, some twentythree different ones, and therefore at least twenty-three different shops. However,
some two centuries and several generations are involved, and some workshops may
well have changed hands over a period of time.The makers names are probably in
proportion to the most common Chinese names:Wang (5), Long (5),Wu (4), Zhang
171
(3), Chen (2), Li (2), Yuan (2), and the remainder with one each. Nevertheless, out
of this whole panoply of names, only two, Yan and Chen, are names cast on the
dated Himiko mirrors.
Inscriptions on the triangular-rim mirrors include the names of only three
workshop masters: Chen, Zhang, and Wu. Needless to say, with the exception of
Long and Wang, these are the best-known mirror makers. Chen made two Tsubaitsukayama mirrors (both 4 deities2 animals), although the name appears in two
ways. Zhang made two (one 3 deities5 animals, the other 4 deities4 animals), and
Wu made eight (three 3 deities5 animals, one 5 deities4 animals, and four 4
deities4 animals, but only two of these last ones are identical). Chens name is on
four mirrors in other tombs that match with these, Zhangs is on seven, two of which
are unprovenanced, and Wus is on eleven. If we merely total the Tsubai-tsukayama
connections, at least six mirrors can be identified with the workshop headed by
Chen, nine with that of Zhang, and nineteen with that of Wu. There are probably
more. But from this it can be recognized that whatever the marketing and distribution system was, consumers in Japan benefited from competitive workshops in China,
all working within the narrow confines of the accepted subject matter and style.
Mirrors, it is known, were notoriously difficult to cast, the process slow and
arduous. A document in the Shs-in dated 762763 is an imperial order for four
bronze mirrors.30 The accompanying illustration is of a mirror of a relatively simple
type without the exotic inlay so well known in Shs-in mirrors.According to this,
ten people worked for 124 days to fill the order. Elementary application of these figures would have this one shop struggling for eight years to produce the one hundred mirrors the Wei ruler planned to give Himiko. This would have been
intolerable, so commissions must have gone to more than one shop, and one wonders whether additional mirrors were acquired from Wu sources when deadlines
were not met. One other point regarding their features: as imperial gifts surely the
type and some details would have been specified.Toying with this idea, one might
go so far as to suggest that the mirrors should have certain unique characteristics as
certification of donorship. For instance, these might include rim shape, occasional
dating as counters, and an impressive size.
Mirrors Dated to Himikos Hegemony

Further comments can be made after listing these mirrors in a way in which they can
be examined as a group. Table 8 gives the year of discovery and the diameter.
Information on the context of the finds is poor to nonexistent for the oldest ones,
but increasingly detailed for postwar examples.The century given for a tomb is taken
from the site report, but should be matched closer with the date of the mirror.
Type and comments on context and inscriptions follow.
1. Flat rim, TLV. ta-minami 5 is a roughly rectangular tomb (12 18 m)
among twenty-three, with haji pottery, called the latter half of the fourth century.
Large stone slabs formed a coffin-shaped enclosure. A paucity of grave-goods
included this one cloth-wrapped mirror lying by the head. An iron sword lay across
the top end and one alongside the legs and feet. The mirror, dating from Chinglong, 233236, is made by Yan who wrote the inscription, thirty-nine ideographs in
172
Table 8. Mirrors dated to Himikos hegemony

Number
AD date
Era date
Tomb and location
Maker
Year found
Dm in cm
ta-minami 5,Takeno/
Naka-gun, Kyoto
Amamiyayama,Takatsuki
city, Osaka
Unknown; private
collection
Kitsunezuka, Mitama-ch,
Yamanashi
Kanbara Jinsha, Kamo-machi,
Shimane
Izumi-koganezuka,
Izumi city, Osaka
Hiromine 15, Fukuchiyama
city, Kyoto
Unknown (Tatsuuma
Archaeology-Ethnology
Hall, Nishinomiya
city, Hygo)
Takeshima (Gokaryashiki),
Shinnanyo city,
Yamaguchi
Morio,Toyooka city,
Hygo
Kanizawa (Shibazaki),
Takasaki city, Gumma
Akura,Takarazuka city,
Hygo
Yan
1994
17.4
Yan
1997
17.4
235
Wei: Qing-long 3
235
Wei: Qing-long 3
235
Wei: Qing-long 3
238
Wu: Chi-wu 1
239
Wei: Jing-chu 3
239
Wei: Jing-chu 3
240
Wei: Jing-chu 4
240
Wei: Jing-chu 4
240
Wei: Zheng-shi 1
10
240
Wei: Zheng-shi 1
11
240
Wei: Zheng-shi 1
12
244
Wu: Chi-wu 7
Yan
17.4
1894
12.5
Chen
1973
23.4
Chen
1951
23.1
Chen
1986
16.8
Chen
16.8
Chen
1888
22.7
Chen
1917
22.7
Chen
1909
22.6
1937
17.4
six sections: to avoid misfortune, Dragon is on the left, Tiger on the right; harmonious with yin and yang, Red Bird and Black Warrior are in the right places; may
you have 8 sons, 9 grandchildren; live long, like gold/stone = precious, firm, rightness, (rise to the level of a) noble prince.
2. Flat rim,TLV.Amamiyayama is a more or less rectangular tomb (23 16 m),
with a boat-shaped wooden coffin oriented toward the southeast. The few gravegoods included some clumped iron objects on one side below the feet and glass
beads at the neck. Most unusual are five mirrors (badly broken) in an otherwise
lightly furnished tomb and, more so, that all five are inscribed. Two were either
under or just over the head, and three above it, the TLV in the middle of the latter
group. Only the TLV is dated. Two were made by Wu, one by Chen, and the TLV
by Yan.Two are triangular-rim mirrors, one made by Wu.The inscription is identical to the ta-minami 5 TLV mirror.
3. Flat rim,TLV. Cast in the same mold as numbers 1 and 2, with therefore a
similar inscription, and testing proved its metal composition to have the same place
173
of origin. This one came to public notice in January 2002 when an archaeologist
of Waseda University, who had been apprised of it as having been bought by a collector in Ibaragi prefecture from an antique dealer, reported it at the annual meeting of the Japanese Archaeological Association. Other details are unknown or
would not be disclosed.
4. Flat-rim-deitiesanimals. Kitsunezuka as a tomb is not properly documented.The Wu-dynasty product has an inscription of thirty ideographs of which
1322 and 2528 are barely legible, but reconstructable because of the conventional
language and some similarities with other inscriptions. Made on 238.5.25, a bright
mirror of copper refined a hundred times; may you become a lord, have virtuous
sons and grandsons, and live for ten thousand years.
5. Triangular-rim-deities-animals. Kanbara Jinsha is a relatively small round
(30 m dm), isolated tomb with a stacked-stone enclosure 5.5 m in length piled up
around a wooden coffin. The grave-goods were constituted of haji pots and ceremonial stands, long and short iron swords, iron arrowheads, some iron tools, and one
mirror, apparently a headpiece, with an inscription band of forty-one ideographs.
The decoration is confused and poorly articulated. In the inscription nos. 18, 25,
and 26 are barely legible, and 19, 23, and 24 cannot be read. In effect, Chen made
the mirror to his own specifications. Legible ideographs read may you reach one of
the three levels of dignitaries, may you have sons and grandsons, may you endure
like metal and stone.
6. Slightly angled-concave rim, inscribed semicircular-square alternating cartouche band-deities-animals. Izumi-koganezuka is a medium-size keyhole tomb,
Fig. 9.3 Location of tombs yielding mirrors dated 235244, the so-called Himiko mirrors; nos. 3 and
8 unprovenanced
174
85 m in length, the square front facing the southwest.Three parallel burial trenches
at the top of the knoll, each with a wooden coffin, were oriented with the direction of the tomb. The large quantity of grave-goods from the trenches includes
numerous iron weapons and tools, and stone and glass beads. The middle trench
had two mirrors, one made by Zhou.The east trench had a triangular-rim mirror
that matched with one in Tsubai-tsukayama, and the west trench had this
inscribed mirror, the fourteen ideographs within the semicircular and square
frames of an outer band. It says that Chen made it and it will give protection to
sons and grandsons.
7. Triangular-rim-coiled-dragons. Hiromine 15 is a round mound some 25 m
in diameter, with a simple trench burial, in a large cluster of similar mounds. It was
dated in the traditional fashion to the middle of the fourth century. Along with the
mirror, the meager grave-goods included an iron sword and spear, a piece of an iron
ax, and some beads. The rim of this one and its mate (no. 8) in the museum in
Nishinomiya are not quite as pronounced as the usual triangular-rim, but they fit
no other category. Other features are somewhat unusual. The inscription band of
thirty-five ideographs says the following: it was made by Chen on the 43rd day (of
the cycle), 5th month, Jing-chu 4 (240); if a man uses this he will reach a high
(noblemans) rank; if a woman uses this she will have many sons and grandsons who
will prosper; if one keeps (this mirror) one will live a long and hardy life.
There are real problems with this inscription, the most notable being the fact
that Jing-chu had only three years. Also, the two sides of the character for Chen are
reversed, and three other characters are written backwards: no. 22 gung ( J: k), lord,
duke, that is, high rank; 31 shou ( J: ju, su), longevity; and 35 xi ( J: kei), an auxiliary
word for emphasis. These reversed ideographs give the impression of an illiterate
technician taking a mold from the face of a mirror, arduously reversing each character separately, but forgetting which ones. Regardless, Chen, a literate man, may
have believed the mirror was heading to an unwashed overseas clientele and, trying
to meet a deadline, let it go. As a matter of fact, the errors may have gone unrecognized until the mirror was unearthed in 1986. Eras could be terminated for various
reasons and with little warning. Circulating the information was a slow process, and
in this case one must assume that the workshop did not get the word in time.
8. Triangular-rim-coiled-dragons; unknown provenance, in the Tatsuuma
Archaeology-Ethnology Hall in Nishinomiya. Everything matches with the
Hiromine 15 mirror in size, inscription mistakes, and decorative details, except that
the hole of the knob is set at a slightly different angle.This is unrelated, however, to
whether it came from the same mold or was an imprint.
The bulk of the Tatsuuma Collection consists of bronze bells bought by a private collector. Collecting, not provenancing, was his concern.The museum director
believes the mirror, rebuilt from many pieces, was acquired well before World War II
and came from a tomb in Miyazaki prefecture. A triangular-rim mirror, as referred
to by Ishikawa, was retrieved from Saitobaru Tomb 2 in the huge cemetery of 329
tombs of the fifth to sixth centuries in the southeastern part of the prefecture of
Miyazaki.The tombs were dug on six occasions from 1917 by combined university
teams. The mirror in question matches with mirror no. 18 from the island of
175
Okinoshima off the north coast of Fukuoka, so mirrors of Himikos time could conceivably have shown up in the Saitobaru area.
9. Triangular-rim-deities-animals. Records on the Takeshima Tomb are
unavailable to me.The inscription has twenty-eight ideographs, 311, 15, 18, 2125,
and 28 scarcely legible, but in view of the fact that mirrors 9, 10, and 11 are similar, patching makes all three inscriptions complete. The mirror is made by Chen
himself in the usual way of material from Zi-hui (?). Legible ideographs read, May
you rise (to the rank of) prince, live long like gold and stone, and may this protect
your sons and grandsons.
10. Triangular-rim-deities-animals. The Morio Tomb is one of three. It was
first thought in 1917 to be 9 m in diameter, with a stone enclosure shaped like three
rooms. Reinvestigation sixty years after the initial discovery shows it to be rectangular, 35 m northsouth and 24 m eastwest.Three mirrors were found, including
this and a TLV.This one is a match with mirror 9 from the Takeshima Tomb and 11
from the Kanizawa Tomb.All three were made by Chen. Ideographs 14, 12, 13, 16,
and 2224 are obscured by corrosion.
11. Triangular-rim-deities-animals.The Kanizawa Tomb (or sometimes called
Shibazaki from the name of the area) was a round mound 12 m in diameter.
Pottery, an ax, a spearhead, and two mirrors were recovered, one with concatenated
arcs.This dated mirror matches with 9 and 10. Ideographs 1, 27, and 28 are virtually unreadable.
12. Flat rim-deities-animals. The Akura Tomb was a small tomb in southeast
Hygo prefecture excavated before World War II. The mirror has an inscription
band of thirty-six ideographs, nos. 1, 3, 5, 6, 15, 17, 19, and 3135 hardly legible. It
was made in the seventh year of Chi-wu, and, the inscription continues, is as bright
as the noonday, and the person who keeps it will have prosperity, long life, and many
descendants as sons and grandsons, and they in turn will be prosperous and brilliant
as the light.
Chen and Yan made the Himiko list by dating their mirrors; Zhang did not.
Chen even refined his date for 240 (7 and 8), since for two he added the month and
the name of the day: 5th month, bing-wu (hinoe-uma) day, the 46th day of the cycle.
An initial comment would be simply that the triangular-rim type is basically
Wei and not Wu. Most likely the Wei court relied heavily on the Chen factory to
do its most reliable work, perhaps turning from the old Shang-fang factories to private enterprises. Seven of these mirrors have the name of Chen as maker, yet on
two of them (7 and 8) the name is miswritten along with other errors. Three of
the other Chen mirrors (9, 10, and 11) have somewhat less pronounced triangularrims, but fit the definition. In view of the popularity of the name and the product
there may well have been more than one Chen family in the business, but given
the present state of knowledge, it appears that Chens shop was the most active in
the third decade of the third century. Nevertheless, one would think that a workshop head would see that his name was correctly written; the other mistakes might
pass as less embarrassing. What went wrong? Perhaps to meet the current demand
Chen had set up a second workshop under less rigid supervision. Or could an illicit
shop have manufactured mirrors under the Chen name? Pirating has more future
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Fig. 9.4 Four dated mirrors. (1) TLV mirror, ta-minami 5 Tomb,Takeno/Naka-gun,
Kyoto (AD 235) (1). (adapted from GBHSJ 1994, 5:56). (2) Triangular-rim-deities-animals
mirror, Koganezuka Tomb, Osaka (AD 239). (6) (The East 12/910:36). (3) Slanted-rimcoiled-dragons mirror, Hiromine 15 Tomb, Kyoto (AD 240) (7). (Okayama-ken-ritsu
Hakubutsukan, Okayama-ken-ritsu hakubutsukan 20 shnen kinen-ten, pl. 77). (4) Triangularrim-deities-animals mirror, Kanizawa Tomb, Gumma (AD 240). (11) (Yamaguchi, Futatsu
no Yamatai-koku, 65)
when plied anonymously. I would rather think that Chen had accepted an impossibly large order with a short deadline, had organized a second workshop, which
received its orders orally, to grind out more and Chen accepted whatever came
from it.All were brand-new, mint-condition mirrors, wrapped in fine silk and soon
presented to Himiko.
As for the little-known Yan, he may have been running an outlying factory
that, by reproducing the stock TLVs of Han times, catered to the traditionalists who
preferred the protection of the Four Tutelary Deities and the harmony created by
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the Dragon and the Tiger in the right relationship to the more common Wei
phrases of many progeny, long life, and wealth. He was also able to supplement
orders that were beyond the capacity of shops like Chens. Unknowingly, Yan did
an immense service to Japanese archaeology by putting the era name on his TLV
mirrors. Without the date, they would have been called two-hundred-year-old
heirlooms, buried with great-grandchildren. Inscribed TLVs are quite rare, but if
inscribed the inscription may include a reference to the Xin (new) regime.31 One
TLV with a twenty-character inscription that includes the dynasty title was found
in a tomb in Hunan province around 1964.32
As pointed out, copies could be made by any qualified workmen, both in
China and in Japan.Through a study of the details of the mirrors, particularly such
features as headgear of the deities, Kishimoto says that about 80 percent of the triangular-rim types were cast by three groups of craftsmen.33 It is impossible to
imagine any fewer sources, much less one channel of transmission. The Made in
China stamp was too highly prized for there not to have been fewer approved
channels in operationat least for the other 20 percent.
Wei, Wu, or Wa?

It was widely assumed that the triangular-rim mirrors were of Chinese origin.They
are inscribed with readable ideographs of traditional commendatory phrases, bear
Chinese mythological decoration, and are products of experienced casting techniques. Two or three points raised some questions, however, but these were not
regarded as serious enough to reject this idea outright. Most are quite large, averaging a little over 22 cm in diameter, whereas the typical Chinese mirror is usually
somewhat smaller, between 12 and 13 cm in diameter. An occasional Japanese mirror is huge. The wrong date of Jing-chu 4 could be accepted as an oversight or a
snail-paced communication system. The script errors on the Hiromine Tomb 15
mirror were harder to accept. One would think that given as often as Chen was
written, the most ignorant artisan would have had no trouble with it. Chens supervision of no more than about ten technicians in working units should have been
close enough to avoid such unpardonable lapses.
A generation of earlier scholars may have claimed the Chinese made no
errorsmistakes made a mirror a Japanese copybut Karlgren pointed out long
ago that the Chinese craftsman was far from perfect, and he drew attention to many
slips in both the use of characters and the calligraphy.34 Therefore, mistakes do not
rule out a Chinese origin.
These points were not the stumbling block. Beginning with 1981 and articles
in following years the Chinese archaeologist Wang Zhong-shu said in his experience of three decades of archaeological work in China he had never encountered a
triangular-rim mirror that would match those from Japanese tombs, and he believed
no Chinese prototype existed.35 His reasoning followed this line: historically, the
eastern state of Wu had a reputation for producing the best mirrors. Many have
come from tombs in Yong-zheng, the old Wu capital in Hubei province. Wu was
dominated by Wei. Dates are more often found on Wu and Eastern Jin mirrors, two
states in existence in the years 222279 and 317419.This penchant for dating was
178
not a Wei one.Therefore, these mirrors were probably made in Japan by immigrant
Wu craftsmen mixing Wei and Wu styles.
This argument incited the existing doubts, leading to much equivocation on
one side and the inevitable opposing arguments on the other. Needless to say, in
broad terms these were sides taken by the Kyushu versus Yamato factions. Wherever
the mirrors were cast, the argument seems to presuppose that the triangular-rim
type was initially made exclusively for the Himiko gift. Its appreciation in Japan and
success as an exotic and elitist item encouraged more production for her successors
and for those to whom the power devolved.
This peculiar Made in Japan argument assumes a level of professionalism in
mirror production in Japan in the initial stage that cannot now be proved to have
existed, and if it had, Japanese copies should have continued this same level of craftsmanship, provided the materials were available. Again, if the mirrors were made in
Japan, one can only imagine all kinds of chicanery in keeping hidden the location
of the workshop, supply route of materials, and delivery methods, not to mention
the need to periodically eliminate a few who were privy to the secrets. If the Wei
ruler had ordered these from a workshop in Japan, would that not have discredited
his own production system? All of this may sound absurd, but the thesis opens up a
whole range of problems that border on the psychological, often simply called face.
This effort rests on the premise that such mirrors must have had recognizable
antecedents in China. But one might give some credit to the known Chinese genius
of inventiveness, and then to a style that was so highly valued it was worth continuing. In looking for the prototype, Nishikawa believes that Himiko as a royal personage would have received better-quality mirrors, such as were known to exist and
produced only in the Wei capital: gilt or silvered, jeweled, or with inlay work.These
she would have kept. Others made elsewhere were pedestrian by comparison. The
triangular-rim examples do not meet royal standards and are characteristic of
provincial quality. These were the ones she would have given to subordinates, he
claims.The closest match one can make with these mirrors are products of Lelang.36
In this respect, Okamura believed a kind of prototype of the rim could be seen
in mirrors from the east coast of China in the very northern part of the old Wu
region.37 He compared a slant-rim example from Shandong province (north of
Wu territory) with one from a tomb in Aichi prefecture and saw one step in the
production of triangular-rim types. The mirror in question from the Early Kofun
Aichi tomb has been consistently classified as a triangular-rim type.38 Okamura
thinks the triangular-rim type was simply made up from a combination of features
on other mirrors, and is not unique, as normally claimed.39 He also regards the regular triangular-rim mirrors as substandard, made in haste to meet the Wei rulers
deadline for a promised donation. The text does not say that Himiko received one
hundred mirrors. Probably far fewer were sent. The Chinese emissaries presented
their gifts in the twelfth month of 239.
Needless to say, much testing has been done to trace the source of the metals in
the copper, and the conclusions raise pertinent questions. While this is a move in the
right direction, in no way do the results indicate where the artifacts themselves were
made. As far back as 1927 a middle- to late-Yayoi bronze bell was tested. The percentages of copper (Cu), tin (Sb), and lead (Pb) were about 74, 16, and 8 respectively.40
179
Interestingly enough, Umehara speculated then that since a bell with a good ring
would need about 80 percent copper and less lead, the loss of tin in recasting and the
increase in lead would have dulled the resonance.Thus, conversion to another use may
have been inevitable because they no longer functioned properly as bells.
In the 1960s Tanabe reported that the loss of tin for a remelted object ran about
30 percent. A typical Han mirror contains about 25 percent tin, but most of the
Yayoi bells contain less than 10 percent.41 Recycled Korean weapons were most
likely the Japanese source of bronze, but there had to have been a transmission system, since Korean bronze objects have appeared only in north Kyushu archaeological sites, whereas the production of bells was chiefly in the Kinki region.
By the 1980s the study had focused on lead isotope ratios in the bells. Mabuchi
and colleagues investigated fifty-three examples of Chinese and Korean mirrors for
the presence of galenas (lead sulfide; PbS).Three different types could be discerned:
the first associated with Korean bronzes; the second associated with Early Han mirrors; and the third associated with Late and post-Han bronzes. Two of the oldest
bronze bells (with clappers) appeared to be of recast Korean bronze objects.Thirtythree middle-stage bells showed comparable galenas with Early Han, suggesting
remelting of Chinese objectssupposedly after the commanderies were established
in 108 BC thereby opening that channel. Eighteen bells of the latest type in the
Kansai showed a remarkable uniformity of chemical composition (Cu 70 percent,
Sn 4 percent, Pb 4 percent), which could only mean that standardized ingots were
brought to Japan for such purposes.The consistency could not be random; the Han
government must have conducted the business.42
Narrowing the source of the materials down considerably, Mabuchi found that
most of the earliest bronze bells contain Korean peninsula lead, later ones have north
Chinese lead, while Japanese-made mirrors, bronze arrowheads, and horse trappings
of the Kofun period have central and south Chinese lead.43 A triangular-rim type
of mirror (of Chinese origin) fits with this last group.An inscription on a Kurozuka
mirror includes the information that the copper for the mirror came from Xu-zhou
and the maker was from Luoyang, an item that had been noted from earlier finds.44
Further confirmation was reported in 2004 when eight triangular-rim mirrors
of the Senoku Hakuko-kan (Sumitomo Collection) in Kyoto were tested at the
Kokidoko Kagaku Kenky Center in Hygo for the trace elements in their metal.
Six were Chinese, two of which came from tombs in Kyoto. Two others were
thought to be Japanese copies. The results show the elements of the six to be in
complete agreement with other mirrors of the Three Kingdoms period, and the two
Japanese ones to be distinctively different.45
Not before the middle of the Kofun period is there any indication that Japanese
lead was in the ingredients, and not until the production of Japanese coins, the
Wad-kaichin in 708, was Japanese lead apparently included (more than 5 percent).
Typical domestic productions show no intentional addition of lead to the copper.
What is included is a natural mix. For instance, the bronze epitaph of Yasumaro,
the scribe of the Kojiki, who died in 723 and whose grave was found in 1979, contains less than 1 percent lead.This is also the case with a little bronze Buddha image
found in the excavations of the Musashi kokubun-ji in Koganei city, Tokyo, dated
to the latter half of the seventh century.46
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A suggestion that each workshop may have had identifiable techniques of production stemmed from research at the Nara Prefecture Kashihara Archaeology
Research Laboratory. Mirrors no. 21 and M4 from the Kurozuka and Tsubaitsukayama tombs, and nos. 16 and 18 and M21, are two sets of matches. The
inscriptions identify all five with the Zhang workshop. Each example has small bubbles on the rim at the same relative place, the result of gases escaping from the sprue.
This is also true with no. 9 from Kurozuka and M34 from Tsubai-tsukayama,
although neither bears Zhangs name. The casting technique is too similar not to
have been produced in the same workshop.47
The Kobayashi Thesis and Its Current Viability

The thesis has been outlined earlier. Simple matching of mirrors had been done
before Kobayashi Yukios time, but little thought had been given to providing an
explanation for the appearance of sets in widely separated tombs. After the recovery of the Tsubai-tsukayama mirrors, forty-one tombs yielded mirrors that
matched. Believing as he did that the distribution could not have occurred through
random dispersal, Kobayashi postulated their use as political gifts to loyal chieftains,
signifying pacts of allegiance in the formation of the Yamato state.48 And supporters point out that the club was exclusive: among the twenty mirrors in the gravegoods of the Tenjinyama tomb, contemporary with Tsubai-tsukayama and
Kurozuka, not one is of the triangular-rim type.49 The Kurozuka and Tsubaitsukayama tombs together yielded about 15 percent of all the triangular-rim mirrors. Such mirrors have been found in at least 130 tombs, which probably means a
minimum of about one hundred owners. If attempting estimates of owners from
the number of mirrors matching those of Tsubai-tsukayamas thirty-two triangular-rim mirrors, the number might be about three dozen. But ownership receives
little attention in the thesis, partly because it would have personalized and politicized the problem and added a more variable, less definitive, factor. In the way
tomb chronology is determined, one to three generations of their occupants had
received these mirrors, a fact that suggests an unbroken supply from Chinese
sources.The nagging question is, Was the donation to Himiko the initial introduction of this triangular-rim type that, therefore, popularized it?
A few of these mirrors were carried across the mountains and ended up in the
hands of relatives or friends on the west side. Several more have been recovered farther down the coast, in the old Izumo area, where the shift of power from Shimane
east to Tottori, noted for Late Yayoi and in the Early Kofun period, is reflected in
the triangular-rim mirrors.And as a continuing trend,Tottori far outdid Shimane in
total number (97 to 39), meaningby following the reasoning in the thesisthat
Yamato had found a good working relationship with that succession of chieftains
and that the Sanin region had fully adjusted to its place in the confederacy.
Since the fundamental premise of the thesis uses the Yamato area as its platform,
those who think Yamatai is elsewhere are less than pleased with it.The Kyoto school
is the only font from which this thesis could spring. However, that much being said,
Kobayashi refused to believe the large tombs were built as early as 250 and therefore had to equate the distribution of the mirrors from the paramount with a generation after Himiko. In fact, his evasion of this possibility obligated the thesis to be
Fig. 9.5 Mirrors matched with mirrors retrieved from the Tsubai-tsukayama Tomb, Kyoto, forming the basis for the Kobayashi thesis (Okamoto,
Yamatai-koku rons, 174175)
182
couched in abstract terms, totally devoid of individuals and personalities, using n for
one generation of chieftains, and lining up tombs with matching mirrors in 2n and
possibly 3n order. In consequence of this thinking, most triangular-rim mirrors are
dated to the fourth century.
The premises were simpler in the 1960s.The triangular-rim mirrors were of two
clear sorts: those obviously imported from China, and domestic copies. It was assumed
that when the original source ran low, local workshops went into action to meet the
existing demand. In dealing with matching mirrors, Kobayashi then had fifty-one sets
of Chinese mirrors, over forty of which were the triangular-rim type, and sixteen sets
of domestic mirrors, eleven of which were of the triangular-rim type.50 At that time
each set of Chinese triangular-rim mirrors did not exceed five, which Kobayashi
attributed to some technical factor. However, further discoveries have shown a higher
upper limit, and local production of the same type can run as high as eight in a set.
Graphs and charts only slightly reduce the dazing effects of the mathematics,
partly because constant cross-referencing has magnified the number of mirrors that
could in at least an indirect way be associated with the cache from Tsubaitsukayama. Two power centers appear, one represented by the Tsubai-tsukayama
Tomb, the other by the Bizen-kurumazuka Tomb in Okayama.The overlap is substantial. The Okayama tomb has thirteen mirrors, eleven of which are triangularrim. The two tombs have some forty-eight mirrors in seventeen matching sets in
common with eighteen other tombs.This fact assured Kobayashi that the distribution of these mirrors was no accident because the same random event occurring
more than a dozen times in the same manner is not by chance.51
Kurumazuka was ruled out as being of lesser importance, not without prejudicemany mirrors connected with it might be second-generation giftsso concentration should be on the chieftain in Tsubai-tsukayama as the main dispenser of
mirrors. But this opens up more than one problem. Three tombs share sets with
Tsubai-tsukayama and Bizen-kurumazuka: Kamihiragawa-tsuka (Shizuoka),
Shindo-tsukayama (Kanagawa), and Tomio-maruyama (Nara). Kobayashi thought
the Kyoto and the Okayama chieftains would not have sent the same mirrors to the
lesser chieftains in these three places, so there must have been a close cooperative
relationship between them.
As to dating, the time following Himiko was chaotic, but stability should been
restored by 280. Tsubai-tsukayamas earliest date should be 280, and its latest date
350. This was compromised as the earliest between 280 and 300 and the latest
between 300 and 350. A chieftains span of authority, called n, could be as much as
eighty years.This, Kobayashi decided, was extreme, and thought better of sixty.The
span of time of any tomb with mirrors matched with any from Tsubai-tsukayama
could be no more than 2n. Among the nineteen tombs with mirrors matching
Tsubai-tsukayamas are seventeen (he says sixteen) with information on their gravegoods.They can be divided into a western and an eastern group, drawing a very fine
line through Kyoto. The former are in the prefectures of Fukuoka (2), ita,
Yamaguchi, Okayama, Hygo, Osaka, and Kyoto (2), the latter in Osaka, Kyoto, Nara
(2), Shizuoka, Kanagawa (2), and Gumma. No tombs in the western group include
domestic Japanese-made mirrors, but tombs in the eastern group do, where they also
have later Chinese mirrors and jasper bracelets.This is a time difference, so that the
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mirror distributor of the Tsubai-tsukayama Tomb was probably already out of the
picture when mirrors were being sent to confederates in the east.
As intimated, there is no way to apply archaeological evidence toward demonstrating that a triangular-rim mirror recovered from a tomb, for instance in Fukui
prefecture, was ever in the hands of a superior chieftain in Yamato and was received
from there. Far from the problems of centers of style in ceramics or sourcing in geological materials, the concept remains no more than conjecture. In fact, I am quite
willing to see the Kurozuka and Tsubai-tsukayama occupants as parsimonious
hoarders rather than generous distributors. But the concentration of this type of
mirror in the Nara-Kyoto area is a phenomenon currently unknown elsewhere and
in popular interpretive terms it is translated into power.The symbols of superior status should therefore radiate from there.
Could the mirrors have moved up rather than down the social scale? A close
reading of the Wei zhi points to a repressed society. Local chieftains may have been
expected, if not obligated, to show their loyalty through the donation to the court of
an object of known significance. Yayoi-period chieftains in north Kyushu were able
to acquire fine mirrors individually. Was central authority so quickly achieved that
trade lines of that sort were abruptly terminated? Regardless of the measures Himiko
took to ensure that what was hers actually reached her, triangular-rim mirrors appear
in remote and what would appear to be politically inconsequential places.
Needless to say, Kobayashi had an answer to the question of whether there was
upward movement of mirrors. He took a cavalier position, brushing aside the question. It would be an unreasonable assumption because mirrors of royal quality
were already distributed throughout these nineteen tombs over a very wide area,
from Fukuoka to Gumma, in fact.52 The case of the Bizen-kurumazuka Tomb can
be seen in the same light.
For a better understanding of his defense one should look at how the preWorld
War II cultural environment emphasizing central authority shaped scholars views
and their attitude toward hierarchical transmissions. Mirrors were an elite commodity. Recipients of mirrors were only chieftains or their successors. Control was
through central authority, and distribution could flow only from such a locus.
At the risk of repeating, the five specifically provenanced, dated Himiko mirrors with triangular-rims are from prefectures as far apart as Yamaguchi and
Gumma. None of these seem to be in Karlgrens 257 mirror inscriptions. If we take
Kobayashis thesis at face value, the wide dispersal of the triangular-rim mirrors dispensed from some center in the Yamato area would mean the ruler had allegiance
from chieftains in north Kyushu, Inland Sea, the Kinki, and the west side, or what
would appear to have been Himikos domain. With the exception of Himikoko,
king of Kona, the chieftains toed the line. Chbu and Kant mirrors were sent out
by a successor or successors. Gumma, in the northern reaches of the Kant, is admittedly far beyond the bounds of Himiko territory. A strong center, it is believed to
have not joined the confederation until much later.
After the opening of the Kurozuka Tomb, where the grave-goods, numerically at least, imply a rough parity, the obvious questions are whether the thesis
could be adjusted to accommodate two centers of power, should be reorganized
around Kurozuka, or should be scaled back or abandoned as unworkable.
184
Kobayashino longer around to defend his thesismight need to dismiss it the

way he did the Bizen-kurumazuka Tomb. If only the grave-goods and number of
matchable mirrors and their presumed countrywide impact are compared the
occupant of the Kyoto Tsubai-tsukayama would be the manipulator of a far more
complex network than the Nara Kurozuka occupant. Nevertheless, in my view a
struggle for superiority would have been more typical than peaceful coexistence.
Can the thesis accommodate competitive centers? According to the reasoning, the
chieftain of Tsubai-tsukayama and the chieftain of Okayama Bizen-kurumazuka
even compared notes, but the comfortable 200 km separating them doubtless
made peaceful relations possible.
The premise of a single power center has been so seriously undermined that the
thesis can no longer be considered valid.These two centers, one in south Tenri in
Nara prefecture and the other in Yamashiro in Kyoto prefecture, are only about
20 km apart, the occupants not having the luxury of distance.The literature suggests
that surviving amicably in such proximity was not in the normal course of events.
Kobayashis refusal to hang the thesis on a personality peg meant he had to
work with poorly defined time periods and such abstractions as chieftain n and
chieftain 2n. But the archaeology and the literature combined were offering richer
interpretive data. In Emperor Sujins time, a revolt by his half brother and predicted
by his aunt, Princess Yamato-totohi-momoso, was put down.The rebels had decided
on a pincers movement, the conspirator leading one flank from Yamashiro, his wife
leading the other from the opposite direction. Forewarned, Sujins men were lying
in wait and slaughtered almost all, beheading more than half, the book says.53 The
Nihon shoki editors took notice when women were leading troops. And, one might
add, the rout does not encourage the belief that it was followed by a grand funeral
in a large mounded tomb stocked with thirty-two triangular-rim mirrors.
Otherwise, Yamashiro has no identifiable personalities. In contrast to Yamashiro,
however, the Kurozuka Tomb is in the heart of Nihon shokinarrated activities.
Yamato suffered no shortage of personalities.
Beyond general assumptions on the usefulness of the thesisthat some passing
around of mirrors for political reasons went onfurther probing of the archaeology is unlikely to be more informative, such as whether mirrors were inducements
or rewards. Nor, in my opinion, can it tell whether they were sent from on high or
were tribute from underlings.
With more of these mirrors constantly appearingover 130 tombs have contained triangular-rim mirrors, some with far more than onethis relentless amplification of data can be seen as either reinforcing the thesis or subverting it. In the
Chinese text Himiko had no more than about thirty chieftains to deal with.
Kobayashi said Himiko was too early to introduce to the thesis, so the mirrors dated
to her time were either shipped over later or were kept for at least a generation
before burial, but how can she be left out now that the Sakurai archaeologists have
moved the building of the large tombs to an earlier generation?
In light of what is now known I make several assumptions: one, the arrival in
Japan of the first of these Wei-type mirrors should be associated with Himikos
time; two, Himiko preferred and received many triangular-rim mirrors, but it is
185
unlikely that the full complement was made up of only that particular type; three, the
unusually high number of dated mirrors of her years is more than coincidental; some
were specifically dated as identification of the gift; four, some chieftains were finding
their own ways of acquiring Chinese mirrors as had been done in Yayoi times and
were not receiving them from an exclusive Yamato source; five, to carry it further,
Himiko was not herself a distributor but a collector; she was not buried in either
Tsubai-tsukayama or Kurozuka, but individuals of her generation or the next were.
CHAPTER 10
The Japanese View

of the Wei Zhi Years
Many of the stories in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki are obviously space fillers that
could be used at any time, but the style of storytelling and the content reveal the
inner workings of a culture the Chinese knew only through a female ruler. It is as
though the Chinese looked at the face of an old pocket watch and saw the hands
go round, but the Japanese took off the back to see the turning wheels inside.
The mix of what appears to be serious content and frivolous concern with
unpredictable deities obscures the broader picture of the birth pains of the Yamato
state. Involved here are the interfamily rivalries and the reduction of royal
claimants; battles on several fronts to ally with, subdue, or eliminate lesser chieftains;
stalemates in south Kyushu and east of Yamato; centralization of power through
improvements in the economy; and the consolidation of Yamato religious practices
in the Miwa rituals conducted by individual families. One must be prepared for
ceaseless and tiresome variations, seemingly irrelevant incidents, and extramundane
occurrences. Fact and fiction, real and the supernatural defy separation, but one cannot question the geographical enlargement of controlled areas and the organization
of many kami of the tribes and local phenomena under one umbrella. A by-product
was recognition by the Korean polities of Yamatos growing strength and, in their
quest for allies, slowly but surely drawing Japan into their conflicts on the peninsula.
The writers of the Nihon shoki could not conceal the fact that a major change
had taken place with the accession of Sujin. His predecessors are described in various ways as having acquired a consort and several concubines, procreated a few children, lived in a named palace, designated a crown prince, died on a given day, and
been buried after a few months in a geographically identified tomb. But their reigns
are without content, and their excessively long lives and the use of later devices and
terminology, such as the sexagenary dating system and burial in misasagi, are enough
to mark them as imaginary fillers. Jimmu is a generic name, perhaps good for the
last of the Yayoi chieftains who moved into the Yamato region.
Sujin is named the first ruler of the land in the Kojiki and the august founder
of the country in the Nihon shoki, statements hard to accept by early Japanese
scholars who believed in a much earlier start for national history, and early translators stumbled over the phraseology, not quite believing that the writers had
meant to say it.1
186
THE JAPANESE VIEW OF THE WEI ZHI YEARS
187
From the historical view there is little helpful in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki
that can be pinned to the last of the Yayoi periodcovered in this literature by fictitious rulersso, in an attempt to bracket Himikos era, I will block out the
recorded activities of the reigns of Sujin, Suinin, Keik, and Seimu with extractions
from the accounts.Anything beyond Seimu leads into the time of Jing, whose contributions have already been dealt with in the discussion of female shamans.
The Nihon shokibased chronology of preWorld War II starts Sujins reign in
the year the equivalent of 97 BC. Driven by sheer desperation, the early writers gave
Himikos dates to Jing, despite the fact that the only thing they had in common
was their oracular proclivities.The next step in looking for dates would have been
to borrow from the great volume of Korean history the early writers were appropriating, but this possibility was precluded by the early-seventh-century adoption of
the sexagenary calendar, a system that can be projected back in time indefinitely.
Selective culling of information from Chinese and Japanese sources will, however, bring out some workable dates within an acceptable time range. Efforts to make
chronological adjustments started in the late nineteenth century. Called the shin-i (literally, prediction latitude) system, it was based on the belief that every major sixtyyear cycle witnessed significant changes.These should occur at the beginning of the
cycle, the shin-y (kanoto-tori) year, which, in this case, was calculated to be 601 (600
is the 0 year).2 There is, however, a traditional view that 604 was the initiatory year
for the cycle. Aston calculated his notations from this year. If the Nihon shoki is correct, the Korean priest Kwal-leuk ( J: Kanroku) came in 602 with all of his calendarmaking, astrology, and other books and should have been instrumental in starting the
method within a year or two. Nothing of the sort is referred to for these years. Kwalleuk was useful, however. He was appointed high priest in 623.
From Chinese sources there is the much debated relationship the Song had
with the so-called Five Kings.3 The Chinese names for these Japanese rulerslong
before posthumous names were assigned themdefy application. The Song shu
written by Shen Yue (441513) names five consecutive kings in Japan, dating relative events with four.The Liu Song dynasty lasted from 420 to 479, during which
time three Japanese rulers sent envoys and tribute to the Chinese court (in 425, 443,
and 462). One is referred to as a brother of another, and the last was confirmed as
ruler (478). As these all occurred between 425 and 478, and Hanzei was Richs
brother, there is fairly general agreement that these individuals were Nintoku or
Rich, Hanzei, Ingy, Ank, and Yryaku, or emperors 16 to 21.4
In this chronology Jing fits between Chai (14) and jin (15), but had been
placed in the third century because of Himikos dates. In fact, she was given no sexagenary date for the start of her reign as she was not regarded as officially installed.
The Kojiki ignores this aspect of her, and a later note in it that she lived to be one
hundred was probably borrowed from Nihon shoki sources. She is said to have died
in her sixty-ninth year on the throne, or 269. How this twenty-year lease on life
came about is far from clear, inasmuch as the early writers must have known that
Himiko disappeared around 248 and her burial was then described.
At some later date an editor of the Nihon shoki added the cyclical years for the
beginning of all early reigns until the time of Ktoku, which is listed by era,
Taika 1. But Saimei (r. 655661) and Tenji (r. 667/668671) went back to cyclical
188
inauguration dates.These are provided in table 9. Using the calculations in reverse

to the time of Sujin, since later ones are clearly accurate historically to two or three
years, by judicious choicesometimes adding a full sixty-year cycle is obviously
too muchwe reach the middle to later decades of the third century as an acceptable starting point. The longevity and length of reign recorded in the text may
coordinate very poorly with these calculations, showing that the cyclical-year editor did follow a principle when adding these notations.
With these figures in mind, some assumptions furnish the framework for the
method of calculating back from Rich: he was the first of the Five Kings and the
one who sent an envoy in AD 425.The Chinese saw a clear succession, and nothing suggested to them a major fracture of the sequence in the preceding reigns.The
first of the cycle is calculated from 601, accepting the Taika 1 date as 645 = 45th
year; 601 = 1st year; six cycles into the past equals Himikos time: 241.Therefore, to
Table 9. Rulers from Sujin to Suiko
Ruler
number
Ruler
name
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
Suiko
Sushun
Ymei
Bidatsu
Kimmei
Senka
Ankan
Keitai
Buretsu
Ninken
Kenz
Seinei
Yryaku
Ank
Ingy
Hanzei
Rich
Nintoku
jin
Jing
Chai
Seimu
Keik
Suinin
Sujin
14
13
12
11
10
Nihon shoki
accession date
Note: Dash indicates no data.
AD 592
587
585
572
540
536
534
507
499
488
484
480
456
454
412
406
399
313
270
200
192
131
71
29 BC
97
Cyclical year (no.)
Mizunoto-ushi (53)
Tsuchinoe-saru (48)
Hinoe-uma (46)
Mizunoe-tatsu (32)
Kanoe-saru (0)
Hinoe-tatsu (56)
Kinoe-tora (54)
Hinoto-i (27)
Tsuchinoto-u (19)
Tsuchinoe-tatsu (8)
Kinoto-ushi (5)
Kanoe-saru (0)
Hinoto-tori (37)
Kinoe-uma (34)
Mizunoe-ne (52)
Hinoe-uma (46)
Kanoe-ne (40)
Mizunoto-tori (13)
Kanoe-tora (30)
Mizunoto-i (2)
Mizunoe-saru (12)
Kanoto-hitsuji (11)
Kanoto-hitsuji (11)
Mizunoe-tatsu (32)
Kinoe-saru (24)
Nihon shoki
reign/age
Kojiki
reign/age
36/75
5/
2/
14/
32/
4/73
2/70
25/82
8/
11/
3/
5/
23/
3/
42/
6/
6/70
87/
41/110
69/100
9/52
60/107
60/106
99/140
68/120
37/*
4/
3/
14/
/
/
/
/43
8/
/
8/38
/
/124
/
/78
/60
/64
/83
/130
/100
/52
/95
/137
/153
/168
189
reach Sujin by applying the cyclical dates supplied by the editor and using reasonable sense for the length of reigns, one would conclude as follows: Rich (40),
would fall in the 361421 cycle, so 361+40 = 401; Nintoku (13) = 374; jin
(30) = 331; Chai (12) = 313 (if the next cycle is included the step is too long);
Seimu (11) = 312; Keik (11) = 312 (sixty years is too much, and Seimu was a
nonentity); Suinin (32) = 273; and Sujin (24) = 265. Backing up one more to Kaika
(24) would mean another sixty years, or 205. Even if Kaika were in the picture, this
would again be too much, but these prior rulers have already been excluded.
Granted the manipulation in order to zero in on the target, but it is one more way
to look at the dating problem in the frustratingly convoluted system.
Emperor Sujin, the First Ruler of the Land

Mimaki-iri-biko-inie-no-sumera-mikoto, posthumously Sujin, was well treated by
the writers.5 He was manly, intelligent, cultured, and a student of the craft of royal
administration. Moreover, he was greatly respectful of all of the higher powers
the deities of heaven and earth. His mother was an ancestor of the Mononobe family, later known for their antagonism to Buddhism, which may explain why the
Mononobe were always on the inside track. According to the Nihon shoki, he was
installed on the thirteenth day of the first month. His empress was Mimaki-hime,
and he had at least two other wives and nine children. The first son became
Emperor Suinin. A daughter served the Sun Goddess, for whom a permanent residence was being sought. Sujins palace was at Mizugaki, Shiki, now Sakurai in
Nara prefecture.6
Nihon shoki stories set the tone by recounting his reliance on the counsel of
female shamans in the first events of his reign. A merciless plague soon struck. In
Chinese fashion he took it as a sign from heaven signaling the inadequacy of his rule,
not to mention being crowded by disaffected deities. Negotiating between two
deities vying for supremacy was beyond his competence, so they had to be isolated.
The solution: the great Yamato deity was kept, while the Sun Goddess was turned
over to Princess Toyo-suki-iri and moved to Kasanui, where a sacred spot was marked
off for her worship, thus initiating the practice of an imperial princess acting as
appointed liaison (saig) with the Sun Goddess. Special attention compensated for
this move. Eventually situated in Ise, geographically speaking it was probably on the
eastern edge of what was then regarded as the governable area. Assigned because of
her seniority, Nunaki-iri-hime, the princess designated to care for kunitama, was
too decrepit to go through the ritual motions and had to be replaced.
With little noticeable improvement two years later, still sensing the judgment of
the deities, Sujin went out to where he had an unbroken view of the open sky above
him and divined of the multitude of deities. It was at this juncture that his aunt,
Princess Yamato-totohi-momoso, stepped in as the medium. She could identify the
deity to be worshiped, and he followed her suggestion. Nothing changed.Then the
story moves to his dream, its confirmation through reports of a similar dream on the
same night by three unrelated men, and the finding of tataneko to conduct the
worship of his father, mononushi. tataneko successfully identified himself to a
huge assembly of officials and heads of the occupation groups known as be. Not to
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be left out, and to keep the peace and balance, Ichishino-nagaochi was appointed in
the same capacity for kunitama.
Further divination determined who would make the offerings to the kami, and
more divining discovered it would be the wrong time to add more deities to the
offering list. But divination again did tell him it was timely to worship the eight
myriads of deities, which he did as a separate ritual. Sujin established shrines for the
heavenly and earthly deities (amatsu yashiro and kunitsu yashiro) and specified the
sanctified land (kamutokoro) and families of ministerial custodians (kanbe).7 The kami
responded. The plague subsided and crops grew in abundance. In the broader picture, the heavenly deities were identified as ancestral kami of the imperial family and
the earthly deities as ancestral kami of the aristocratic families.
Three agonizing years had passed from the first solicitations to the discovery
of the right procedureby which time the plague had run its course. Salving
bruised kami egos (i.e., keeping peace between tribal chieftains, later described as
family heads) was an important element in the process. The question whether it
was appropriate to worship more kami could only mean that Yamato was saturated
and could not accommodate more titled deities (i.e., a surfeit of family heads wanting to influence the action).The trade-groups, the be system, is known to have been
a later development.
Tensions between Izumo and Yamato deities, between heavenly and earthly
deities, and between male and female deities, whose jurisdictional areas overlapped
on different planes, had to be relieved. Sujin receives the credit in the old books for
starting to build shrines that, of course, localized and immobilized the kami identified with tribes, houses, and families. Since buildings are referred to, the deityplace to which custodians were assigned may have been at this time an open but
wooded ceremonial spot or some sacred natural feature. Raised-floor buildings to
accommodate the custodians were probably going up at these places.
Archaeologically speaking, there is nothing to coordinate the start of shrine
building with the opening of the Kofun period, but Sujin probably promoted the
practice of providing raised-floor structures, known from Yayoi times, for use by
shamans. Such structures came to have a distinctive trademark. Emperor Yryaku of
the fifth century was incensed when he saw a local magnates house with katsuogi
(the ridgepole logs, shaped like cigars) and chigi (end gable extensions resembling
an X) on the roof, as these were symbols of palatial construction.8 Such features were
by then identified with palaces when secular and religious authority were inseparable. A late-fourth- or fifth-century mirror from the Takarazuka Tomb in Nara prefecture with reliefs of four different buildings includes one raised-floor structure with
the chigi quite visible, and a small number of haniwa models of house roofs have both
features. Historically they have been an identifying feature of Shinto shrines.
More needs of the deities were attended to in the following year. Special feasts
were held in connection with the miwa Shrine. tateneko, who was requested to
worship its great (local) deity (kami) was recognized as the patriarch of generations
of kannushi (shinkan) of the miwa Shrine.
In the spring of his ninth year, Sujin dreamed of a spirit who instructed him
to offer eight red shields and eight red spears to the kami of Sumisaka and eight
black shields and eight black spears to the kami of Osaka.This he did a month later.
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The Kojiki makes this exercise a red shield and spear for Sumisaka and a black
shield and spear for Osaka and goes on to say that he made offerings of cloth to
the deities of the hill slopes and the rivers (i.e., earth and water spirits), in what was
the most comprehensive gesture then known. Sumisaka and Osaka represented resident deities of rather large locales, so the emperor thereby certified their domains.
More clearly stated was the current warrior spirit of offering weapons for defense
in ongoing and future battles.
As long as the plague was raging, identification, shuffling, and reassignment of
deities was going on. Peace represented the right harmonious relationships, and it
was being arrived at through an understanding of the province and function of each
deity. Some elements remained hostile to the acceptance of Izumo deities, and much
evaluation of their use transpired.
Once the plague was abating, Sujin claimed to his ministers (kimitachi) that the
welfare of the people was now superior, so they should turn to the problem of the
ignorant distant savages in the country.9 They needed the Yamato civilizing touch.
Four men were ordained with symbols of authorityseals and ribbonsnamed
generals (shgun), and dispatched on the four roads, north, east, west, and to Tamba.
The general of the north, hiko-no-mikoto, the eldest son of the empress of
Emperor Kgen (8) in the Nihon shoki, when heading for Koshi immediately
encountered a woman whose spoutings changed imperial history.10
In one version and in the Kojiki, hiko saw a female apparition at the top of
the Wani-saka in Yamashiro. She was reciting a poem of confused content to the
effect that Prince Mimaki (Sujin) was being plotted against while he behaved like a
woman. When hiko asked her what she was saying she claimed she was only
singing, repeated the poem, then vanished. His report to the emperor was heard by
Princess Yamato-totohi-momoso, who is now identified as Sujins aunt (daughter of
Emperor Kgens empress) and called a shrewd and intelligent person, who could
foresee the future.11 She immediately understood its intent. (My interpretation of
its intent is that Sujins position was being threatened while he spent too much time
involved in shamanic activities that could be performed by a woman. If he played
the other side of his role as a warrior, his future would be secure.)
Princess Yamato-totohi-momoso recognized the threat as Sujins half brother
Take-hani-yasu-hiko (son of the third wife of Emperor Kgen named Princess
Hani-yasu), who was planning a coup. In fact, she had picked up through the
grapevine that Take-hani-yasus wife, Princess Ata, had already covertly acquired clay
from Mt. Kagu, which she carried in her furoshiki, stating that she had Yamato land.
Not only that, she had poured the clay out to knead it. Princess Yamato-totohimomoso knew that the procedure was preparation for hostilities: digging the sacred
clay to gain the magical power accompanying its acquisition and starting to prepare
it for making offering plates.12 The last step was to worship the kami. She recommended that Sujin immediately sound the alarm. Messengers sped to outlying posts
to recall his generals.
Take-hani-yasu and Ata, a militant female shaman, split their army and led their
troops from different directions for a two-pronged attack on the royal palace, he
from Yamashiro and she from Osaka. Geographically speaking, he was advancing
from the north and she from the west. Ata walked right into the trap. She and all
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of her troops were killed near Osaka by Isa-seri-hiko (another name for Kibitsuhiko, general of the west). As offerings and to form a magical barrier, hiko and
Hiko-kuni-fuku set up sacred clay iwaibe (an old name for Sue-ki, the ceremonial
pottery) vessels along the slope of Takesuki in Wani, and occupied Mt. Nara.Their
tramping around destroyed the vegetation, explaining the term Narayama (flattening hill).The troops were then led to the bank of the Wakara River, facing the army
of Take-hani-yasu.The rivers name came to be changed to Izumi, modified from
Idomi (challenge).
Following an exchange of words as to why the attack was occurringimperial
orders to put down a revoltthe duel between the two leaders resulted in the first
shot from Take-hani-yasu missing Hiko-kuni-fuku, but the latters arrow hit Takehani-yasu in the chest, killing him outright.The demoralized troops turned tail and
ran, and over half were decapitated north of the river. Because they removed their
armor to flee, the place was called Kawara, and because they fouled their clothes,
the place was called Kuso-bakama (excrement trousers), later corrupted to Kusuba.
Sujins position was now secure, and, not coincidentally, the plague subsided.
Again, some remarks. Yamashiro, the site of the Tsubai-tsukayama and its three
companion tombs, is established here as in competition with Yamato, operating in
the same wayon the basis of shared and equal power between Take-hani-yasu and
Ata. The latter appears to have had the unimpeded run of the Osaka territory, but
her advance was stymied before she could march. Armor was in current use; however, Sue (iwaibe) pottery had not yet been introduced to Japan.The same procedures
were followed by Jimmu and his chosen men when approaching the deities for
guidance. Battles started with duelingas is well-known in ancient western literaturethe killing of one combatant utterly dispiriting. Without a leader the ragtag
troops dispersed in the fastest possible way.
The story then picks up with the highlight of Sujins reign, an equally enigmatic yarn, but one of great significance. Princess Yamato-totohi-momoso married
the deity mononushi, signifying his full acceptance in Yamato. He visited her only
at night, but this piqued her curiosity and she asked him to stay in the morning so
she could see his fine physique. He agreed to this saying he would be in her toilet
case (kushibako) in the morning, but requesting that she not show any surprise. At
daybreak she opened the case. Inside was an attractive little snake (ko-orochi), no
longer or thicker than a garment tassel. Shocked and scared, she cried out.This outburst dramatically transformed her husband into a human. You lost control, he
said, and embarrassed me. I will do the same to you, and with that he flew skyward and settled on Mt. Mimoro (Mt. Miwa).13
Princess Yamato-totohi-momoso, overcome with contrition, sat down and
stabbed herself in the genitals with a chopstick, committing suicide. She was buried
at chi. The people then called her tomb Hashihaka (Chopstick Tomb). Even the
tomb was miraculously constructed: men built it during the day and deities built it
at night.The stones were moved in bucket-brigade fashion to the mound from Mt.
saka (a lower part of Mt. Nij). This story of passing along the stones was kept
alive in a popular song.
The princess made an auspicious debut, was on the stage only briefly, and exited
in a melodramatic finale. She is heard of only in the tenth year of Sujins reign, and
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never existed as far as Kojiki writers were concerned. She was endowed with clairvoyance, which she may have believed was a gift from mononushi. Marrying him
was an effort to move a step beyond the ancestral divinity enjoyed by all royal family members and to seal the relationship, but as a mortal she lacked the faith and
patience, and when she felt her source of power evaporating, she lost her reason for
living. She came to believe her channel of intuition was through her sexuality and
her night liaisons with mononushi. She killed herself by destroying that means in
a moment of irrational guilt and resentment. She was the female shaman par excellence in terrestrial affairs, but her failure to see her own future in a rational light and
her effort to move beyond human mortality was her downfall.Already a talking creature, mononushi was at least temporarily shaken out of his guise as a snake. At that
point he became an aeronautical human, the story using this device to remove him
from the scene. He was no longer a significant entity in the region, but stories of his
amorous life and reputation made the miwa Shrine a mecca for childless women.
Yamato-totohi-momosos power outlived her. People turned out in droves to
build her tomb and so give her a dignified burial. And the deities held her in the
same high regard; they contributed to the tombs construction at night. These
human and supernatural efforts combined to make the fourth-largest keyhole tomb
in the Yamato area. Hashihaka, at 280 m, is the eleventh-longest in Japan, even
longer than the one on the hillside attributed to Emperor Sujin.14
As the last of the female shamans who had constant, direct, and intimate association with the kami, her power was inherent and unquestioned. On another level of
rationality, later ones went to secluded spots, followed procedures, solicited, pleaded,
and waited for the ecstatic state in which they could find the right responsive kami.
The divinity status these royal personalities enjoyed, recognized by the mikoto in their
names, was still present until about the time of Emperor Nintoku (16). The terminology illustrates the slow shift of religious and secular power between sexes.
In winter of the same year, the restless emperor sent his four generals back along
their roads because the savage tribes abroad continued to be tumultuous. The
generals did not report their pacification experiences with the savages until summer of the following year. One interesting remark is that strange tribes came in
great numbers, and later, strange tribes come employing several interpreters.15
The note takers of the time were much aware of immigrants moving inas though
the arrival of strange tribes this time had not caused trouble. Several interpreters may refer to the number of people or to the different languages.
Stern measures remind one of the Wa police state in the Wei zhi description. In
his twelfth year, Sujin demarcated more clearly the social ranks, revised the requirements for forced labor, took a census, and because prosperity was now enjoyed,
ordered the collecting of new taxes. These assessments required hunters kills for
menpresumably skins and salted meatand woven textiles for women.16 Because
of the prevailing order the deities were docile, nature kept its regular rhythms, families and the population maintained their numerical balance, and the land was tranquil. For these reasons Sujin was named the founder of the country.17
The Nihon shoki writers used similar language when describing Jimmus accession, but in a less adulatory tone. Jimmu was the fourth child in his fathers family,
the younger of two brothers in the Kojiki. Explanation had to be made as to why
194
he transcended his older brother. He emerged as the person brave enough to kill a
plotting son, which the older brother was unable to do; hence he inherited the
birthright and became the countrys founder.18
The Sujin narrative then jumps forward five years. In his seventeenth year Sujin
lamented the wasted time and effort in moving goods overland and ordered all of
the territories (koku) to build boats. Within three months boats were being built
everywhere. Skip thirty-one uneventful years for which no fillers could be found.
The emperor felt the need to appoint a crown prince, but looked on two sons
with equal affection. It was to be selection by oneiromancy. In the Nihon shoki
account Sujin had three sonsprinces Ikume-iri-isachi, Yamato, and Ika-tsuru
by his primary wife, one sonToyosuki-iriby a secondary wife, and one son
Yasaka-iriby a third wife, although the writers refer to another source for the
last one. In the Kojiki account he had princes Toyoki-iri by his primary wife,
-iri-ki and Yasaka-no-iri by a second wife, and Ikume-iri-isachi, Iza-no-mawaka, and Yamato by a third wife. The Kojiki says nothing about the process of
selecting the next ruler. He brought together Toyoki-iri and Ikume-iri-isachi
who may have been the only surviving male heirs, and who are given equal qualifications in the scrambled genealogy in the two bookssaying he could not
decide which one should succeed him. An interpretation would be made of their
dreams. In their dreams they climbed Mt. Mimoro (Miwa). On the top,Toyoki-iri
said he looked toward the east, brandished his spear eight times, and swung his
sword eight times. Ikume-iri-isachi, which the Nihon shoki calls the younger
brother, looked in all directions and strung a line to scare the sparrows away from
the chestnuts and growing foods.
Sujin then decided that a comprehensive view of the empire (taking in the
four quarters) was better than a look toward the east, and awarded the eastern
lands to Toyoki-iri the warrior, and the next rule to Ikume-iri-isachi the farmer.
Toyoki-iri is called the first chief of the region that became the provinces of
Kzuke and Shimozuke (Gumma and Tochigi prefectures). Ikume-iri-isachi
became Emperor Suinin.
The story is an old one, required by the need to explain why the younger
son was chosen. It was more land to conquer versus the quality of life. According
to the accounts, it remained for the grandson Keik and his son to complete the
eastern conquest. As the stories are told, this is the last emperor to be chosen by
an occult method.
After designating the crown prince, Sujin turned to acquiring the divine treasures (shinp, sacred or shrine treasures) of Izumo to consummate his control of that
region. Three brothers kept the symbols. In the absence of the oldest brother, a
younger one handed them over. The dissension between brothers over their ownership eventually led to the oldest tricking this younger one by swapping swords and
stabbing him. When word of this fratricide reached Sujin, he sent two men to
Izumo to kill the murderer. Such a show of force intimidated the local chieftains,
who felt their great god (kami) had failed to protect them, their sovereignty, and
their symbols of authority; disillusioned, they resolved not to worship him for a
while. Ignoring a deity was the most humiliating punishment for his or her lack of
performance.The deity left for Yamato in disgrace.
195
The ties with Izumo remain strong.The baby son of a man in Tamba province
(Kyoto prefecture) articulated the names of apparently two nature spirits worshiped
by Izumo men, one, for example, translated as the august-spirit-plunged-in-thewater-of-the-mountain-stream, the peacefully-wearing (jewel?)-august-deity, the
bottom-treasure-august-treasure-master.19 His father reported this to the crown
prince, questioning whether the words could have been divinely inspired rather
than the precocity of his infant.The story was passed on to the emperor, who then
ordered that these kami be worshiped, as it was better to avoid offending any as-yetunidentified deities.
This surreal anecdote of how these deities were brought to the rulers attention
and their unidentifiable reasons for existence makes sense only in the context of the
Izumo-Yamato relationship, Yamatos inclusiveness, and Sujins efforts to specify
regional deities and their jurisdictional areas. By ordering his people to worship
these Izumo deities and so enlarging the Yamato pantheon, he took one more step
in absorbing the distinctive features of Izumo.
In his sixty-second year Sujin promoted irrigation where agriculture was suffering, with three large reservoir ponds opened up notably in the Osaka region.
Three years later a mission arrived from the area known in Korean history as Kaya,
to the Japanese as Imna or Mimana. Being the first notice of this in Japanese texts,
an effort was made to identify the place as 2,000 ri over water north of Tsukushi. It
is southwest of Ke-rin (Ch: Ji-lin, i.e., Silla; J: Shiragi), the account says.
In the Nihon shoki Sujin died in the twelfth month of the sixty-eighth year of
his reign at the age of 120. The Kojiki says he was 168. He was buried above the
Yamanobe-no-michi, the road that runs along the foot of the eastern hills, 226 days
after his death.
While this age may seem to have been excessive longevity in itself, a revelation from the kami in the next reign says the former emperors life had been cut
short because of his failure to live up to an agreement with the Sun Goddess. She
was to have absolute rule over the eighty kami of the Land of the Central Reed
Plains.20 While this agreement is not on record as such, the story can be taken
as further reference to the effort to control Izumo, here couched in terms of the
Sun Goddess attempting to extend her authority. Religious control was political
control, and Sujin had not been fully successful in his dealings with Izumo, the
overarching deity is saying.
Events took place in only sixteen of the sixty-eight years of Sujins reign.The
third to the twelfth years are continuous, but otherwise there are the oddly numbered first, seventeenth, forty-eighth, sixtieth, sixty-fifth, and sixty-eighth years.
There seems to be no numerological significance here as all but the stories that
secured his position and his death could have taken place in any year and put in
some recognizable intervals, so with a small collection of notes the writers did their
duty by extending his time to the limit of credulity.
Major changes in religious practices were compressed into one reign and credited to Sujin. Sorting out and reorganizing the pantheon, assigning areas and duties
to kami, and building shrines and designating iwahi-bito (religious personnel), are
unlikely to have been accomplished so quickly in the evolution of a state religion.
The juggling of the relationship between deities is given as much credit as military
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conquest in bringing peace to the land. In the Chinese view, peace was heavens
approval of the emperors handling of earthly events.
Emperor Suinin and the Makimuku Dynasty

It does not take very careful reading of these two early reigns to recognize the similarity in events and stories and to realize that despite scant material, the writers were
able to embroider the events and stories sufficiently to cover their attempt at disguising this fact. One ruler had already been chosen as founder of the country in
the conventional list the writers had received. Beyond that, they faced the same
problems, listened to the same kind of voices, and reacted in the same ways.
In his own reign, Suinin is just called the son of Empress Mimaki and the third
child of Sujin.21 He was born in the Mizugaki palace in Sujins twenty-ninth year
and grew up as his fathers favorite son. The capsule description of himdistinguished physically, naturally talented and highly principled, could not be dissuaded
from the truthis above average, but not atypical. He is said to have been appointed
crown prince when twenty-four. This assertion conflicts with other statements, so
that by other calculations he should have been only twenty when designated, and
the date of burial of Sujin differs by two months from that in his chapter. Both of
these differences could be transcription errors.
Unlike most reigns, there is no long litany of wives and progeny at the outset.
The firstborn mentioned is Homotsu-wake, a son much loved by the ruler, but a
mute. In his second year Suinin moved his palace to Tamaki in Makimuku.The Kaya
envoy, who had been in Japan almost five years, requested to return home and was
given one hundred pieces of red silk as a gift to his king, but Silla pirates stole it,
earning Yamatos undying enmity.22
A story involving Tsunoga-arashito at home in Kaya was told to explain how
foreign deities were accepted in Japan through transformation, or given a Wa personality after arrival.Tsunoga was driving his ox, which was carrying farming tools,
when suddenly the ox became invisible. But he was able to follow its tracks to a
neighboring village.There he met an old man who disclosed that the chief and the
villagers had killed the ox and eaten it, intending to do so before the owner
appeared. The old man suggested not requesting any payment; rather, Tsunoga
should ask to be given the deity of the village. He did as told, and they gave him a
white stone they worshiped.
Tsunoga took the stone and put it in the sleeping room of his house. To his
astonishment and joy, it turned into a beautiful woman whose physical attractions
were irresistible. But one time when he was away she vanished. Questioning his
wife, he was told the woman had left for the east.Tsunoga set out and sailed over
the water, arriving in Japan.The woman came to Naniwa (Osaka), where she was
honored as the deity of the Himegoso Shrine, then went on to Toyokuni, where
she was again treated as the deity of the Himegoso Shrine there, so is worshiped in
both places.23
Because Toyokuni is an ancient name for the region of Fukuoka and ita in
Kyushu, the implication is that her route had been from the west side, then down from
Osaka. Hi-me-go-so (compare-sell-word-formerly) must be phonetic for a Korean
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place or deity name, as it makes little sense otherwise.Transformations from inanimate

objects that were believed to have magical properties, such as from a stone to an
anthropomorphized deity, are less common than talking creatures or mysterious disappearances and reappearances.This story involves the recognition of the kami character of a human and a failed quest, so, among other possible interpretations, it may
reflect the special difficulty of introducing exotic deities but the unusual degree of awe
they inspired once recognized.
The Tsunoga stories were included to introduce Kaya to the Japanese world, the
religious events masking the secular nature of the relationship, using place names
intelligible to eighth-century readers.
There are successive versions of the story about a Silla prince coming over, elevating the opening of court relations to a slightly higher plane. The start was
remarkably hospitable in view of the way the relationship ended in the seventh century. This prince, who has the Japanese name Ame-no-hihoko (Heavenly Sun
Spear), brought with him seven objects in the first account, eight in the second.24
These had magical value and were eventually stored in Tajima (Hygo) and preserved much like shrine or temple relics.The names they are identified by are probably place names, although Japanese: three different kinds of beads (tama),25 one
short sword, one spear, one mirror, and another object (kuma-himorogi) that was
probably a bead (it can hardly be a fence or outline of a sacred spot as himorogi is
often interpreted).The second version speaks of two swords.
As retold, the prince was settled in Harima (Hygo). When the emperor heard
of his presence he sent the heads of the Miwa family and the Atae family to inquire
of his identity. Ame-no-hihoko called himself the crown prince, but he left the
country to his younger brother, and like Tsunoga before him, he says he came to
offer his services to what he had heard was a benign ruler. If this was his true intention, why he had not gone to Yamato is not explained.Was it not clear to him where
the center of authority actually was? The emperor offered him residence where he
was living in Shisawa or on the island of Awaji.The prince, however, asked for and
received permission to travel around until he found a suitable place. He went up the
Uji River to mi, then to the north coast in Wakasa (Fukui) and from there to
Tajima (north Hygo), where he stayed, marrying a local woman whose descendants
in the fourth generation included Tajima-mori, the man sent by Emperor Suinin to
find the elixir of immortality.
The stay in mi explains why the Sue people (potters) in the Kagami valley
became the servants of Ame-no-hihoko.26 The ideograph t, commonly used for
partly vitrified ceramics and porcelain, is employed here, not the familiar Sue of Suemura in Osaka where so many of the Korean-style ceramics were made.This story
also led to the false belief that Sue was introduced from Silla and at an earlier date
than was the case. Sue came to Japan from Kaya in the fifth century.27
In this elliptical way Ame-no-hihoko was back on the north side facing Silla
and had found a Korean wife from the large Korean population there.The personalized introductions of these political areas by altruistic, self-effacing foreigners were
a transparent device to explain some local genealogyat a time when Korean
ancestry was an honorbut the gracious and generous receptions may be a little
exaggerated so the Wa could say they were not to blame when hostilities broke out.
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Parallels have already been noted in the Sujin and Suinin stories. In short order
Suinin had to put down a conspiracy by an elder half brother, this time in league with
his sister, the empress. Caught in the dilemma of Prince Sahos demands, she finally
accepted the dagger he offered her to stab the emperor in the neck when he slept.
The occasion arose about a year later. He lay down to sleep, head on her lap, but she
could not bring herself to stab him. Her anguish overcame her and she cried, tears
falling on his face. These awakened him from a dream of a snake coiled around his
neck and heavy rain coming from the direction of Saho (the area that is now northeast Nara city, but a pun on the brother he knew was making trouble). She could not
contain herself and confessed to the treason, identifying the snake as the dagger and
the rain as her tears. Suinins warning, therefore, came from an interpreter of dreams.
Suinin did not blame her. He asked Yatsunada, his chief in the Kzuke region,
to eliminate Saho, but the latter built a fort of rice straw, called a rice castle (inaki),
and withstood a month-long siege.The distraught and pregnant empress felt she had
betrayed her brother and entered the fort. In the more humane Nihon shoki she came
out, took all the blame, and volunteered to strangle herself. In the more sanguine
Kojiki the emperor ordered his troops to get her and the child out at all costs, even
if she had to be pulled by the hair or dragged by her garments. Hearing of this she
shaved her head, apparently wore a wig, and put on tatters held together by strings
of jewels. She pushed the child out, but when the attackers tried to catch her, the
hair came off and the jewels ripped away in their hands. She escaped.The emperor
could still engage her in conversation: What should be the name of the son? Homuchi-wake. How should he be raised? By a mother and nursemaids. Who will serve as
his wife? Two women, daughters of Tatsu-michi-no-ushi, prince of Tamba. In the
Nihon shoki she recommended that he get five fair ladies from Tamba to replace her
to which he agreedand reentered the fort, where she and her brother died in the
flames. Yatsunada was highly commended for completing his assignment.
The outcome of this plot was noted for Suinins fifth year. Only ten years later
were these five Tamba sisters called.The oldest, named Princess Hibasu, became the
empress. The fifth, so ugly she was sent home, was unable to stand the shame and
killed herself by jumping from the carriage. In the Kojiki, two were sent back
because of their homeliness. One tried unsuccessfully to hang herself, but later
drowned herself in a pool.These women bore nine children, the fourth one of the
empress called Princess Yamato.The first prince was named Inishiki-iri-no-mikoto
and the fifth Wakakini-iri-no-mikoto. Only the primary wife had iri children.
Incidentally, though of little consequence, the Kojiki in one place speaks of two
women and in another of four.28
In Suinins seventh year word reached him of a boastful man of Taima29 named
Kuehaya, who claimed to be the strongest in the land.The emperor questioned this,
heard of a person in Izumo called Nomi-no-sukune who might challenge him, and
invited Nomi over.The two wrestled, but it was no contest. Nomi-no-sukune broke
the ribs of Kuehaya and crushed his testicles, thus killing him. He received the latters property and remained in Yamato to serve the emperor.This is how the village
of Koshi-oreda (field of broken testicles) got its name.
The story is always told to give great antiquity to sumo, and later explains how
the group associated with Nomi-no-sukune became the potters, made haniwa, and
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constructed tombs and tended them. It was, of course, a tribute to Izumo and a small
effort toward evening the Yamato-Izumo score. However, as far as the appearance of
figured forms of haniwa are concerned, the story would be more credible if it were
in a reign two or three generations later.
At the age of thirty Homotsu-wake was still dumb and unable to speak. In
Nihon shoki variations of the story, each one linking the deities of Izumo with it,
ways were being considered as to how to break this condition when a swan flew
by. The prince asked what it was. The spell was broken, and the emperor ordered
the swan to be caught. The chase led all the way to Izumo (one version says to
Tajima, present Hygo).The catcher was well rewarded and given the title Tottori
no miyakko, chief of bird catchers (tori-tori).30 Homotsu-wake learned to talk in
the company of the swan.A be of bird catchers and a be of bird feeders were established, and another one was set up to care for the prince. This story also explains
the adoption of the Tottori name for the prefecture, constituting the old provinces
of Inaba and Hki.31
Homotsu-wake came alive in other ways, having met an attractive woman
named Princess Hinaga. He spent the night with her. But a more intimate look
revealed her to be a snake, and he left in great haste. She chased him and his attendants in a boat, her aura lighting up the landscape. Their fear intensified, and they
hauled their boat overland in the direction of the capital with her in hot pursuit.
She apparently gave up. The emperor was pleased with the outcome. He sent his
chief named Unakami back to Izumo to build the shrine for the kami.32
The arts give a picture of the ferocity of such creatures in the folklore.The pictorially inclined Middle Yayoi people incised no small number of beasts on pots,
fragments of which have survived, illustrating the apparitions and monster/serpent
stories in current circulation at that time. One that appears in a similar way on several sherds from sites in the prefectures of Okayama, Osaka, and Nara is a dragonesque, water- or air-borne, legless monster.The creature on the Ikegami sherd has
five fins sprouting out its back and three from its underside.Two more appendages
project from the end of the back. Susano-o killed a huge monster/serpent, thereby
saving the people of Izumo. The creature is described in the Kojiki as so big it
stretched across eight mountain peaks, and trees and moss grew on its back. It had
eight heads and eight tails; its red eyes blazed; blood spurted from every pore.
Emperor Yryakus curiosity was more than satisfied after he demanded to see the
Mt. Miwa deity.The attendant who was obligated to catch it released a hideous serpent, which so terrified the emperor that he bolted to the back of the palace.
The scaled, human-headed creature on the sherd from an Okayama city site,
which the excavators said was Late Yayoi or Early Kofun, could be such a shrieking, flaming, flying serpent, in Hinagas case either a defender of Izumo against
intruding Yamato princes or a spurned lover not properly invited to Yamato. Scales
continue on down the legs. A broken-off quadruped above is apparently of a different species, as though part of a mixed herd. Here too is the husband of Princess
Yamato-totohi-momoso who suddenly became human before he took to the air
and disappeared. Snake transformation stories appearing in these accounts relate
Izumo with Mt. Miwa and local snake worship.The transformation to a human, of
either sex, was always so startling it precipitated the sudden conclusion of the story.
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Fig. 10.1 Incised monster/serpent figures on pottery sherds. (1) Amase, Okayama. Late
Yayoi. (2) Ikegami, Osaka. Middle Yayoi. (3) Human-headed creature with quadruped
(above). Kamo A site, Okayama city, Okayama. Late Yayoi or Early Kofun
In an unusual laudatory section, transparently tuned to praising the former

emperor, Sujin, and therefore explaining why conditions were peaceful, in
Suinins twenty-fifth year five ancestors of well-known early historic families
(Abe, Wani, Nakatomi, Mononobe, and tomo) were assembled to hear an imperial
pronouncement. Since rivalry between three families rarely lasted long, one suspects
that friction between five had reached critical proportions. Our predecessor restructured the government, the emperor said, and conducted the sacraments for the deities
of heaven and earth; therefore we will continue to do the same. Unspoken was the
expectation that this decision should bring the same harmonious results.
Descendants of the five individuals, all representing elite families, could later
claim their place in history when seventh-century rulers required the genealogies
to be unscrambled as the rank system (kabane) was reorganized.The Abe and Wani
are listed as omi rank, the upper one of the two at the time, while the others have
muraji rank, in a graded hierarchical system almost like the levels of officials
described in the Wei zhi.
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The Mononobe and tomo had already appeared in Sujins reign. The Abe
lived in the Sakurai area of Nara prefecture, while the Wani were up toward present
Kyoto.The Nakatomi were probably in the area where the Fujiwara capital city was
built in 694, and the Mononobe were scattered from Sakurai across to Naniwa
(Osaka).The tomo were living just northeast of Fujiwara. As is common knowledge, the Nakatomi were the chief survivors, becoming the Fujiwara bureaucrats of
Heian times.
Suinin then turned to making the Sun Goddess comfortable by finding the
right place for her to settle. The instrument of this venture was Princess Yamato,
described as trying several spots, including one near Lake Biwa, and deciding on
Ise, where the winds, waves, and landscape were idyllic. A shrine for the liaison
priestess to conduct the services was built at Kawakami in Isuzu (the river at Ise),
called Isonomiya. This is said to be where the Sun Goddess had first descended
from on high so it closed the circle. All that meandering was the search for the
sacred spot, leaving many places to claim a Moto-ise, a way station in the long march
to the ideal location.
Another version, a much more elaborate story, includes the explanation for the
abrupt termination of Sujins life.33 Princess Yamato first tried Izukashi (in the
Sakurai area), but on instruction moved to Watarai in Ise. At this point attention
turned to the well-established kami of Yamato, who found a spokesman named
minakuchi-no-sukune. The emperor had failed to keep the pact with the Sun
Goddess for her unquestioned authority, and although he did well in worshiping the
deities of heaven and earth, he ignored the details. He saw only the leaves and
branches; he never searched for the roots. For this reason he died early. In effect,
Sujin had succumbed to pressures and mistreated the Sun Goddess. Apologize for
his deficiencies and let this be a lesson. By the eighth century the editors of the old
text were fighting a bad conscience on the prior treatment of the Sun Goddess and
making amends by directing attention to Ise.
Intimidated as he now was, but with the Sun Goddess out of the way, Suinin
redoubled his efforts to accommodate the kami. An ancestor of the Nakatomi
divined to find the right custodian for her. Princess Nunaki-waka, the shaman who
did the interpretation, was coincidentally appointed, and a sacred location at chi
was designated for the worship (probably near the present tomb of Emperor Temmu
and Empress Jit in Asuka). But this woman turned out to be too feeble to perform
the ceremonies and another, an ancestor of the Yamato-no-atae, did them in her
stead. In other words, only women were selected as the mediums for these deities
in this area at this time, and one assumes Nunaki-waka was too frail to climb the
steps of an elevated-floor shrine building.
In his twenty-sixth year Suinin showed his concern for the Izumo treasures
which had already been described as being acquired in the reign of Sujin. In fact, it
was that affair of fratricide that gave Sujin the excuse to send men to Izumo to eliminate another anti-Yamato troublemaker. Repeated efforts to get a good accounting
of the treasures from the Izumo officials had not been successful, Suinin said.
Tochine-no-muraji, a Mononobe and the ranking muraji, was dispatched to inventory them and bring back a detailed report. He did, and was appointed chief in
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charge of the treasures. The deities had been brought under the Yamato umbrella;
now the Mononobe were consolidating their control of these Yamato deities.
Another story of uncertain reign, perhaps one still hanging fire, starts with divination by the Jingi-kan to determine which weapons should be votive gifts to the
deities. The answer came back: bows, arrows, and large swords, which were then
offered to all the redesignated shrines in due course.This was probably the occasion
that initiated the practice of offering weapons to the deities of heaven and earth.The
year ends with the curt statement that storehouses (miyake) were built in Kume.
Wherever this story belongs, although it fits well with additional shrine construction that appears to correlate with Yamatos military expansion, the Jingi-kan
(variously, the Office of Religious Affairs), which answered directly to the emperor,
was an agency of much later times. It was probably not a fully functioning office until
around the time of Emperor Temmu and Empress Jit, when the term kami no michi
(Shinto) came into use. In regard to weapons, in this case it was not a question of
whether weapons should be offered, but which weapons, that is to say, it reflected the
current perpetual alert condition. According to this story, all shrines were to be so
endowed. The inference follows this line: specialization of concerns under named
deities and therefore their shrinesfor instance, agricultural, climate, natural phenomena, procreation, and warwhich eventually received inclusive generic names
like Inari and Hachiman, was a later step in the evolution of the religious practices.
Relative to the last remark, granaries were at that time known as miyake, a term
that later came to be used for offices of the imperial court. Chamberlain thinks kume
might not be a name but might mean army, and that these were food stores for
troops.34 Weapons depots should be included in the meaning.
The best-known story of Suinins reignthe rationale for the making of haniwa,
the clay sculptures for exterior use on mounded tombstakes place in the twentyeighth year.The Kojiki omits the grisly story, but implies changes in the burial practice by saying the be of stone coffin makers (ishiki-tsukuri-be) and the be of potters
(haji-be) were established on the death of Empress Hibasu-hime.35 It need hardly be
said again that the be system as formal organizations was a later Kofun-period development, but those organizations were doubtless built around existing family crafts
groups. Sarcophagi (sekkan) were being made within about three or four generations
of the opening of the period, from around the middle of the fourth century. Wooden
types were then copied in stone, known as split-bamboo-shaped (waritake-gata) or
boat-shaped (funa-gata). By and large their distribution does not include the Kinki
region. In that area the larger assembled slabs or chest-shaped (nagamochi-gata) or hollowed-out house-shaped (ie-gata) sarcophagi came to be preferred.36 Pottery based on
Yayoi traditions, known in Kofun times as haji, carried through.
The emperors younger brother died on the fifth day of the tenth month, the
Nihon shoki says, and on the second day of the eleventh month he was interred at
Tsukisaka in Musa (Kashihara city). In practice of an old custom, all of his personal
attendants were buried to their necks in the neighborhood of the tomb.37 They
died after days of crying and moaning, and the remains were eaten by dogs and
crows. This occurred within earshot of the emperor, who fretted over it and asked
his ministers to consider other ways.
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To finish the story, Empress Hibasu-himes death occurred on the sixth day of
the seventh month four years later, following which the emperor queried his ministers on what could be done. Nomi-no-sukune spoke up, saying the practice should
not be continued, and he offered to send messengers to Izumo to bring back one
hundred potters of the haji-be. This offer was accepted, and the potters were
instructed to make models of people, horses, and various objects, which were then
presented to the emperor.The emperor liked them so much he had them placed in
front of the tomb and ordered that such substitutes be used at the time of later burials. For this happy outcome, Nomi-no-sukune was richly rewarded with a wellfurnished workshop, put in charge of the haji-be, and given a new title. This story
explains how the Haji-no-muraji oversee the interment of the emperors.
The narrative has been dissected in many ways and hardly needs another look.38
The haniwa started out as cylinders and tubes, extending a late-Yayoi practice, with
horses and humans added to the repertory. Immolation has not been proved archaeologically and will be difficult to prove as long as the current attitude in archaeological interpretation prevails. Both ancient Chinese and Japanese writers said it
existedand said so independently unless the Nihon shoki writers were using the
Wei zhiand the Japanese writers went to considerable length to explain why and
how it was curtailed. In Silla, according to the fifteenth-century history book
Tongguk Tonggam, the banning of live burials is not recorded until 502.39 The
Chinese wrote of it as though in passing, whereas the Japanese described it as a
ghoulish, inhumane practice, perhaps doing so to illustrate how desperately a ban
was needed. In any case, the story gave the Nihon shoki writers a particularly good
chance to describe a merciful solution to one of the more barbaric practices.
Suinins compassion had in this way eliminated one of the worst, for which all later
emperors could be thankful.
There may be more substance to the legend than is normally realized. By and
large early Yamato tombs have yielded surprisingly few complete human haniwa figures, but a number of heads. Whether this fact of bodiless figures has to do with just
the state of preservation and the habits of collectors or destructive scavenging
around tombs that was particularly prevalent by the eighth century, Nihon shoki
writers knew Yamato-area figure haniwa primarily through headsperhaps the
inspiration for that part of the ghastly tale of burial up to the neck.
Putting haniwa on the mounds, however, became an important ritual for which
a rationale was needed. What at first seems odd is the call for Izumo potters to do
the work. It must be another way of describing the emasculation of Izumos
resources. The deities came to Yamato, the local regalia came, and now the craftsmen come. Nothing suggests greater competence of Izumo potters at the time.
Between the start and conclusion of this plan to replace live humans with clay
models is situated the unusually blunt story of the emperors asking his sons what
they desired most.40 The elder wanted bows and arrows, the younger wanted the
throne.This, of course, is a continuation of the peace policy the writers were pursuing, rationalizing the second-born taking the crown. No princes had been introduced
at the beginning of the reign, and no relationships or qualifications were listed.
However, true to form, the Kojiki gives the genealogy: the first two of the children
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of Empress Hibasu-hime.41 The second son mentioned here, tarashi-hiko-oshirowake, became known historically as Emperor Keik, ruler 12.Another point, the unJapanese unequivocal request for the throne, is out of keeping with the later fashion
of claiming a lack of qualifications, insufficient seniority, or deference to a more
deserving relative. Perhaps this was a pre-Chinese stage of directness, not the coy,
feigned modesty that started in exaggerated form with Emperor Keitai (26).
The selection of the crown prince occurred in Suinins thirtieth year, the formal designation not until his thirty-seventh year, the Nihon shoki says. In his thirtyfourth year he visited Yamashiro. Always alert to reports of beautiful local maidens,
sight unseen, holding his spear, he planned to have Kanihata-tobe moved to the
womens palace.42 But he saw an unnerving omen for which no explanation could
be given. A large turtle crawled out of the river in front of him; he jabbed it with
his spear, but as he did so, it turned into a white stone.The emperor had just married Karihata-tobe, by whom he had three sons, one starting the Ishida line.
Kanihata was moved, and had one son, who began the Miho line.
Japanese folklore is replete with magical stones, kami turned to stone, women
changed to stone, growing stones, stones generating other stones, and so on, all of
which derive from the belief that stones have their own life and existence.
Identifying family ancestry, especially with royalty, was always important, especially
in regard to handing out ranks and political positions. Slowly but surely most of the
major native familiesthose with imperial ancestry or said to be descended from
the gods or bothwere identified through these stories, leaving others without
such pedigrees to be labeled immigrants.The large number of wives of early rulers
swelled the ranks of the first group beyond any normal ratio; most of the great
names of later military generations were able to claim some royal blood.
After his thirty-fifth year, Suinin, again following in the footsteps of Sujin, turned
to expanding irrigation ditches and ponds. These were in Kawachi (Osaka) and
Yamato (Nara), and the provinces were ordered to build their own. All told, more
than eight hundred were constructed, the record says. This was the habitual way of
alleging good conditions and, whether a reasonably close assessment or not, implies
an expanding population for which additional fields and water courses were required.
The accomplishments of Inishiki, the first born, were not to be left out.The story
is scrambled in more than one version, but in the rulers thirty-ninth year, during the
time he lived in his Kawakami or Chinu palace at Uto,43 he made a thousand swords
that at some point were placed in the Isonokami Shrine (Tenri city), and Inishiki was
given supervision of the treasures of the shrine. In another account, the swords were
kept where they were made in Osaka then moved to the shrine, and an unidentified
deity (few deities but the kami would have had the authority) requested that a man
by the name of Ichikawa of omi rank of Kasuga (northeast Nara city today) be
appointed as their caretaker. He was the progenitor of the Mononobe in this account.
By Suinins eighty-seventh year old age had caught up with Inishiki, who then
asked his younger sister, nakatsu-hime, to take over supervision of the Isonokami
treasures, but she refused, saying she was too feeble to ascend to the divine storehouse of Heaven.44 Although it is high, he said, he could make a ladder for it
which gave rise to the expression that if one will use a ladder, one can even reach
the divine storehouse of heaven. Apparently she climbed the ladder, as she took the
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treasures and later gave them to Mononobe-no-tochine, the ranking muraji, which
explains why the Mononobe have been responsible for the treasures up to the present time (eighth century). The similarity in these stories cannot be missed. The
themes were used when the occasion demanded.
The custodianship of Isonokami Shrine then became the charge of the
Mononobe, Japans oldest military family, as the designated caretakers.This accounts
for the many swords housed in the shrine and the claim to ownership of the sword
given by the Sun Goddess to Emperor Jimmu. If the building was originally an elevated-floor structure, it was rebuilt in a different style in the Kamakura period. Its
floor is five steps above ground level, as many others are. While reference to a high
floor is good evidence for the raised-floor type of Izumo, Ise, Sumiyoshi, and their
successor shrines, it also suggests that some ritual observances took place inside the
buildingwhich is not now the case for such structures.
As a postscript, a man named Mikaso in the village of Kuwada in Tamba
province owned a dog named Ayuki. This dog killed a raccoon-dog (mujina,
tanuki, misnamed badger) in whose stomach was found a yasakani magatama.45
This was unique enough to be sent to the emperor. He or a later ruler gave it to
the Isonokami Shrine.
Next, another story is revived or was never quite finished.The emperor said he
had heard that the magical objects brought by the Silla prince were stored in Tajima.
He wished to see them. Messengers sent by the emperor sought out Kiyo-hiko,
great-grandson of the Silla prince and caretaker of the objects. Kiyo decided to take
them himself to show the emperor: three individually different beads, a short sword,
a mirror, and a kuma-himorogi (an unidentified portable object). He hid the short
sword in his jacket, went to the palace, and was cordially received. But the sword
was not well concealed, and the emperor noticed it, asking what it was. Kiyo then
felt obligated to explain that it belonged to the set of treasures and gave it to the
emperor, who had the set placed in the Sacred Treasury.46 When the contents of the
treasury were later examined, the short sword was missing. Naturally, Kiyo was suspect.The sword had come to his house the night before, he said, but it was gone in
the morning.The emperor was awe-stricken at this and gave up searching for it, but
the sword of its own volition went to the island of Awaji, where it was regarded as
a deity.The people enshrined it, and are still worshiping it.
Magical weapons habitually reappear in these stories, and Awaji, nearby but an
island, was a place where worrisome individuals or spirits were retired. Nevertheless,
the islands location made its spirits the natural guardians of the passage to old
Naniwa with the appropriate symbols for this purpose. When Izanagi ultimately
became the islands chief resident deity, its patriarchal position in the kami hierarchy
was assured.
Kiyo-hikos ancestry was traced back three generations to the Silla prince Ameno-hihoko, who stopped his voyaging in Tajima (Hygo), then settled and married
there.Alternate lines were suggested, but from this stock came Tajima-mori, the man
selected by the emperor to look for the elixir of immortality, said to exist in Tokoyono-kuni, the Eternal Land.47 The Kojiki writers found the story worth a slightly
fuller telling. The elixir was the tachibana (sometimes called the mandarin orange)
that demonstrated its magical character by growing out of season.
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Tajima-mori reappears in the genealogy in the reign of Emperor jin where

some of these stories are retold.48 In a convoluted recital with a familiar themea
stone transformed into a attractive womana farmer observed a resting woman in a
field who, when the sun struck her genitals, became pregnant.49 The child was a red
jewel (akadama), which the farmer then requested and tied to his belt. Ame-nohihoko encountered this man driving a cow loaded with food and drink for the fieldworkers. He disbelieved the farmers explanation for his load and detained him. In
order to be freed, the farmer offered the red jewel to Ame-no-hihoko, who then kept
it where he slept. It transformed itself into a beautiful maiden. Ame-no-hiko and the
maiden were married, but despite her gracious ways,Ame-no-hihoko mistreated her,
so she fled by boat to what is called her ancestral home.50 In other words, she must
have come from Japan. He followed, looking for her, but was blocked by the deity
who guarded the strait leading into Naniwa, and so settled in Tajima, where he married and started the line that the genealogists recited.Tajima-mori was a descendant.
In this case the eight precious treasures that Ame-no-hihoko took with him are
now described as two strings of beads, a wave-shaking scarf, a wave-cutting scarf, a
wind-shaking scarf, a wind-cutting scarf, and two mirrors.51 These are clearly the
magical equipment of mariners. The scarfs are explained as controlling the conditions of the sea, raising and lowering the winds and the waves and calming the
ocean. The use of scarfs recalls the way kuninushi warded off snakes, wasps, and
centipedes. The mirrors may have been carried like amulets for a safe passage.52
These treasures became the eight deities of Izushi.53
Tajima-mori traveled extensively and eventually found the tree. He picked its
fruit and took eight branches with leaves and eight without (i.e., the tree always had
some branches in a flowering state) and returned home only to find that the
emperor had died in his absence. He gave half of the branches to the empress and
took the others and the fruit to the emperors tomb, laid them in front of it,
announced to the emperor his acquisition of the tachibana from the land of Tokoyo,
and recited a long poetic eulogy recounting his ten-year, ten-thousand-ri trek into
the region inhabited only by deities and hitherto unseen by mortals. He mourned
his inadequacies, his efforts that were too little and too late, claimed that further living was useless, and fell dead facing the tomb.The ministers were moved to tears.
The emperor died nine years after he had sent Tajima-mori. While this may be
an elaborate way of explaining how the orange became part of the Japanese diet, it
is a clearer picture of where late-seventh- and eighth-century writers located
Tokoyo-no-kuniin Korea where Tajima-mori knew to look.Tajima-mori became
the model of effort, perseverance, loyalty, and sacrificebut ultimate failure. The
magic never had to face the acid test.
Suinin succumbed at the age of 153 in the Kojiki, 140 in the Nihon shoki. In
the latter book he was buried 176 days later in the imperial tomb of Fushimi,
Sugahara, and, in the Kojiki, in the middle of the moor in Mitachi, Sugahara. This
has been identified as the large imperial tomb south of Saidaiji lying on level ground
just southwest of Amagatsuji station on the Kinki Kashihara Line. It is keyhole in
shape and measures 227 m, making it the nineteenth-largest tomb in the country,
only 13 m shorter than Sujins burial mound.54
Here again, only twenty-two of Suinins ninety-nine years have any recorded
activities. There is the usual flurry at the first, then a new burst in the thirties, and
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again from eighty-seven until his death. His reign was stretched considerably longer
than that of his predecessor, but the substance was proportionally the same.
As a kind of postscript, the death of Empress Hibasu is listed after that of Suinin
in the Kojiki, but without a date. But she had died in the emperors thirty-second
year according to the Nihon shoki and had provided the opportunity to try out the
use of clay images instead of the immolation of attendants at some unidentified
place.The Kojiki volunteers that she was buried in the tomb of Terama near Saki.55
The mound attributed to her (her name is now written with different characters for ba and su) is a moated keyhole tomb (officially called Saki-misasagiyama
kofun) north of the northwest corner of the old outlined city of Nara in a cluster
of many, lying contiguous to one on its west identified with Emperor Seimu (officially called Saki-ishizukayama kofun). Hers is listed as 207 m in length, his as
218.5 m, both called middle-size among the large number that make up this
group.56 Believed in the Edo period to be the tomb of Jing, the mound was looked
into as far back as 1915. It has a pit-style stone enclosure 9.67 m long and 1.36 m
deep. Its relatively modest assortment of grave-goods includes four mirrors (none of
which is of the triangular-rim type), three round stone bracelets, a tubular bead, and
several other small stone replicas. More important are the haniwa among which are
cylinders, a ceremonial sunshade, a shield, and one shaped like a house. By traditional
dating the tomb has been called late fourth or early fifth century.57
Emperor Keiko and Yamato-takeru, the Yamato Brave

Keik was the third progeny of Emperor Suinin, a son of Empress Hibasu, who had
come from Tamba. His name was -tarashi-hiko-oshiro-wake.58 His wife, Inabi-noiratsume, came from a notable Kibi family of Harima (Hygo) in what was clearly
an astute political marriage at this juncture. He had been designated crown prince at
the age of twenty-one.The Nihon shoki has him being installed on the eleventh day
of the seventh month of the kanoto-hitsuji (eleventh year of the cycle).59 His palace,
Hishiro, was at Makimuku, where he settled in the fourth year of his reign.60
The empress seems to have had five children, which included twin sons, -usu
and O-usu (Large Mortar and Small Mortar).The Kojiki goes on to name six more
wives, a child of the second one later becoming Emperor Seimu. Keiks sixth
wife, Inabi-no-waka-iratsume, was the younger sister of Inabi, and his last wife, in
what is obviously a preposterous bracketing of time, is said to have been the daughter of the great-grandson of Yamato-takeru.61 Incidentally, the iri identification was
kept in the family. The second wife was Yasaka-no-iri-hime-no-mikoto, whose
mother was an iri, and three of her four children had iri in their names.The Kojiki
says that twenty-one of his children are in the genealogy lists, while fifty-nine are
not. The three named in the Nihon shoki as offspring of his first wife were designated crown princes, an unusual tribute to her that meant both trouble and the
likelihood that, by the law of averages, at least one would survive. The other seventy-seven were given one of four titled positions of an administrative or hereditary nature in provincial areas.
The nutshell description of Keik in the Nihon shoki is singularly flattering,
impressed as the editors were byif nothing elsehis keen eye for attractive
women and dramatic multiplication of the royal family. As a youth he was preco-
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ciously virile, and his unusual height and strength were matched by his handsome
appearance. In fact, in the stories he divided his time fairly evenly between pursuing women and his enemies.
In his third year he was deterred from going to Kii (Wakayama) to worship the
deities of heaven and earth by a negative reply to a divination question. The man
who went to perform the sacrifices fell under the spell of a woman and never
returned. Keiks visit in Mino (Gifu) the following year coincides closely with a
report from his attendants of a beautiful woman there. As it turned out, she disliked
the conjugal relationship and recommended her sister to the emperor. This other
woman became his second wife, and is the Yasaka-no-iri-hime mentioned above.
Her fertility rate was phenomenal: she gave birth to seven sons and six daughters.
Her fifth child was su-wake, who is probably one of the two celebrated twin
brothers, but there is no mention of a twin, as in the Kojiki. It appears that the Nihon
shoki made a transparent effort to clean up the story by consciously ignoring the
twin.The younger of the two, by then called Yamato-takeru in the Nihon shoki, has
simply been waiting in the wings to be called to duty.
Mino was blessed with other charming women, and word reached Keik of the
beauty of the two daughters of the local chieftain. He sent the elder of the twins to
evaluate their comeliness, which he did and found them to be too desirable to pass on
to his father. He took the measure of both and did not report their desirability to his
father. Without an answer and feeling deprived, the emperor was exceedingly angry
with -usu. By the fall of the next year the Kumaso had refused to pay taxes and by
the next month Keik was on the way to the southwest, planning a subjugation expedition against the traditionally incorrigible people of southeastern Kyushu.62
Keik delegated more divination, but still relied heavily on direct signs and advice
from diviners before making his next move. Malignant spirits were always encountered in his travels. The first stop was in Saba in Su (Saba county, about middle
Yamaguchi, not near any large urban area), where the emperor looked south, spotted
smoke, and suspected a bandits lair.This was scouted by three of his warriors.A female
shaman leader Kamu-nashi-hime whose followers were exceedingly numerous . . . chieftain of that whole country63regarded by some as a good candidate for
Himikoheard of the emperors coming and decked out her ship with tree branches:
a large sword hung on the topmost branch, a mirror on the middle branch, and jewels on the lowest branch. And, flying a white flag at the bow, she met the emissaries,
swearing her allegiance to the emperor. Using the signal of recognition the Yamato
were beginning to adoptthe three regaliawas probably as much a mutual identification device of hospitality as an indication of her political status.
With this assurance of total loyalty, the occasion was ready-made for Kamu-nashi
to get help against her troublesome rebels. Simply claiming they refused to obey
imperial orders was sufficient. She named four leaders, all in the Kawakami valleys
and hills of Buzen (ita, across the Inland Sea in northeast Kyushu), who sallied out
of their hideouts to prey on the people. Keiks men then chose the one least disposed toward plunder and courted him at a gift-giving party. He reported the
bonanza to the others, invited them to join, and all were set upon and slaughtered.
Keik then went on to north Kyushu and set up his headquarters in Buzen. He
was met at the village of Hayami in the district of Naori by a female shaman who
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named five tough TsuchigumoEarth Spiders (or variously, Land Spiders, Ground
Spiders)three of whom were cave-dwellers, and many followers, all blocking further progress. It was enough to say that these subhumans would not comply with
imperial commands. Before attacking, the emperor went to the plain of Kashiwao
where stood a large menhir, some six shaku high, three shaku wide, and about one
and a half shaku thick. A sign was needed to forecast success in the assault. If he
kicked this stone it should fly like an oak leaf. He did and it soared skyward, which
is why the stone is called Homishi (Kicking Stone).64 The deities he approached
were the kami of Shiga, the kami of the Mononobe of Naori, and the kami of the
Nakatomi of Naori.
The Earth Spiders may have been unassimilable non-Wa, known by Japanese
namesas all Asian foreigners were.The name certainly implies pit-dwellers, and
Keiks supplicant described one group as such, but the name does not even distinguish the Yayoi from the Jmon people at this time. Early writers equated the Earth
Spiders with the Kumaso in south Kyushu. However, Jing killed at least one in
north Kyushu, and Jimmu is said to have fought them on home ground in Yamato.
All the Earth Spiders named in the Nihon shoki were male. Female leaders seem to
have been less able to cope with them.The term may well be generic for a certain
type of rebel, but there is no agreement on what distinguished the Earth Spiders
from the ordinary Wa other than their anti-Yamato behavior.65 They fall into the
last group of uncertain origins, as tallied in the ninth-century Shinsen shjiroku.66
The Mononobe and Nakatomi families have already been noted, but worship
of the ujigami, the tribal or family deities, is significant here. Keiks leaders were
local tribal heads, and expeditions led them to villages where family loyalties meant
local support from men who knew the territory. But one must wonder if this is not
retrospective, the proliferation of the Mononobe and Nakatomi written in later for
this early date to enhance their claim to antiquity.
Once a sign had assured Keik of victory, clubs of camellia wood (b-no-ki)
were made and distributed to his best warriors. The Earth Spiders of the cave
were attacked and killed at Inaba in the Kawakami valley. Their blood flowed
ankle deep. Crossing Mt. Negi, Keiks men found themselves the target of raining arrows, so they retreated out of range. The emperor divined, reorganized his
forces on the plain, and charged. Success now left only one opponent, whose
effort to surrender was rejected. He and his troops then jumped off a cliff, terminating the engagement.
A fighting force that made its weapons of local wood and wiped out the opposition with clubs is unique in the annals. Brute force was seen as most effective
against this type of opposition, but left unsaid was the shortage of metal in the
region. The lack of metal accords well with the archaeology. Metals are scarce in
southeast Kyushu sites until about the Middle Kofun period, as any distribution map
indicates.67 Even then the distribution is largely limited to one area: the weapons
recovered from the 329 clustered tombs of Saitobaru in Saitobaru city, Miyazaki prefecture, normally dated to the fifth and sixth centuries.68 This group later had a
monopoly on metal acquisition and production in south Kyushu.
As for camellia wood (yabu-tsubaki; Camellia japonica), which grows throughout
east Asia and is common in south Kyushu and has been appreciated historically for
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its flowers, the trunk will make a club handle about 5 cm in diameter, quite large
enough to dispose of an uncooperative cave- or mountain-dweller.
By the eleventh month of the year Keik was down in Hyga (Miyazaki), where
a palace was built for him at Takaya. Serious plans were drawn up for attacking the
Kumaso. Keiks intelligence service had informed him that the enemy was led by a
pair of very strong men named Atsukaya and Sakaya. They maintained a large and
well dug in army, against which a direct attack would be too costly.
One of Keiks ministers knew of two lovely daughters of one of the Kumaso;
their beauty is perfect, and their hearts are brave, he said, and suggested reaching
them through showy presents.69 The women were approached, were overwhelmed
and credulous.The emperor made love to Ichifukaya, the elder of the two, who then
planned the undoing of her father, requesting the aid of two of Keiks soldiers. She
plied her father with sake and cut the string of his bow when he slept. One of the
soldiers killed him. While the emperor got the result he wanted, he could not stand
such unfilial conduct and had Ichifukaya put away, but he gave her sister, Ichikaya,
to the chief of Ki (Wakayama).
All of the Kumaso country was then subduedthe writers using a constantly
recurring, delusional phrase.The air was refreshing, and Keik stayed there six years.
He met a beautiful woman named Mihakashi-hime, who became his wife. Her one
named son, Prince Toyo-kuni-wake, was the ancestral chief of Hyga. But the recollection of Yamato evoked some poetic lamentations, and Keik set out to return
home, making inspection stops on the way.
At Hinamori he noticed at some distance a large gathering along a river and
asked whether these were friendly or hostile people.70 He sent a father and son to
find out.The son reported that the local chieftain had organized a great dinner for
the emperor and had invited a large crowd to participate. Keik then backtracked
into the Kuma district (in Kumamoto prefecture), where he commanded two
brothers, the local chieftains, to see him. The elder one complied, but the younger
one refused, so men were sent to dispatch him.
Moving on by boatapparently through Ariake BayKeik stopped at a
small island to eat, but the spring on the island had just dried up. He asked his
attendant Ohidari for water. In desperation Ohidari prayed to the deities of heaven
and earth. Suddenly water gushed out of the hillside.The island is therefore called
Mizu-shima (Water Island).
After little more than two weeks, Keik continued to Hi-no-kuni, the Land of
Fire, presumably nearing the volcanic belt of Mt. Aso. Unable to put in before
nightfall, the boat lost its way, but seeing a fire in the distance, went in that direction and reached shore safely.They met someone who said they were in the village
of Toyo in the district of Yatsushiro (about 50 km southwest of the edge of the Aso
crater). No one could be found who had made the fire, so it was regarded as a providential instrument. That is why the place is called Hi-no-kuni. One supposes it
was volcanic in nature.
The following month Keik moved to another village, which gave him the
opportunity to kill another Earth Spider, and within two weeks reached Aso-nokuni, the Land of Aso.The area had been leveled by volcanic action and subsidence
and seemed devoid of human life. The emperor wondered out loud if there were
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any inhabitants. Two deities assuming human form, Asotsu-hiko and Asotsu-hime,
introduced themselves, saying, in effect, if we are here, how could it be said that this
area is uninhabited? That is why the place is called Aso.71
On next to Tsukushi, with a palace called Karimiya built at Takata. A tree 970
j in length had fallen near the location of the palace, so that the one hundred palace
dignitaries and staff had to walk it to enter and exit.This tree, described as about a
thousand feet in length, served as a bridge, and became such a fixture in popular lore
it evoked a poem, two lines of which repeat the phrase the honorable tree polebridge.72 The emperor asked what tree it is. An old man told him it was an oak
(kunugi; Quercus serrata), and in the morning light its shadow once fell on Kishima
hill and in the evening light on Mt.Aso.This is a divine (kami) tree, said the emperor,
so let this place be known as the Mike-no-kuni (Land of the Divine Tree).
It was only a three-day trip from there to Yame (Fukuoka). When crossing the
mountain, Keik looked over the magnificent vista and opined the presence of a
deity. An accompanying local dignitary explained that a female deity named
Yametsu-hime inhabited the mountains, which explains the use of the Yame name
(literally, eight women, normally inferring many).
By the next month he was in Ikuha (Ukiha, about 20 km due east of Yame).
After Keik had eaten and the group had moved on, a drinking cup was found to
have been left behind. Ukuha was the old local name for a drinking cup, and Ikuha
is a corruption of thisso, one more step on the long trail of unusual names and
their explanations.
By the fall of his nineteenth year, Keik was back in Yamato. Once he started
home, the journey took a year and a half, making a total absence of about seven years.
The only recorded event for the next year was the dispatch of Princess Ihono, the sole
listed child of Keiks third wife, to Ise to conduct worship of the Sun Goddess.73 She
therefore carried on what was now a tradition of a virginal princess serving as intermediary between the Yamato court and Amaterasu--mikami. Doubtless, as special
messenger, her obligation at this point was to report on Keiks trip and his success in
pacifying more areas of the country as ordered by the Takamahara pantheon.
With more lands to conquer, in his twenty-fifth year Keik sent Takechi-nosukune on a scouting trip to the Hokuriku and the eastern regions. Some eighteen
months later, in the spring,Takechi was back with a report on Hitakami-no-kuni.74
That area is expansive and fertile. It is inhabited by bellicose people called Emishi.
Both men and women put up their hair in the shape of a mallet (tsuchi) and tattoo
themselves. Given the quality of the region we should attack them and take it.
At this point Yamato-takeru, mentioned previously only as one of many sons
born to Keiks wives, was sent to attack the Kumaso, who had been reported to
have rebelled in the fall and encroached on previously secure and peaceful areas.75
It was time for Keik to settle down and tend to the business at home.
To understand the prowess, cunning, and reputed invincibility of Yamatotakeru, one must turn to the Kojiki for his early years. Only there is it made clear
why the court was a more comfortable place when he was fighting far from home.
The Kojiki story of Yamato-takerus ascent to glory is not pleasant reading.76
Following it, one can track his rise and fall by putting the two books together.
Keik asked the elder of the twins to bring him two lovely sisters, Princess E and
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Princess Oto, whose reputations had circulated widely. But -usu, on greeting
them, found them far too alluring to pass on, married (and eventually had children with) them, and introduced two others to his father under false names. Not
fooled, the emperor kept them under a watchful eye, but never married them,
much to their disappointment.
Some time later Keik asked O-usu the whereabouts of his older brother, who
had been missing for five days. O-usu intimated that he had dispatched him and
when questioned how he had done it, he said he had caught his brother while he
was relieving himself in the toilet one morning, grabbed him and crushed him, ripping off his limbs and dumping them after wrapping the remains in a mat.
Awed and perturbed by this display of unbridled jealousy and strength, which
seemed more like a calculated act than spontaneous rage, Keik ordered O-usu to take
on the two leaders of the Kumaso, brothers credited with enormous fearlessness. He
was then sixteen years old. He asked for the best archers available, and the finest in
Mino (Gifu) brought two others, and a fourth came from Owari (Aichi). Princess
Yamato now appears on the scene, introduced as the aunt of O-usu. She gave him her
jacket and skirt and, with his sword carefully tucked away, he left for the Kumaso front.
On arrival O-usu discovered that plans were under way for a grand celebration.
He dressed as a woman in Princess Yamatos clothes, let his hair down, and mingled
with the girls.Attractive as he was, the brothers invited him to sit between them and
proceeded to feast and drink. When the festivities reached their height and the
brothers were nearly intoxicated, with one rapid movement O-usu pulled the sword
from under his skirt and ran it through the chest of the elder of the two.The other
tried to escape but was quickly caught, and O-usu thrust his sword through his buttocks. Impaled and immobilized, the younger conceded that O-usu had outdone
their best warriors. He asked for identification and O-usu described himself as
Yamato-oguna (child of Yamato), the son of -tarashi-hiko-oshiro-wake, the ruler
of the Hishiro palace at Makimuku, the Land of the Eight Great Islands. Before he
died, the younger brother praised O-usu and said he was better than they, and gave
him a name: Yamato-takeru-no-mikoto, the Brave of Yamato. So titled, Yamatotakeru ripped him up like a ripe melon.77
All other deities of the strait of Shimonoseki and mountains and rivers were
pacified (i.e., Yamatoized). Yamato-takeru returned to Yamato by boat, stopping
in the Ana port of Kibi (Okayama) and the Kashiwa port of Naniwa long enough
to wipe out the evil deities residing there, which had been a great threat to all
travelers because of the poisonous fumes they emitted. Reports of success were
made to the emperor, who was proud of his son for clearing the barriers and easing travel, and loved him.
Yamato-takerus next assignment in the Kojiki took him to Izumo to bring
their chieftain, Izumo-takeru, to heel. (Unlike the account of the Kumaso, no
provocation is mentioned for this fight.) Using more trickery, Yamato-takeru proceeded to befriend the Izumo warrior and made a wooden sword, inviting him to
bathe together in the Hi river. After emerging from the water, he put on the chieftains sword while the chieftain took his. When challenged, the Izumo chieftain
found his wooden sword to be both sword and sheath carved together and therefore bladeless. It was no match for the weapon Yamato-takeru had picked up, and
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after chopping the chieftain down, Yamato-takeru brought order to Izumo and
returned to the court to make his report.
This story of exchanging swords had already been used for Izumo. There was
Yamato method in periodically restating the Izumo subjugation account even if
the content had to be repeated and, toward the goal of enhancing the Yamato-takeru
saga, making it more pretentious by pitting him against enemies in every direction.
Yamato-takeru was involved with the Kumaso for about a year. Some twelve years
later, in the middle of Keiks fortieth year, reports came in of serious fighting near
the eastern borders. Keik obviously had had one more pacification program in mind:
the twelve roads of the east.78 Specially noted was the problem with the Emishi,
who were abducting innocent people. When the emperor asked his ministers who
should be sent to deal with the rebels, Yamato-takeru begged off as having done his
duty against the Kumaso. It was the turn of -usu (who is still alive in this version).
But -usu, a man of obviously different temperament, disappeared into a field. He was
brought back, reproved gently by the emperor, and given the region of Mino (Gifu)
as a fief.This left it up to Yamato-takeru to volunteer, an occasion one might assume
he had been waiting for after the proper show of deference for his brother.
In the Kojiki he has no brother, and the emperor orders him to go east and tranquilize the unruly kami and eliminate the intransigent people. Not only was there
no choice, Yamato-takeru complained to Princess Yamato when he saw her at the
Ise Shrine that his father had sent him off to fight the Kumaso and then the Emishi
with little time to rest, and with no offer of supporting troops. His weapons? A symbolic wooden spear. He was suspicious of his fathers intentions. Sensing impending
doom, Princess Yamato gave him the shrines most valuable object, second only to
the mirror in magical power: the sacred sword.79
When Yamato-takeru received his mission to fight in the east, the emperor
offered a long description of the eastern savages and in particular the Emishi as the
Wa people saw them.80 In effect, these are wholly uncivilized people, and the campaign against them is for their own good.They are violent and oppressive.Their social
organization is leaderless, and their neighbors property is free for the taking. The
mountains are populated by evil spirits ( jashin) and the plains by wicked demons
(kanki) that play havoc with people on the roads.The Emishi are the strongest of the
lot. Men and women live together without pairing off; fathers and sons have equal
rights to women. In winter they live in pits in the ground and in summer they live
in trees. Clothes are made of furs, and the blood (of animals) is drunk. Brothers mistrust each other. Their agility is phenomenal. They climb mountains like birds and
move through vegetation like fast animals. They never show gratitude and avenge
insults, for which reason arrows are kept in their hairdos and swords are concealed in
their clothes.They attack in bands along the borders, and steal from cultivated fields.
They can hide in the thickets and escape to the mountains. In other words, they have
never been touched by civilization and live in a totally barbaric state.
What follows this description of wholly degraded subhumans is the emperors
grand adulatory oration, much of which was borrowed from a Chinese orator as it
includes, for instance, strength . . . to raise tripods, which were the huge bronze
vessels of each Zhou state. In classic Nihon shoki writing, the contrast between the
bad and the good is so striking that the need to civilize these people is the higher
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cause.81 Yamato-takeru needed his confidence bolstered and a sense of imperial

support.And in the customary fashion, the venture was approached as though if not
successful the empire would collapse. The Kojiki writers, whose musings were in
songs, wasted no ink on such exhortations or introspection.
Yamato-takeru then was awarded the rank of shgun as he had been before the
Kumaso expedition, bowed twice, and replied with these comments: Only a few
years have elapsed since the campaign against the Kumaso, which was won with full
imperial support and with the three-shaku sword, meting out justice to the rebel
chieftains. Under the aegis of the deities of heaven and earth and sustained by imperial fervor I am heading for the frontier. Persuasion will be tried at first, but if this
fails, arms will be used.82 The emperor then appointed the Kibi and tomo tribal
chieftains to accompany him, and designated his valet. In the Kojiki Kibi went with
him and the emperor gave him a wooden eight-hiro spear of holly in place of Astons
battle-axe. Since one hiro equals six shaku, the spear of hiiragi (Osmanthus aquifolius)
was about forty-eight feet long!
To date Yamato-takeru had had unparalleled success slaying uncooperative
deities and subduing unsubmissive people, with only modest use of supernatural
aid and magical weapons. On the whole, his own physical agility, guile, and selfconfidence had been adequate. He left Makimuku some four months later for the
eastern region. Five days out he changed course to visit Princess Yamato and the
shrine at Ise.83 When he departed, she gave him the old sword (yet to be named
Kusanagi), which had been kept in the palace for some time after having been presented to the Sun Goddess by her brother Susano- and may have been sent to Ise
along with the mirror.84 Fortunately, he now had an iron sword. She cautioned him
to be careful and not be negligent. In the Kojiki Princess Yamato also gave him a
bag, telling him to use the contents of the bag only in an emergency.
The story would not be complete without Yamato-takerus finding companionship. As though he knew where she lived, he went to the home of Princess Miyazu
in Owari (Aichi). Pressing on with his mission, he decided only to divulge his wishes
to her and to delay encamping until his return. From there he continued toward the
east, wiping out obnoxious deities of the mountains and rivers and defiant people.
In Suruga (Shizuoka) he encountered many outlaws (zoku) who feigned respect
and recommended that he hunt the numerous large deer on the plain.
Unsuspecting, he decided to do so, but they tricked him and set fire to the vegetation to entrap him. In one version he fought fire with fire, making it with a drill,
and in another version the sword of its own accord hacked out an escape. This
explains its name; first known as Murakumo (Assembled Clouds), it is now called
Kusanagi (Grass Cutter). Free from the fire, Yamato-takeru killed the band of renegades; hence the place was named Yakizu (Yaizu city, Shizuoka) (Burning Port).
The Kojiki version, a regional variant, is as follows.The local chieftain (kuni-nomiyatsuko) fooled Yamato-takeru by telling him that a belligerent deity of tremendous strength lived in a large pond on the plain. He was led to a centrally located
lagoon, taunts of the threat to his superior strength ringing in his ears.The chieftain
set fire to the plain, encircling the brave with flames. Caught and desperate, Yamatotakeru opened the bag to find a fire-striker (hi-uchi). Using the mighty Grass Cutter
he opened a swath, fought fire with fire, and escaped. He killed the chieftain and all
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of his relatives, and completed the task by cremating them on the spot.This is why
the place is called Yakizu.
Continuing by boat to Sagami (Kanagawa) with the intention of going to
Kazusa,85 about to cross Tokyo Bay and in sight of land, Yamato-takeru observed
that the bay resembled a cove and could be leapt across. But such a disparaging
remark offended the deities, who then brewed up a fierce storm midway, buffeting
the boat to a standstill. Fortunately for those aboard, in Yamato-takerus retinue was
his devoted second wife, Princess Oto-tachibana, who came from the Hozumi clan.
She ventured that the storm had been caused by the whim of the sea deity and volunteered to sacrifice herself to save the Yamato brave. She jumped in. The storm
subsided and the boat and its passengers survived. That body of water is called
Hashiri-mizu (Running Water).
The Kojiki story honors Oto-tachibana with the hime-no-mikoto title used for
consorts, perhaps a kind of posthumous promotion. She was in for a soft landing.
With waves breaking all around the boat, the crew put out eight layers each of sedge
mats (suga-tatami), skins (kaha-tatami), and silks (kinu-tatami) on the water onto
which she was lowered.86 It gave her time to recite a poem, in effect likening her
situation to his on the fiery plain, when he had mentioned her name. A week later
her comb was reported to have drifted ashore. A tomb was built and the comb
placed in it as a symbol of her loyalty.87
Despite much fretting later over the loss of Oto-tachibana, Yamato-takeru was
caught between two loves, leading to one tradition that he found a way to dispose
of her so she could be replaced by Princess Miyazu. However much he dallied with
the latter, the feeling remained that if it had not been for her the sword fiasco would
not have happened, and she was therefore directly involved with his demise. She
never made the official list of wives, probably because she had no recorded offspring.
Yamato-takeru went beyond Kazusa into the Michinoku region (the province
of Mutsu, now Aomori, in the north of Honshu), all by boat. His boat was identifiable by the display of a large mirror. He had crossed bays along the coast of modern Chiba and Ibaragi to reach Emishi territory in the north controlled by two
chieftains, Shimatsu-kami and Kunitsu-kami. They were prepared to defend their
port from an invasion, but were overawed by the reflection of the mirror, assuming
it embodied supernatural forces. Recognizing the imperial symbol, they dropped
their bows and arrows and bowed. His appearance struck them as suprahuman, and
when asked if he was a deity and what his name was, he said he was the son of a
deity of visible men,88 an answer meaning he was only one step removed; his
ancestry was divine.The Emishi were adequately impressed, came out in the water,
and pulled the princes boat ashore.The hands of the leaders were tied behind their
backs; they agreed to be punished and were forgiven for being offensive, that is,
not Yamato people.They became the servants of the Yamato Brave.
The Kojiki handles this Emishi episode in two lines. It was in the available notes
but scarcely credible, and the writers thought better of elaborating on it.This part is
certainly ludicrous and could have been included only to magnify the legend. The
Emishi were none other than the Ezo or Ainu, who held out against the Japanese in
north Japan for centuries. To take a small flotilla deep into Emishi territory, like an
end run, would have been utter foolishness. To be led by a mirrored boat was one
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more case of an old story retold for geographic expansion on another front. If mirrors had never been seen, they could be very frightening.The names of the leaders,
meaning deity of the island and deity of the country, are non-Japanese in the
sense that the term kami was not normally used for living individuals. Kami is thought
by some to derive from the Ainu kamui, upper or higher, so these terms may have
been used generically for a social rank.
Yamato-takeru was unique at the time in not employing any kind of divination
or looking for signs before proceeding. He is characterized as charging forward
thoughtlessly, propelled by his audacity, and being saved by self-sacrificing women
under the spell of his physical charms. His naivet and frequent underestimation of
the strength of the opposition came from his brash self-confidence and set the stage
for the miraculous escapes that popularized the stories. Since he is said to have
brought Emishi prisoners back, to meet the stereotypical view of their barbaric ways
it had to be a dramatic capture, hence the reckless invasion of Emishi territory.
After reducing the Emishi to bondage Yamato-takeru returned through
Hitachi (Ibaragi), then went inland to Kai (Yamanashi) and stayed in Sakaori
(Ibaragi). The route had taken him from Tsukuba through Niihari. Fire was made
at the lodging for preparing food, thereby inspiring a question in verse as to how
many nights he had slept since leaving Tsukuba. Only the fire maker had an answer,
for which Yamato-takeru rewarded him generously. It seems that the calculation
was made on the number of evening fires he had built, which came to nine nights
and therefore ten days. It does, however, raise a question about the Was counting
methods at the time these events were claimed to have taken place, as noted by a
later Chinese writer.
While living at Sakaori Yamato-takeru designated Takehi, the patriarch of the
tomo of muraji rank, as head of the yuki-be, the occupation group making quivers.Although the northern Emishi had been brought to heel, there were many others in Shinano (Nagano) and Koshi (Ishikawa,Toyama, and Niigata on the Japan Sea
side) who could benefit from civilizing. With that in mind, he went north from Kai,
traversing Musashi (Saitama) and Kzuke (Gumma) and along the route that
became the Nakasend to Usuhi (Usui-tge, the pass on the border between
Gumma and Nagano, near modern Karuizawa, and about 15 km from Mt. Asama).
Surveying the magnificent scenery from the heights toward the southeast reminded
him of Princess Oto-tachibana, who had given her life for him, and he lamented
her loss saying, Alas, my wife.89
Yamato-takeru sent Kibi-no-takehiko across to Koshi to scout out routes of
access and the attitude of the people toward the ruling Wa. He himself went into
Shinano, where the richly vegetated mountains are many and steep and difficult
even for horses to negotiate. But he was not slowed down, and reached Mt. yama.
There he found food to satisfy his hunger.
The deity of the mountain, as a white deer, interfered with his progress. Not
deceived by any disguise, Yamato-takeru took a stick of garlic and killed the deer
by punching it in the eye.90 Instantly he found himself disoriented and lost his way,
but there appeared a seemingly friendly white dog, which he followed; it led him
down from the mountains into Mino (Gifu). There he met Kibi, who had come
from Koshi. Odor from the breath of that deity had previously overcome travelers
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making their way through the Shinano pass, but now if people chewed garlic or
smeared it on themselves or on cattle and horses they were immune to the dangers
of the deitys breath. Garlic neutralized other foul smells.
With the victories over human enemies behind him, Yamato-takeru headed
to Owari, where he married Princess Miyazu and remained about a month. But
word reached him of a ferocious deity on Mt. Ibuki in mi (on the border
between Gifu and Shiga prefectures, about 13 km east of Lake Biwa, 1,377 m
high). For a reason not explained but understood later, he left his sword in the
house of the princess and set out. This mountain deity was a large snake (orochi)
that blocked the road.Thinking this was only the messenger of the deity, he hurdled it and continued. Immediately the deity created clouds that produced a hailstorm, and fog cut his visibility to an arms length. His mind became confused and
he could find no path, but he slogged on through the bitter conditions knowing
only to go downhill, staggering like a drunken man. Splashing water from a cold
spring at the foot of the mountain cleared his head.That is why the place is called
I-same-kai (Wake Up Well). However, he realized he was debilitated and his
strength was leaving him. He went back to Owari, bypassing the home of Princess
Miyazu, and continued beyond Otsu (Tail Port), a place not far away. At an earlier
time he had left a sword under a tree there. It was still there, and this evoked an
ode to the pine tree as its protector.
His physical condition further deteriorated while on the Nobo Plain, so he
offered some of the Emishi captives to the shrine at Ise and sent Kibi to the
Yamato court to report his success and current state to the emperor. He phrased
his accomplishments immodestly, and claimed that his only regret was in not
being able to convey the message to the emperor directly. Yamato-takeru died on
the Nobo Plain at the age of thirty.
The Kojiki has more insights on his return to visit Princess Miyazu. She offered
him food and a large portion of sake, at which time he noticed menstrual blood on
her garment. For this he had a poem.As much as he desired to have intercourse with
her, he noticed the moon had risen.91 She replied in song: in effect, she had been
waiting so long, a month would inevitably have passed.The liaison followed.
Still in the Kojiki, Yamato-takeru left Kusanagi at the home of Miyazu and set
out to subdue the kami of Mt. Ibuki with his bare hands. It turned out to be a white
boar the size of a cow.Thinking that this was only the deitys messenger, he decided
to kill it on the way back, so started up the mountain. A later editor commented
that this was the deity himself and Yamato-takeru was afflicted because he treated
the deity brazenly and impudently.92 The deity then created a fierce hailstorm, paralyzing Yamato-takerus rational capacities. He regained some of his senses when
resting by a spring at the foot of the mountain, but when crossing the plain of Tagi
(Yr county, southwest Gifu, on the Shiga border), he found himself very tired.
Slowly, his legs got weaker, and he was reduced to hobbling with a stick. He had left
a sword by a tree at Cape tsu, which he then retrieved, singing the same song as
the one recorded in the Nihon shoki, apparently a well-known folk song.93
Knowing that the end had come, Yamato-takeru uttered four poems, two of
which Nihon shoki writers assigned to Emperor Keik. Nostalgic homesickness for
Yamato and home is the theme of two, and in his parting breath he lamented the
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loss of the sword he left by her side, in this case meaning Kusanagi and Princess
Miyazu. The sword would have saved his life, but he would not avail himself of its
magical powers because he believed that his life span was predetermined and convinced that his father had no desire to see him return. He was living out the prediction of doom. He died on the Nobo Plain. Messengers were immediately
dispatched to the Yamato court.
The Nihon shoki reports the courts response as follows:After receiving the news
Emperor Keik spent sleepless nights and foodless days. His voice was choked with
grief: with tears and lamentations he beat his breast.94 The loss was overwhelming;
his son was the only one who would fight for their cause, and he had given his life;
and on and on. The ministers were ordered to see that the prince was respectfully
buried in an imperial tomb (misasagi) on the Nobo Plain. In other words, he
received the pomp accorded an emperor, and indeed, in many instances he had been
referred to in imperial terms.
The account in the Kojiki is quite different: There is no imperial response, no
national response, but Yamato-takerus wives and children who lived in the Yamato
area jumped into the breach and went to Ise to build his tomb. They sang as they
worked. When the tomb was finished, an eight-hiro white bird (shirochidori) flew
toward heaven in the direction of the beach. Recognizing it as the transformed
Yamato-takeru,95 the relatives chased it over menacing cut bamboo stalks, through
waist-deep water, and across rocky beaches, their feet bloody, all the time crying and
singing. This explains why these four songs are performed at funerals of emperors
today (i.e., eighth century).
The bird alighted, and another tomb was built. But the bird flew off again, and
this tomb was erected at Shiki in Kawachi (Yao city, Osaka).This is why it is called
the White Bird Tomb.The bird left. During the entire time Yamato-takeru was on
his campaigns Kume-no-atai-kashiwade was his valet and food provider.96
The Kojiki, in meeting its goals, follows this tomb-building recital with a list
of the offspring of Yamato-takeru. In this book his peripatetic ways and long
absences from Yamato imply he could not have lived with any one wife for any
length of time. Six wives produced one child each, five of which are identified as
sons. One is uncertain.The first wife was the daughter of Emperor Suinin. Her son
became Emperor Chai, whose wife was Jing.The second wife was a Tachibana,
the third came from Yasu, the fourth from Kibi, and the fifth from Yamashiro. His
great love, Princess Miyazu, who evoked his poetry, is not mentioned. And no succession pattern materializes. Keik was succeeded by Yamato-takerus half brother,
posthumously called Seimu.
The Kojiki stories make too weak a frame to hang the Yamato-takeru legends on.
The Nihon shoki tells them this way. After the construction of the first tomb and the
flight of the white bird (shiratori), the coffin was opened; lying inside was only clothing. So the bird was traced and found to have alighted on the Kotobiki Plain in
Yamato (now Gose city, Nara prefecture), where another tomb was built. But the bird
flew on again, this time landing in Furuichi in Kawachi (now Habikino city, Osaka
prefecture), where, again, an imperial tomb was erected.That is why people speak of
three Shiratori misasagi (white bird imperial tombs). The bird flew away. All that
remained was Yamato-takerus clothing and cap. To honor him Keik established a
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2
1
3
Fig. 10.2 Wooden models of flying birds as grave markers with holes for supporting poles.
(1) Ikegami, Osaka. Middle Yayoi. L. 33.7 cm. (2) Uryud, Osaka. Late Yayoi. 13.5 cm. (3)
Nishikawatsu, Shimane. Early Yayoi. 30 cm
Takeru-be. That administrative business transpired in the forty-third year of his reign.
Wooden models of birds on poles over Yayoi graves represented the flight of the spirit.
The Nihon shoki has more to say.The narrative is picked up in Keiks fifty-first
year as though the eastern campaign had taken a decade or more. Celebrating the
new year, Keik threw a big party that lasted several days, inviting all the officials
from the upper social stratum. However, the man who was later designated crown
prince (Emperor Seimu) and Takechi-no-sukune, Keiks troubleshooter and a
right-hand man to Emperor Chai and Jing, did not appear. The emperor
demanded they present themselves.They did, and answered that since everyone was
merrymaking, no one was left to guard against an attack by some foolhardy individuals. They had taken on the responsibility. At this explanation the emperor was
so impressed he honored them both.The crown prince was designated and Takechi
was named chief minister in the eighth month of that year.97 The writers then comment that the sword Yamato-takeru had used is now in the Atsuta Shrine in Owari
(Nagoya). (This part of the narrative clearly shows the unremitting and immediate
fear of lurking treachery at the court.)
Attention turns to Ise, where the Emishi that Yamato-takeru had presented as
servants for the shrine were causing endless trouble. They fought constantly and
were rude to everyone in the vicinity. Lodged as they were within the precincts of
the shrine, Princess Yamato saw their behavior as an offense to the deities and asked
that they be moved.They were transferred to Yamato and settled near Mt. Mimoro
(Miwa), but there they behaved no better: they soon cut down the trees of the
sacred mountain, their shouting and yelling were unbearable to the residents of the
local villages, and they physically menaced their neighbors. When the emperor
heard of this, he ordered that they be removed from the heartland and relocated at
distant points of their choosing. Some went to Harima (Hygo) and Aki
(Hiroshima), while others went to Sanuki (Kagawa), Iyo (Ehime), and Awa
(Tokushima) on the island of Shikoku.They are known in these places as the patriarchs of the Saheki-be (probably meaning Saeki uji, since Aki, for instance, has a
Saeki county from a clan name). Later references to pockets of Emishi are better
understood with this background story.
At this point the Nihon shoki presents a very different view of Yamato-takerus
descendants. Princess Futachi-iri, who was both his aunt and consort, had four sons,
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the second of which became Emperor Chai.The wife from Kibi had two sons, and
the Hozumi wife who sacrificed herself in the ocean had one.
In the fifth month of Keiks fifty-second year, Empress Harima-no-iratsume
died, and two months later he appointed Yasaka-iri-hime to fill her place. In the
next year he professed a desire to follow the footsteps of the son he thinks of ceaselessly and rode his palanquin to Ise.Two months later he was in Kazusa (Chiba) and
sailing to Awa (the southern part of the Bs peninsula). When he heard an osprey
he requested to see it, so was taken out on a boat.98 Subsequently, they collected
clams (hamaguri). These were prepared by his Kashiwade attendant, Iwaka-mutsukari
(the ancestor of the Kashiwade omi), as a vinegar and fish salad (namasu) and presented on a bulrush (gama) tray supported by shoulder straps (tasuki). This pleased
the emperor so much he designated Iwaka-mutsukari the Kashiwade tomo-be.
Returning to Ise after two months, Keik stayed in the Kanihata (Kambata)
palace and some nine months later went back to his Makimuku palace in Yamato.
Early in his fifty-fifth year he appointed Prince Hikosajima administrative chief of
the fifteen provinces of the Tsand district, the east-mountain-road. He was the
grandson of Sujins elder son, who had had the wrong dream when the emperor
was determining his successor. Hikosajima walked straight to his doom.The Nihon
shoki says he arrived at the village of Anashi in Kasuga, fell ill, and died.99 The people mourned his failure to appear, hid his body, and interred him in Kzuke
(Gumma). The Nihon shoki writers were not so naive as to not know that he had
been murdered.
Some eighteen months later the emperor tried again.This choice was Mimorowake, the son of Hikosajima. He was better prepared for his reception, and got off
to a good start, but the Emishi caused trouble, obligating him to suppress them.
Three chieftains surrendered abjectly, were punished, and turned over their land.
The less recalcitrant ones were killed.This brought on a long era of peace along the
northern border, and the descendants of Prince Mimoro-wake are there to this day.
The rest of Keiks reign is occupied with building a pool and planting it with
bamboo, ordering all the provinces to put up storehouses for the workmens be, and
living for three years in his Taka-anaho palace in Shiga (tsu city). He died there in
the sixtieth year of his reign at the age of 106.The Kojiki says he was 137 and that
his tomb is by the Yamanobe road.
As for the Nihon shoki, in introducing the next emperor, it records the burial of
Keik for the tenth day of the eleventh month of the new rulers second year, that
is, 723 days after his death. Interment took place in the misasagi above the Yamanobe
road. In the official converted chronology that was the year AD 132.
The Yamato Brave and the Legend

Since World War II Yamato-takeru has been reinvigorated as a legendary figure, a
symbol of heroics in the expansion of Yamato power. In any realistic way, one individual could not have been responsible for fighting on three successive fronts and
beating the traditional enemies into submission in every casethe Kumaso, an
Izumo chieftain, and the Emishi. One does not doubt that there was a tragic hero
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chafing under the emperors fear of his presence and a few martyrs willing to die
for the cause. However, by assigning grossly exaggerated ages to rulers and Yamatotakerus death to the age of thirty, the writers present him as being struck down prematurely and therefore deprived of his best years. In fact, he enjoyed the normal life
span of a young male at that time.
In the evolution of views of Yamato-takerus place in history, Nakajima in 1930
was brave enough to consider Emperor Keik and Yamato-takeru to be one and the
same individual.100 Attaching stories to known personalities or creating personalities to provide the framework for stories of national conquest was a common
ancient practice. Keiks reign was chosen as the time to string these stories together
under the title of one great hero. When named the Brave of Yamato he became an
amalgam of all the loyal warriors of the time. In the way the Kumaso story was told,
Keik, Yamato-takeru, and Chai were all involved, but the successes were probably fabricated. Chais encounter was a disaster.The Kumaso do not appear later as
people to be subdued, but simply as uncooperative residents of a region in which
the laws of the central government were unenforceable.The jri system of allotment
of regular land units could not be applied there, taxes could not be collected, and
the normal corve could not be required.
The concepts of the righteous effort, unshaken belief in divine authority even
in a crumbling cause, and dying for the emperor had their latest manifestation in the
loss of World War II and its retrospective philosophies. Yamato-takeru regained the
popularity that may have escaped him through prior centuries. In the notion of the
nobility of failure Yamato-takeru took the place of honor as the first to have been
sacrificed on the imperial altar. The books may not agree on whether there were
twin brothers, and the Nihon shoki leaves the story out as though it was too much
like starting a feast with a foul-tasting brew, but the tale follows a common pattern
of killing off one of two brothers or sisters to eliminate the competition and put the
survivor on center stage. The Nihon shoki writers softened his image, humanized
him, put more emotion into his melancholy romances, and played up the supernatural when his remains were transformed into a migrating white bird. In other
words, Nihon shoki writers shaped his personality into a sympathetic figure and glorified his exploits. The editors of the two books even used different ideographs in
writing his name, but readers recognized the same stories.101
Yamato-takeru was unfazed by humans. His undoing came through the
higher forces of nature called malignant kami because his inflated sense of valor
minimized their importance. This was seen as the natural human failing of being
unable to evaluate or gauge the mind of the supernatural. While modern interpretations are of kami being pockets of human resisters and of a fever contracted
on Mt. Ibuki, Yamato-takeru is described as going into a state of depression after
the full realization of his fathers intentions. He believed he had been sent out to
be killed in some distant and dangerous part of the country. Twice he had come
back unscathed, each time a greater hero, apparently to his fathers dismay. The
one more front to fight on was the psychological curse hanging over his head. He
saw the transparency of his fathers false pride, and readers can see the hypocrisy
of his fathers supposed grief.
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To sum up, in the contemporary view Yamato-takeru-no-mikoto was not a historical person but a personified legend symbolizing the many valiant warriors who
contributed to extending the boundaries of Yamato authority.102 The stories were
told in inspirational terms as models of loyalty and bravery, had a universal element
in the inclusion of both earthly and heavenly inimical forces, and mixed in warm
sentiment in the premonitions of a miserable end.
Numerous shrines are dedicated to Yamato-takeru, some of which are
inevitably named Shiratori jinsha.The old tori (Big Bird) Shrine in Sakai city of
Osaka prefecture, which claims the last spot where the bird put down, numbers
among its traditions the ancestry of the tomo muraji.
In regard to the three tombs built where the white bird supposedly alighted, the
nomadic bird provided several choices. The first, however, is the Shiratorizuka in
Ueda-machi, Suzuka city, Mie prefecture, just northwest of Kasado Shrine. Close by
are several other tombs. Called round, the Shiratorizuka is actually oblong, running
78 m east and west and 59 m north and south, with a height of 13 m.The mound
is covered with stones, and three rows of haniwa are said to have once been visible.
An investigation at the end of the Edo period yielded a mirror with six jingle bells
attached to its outer edge, one or more iron swords, horse trappings, and several
other items.103 From the shape of the tomb and its grave-goods, it was built about
two centuries after the old books say Yamato-takeru lived.
Claims have been made for two tombs in Habikino city, which is on the border between Nara and Osaka prefectures. One, right near Furuichi train station,
called the Hakuch jinja Tomb (Shiratori = Hakuch), was strongly promoted in the
Edo period, so a shrine on the mound is dedicated to Yamato-takeru and Susanoo-no-mikoto. It had been a keyhole-shaped tomb some 120 m in length, but when
a train line was built in 1898now called the Kinki Nippon Tetsud Minami Osaka
Senthe front part was unceremoniously flattened.
The other, known as Hakuch-ry kofun, is under the authority of the
Imperial Household Agency, so has a more protected history. It is at Karuisato in
Habikino city, about 700 m southwest of Furuichi station. Commonly referred to
as Yamato-takeru-no-mikoto-ry, or called by archaeologists Karuihaka, it is keyhole in shape, oriented toward the west, with a mound length of 189 m, and a surrounding moat. There is no information on any finds from its burial receptacle.104
The wide front end dates it and most other tombs in the area to the fifth century
and therefore several generations after the Nihon shoki writers fixed Yamato-takeru
in time. Just north of it is a section of town named Hakuch, and still farther north
are some of the large tombs attributed to emperors and their consorts of the
Naniwa dynasty. The whole area was once covered with tumuli, but many of the
smaller ones have been obliterated.
The burial place attributed to Keik is in Shibuya, Tenri city; it is a large,
moated, keyhole tomb in the style conventionally associated with the fourth century. Oriented west-southwest, at 310 m in length it is the seventh-largest tomb in
Japan. The moat has been encroached upon and is an irregular shape on the west
side. In fact, the heavy growth distorts the shape in aerial views. One rough element
of dating of the early tombs is the proportional width of the square front to the
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diameter of the knoll.This should run from about two-thirds to three-fourths, but
not more until the next century. In Moris evaluation of the accuracy of the designations of imperial tombs, this one may be correct.105
The Yamato Princesses

The two women who carry the Yamato name bear little resemblance to each other
in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki.106 They served different masters, provided different
services, and had different channels to the deities. It seems impossible that the writers of the two books thought they were describing the same individual.
According to the Nihon shoki, Princess Yamato-hime-no-mikoto began her
career with the assignment from Emperor Suinin to find a suitable home for the Sun
Goddess. Her predecessor had spent some eighty-seven years in an unsuccessful
hunt, and Suinin thought better of keeping her. Princess Yamato circled around trying several places, eventually settling on Ise when the Sun Goddess said she was satisfied with the location.107
She was still ensconced as a resident priestess at Ise in Keiks reign. Suinin had
appointed Princess Nunaki-waka to be a special liaison with the Sun Goddess; Keik
appointed Princess Iono to the position. In other words, Princess Yamato stayed there
and doubtless managed the shrines affairs through seniority and strength of personality, but was not then the courts special representative to the Sun Goddess.
The Kojiki briefly mentions O-usus receiving womens clothing from Princess
Yamato before he left to fight the Kumaso. In this way she provided him with magical protection when he used the clothes as a disguise.108 Also, there is no suggestion that she was at Ise at the time. She was then living at the court.
By the time Yamato-takeru undertook his last expedition, the sacred mirror and
the magical sword were in the custody of Ise Shrine. Princess Yamato was not in
charge of the mirror, and the chief source of magic she had at her disposal was the
sword.As she was not given to philosophical discourses in the classical literature, her
advice was quoted only twice. Both admonitions were brief and pointed. When
handing Kusanagi to Yamato-takeru she told him to be vigilant and not neglectful.
In the Kojiki, when giving him the sword, she added a bag, simply telling him to
open it in case of dire need. As for the sword, she knew his reputation, particularly
when in the company of women, and proffered him the advicewhich he ultimately ignored. He left Kusanagi with Princess Miyazu.
After his last encounter with the evil deity and his loss of strength, Yamatotakeru started for home, going through Ise and beyond, but nothing in the Nihon
shoki mentions even meeting Princess Yamato at that time, and the Kojiki makes no
mention of Ise. However, the offering of some of the captured Emishi to the shrine
suggests there was some form of communication with her there. She was the one
who said the behavior of the Emishi was disruptive and they should be moved. She
sent them to pester the Yamato court.
Although Yamato-hime is laconic in the ancient literature, her long residence at
Ise and association with Yamato-takeru made her and her sayings the subject of a later
text by Ise promoters called Yamato-hime-no-mikoto seiki (Princess Yamato century).109
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She also appears in several other Ise texts. Ise priests shared traits in common with
many clerics in other shrines and temples who glorified the exploits of their mythological and historical predecessors by writing such tales, frequently as attempts to bolster lagging interest at low points in their institutions history. One does not discount
the possibility that some were honest efforts to put oral traditions into writing before
they were lost, but the Seiki here does not qualify in that category. She entered this
world by miraculous birth, could assume various forms including that of an insect or
worm (mushi), and lived more than seven hundred years.110
As for Princess Yamato-totohi-momoso, she moved in a small arena and over a
short time. In fact, her existence is recorded for only one year in Sujins reign. Kojiki
writers saw nothing in her marriage to a snake kami that would contribute to the
genealogical train and left her out. However, they told a vaguely similar story related
to the snake deity of Mt. Miwa, but with a reverse twist. This one was productive.
Princess Ikutama-yori consorted with a handsome man who made only midnight
appearances. Her parents realized she had become pregnant, and because she herself
could not identify the gentleman and did not know where he came from, they
devised a method to find out. They sewed threads to his garment. In the morning
one thread passed through the hole of the door latch (kagi) as only a snake could do,
and extended to the shrine of Mt. Miwa. The remaining three threads became the
name: Mi-wa.This story also explained the kami nature on the paternal side of the
individual known as tataneko. In effect, the Miwa snake cult was anthropomorphized to cast it in the middle realm of kami and human existence.
The two Yamato princesses overlapped in time only in the sense that Yamatohime was endowed with indefinite mortality. Yamato-totohi-momoso was a miko of
the first order, able to foresee danger for the emperor and to warn him, and therefore she commanded an exalted position at the court.The writers described her as
one who bypassed the routine of trances and sacrifices to be possessed with divine
power. Her power was inborn and constant. This is evident in her direct physical
link with the kami, an intimate relationship rarely ascribed to humans.
According to the story,Yamato-totohi-momosos position at the court was high
enough to merit the record of death and an imperial tomb of no small size. In
fact, the mound of the Hashihaka Tomb at 280 m is just short of the ten longest in
Japan111 and can be compared with those identified with individuals supposedly her
predecessors, contemporaries, and immediate successors who outranked her, here
indicated in meters: Sujin 240, Suinin 227, Keik 310, Yamato-takeru 189, Seimu
219, Chai 239, and Jing 278. It will be noticed that Hashihaka exceeds in length
all the tombs attributed to these emperors except Keik, and matches that of Jing.
Since it is clear that size had much to do with the sense of power and the ancient
literature tells of building tombs during an individuals lifetime, the proportions
accorded Hashihaka are indeed significant.
Personalities in the Fudoki

The documents that came to be known as fudoki (records of wind and earth;
gazetteers) were to follow on the heels of the stories of the supernatural origins and
the genealogy of the ruling family in the Kojiki and how history was made by it in
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the Nihon shoki. In another realm of information, in 713, as noted in the Shoku
nihongi112immediately after the Kojiki was received and before the Nihon shoki had
been submittedthe provinces were ordered to describe their natural resources,
flora and fauna, relative productivity by grading the quality of their land, origins of
names of natural features and places, and old and unusual stories. References to the
presence of or visits by well-known personalities inflated local feelings and often led
to considerable narration.
At that time there were about sixty-nine provinces. Whether all submitted their
records will never be known as only five remain today, of which the Harima
(Hygo), Bungo (ita), and Hizen (Nagasaki and Saga) texts are fragmentary.As for
southeastern Kyushu, populated as it was by the fractious Kumaso, it seems unlikely
that the Yamato government could have forced Hyga, Osumi, and Satsuma
(Miyazaki and Kagoshima) to submit them.The most complete is the Izumo fudoki,
dated by inscription to 733, which has been cited earlier. The Bungo and Hizen
texts may have been written as late as 739.The extant text for Hitachi (Ibaragi) went
through heavy editing, shortening, and annotating.113
A question always asked is the extent to which Nihon shoki writers were able to
use these texts. Some may have reached the office at the imperial court before 720,
such as the Harima fudoki, possibly by 715, but the Hitachi fudoki may not have
arrived before 726, and the Izumo fudoki is still later, so while some borrowing probably took place, the similarities of many stories in the two different records should
have been due largely to common traditions, a few already in writing.
Fudoki were not designed to enhance the stature of the ruling linemore so to
find out the lesser-known resources of the provinces in order to exact more useful
taxesyet it is likely that many Yamato appointees in the provinces were instrumental in or cooperated with their compilation. Therefore, while it is usually said
that they did not go through the hands of Yamato editors, for many a certain Yamato
partiality was most likely the case.
A remarkable feature of these fudoki, and all the more remarkable because not
a representative group of texts is preserved, is the prominence given to Yamatotakeru. The purpose of this literature was not narration but description of topographical features and current folklore, but his very presence allowed otherwise
unknown places to capitalize on his name and reputation. It is enough to say that
the legend as Nihon shoki and Kojiki writers transcribed it had already reached its
inflated proportions by the eighth century.
The next point is that, despite the lack of any preserved fudoki from the Home
Provinces, there are many references to certain groups of rulers. History had credited a few with countrywide impact: Sujin, Keik, Jing, jin, Nintoku, Ktoku,
and Tenji. Others who received nominal mention are Yryaku, Keitai, Kimmei, and
Suiko. The remaining rulers figured no more than twice or not at all. However, in
all fairness to later rulers, such as Temmu and Jit, with most regions except the
Michinoku pacified, their contributions to the steady, methodical progress toward
city building and a political bureaucratic system were developments centered at the
court and of less significance to regional areas.
The time span we are dealing with, from Sujin through Keik to Jing, is
extraordinarily well represented, so there is too much here to be ignored. It was both
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perceived by eighth-century writers and was in fact an extremely dynamic period

in the occupation of new areas, in marking territorial boundaries, and in generating
folktales. In sum, it was the nascent step in the rise of the Yamato state.
Jimmu, the so-called first emperor, fares poorly, and his eight official successors
are total nonentities, thus supporting the argument that they are fictitious and that
the Jimmu stories were written after many geographical borders had already been set,
settlements had been in existence for generations, and topographical names had been
by then well accepted among local people. Jimmu did not leave his mark on the
geography as Yamato-takeru did when he went through. Purists claimed Jimmus
expeditions were too early for record.They were too early and too nonexistent.
Neither of the two Yamato princesses described above are heard of in the extant
fudoki, but the Yamato fudoki is lostif it was ever writtenand these women were
too local and too little traveled to appear elsewhere. Conquest was a glorified primary topic, so the exploits of Keik and Jing in Hitachi, Hizen, and places where
they visited are given considerable play.
One sees the same dilemma that faced the Nihon shoki editors in not knowing
whether to attribute exploits to Keik or to Yamato-takeru. Moreover, they made
no clear distinction between the activities of Keik as a prince or as the emperor, a
confusion that can be used to buttress the theory that the Yamato Brave and the
emperor were the same individual.
Emperor Seimu: Administrator

Known as Waka-tarashi-hiko, Emperor Seimu was the fourth child of Keik and the
first of the prolific Yasaka-iri-hime, the more agreeable of the two sisters from
Mino.114 He was appointed crown prince in his twenty-fourth year and ascended
the throne at the age of thirty-eight. He is also known for one of the most uneventful reigns in history, for which even padding could not compensate. From his fifth
to his forty-eighth year is a total blank. Even the capsule description of his personality is missing. The Nihon shoki does not name his empress, but does elevate her
with a grander title in his second year. It does not mention his one son. He and
Takechi-no-sukune shared a common birth date and therefore a special bond. He
appointed Takechi his -omi, the equivalent of his right-hand man.
The Kojiki sums up Seimus reign in several lines. It has him living in the
Taka-anaho palace in Shiga (tsu city) and names one wife, who was a Hozumi,
and one son. Nothing more is heard of the son, and Yamato-takerus own son
takes over next as Emperor Chai, in effect ending that particular line. Seimus son
probably died young, but the lineal shift must be one reason why his reign was
put in such a subdued light.
However, if one accepts the broader implications of conquest of border areas
involving driving back or eliminating the fringe opposition, Seimus reign is important in terms of establishing the administrative structure to manage those areas. At
least, this is what the Nihon shoki describes.The Kojiki notes it in two sentences since
it was remote from local Yamato social news: He set up the kuni-no-miyatsuko of the
large and small kuni, and the agata-nushi of the large and small agata.115 In other
words, he appointed the hereditary chieftains of the larger territories (which became
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the provinces) and the hereditary chieftains of the smaller territories (which became
the counties or townships/villages). Both of these geographical units varied in size,
and neither title survived the Taika Reform of 646.
The Nihon shoki elaborates: In his fifth year Seimu proposed to appoint the osa
of the kuni-kri and the obito of the agata-mura.116 Larger unit boundaries were based
on the natural features of mountains and rivers, smaller units (y; town/
village) on roads running eastwest vertically (tate) with the sun and southnorth
horizontally (yoko) also with the sun.The south side of the mountains are the kagetomo (light) face, the north side of the mountains the sotomo (back) face.117
Order of this kind created prosperity and peace; that is to say, it provided the
opportunity to use this recurrent phraseology when nothing newsworthy was
known yet years had to be inserted to stretch the chronology. In his forty-eighth
year Seimu appointed Yamato-takerus son the crown prince, later known as
Emperor Chai. Seimu died in his sixtieth year at the age of 107.The Kojiki says he
was 95. He was buried at Tatanami in Saki. In his case some fifteen months intervened between death and burial, the dates said to be 190.6.11 and 191.9.6.
Before going on to other things, a few remarks on these events. The implied
proto-jri system, the grid system for laying out land in regular units so as to be able
to estimate the products for taxable purposes was, of course, a Taika Reform issue
after 646, and not clearly implemented until somewhat later. The use of the terms
sany and sanin for Chgoku or the leg of Honshu follows this pattern of recognizing the sunny and shady side of the mountains. As said before, the references to
be far precede the actual organization of these work groups under this title, but family occupations operated in this fashion.
As a postscript to Seimus reign, Chai, his successor, lost no time in ordering
the provinces to catch and send white birds to the court so they could be kept in
the pond (i.e., moat) of Yamato-takerus tomb.Their presence would be a consolation for his loss.The region of Koshi sent four, but in the evening they were spotted by a younger half brother of the emperor on the bank of the Uji River. To
Prince Gama-mi-wake they were choice edibles, and he made off with them.This
displeased the emperor so much he sent soldiers to eliminate the prince.
The tomb identified with Seimua large, moated, keyhole mound 219 m in
length, oriented only a few degrees west of southis in Misasagi-ch, Nara city. If
one adds the moat, the main axis dimension runs a full 247.5 m. In this case the
width of the square front is 111 m, while the diameter of the knoll is 132 m. Mori
considers it to be properly attributed.118
Comparing the Wei zhi and the Japanese classics is less fair than comparing
apples and oranges, the differences are so striking.The fundamental reason is the raison dtre for each. But for this very reasonby covering totally different ground
they both contribute substantially to understanding this time period. By and large the
Chinese believed the Wa were too distant to threaten their foreign interests, although
they might influence Korean states to do so. But once reports came in that the Wa
confederation was uniting under one ruler, it behooved them to evaluate the situation and ensure themselves of a congenial neighbor. The best strategy would be to
send missions and shower Wa with gifts to show they were monitoring the developments. In keeping with the Chinese proclivity for pontifical announcements, patron-
228
izing advice, and expectations of tribute, roughly one-third of the Wei zhi text deals
with the Wa pleading for audience at the court and the Chinese munificent response.
The Kojiki and Nihon shoki, on the other hand, speaking for Himikos time, are
so self-absorbed they seem not to know an outside world exists. The single-track
approach is geared toward showing the superiority of the imperial system through
its divine origins, using the relationship with the kami to program their activities and
applying those connections to the dynamics of territorial expansion. These were
survival techniques. Just one century later a very different view was pursued for
much the same reason. It was now with the outside world. Long passages in the narrative tell intricate stories of events actually occurring on the Korean peninsula as if
the future of the evolving state depended on the outcome of those wars. The
Japanese planned to be a determining factor.
Even if we acknowledge the filtering of the Japanese material through centuries
of storytelling and elaboration, we find a psychologically insecure mentality that acts
only after divination, depends on the interpretation of dreams, looks for signs and
omens to guide future action, explains ordinary occurrences (such as diseases) as the
work of hostile spirits, sees life in inanimate objects with nefarious potential, and
believes in physical transformation.Taken altogether this overarching fear of malignant spirits, as the Chinese saw in Himikos power, is an apt characterization of the
prevailing atmosphere of the time. It was the bonding feature of Wa society.
CHAPTER 11
The Endless Search for Yamatai
The relatively successful efforts before World War II to move Yamatai and Himiko
out of the mainstream of Japanese history have been sketched, but there remained
those who believed that the description of Yamatai applied to the Yamato area and
that the directions and distances did not prove otherwise. The more vulnerable
national university professors had become particularly adept at treading lightly, and
those in Kyoto had found they could study relevant topics and still avoid the most
sensitive issue of all.The trauma of war changed the political scene, but left traces of
the mentality intact. On the questions of dating mirrors and tombs, the archaeological community was stuck with a view conditioned by years of bending to authority, but it was at least shed of its psychological trappings and reduced to a simple
archaeological problem.
It will be helpful to look at some of the steps in the history of the work of the
Kyoto school before dealing with its contributions.Then the next generation is represented by the Nara archaeologists and the countrywide, multipronged approach to
scholarship that led to much broader views on chronological problems. Subsequently, a summary of the attempts over the years to locate Yamatai will initiate my
view of its location.
The Kyoto School

Tomioka Kenz was not the first to study the mirrorsMiyake Yonekichi of the
Imperial Museum had done so before himbut he was the first to recognize the
existence of Japanese copies: many mirrors recovered from tombs were in fact of
Japanese manufacture. A study of the (relatively few) dates, expressions, and the use
of certain terms in inscriptions on Chinese mirrors made it clear that mirrors were
made in both the Han and the Wei dynasties. Mirrors would be the key to dating the
Japanese tombs.Tomioka died in 1918, but Umehara collected his material and published it as Koky no kenky (Study of old mirrors) two years later.1 Tomioka also
began the process of dating Yayoi-period burials in Kyushu by the presence of Han
mirrors, a process that ultimately drew sharp lines between the Yayoi and Kofun cultures. Kyushus mirrors were Han;Yamatos mirrors were post-Han.As the first major
proponent of using archaeological data to equate Yamatai with Yamato, in effect he
229
230
initiated the Kyoto school, which has spoken with one voice since.The search was
on for Himikos mirrors. If the Chinese had not said she was sent one hundred mirrors Japanese archaeologists would have ignored her as only a cipher in history.
Once stylistic sequences in mirror patterns began to emerge from these studies,
an applicable chronology allowed Umehara to place the earliest tumuli in the
Yamato area. Although periodically challenged, the view still holds. Given available
materials and some unavoidable regional variation, the indeterminate hereditary status of mirrors, and the debatable extent of Yamato political control, it remains as an
article of faith, no argument yet compelling enough to upset it. Moreover, Yamato
set the style and other areas followed suit. Kobayashi believed the political strings of
other areas were being pulled from Yamato by using mirrors as symbolic rewards and
giving authorization to build the trademark keyhole-shaped tombs.2
While archaeologists and historians had little to say to or for each other, the
question was whether the archaeological evidence was impressive enough to sway
the historians. The archaeologists now found a sounding board of considerable
authority and readership in the Journal of Archaeology (Kkogaku zasshi). Historians
were divided between Yamato and Kyushu, archaeologists less so.Takahashi Kenji was
pro-Yamato. His earliest writing of note was in 1908 in volume 7 of Kkokai (which
by 1913 was being called Kkogaku zasshi) on the country of origin and the development of mirrors.3 He and others in the early 1920s honed their ideas in numerous articles in several journals,Takahashi seeing the haniwa and the other arts of the
period through the eyes of an art historian. Kyoto University made the results of its
investigations look more prestigious with hard-bound site reports: Kyoto Teikoku
Daigaku Bungakubu Kkogaku Kenky Hkoku (Report upon Archaeological Research in
the College of Literature, Kyoto Imperial University), begun in 1917 and terminated with
volume 16 in 1943 only because of the war.
Kasai Shinya is best known for an article identifying the Hashihaka Tomb with
Princess Yamato-totohi-momoso, but he speculated on other points in the Yamatai
puzzle, some of which were quickly forgotten.4 Working with what he believed to
be correct distances as stated in the Wei zhi, he put Toma on the north Chgoku
coast either at present Matsue (Shimane) or in the old province of Tajima (Hygo),
for instance, modern Toyooka.5 This route was safer than the Inland Sea, which was
infested with marauders, he thought. In fact, in early historic times Tsuruga in Fukui
prefecture was an entry port for missions from Korea, and he claims the Nihon shoki
says Jing went there first enroute to Kyushu for her Korean expedition. If it is a
passage in the Nihon shoki it eludes me, but Tsunoga (i.e., Tsuruga) does figure in
Jings thirteenth year when Nomi-no-sukune and the imperial prince were sent
to worship the great deity of Tsunoga. Early historic missions sometimes used this
route, partly because it landed them close to Lake Biwawhich is only about
20 km as the crow flies from Tsuruga Bayand even much of the remainder of the
trip to the Japanese court could be done on water.
Before World War II archaeologists from Kyoto and Nara worked together on
common projects. One of the most productive, where major excavations started in
1937, was Karako, a huge marshy area used as an irrigation pond. Both Suenaga
Masao (18971988) and Kobayashi Yukio dug at Karako. It yielded an astounding
THE ENDLESS SEARCH FOR YAMATAI
231
amount of painted Yayoi pottery and wooden artifacts.The site has been expanded
in recent years, referred to as Karako-kagi.Tombs, Naras great visible contribution
to ancient history, were not on the list, but when the significance of earlier sites
(excavations were done at the Hry-ji in 1939) dawned on prefectural officials, a
research institute was formed and a museum built to house the artifacts. Located at
Kashihara on the southwest edge of the Basin, the Nara-ken-ritsu Kashihara
Kkogaku Kenkyjo, under the direction of Suenaga, became the chief center for
archaeology south of Nara city.6
After the war Nara was no exception to unbridled commercial, cultural, and
recreational expansion. Highways, industrial plants, bedtowns, schools, parks, and
play areas required ceaseless amounts of archaeology, and the old capital cities of
Heij, Fujiwara, and Asuka were designated as special long-range excavation projects as a whole or as specific sites. Tombs not identified in any way with imperial
personalities were now on the list. By the 1970s stricter application of the laws had
required closer supervision of urbanization and relative improvements in digging
and curating techniques, putting a huge burden on the personnel and resources of
the prefecture. Staffing was reinforced and facilities greatly increased. Sakurai, in the
very heart of old Yamato, enlarged the personnel of its Education Committee to
include archaeologists and built an attractive museum to process and exhibit the
finds.The Sakurai archaeologists are now waving the banner for Yamatai.
Cycles and Trends

Geographical pinpointing of Yamatai has been well surveyed by Yasumoto, who
selected over 120 books and articles to summarize.7 I take the liberty of further condensing that information below and adding a few comments. What follows represents the unfiltered views of a postWorld War II literate public who felt compelled
to make their opinions known.
Most writers when claiming that Yamatai was in Kyushu designated a specific
place. A few only suggested it. Some authors have modified their views, shifting the
location of Yamatai within a given region, but few have actually changed their
minds and put it in another part of the country. Several pressed their opinions in a
series of articles and books, the later ones written to counter arguments raised
against their earlier views. At least one author wrote under two different names.
To illustrate the trends in the history of the study, I have provided two tables
showing authors with the locations they mark for Yamatai. (See table 10 for authors
writing before 1945 and table 11 for authors writing after 1945.) The purpose in
providing the lists is to illustrate the trends in the history of the study.These lists are
not exhaustive, but they do offer a birds-eye view of the shifting public mood.
An escape into the past was a welcome diversion during the reconstruction of
the 1950s. Healthy interest picked up as the economy supported more publications
and the amount of archaeological work increased.With prewar momentum, a steady
stream of Nara proponents carried the flag through the postwar decade.They tended
to take a comprehensive view, not insisting on a specific locale.Then the doldrums
of the 1960s were compensated for in the flood of the 1970s.
232
Table 10. Identified locations of Yamatai (preWorld War II)

Prefecture
Location of Yamatai
Nara
Fukuoka
Yamato county
Kumamoto
Tamana county
Kikuchi city
Masuki county, Samata
Sendai city
Author and reference
Arai 1716; Motoori 1778; Ban 1848;Tachibana

1888; Nait 1910; Yamada 1910, 1922; Inaba
1911; Kasai 1922; Miyake 1922;Toyota 1922;
Takahashi 1922; Umehara 1923; Shida 1927;
Suematsu 1930; Nakayama 1931; Fujita 1943
Hoshino 1892; Kume 1908; Hashimoto 1910;
Watanabe 1915; Kida 1916, 1917;Tsuboi 1940;
Tanaka 1940; Ichimura 1943
Furuya 1912;Tsuboi 1922
Kond 1846; ta 1928;Tanaka 1940
Fujii 1910; And 1927; Shiratori 1935
Tsurumine 1820; Kan 1892
Osaka had one backer in this list, and the island of Shikoku had two, the combatants from Tokushima quite willing to come to blows with any who disagreed with
them. But public opinion was swinging strongly toward Kyushu, either in the north
or in the more distant south. Kumamoto in the middle lost almost all of its support
as the effort to cut some distances and not others had proved to be fruitless.
Kyushu proponents made their points specifically, some ten authors accepting the
phonetic equivalent of Yamato county in Fukuoka prefecture. For seven others, trying to deal with the fact that more distance had to be covered once a traveler landed
in north Kyushu, the ita peninsula was a popular terminus. Adding more distance,
and giving recognition to the existence of a little understood but dynamic culture in
southeast Kyushu, some ten writers settled on places in Miyazaki prefecture.
As a sampling, in the process of designating their Yamatai site, these writers dealt
with the Shiga island seal: Fujima 1950 and Murayama 1974; the Wei zhi text and
linguistic problems: Suzuki 1948,Tanaka 1955, mori 1955, and Oda 1970; climate,
geography, and the interpretation of the place names: Maki 1953, Yonekura 1953,
Muroga 1956, Yamamoto 1972, 1975, and Sakata 1977a; directions and distances:
Hinoki 1947, Katayama 1954, and Enoki 1976; imperial history: Miyazaki 1946 and
Sakata 1977b; myth-based activities: Yasumoto 1968 and Kujira 1974; the political
structure of the land of Wa: Inoue M. 1966; the characteristics of Himiko and her
rule: Shiratori 1948, Furai 1960a, Aoki 1971, Fujiyoshi 1972, Ichimura 1972,
Yasumoto 1983, and Fukumoto 1986; and Yamatai as seen from an archaeological
point of view: Higuchi and Okazaki 1949 and Okuno 1981b, 1982, 1983.
As to the political structure, Inoue makes a logical point. If on the death of
Himiko the cohesion disintegrated and various groups fell to fighting each other,
there was no regular, accepted hereditary succession system.Any successor had to be
electedagreed upon by chieftains. Whatever else existed was unenforceable.
There was no embryonic monarchy. Among others mentioned above, Ichimura
(1972) says Himiko was Jing, and Kujira (1974) says Himiko was Amaterasu.
Yamatai became the lost kingdom through submersion in s Yamatai Has Sunk
into the Sea (1975), which had occurred just east of ita at the west end of the
Table 11. Identified locations of Yamatai (postWorld War II)

Prefecture
Location of Yamatai
Nara
Yata, Yamato-kriyama
city
Yoshino to Kish
Osaka
Tokushima
Ehime
Fukuoka
Awa province
Kawanoe city
Amagi city and
Yasu village
Chikugo River, north
side; upstream
Fukuoka city
Dazaifu city
Kurume city, Mii
Yamato county
ita
Saga
Nagasaki
Kumamoto
Miyazaki
Kagoshima
Philippines
Java
Kyto county
Kyto county,Tagawa
city
East, sea of Su
Usa county, Usa city
Hita county, Hita city
Beppu Bay
Kamae-ch
Chikushi plain
Sasebo city
Higashi county
Isahaya city
Aso county, Umamihara
Saito city
Miyakonoj city
Near the yodo River
W side of Mt. Kirishima
Nobeoka city
Takachiho
Author and reference
Suzuki 1948; Higuchi and Okazaki 1949; Watsuji

1951; Wakamori 1952; Yonekura 1953; Katayama
1954; Higo 1954; mori 1955; Miyai 1955;
Muroga 1956; Yuasa 1957; Ueda 1959; Naoki
1962; Niizuma 1967; Harada 1969; Aoki 1971;
Yamao 1972
Torigoe 1975, 1982
Tateishi 1973
Okuma 1973
Kodai Awa Kenky-kai 1976
mori 1975
Yasumoto 1968, 1976, 1983; Kujira 1974, 1978;
Murayama 1974;Takakura 1977, 1981;
Kimura K. 1979
Okuno 1981a, 1981b, 1982, 1983
Furuta 1971; Son 1982
Matsuda 1977
Uemura 1950, 1955, 1966
Hinoki 1947;Tsuda 1948; Fujima 1950; Maki
1953; Yamaguchi 1953; Sakamoto 1954;Tanaka
1955; Inoue 1965, 1966; Murayama 1978;
Wada 1984
Shigematsu 1969; Ishida 1976
Sakata 1977a, 1977b, 1983
1975
Furai 1953, 1960a, 1960b; Kubo 1970; Ichimura 1972;
Takagi 1972; And 1973; Nakano 1974; Ise 1982
Fukumoto 1986
Yamamoto 1972
Oda 1969, 1970
Fujisawa 1975
Koizuka 1979
Yazu 1970
Miyazaki 1967
Fujiyoshi 1972
Harada 1976a, 1976b; Shimizu 1979; Saji 1981
Ishikawa 1971; Sait 1984
Hayashiya 1946; Got 1981;Tachibana 1984
Takatsu 1975
Yamamoto 1975 (see ita, Beppu Bay)
Fujiyoshi 1984 (see Kumamoto, Aso county)
Kajiki 1973; Matsushita 1977
Kase 1977
Uchida 1975
234
Inland Sea, but it was raised by Fujisawa in Yamatai Has Never Sunk (1975) to appear
in north Kyushu on the Chikushi Plain, a little southeast of Fukuoka city.
Arguments for Kyushu: Furuta and Okuno

Taken literally, Yamatai had already disappeared at least once before. Furutas Yamatai
Did Not Exist (1971) was to make his point that Yamatai is incorrect and was a
poorly conceived later amendment.8 He attributed this change to the 1688 work of
Matsushita Kenrin, who examined the ancient texts and decided Yamaichi was a
mistake for Yamatai. What did exist, in other words, was Yamaichi. Extensive
research in the Chinese texts and a disarming array of statistics gave the impression
of fine reasoning. Some high points of Furutas thesis follow, the statistics not verified by other sources.
The Sanguo zhi, of which the Wei zhi is a short part, was written by Chen Shou
only two generations after the events, while the Han shu was written by Fan Yeh
two hundred years later, using much material from the Sanguo zhi. The Wei zhi,
therefore, should be much more reliable. Bei Songzhi, who annotated the Wei zhi
in the fifth century, never mentioned Yamatai, only Yamaichi. In some three thousand pages of Sanguo zhi text, ichi is used eighty-six times and tai fifty-six times.The
two were never confused. If the Chinese were trying for a phonetic equivalent of
Yamato, they failed.They were not.There are ten different ways used in the Han shu,
Wei zhi, and Shin Tang shu to arrive at the to sound, all with different ideographs.
None tries to reproduce the tai sound.
The Wei zhi contains 2,237 instances of the use of the directions east and south.
In each case, that particular direction is intended. Again, there was no confusion
between the two. As for distances, there are 159 cases of the use of ri as measurements between two places. Calculations therefore make a Wei ri between 75 and 90
m, but on the shorter side of the outside measurements. This means that Yamaichi
was in north Kyushu.
Continuing with Furutas arguments: while many assume the so-called Five Kings
of Wa spoken of in the fifth-century Liu Song are the sixteenth to twentieth Yamato
rulers, perhaps Nintoku to Yryaku, no text says they were Yamato kings. Credibility
has been stretched by all the scholars who have tried to match the Chinese texts and
the Japanese history of the time.The five must have been local kings in Kyushu.The
Japanese were still known by the all-inclusive Wa term. Not until the late seventh century did the people of Nihon term come into use. But the Jiu Tang shu deals with
the Wa and the Riben ( Jihpen) people separately, as though they were two different
groups, their first encounter with the mission from the latter not a very pleasant one.
The Wa were the Kyushu hangovers, the Riben the Yamato court.
Himiko was buried in a mounded tomb, according to the Wei zhi, 100 bu in
diameter. A Wei ri was 300360 bu, making her tomb 2530 m in diameter.This in
no way matches the huge burial mounds of the Kinki region. It is a dimension more
suitable to the smaller mounds of north Kyushu.That area has yielded about 80 percent of all Han-dynasty mirrors and most of the foreign bronze artifacts. Other
arguments and the archaeological finds, such as the gold seal, lead to no other conclusion: Yamaichi was in north Kyushu.
235
Furutas style of research and assurance made a number of ardent converts.

Seminars and discussion groups both encouraged filling out the Kyushu dynasty
thesis further, but revealed some serious flaws in the application of Furutas data, not
to mention his mathematics. As to the amplification of the thesis, Furuta said a
Kyushu leader, much later labeled Jimmu, fought his way into and took the Yamato
territory. Yamato rulers eventually subdued Kyushu after the latters leaders had
worn themselves out fighting on the Korean fronts.
Numerous objections were raised in the discussions following these claims.
Agreement could not be reached on at what point Yamaichi became Yamatai and,
regardless, a name is only a symbol of identification. Its change does not move the
location of the place (for instance, Heian to Kyoto, Edo to Tokyo). Using the ri
measurements in the Wei zhi to determine the length of a Wei ri is putting the cart
before the horse. No Japanese texts suggest a royalty regime in Kyushu like the Five
Kings. If they existed there, how would one coordinate their presence in Kyushu
with that time period in China? A common view is that the Yamato tombs were
the earliest while the smaller round mounds of north Kyushu are later, and Himiko
was buried in one of the earliest. She was also primarily Wei in time. Furuta should
have been looking at Wei rather than Han mirrors, which, as has been noted, are
generally found in considerable number east of Kyushu.
Furutas thesis was to Yamatai what Egami Namios horse-rider thesis had been
to Japanese archaeology as a whole.9 That thesis garnered many earnest proponents,
captivated the media, and gave the public a dramatic and romantic view of the
countrys political origins. But the archaeology was skewedhorse riding did not
become a fashion of the aristocracy until around the middle of the fifth century
and the history truncated. However, engaging as it was, the idea caused enough
commotion to leave half of the populace still believing today that mounted warriors
had created the Yamato state. Furutas theories are still being propounded.10
The more recent views of Okuno bring out several points not yet mentioned.11
A few worth considering are selected here. From the starting point in Korea to Ito
koku is about 10,500 ri and to Yamatai is 12,000, so simple mathematics makes
Yamatai only 1,500 ri beyond Ito. All the directions cited by the Chinese are off by
45 degrees. Since navigation on the water was by the sun, the Chinese always misunderstood southeast for east because they crossed the Genkai nada (the sea lying
more or less between Fukuoka and the Tsushima islands) only when it was calm in
the summer, at which time the sun appears to rise in the southeast.
The Wei record, Okuno continues, is incomplete. A section is lost. Both the
direction and the distance are customarily given for the next destination, but this is
not the case for Toma, Kona, and Yamatai. The missing section should read as follows:To reach Yamatai one goes south 1,300 or more ri from Toma or 1,500 or more
ri from Ito, traveling ten days on water and one month on land. This is the time
required for the trip from Daifang, and in total it is a little more than 12,000 ri.
Okuno says the population centers in north Kyushu today are analogous to the
twenty-one koku referred to in the Wei zhi. He is able to cram all of the koku said
to be in Himikos confederacy into north Kyushu, chiefly in Saga, but also in
Nagasaki and west Fukuoka. However, it is pointless, he says, to try to match current similar-sounding names with those listed in the Wei zhi text since there is often
236
more than one. He names twenty-three ancient Yayoi population centers.12 Three
are in Saga prefecture, four in ita, and the remainder in Fukuoka.To the north is
Toma koku, where the population is 7,000 ko. This would be the Kibi area in the
Inland Sea since it can be reached by water in twenty days. Neighboring koku are
to the east of Yamatai. One must be standing in Kyushu then, because there is no
eastern land left if Yamatai is in Yamato, he says.
Continuing with some of Okunos observationsreference to watchtowers
and palisades surrounding the palace does not prove they were in general use, but
their existence makes Yoshinogari look good.The term used for Himikos death is
peculiar and has particular implications. When the governor in Daifang heard of the
turmoil he sent an emissary to Yamatai with a message and a yellow banner for
Natome. On arrival he presented these. Suddenly Himiko died.
The expression used for her death has more than one interpretation. Yi-si/i-shi
is usually read to mean they came in but she was already dead. However, nowhere
else in the Wei zhi is the i (motte) read that way, so it can mean they came in and
(because of it) she died.This sounds more like a coup dtat, planned earlier by the
Chinese envoy and Natome. Himiko was by then seen as being unable to perform
her chief duty, that is, to predict the future (things were going badly, and she had no
solution).The Chinese emissary followed up by trying to impose a male ruler.This
was probably Natome. As the text says, the effort was a disaster, and the kingmakers
subsequently settled on the young girl named Toyo.13
Himiko was buried in a zuka/tsuka, not a misasagi or ry. The measurement
term (hu) appears nowhere else in the Wei zhi. As stated it has a vague meaning, and
the number 100 is a figure of speech for a rather long distance.This means her tomb
was a circular mound of some size, and being a zuka, there was only a wooden coffin burial, not a stone chamber.The text does not say she was interred in Yamatai.
She was probably buried in Ito koku, where the Chinese officer who was responsible for security and surveillance was stationed.The choice of tombs in this area can
be quickly narrowed to the large Yayoi mound called Hirabaru where many mirrors, some huge, were found. Late-Han mirrors were still made during Wei times,
so they could be Himiko mirrors. Keyhole-shaped tombs are only impressive in
size and are not the sign of an individuals status and power.14
Okuno goes on to note that Himikos dates are late Yayoi, so she should be
associated with late-Han mirrors, not the triangular-rim type.These last are all much
later and, regardless, there is no hard evidence that they can be identified with her.
Some 82.6 percent of the mirrors of Kyushu have been found north of the Chikugo
Riverin other words, not far from Yoshinogari.15
It should be noted, in reference to Okunos views, that the term zuka was in
standard use, not kofun, and one doubts the existence of a term for imperial tombs
until Sujins and Suinins were built, despite the appearance of the term misasagi or
ry in the old literature before their time. While Okunos approach to seeing a
Kyushu Yamatai is more subtle than most, his discussion of the mirrors studiously
ignores the dated examples, few of which are Han in time. One does agree with all
assessments of an individual of very high status lying in the main grave of the
Hirabaru site.This site in Maebaru-machi has been touched on in connection with
237
the square-shaped moated burials, but its original archaeology was not well interpreted, leaving it the focus of much debate. Dug in 1965, it is now dated from
Middle Yayoi into the Kofun period.16 Among the forty-two recovered mirrors (or
fragments thereof ) were thirty-five TLVs with endless variations of the pattern and
space fillers, and four (one only a very small piece) huge concatenated-arcs mirrors
some 45.6 cm in diameter, all made from the same model.All forty-two mirrors should
be Later Han of the first and second centuries AD.These are earlier than triangularrim mirrors.
Acceptance of Okunos thesis outlined above obligates rejecting the premise
that guides all discussion of the early Kofun periodthat tomb size is relative to statusand accepting the claim that those designated as zuka are pre-keyhole in time.
How could size possibly be random, not related to the power structure, and what is
to be done with Kurozuka, Kurumazuka, Koganezuka, Takamatsuzuka, and the
scores of other zuka(s), which are keyholes and post-keyholes and which have more
than just a clay pit but some kind of internal stone enclosure?
Let us return to Hirabaru briefly, since it has aroused so much interest.The digger, Harada Dairoku, called the site the death knell of Yayoi, but the pottery with it
has been classified by others as Furu type, which is Kofun period.17 Thirty-two of
the TLV mirrors are in small pieces and are said to have been intentionally broken.
Yamato people treated their mirrors carefully, Kond says, laying them around the
head or elsewhere. In fact, many were even put in wooden boxes or wrapped in silk
for burial.This kind of breaking was done to some bronze bells, and they are Yayoi
in time. Most of these TLVs have an inscription band, and seventeen (he seems to
say twenty) include a two-character reference to the Chinese governments factory,
Shang-fang.The bronze composition shows lead from north China, which is more
characteristic of Yayoi than Kofun.
Claim was made in 1991 for the identification of this site with the grave of the
chieftain of Ito koku.18 It will be remembered that Himiko assigned this official to
inventory and oversee the relay of her goods from abroad. For this responsibility he
believed he was due his share. By the end of Yayoi, Ito had demonstrated its dominant position in north Kyushu, and Himiko must have had little choice. She had to
empower this official, probably the next generation chieftain after the Hirabaru
leader, whether he enjoyed her trust or not.
Kond points out that a square-shaped moated burial in the Fujisaki site in
Fukuoka city yielded triangular-rim mirrors, so this method of burial could have
continued in the area into Kofun times, and contrary to the view of Kobayashi
Yukio about the lack of heirlooms in Kyushu, these and ten mirrors in the 103 m
long Ikisan Choshizukaone gilt TLV, another Han type, and eight domestically
made triangular-rim typewere found. Typically, Kobayashi says the Han mirrors
have nothing to do with dating the tomb; the Japanese copies place it in the late
third or fourth century.19
Hunting down the elusive chiefdom has been a national pastime, and interest in
Yamatai has paralleled the rise and decline of the economy, not to mention the wearied reading publics increasingly jaded attitude toward the media that had a quick
solution to the great ancient mystery with the discovery of every large Yayoi site.
238
Excavation of the always visible mounded tombs required much more spectacular
results for media attention, such as the cluster of mirrors in the Kurozuka Tomb in
Nara prefecture.
The volume of publications dropped palpably in the late 1980s and throughout
the 1990s, the number and extent of excavations directly proportional to the current economic conditions. Prefectural governments or commercial institutions provide the funds, the latter within the tax-deductible category of cultural activities.
As it has since the 1920s, archaeology is coming closest to supplying the answers to
the Yamatai question.
CHAPTER 12
Makimuku and the

Location of Yamatai
Early in his reign Emperor Sujin is said to have taken up residence in a palace
called Mizugaki in Shiki.This is todays Kanaya in Sakurai city in Nara prefecture,
an area southwest of Mt. Miwa. Hikers would know Kanaya as the first little community the Yamanobe hiking course goes through when the route is entered from
the south, at the Sakurai end.
The tomb attributed to Sujin, formally called Yamanobe-no-michi-magarino-oka-no-ue-ry, seems to be the first imperial tomb of keyhole shape and is
moated. Still a hillside construction, facing west-northwest, the moat is unique in
being on two levels. Moats are not customary in China and Korea, but many large
tombs in Osaka and Nara prefectures and a small number elsewhere have them. In
general terms, moats accompanying large mounds are regarded as a mark of royalty, but some moated tombs have never had an imperial identity and so were never
brought under the umbrella of the Imperial Household Agency.This lacuna, however, by no means eliminates them from actually having imperial connections. A
few tombs were selected as imperial because of sheer size, an example being
Mise-maruyama in Asuka. At 310 m in length, it is called the sixth-largest tomb in
Japan. It may well be an imperial tomb, probably that of Emperor Kimmei who
died in 571, but the Imperial Household Agency has him buried in a smaller,
moated mound about 800 m to the south. The Fujinoki Tomb near the Hry-ji
was probably the burial place of Emperor Sushun, but was never designated.
Emperor Suinin lived in what is called the Tamagaki palace in Makimuku.1
The area name is still in use today. Makimuku is the first train stop some 2 km
north of Miwa on the JR Sakurai Line. The palace was probably in the neighborhood of Anashi, miwa-ch, Shiki county, about 1 km due east of the station. Two km to the east is Mt. Makimuku, (elevation 567 m). The deity itself,
known as Miwa Myjin, is Mt. Miwa (elevation 467 m). The Makimuku River
flows out of the eastern hills into the Yamato River on the northern boundary
of the area. The misasagi for Suinin has been recognized as the 220 m long keyhole-shaped and moated tomb known officially as Sugahara-fushimi-ry on level
ground at Amagatsuji, facing south-southeast, 200 m west of the first train stop
south from Saidaiji on the Kinki Kashihara Line. It has been widely accepted as
an accurate identification.
239
Fig. 12.1 Distribution of tombs on the southeast side of the Nara Basin between Tenri and Sakurai
(adapted from Izumori, Yamato no kofun 1, pl. 2, 12, 51; Date, Yamato Asuka kkogaku sampo, 19, 35, 49)
MAKIMUKU AND THE LOCATION OF YAMATAI
241
Emperor Keik lived in the palace called Hishiro at Makimuku in miwa-ch.

Each ruler had been moving closer to the center of the Miwa cult, but for some reason, probably over religious differences or perhaps even the influence of a wife,
Keik changed his residence to mi (Shiga) and stayed in a palace called Takaanaho for some three years before he died.This place should be in the area known
as Anou in tsu, toward the north end of the city. The Nihon shoki has him being
buried in the misasagi above the Yamanobe road in Yamato. The large keyholeshaped mound located at an address given as Mukoyama, Shibuya-ch, Tenri city,
called variously Yamanobe-no-michi-no-ue-ry, is believed to be his. It faces a fraction west of west-southwest. If this identification is true, his remains were sent back
after mogari to be interred just north of his first palace, meaning that his tomb had
been started well before he moved to the shore of Lake Biwa.
Since Emperor Seimu is said to have followed suit and lived at Shiga palace in
Afumi (mi), probably Shiga-ch in Shiga prefecture, the schism with the Miwa
cult appears to be final, but Seimu looks more like an alternate choice and an
interim ruler. He may well have been a fictionalized time filler, but the actual content of his reign, brief though it is, is as solid as the others. In any event, his immediate line died out.The Nihon shoki does not say where Chai lived at first, but the
Kojiki puts him in Toyura, Anato (Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi prefecture). One suspects a deliberate omission by the Nihon shoki writers to minimize or conceal the
break. Nevertheless, they were saying that not only had the ties with the Miwa cult
been severed, but a new era had opened. One can infer that another wave of rulers
was working its way up from Kyushu, not unlike a new version of the Jimmu story.
Makimuku and Environs

Makimuku, the home of these rulers, is the geographical focal point here, its
boundaries to be narrowed down from the larger supporting area. Yamato is now
written with characters that in no way suggest the etymology of the word.Today it
is taken for granted as Nara prefecture, as Yamato province became, but according
to Wada Midori, originally it should have been mountain (yama) and capital (to), the
mountain being Mt. Miwa and the capital the initial political unit at its foot, called
Makimuku.2 For Wada its two rivers are the Hatsuse and the Tera.The perimeter of
the area would be outlined in the southwest by one of the three Yamato Sanzan,
Mt. Amanokagu; in the northwest by the big moated Shimanoyama Tomb, which
lies roughly in the middle of the Nara Basin; in the northeast by the Isonokami
Shrine in Tenri city; and in the southeast by Mt. Miwa. It includes, in other words,
parts of four old counties:Takaichi, Shiki,Tochi, and Yamabe.Tochi has been dropped
from most maps.
The heart of this original Yamato area is Makimuku, fanning out from Mt.
Miwa. In considering Makimuku as the location of Yamatai, we should deal with
the characteristics of the early tombs, the nature of the ritual sites as centered in
Makimuku, and the Miwa mountain and snake cult.
Noting these by modern landmarks, we see that three major clusters of tombs
lie along the east side of the Nara Basin south of Tenri city, just as the hills begin
242
to rise. From the north, the yamato group of tombs is to the east and slightly
southeast of Nagara station on the JR Sakurai Line. The most notable of these
are Nishi-tonozuka and Higashi-tonozuka. In the hills to the east is the Kenseisenzuka group. The second cluster, known as the Yanagimoto group, is east of
Yanagimoto station. Overshadowing others in this group are the protected tumuli
associated with Sujin and Keik. To the east of these, more into the hills, is the
Ryzan group. The third is farther south and composed of the very loosely scattered mounds in the Makimuku-Miwa area.These are in the northern part of the
city of Sakurai. By far the largest of this loose aggregate is Hashihaka.
A little too far away to be considered with the Hashihaka group, on the southeast side of Sakurai train station, lies the huge Chausuyama Tomb, strangely not
under the aegis of the Imperial Household Agency. And about 1.7 km southwest of
Chausuyama is Mesuriyama, a tomb that one would have supposed the Imperial
Household Agency would have appropriated at an early stage. Both are imperial
in size, and the latters huge trove of grave-goods gives one of the most complete
pictures of the range of mortuary objects for Early Kofun times. Smaller tombs lie
in almost every direction, some keyhole in shape. Excluding Chausuyama and
Mesuriyama, starting with the Miwa/Hashihaka group and proceeding north
toward Tenri, the clusters of tombs tend to be progressively younger, leading to the
suggestion that this group of chieftains was moving toward the north. On the other
hand, Chausuyama and Mesuriyama could be two branches, one breaking off about
midway in the first century of Yamato expansion.
Chausuyama (207 m) and Mesuriyama (224 m) can both be considered within
the wide arc of flat land that sweeps from the northwest to the south of Mt. Miwa.
Both have been excavated, as there were no rulers to whom they could be reasonably ascribed.3 Scores of mounds along the east side of the Nara Basin have only
been surveyed and plotted on maps, partly because those near the so-called imperial tombs are regarded as burial places of relatives and therefore equally untouchable; another reason is the overwhelming amount of salvage work the Nara area
archaeologists face as a result of city expansion and commercial and industrial development.The accessible tombs are on a long list for eventual excavation.
The closest one can come to knowing the contents of the so-called imperial
tombs is to look at the largest ones that have been excavated since World War II.
Skillfully built, the stacked-stone chambers of Chausuyama and Mesuriyama followed in time the construction of simple pits at the top of the mound for wooden
coffin burials.The Chausuyama builders cut the keyhole plan out of the hillside of
Mt. Torimi, then shaped the remainder and the loose earth into three terraces.
Surfaces were paved with river stones. No moat exists today, but outlines of surrounding rice paddies lead one to believe that farmers in centuries past had appropriated italso suggesting that if they did, it never had imperial connotations.The
square end faces south, the least used direction for the keyhole tombs in the area.
The stacked-stone room has a length of almost 7 m. Its floor is paved with flat
stones and roofed by twelve crossing slabs. Although looting had occurred, a concatenated-arc mirror and two pieces of two different triangular-rim mirrors were
found. Many kinds of worked stone objects were recoveredbeads, bracelets,
243
pieces shaped like the bridge of a kotoand bronze and iron arrowheads.
Fortunately not pilfered was a jasper sword-shaped baton (gyokuj), a symbol of
authority. Pieces of one were also among the Mesuriyama grave-goods.These had
been known in other examples, but until this time were unprovenanced. In the
construction of stone rods, sections of finely rounded and smoothed tubular stone
are held together by a central iron rod. Rust usually causes it to break, but miraculously, the Chausuyama batons rod has remained intact. A pair of curved beads
(magatama) may be attached at the splayed handle on these batons, while a knob
terminates the other end.
Dug from 1959 to 1961, Mesuriyama has been an ideal laboratory for studying the perception of value among the burial accoutrements. Unmatched in quantity in early tombs, there was little sign of looting.The main chamber (12 m long)
was located on the very summit of the knoll. Not only was it richly supplied, but
along the east side was a secondary room, apparently specially added for the deposit
of funerary goods. Artifacts were differentiated between the more prestigious,
which went into the main chamber in or around the wooden coffinnow gone
and the more mundane, which were put in the secondary room. The separation
also tended to be between the ceremonial and the practical. Only iron swords
bridged this separation, as they were placed in both rooms. They guarded the
deceased and his or her possessions.
The burial goods constitute a full cross-section of the graded marks of wealth,
and demands that could be met only through the production of replicas.The fragmentary condition of iron often includes a more than phrase in the report, here
indicated by a plus mark. The main burial chamber had been lined with all of the
beads (6 jadeite, 55 steatite), bracelets (32, all but one of steatite, the other of talc, a
form of steatite, the only hoe-shaped bracelet), small steatite replicas, such as a little
throne, combs (2), a batonlike object, small lidded containers (2), and bronze mirrors (3). Long (5+) and short iron swords (4+) accompanied these objects.4 In view
of such profusion of burial articles, one may wonder at the small number of mirrors.Two are the concatenated-arcs type, which were first cast in Han-dynasty times,
and the other is a piece of a deities-and-animals mirror, which is Wei.
Among the three basic types of grave-goods (mirrors, iron products, and stone
replicas), a preponderance of any one of these, and in that order, should be a rough
guide in identifying the occupants status, business interests, and, possibly, sex. Iron
armor and arrowheads are associated with male burials.The mirror collectors, who
may just as well have been female, are thought to have been socially higher, as mirrors were a mark of their religious activities, not to mention Chinese exotica.
Locally made stone replicas were less a sign of wealth than status. So, by way of comparison, as mentioned earlier, the occupant of the early Shimanoyama Tomb with its
140 stone bracelets and three mirrors was quite likely a female shaman, probably a
consort or wife of imperial class.5
Regarding Mesuriyama, it is difficult to conceive of a richer endowment of
grave-goods even in a so-called imperial tomb.The buried objects are of royal quality and quantity, but the investigators, limited as they were to the Nihon shoki, Kojiki,
and local traditions, could find no leads in that area south of Hashihaka to identify
244
it with a ruler.Thanks to such documentary limitations its excavation has made our
understanding of this time period far more comprehensive.
Imperial Tombs as Officially Designated

Even by the standards of the chieftain class these tombs are huge, with imperial
proportions. The traditional identifications of certain mounds to Sujin, Suinin, and
Keik, in an acceptable evolutionary sequence of shape and topography, are widely
accepted.As already noted, Sujins is on the eastern hillside of the Nara Basin, Keiks
on slightly more level ground not far away, and Suinins on flatland at Amagatsuji.
A good survey of the accuracy of these designations was made by Mori Kichi
(1928) of Doshisha University before archaeologists were pushing the limits of the
profane to the edge of the sacred. Regardless of the views of archaeologists, the
Imperial Household Agency has no intention of changing designations, so the evaluations still hold.6 Starting with rulers who, conceivably, did exist, in a total of
thirty-one tombs, Mori, a noted skeptic, gives unqualified approval to only four:
jin (15), Nintoku (16),Tenji (38), and Temmu (40). Jit was buried with her husband,Temmu. However, there are many probables for which he would prefer to have
more archaeological proof, and others for which a toss of a coin might have settled
on a neighboring mound. But he is more generous than I would be when he says
that the mounds of Ank (20), Kenz (23), Buretsu (25), and Sushun (32) are probably not tombs.They are either natural hills or were artificially humped up in more
recent centuries when identifications had to be made. One point is clear: rulers who
have been special problems to the historians usually have an unsuitable tomb.
Ank, Seinei, Kenz, and Ninken are among these. Also, Sushun was murdered by
the Soga and said to have been buried without ceremony. His tomb is a manufactured one, shaped most likely in the nineteenth century in order to have him buried
to fit the Nihon shoki record.7 And, it might be said, archaeologists will never be able
to dig even these suspect ones. Some could be proved to be natural or fake hills.
On the female side of this largely male line, evaluations would not improve the
grade average. There are several tombs attributed to consorts and an occasional
mother of an emperor. In this Nara area, under Imperial Household Agency control, the enormous Nishi-tonozuka (220 m) is said to be the burial place of Empress
Tashiraka, the wife of Emperor Keitai. However, Keitai died around 531, but Nishitonozuka is typologically more than two centuries earlier. According to one suggestion it is the tomb of Iyo, Himikos successor.8 The agencys explanation: the
tomb had been reused!9
The Archaeology of Makimuku: Dating Methods

Archaeologists working with mounded tombs in the Nara Basin regard the chronological sequence as a critical problem. Solutions toward this end have been
approached through a combination of relative and absolute dating methods. Soil
strata provide the former. Mt. Miwa is a conical hill, volcanic in appearance, on the
eastern side of a Pleistocene piedmont alluvial plain, known since the beginning of
history as the Nara bonchi, a basin created by the flooding of the many rivers that
245
cross it.The smaller rivers flow northwest and join with others flowing south to create the Yamato Rivers drainage area through the northwestern hills of the basin.
Layers of deposit have made uneven but quite recognizable soil strata.
Yayoi- and Kofun-period pottery sherds found in these layers of earth have
been very roughly typed since the 1930s, and more finely as settlement archaeology
has expanded in recent decades.10 In fact, it was Kobayashi Yukio and others excavating at the large Karako site who initiated the process.11 Known as haji when the
Kofun period opens, rare examples of pots in grave-goods or pieces of vessels discarded by workmen now recovered by diggers from the excavation trenches in
moundsor found at the very edge of a protected tombcan be matched with
sherds from the stratigraphic layers in these open sites.
For the rather convoluted and cumbersome terminology of this typology in
which type sites of similar pottery exist in both Nara and Osaka, Haraguchi Shz
had used Osaka sites in the 1960s.12 The Late Yayoi type in eastern Hygo and
Osaka is Shnai, with the term often used in Nara, and the Early Kofun type in
Nara is Furu, it too subdivided. The last is a very large site in Tenri where, among
other things, buildings of the Tenri sect were being erected, and was dug many
times.13 The local chronology in the Makimuku area is the work of Ishino
Hironobu from the 1970s. It correlates with the Haraguchi system. Makimuku 2
and 3 are Yayoi, while Makimuku 4 is Early Kofun. It continues, so that Makimuku
6 is a layer yielding historic-period artifacts.
Another chronological device being applied to the early tombs is the stylistic
features of the large clay cylinders and the pots they supported, called tokushu-kidai,
which adorned the crest of the mounds. Beginning in the Inland Sea region around
Middle Yayoi, they are now regarded as the origin of the haniwa.14 Middle Yayoi saw
a proliferation of ritual shapes, which should be correlated with the spread of agriculture and the associated ceremonies: stands, trays, platters, plates, and bowls.
Most of the significant early tombs in the southeastern corner of the Nara Basin
had these special ceremonial stands, and apparently some in very great number, but
the amount of labor and firewood they required and their sheer unwieldiness led to
their conversion by the fifth century to simple manageable haniwa cylinders and
some replicas of inanimate objects.
The display on Mesuriyama around the burial area was spectacular. It formed a
wall of protection for the deceased, and doubtless deterred the spirit of the dead
from molesting the living. A reconstruction suggests more than a hundred small
cylinders about 90 cm high in a rectangular arrangement and about seventy in a
smaller rectangle within those, a dozen or so medium-sized ones set in between the
rows, and at least two huge cylinders in the middle at the front and back, each almost
2.5 m in height.15
The cylinders were made in sections as circular bands of clay reinforced with
narrow strips at the joints. Smaller ones may have had jars on top, and sometimes the
uppermost band of the larger examples is everted to vaguely resemble their shape.
The seriation system in the Kinki is dependent on a steady flow of style changes
from the Kibi region. The transitional type from Yayoi to Kofun is Mukgimi,
named after a site in Okayama.The style is well set with three horizontal bands of
intersecting slanted S patterns alternating with blank bands, the surrounding spaces
246
Fig. 12.2 Large clay stands for libation pots (tokushu-kidai). (1) Tateita type: Nakayama, Ochiai-ch,
Okayama. Late Yayoi. (2) Mukimi type: Nishie, Okayama. Late Yayoi. (3) Mukimi type: Yatani Tomb,
Hiroshima. Early Kofun. (4) Miyayama type: Bentenzuka Tomb, Kashihara city, Nara. Early Kofun.
Av. ht. 90 cm
perforations.16 One tomb in Hiroshima had such cylinders, as the pattern had spread
west in the Inland Sea. Fully Early Kofun is the Miyayama type, also named after a
tomb group in Okayama. The type became the most popular in the southeastern
edge of the Nara Basin.Three bands of very broadly incised interlocked and slanted
S patterns are separated by five or six ridges on the body of the cylinder, making a
handsome pattern that rolls off to the right. Hashihaka had been supplied with this
type, as had Nakayama-tsuka, Bentenzuka in Kashihara city, and Nishi-tonozuka
and Higashi-tonozuka, both in Tenri in the yamato tomb group.
The following type, Totsuki, again named from an Okayama site, appearing
toward the end of Early Kofun, has somewhat corrupted horizontal S-shaped patterns, and may have triangular and rectangular holes in alternate bands.The type is
known from tombs in Okayama and Hygo. Mesuriyama and Shinyama had them,
as had Higashi-tonozuka, showing it was built as the style was being modified.
The close connection between Yamato and the Kibi region, the constriction a little east of the middle of the Inland Sea, is a long-noted fact. From Middle Yayoi the
Inland Sea carried the bulk of the traffic to the Yamato area, but other regions had an
equal if not closer connection, making Makimuku an unusual cosmopolitan center. It
was a magnet for enterprising artisans, and its trade network not only included neighboring areas but extended west and northeast to the Japan Sea coast and the Kant,
southeast to the Tkai littoral, and southwest to the west entrance to the Inland Sea.
The Makimuku haji ceramics from open sites were sorted out in 1980 by the
different regions representedwhether transported or made by first-generation
arrivalsfor non-Yamato types. Usually about 10 percent is from outside a major
center, but in the case of Makimuku some 15 percent is from elsewhere. Of this,
247
about 17 percent is characteristic of the Hokuriku and Sanin, 5 percent of the

Kant, and 49 percent of the Tkai. Additionally, connected with adjacent areas,
10 percent matches with Kawachi (Osaka), 5 percent with mi (Shiga), and 1 percent with Kii haji pottery. Three percent fits with pottery at the west end of the
Inland Sea, and 3 percent with pottery in Harima (Hygo).17
Perhaps even more telling is the stage at which the regional connections were
the strongest. Not until Makimuku 2 are the Kibi and the Owari (Tkai:Aichi) relations clear. There is always much Tkai-type pottery, but about half of it belongs
here, in other words, toward the end of the Yayoi period. In Makimuku 3 the connection widens out toward the west to include Nagato (Yamaguchi) and extends on
the east to Sagami (Kanagawa) in the Kant.18 This relatively rapid expansion of
connections seems to set the stage for the building of the first tombs and might well
be tied to the greater demand for labor in Yamato and the new and ambitious communitywide projects. Whether impressed or otherwise, workers streamed into the
area where the enterprises were under way.
Yayoi vessels tend to have been made in forms of wide-mouthed cooking pots
and narrow-mouthed storage jars.These are not hard-and-fast distinctions, but by and
large their practical character becomes self-evident. There are also many shapes of
ceremonial stands. Rough surface scratching is typical of all of the Makimuku types,
becoming quite crude, coarse, and often irregular on Kofun-period pots and jars.
Functionality was the guiding principle, gripability being important. Even the ceremonial stands, which had certain elegant proportions in Yayoi times, became blocky
and unimaginative. The small bases of Makimuku 1 pots were being phased out in
Makimuku 2 to become typical haji rounded bottoms in later vessels. Successive generations of potters of Yayoi had taken the route of mere rote in Kofun, working rapidly on short schedules. Here is the start to the production of cheap ceremonial ware,
available to every wayfarer in later centuries as votive offerings at shrines.
As for absolute dates, radiometric dating has been little used, since those published in the early 1960s for Yayoi and later for Makimuku immediately pointed up
the frustrations with the system and discouraged further expense on testing.19 The
range was far too wide for the precision needed even then, which is today down to
no more than a quarter of a century.
Dendrochronology has become the most useful, and is valuable in verifying
radiometric determinations.About two hundred wooden objects were found on the
north edge of the Katsuyama Tomb in Makimuku, at the point where the knoll and
projection join. These were chiefly parts of one or more buildings constructed on
the top of the mound, presumably used ceremonially, then dismantled and the parts
discarded. Some five samples were examined for tree rings, the outer edge of which
was intact for one. Among these was a cypress board 41 by 26 cm in face size and
2.5 cm thick. Dendrochronology dated it to AD 199+18, so it was therefore thought
to have been cut before 210.20 The others ranged in date from 103 to 131.All came
from trees believed to have been felled at the same time. This piece of good news
for Yamato proponentswho greeted it with much celebration, one claiming a
century earlier start for the Yamato polity than is conventionally acceptedwas
tempered by a further statement that pottery found earlier in the same trench was
called Furu O type by the archaeologists and thus third-century AD in style.
248
Nevertheless, eventually, the relative dating system, which has never strayed far from
its intuitional origins, will have to concede to the realities of scientific methods.
The Makimuku Tombs and Their Chronology

Wherever Himiko was buried, most of the tomb should have been built during her
lifetime. If one pace (a ho or bu), was close to 1.5 m, in literal terms the diameter of
the mound described by Shen Chou was approximately 150 m.The round knoll of
the keyhole-shaped Hashihaka Tomb, with a diameter of 157 m, is the earliest
mound with the closest fit to this description.21 It was attributed to Himiko in
1942,22 but more recently to her successor.23 But there is no suggestion of more
than a simple knoll in the Chinese description, and isolated round mounds of that
size do not exist among the early tombs.The mound towers out of the plain like a
small mountain in unmistakable shape. One suspects a very indirect report and, even
if it had been fully described to a note-taking Chinese reporter, he may not have
known what to make of it. He could at least record the existence of a large mound,
shape unspecified, and be correct as far as it went.
A broader picture of the early Nara tombs will set the stage for a closer look at
Hashihaka and the Makimuku scene. The recent preoccupation with establishing
sequence has resulted in a cascade of material chronologizing the keyhole-shaped
tombs on a wider basis, now pursuing models. Reference may be made to two
recent studies, one by Kishimoto on the ideal model with evolution and variations,
the other by Kunugi, who compares tombs in Nara and Osaka with three basic
models, each of which has three subtypes.24 Measurements were in Chinese shaku.
The models are based on ratios between the length, width of constriction or midpoint of the length, and the width of the front end.The diameter of the knoll and
the height are less of an issue.All lengths are fixed at eight units.These lengths given
below are in meters.The first is a Nara group for which the model is the tomb of
Empress Hibasu-hime (207) in Misasagi-ch of Nara city and the other two are
Osaka groups, the models for which are the tombs of Emperors jin (430) and
Nintoku (486).The ratios for these three groups of tombs are shown in table 12.
The power shift from the Yamato Basin to the Kawachi area of Osaka, actually
beginning with Chai, is a well-known fact. The ultimate consolidation of power
occurred there, where a slightly more homogeneous grouping of tombs can be seen,
according to Kunugi. Using these as the norm, Kunugi claims that tombs built elsewhere with proportions similar to any one of these models were those of chieftains
who had established a close working connection with one or more of the Yamato
or the jin or Nintoku group of Kawachi rulers.
Table 12. Model for identifying relationships between tombs in Nara and Osaka prefectures
Tomb model
Hibasu-hime
jin
Nintoku
Number of tombs
Proportions
9
33
8
8 : 3.83 : 3.27
8 : 3.37 : 5.42
8 : 3.31 : 5.38
249
This is clearly a thesis in the Kobayashi style in the way the spread of similarly
shaped tombs is believed to reveal political relationships, here refined beyond just
the keyhole shape (supposedly a Yamato trademark) to its precise proportions. One
could argue that following models with such exactitude would call for the circulation of blueprints since, in working with hundreds of meters, the difference between
the jin and Nintoku groups is minuscule.
In some striking examples, if we use the komajaku (3436 cm), the lengths come
out in large whole numbers, starting with Sujins tomb (1,000). Other good examples are Suinin (950), Keik (1,300), jin (1,800), and Nintoku (2,000).25 Such precision would not seem to be coincidental, but many do not fit the principle so neatly.
One would rather think there was little magical or political value in such precision,
so that size alone, not exact dimensions, was the significant factor. Nevertheless, if
this principle of building in large round numbers for royalty actually existed and had
been discovered by the nineteenth century, it might have been used to better determine which tombs were in fact imperial.
The Makimuku tombs, then, require a look at Ishizuka, Hokenoyama,
Katsuyama, Yazuka, Higaida-tsuka, and Hashihaka. It is the opinion of the Sakurai
archaeologists that the laboratory for observing the evolution of the keyhole shape
is right here, that is to say, starting with a short, stubby, square front, generally spoken of as a scallop-shaped tomb (hotategai-shiki kofun),26 continuing through the
lengthening of this section as begun with the Katsuyama Tomb, then into the full
keyhole shape with Hashihaka.The scallop shape had a small number of survivals in
later tombs in Aichi, Osaka, and Hygo.27
To initiate this picture, a series of comparative dimensions is useful, given in
meters: total length, diameter of the knoll, width/height of the front projection,
height of the knoll, and the major axial direction of the mound (table 13).28
A road had been cut into Ishizuka on the southwest side. Archaeologists sectioned it with many trenches in a sequence of excavations. Hokenoyama, Yazuka,
and another called Yahagizuka all have this scallop shape.The mound was built up
in three terraces and covered with river stones. Terazawa Kaoru sees the shape as
mathematically proportioned in three units, two for the diameter of the knoll and
one for the projection.29
In the excavation of 1971, among some twenty-seven pieces of wood lodged in
the middle of a peat layer along the edge, was a cypress board that could be dated dendrochronologically to AD 177+18.The archaeologists believed it was used when the
Table 13. Makimuku tombs
Tomb
Ishizuka
Hokenoyama
Katsuyama
Yazuka
Higaida-tsuka
Hashihaka
Length (m)
Dm of knoll
W/ht of front
Ht of knoll
Orientation
93
80
110
96
96
280
64
55
70
64
80
150
35/2
25/3.5
30/1.5
40/1
20/1
128/16
3
8.5
7
6
7
29.4
SE
SE
NE
NE
W
SW
250
Fig. 12.3 Ground plans of Makimuku tombs. (1) Katsuyama. (2) Yazuka. (3) Makimukuishizuka. (4) Higaida-tsuka (Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta, Toki kikaku-ten.
Makimuku iseki 100-kai chsa kinen, 8, 9)
tomb was constructed, hence situating the burial at the end of the second century AD.
Pottery with it was the Makimuku 3 New type.30 Some twenty-seven iron hoes were
recovered in the grave-goods, mostly a long-handled type known as nagaekuwa.
Also notable among the recovered objects from Ishizuka is a fairly large (39 cm)
carving of wood in the shape of a bird, painted red, and a flat part of a circular piece
with openwork and engraved parallel curved patterns.The bird is in the Yayoi tradition of making images to mount on poles over graves, which symbolized the flight
of the soul, as found in the peat layers of the Ikegami-sone site, Izumi city, Osaka
prefecture.31 The well-known Yamato-takeru story of the white bird leaving each
tomb and flying on, his soul merely an extension of his restless life, is the mythological side of the archaeological record.
Hokenoyama lies to the east of Hashihaka on relatively level land. A road had
been cut through its southeast extension. The covering stones, laid in tiers, were
brought from the Makimuku riverbed. In the major excavation of 1995 it was discovered that there had once been a wooden coffin in a pit, the depressed floor paved
with stones. The grave-goods included local pottery and pottery from both the
Tkai region and the western Inland Sea.A huge haji pot lay at the foot of the burial pit, probably used as another coffin.32 An iron sword, iron agricultural tools, and
251
bronze arrowheads were found. One concatenated-arc type of mirror from the
tomb is kept in the miwa Shrine.A similar one was recovered in this excavation.33
Two are said to be in the Kokugakuin University collection.These mirrors are generally regarded as late Han dynasty in time.
Katsuyama is on the northern edge of this Makimuku tomb group. The last
investigation took place in 1998. Its total length is variously given as 110 or 113 m,
making it somewhat longer than the others as a result of the stretching of its narrow front part to 30 m.The surface of the front extension is cultivated.A fairly large
pond lies on the north and west sides, and the rice fields on the south side resemble reclaimed land. It was probably once fully moated. Paving stones came from the
nearest river. Haniwa fragments have been collected from it, and other ceramics are
Makimuku 2 and 3.34
Yazuka lies on the northwestern side of the group, not far from Katsuyama and
Ishizuka. To its west are rice paddies. The front has suffered from agricultural use,
and a road was put through where the front and knoll join. By shape alone one
would have judged it to be very early, but Makimuku 3 pottery was found in the
surrounding moat in the excavation of 1971. The mound and extension have the
same proportions as Ishizuka: knoll, 2; extension, 1.
Somewhat south of Yazuka is Higaida-tsuka, the middle, westernmost mound
in the group.Although called in a contracted form East Field Large Mound, it is not
distinguished by its size. Excavations in 1998 along the east bank of a cultivated area
revealed the outlines of a moat about 20 m wide. The usual paving stones for the
mound and haniwa were found.Among the items recovered were parts of a clay coffin, a pot of western Inland Sea style, and an incomplete pot of the Tkai type, the
last, because of its quality and painted decoration, referred to as palace style.35 A
small wooden boat was also recovered. The grave-goods included Makimuku 3
Newtype pottery.
Hashihaka, called officially by the Imperial Household Agency Yamato-totohimomoso-hime-no-mikoto-no-misasagi, is 200 m to the west of Hokenoyama
Tomb. It is believed to be the first of the largest tombs to have been raised entirely
on level ground. Creating a moat was the natural outcome of mound construction
and, with the water level so close to the surface in the basin, may have even caused
serious drainage problems while the building was in progress.The large pond on the
northwest side was hollowed out in the process of piling up the mound. Today it
does not look as though the mound had been moated, but a recent excavation close
to the edge brought up soil sediments that have proved the existence of a doublemoat system.The outer moat, almost 50 m wide, was fed by a channel entering from
the northeast, with an outlet in the southwest corner.36
The Nihon shoki writers believed the mythology of its construction and romantically visualized long lines of stone carriers stretched all the way to the western hills of
the basin. The archaeology disagrees. That line extended only to the nearby Hatsuse
River for the stones. Mori Kichi points out the strange omission of Hashihaka in the
list of imperial tombs under the supervision of the Heian government.37 Shimizu
Shiru believes Hashihaka was originally known as Hajibaka (or hashi; the characters
are those used for pottery and grave), but became associated euphoniously with the
well-embroidered story.38
Fig. 12.4 Upper: Aerial view of Chausuyama Tomb, Sakurai city (courtesy
Suenaga Masao). Lower: Hashihaka Tomb, Sakurai city, from southeast
253
Restoration work in 1968 recovered clay fragments of tall ceremonial stands

from both the front and back parts of the tomb.39 The marked similarity with Kibi
products was then a revelation, and many connections with this and other tombs
were recognized after the excavation of Bentenzuka in Kashihara city.40 Complete
and fragmentary fine pots, which are the wide-mouthed, narrow-necked, bulbousbodied Makimuku 2 type, were also recovered.
A tomb this size, not officially attributed to an emperor or consort, protected
by the Imperial Household Agency only because of a bizarre myth, has long been
eyed by archaeologists as the potential answer to major questions.A massive petition
from thirteen academic associations was directed to the Imperial Household Agency
requesting the office to provide more information on it. In May 1989 the agency
announced the results of an investigation.The mound had been remeasured and was
found to be three meters longer than had been believed. Instead of the usual three
terraces, it consists of four, and the first is much lower than the others.41
A piece of a wooden stirrup was recovered from along the edge of the southeast part of the knoll during an excavation in 1998. Stratigraphically disturbed, it
was presumed to be fifth century, representing the arrival time of horse riding and
not particularly significant.42 But two wooden stirrups came up in the excavation
of the Shitomiya site, Shijnawate city, Osaka prefecture, in July 2001.43 These are
dated to the fourth century and so now imply the existence of local horse riding
before it became the fashion of the elite, who imported their finer metal trappings
from Korea.The Osaka stirrups provide wider space for the foot in an oval-shaped
loop; the Hashihaka stirrup is missing that lower part, where the loop is calculated
to be narrower. On the other hand, the stem with hole is somewhat longer than
the Osaka examples. Another look at the stratigraphic problems of Hashihaka find
shows the latest pottery fragments there to be Furu 1. As far back as 1940 the discovery of wooden stirrups in two Kofun-period dwelling sites was taken as indication of riding by the less affluent and, in contrast, the fine quality and the
newness of many trappings in the tombs a sign that a very large number were made
for the elite primarily for burial.44
Working against tradition, the Sakurai archaeologists are constantly moving
tombs to earlier years as dating techniques improve. Ishizuka has therefore been
pushed to within twenty years of AD 200. Hokenoyama has been kept around
250, or close to Himikos time, and Hashihaka, which is now seen to represent
the mature keyhole shape, has been placed between 260 and 280.45 Almost a
decade ago the Kashihara archaeologists had said there is a high possibility that
Hashihaka belonged to the generation that followed Himiko, that is to say, to the
time of Iyo.46 Regardless of ones persuasion, it is a commonly held view that the
earliest tombs here are too small to have been one of a local paramount.47 Only
Hashihaka should be considered.
This Makimuku group of tombs would be followed roughly in time by the
Yanagimoto group to the north, which includes the big imperial, fully evolved keyholes of Sujin and Keik. Nishi-tonozuka (220 m), to look at only one farther north
in order to bracket our time period, may have been built immediately after
Hashihaka.An 11 m wide moat, now only 85 cm deep, extends from the south front
side. Critical to the dating of these early tombs are the types of haniwa placed on
254
them. Archaeologists dug to within an inch of the protected area, extracting many
pieces of cylindrical (ent) haniwa along with great quantities of covering stones that
have slid off the bank.These are the oldest haniwa in this area and consist of the huge
tubes already described, as much as 2 m in height.They had stood on the front section of the tomb.48
Ritual Sites of Makimuku

Mt. Miwa resembles an isolated volcanic cone when seen from the west, but it is in
fact the westernmost peak of a range of hills extending well to the east, averaging
300 to 400 m above sea level.The Hatsuse River (called the Yamato River once it
levels out and flows northwest) eroded the granodiorite of the south side into the
deep valley that carries all the traffic toward the east coast and was the pilgrimage
route to Ise in later centuries.The much smaller Makimuku River on the north side,
flowing off the hillside, has together with the Hatsuse given Mt. Miwa its fine triangular shape.49 The north side of the hill is a harder gabbro (hanreigan), a coarser
basaltic igneous rock.
The rivers flooded fairly large areas of the basin in Yayoi and Early Kofun times,
so that low land below about the 65 m contour line was frequently inundated. A
major attraction was the fertility of the soil, although rather sandy, but human labor
was needed to open up more habitable space for an enlarging population. For this
reason about two centuries of water-control measures were initiated by rulers during the Early and Middle Kofun stages in both Nara and Osaka; through these measures, aided by some climate changes, the rulers were able to secure much more land
for year-round use. Nevertheless, todays geographical picture of gently curving
banked-up rivers is so misleading that in no way does it convey the correct topographical features of the Yayoi and Early Kofun centuries.
In the view of Ishino, Makimuku is a group of sites, occupying about 2 km in
each direction, with the tombs discussed above lying on the outer western edge. In
publicizing his view, he counted six settlements, the area more or less divided into
four sections by the configuration of the rivers.All the residential clusters were connected by roughly 1,600 m of canals.50 Twelve years and much digging later allowed
an estimate of 2,600 m for the canals.51 These canals averaged about 5 m in width
and 1.2 m in depth. Ishino compared the size of the occupied space with that of the
Fujiwara palace built in 694. In other words, there is here the remains of the Yamato
capital, and the Makimuku palace(s) was (were) within this complex.
By 1996 the number of sites constituting the Makimuku cluster had grown to
eight: aza-anashi, Makinouchi,Tsuji, Kusakawa, ta, Hashinaka, Mamegoshi, and
Higaida.52 The many excavations in the area have not uncovered pit-dwellings, yet
evidence of habitation is everywhere. Apparently, subterranean floors were avoided
because of the water-saturation level. Houses were surface dwellings or raised-floor
structures, neither of which has so far left much indication of their existence. This
situation makes it difficult to make any kind of calculation as to the size of the population in the area. There is a way, however, to show how far off the estimate of
70,000 households would be for Yamatai. A household (Ch: hu, J: ko), that is, those
living under one roof, averaged about 5 individuals in Jmon times.The Yayoi and
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Kofun houses were not very different in size, but each appears to have been in
slightly longer use, as communities were more stable. Calculations from a Nara tax
register show that population expansion and urbanization had led to an increase to
about 16.4 individuals by AD 733 (i.e., those residing within one compound and
lumped together for tax purposes). So the eighth-century city of Heij (Nara) is
believed to have had a head count of about 100,000.53 However, comparing these
figures hereone of hunters and gatherers, the other of farmersis unlikely to have
any meaning. But if Yamatai had a household count as against a Heijo head
count, even at the unsurvivable rate of two to a household, Yamatai would surpass
the Nara population by 40 percent.This is absurd. No one doubts the drastic change
in population density brought on by urbanization, but even if the Chinese account
was supposed to read individuals and not families, 70,000 people in scattered villages
encircling the palace of Himiko would be an overcrowded area indeed. Reducing
most of the population figures in the Wei zhi by one-tenth is more reasonable.
Fig. 12.5 Makimuku area, west of Mt. Miwa, with ritual sites outlined (adapted from Sakurai-shi-ritsu
Maiz Bunkazai Senta, Toki kikaku-ten. Makimuku iseki 100-kai chsa kinen, inside cover)
256
Although house remains do not appear, numerous storage pits have been found.
Their contents may include not only food residues but also discarded objects and
spent ceremonial items. Many pits measured 1 to 5 m in diameter. In such damp conditions it is likely that fresh pits were dug each year and old ones used for trash disposal. One described by Ishino contained rice, horse chestnuts, peach seeds, fukube
(melon family), and several wooden tools for farming and equipment for weaving.
There were many pieces of pottery, such as a pot to heat liquids in, and small plates,
miniature wooden birds and boats, and much split wood and charcoal.54 Some sort of
a shack had been built near the pit, and Ishino theorizes that it was probably used as
a temporary place for ceremonies, where fire was made, food and drink were offered,
and after a given time the utensils and ritual objects were thrown into the pit.
Scattered around the hillside of Mt. Miwa and below are many iwakura (rock
shelters; here written as iwaza, rock seat) of gabbro, usually consisting of large
stone slabs, which have been sanctified as spots where the kami are believed to
descend and reside. Some are clustered, such as at kamidani on the slope about
400 m west of the summit of the mountain, or another group in a restricted area
(kinsoku-chi) about the same distance from the top only toward the southwest.55 In
some cases shrines have been built on the spot in such a way that the iwakura are
obscured from public sight.Those that are visible to worshipers and visitors can be
seen to be enclosed by a fence or a straw rope (shimenawa) and may have a signboard
identifying them with a particular deity.
The kamidani area has three especially sacred iwakura, named for their relative locations: Okitsu, the innermost (i.e., closest to the summit); Nakatsu, the middle one; and Hetsu, the one at the foot of the mountain.The uppermost iwakura is
identified with the kami, the great deity, the principal one, and therefore can be
associated with miwa myjin.The middle iwakura is dedicated to namuchi, the
oldest deity in the area specifically identified when he came in from the Izumo
region and was given a new Yamato name; and the lowest iwakura is dedicated to
Sukuna-hikona, the deity known for his contributions to the peoples management
of their health.56 These names would seem to be the oldest local references to personified deities, and therefore these iwakura can be interpreted as Miwa having had
its own, but unspecified, deity until Yamato absorbed or accepted the Izumo deities
along with Izumos method of personalizing them.
Sukuna-hikona appears as a cohort of Susano-o in the Nihon shoki shortly after
the latter had created trees from the hairs of his body and detailed their uses.57
Sukuna-hikona provided help in the control of diseases believed to have been spread
by all levels of unpleasant creatures.58 He was called the son of Kamimusubi, presumed to be the brother of Takamimusubi and so the second of the Takamahara duo
whose offspring deities played out the earthly cycles. His usefulness was limited. He
is said in the Kojiki to have gone to Tokoyo-no-kuni, the nether world.59
namuchi, on the other hand, was omnipresent in numerous cognomens. He is
most likely a Yayoi arrival with the labor drain and, according to the story, may be
best known for his incompatibility with Amaterasu. In the story, an attempt by more
Yamato newcomers to supplant the kami of Mt. Miwa with the Sun Goddess
resulted in a compromise: he took a Yamato name, but she was obligated to move
Fig. 12.6 Upper: Mt. Miwa from the west. Lower: Sacred stones (iwakura) alongside road in
front of haiden, miwa Shrine
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well outside the sphere of contention. In this way a conflict between supporting
families may have been resolved.
The Takamiya jinsha is on the summit of the mountain. From there a path leads
northwest through the kamidani, which is at about the 300 m MSL line, and continues in the same direction to the Hibara Shrine, which lies on about the 120 m
line. It is positioned to provide a good view of Mt. Miwa. The Makimuku River
runs on its north side. Hibara is a sessha, a branch or subsidiary shrine of miwa,
built on the site of an iwakura. It is modeled after its parent shrine with three torii
(gates) leading in. Tradition claims it was a stopping place for the Sun Goddess on
her trek east, perhaps the place called Kasanui in the Nihon shoki where the passage
in reference continues by saying Emperor Sujin proceeded to set up a sacred enclosure at Shiki. Sujins Mizugaki palace was at Shiki.60
One of the better-known sites is Yamanokami, just northeast of Sai jinsha in
front of Mt. Miwa, noted for its large iwakura. Surprisingly, it was dug by the Nara
Education Committee during the Taisho period (in 1918), when such investigations
were not encouraged.61 In the profusion of votive offerings left there, material
ranged from the Yayoi to the Nara period. Sue pottery as platters, bowls, and
pedestaled vessels was in quantity. Other objects included all types of jasper and
steatite beads, pestles, mortars, rice pounders, an iron sword-shaped object, clay
replicas of various sorts, and small, undecorated bronze mirrors. A particularly large
percentage of the artifacts belonged to about a two-hundred-year period, from the
second half of the fourth into the earlier half of the sixth century.62
Sai jinja (sai =lily, in reference to the sacred flower floating on the river dividing life from death) is a shrine dedicated to the female kami Hime-tatara-isuzu-hime
only a few minutes walk west of the miwa Shrine. She was the consort of Jimmu,
traditionally called the first emperor. Unseen by the public, behind the haiden, is the
Kusuri-ido, the well that provides nectar water of medicinal value.
The Anashi-niimasu-hyzu jinja (or just hyzu jinja at Anashi), about 1.5 km
north of the entrance to the miwa Shrine and from where the view of Mt. Miwa
still retains its attractive shape, claims to be the oldest shrine in the area by virtue of
the antiquity of its chief deities, Nomi-no-sukune and Taima-no-kehaya, and reference in the Nihon shoki to Suinins asking the Nakatomi to divine to determine who
should worship the great kami of Yamato.63 For that purpose a sacred place was prepared in the village of Anashi. Muddled claims aside, it will be remembered that Taimano-kehaya, the Yamato braggart, met his match and a gruesome end after Emperor
Suinin invited Izumos greatest wrestler, Nomi-no-sukune, to fight him. Nomi-nosukune stayed in Yamato as adviser to the emperor and master tomb builder.
Among the numerous shrines in the Miwa area, one other of considerable
antiquity is Wakamiya jinja, just north of the second torii of miwa Shrine. It also
goes by the name of tataneko jinja, as the spirit of tataneko is worshiped there.
tataneko was the son of mononushi, and the deity said that if he were to be
found and dragged out of obscurity and worshiped, the miserable conditions would
improve. So tataneko was brought from Osaka and installed there. As the second
shrine of the Miwa area, a jing-ji (shrine-temple) called miwa-dera was built in
its grounds in the Kamakura period, but it was destroyed when shrines were being
divested of their Buddhist connections in Meiji times.
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Here and elsewhere, where investigations have been carried out, it is apparent
that offerings of material goods were made repeatedly under large horizontal ledges
of rocks. Stones might be stacked on rock shelves, or a large one, like a central worship stone, put in.The more valuable objects went under the rocks, the less valuable,
like pottery, in more open spots nearby.At most the objects were simply pushed aside
for the next offering, so that soil or rock debris were natural stratigraphic accumulations. The practice has been compared to the iwakage saishi, the ceremonies at the
rock-shelter ritual sites of Okinoshima, where the geology has many similarities.64
Okinoshima, strategically located in the rough Genkai Sea, retained its popularity as
long as official contacts were maintained with Korea, and the quality of offerings for
safe trips at the many ritual sites remained surprisingly high. Okinoshima was cosmopolitan. Mt. Miwa, on the other hand, tended to remain the worship grounds of
one family and, as Yamatos preeminent shrine, lost its standing to Ise and other
sacred places when the capital sites were settled, first at Fujiwara then at Heij.
People lived along the Hatsuse River at least seven thousand years ago. Southeast
of the mountain and well up the Hase valley a site named Hatsuse yielded Earliest
Jmon pottery, and a site on the 90 m MSL line to the southeast of the Makimuku
sites contained Early Jmon pottery. Latest Jmon pottery was unearthed in the
Miwa Middle School site.65 The head of a female figurine of Latest Jmon, datable
to the first millennium BC, was recovered from one of the Makimuku sites, marking
the first tangible evidence of any ritual activity in Makimuku. Poor articulation of
the features results from the use of granular, sandy clay.
One bronze bell in remarkable condition was discovered in the Daifuku site in
the western part of Sakurai city near the Tera River, lying at the bottom of a ditchsurrounded square grave (hkei-shkbo). Six blank rectangular panels separated by
crosshatched bands on each side place it in the middle stage of bell production and
presumably cast in one of the Osaka workshops. It is not uncommon to find more
than one bell at a time, but a bell found alone might have been deposited by a landholding family rather than by the community as a whole.66
Not until Middle Yayoi did residents come to stay, perhaps because the basin
flooded excessively following Latest Jmon.The three large groups of shrine or open
sites are Makimuku, as already characterized by its tombs and its ritual places; Shiba,
residential components of the site of people who buried their dead south of the
Makimuku group, on higher level land west of the Sakurai train line and just north
of the Sakurai City Buried Cultural Properties Center; and the Chiwara sites at the
western foot of Mt. Miwa, mostly east of the train line, northeast of the Shiba sites
and southeast of the Makimuku cluster. The Chiwara sites also include the tombs
called Tsuzuguchizuka, Umazuka, Chiwara-haka, Bishamonzuka, Bentenzuka, and
Kitsunezuka. Tsuzuguchizuka, Umazuka, and Bentenzuka are currently round;
Kitsunezuka is squarish.67 These tombs have not all been excavated. However,
Chiwara-haka is regarded as the oldest of the group, and its exposed stone passageway and that of Kitsunezuka should make them fifth- and sixth-century tombs
respectively and therefore Late Kofun. It looks as though this particular area was less
occupied during the Middle Kofun period.
The rivers here furnished the community protection usually provided in Yayoi
times by surrounding ditches. Hamlets of dwellings and storehouses in clusters
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receive the designations of villages (mura) by the local archaeologists.68 All the sites
have yielded Middle Yayoi artifacts.The material is mostly Middle Yayoi at the Shiba
site, but ranges from Latest Jmon to the Kofun period. Recovered here were stone
rice reapers, some finely made clay vessels, and clay sherds decorated with scratched
pictures of birds, fish, a storehouse, and human figures.69 Wooden objects were
carved and painted.
The sites yield an abundance of wooden artifacts: agricultural tools, reaping
knives, vessels, bowls, and mortars. Dumbbell-shaped wooden objects (mokusui)
Fig. 12.7 Wooden objects with incised patterns from Makimuku sites. (1) Paddle-shaped
batons: Left: Kibi site. L. 96 cm. Right: Shiba site. L. 85 cm. Both 2 cm thick. Late Yayoi.
(2) Front and back of half an oblong object, ta site. L. 23 cm. 0.9 cm thick. Early Kofun
(Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta, Makimuku iseki 100-kai chsa kinen, cover). (3)
Reconstructed disk from one-third of the original, Makimuku-ishizuka Tomb. Dm. 52 cm.
Early Kofun (Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta, Makimuku no matsuri-ten, 8)
261
averaging 13 cm in length were weights used in weaving mats or reed blinds. The
archaeology reveals increasing ritual activity by Late Yayoi.An especially large number of ritual objects was recovered from the Shiba and Kibi sites, the latter south of
the JR Sakurai train line and about 1 km west of the Sakurai station.
These wooden objects have no obvious practical use. Some were certainly
social indicators. From the Kibi site: a hollow section of a flute, a piece that
appears to be the cap for a flagstaff, part of the handle of a round ceremonial fan
from which project two pieces of the frame. From both the Kibi and Shiba sites:
long, flattish, paddle-shaped objects tapering to rounded heads, perforated in the
middle. A similar object was found in the Kamei site in Osaka.70 Perhaps these
were carried by village heads on ceremonial occasions, and to judge by later wall
paintings, fans were held by attendants over high social personages at such events.
Openwork wooden plaques were finely shaped and elegantly engraved with flowing curved patterns. Fragmented, one-half of an oblong piece is carved on both
sides, and one-third of a circular piece has been reconstructed to a disk of remarkable artistic merit.
In the Daifuku site, which contained material from early Yayoi to the Asuka
period, apparently there were simple pit burials. Coffins for the more affluent but
not rating a mounded tomb were made with several wooden boards or crudely hollowed-out logs, the outside of the tree not even skinned off. Coffins could be
tapered to appear boat-shaped. One well-preserved log coffin is 2.1 m in length, the
lid 30 cm shorter. Four long stakes had been driven into the ground alongside it,
the two on the west side larger.71 These may have supported a kind of sloping shed
roof over the burial, a structure that, in view of the present lack of external evidence
of a grave, once served as its marker.The suggestion has been made that the Daifuku
site was the graveyard for the residents of the Tsuboi site in Kashihara city.72
Important in the new economic system was the artisan class of jewel makers. A
few were probably actually invited from Izumo. Others knew where work was to
be found.The production center was Kaminosho, a site about 1.5 km southwest of
Mt. Miwa. By the end of the fourth century the standard types of steatite beads were
all being made there: cylindrical (kudatama), curved (magatama), and mortar-shaped
(usudama).73 Furu in Tenri city was also a major workshop, but was opened about
fifty years later to meet the needs of people farther north who are represented by
the Yanagimoto tombs.
Kaminoshos material ranged from chunks of raw stone through blanks to finished products. Along with much debris there were tools for working the steatite. A
particular type was made here that had a wide distribution from north Kyushu to
the Kant. Called komochi magatama, mother (with child) curved bead, it is a rather
awkward-looking bead 2 cm or longer with as many as ten small magatama attached
along its back and sides. The most elaborate are covered with numerous drilled
holes, each encircled by a shallow groove. Other than demonstrating an ingenious
manufacturing technique, it is difficult to explain the purpose of the attached beads.
By and large the more than thirty examples found in Miwa sites are earlier than
those from such places as Osaka, Shimane, and Okinoshima.
The evolution of these beads is noted in the shape of the cross-section
round, oval, then flattish. This last type appears in the so-called forbidden zone, a
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triangular area in front of Mt. Miwa that had been generally devoid of artifacts. It
is therefore surmised that the ceremonies had moved into that sacrosanct area by
the sixth century.74
The extensive use of steatite and less and less jasper is connected with greater
demand, a widening stratum of consumers, and doubtless a dwindling trade with
Izumo. Styles changed, from fewer practical items to more symbolic and substitute
ones of cheaper materials. Over the centuries, locally ground out cheap pottery cups,
bowls, plates, and other containers were almost always available at worship centers.
Mt. Miwa and the Miwa Cult

The Mt. Miwa cult is the oldest documented worship practice in Japan and is always
said to retain the most primitive formthe natural formation itself embodying the
spirit of the kami or to which the kami may descend. This shape, however, is not
unique, nor is it the only mountain that is worshiped as such.The strength of tradition here resisted the building of a main sanctuary (honden), the argument for which
would be to localize the deity and give the worshiper a greater sense of the deitys
proximity. In any event, the umbrella kami remained, and individual and lesser deities
received their own assigned platforms for descent.
When shrines were graded sometime during or after the twelfth century,
miwa became the Yamato Ichinomiya, the first shrine of Yamato, honoring its
antiquity and recognizing its continuing importance in medieval times. This tradition extended back to its pre-Izumo relations, when the deity of the mountain was
simply the kami, the great (local) deity, which sometime after the introduction of
esoteric Buddhism gained an equally comprehensive title, Miwa Myjin (literally,
bright or shining deity), for which no English translation is quite adequate.
A simple but formal complex of buildings was probably constructed in the seventh century about the time the Ise Shrine was receiving much attention from the
court.This was partly to compensate for the special interest being generated in the
Sun Goddess and the Ise relocation, and was to ensure that no long-resident deity
in the area was slighted. If a worship hall (haiden) was built at that time, it was
replaced in the Kamakura period and rebuilt in the Edo period, Kanbun 4, or 1664.
The painting and decorative details are typical of the early Tokugawa style.
The old northsouth road, Yamanobe-no-michi, runs along the front of the
courtyard before this worship hall. The building is situated against the rise of the
mountain, leaving only enough space for the third of the well-known sacred gates
directly behind it. The first of these is an immense structure west of the train line.
The second is a little over 200 m east of the tracks on the path leading to the courtyard complex.The torii behind the worship hall has to be discussed from illustrations,
since it is not within sight and is in sacrosanct territory. Nevertheless, it has earned a
special type namethe Miwa typeby virtue of its elaborate form.The usual vertical posts and the lintel and its supporting horizontal beam across the top are supplemented by lower winglike extensions with screen-work boards on either side
called wakitorii (side torii). Two swinging doors close the central opening (itakarato,
Chinese board door).To the best of my knowledge, this is the only type of torii to
include doors, a fact that would seem to defeat its purpose, but perhaps here to make
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clear even to the favored ones that anything beyond is out of bounds. One assumes
this torii dates to the same time the worship hall was erected.
The strange and mysterious rock formations of the mountain, naturally densely
forested with cryptomeria (sugi), are believed to harbor numerous snakes, their
existence being the inspiration for many mythological events, as already noted.
Veneration of snake deities is still prevalent in several parts of the country, and
numerous folktales of snakes circulate widely. Here such veneration is probably the
residual prehistoric belief of the area, despite the implication that the serpent cult
may have come in the train of the Izumo deitys flight to Yamato. Snakes are
believed to be the vehicles for the countless kami that gather at Izumo Shrine
annually. As folk deities, snakes and dragons became interchangeable as ryjin, spirits of water and bringers of rain, in an obvious mixture of indigenous and Chinese
elements. Snakes, in their furtive, enigmatic, and unpredictable ways, had both
benign and evil natures.
Most snakes of the main islands of Japan belong to the harmless garden-variety
of the Colubridae family. One venomous snake of the Viperidae family, however,
known to the Japanese as mamushi (variously, Trigonocephalus Blomhoffi, Gloydius
blomhoffii blomhoffii Boie), less seen at coastal altitudes, has become the center of an
elaborate cult. But despite the relative scarcity of poisonous snakes, the fear and awe
in which they are held has generated the mythology.75
The story has already been related of the snake deity of Mt. Ibuki in mi,
which was the undoing of Yamato-takeru. In the Nihon shoki story, if the snake kami
had ever been benign, Yamato-takerus disrespect in failing to recognize its dominant role brought out its malevolence. It brewed up a devastating storm that upset
his equilibrium and from which he never recovered.76
Snake transformation stories were purportedly early, one told for the time of
Jimmu. In it, mononushi of Miwa plays a big part, although the events supposedly
occurred in Kyushu. By the time the Jimmu stories were put together, kuninushi/mononushi was the ultimate authority for earth-bound deities and so qualified to judge Seya-tatara-hime as beautiful and therefore worthy to be the progenitress
of Jimmus consort. This fact had been recognized by the voyeuring mononushi
while Seya-tatara was at her toilet. He changed himself into a red painted arrow (substitute snake) and titillated her genitals. After some confusion, that night she discovered that the arrow he had put in her bed had become a fine young man. From this
union was born a lovely girl, Princess Hime-tatara-isuke-yori-hime. Jimmu noticed
her one day among a group of girls and married her. Her first name, Hoto-tataraisusuki-hime-no-mikoto, which Philippi translates as Genitals Bellows Panicky
Princess Lady,77 was changed to the more elegant Hime-tatara-isuke-yori-hime.78
As first introduced in the literature, Mt. Miwa is called Mt. Mimoro, but both
names continued in use as late as the reigns of Nintoku and Yryaku, well after the
Miwa term was given a story, if one follows the literary chronology.A Kojiki expression for the time of Sujin says that tataneko was invited from Mino and became
the priest (kamu-nushi/kannushi) of miwa-no-kami at Mt. Mimoro. The stories
were patchwork. The term Miwa is later explained, apparently catching on among
the more aristocratic residents once the snake stories were associated with certain
rulers in the quasi-historical system. Mimoro has had several interpretations, primarily
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august/honorable for mi and room, cave, reception hall, underground lounge, and so
on for moro (as a corruption of muro).79
Transformation was a divine attribute, usually employed in this old literature in
some kind of sexual context for procreative purposes. Transformations went either
way. In both the Princess Yamato-totohi-momoso and the Ikutama-yori Miwa stories
the deity disappeared, the snake deity becoming human, the human becoming snake
deity. The stories were promoted by families to assure descendants that divine genes
were in the line and to explain to the faithful why the prehistoric snake cult had historic validity. In this case Miwa was written phonetically: mi, beauty, and wa, peace,
perhaps because the story was older than the Miwa, three threads, explanation.
Later folk stories of snakes follow much the same patterns, the creatures ranging from those having the supernatural traits of higher kami to those being mere
vehicles for the kami. The stories involve transformations in and out of male and
female human form (but never a change of sex); these body inversions usually result
in offspring.The snakes appear as water deities; cause floods as punishment for mistreatment; transmit disease; are sources of jealousy, especially related to the deity
Benten (Benzai-ten), as shown by coils of snakes around her statues; and are messengers of the kami. On the other hand, snakes can show gratitude for good treatment. Nevertheless, for all of the terror they have created, snakes are caught and
eaten, the mamushi much preferred. Mamushi-zake is snake soaked in rice wine that
is drunk on very special occasions.
The Izumo impact on Yamato was great; Izumo proponents could argue a virtual invasion. The normal interpretation of kuninushis request for help to create more land and the response of a kami who came across the sea telling
kuninushi to worship him is of a migratory clanlike group with its own tutelary deity.80 In answer to kuninushis question as to where, he said in effect the
easternmost of the verdant mountains surrounding Yamato like a fence.81 This
deity then became the kami of Mt. Mimoro. Izumo settlers left their mark. There
are Izumo names on either side of the mountain.82 As Philippi points out, in the
ceremonial prayers in the Engi-shiki, the kami of miwa was the peaceful spirit
(nigi-tama) of namuchi called Yamato-no-mononushi-kushi-mika-tama-nomikoto.83 Tama, the term used for bead, is in many of the names of the deities
and personalities associated with Miwa and is thought to have a connection with
Izumo, the home of bead making.
The religious practices of the Miwa area went through three stages: first, the
pre-Izumo and pre-Mononobe stage, during which the local deities had a faunal
character; second, when the deities were anthropomorphized and personalized, as
the Miwa-Mononobe families sorted out the deities and organized and regularized
the rituals; and third, the later historical stage, when tradition perpetuated the rituals and made adjustments to local cultural interests.
In the earliest stage, the snake cult was recorded as ancient history.This stage is
illustrated in the descriptions of Yamato-takerus movements. At every turn, spirits
in faunal guise threatened his progress, blocked the road, set forest fires, stirred up
adverse weather conditions, or caused his incapacitation. All hindrances were taken
as personally directed acts of nature occasioned by spirits disturbed of their natural
repose. The kami, as superiors with delicate emotions, demanded humility in their
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presence, properly conditioned responses, and respectful treatment. A sincere sense

of awe was required. This Miwa mountain was covered with iwakura, the abode of
these fearful spirits. With so many iwakura unapproachable and perhaps, through
fear, not even all explored, the whole mountain became one religious symbol
known as the all-embracing kami, the great deity.That embodied the unspecified,
and was the grassroots stage, before efforts to name and therefore to grade the kami.
The cult was communalcharacteristic of Yayoi cults of early agricultural groups
the ceremonies probably performed by the local chieftain.
Did Himiko call this deity kami? And when the kami were later identified by
name, which was the first one worshiped? In arguing his thesis of the initial male
gender of Amaterasu, Matsumae tries to answer the second of these two questions.
It is introduced here because of its connection with the snake cult. One aspect of it
is the theory that Amaterasu was originally a snake deity, tying it to this locale.This
thesis hinges on several points, one of which is the totally genderless title. Many
Amateru or Amateru-mitama shrines are referred to in medieval documents, mostly
in the Kinki, and almost all are dedicated to Amateru-kuniteru-hoakari (Heavenshining-fire), usually regarded as a male solar deity.84 This was also the case with the
Ama or Amabe, fishing clans.The Yamato people found one of their sacred spots at
Ise, which lacked strong local connections, and appropriated it. The Atsuta Shrine
only came to worship Amaterasu--mikami after Kusanagi was sent there.The deity
venerated before the sword arrived may have been Amateru-kuniteru-hoakari.85
Matsumae tells of a legend that circulated among the priests of Ise Shrine as
recorded by a medieval monk in his diary.The kami kept the same bed nightly with
the saig, virgin priestess. Scales like those from a snake or a lizard were in her bed
in the morning, but only Amaterasu knew what form this kami took.This elicited a
remark in the diary: In ancient times Amaterasu was regarded as a snake deity or
as a sun deity.86
The reason for sending the saig (special ambassador) to Ise was to provide the
male deity with female company, as Yamato-totohi-momoso became the deitys
wife or as shaman wives were taken by rulers. Other examples of this can be cited.
In Kyoto at the Kamo Shrine, unmarried women called areotome were chosen by
divination from the Kamo clan to serve the thunder kami Wakeikazuchi. Even
today, the blind female shamans (itako) are believed to be the wives of deities.
Matsumae continues by noting that in the old texts a long procession of sacred
priestesses was assigned by each ruler to Ise Shrine, but this is not likely to be historically true until the early sixth century.87 Emperor Yryaku gave Ise a great deal
of attention, and early rituals there involved making offerings to the sacred pillar
(shin-no-mihashira), which is still built under the floor of the shden in the reconstructions every twenty years. Later, in the fifth or sixth century, about the time the
mirror became the center of worship, the sex change took place under the influence
of male Yamato rulers as the imperial family and others began to identify their ancestry with the deities.88 One faulty mirror was cast, and it went to the Hinokuma
Shrine in Kii (Wakayama) where, Matsumae thinks, the Yamato first worshiped their
ancestral deity.A second mirror was cast, this one perfectly, and it was donated to Ise.
Neither the Kojiki nor the Nihon shoki mentions two mirrors. In one version in
the latter book, the mirror that was put away in the cave after Amaterasu came out
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she provided the light, the mirror was no longer necessarywas slightly damaged. It
still has the marks, the book says. However, the Kogoshi of the early ninth century,
written to protest the Imbe familys loss of status and right to conduct ceremonials,
tells the story of two mirrors.89 This book explains very clearly why the Imbe felt
they and the Nakatomi should always be on an equal footing (in Temmus reorganization of the kabane system, the Nakatomi were made asomi, while the Imbe were
given sukune, a rank lower). The Imbe family claimed descent from Takamimusubi
and the Nakatomi from Mamumimusubi, assumed to be brother deities in the High
Plain of Heaven. Two deities who were the ancestors of these two families and the
erotic dancer, mother of the Sarume family, were charged with finding a way to lure
Amaterasu from the cave. This heavy burden, on which depended the future of all
existence, bestowed on these three (actually, just the two) equal rights.This explanation leads to Matsumaes belief that Takamimusubi was the deity the Yamato worshiped before Amaterasu.90 He points out that in the Jingi-kan, the Office of Shinto
Affairs at the court, Takamimusubi is one of the eight deities that receive special
attention. The royal lines in all of the old Korean kingdoms claimed direct descent
from the solar deity, Matsumae continues, which is why the Yamato made the same
claim. This divine radiance,91 coming across the sea, alludes to the acceptance of
this solar deity with which the rulers identified themselves.
In this search to identify the Yamato kami, it is hard to envision the conditions
that would have brought about the transsexual change as proposed by Matsumae.
Unquestionably, all of the creation stories were written in contemporary language
and recorded after the transformation is said to have taken place. Neologisms in
these early stories, which theoretically occurred during the Stone Age, are rampant: the bronze spear and mirror, rice fields, roof tiles on the palace where
Amaterasu was weaving, and so on. Genderless names are common in early Japan,
but tradition has usually identified them with one sex. By the eighth century at least,
the writers had no doubt about the gender of Amaterasu.Among the versions of her
birth, one in the Nihon shoki attributes it to Izanagi and Izanami.They produced hiru-me-no-muchi (Great-noon-female-of-possessor).92 As Ellwood says, the me is
used something like a female consort deity to a male kami.93 The name is commonly seen as Amaterasu--mi-kami, but may be Amateru-mi-kami or Amateru-kami (Heaven-illuminating Great Deity).94 Although she otherwise played a small
role in Takamahara, she was the prime progenitress. Her grandson was sent to earth.
She was a weaver, working in a womans occupation. She was held up as the benevolent ideal against her brother, Susano-o, the symbol of evil.This resplendent spirit,
described as coming across the sea, is characterized as a (male) rival to Amateru, and
its unwillingness to share the space was the cause of Amaterasus being cashiered to
Ise. Were two male deities contesting for space? If she had been female could they
have lived in harmony? Shrines for female kami are often built near shrines dedicated to male kami. Stories of space sharing circulate, but they have to be converted
to political terms to be rationally interpreted. Politically speaking, Amaterus fumbling around in the Yamato area for a place can be taken to imply weak Yamato uji
support, which translates into only modest local political strength at the time.
When Amateru reappeared on the Yamato scene in the Nihon shoki story she
was simply a nuisance. For a long time the Yamato court, conscience-stricken for
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mistreating her and never ceasing to worry about retaliation, appeased her by sending a saig to Ise to kowtow before her. But Temmu, at a low point in his bid to capture the throne, had sought her help. He faced Ise and worshiped.95 The tide of
battle then swung in his favor, making him forever beholden to her. Additionally,
when he realized the Miwa priesthood had not been sufficiently supportive in his
fight for the throne, he centered his attention on the Sun Goddess at Ise. Moreover,
Temmus wife, Jit, who later became sole ruler after his death, was herself an experienced shaman who had a special relationship to Ise.
Matsumae thinks the list of saig prior to the early sixth century was fabricated.
He would start it, in other words, in Keitais reign. The Nihon shoki offers the following information, which would fit with Himikos early age: the practice began
with Sujin.96 He sent the daughter of his second wife to some sacred spot called
Kasanui. Suinin sent the only daughter of his empress, and she found the place at
Isuzu, which later came to be called Ise, the location of the grand shrines. For Keik
it was the only offspring of his second wife and for Yryaku it was the only daughter of his second wife.97
Some confidence is gained in the Nihon shoki chronology because of the
description of the site to which these saig were sent. The logical steps from an
open-air worship spot to the construction of formal buildings are spelled out over
a period of time. In Sujins reign the Sun Goddess occupied the space of a sacred
enclosure outlined by trees (himorogi). In Suinins reign an abstinence shrine
(itsuki-no-miya) was built, probably for the designated priestess. From Yryakus time
the princesses were sent to the Ise Shrine (Ise jing) to serve the kami.98 The term
jing is late in use, but can be applied only to an important complex of religious
structures.The name Amaterasu--kami was used in connection with Sujin to initiate the process of finding her a permanent home, but once she was settled the
generic term great deity needed no qualification.
Discussing the position of the Sun Goddess in the Miwa-Yamato cults has
opened the second stage in the evolution of Miwa religious practices. The Izumo
train arrived, turmoil followed, Amateru was moved out, and the way was cleared
for the organization of regular ceremonies by the Miwa/Mononobe. In the stories
this starts with the arrival of kuninushis alter ego.Tribal or clan heads with representatives near the palace had identified their own tutelary kami, and Sujin had
found this surfeit of deities both unnerving and suffocating.
This next stage in religious developments involves a proliferation of lesser
deities, who take on the characteristics of a human social hierarchy, mimicking the
rising social classes. A professional and powerful priesthood emerges as part of the
inner circle of rule. Families contend for the right to conduct the rituals, in other
words, to represent the people as a whole in dealing with the higher spirits.
The Mononobe appeared on the scene as an organized family group, and proceeded to manage and formalize the practices.They receive rather little notice in the
Kojiki, and only as an appended note when first mentioneda comment perhaps
added later by a sympathetic Mononobe-related editor. At any rate, the notice is in
the time of Jimmu, referring to the birth of a child called Umashi-maji-no-mikoto,
who, it was explained, was the ancestor of the Mononobe.99 The Nihon shoki tells the
same story with embellishments.100 Both are late additions to validate the familys
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claims. The second mention in the Kojiki is historical, occurring in the reign of
Emperor Keitai around 527, at the time Iwai in Tsukushi had refused to cooperate
with the Yamato government.The heads of the Mononobe and tomo houses were
sent down to exterminate him.101
The Mononobe began their second religious centerand possibly the oldest
sacred structures in Yamatoeven more closely identified with them, Isonokami
Shrine. Situated at the north end of the Yamanobe-no-michi, it was strategically
placed to have a religious complex at the terminal points of this important thoroughfare. Furu is the old name for the area. Emperors Rich (17), Ank (20), and
Ninken (24) are all said to have had palaces in the vicinity.
The founding of Isonokami Shrine is connected by the Mononobe with the
deity Futsumitama, who was sent to fight with Jimmu. His sword was transferred
here from Kashihara by Emperor Sujin. As mentioned earlier, in keeping with the
bifaceted profession of the family, the shrine is known for its collection of swords
and mirrors and has a famous seven-branched, inscribed iron sword known as
Shichishit (or Nanatsu-sayano-tachi) with a generally agreed-upon date the equivalent of AD 369. Some accept the tradition that it was a trophy of the Silla war and
carried to Jing about 372 by a mission from the king of Paekche.The Nihon shoki
dates its receipt to 252.102 The Izumo presence is here as well. An Izumo-takeo
shrine is situated in the compound, dedicated to this Izumo deity.
Sujin had no trouble if he wanted to call an assembly of deities, and the
Mononobe may have preferred to have most of them there for better contact and
control. Their presence constituted a major source of power. But discord between
the ujigami signified antagonism among tribal/clan groups, most likely between
longtime residents and new arrivals.The story of the unique way of deciding on his
successor by interpreting his sons dreams, a story told only in the Nihon shoki, was
set on Mt. Mimoro. Surveying the country from the summit of Mt. Mimoro was
intended to invoke divine inspiration, and verification of authenticity through similar dreams occurred on other occasions. The fundamentals of the story are simple
enough: an explanation as to why the kingship went to the younger brother.
The Mononobe had gained the upper hand when Amaterasu--mikami was
forced out, but their position at the court was jeopardized when the emperors
directed their interest to developing the Osaka Plain, beginning with jin (15).
Eleven are supposed to have followed him. Nevertheless, by virtue of their profession and shrewdness, the Mononobe were still the most durable of kingmakers, and
presumably insisted that the royal residence be in Yamato, if not Sakurai itself, in
exchange for their support, even if the rulers wanted to be buried in Osaka.
Yryaku (21) finally settled in Hatsuse, as close to Miwa as one could be, supported by the heads of the Heguri, tomo, and Mononobe houses. A story illustrating Yryakus insensitivity and insolence is told for his seventh year. This was
about the middle of the fifth century. He demanded of one of his courtiers to see
the form of the kami of Mt. Mimoro (using the characters for three and wheel).103
A note has been added at this point in the Nihon shoki narrative saying there are differences as to who this deity is, some claiming it to be monoshironushi, others,
Uda-no-sumizaka. Yryaku taunted the courtier about his strength, so he therefore
had little choice but to try to capture the deity. He went up the hill and caught a
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huge snake, which he brought to the emperor.The emperorwho, the book says,
had not done his purificationwas petrified by the fierce creature whose thunder
rolled, and . . . eyeballs flamed.104 He hid his eyes and rushed to the back of the
palace, ordering the release of the creature on the mountain. He called it Ikazuchi
(thunderbolt).
This story underscores the principle that even a ruler could not control the
kami, and that contemptuous treatment of oneespecially if an individual had not
cleansed himself to be in his/her/its presencecould be dangerous. This may be
another story of contentious kami, Uda-no-sumizaka another casualty of shuffling
deities since he is today enshrined at Haibara-ch, about 10 km to the east, along
the river valley. Yryaku, like others before him who accepted the transformation
stories, thought the kami took some form of identifiable visible substance.The Nihon
shoki note indicates that even later, thought was still being given to the problem as
to which deity was actually the kami of the Miwa area.
Only kami could remind Yryaku of his human weaknesses, so in the higher
scheme of things they were stationed on either side of the Nara Basin in order to keep
his overbearing manner in check. In the Kojiki, the deity of Mt. Katsuragi took the
form of a boar. When it charged, the emperor saved his skin but lost his dignity by
climbing a tree. In the Nihon shoki he kept his honor, killing it after shooting it with
an arrow when his attendants failed to do so. In another story told for the same mountain, the explanation for which is quite a puzzle, Yryaku was walking up the hillside
with his courtiers all robed in green when they saw a similarly dressed group across
the valley walking up the other side. Thinking that no others were entitled to be
dressed as Yamato courtiers, he asked who they were. Like an echo, a voice came back
with an identical question. Angered, the emperor put an arrow in his bow, as did his
courtiers, and the other group did exactly the same, in a mirror image. Then the
emperor ordered them to give their names, saying they would do the same, then shoot.
The voice from the other side volunteered his name as good fortune with one word,
bad fortune with one word, the word-deciding deity; I am the deity who dispells
with a word the evil and with a word the goodthe Great Deity of Kadzuraki, Lord
of One Word. This deity is Katsuragi-no-hito-koto-nushi-no--kami.105
The emperor was intimidated when he recognized whom he had confronted
and apologized for not realizing the kami could reveal itself. He offered his sword to
Hito-koto-nushi and had all of the courtiers present their costumes, acts that pleased
the deity immensely. Hito-koto-no--kami then graciously took Yryaku back to
the foot of Mt. Hatsuse (i.e., Miwa).The explanation here is of a deity of divination
who could be appreciated for replying in single-word answers. He was also moved
or removed, whether voluntarily or otherwise. This deitys shrine is now in Gose
city, Nara prefecture.106
Miwa was the scene of the murder of one of Emperor Richs sons near the
opening of Yryakus reign. Prince Mima107 went to Musa, territory of the lord of
Miwa, but was attacked and taken captive by an unidentified gang. Before he was
killed he cursed the water in the Iha well in Miwa: drinkable by commoners but
not by royalty.This action preceded the installation of Yryaku, meaning that assassination was not an uncommon part of the political process, done by members of
the ruling faction.
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The tomo and Heguri seem to have had the emperors ear during the reign
of Seinei (22), who kept a palace at Iware.The writers were not sure where Kenz
(23) resided, but Ninken lived at Isonokami.Admittedly, the cruelest and most sadistic early ruler was Buretsu (25), who was, in fact, so evil the strain had to be terminated.108 Although Buretsu had an empress, Kasuga-no-iratsume (whose father could
not be identified), the writers let the problem solve itself by not naming any offspringwho may have all been eliminated at an early age.The Heguri house head
tried a coup, but when he and his son were both killed by the tomo, the Heguri
influence at the court died with them. Buretsus reign follows this story of tomo
and Heguri rivalry. The story was built around Emperor Ninkens oldest son, who
was attracted to a Mononobe daughter, but who herself was more enamored of a
Heguri son. In any event, this surviving son of Ninken became Emperor Buretsu. He
lived at Hatsuse.The Mononobe stayed out of the action, but were on the winning
side, doubtless pleased that much of the competition was being eliminated.
When Keitai (26) was put on the throne around 510 after considerable search
for a suitable candidate, those named as responsible were tomo, Mononobe, and
Kose. They are said to have been confirmed in their previous offices, so the Kose,
who lived south of the Asuka region, had replaced the Heguri during Buretsus
reign. Keitai was a distant relative from outside the Yamato culture area and unfamiliar with Yamato court life. He had a residence at Tsutsuki in Yamashiro. In a love
story of an imperial prince and an imperial princess, communicating with each
other through a series of poems with the usual melancholy overtones, she spoke of
a bamboo floating down the Hatsuse River, one end becoming a lute, the other a
flute. If she were to go to the summit of Mimoro and play it, she said, even the fish
of the Iware pond would come to the surface and lament.109 At first impression,
the naivet of someones wandering around Mt. Miwa playing a wooden instrument
is a little unnerving coming as the story does after the account of Emperor
Yryakus reaction to the materialized form of the local deity, but his intention of
trapping the kami was hostile.This and other references suggest that there was then
no special taboo about climbing the mountain if one so desired, and elsewhere in
the literature the music was welcomed by the (snakes and other) kami for its soothing mood, adding to the tranquility of the countryside.
Both Ankan (27) and Senka (28) were worked into the official line, but they are
weak links in the chain, probably poorly concealing fundamental succession problems. For Ankan the tomo and Mononobe kept their official positions at the
court, and in addition to the empress, the emperor was provided with three consorts, one of whom was a Kose daughter and another a Mononobe daughter. His
palace was called Kanahashi, today in Magarigawa-ch, Kashihara city. Senka is said
to be the brother of Ankan, both sons of Keitai. He had a palace in Hinokuma, a
place in the southern part of Asuka, about 3 km southwest of Sakurai.The tomo
and Mononobe heads continued in their positions, and Soga-no-iname and Abeno-maro were given titles.
Emperor Kimmei (29) reigned as pressures were reaching a climax on the
Korean peninsula and missions arrived more frequently from Paekche soliciting aid.
Japan was on the verge of losing its traditional ally Mimana/Imna/Kaya on the
south Korean coast, which was its normal conduit to higher Korean culture, and
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Paekche needed material help in its battles over land and resources with Silla.
tomo-no-kanamura was reappointed at the court, but his Mononobe counterpart
was new, Mononobe-no-okoshi, his father having died toward the end of Senkas
reign, the book says. Soga-no-iname continued as -omi.110 When Kimmei moved
his palace to Shikishima in his first year (c. 540), the Mononobe had come full circle and were back in home territory.
According to the Nihon shoki, after years of agonizing over how to handle the
Korean crisis the emperor saw a ray of hope in the offerings of a new mission.The
envoy who arrived in 552 (Kimmei 13) carried a Buddhist image and banners, their
magic promoted by a persuasive spokesman. The Soga, with an immigrant background, wanted to accept the objects and try their usefulness. The Mononobe and
the Nakatomi, the latter now headed by Kamako, objected. The Nakatomi, as the
residual proprietors of older Yamato religious practices, claimed no adversities in the
worship of the 180 deities of heaven and earth, so these deities should not be
angered. Kimmei, however, saw acceptance of the Buddhist trappings as one more
means of meeting Paekches concerns, the possibility that some form of hitherto
unknown higher power would be helpful in their present predicament, and a way
of weakening Mononobe and Nakatomi power.
The rest of the story is well known: the Sogas attempts to use the sacred objects,
a plague attributed to the displeasure of the local deities, the destruction of the objects,
another plague interpreted as perhaps brought on by the resentment of the Buddhist
deities, and the battle that destroyed the Mononobe forces. Kimmei died around 571
and was succeeded by Bidatsu and then by Ymei, who is called the first Buddhist
emperor. Apparently the Mononobe, now led by Moriya, thought the Miwa practicesif not the most fundamental aspects of traditional Japanese culturewere by
this time seriously threatened and needed strong countermeasures. In this story,
Ymeis sickness and then death in 587 created a crisis of succession. Led by Prince
Hatsusebe, the twelfth child and fourth son of Emperor Kimmei, later Emperor
Sushun, the Soga mustered a disparate group of family heads and followers and
attacked the Mononobe stronghold in Osaka. Luck and divine help was with them.
Mononobe Moriya was killed along with his family and retainers. Scattering, some
Mononobe took the name of Katsube.The familys possessions were confiscated.
The Mononobe had presided over shaping the existing cult into the Yamato
worship system. Yet in the lists of prominent court officials, still during the time the
religious and secular powers of the ruler were indivisible, the Mononobe were never
ranked first. If we accept the order of listing as always having meaning, they were
second-stringers who never quite reached the top.They felt threatened by cultural
innovations and worked to stave off the day the rulers would eventually divide their
patronage between the indigenous religious practices and the foreign practices that
came to be known as Buddhism.
The date of Buddhisms arrival is immaterial here.The Soga victory closed the
chapter on the Mononobe in the Miwa area. Nevertheless, by then the cult was
running on its own momentum, and the ceremonials were institutionalized and
readily maintained.
Maiz Bunkazai Center archaeologists in Sakurai speak of the Miwa clan, perhaps thinking in generic terms, and trace its origins to Suemura in Osaka, known
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for the hundreds of kilns that produced Sue ceramics from the early fifth century.111
The Kojiki says tataneko came from Mino (Gifu). By personalizing the migration, the Kojiki writers picked the wrong reign for the story and so confused the
chronology, as this deity was expected to terminate a plague during Sujins reign
(late third century) if he could be found and persuaded to come. But the production of Sue pottery was not in full swing in the Yamato area until the middle of the
fifth century, a good century and a half later. With the archaeology revealing a considerable presence of ritual artifacts at that time, the local archaeologists consider
this change to have coincided with the standardization of the ceremonies by the
Miwa clan about the time of Emperor Yryaku. According to them, the original
rituals began there in the late third century, perhaps fifty years after the opening of
the Kofun period.
The third stage in the evolution of the Miwa cult is the perpetuation of the cult
into medieval and modern times. By 1081 the court had named twenty-two shrines
as worthy of special privilege. miwa was one of these, but it is only a little above
the middle of the list, just ahead of Isonokami and yamato.
Over the centuries, the triangular space created by the flow of the Hatsuse and
Makimuku rivers has been home to five communities from whose daughters were
selected the miko who performed the religious duties at the miwa Shrine.112 The
space has been called Mizugaki-mura (village of the sacred precinct), and a small
number of ambiguous references to outlines, boundaries, partitions, or fences appear
in the old texts, suggesting an enclosed area, thus leading one to believe that some
kind of holy place was accessible to only a select few. In one instance, in a Kojiki
story, Yryaku noticed a beautiful woman washing clothes along the bank of the
Miwa River. He told her to wait for him; she would be called. She waited eighty
years and then sent him gifts, reminding him of his promise. Her age now precluded
any liaison. In the poems that went back and forth lamenting the lost time, she spoke
of the sacred oaks of Mimoro and after his reply said, At Mimoro, they built a jeweled fence, but left part unfinished.113 As Philippi points out, various translations
and interpretations are possible some changing the meaning considerably, but one is
the incomplete relationship.The jeweled fence (tamagaki) is the streets of gold
motif, a setting of unsurpassed magnificence, inhabited only by the qualified.
The miko are chosen at junior high school age and put through a rigorous period
of training in all of the ceremonies and the many dances performed at the shrine.
They learn to play the koto. Their duties include early morning sweeping of the
shrine grounds as a penitential chore, making offerings of food and sake to the kami
before prayers are recited, and selling prayers and charms to visitors. Meeting more
recent public interests, kuninushi is today seen as the patron deity of marriage,
medicine, music, sake, and travelers. Most visitors simply worship Miwa myjin.
While much of the literature is allegorical and allusive, if it were possible to be
more assured of when it was written, one might come closer to determining when
the whole hill became sanctified. There is a certain nonchalance about playing a
flute on its summit, and a detached abstraction when two brothers dreamed of gazing on the Yamato world from its top.Although described as in a dream, perhaps just
making it through the hazardsthinking of the kind of experience Yryaku had
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with the ferocious mountain deity who was enraged at being disturbedto get to
the top was thought to be one of the tests of competence for governing.As for providing a protected place to worship, Sujin sang in a poem of opening the door of
the hall of Miwa, the shrine of the kami: feasted in the Shrine of the God. In a
poem, answering a similar one from the officials, he said, The Hall of Miwa (Of
sweet sake fame), Even its morning-door I would push openThe door of the Hall
of Miwa.114 A simple structure may have been put there about the time the large
tombs were being built in the neighborhood. Perfectly shaped Mt. Miwa, ideally situated on the edge of the basin, closer than other prominent hills and therefore visible from all of the settlements in the southern piedmont, symbolized a dominating
guardian deity for the people of the area.
Retrospective and Conclusion

Arguments for the location of Yamatai in either Kyushu or Yamato are the only ones
worth considering. Nowhere else were there flourishing communities on the requisite commanding scale. However, one should add at this point, there is little evidence
in Himikos time bracket for a major cult center in Kyushu that, like Mt. Miwa, had
the potential of contributing to the growth of the early religious practices.
Most arguments and counterarguments have been around so long their origins
are obscure. They quickly reveal the stance of the speaker. Take, for instance, some
of these: North Kyushu does not have the space for the thirty-odd chiefdoms
Himiko dominated; the Wei zhi statistics are always exaggerated. The distances are
wrong but the directions are right (putting Yamatai in south Kyushu); both the
directions and the distances have been shown to be completely unreliable.The text
says Ito is north of Yamatai, so Yamatai must be south of it in Kyushu; repeat the
stock answer of the unreliability of the directions, but add the lack of a thriving
community farther south. Ito, with a population of only a thousand or more households, is too small to be so crucial to Himikos management of Wa territory; Ito and
Na were confused by the Chinese writer. Himiko is not in either old Japanese text,
so she must have lived in Kyushu out of the Yamato picture; the Japanese writers
thought the Chinese were referring to Jing, who was in both Kyushu and Yamato.
The arguments and counterarguments continue. There is not one word in the old
Japanese accounts of that time about international relations with China through
Korea; therefore they could have been conducted only from Kyushu and thus not
recorded. Jing did have contacts with Korea, but they are described with a totally
different purpose in mind. Would it not have been a feather in the emperors cap if
the Chinese had paid him enough attention to send a mission and gifts? The Nihon
shoki writers would never have missed a chance to describe it. The eighth-century
writers did mention dealing with emissaries from China. Because they thought
Himiko was Jing, it is right there in the record of Jings thirty-ninth year, so they
accepted it from the Wei zhi as having happened. No one will ever be able to prove
that a mirror dated between about 238 and 248 can be associated with Himiko.
Dated mirrors are so relatively few that the number that fit into that time bracket
can hardly be coincidental. There will never be a shortage of arguments, so, given
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the contradictions in the text, it becomes a matter of applying the most convincing
evidence in support of the case being made.
Major dynastic changes in China inevitably spilled over into Japan. By the end
of the Yayoi period, Japan was directly involved with the politics of the peninsula and
the eastern boundaries of China, so that conditions in Japan echoed, if they were not
created by, convulsions in Korea and Chinese encroachments in that region. Pressures
on northeastern people had followed the collapse of Qin and the founding (202 BC)
and expansion of the Han dynasty, pushing transitory groups south through Korea in
dominolike fashion. Social structure was being added by immigrants to the new Yayoi
culture in north Kyushu who brought bronze weapons and mirrors and introduced
the use of iron. Rice raising provided the evolving culture with an economic base.
Some three decades ago Kanaseki and Sahara had already pointed out the
inventions of the Yayoi culture they called Advances.115 Ironically, two are noted
at the Itazuke site in Fukuoka and therefore could not be more precisely situated in
the path of traffic from Korea. These were not Jmon inventions, but must have
been local responses to very immediate security needs: chipped stone tools in the
shape of spearheads and baked-clay slingshot projectiles. Also identified as original
to early Yayoi were ditch-surrounded square burial mounds, the oldest of which was
said to be the lowest level in the Ikegami-sone site in Osaka.
The others are more conversions than inventions, with the locals adapting
arriving practical objects to cult use or reproducing existing types in a new material. Both the bronze weapons and bronze bells were locally modified and shaped
into major ritual articles. Bronze whorls, called tomoegata dki (whirl-shaped object
with central boss), were presumably decorative ornaments for leather shields.Added
to these Yayoi advances were comma-shaped beads in glass.All in all, Kanaseki and
Sahara looked favorably on the Yayoi creative tendency: Generally speaking, the
Yayoi people exhibited an ability to innovate.116
The construction of large mounded tombs in Japan is again too coincidental
with the breakup of the Han dynasty (AD 220) not to be related. Some mound
builders were undoubtedly among the new migrants, but without doubt by the end
of the Yayoi period tribal groups had coalesced under security needs, the power of
chieftains had become greatly inflated with land acquisitions and access to or control of metal resources, and the chieftains or their associates had gained stature by
exercising their special relationship to the kami. This last was a view promoted by
the rising professional class of diviners. Collections of tribes in the major population
centers of north Kyushu, Izumo, Kibi, and the Kinki were under Yamato pressure
to join the larger confederacy. The Wa then got their first chief among chieftains
(kimi), called Sujin tenn by later writers. All of this centralization of power set the
stage for the building of the tombs.
A popular opinion is that the lavish gifts sent twice by Himiko to Wei were to
assay the Chinese attitude and to solicit help against Kona, the most unruly tribal
group near her domain, and the Chinese excessive generosity in reciprocal gifts was
to gain an understanding with the Wa to stay across the water where they belonged,
but to keep the south Koreans occupied to the extent they had to cover their rear
flank.The first part of this equation presupposes Kona to be geographically within
275
the Chinese orbit of influence. The second part is the unanswered question, Was
Yamatai strong enough to affect the course of events on the Korean peninsula? The
Chinese apparently thought so at that time.
Several comments on the Chinese text seem in order.The writer of the Wei zhi
was trying to be factual. He had little reason to fictionalize or manipulate his information. Putting the barbarians in an inferior perspective had already begun when the
term Wa was applied to the people of the southeastern islands.The broader view that
non-Chinese were generally uncivilized was pervasive, so it need not have colored
any particular part of his account. While he tended to visualize the Wa as relatively
homogeneous inhabitants of a single area and politically cohesive, his sources were
quite varied. Despite naming different officials in different tribal areas and describing
different environmental conditions, he was probably largely unaware of the considerable regional diversity in customs and frequently unsure from which social stratum
his information had been derived.The notations are, in fact, a mixed bag, the information ultimately from diverse sources ranging from aristocratic drinking circles to
observations of the farmer in the field. Since the local customs were diverse (for
example, burial materials and methodsranging over dolmens, cists, jars, wooden
coffins, direct inhumations, secondary burials, square groupings, mounded tombs),
blanket statements are patent oversimplifications and need to be understood as such.
His language lacked the means of adequately describing some of the unfamiliar
aspects of Wa life and the political structure of each tribal unit.
Unless the name Yamaichi/Yamatai was a Chinese attempt to come up with a
phonetic equivalent of Yamatoand Furuta, for instance, was trying to show it was
notit could just as well have been Shinjuku or Mitaka. Otherwise, it is not clear
why it needed to be changed to Yamatai. But whatever the name, the target of the
hunt is the dominant polity of the Wa country whose leader, at least in received
name, was Himiko.
Omissions lead one to wonder whether Chen Shou had not been given the
information, left it out intentionally as of dubious value, or deemed it too mundane
to include. Certain omissions open themselves to interpretation. His geographical
and environmental descriptions are of water, islands, flora, and fauna. Geology was
not among his descriptions, but in contrast to the relative calm of the home territory from which he saw the rest of the world, the active volcanoes from middle
Kyushu toward the south should have struck him as worth mentioning.Volcanoes
were more active and earthquakes more frequent two millennia ago. Nevertheless,
neither were remarked on as part of the Japanese scene. His informants interests had
turned them east, not south, after their arrival in Tsukushi.
There is no reference in the Wei zhi to ditches encircling villages or semisubterranean living. Did Chen Shou know about the general lack of pit-dwellings in
the Nara Basin? (The Chinese had outgrown pit-dwellings and their conical roofs
after they progressed into historic times.) A few regions, such as Shimane and
Okayama, tended to retain the round or oval Yayoi floor plan, but most were turning to square floors in the first century of tomb building, especially on the east side
of Honshu, where they usually had four equally spaced posts to support the
thatched ceiling-roof.117
276
There is also no mention of tooth removal and filing in the Chinese text. Its
popularity was declining toward the end of Yayoi. No reference is made to making
and burying large bronze bells, yet the power of magic as manipulated by Himiko
intrigued the Chinese. Yayoi had pronounced regional characteristics, continuing
a major feature of the Jmon culture. Why were these cultural features omitted?
The most likely answer, other than the Chinese one-dimensional observations
and the tendency to receive a single answer for every question, exclusive of house
design, is that these were aspects of the Yayoi culture and were fast disappearing
from the Wa landscape.
On the other hand, in the less diversified Kofun period there is nothing by
Chen Shou about grave-goods, which were obviously a significant part of the economy. Much iron in the tombs is newarmor, weapons, toolsall evidence of considerable local production.The Chinese trade in mirrors is made specific in the story
of the presentation to Himiko. Large, tubular clay cylinders placed on the mounds
were in a Yayoi tradition and led to the use of haniwa later. In describing the mortuary practice of the Wa, the Wei zhi speaks of a (wooden) coffin heaped over with
dirt to make a mound. This, Himikos burial in a large moundregardless of the
arguments over its sizeand the use of tortoise carapaces for divination place these
activities at the beginning of the Kofun period. Kyushu at that juncture in time had
yet to initiate the construction of substantial tumuli, so it must be assumed that the
information had in some way been received from the Yamato region.
Chen Shou was describing early Yamato. However far that visiting mission
wentif that was his primary source of informationmuch of his raw material was
gathered from the most reputable and culturally advanced source. The grave-goods
practice was so commonplace to the Chinese there was nothing particularly notable
about it. Because the oldest mounded tombs had been dated by archaeologists as after
Himikos time, the search had been on for a Yayoi tribal princess, but Himiko commanded a confederation of between twenty and thirty chieftains and therefore an
enormous number of laborers. Many omissions cannot be explained if the mounded
tombs are misdated by half a century. Himiko was transitional to Early Kofun, and
the Chinese historian was up-to-date, at least with this part of his narrative.
Consider distances:They are always given in large whole numbers, such as 1,000
and 500 li and twenty days by water or one month by land. Occasionally they are
modified as or more. The base number is always simplistic.The longer and shorter
distances are actually reversed in the Korean Strait and Genkai Sea, a point that
might be excused because of cross winds, currents, and reports of different conditions following round-trips, but all are extremely rough estimates, and confusion
even in relatively short distances over water traversed by thousands of travelers
makes them suspect and quite useless for modern analysis. Any attempt to calculate
the length of the li from these descriptions may be an interesting cerebral exercise,
but it is a fruitless one.
As has been pointed out by Okazaki and others, the stops after Ito of Na,
Fumi, Toma, and then Yamatai are not qualified with descriptions other than the
distance or travel time involved and the size of the community. This lack of
description suggests to these scholars that the Chinese never went beyond Ito.118
277
It also explains their one-dimensional data, as though one phrase characterized all
of Wa.To this can be added the change from giving distances in li to quoting them
in travel time, apparently information that was more likely received from Japanese
sources. Without a common yardstick between li and travel time, the latter is
almost meaningless.
If the distances are totally untrustworthy, the directions are at least undemonstrable.They too are simplistic: south, southeast, more south, and so on. A common
view is to turn them 90 degrees. If diagrammed, the route to Yamatai resembles a
staircase, resulting in a longer trip than necessary if taken literally. Until recent centuries the Chinese drew maps of east Asia that strung out the Japanese islands parallel to the China coast. The Wei zhi description keeps moving the islands
progressively farther away, regardless of where one wishes to locate Yamatai.
The numbers given for the size of each community are treated like the distances and directions.The notations are equally excessive and inconsistent.The less
known about the chiefdom, the larger the population.The number of households
is only roughly estimated, always in simple thousands.The second stop in the strait,
presumably Iki island, is called a large koku, and the number of households is listed
as about three thousand. If this is large, one has to search for the most superlative
adjectives for Na, Toma, and Yamatai, given as twenty thousand, about fifty thousand, and about seventy thousand. In other words, at face value they ranged from
big to immense metropolises.
The political structures interested the Chinese unduly as the mark of social
maturity and form of authority, so these were as precisely recorded as these other
data. Yamatai, with its four officials, had a larger and more complex political structure than the others with two. None of these Yamatai layers of authority match the
titles in the other chiefdoms. On the other hand, there is rather little match
throughout except for hiku and hinumori, which, given the flow of traffic, suggests
that Tsushima/Iki islanders had moved into north Kyushu and had made some contribution to the hierarchical system there.The officials are not listed for Matsura, and
the two lesser functionaries are simply put together for Ito, perhaps because the
writer was uncertain of the order.The only way the Chinese could record the officials of the various koku was through a phonetic equivalency. For instance, for hinumori the historian used bei (low, humble) for hi, nu (slave, servant) for nu, mu
(mother) for mo, and li (separate) for ri. The need to convert these sounds to meaningful Japanese titles has generated much scholarly discussion (see table 14).
Table 14. Titles of officials of major chiefdoms under Yamatai in the Wei zhi
Tsushima
Iki
hiku
hinumori
hiku
hinumori
Matsura
Ito
Na
Fumi
Toma
Yamatai
niki
semmoku
and
hekkuho
shimako
hinumori
tamo
hinumori
mimi
miminari
ikima
mimasho
mimagushi
nakato
278
Since these titles were local and were already in use when Himiko took over,
they had not been imposed, or the holders appointed, by a central authority,
although hinumori, as second in command in four chiefdoms, has been thought to
be a Yamatai appointment. But if so, one would expect the other chiefdoms under
Yamatai to have a hinumori position. On the whole, there is not enough consistency
to suggest the existence of a bureaucratic system.The central authority was apparently unable to exert that degree of control. These titles all disappeared from the
Japanese vocabulary at some later point in time.
Yamatai had four officials, but the Wei zhi names only two individuals at any one
time. Himikos formal attendant and spokesman, the indispensable executive who delegated authority, may have been titled ikima. The man who could go abroad and represent the polity on the international level was probably the next one down, mimasho,
Natome. He headed the first missions.Yamatai needed a strong management structure
for dealing with the more than thirty subsidiary chiefdoms in the federation.
Next, north Kyushu as a geographical area had been known to people living in
the south of the Korean peninsula for thousands of years, as indicated by Early
Jmon connections. The Chinese, from their more remote vantage point, had to
learn how to describe the relationship. A Chinese historian, whose profession it was
to gather information, should have been in touch with people who had the greatest familiarity with the coastal region, such as Korean envoys, traders, and even fishermen. In the introductory paragraph of the Wei zhi it is said that some thirty of
these Japanese koku (of one hundred known ones in Han-dynasty times) were still
in contact through emissaries. Traffic had flowed both ways for centuries. Land
between Korea and Japan could always be kept in sight. If Yamatai was in Kyushu,
why did it become so laborious to describe it? Several more days or weeks of travel
are advised after one reached that coast. Kyushu supporters have had a history of
anguished churning of the landscape, looking for a place to settle, because the text
says the trip is far from over.
After arriving in Toma, one goes south again to reach Yamatai, ten days by water
and one month by land in the customary interpretation of the phrase. Switching
and to or, attributing this exchange to the greater likelihood of being wrong
the greater the distance from the point of writing, makes the most sense: ten days
by water or one month by land. In fact, these times are actually in rough proportion for the two modes of travel over the same distance and are reasonable for travel
in the Seto Inland Sea. For relative distances, the Inland Sea (in reality five connected bays) measures close to 500 km or about 310 miles from Shimonoseki Strait
to Osaka Bay. By way of comparison, the northsouth length of Kyushu as the crow
flies is about 220 km or about 140 miles, a little less than half.The Inland Sea route
comes closer to the specifications for distance.Ten days sailing from Toma to Yamatai
puts Toma comfortably in the Okayama area of the Inland Sea.
The numbers associated with Himiko can be equally questioned, although I take
the arbitrary view that the smaller ones may be a little closer to reality. These large
round numbersHimiko had one thousand attendants, her tomb was over a hundred paces across, more than one hundred people were immolated at the time of her
burial, more than one thousand people died in the subsequent chaosare large,
279
Fig. 12.8 Probable route from Daifang to Yamatai
ambiguous abstractions, and, like the distances and directions, are regularly ignored or
revisedor individually selectedwhen a special theory is being proposed.
If Himiko died around 248 and was buried in a mounded tomb, the Kofun
period had already opened.The Chinese description of a police state can be said to
accord with the archaeology of late Yayoi in the weaponry, the community defensive devices, and the expanding, contentious population.The police state continued
to exist during Himikos time, so was therefore the stabilizing feature of the social
order. Relatively extensive immigration in Yayoi times probably aroused a great
deal of hostility toward immigrants as usurpers of valuable hunting lands. The
demands on the land and its resources obligated alliances and territorial protection.
The spread of the burial mounds of the early Kofun culture and their typical gravegoods apparently should be a reflection of Yamato influence and the extension of
Yamato hegemony.
The Yayoi archaeology and the prelude to Himikos rise to power as a combative period are well known, but the only way to distinguish the antagonists is through
280
the Japanese literature. And then, after she died, who was fighting whom? The larger
tribal groups were the Tsukushi, Hayato, Kibi, Izumo, and Emishi. Was Kona one of
these? Three are described as hostile: the Izumo subdued earlier, the Hayato, and the
Emishi, the latter historically holding their territory against Yamato inroads. Once the
early Yamato tribal leadersSujin, Suinin, and Keikare documented, after Sujin
put down a revolt, the pacification programs are simply described as outlying campaigns. The first and most useful documentation is in Keiks time, when Yamatotakeru was the symbol of success. The Hayato were fought on one front and the
Emishi on several others. Every ruler must have fought on two fronts. The Hayato
were localized in south Kyushu; the Emishi were in Koshi, the Kant, and the
Michinoku regions, in other words, on the west side (Niigata, Ishikawa,Toyama), in
the middle eastern area (Chiba and Ibaragi), and to its north in Honshu (Fukushima).
In his horse-rider theory Egami Namio divided the Kofun period into an early
and a late stage, characterizing the earlier stage as a relatively peaceful one, its burial paraphernalia largely symbolic (because of the many bronze mirrors, bracelets,
and other ornaments). But the archaeology can be read in another way.The tombs
contain much typical military equipment of the time: swords, arrowheads, armor,
whorls for shield ornaments, and more. Whether for a male or a female, the military
equipment is present in abundance, justifying the conclusion that the marks of battles spanned the YayoiKofun transition and continued into the Early Kofun period.
The fights did not change when history was written; they only became
recorded.These fringe groups were savages, described in similar terms as the continental historians had used for the people occupying the Wa country, so the Wa attitude toward heterogeneity is unmistakable.These battles had been transpiring since
immigrants had arrived, moved out of coastal areas, and discovered they were faced
with entrenched natives. The latter eventually decided their very existence
depended on whether they could prevent more encroachment. Every known record
in history follows this pattern. In Japan the natives had essentially two choices:
assimilation or extermination. Evacuation was one choice for some of the Emishi.
Many accepted the inevitable and were absorbed into the new population. They
were often treated well.The Japanese recognized their allegiance, and some leaders
were given ranks, but out of distrust they were made to take oaths of allegiance. In
Bidatsus reign, a group whose behavior had aroused suspicion waded into the river,
faced Mt. Mimoro, washed out their mouths, and took an oath of service to the
throne.119 In effect, they put themselves through the traditional cleansing process to
be acceptable in the presence of a higher power.
The emphasis on Japanese ethnicity as being attributable almost exclusively to
Yayoi immigrantswhich, by extension, has led to the effort to introduce the language at the same timehas inevitably downgraded the Jmon contribution to
Japanese culture. Without it the Japanese would be much closer to the Koreans, as
would their language.
Archaeologically, any place qualifying as Yamatai must have material shared by
Late Yayoi and Early Kofun; otherwise it can be eliminated immediately. Swinging
arcs from compass points was not an uncommon practice in prearchaeological days
and even occasionally after the 1920s. It is futile to track distances or directions if
281
they do not terminate in a substantial community shown by excavations to have

thrived during this critical time period.
Somewhere buried in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki accounts is the tribal confederation leader the Chinese called Himiko. When they were reduced to writing a
permanent record four and a half centuries later, the Japanese editors made the natural connection with Jing.They did not think they had buried Himiko. In fact, as
Okinaga-tarashi-hime-no-mikoto they lionized her more than the Chinese had by
giving her a public personality, crediting her with military conquests, making her
the ancestress of a royal dynasty, and almost succeeding in securing her a regular
position in the Sun Line.The proof of this is apparent in the way they applied her
dates to Jing, which they used for Jings thirty-ninth, fortieth, and forty-third
years and again in her sixty-sixth year. The damage they did to Japanese historical
chronology and the credibility of the records is the reverse of the coin.
In the roughly half-millennium preceding the writing of the Kojiki and Nihon
shoki, tradition had actually embedded Himiko in the reign of Sujin or Suinin.
Although seemingly incidental, and appearing only for a very short time in stories
thought to have imperial significance, Princess Yamato-totohi-momoso, the aunt of
Emperor Sujin, the female shaman to whom the Hashihaka Tomb is attributed, fits the
time period in my view. She was a background figure in the Nihon shoki. The public
personality was the emperor, but with Jing looming large it never occurred to the
editors to consider an alternate. The Japanese writers had their Himiko, so they had
generations of time to pull Sujin out of the closet to act as the male ruler, construct a
facade of myths for him, and relegate the real Himiko to remote adviser status.They
then terminated her grotesquely and built the tomb quasi-supernaturally to keep the
mythology intact. How did the princess rate such a huge tomb? The later writers made
her the power behind the throne. In her day she was probably its occupant. Hers is the
first report of a female burial. Whoever is in Hashihakaand no one has successfully
argued that its occupant is not a femalehad reached the highest position society had
to offer.A few later imperial consorts have recorded tombs, but none with the fanfare
accompanying Hashihaka.The Nihon shoki writers knew they had an important story,
but by the eighth century either its true meaning had become obscured or they intentionally juggled the personalities to keep a male line intact.
Makimuku was clearly the largest thriving community east of north Kyushu
when the Yayoi period closed. The first large mounded tombs were built there,
proving it to be the chief political center of its day. Logistically, such building
required a sound economic base. On the craft level, the evidence is the abundance
of numerous fine iron, bronze, ceramic, and stone burial goods, produced both
locally and in workshops elsewhere. The recovered ceramics show Makimuku to
have been the hub of a wide trade network. For those who accept the Kobayashi
thesis of the distribution of bronze mirrors, the transmission of Chinese mirrors was
not seriously dissipated in transit. Sheer numbers show that the triangular-rim mirrors were specially prized in the Kinki. Undoubtedly, Himiko received her fair share
of these, and she and her successors may well have sent some to subordinate, even
vacillating, chieftains. The Kurozuka Tomb, in which thirty-three of these were
found, lies on the edge of the Makimuku area.
282
Ancient snake kami worship around Mt. Miwa evolved into Yamato-wide rituals. With the influx of people from other areas as Makimuku expanded, space had
to be made for more uji deities, and the Sun Goddess, who must then have been just
one of many, was moved out to Ise. She was later elevated to chief deity by Emperor
Temmu and the Nihon shoki writers. In an era when access to higher forces in nature
and credibly transmitting the will of the kami were regarded as the ultimate source
of human power, Himiko, Sujin (first ruler of the land), and Suinin launched the
Yamatai/Yamato polity into history.
List of Abbreviations
Aston:
Aston, W. G., tr. Nihongi, Chronicles of Japan from

the Earliest Times to A.D. 697.
GBHSJ:
Gekkan bunkazai hakkutsu shutsudo jh (Monthly

reports of excavated cultural properties material)
Wei zhi:
Gishi Wajin-den
ICU:
International Christian University,Tokyo
NKKKFH:
Nara-ken-ritsu Kashihara Kkogaku Kenkysho Fusoku

Hakubutsukan (Museum Attached to the Archaeological
Research Laboratory at Kashihara, Nara prefecture)
Tsunoda and
Goodrich:
Tsunoda Rysaku and L. Carrington Goodrich:

Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories
Yamatai:
Yamatai-koku
283
Notes
Introduction
1.
2.
3.
4.
Johns Hopkins Press, 1958.

Tsunoda Rysaku and L. Carrington Goodrich, Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories:
Later Han through Ming Dynasties, Perkins, 1951; hereafter Tsunoda and Goodrich.
In 2003 the staff of the National Museum of Japanese History announced that with the
aid of the more accurate AMS dating system they had arrived at much earlier dates for
the Yayoi period, the period characterized by the growing of rice.This study was also
being done by the three east Asian countries involved with prehistoric and early historic archaeology. The period could be dated, they said, some five hundred years earlier, the beginning of undecorated (mumon) pottery in Korea would be pushed back
two hundred years, and the first signs of rice in south Korea back three hundred years.
They proposed four stages: Earliest (950780 BC), Early (780380 BC), Middle (3800
[sic] BC), Late (AD 0c. 250), following this up by saying the traditional concept of cultural lag, such as is applied to similar types of pottery or the appearance of mirrors in
Japanese tombs, would not exist.The Jmon period ends much earlier in Kyushu than
now dated. See GBHSJ 2004, 2:41 and also Nishida 2003 in evaluating the AMS system.The radical nature of this elicited substantial disagreement; see Hashiguchi (2003),
who argues that it is not possible to coordinate Chinese artifacts with their time of
manufacture and their arrival in Japan. When I use the terms Early, Middle, and Late I
am following the conventional dates of roughly 300 BC to about AD 250, Middle
being the first century BC and the first century AD.
I recall the shock waves when a fairly prominent writer in Japan said Prince Shtoku
was not a Japanese (Nihon-jin). He was a Wa-jin (or Wa-bito) since no one in Japan
was Japanese until the late seventh century at best.
Chapter 1 Ancient Texts and Sources

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Tsunoda and Goodrich, 3n1, 16n1; Farris 1998:1011; Yasumoto 1989:46.

Tsunoda and Goodrich, 2226, 2836, 3847.
Farris 1998:1011. For more details on relevant Chinese texts see Young, 2534.
The endless arguments over the orders to prepare these books, the initial dates of the
projects, the materials from which they were drawn, the audience to whom they were
addressed, and other questions, except their content, can be conveniently read in
Sakamoto 1991:3051.
For detailed examination of the Nihon shoki itself, there are several studies of increasing monumentality. The best preWorld War II analysis is the twenty volumes by
Matsuoka, Kiki ronky, but postwar studies deal with the problems more objectively. See
the following: Nakamura S., Nihon shoki no sekai; Sakamoto, Ienaga, Inoue, and no, Nihon
shoki (2 vols.); and Mishina,Yokota, and others, eds., Nihon shoki kenky (21 vols.). My interest in it is not as an ancient document but, where possible, in the applicability of its content to the time frame of this study; therefore I prefer Ujitani (Nihon shoki, 2 vols.), who
is nonspeculative and states simply what is known about individuals and place names.
Seeley 2000:4146.
Aston, 2:350ff.; Miller 1974:13.
Chamberlain, 3; Philippi, 37.
285
286
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
NOTES TO PAGES 28
Tsugita, 1:3132; Sakamoto 1991:3334.

By sheer accident Yasumaros cremation grave was found in 1979 among tea bushes in
the hills 12 km east of the Nara city train station, quite some distance from the spot traditionally claimed for it.The bronze epitaph plate notes his name, address, rank, death on the
6th day of the 7th month, 723, and burial on the 15th day of the 12th month in the same
year.The Shoku nihongi records his death a day later, perhaps due to reporting lag time.
Interpretations abound without consensus over every word and phrase of these early stories. Izanami, the female procreator, may have been removed from the scene to make way
for a one and only chief goddess, as there should be no competition at the top of the
pyramid.The tempestuous relationship between the Sun Goddess and Susano-o is unmistakably the Yamato view of the Yamato-Izumo tribal rivalry, in its simplest symbolic form,
good versus evil. Described initially as polar opposites, they are the eternal female-male
struggle, or the tension between the deities of heaven and the deities of earth. But some
move in the direction of goodness was necessary for the dominant Yamato mythology to
absorb the Izumo elements without corrupting its hierarchySusano-o was rehabilitated
in territory that needed a St. Georgeand, with the secular and divine inseparable, merging the politics of Yamato and the religious practices of Izumo was unavoidable.
Takamahara, the High Plain of Heaven, had served its purpose in generating deities, creating an arena for their social dominance, and dispatching them to an earth-bound existence. Subsequently, the heavenly realm faded from the picture. A common view, to
which objections have been raised, is that a southern matriarchal system of female
shamans may have been giving way to more eastern patriarchal system of priest-kings.
Chamberlain, 159189; Philippi, 163185;Tsugita, 2:1957.
Tsugita, 2:100.
Aoki, 58.A traditional Japanese view of the Kojiki remark, showing that the nucleus was
expanded, is translated by Inoue (1966:116n12): Mimaki-no-sumera mikoto has for
the first time dominated the whole realm.
See also Wedemeyer, 20.
Chamberlain, 248281; Philippi, 228254;Tsugita 2000, 2:129176.
Chamberlain, 183299; Philippi, 256271;Tsugita 2000, 2:178201.
Aston, 1:112; Ujitani, 1:92.
Chamberlain, 34nn2529, 1011; Philippi, 41.
Philippi, 811; Sakamoto 1991:4351.
Sakamoto (1991:4042) believes that most of these references to other books are to manuscript versions of the Nihon shoki, the repetitions, such as the obvious ones in Tenjis
reign, due to new writers replacing older ones and failing to refer back to the earlier texts.
Gardiner, 64.
Sakamoto 1991:4951.
Two points of confusion: It is not always clear whether the individual was being
appointed crown prince or ruler, at least through the time of Buretsu (r. c. 499506),
and arbitrary use of the words sai for age and nen for year continue in the writing until
after Suikos reign (592628), leaving these critical points in time uncertain.
Yamada 1986:66ff.To the Japanese 1981 was the cataclysmic Oil Shock year!
Chapter 2 The Wei Zhi and the Wa People

1.
2.
Tsunoda and Goodrich, 4n2.

Inoue 1972:21.
NOTES TO PAGES 812
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
287
See Takemoto quoting Furuta: seen as the difference first noted in 1688 and accepted
from that time on.
For instance: Pimiko (Tsunoda and Goodrich;Varley; Hudson 1999), Pimiku (Samson),
Himeko (Morton), Himiko (Hall; Hong; and others), all reflecting this effort.
Okinoshima 1958:69; Eng. 26.
English terms have ranged from community, kingdom, principality, sovereignty, country,
state, land, and province to political unit and polity. Polity is fashionable these days, in
part because it is so loose it scarcely requires definition.Tsunoda and Goodrich tend to
use land in the broadest sense, country when referring to Himikos sphere of control, and community for the smaller, more subservient political units. I prefer domain
for Himikos kokuwhere jurisdiction exists but borders may not necessarily be precisely
defined. Polity will also do. And when the Wei zhi refers to places outside the islands
of Japan I prefer country, meaning an area of land.
GBHSJ 1998, 8:63.
Aston, 2:338.
Gardiner, 25.
Ibid., 40.
Yasumoto 1989:4668; Hirano 1989:185191; Niizuma, 1114; Tamaru, 158163;
Yamao Yukihisa in Sahara 1987:331333; and Nihon Shiry Shsei Hensankai, 610.
See Yasumoto 1989:72, and glossary. Speaking of the Shki-hon (also called Keigen-hon)
in comparison with the Shk-hon, its writer (1) used kai for ma (sea/horse) in
Tsushima; (2) corrected san to (three/queen) by adding the vertical stroke; (3) added
character toku (gain) with little change in meaning; (4) used gun instead of to (capital/
county), a phonetic for a koku, either of which could be right; (5) corrected a miswritten character for loom (hi); (6) changed the right half of a character for perish/die
or destroy (horo/metsu/botsu) with little difference in meaning; (7) dropped repeated
characters for all koku (moro-moro koku) with no change in meaning; (8) changed the
right half of a character from haru to a (distant/meet), which was probably just miscopied. In other words, the scribe made two conscious corrections, one clear mistake,
one probable mistake, and perhaps thought two other characters were better choices
for the meaning intended.
Tsunoda and Goodrich, 8: communities.
Ibid., scribes (i/yaku, interpreters, translators).
Han refers to the Korean polities in general. The geographical confusion starts almost
immediately. Going down the west coast of Korea involves traveling south. If this phrase
were to be put earlier, one would turn sharply south when leaving the port of Daifang,
then later east. This should put a traveler on the south coast of the region known as
Kaya ( J: Imna, Mimana) or farther east in what was later called Silla, such as Kyongju.
Minamoto (1980, 177) says Kuyahan is in the southeast corner of the peninsula. Along
a shoreline studded with numerous islands, north may mean a protected harbor on the
north side of islands such as Namhae and Koje.
Tsunoda and Goodrich (9) terminate the former section with this phrase, but it
should introduce the next by forewarning the long trip ahead.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: the characters formerly written as port island, now pair
of islands.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: hiku and hinumori. There is considerable literature on the origin and meaning of the names of the officials of each chiefdom, such as derived from
personal or place names. Since these arguments and the pronunciation of the titles are
not germane to this study, I recommend Tsunoda and Goodrich, 1718nn723, and
Barnes 1986a:84.
288
NOTES TO PAGE 12
19. Tsunoda and Goodrich: solitary (zett, isolated island), a term that could be applied
equally well to Iki island, but in view of the fact that Tsushima is actually two islands
separated by a narrow channel, the description might also be referring to a divided
or cut off island.
20. Tsunoda and Goodrich: wild animals; qin/tori and lu/shika, birds and deer.
Tsushimas broken coastline has countless small inlets and harbors. A central ridge runs
through what are called the Lower and Upper islands, the lower land in the north,
apparently referring to topographical levels.The three highest peaks, all far to the south,
range between 519 and 649 m in altitude, while the highest point in the north is 490 m.
21. The Wei zhi uses both ie and ko, apparently interchangeably. I have used family for
ie (Iki and Fumi) and household for ko (Tsushima, Matsura, Ito, Na, Toma, and
Yamatai). While the traditional number of individuals given for a household is five,
these here are probably to be regarded as extended families. However, estimates and calculations leave questions unanswered. Koyama and Oikawa (in Kanaseki 2004:632)
used data of the Heian period. Iki had 11 g (villages), 620 ch (about 900 acres) of
fields, and its population in the early ninth century can be calculated as about 10,000.
Beginning where Koyamas population calculations left off at around 800 BC, using the
standard annual increase of 0.1 percent, by around AD 250, the time of Himiko, Iki
would have had a population of 5,714. Since the Wei zhi says about 3,000, this would
have made about two to a household. Using the same formula, Tsukushi had about
300,000 people at that time, and Yamatai had about 140,000. North Kyushu was therefore a larger center, and Yamatai may have been there. But however reasonable these
figures may seem for the population of any one of these Wa chiefdoms, a household of
two is not sustaining, and such a population would have been on its way to extinction.
This is known not to have happened.
22. Hirano 1989:191: trading is the intention of the sentence.
23. This introduction does not follow the set formula. The Liang Shu writes it as I-zhi
( J: Iki), so it has been suggested that the scribe mistakenly wrote dai for zhi, making it
read one large chiefdom. See Tsunoda and Goodrich,17n10. Tsushima is actually
about five times as large as Iki: 682 sq. km for the former and 139 for the latter.The population here given is three times that of Tsushima, a point that can be explained as an
agricultural population typically larger than a fishing population. It had outgrown its
economic base.
24. Tsunoda and Goodrich: grain (kau).
25. Tsunoda and Goodrich: Matsuro. In the first introduction of Imna in the Nihon shoki
at the end of Emperor Sujins reign, it is said to be more than 2,000 ri to the north
of Tsukushi by sea and is southwest of Keirin (Aston, 1:164, and Ujitani, 1:133, say
Keirin is Silla).This seems to be the generally accepted distance for each lap of 1,000
li from Kuyahan to Tsukushi. Matsura should be in the modern county of Matsuura,
probably in the area of Karatsu in Saga prefecture, through which the Matsuura River
flows. A Matsuura city on the north coast of Saga, just over 25 km to the west, is
probably going in the wrong direction. Hirano: The Wa live along the seacoast, not
Matsura lies on the seacoast.
26. Tsunoda and Goodrich: regardless of the depth of the water, they dive in to capture
fish. Only in later centuries did the abalone diving become the province of female
ama. A tool made from the long bone of an animal and sharpened at one end, found
in Yayoi sites, is believed to have been used for prying shells loose from rocks (Sagaken Kyiku Iinkai 1989:132).The Chinese text mentions no officials for Matsura.
27. Tsunoda and Goodrich: Izu.This should be Ito (different characters) in old Chikuzen
province, Fukuoka prefecture, the heart of the Tsukushi plain.
NOTES TO PAGES 1214
289
28. Tsunoda and Goodrich: semmoku and hekkuho: Yasumoto: emoko and hegoko.
29. Tsunoda and Goodrich give just south, not southeast.
30. Tsunoda and Goodrich: Nu; all others agree on Na.This is accepted as the area around
Fukuoka city on the west side of the Naka River and Hakata on the east side of the
river, and south to Kasuga city. This would actually make Na to the east and slightly
north of Ito.
31. Tsunoda and Goodrich: hinumori.
32. Fumi is usually identified as around Umi-ch (the characters now changed) in Kasuya
county of Fukuoka prefecture, not quite 20 km southeast of Fukuoka city.
33. Yasumoto:Tsuma; elsewhere Tama and Tomo.Toma has been placed by various writers
in Kagoshima, south Fukuoka, east Yamaguchi, east Hiroshima, and Shimane. For those
who see Yamatai as in Yamato, the logical place for Toma is the Inland Sea region of
Okayama.
34. This text uses the twelve-stroke character (Yama) ichi (one), which I translate as such.
However, common usage today is (Yama) tai (stand, plateau), the latter written with
fourteen strokes (now abbreviated to a five-stroke character). See Tsunoda and
Goodrich (18n23): ikima, mimasho, mimagushi and nakato; Yasumoto (1987:50): ikima,
mimato, mimawaki, nakade; elsewhere: ikime, ikimo, mimatsu, mimaki.
35. The text is literally san koku, but this makes no sense.The three is regarded as a scribes
error in not adding the vertical stroke to make it (king/queen).
36. Tsunoda and Goodrich: Shima, Ipokki, Iza, Tsuki, Minu, Kaseto, Fuku, Shanu, Tsusu,
Sonu, Koyi, Kenusonu, Ki, Iigo, Kinu, Yama, Kushi, Hari, Kiwi, Wunu, Nu. For Kyushu
proponents, these would be Inland Sea chiefdoms; for Kinai proponents, they would be
strung out along the Tkai coast, but not beyond about Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture.
See Tsunoda and Goodrich, 18n24 for various suggestions regarding their locations.
37. Tsunoda and Goodrich: kukochihiko. The term is said to be derived from Kikuchi, a
place-name in Kyushu, according to a Kyushu proponent; see Tsunoda and Goodrich,
19n26.
38. By referring to only one officer, the implication is for a relatively small chiefdom,
whether intended or not.
39. For what it is worth, it had been at least 10,700 li to Fumi, so the distance from Fumi
to Yamatai is a little more than 1,300 li, which makes it one-third more than each of
the three 1,000-li legs across the water from Korea. Most observers traversing those
increments might have noticed a progressive shortening of each.
40. Tsunoda and Goodrich: Men, great and small.
41. Tsunoda and Goodrich: tattoo their faces and decorate their bodies with designs.
Yasumoto 1989:52: paint their bodies. The Chinese were impressed that the Wa both
tattooed and painted their bodies.Tattooing can be seen on faces formed on the necks
of Middle Yayoi clay pots in the Kant (Ibaragi,Tochigi, Chiba, Saitama, and Kanagawa)
and neighboring prefectures, such as Fukushima to the north, Nagano to the west, and
Aichi to the southwest; see Got 1982:4043.This practice was derivative from at least
Late Jmon in the central Honshu region. Parallel scratches or rough punch marks surround the eyes and mouth, and broad sweeps of lines occasionally run from the temples down and across the chin. Most were given a coat of red paint.There are examples
of simple heads in small plaquelike shapes and weight-shaped (bundogata) objects with
no other decoration but red paint. These are distributed throughout Inland Sea sites.
Also, numerous clay figurine heads of Yayoi date bear linear patterns, these chiefly from
the Kansai and farther north, but occasionally in the southwest; see Ishikawa 1996.
Then, following the early Kofun hiatus when no human figure representations
were in style, the clay tomb sculptures known as haniwa frequently bear red face paint.
290
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
NOTES TO PAGES 1415
The tattooing of the body is presumed to have been geometric, and the symbolism of
rank probably consisted of adding more stripes. Somewhat before historic times, tattooing served two purposes, one for social identity as, in effect, the Chinese were saying, and the other as branding for criminals, the latter presumably after the Wei zhi was
written. Branding came to be standardized as bands on one arm.The unpleasantness of
the process is graphically recorded in a story inserted into the reign of Emperor Rich
(early fifth century).The facial tattoos of the be of horse grooms, the Nihon shoki says,
had failed to heal, and the overpowering odor offended the deity Izanagi up above,
who expressed his indignation. The branding, which marked members of this group,
was stopped. A nobleman in the same reign who was accused of treason was branded
for punishment instead of being executed (Aston, 1:305307). A comment on these
stories is simply that the be system as an economic development must have occurred
later, a unit of which would have been an organized group of horse keepers.Traditional
tattooing remained among Okinawan women and Ainu into recent generations, while
horimono, the full body treatment with animals, flowers, pictures, and all, was only a
nineteenth-century development.
Da-fu/tai-fu, variously Grand Master (Hucker, 5939), grandee, dignitary.
Traditionally listed as the sixth king of the semimythical Xia dynasty.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: serpents and dragons. In a variation, the son, when banished
to Hui-ji, an east coast region later called Wu, had his hair cut and painted himself to
prevent attacks from the dragon Jiao-long.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: shells (hamaguri). It might be said that the Wei text makes
no mention of fishing with poles or nets, that is, techniques of river fishing,
Tsunoda and Goodrich: Designs on the body differ in the various countriestheir position and size vary according to the rank of the individual. It can be everywhere left
everywhere right everywhere big everywhere small but perhaps meaning more like
sometimes left sometimes right sometimes big sometimes small. The latter is the high
and the low and should be taken here as aristocrats and commoners, far less likely as adults
and children. Hirano: adults and children. Equally possible is that large or small patterns
are relative to rank.As Yasumoto says, it is vague, and several possibilities exist: it might be
right or left sides (such as arms) and large or small patterns, connected with social strata.
I would take it as an effort to indicate the existence of both geographical and status differences. All agree that the patterns came to have some kind of social meaning.
Dong-ye is a transcription error for Dong-zhi. Hirano: two places that are today in the
south Chinese provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian.The Han had set up garrisons to guard
the southern zones in Fujian and Zhejiang, so these names in less sinicized places were
familiar to the Chinese-appointed governors of outlying military posts such as Daifang.
See Tsunoda and Goodrich, 4n7.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: The men wear a band of cloth around their heads, exposing the
top.Their clothing is fastened around the body with little sewing.The women wear their
hair in loops.Their clothing is like an unlined coverlet and is worn by slipping the head
through an opening in the center. Yasumoto: this head band was probably y made of
the bark of the paper mulberry tree. Hirano: in effect, the Chinese thought it was cotton,
so it was.The clothes were unlikely to be as seamless as here claimed. Jmon people used
bone needles from early times. The parts of wooden looms recovered from Yayoi sites
would not make a strip of cloth wider than 30 to 33 cm, so two widths neatly stitched
was probably the case (Saga-ken Kyku Iinkai 1989:136). It is assumed that early Kofun
looms had not been greatly improved. However, better methods may have contributed to
changes for horse-riding outfits that occurred about two centuries after Himikos era.
NOTES TO PAGE 15
291
Then there were jackets and pants for all, and long, skirted garments for aristocratic ladies
and horse-riding suits for soldierly men, the attire designed for both status and the activity, reflecting continuing social stratification and the features of a warrior class.
Haniwa figures, starting in the fifth century, suggest that hairstyles had not been
modified much from the Wei zhi description of the mizura looped fashion. Hair was
inexplicably preserved on a skull in one of the burial jars at Yoshinogari, now said to
be the oldest human hair found in Japan. It was bundled in a way approximating the
Wei zhi description (Hudson and Barnes, 227; Kidder 1991b:122).The round seventhcentury Mushazuka tomb in Niihari, Ibaragi prefecture, excavated in 1983, contained
fragmentary remains of six skeletons, one of which had half a head of hair intact.This
is the oldest actual example of the mizura style, by then the fashion of the aristocracy.
The mans hair had been parted in the middle, the gathered strands hung over the ears
and then tied on top with a fiber string (GBHSJ 1983, 6:1922).
49. Tsunoda and Goodrich: [The people] cultivate grains, rice, hemp, and mulberry trees
for sericulture.They spin and weave and produce fine linen and silk fabrics. Yasumoto:
grains/rice, kat, are to be used together meaning rice, in other words, giving the customary view that grains in general are identified with rice. What is meant here is
grains and rice, referring to the millets, awa and hie, domesticated from wild varieties.
Hirano: rice, hemp, and make threads with mulberry and silkworms, and produce
cloth, silk and cotton.The confusion arises over the terms used for the plants and their
products of threads and fibers. Cho/karamushi can mean both ramie and hemp thread,
while chma/karamushi is ramie (Boehmeria nivea). Cho alone is flax (Linum genus), from
which linen is made. Ma/asa is hemp (Cannabis sativa). According to Yasumoto, the last
three listed items are saich/ken/men, which are linen, silk and cotton, the first
explained as woven flax, the other two as orimono, fabrics. One problem: for cotton, the
two sides are reversed from the customary usage of the character for wata.
Nagahara has confused the issue by saying that the cultivation, spinning, and weaving of cotton did not begin in Japan until the sixteenth century, although seven lines
lower, regarding medieval Japanese peasant clothing, seeds may have been stripped off
cattails and inserted into cotton bedding as wadding. See Kozo Yamamura 1990:325.
Not speaking for the middle ages, but cotton was a well-recorded tax item from the time
the planned cities were constructed, starting with Fujiwara in 694, sent from the provinces
of Chikugo, Buzen, Chikuzen, and Higo in north Kyushu, the present prefectures of
Fukuoka, Saga, ita, and Kumamoto. See Nara-ken-ritsu Bunkazai Kenkysho 1991:52,
5859 (map); Ono, Harunari, and Oda 216217; Yonekura 1976:32.
50. The strange mix of nonexistent domestic and wild animals and a single bird leaves the
way open for a large number that might exist on the islands. Big cats had disappeared
during the Jmon period, the Siberian mountain lion being the chief one. Horses have
come and gone from the ancient Japanese scene, one vocal school of thought claiming
that fluorine absorption and carbon-14 tests on horse skeletons from so-called Jomon
sites have proved to be of recent animals (Mabuchi 1993:4, 652). On the other hand,
the shell-mound database indicates they had at least existed there, but perhaps were not
seen within the Yamatai polity as they were not found to be of much use.The type was
the small Kiso horse, named after the area through which the Kiso River runs, from
Nagano prefecture through Gifu and into Ise Bay west of Nagoya city in Aichi prefecture.This database of the Jmon period lists 532 sites with horse bones, starting about
the time of Late Jmon (Oikawa, 62:7). They apparently had not all been eaten or
become extinct, as some Yayoi horses were a little larger (Mori 1974b:236237), perhaps as a result of domestication. Why so many modern horses are said to be buried
292
51.
52.
53.
54.
NOTES TO PAGE 15
in shell-mounds is beyond explanation. Korean horses were introduced around the

middle of the Kofun period, and were never very large. The Chinese may not have
known about the onaga, the magpie they had in north China. An azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cyana), a medium-size, not pretentious, black-headed, gray-bodied and
blue-winged bird, lives in central and northern Honshu.The kasasagi, the black-billed
magpie (Pica pica), a large, black, blue and white, long-tailed raucous bird, is apparently
a later introduction that has kept its habitat primarily in Kyushu.
The material for spears and shields is not mentioned, nor is reference made to the iron
sword, which became a major weapon from the beginning of the Kofun period. As for
the bow, the phrase would have little meaning if it were not for the illustrations on
bronze bells. The hunter holds his long bow toward the foot, thereby shooting the
arrow well below its middle. Tsunoda and Goodrich: Bamboo arrows are sometimes
tipped with iron or bone. A small number are bronze.
These two places are districts of nonsinicized people on Hainan island, Guandong
province, off the south coast of China, the former in the northwest and the latter in the
southeast; see Yasumoto 1989:54. How much is to be embraced in this sweeping statement is a questionwhich presupposes a reader is familiar with that southern region
but comparison with these subtropical islands over a thousand miles to the south makes
sense only if the Chinese writer believed that Yamatai lay at about the same latitude.
The Hou Han shu says that Yamatai is close to Zhu-yai and Dan-er, meaning not far
from the China coast.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: The land of Wa is warm and mild [in climate]. In winter as
in summer the people live on vegetables and go about barefooted. Otomasu says if the
sailing schedules are looked at closely, the Chinese came only in the warm seasons and
had a very mistaken idea of the actual conditions (1980:160161). The Chinese
description fits the Pacific coast climate, which characterizes south Kyushu, south
Shikoku, the Kii peninsula, and the south Tkai.The average temperature of 60 degrees
F (16.1 C) and the 104 inches (264.5 cm) of annual precipitation (Noh and Kimura
l982:10) is due to the Kuroshio (Black Current), which flows up from the south on the
Pacific coast side. Winter crops and multiple croppingbarley and wheat in rice
fieldsare still being done today.
The evidence for going barefoot is better than might be expected. Footprints have
been exposed in several Yayoi sites in widely scattered places. Some nine thousand
prints could be estimated the last time the paddies were used in the Middle Yayoi site
of Uryud in Higashi-saka city, Osaka prefecture.Two adults of slightly different size
and a boy left scores of prints in a part of the Itazuke site near the Fukuoka city airport, starting in Latest Jmon. Footprints have been found as far north as Aomori prefecture, in Layer VI of the Tareyanagi site, that layer called Middle Yayoi, the earliest
place of rice production in the north (Aomori-ken Kyiku Iinkai). The prints of the
feet at Itazuke ranged from just short of 10 inches to over 101/2 inches (2527 cm) and
were larger than those in the Osaka areaunsurprising, inasmuch as the people of
north Kyushu were larger at the time. At Itazuke the big toes of what were probably a
man and a woman projected from the foot at a very sharp angle, indicating that no confining footwear had been worn since childhood. Wooden clogs (geta) for slogging
around in rice paddies have come up in several Yayoi excavations.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: elder and younger. The houses are referred to in generalized
terms, but they were pit, surface, or raised-floor dwellings.The most common for both
Yayoi and Early Kofun were pit-dwellings, the former oval, the latter more square, with
four posts supporting a reed roof extending out to the ground. Most of these accommodated about five individuals comfortably. There is little evidence for interior parti-
NOTES TO PAGE 15
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
293
tions. Hirano: members of a family had separate houses (unlike the enclosed Chinese
courtyard residences).The Wei zhi writer could be speaking of the partition that exists
to this day in the Izumo Shrine, presumably a feature designed to cut off cold air from
the door in early raised-floor dwellings. Nevertheless, beginning with Jmon pitdwellings, communal sleeping was for long a feature of most Japanese rural life.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: They smear their bodies with pink and scarlet. Shutan is red
ochre, hematite (Fe2O3), a common mineral, ground from loose masses of clay ironstone or other types of deposits. Jmon people had used it for millennia, and Yayoi people applied it to pottery, wooden utensils, and sometimes human bones for secondary
burials. Its special preservative character gave it a ritual significance. It is often not distinguished from cinnabar (shinsha, mercuric sulfide), also a frequently used pigment.
Both Yasumoto and Hirano say the Chinese used white powder.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: serve meat on bamboo and wooden trays. Yasumoto: hent.
Although the bamboo radical is in hen, the material of the trays/pedestalled stands is
not in the text. Clay pedestalled bowls or plates (takatsuki) appeared in the Middle Yayoi
period in north Kyushu, moved through the Inland Sea and into the Kinai, where the
largest number has been recovered. They are matched in Middle to Late Yayoi in the
Kinai by wooden examples, made on a simple lathe and often painted. These were
meeting the demand for more ritual paraphernalia with increased agricultural ceremonies, perhaps serving for votive offerings such as food displays or sake, or as stands
for pots and jars. The marshy site of Karako, initially dug in the 1940s, has yielded
numerous fine ceremonial and ornamental wooden objects (Kyoto Teikoku Daigaku).
Some sites suggest plentiful pottery supplies, burnt houses leaving enough debris to
indicate that each member of the household could have his or her own set of dishes
(Saga-ken Kyiku Iinkai 1989:135). Chopsticks were not introduced until the major
early cities of Fujiwara (694) and Nara (Heij) (710) were built.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: When a person dies, they prepare a single coffin, without an
outer one. Kuan/hitsugi, coffin, the wood radical in the character. Excavations have
shown that the coffin of a Chinese aristocrat could, in very damp soil, be encased in up
to two enclosing boxes, one at least of which was packed with charcoal to absorb moisture.The Wei zhi writer was speaking only of an upper-class practice. Hirano: the kaku
can be interpreted as auxiliary features, such as clay or pebble beds around. Yasumoto:
expose the body for more than ten days (mo = dead body). Hirano: the ritual (mogari)
goes on for more than ten days.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: cover the graves with sand to make a mound. Tu/tsuchi,
soil, earth.
Suich, into water; misogi, purification by washing; like ablutions (lian-mu/renmoku), the
Chinese practice of ritual bathing and wearing silk garments, a phrase omitted by
Tsunoda and Goodrich.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: they always select a man who does not arrange his hair, does
not rid himself of fleas, lets his clothing [get as] dirty as it will, does not eat meat, and
does not approach women.This man behaves like a mourner and is known as the fortune keeper.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: fleas. Ji/shirami, nits, lice. Jisai, diviner, now written with different characters, and gyja, ascetic.The Wei writer was either only informed of procedures on trips to China or wanted to be specific by referring to Chinain other words,
the major, more hazardous voyages.The diviner determined the sailing date and probably the route, and was therefore responsible for the outcome of the trip. Unfortunately,
human errors and misfortunessuch as poor seamanship, navigational errors, and pirate
attacks were also within his purview.The use of sha/korosu implies that the killing was
294
NOTES TO PAGE 15
immediate and merciless. The profession eventually fell to the lot of the Imibe/Imbe
family, which, with the eventual formalization of Shinto practices, was in competition
with the Nakatomi for political status; see Kat and Hoshino.
62. Pearls are referred to in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki as offerings to kami, so they were
uncommon enough to have a special religious value. In one story, finding one for this
purpose was extremely difficult and required diving to such depth that the diver died
in the effort, but the recovered pearl was as big as a peach (Aston, 1:322323).The best
were in abalone, and were oval. Pearls were thought to have medicinal value and were
ground up for powder. The appreciation of perfect, round, white pearls is a modern
phenomenon, developed with their cultivation in oyster beds in Ise Bay since the
beginning of the twentieth century, the export of which has been a major source of
income.The Chinese were misled if they identified the greenish stone as jade, the characters for which Yasumoto reads as seigyoku (1989:56). Seigyoku is usually translated as
sapphire, but what is meant is the green Japanese jasper (hekigyoku; SiO2), the commonly used material for beads from the Yayoi period. Jadeite is kgyoku [NaAl(Si2O6)].
Attractive green nephrite (hisui) was collected almost exclusively in a short stretch of
the Itoigawa valley in Niigata prefecture. The spot was discovered in Middle Jmon,
and pebbles were made up into beads and small ornaments, examples of which have
been found in over two hundred sites ranging from Shizuoka to south Hokkaido
(And 1986). But the place was forgotten shortly after, and only fairly recently rediscovered by archaeologists.
63. The character tan, here called cinnabar, has been frequently translated as red or red
lead. The latter is hardly acceptable. Cinnabar (HgS) should be correct (Yasumoto says
akatsuchi, red earth), but equally usefulif that is why the Chinese mentioned itis
red ochre (taisha) or hematite (sekitekko; Fe2O3), and either cinnabar or red ochre could
have been in the writers mind.
64. Yasumoto offers several choices in interpretation for this catalog of trees, while Hirano
apparently believes the Chinese had little intention of dealing in any but the most general terms (Yasumoto 1989:5657; Hirano 1980:182; for botanical names, see Makino
1985).There are many reasons for the confusion in interpretationsover and above a
rather loose use of namesseveral of which are quickly apparent: the characters for
Tsunodas mountain camphor and heath rose, for instance, have been dropped from
normal Japanese use if they were ever in; the character for cryptomeria has no current
botanical meaning and may be a transcription error; a name may differ by region,
whether the same or a variant of the species; and unless a tree was introduced abroad,
it may have no suitable Western equivalent. The reading of the characters and the
species given by Yasumoto are within parentheses ( ), those by Hirano, within brackets
[ ] if different.
Mountain camphor: (zen, osorakuwa, tabunoki) [tan, kusu]; Lauraceae
Horse-chestnut: (cho; konara, tochi) [j, tochi]; Aesculus turbinata
Camphor tree: (yoshiy, kusunoki); Cinnamomun camphora; Lauraceae
Japanese quince: (bo, boke, kusaboke); Chaenomeles japonica Lindl.
Oak: (reki, kunugi); Quercus serrata
Cryptomeria: (sugi) [t]; cedar, Cryptomeria japonica
Oak: (ky, kashi); Quercus dentata
Mulberry: (ug, yamaguwa); Morus bombycis
Maple (kaede) [fk] Acer japonicum; Aceraceae
Bamboo: shino (shino, medake, sasa genus) [sh, sasa]; Phyllostachys bambusoides
Arrow bamboo: (yadake) [kan, yatake]; Arundinaria japonica
Rattan bamboo: (kazuradake) [tki]
NOTES TO PAGE 15
295
Ginger: (ky, shga); Zingiber officinale; Zingiberaceae

Citrus: (kitsu, tachibana, komikan); Rutaceae
Pepper: (sh, sansh); Zanthoxylum piperitum
Zingiber mioga: myga; Zingiberaceae
Mountain camphor (inugusu) is a local variant, mountain in these names often
equated with wild and therefore native. Interestingly, the horse chestnut or buckeye
(Yasumoto says it is also konara, but this is not the case) is a deciduous tree better known
in the cool temperate forest zone than in the warmer southwest Japan, the nut of which
required special and tedious work in leeching to make it edible.The problem had been
solved by the Jmon people, who apparently found it easy to gather and tasty to eat
(Koyama 1978:2829). Missing from the Chinese inventory, however, are other major
nut crops eaten since Jmon times: walnuts (kurumi; Juglans sieboldiana) and chestnuts
(kuri; Castenea crenata), the former preferring a cooler climate, the latter a slightly
warmer one, but still very plentiful in central Honshu. The Chinese familiarity was
greater with the vegetation of the warm, temperate, evergreen forest zone, the laurilignosa (laurel) forest, the dividing line between it and the cooler, temperate, deciduous
tree zone lying across the country in the Shizuoka area somewhat east of the Kinai.
The Japanese quince has been called heath rose (Rosaceae), the kusaboke (Maules
quince), the native wild quince available in the mountains and woods at that time. Boke
was introduced from China. In regard to the two oaks, both are deciduous trees, the
acorns of which require more processing than the nuts from evergreen oaks before
becoming edible. The acorns of Quercus serrata (konara, not kunugi, which is Q. acutissima) are bitter and require much leeching.The wood was a good building material for
planks and boards before the arrival of sophisticated tools as it splits rather well. The
Chinese had a long association with Q. dentata (kashiwa), since it is widely distributed
throughout east Asia and its acorns consumed in great quantities as they require less
preparation before eating. However, the wood is not such a useful building material,
but makes durable posts, fences, and slats for shoring up the banks of paddy fields. Both
of these oaks are said to be native trees. The wild mulberry (yamaguwa) was probably
being supplanted about this time with more productive trees from Korea or China.
Maples (yamamomiji; Acer japonicum) grew wild in lower mountains, in particular
through a central belt of Honshu. Their ornamental value led to the development of
many varieties of kaede.
Yasumoto refers to the differing views of Naka and Karizumi, which are listed
here (Yasumoto 1989:5657): horse chestnut is quite likely a mistakenly written character; the character t or na is probably miswritten for sugi; or it should be kaya (Toreya
nucifera) or matsu (pine); this evergreen oak may be ichiigashi; the mulberry referred to
here could be kakatsugayu (Moraceae, Cudrania Trec.), which is like hariguwa (Cudrania
tricuspidata Bureau), both mulberries.
65. By and large the bamboos (Bamburaceae) have been grouped as either take (bamboo)
or sasa (grass bamboo). Among the three listed, yadake gets its name as best for arrows,
and kazuradake is vine bamboo, split and used for basketry and similar wickerwork
(Karizumi says this is shroka). The Land of the Reed Plains had its many varieties of
native grasses, but the highly prized bamboo (ms), dug in the spring for its large
savory sprouts (takenoko), was not one of them.
66. Since this next group is only within the broad floral category, these need not be taken
necessarily as trees but may be shrubs or simply useful plants. Ginger (Zingiberaceae)
(shga; Zingiber mioga) is an Asian native, its flowering shoots serving traditionally as a
popular spice, especially appreciated today with soy sauce and sake. The bitter orange
(daidai or old mikan) is little known since the tangerine (mikan) or Japanese mandarin
296
NOTES TO PAGE 15
orange was introduced, supposedly by the Portuguese. Tachibana, a loosely used term
for Citrus japonica, the citrus class of fruit, are referred to in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki
when Emperor Suinin commanded a courtier to get the elixir of immortality from
Tokoyo-no-kuni, the Eternal Land. He returned years laterby which time the ruler
was already deadwith what turned out to be an orange; see Aston, 1:186;
Chamberlain, 245247. Most foreign fruits enter the country with far less pomp, but
this case is better understood when one notes that medieval literature still holds the
fruit in awe by virtue of its scarcity and preciousness.
The Tsunoda and Goodrich punctuation adds a floral item not in the Wei zhi:
prickly ash.This may be because it is a name confused with Japanese pepper, called sansh (san = mountain), formerly mega (Piperaceae; mikan family; Zanthoxylum piperitum).
Prickly ash (Rutaceae; Zanthoxyulum americanum) enters the picture as about the closest English equivalent. The last in this group, Zingiber mioga, the fine epicurean qualities of which the Japanese have failed to recognize (in Japanese, the jga family;
Zingiberaceae) is another caseafter the camphors and the oaksof difficulty in differentiating the species. This may well be hanamyga (Alpinia japonica Miq.) of which
both the stalks and the tuberous roots are flavorful, the latter cut or ground up into a
powder for ginger. It is a slightly larger plant (up to c. 40 cm) and more useful than
either Zingiber mioga or Zingiber officinale, both of which lack the full root structure.The
ambiguity in the textual style does not make clear which of these (all, perhaps?) the Wa
fail to eat. A Japanese tradition that eating Zingiber mioga slows the memory may be
older than claimed.
67. As though the historian now thought better of having listed the land of Wa as seriously
lacking in fauna he noted the presence of two creatures, as disparate as his other listing: a large ape (zaru) and a pheasant (kiji). The implications are far from true, the
overview of Was deficiences and assets inevitably leaving large gaps.The monkey is the
short-tailed macaque (genus Macaca; Macaca fuscata), a native Asian monkey, known in
colonies all over the country at that time.The rich forested areas of south China were
home to more varieties. A monkey with the status of kami had a leading role in early
Japanese mythology, and stories of monkeys associated with magical powers are frequently players in Japanese folk stories.
As for the pheasant, the Chinese reference is to the male bird with glossy greenishblack body feathers, apparently once called the black pheasant, which is simply known
as kiji (common) pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), seen in all the islands except Hokkaido.
A subspecies, the kraikiji (ring-necked pheasant), was introduced from Korea to
Hokkaido, hence the (north) Korean name. Inhabiting the lower mountains is the copper pheasant (yamadori; Phasianus soemmerringii), the English term descriptive of its relatively uniform color and the Japanese term mountain bird revealing the measure of
its popularity. Its distribution is limited to Japan. Pheasant made a tasty dish, and in popular belief its screams announce an imminent earthquake.
More generously, the Chinese writer could have credited the land of Wa with
substantial faunal wealth by noting the following mammals, the most important listed
here, all known archaeologically to have existed in late Yayoi and early Kofun times
(Latin name included where mistranslations have been accepted): bear (kuma), wild
boar (inoshishi), dog (inu), wolf (kami), otter (kawauso), badger (anaguma; Meles meles
anakuma), Japanese marten (ten; Martes melampus), raccoon-dog (tanuki; Nyctereutes procyonoides), fox (kitsune), and Japanese deer (nippon shika). Down the scale in size were
weasel (itachi), rabbit (usagi), flying squirrel (musasabi), mole (mogura), and mouse/rat
(nezumi) (Osaka-fu-ritsu Yayoi Bunka Hakubutsukan 1996:20). To this list could be
added the serow, related to the goral (genus Capricornis), spoken of as a goat antelope.
NOTES TO PAGE 15
297
68. Important here is that the Chinese writer mentions both animal bones and tortoise
(akaumigame) shells, as the latter did not appear until the Kofun period. Apparently he
thought that the techniques were similar, but in fact differences were evolving as carapaces became the special material for royal divinations. Both deer and wild boar bones
were used fairly widely, while porpoise (iruka) bones have been found in sites only in
Kanagawa prefecture.
Was Chen Shou referring to written words or incantations? He does not say the
Wa are illiterate, although it would have been an honest characterization. The Sui shu
says they were, but qualifies it by adding that the worship of Buddhism has brought
them writing. Whatever the writer had in mind, the phrase can apply only to the spoken ritual of oracle-bone divination.
69. Tsunoda and Goodrich: In their meetings and in their deportment, there is no distinction between father and son or between men and women. For deportment: zuo/qi,
literally, sitting/rising; Yasumoto: zaki; Hirano: furuma, behavior; perhaps meaning
whether they sit or whether they stand. It was not the intention to describe an egalitarian society despite this introductory sentence speaking of informal social relationships.
Direct and indirect references are periodically made to protocol between ranks and the
privileges of wealth.The writer saw the contrast: the horizontal social freedom within
a homogeneous group connected by kin or occupation or both, and the vertical rigidity in the Confucian social system, in family relations and in the political hierarchy
within the larger community.
70. Yasumoto,Tsunoda and Goodrich, and others omit a note that had been added to the
text immediately following the appreciation of sake. Presumably, they assumed it was
only an editorial comment and contributed little more information. Its editor was
Song-zhi, who says that according to the Wei lue the people do not know how to keep
an exact calendar and so mark the years by counting the number of spring plantings
and autumn harvests.
Rice wine became an essential part of Japanese celebrations, most communal
activities concluding in an inebriated spirit of cooperation and solidarity. How much
the commoners could get remains a question, as it is known that taxes deprived the
peasant class of the best quality rice, and the data recorded on wooden tallies excavated
in the old cities of Fujiwara and Nara tell the story of lower officials being rationed
only poor quality sake (katasake). One suspects that commoners were worse off (Naraken-ritsu Bunkazai Kenkysho 1991:54, 55, 5861). Older sake is almost undrinkable,
so warming it spared the gullet. It is no coincidence that the wooden tallies indicate
the bringing of sake only from the nearest provinces, and palaces were often outfitted
with their own spring and sake-making facilities.
71. Tsunoda and Goodrich: In their worship, men of importance simply clap their hands
instead of kneeling and bowing. This translation may have been influenced by seeing
worshipers at Shinto shrines clap their hands for the attention of the kami. Despite the
likelihood then of hand clapping before rocks, trees, and other sacred features, in view
of the lack of shrine buildings at the timeother than the raised-floor dwellings of
shamansthe reference is probably only to the secular practices of the aristocracy.
72. The Chinese were giving Himiko credit for considerable longevity. However, one
remembers that the writers of the Kojiki and Nihon shoki attributed excessive reign
lengths to early rulers, all of which is not at all unusual in the writings of ancient cultures when describing their heritage. Studies of several thousand human remains in
later Jmon shell-mounds have put the average age of death at about thirty for men
and thirty-one for women (Kokuritsu Kagaku Hakubutsukan 1973:8). Progressively
fewer human bones mark all later periods, but Yayoi skeletons still number about one
298
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
NOTES TO PAGES 1516
thousand, and this reasonably large body of data appears to indicate that the typical life
span did not exceed about thirty-one years. No doubt a few striking exceptions
existed, but their skeletons have yet to be found.
As for the number of wives ( fujin, women or wives, without distinction of status, such
as concubines), Otomasu says it is not possible; no known social system could sustain
itself with such an imbalance between the sexes: see Otomasu 1980:160. One reason
given for polygamy is a high rate of infant mortality, but the economics of such stratified societies rarely allowed the luxury of two or three wives to a commoner. Perhaps
the writer felt that the sweeping (and somewhat implausible) statement of lack of jealousy among wives would be better understood by referring to divided houses.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: In case of violation of law, the light offender loses his wife
and children by confiscation; as for the grave offender, the members of his household
and also his kinsmen are exterminated. It is literally taking (mei/botsu, meaning bossh)
the wife and children of light offenders (i.e., depriving them of their natural association and freedom). Yasumoto: the family, but could be more; Hirano: all relatives. The
net could include the tribe.The draconian laws help to explain the good behavior the
Wei zhi writer claims for the individuals within the community. Here is the customary
Asian attitude of the familys being held responsible for its members actions, whether
the attitude had locally evolved or had been brought in with the rice growers.
Punishments on two levels started with the paterfamilias, who therefore had little
choice but to keep strict discipline within the household. Unfortunately, one must only
guess as to how the crimes were graded, what the judicial process entailed, and how
the punishments were meted out.The jar burial at Yoshinogari in Saga prefecture containing a skeleton and nine stone arrowheads resembles more an execution than a battle deathassuming that stone arrowheads were not preferred grave-goods at that time.
And the three little thread-relief figures on the bronze bell from Sakuragaoka, Kobe
city, one brandishing a sword while appearing to hold another by the hair, could also
be an execution, with all due regard for other interpretations.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: There are class distinctions among the people, and some men
are vassals of others. Taxes are collected. There are granaries as well as markets in each
province, where necessaries are exchanged under the supervision of the Wa officials.
Hirano: the ranking system and social order were well kept. From the Chinese viewpoint, order was maintained by a functioning hierarchical system (saj). Taxes and market activities were connected by the writer, hence the inference that taxes were imposed
on traded goods, monitored by appointed officials. The characters dige/teikaku can also
be read as mansion-tower and therefore here may be descriptive of upper-class
dwellings, rather than sko (warehouses) as Yasumoto reads them.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: To the north of the Queens land, there is a high official stationed especially to exercise surveillance over those provinces, so that they are kept in
a state of awe and fear. This statement, north of the queens koku, is a defining
remark for those who place Yamatai in south Kyushu. It requires the view that the land
of Wa was a string of northsouth islands. Ito would always be north of Yamatai.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: This official keeps his official residence in the country of Izu.
In that country there is [also] an official similar to a Chinese governor (ci-shi/shishi; magistrate).There is a major difference here in translating zhi/ji/osamaru, govern, rule, pacify,
as a verb and therefore describing the authority of the head of intelligence located in Ito,
or simply as a noun that merely compares him to a Chinese official. Tsunoda and
Goodrich do not want to attribute such power to him, but the implication is that he was
the chief secular authority, fully loyal to Himiko. In fact, they make it out to be two different individuals. The question has long been raised: Was he sent from Daifang or
NOTES TO PAGE 16
299
Yamatai? Who appointed him, the Chinese or Himiko? Yasumoto says interpretations can
go either way: if the appointment of the i-da-shuai/ichi-dai-sotsu was within her domain,
Himiko made the appointment; if outside, the Chinese governor-general of Daifang
made it. However, he was like a Chinese magistrate, not one, so it was Himikos appointment. In the Matsumoto theme the harsh conditions described in the Wei zhi were in
part attributable to the heavy hand of the Chinese appointee in that region of Wa.
78. Tsunoda and Goodrich: they are all made to stop at the port for inspection, so that
messages and gifts to the Queen may reach her without mishap (literally, without disorder). Apparently the dissipation or disappearance of some baggage along the way
traded, pilfered, sold off, or piratedmade inventorying necessary. It must have been a
perennial problem as the story of a mission from Kogury arriving in the reign of
Emperor Bidatsu relates an actual occurrence. Sent to the court of Kimmei, who had
already died, the members of the mission made up a preposterous story and killed their
envoy to prevent him from reporting their mischief on his return (Aston, 2:9192).
Later historic missions could circumvent north Kyushu, sailing directly to Naniwa
(Osaka) at the eastern end of the Inland Sea. In 642, in the reign of Empress Kgyoku,
the Nihon shoki records the dispatch of a court team to Naniwa to inspect the tribute
(Aston, 2:173).
79. Tsunoda and Goodrich: When the lowly meet men of importance on the road, they
stop and withdraw to the roadside. In conveying messages to them or addressing them,
they either squat or kneel, with both hands on the ground.This is the way they show
respect. When responding, they say ah, which corresponds to the affirmative yes.
To escape seeming redundancy in the text,Tsunoda and Goodrich may have thought
that the statement dealt with in note 70 mentioning worship involved the spiritual
actions of the Wa, while this one is wholly secular. Whatever their intentions, the style
and interests of the Wei zhi writer suggest that he avoided all but mundane subjects.
Kneeling and crawling seem to have been the protocol for hundreds of years.The
clay haniwa figures put on the mounded tombs include a type of kneeling male, hands
on the ground in front. Sixth-century examples from Ibaragi and Gumma prefectures
are, in two cases, armed men (Kobayashi 1960, pl. 25; Yamakawa, fig. 26). Whatever
their function, the position is well described in the Wei zhi. In 670 Emperor Temmu
issued right of way regulations for passing on roads, meaning that most footpaths
were not yet two-way streets. The details are not given in the Nihon shoki, but Aston
adds a note from an old Chinese text, the rules written in the best Confucian fashion:
lower-ranked individuals give way to higher-ranked people, the young give way to the
old, and carriers of light loads give way to carriers of heavy loads (Aston, 2:292). In 682
Temmu banned kneeling and crawling for ceremonies, more than likely because they
had gone out of style in China (Aston, 2:357358).
Palanquins for rulers may have been introduced no earlier than the seventh century.When a ruler made a progress he or she was being transported by imperial carriage, meaning not a wheeled vehicle but a covered litter with bearers and alternates.
Their use is clearly described in the Jinshin-no-ran story, when the man to become
Emperor Temmu and his wife were escaping from the hostile Yamato court (Aston,
2:305307). Advance men are frequently mentioned along with descriptions of the
elaborate preparations preceding an imperial trip. For long in China, the most sophisticated and comfortable ride was provided by human porters.
80. Tsunoda and Goodrich: The country formerly had a man as ruler. For some seventy
or eighty years after that there were disturbances and warfare. Thereupon the people
agreed upon a woman for their ruler. This is the usual translation, but the period of
chaos would correspond to about three generations, which seems excessive, although
300
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
NOTES TO PAGE 16
perhaps not if one reads the obviously truncated Nihon shoki stories of Yamato ascent
to power through the composite personality of Yamato-takeru. The Sui shu text says
that during the reigns of emperors Huan and Ling the land of Wa was in great turmoil
and had no ruler for many years.Their reigns are successive, from 147 to 189, the end
of which might work well for Himikos installation. As this would seem more reasonable, I have included ago, but the mathematics are admittedly little better.
Yasumoto says the first sentence may be interpreted to mean that the capitals (ky)
were in one place for seventy or eighty years and after this kings rule there was dissension between Wa chieftains for several years (Yasumoto 1989:60).Whatever the case,
male rule was the norm, and no chieftain had distinguished himself to the point of
gaining the support of at least a majority of the others. Himiko was on the winning
side in the ensuing battles.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: Her name was Pimiko. Chinese: bei-mi-hu, therefore a
phonogram.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: She occupied herself with magic and sorcery, bewitching the
people. They do not refer to the more specific magic named by the Chinese writer.
The Way of Demons (guei-dao/kid), which I take to be a form of magic implying
communication with and control of the spirits of the dead; if practiced by an individual on the losing side, termed black magic and the target of eradication.
It would appear that her contacts were with two men, her brother and this other, a
butler/valet.The Sui shu says that a younger brother assisted her in managing the country, and refers to only two men serving as intermediaries; see Tsunoda and Goodrich, 28.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: She resided in a palace surrounded by towers and stockades,
with armed guards in a state of constant vigilance. Palace: gong-shi/kyshitsu. But the
word for high building, qi-guan/rkan, for which Yasumoto adds takadono in his commentary (Yasumoto 1989:6), could, conceivably, be adjectival for palace and therefore
refer to an elevated-floor residence of the type built from Yayoi times for chieftains and
shamans. Stockade: cheng-zha/jsaku. The reading might therefore run this way: She
lived in a stockaded raised-floor palace normally heavily protected by security guards.
The term ta/t, commonly used for tower and spoken of in English as pagoda, came
in with Buddhism and so lent itself thereafter for traditional buildings with dominant
vertical dimensions.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: Over one thousand li to the east of the Queens land, there
are more countries of the same race as the people of Wa. They omit across the ocean,
a point that can be taken as crucial to understanding the geographical outer limit of
Himikos domain and, no less, the extent of the territory occupied by the Wa at that
time. One thousand was a useful number for a long but actually unknown distance.
Koku, here translated as land. Tsunoda and Goodrich: island of the dwarfs; but the
text refers only to a polity, not a water-surrounded geographical feature.
The pygmies, unclad savages, and black-teeth people are all residents of koku. These,
of course, have been interpreted as betel-nut-chewing natives of small stature in a very
warm climate somewhere in the south Pacific. The Taiwan aborigines are not an
unreasonable suggestion, but it is a gratuitous piece of information implying that no
record of such a trip existed.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: To make a tour of all the parts of Wa, located as it is in the
far-distant oceanthe islands sometimes scattered, sometimes groupedwould be a
circuitous journey of about five thousand li. A round-trip was not the intention; the
meaning: if all the islands were to be visited it would be about this far. Hirano: some
people live separately, some live in close proximity; going around the whole area would
be about 5,000 ri. Yasumoto: some people are quite isolated, some live together like a
chain. This means the whole complex of Japanese islands as they knew them, not the
NOTES TO PAGES 1617
89.
301
distance involved in getting there, but is inclusive of all Wa-peopled territory. What had
been travel days are now estimated in li. This cross-referencing may have been thought
to be useful as a rough guide, but it does little more than complicate the mathematics.
The editors of the Nihon shoki found here the chronological peg they had been looking
for and tied Jings dates to it, making Jing and Himiko one and the same for most of
later Japanese history. Jing was Okinaga-tarashi-hime, or Princess Okinaga-tarashi, the
title hime picked up by the Chinese phonetically from the generic Japanese source. The
Nihon shoki quotes quite literally from the Wei zhi, but gives the 3rd year of the period or
239 and follows with emissaries returning to Japan in 240 and the Wa ruler sending tribute back to China in 243, Jings 39th, 40th, and 43rd years (Aston, 1:245246).The Liang
shu and the Han yuan also use the 3rd year of Jing-chu, so it may actually have been 239
(Yasumoto 1989:62). The Jing section in the Nihon shoki follows, based on Sakamoto,
Ienaga, Inoue, and no, 1:351352. Aston calls the tsuchinoto-hitsuji year the 56th year of
the cycle; it was the 59th.The names of individual envoys match with the currently used
version of the Wei zhi except for one character.A Nihon shoki translation follows:
39th year. This is the tsuchinoto-hitsuji year. The Wei zhi says: In the reign of Emperor Ming,
3rd year, 6th month of Jing-chu, the queen of Wa sent the Grand Master Natome and others to the
commandery to request permission to meet the emperor and present tribute. Governor-general
Deng-xia dispatched an official as escort to the capital.
40th year. The Wei zhi says: Zheng-shi 1st year: Jian-zhong-xiao, Yu-ti-xie and others were
sent to the Wa country with an imperial rescript, a seal and a ribbon.
43rd year.The Wei zhi says: Zheng-shi 4th year:The Wa ruler again sent as envoy the Grand
Master Itogi-yayako and eight others to present tribute.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: Nashonmi. Elsewhere, Natme, Nashime, Nashmi.

Tsunoda and Goodrich:Tsushi Gori.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: across the sea, but the text does not use sea, only distant.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: properly encased. The slaves (seik, dorei) are described by
Hirano as namami (living flesh), representing the ambivalent view of these unfree
people, the term noted as having uncertain meaning (Hirano 1989:186). Young ones
were a particularly valuable commodity. First-generation slaves were probably mostly
the spoils of war, taken to replenish the stock of a social stratum believed to be necessary for the maintenance of the status and economy of the upper class.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: We expect you, O Queen, to rule your people in peace and
to endeavor to be devoted and obedient. The statement is characteristically delivered
from on high in view of its professed sympathy for the long and arduous trip, the great
distance from home, and the Confucian admonitions of loyalty as implied to the
emperor (zhong/chk) and filial piety (xiao/k). Filial piety carries the nuance of
obedience.As public evidence of this understood relationship, tangible honors and titles
are being bestowed.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: We have, therefore, given to Nashonmi an appointment as
Lieutenant Colonel in the Imperial Guard, and to Gori an appointment as Commandant
in the Imperial Guard. In effect Natome received two titles bound up in one: zhonglong-jiang/ch-r-sh (Commandant and leader of the court gentlemen), while Gri
received the title of xiao-wei/k-i (Commandant); see Hucker, 1581, 2456.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: We have granted them audience in appreciation of their visit,
before sending them home with gifts.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: pieces for hiki. Hiki can be translated as bolt, and one should
be around 8 m, making this about 130 feet of cloth.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: The gifts are these: five pieces of crimson brocade with
dragon designs; ten pieces of crimson tapestry with dappled pattern; fifty lengths of
302
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
NOTES TO PAGE 17
bluish-red fabric; and fifty lengths of dark blue fabric. The most difficult to identify
are two: 10 zhang/ch (a cloth counter) of some kind of woven woolen textile with red
threads that includes two characters no longer in use (Yasumoto reads them as suzokukei
and explains as chijimi keiorimono, woolen cloth); and the 5 ch of fine, florid, mottled
woolen cloth, which Yasumoto indicates is saihankakei, woolen cloth with detailed
showy flower patterns (n99). Wool came in more fixed sizes, so the number was a more
practical figure than the total length of the fabric.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: fifty lengths of bluish-red fabric; and fifty lengths of dark blue
fabric. The first item is kon, here called dark blue, and the second is qing/ao
(blue/azure/green), so dark blue and blue would seem to fit in this order, but the fabric descriptions usually embody more precise distinctions. Yonekura (1976:34) believes
the total length of cloth in this gift would run to about l km or 3,325 ft.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: five pieces of tapestry with delicate floral designs. See n97.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: taels of gold.A liang/ry, now obsolete, became between 1 and
11/3 oz in weight. Yonekura (1976:34) calculates the quantity listed here to be 112 gr or 4
oz at that time.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: fifty catties each of jade and red beads. A jin/kin (cattie) is
between 1.3 and 1.5 lb or 600680 gr. Zhenzhu/shinju are pearls, and dan/tan is best
translated as cinnabar, not beads.
It will be noticed that the initial set of gifts named as reciprocal were all cloth and
in multiples of five, making very substantial lengths.The single-edged iron swords were
of royal size, and there would have been a combined total of between 65 and 75 lb of
pearls and cinnabar. One hundred bronze mirrors alone would have made a very generous gift.A rough average for the type of mirror best known in Himikos time is about
l kg each.This alone should have made a load of about 220 lb of sheer metal.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: All these things are sealed in boxes and entrusted to
Nashonmi and Gori. Exhibition of the gifts was an important part of the entire ritual and was not only intended to impress foreigners with the quality of Chinese workmanship but was a method of guaranteeing a full accounting. In one of the best-known
cases, Empress Suiko hosted an embassy from the Sui court on 608.8.3. The Chinese
fleet was escorted through the Inland Sea by thirty bedecked boats, then met by seventy-five caparisoned horses and accompanied to the Asuka capital for the great presentation day.The gifts were shown in the palace court, and the Chinese emissary, after
reading the letter from his ruler, handed over an itemized list; see Aston, 2:137138.
The Sui shu describes a similar grand reception in Japan.
The Wei emperor was then Ming-di, who was on the throne from 227 to 239. He
gave the Wa envoys the diplomatic recognition they hoped to receive and sent them
home with the material proof of enhanced international status.
The title jian zhong xiao wei/ken ch k i, the latter two characters meaning commandant, includes a common prefatory laudatory expression for which a literal translation
(build-middle) is meaningless. Tsunoda and Goodrich: He had an audience with the
Queen and took with him . . . In the list is plain silk, decorated silk (wa-kin), and
probably woolen cloth (keorimono); see Yasumoto 1989:65.
The year 240 should have been the first year of Emperor Zhao ling-gong, who
reigned from 240 to 248. Although the event described in the text occurred two years
later and Natome and Gri were supposed to have taken the gifts home, it is generally
supposed that this was the final delivery of the gifts the Japanese embassy received at
the Chinese capital. Natome and Gri may have accompanied Ti-zhun, but they go
unnamed. What appears to be a two-year delay in the delivery of the gifts is normally
explained as trouble at Daifang, when the governor-general was assassinated. However,
NOTES TO PAGE 17
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
303
later records give two years as a round-trip time for one mission from China, even after
several centuries of more ocean-going experience. This one left China in late 669,
stopped along the coast of Korea, added ships and passengers, and arrived in Tsukushi
on 671.11.10; see Aston, 2:292298.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: the Wa ruler sent another embassyeight men under the
grandee Isegi Yazakuand bestowed presents of slaves, Japanese brocade, red and blue
silk, a fabric robe, cloth, cinnabar, and a wooden bow with short arrows. By and large
one assumes that only one of an item is included if the numbers are not given, but
slaves, for instance, were expected to multiply so rarely went singly, indicating that each
item requires its own analysis.
Differences of opinion on the materials and quantity of goods being sent include
one cited by Yasumoto. In the first item (5 hiki of kchi = dark red fabric) the chi may have
been miswritten or misunderstood for tei = tsumugi, here meaning padded cloth; see
Yasumoto 1989:63, but not to be translated as pongee as in the dictionary definition.
There is little doubt that the description of the bow is intended to distinguish between
the long Yayoi bow and the shorter Kofun bow, the short not referring to the arrows.
A bow does not need to be qualified as wooden. The mokufu, the grip in the middle of the bow, was probably omitted by Tsunoda and Goodrich because the graph is
miswritten on the left side as the animal radical (kemono-hen) and so seemed to be
meaningless. However, if written with the bow radical (yumi-hen) it can be understood,
although admittedly by only an inner circle of archers; see Yasumoto 1989:65.
Natome, presumably the highest-ranking individual Himiko could spare, was rewarded
for the successful mission of 238. He was probably a close relative. Matsumoto conjectures that Natome was the king of Ito, since all incoming and outgoing goods had to
be funneled through Ito, which was therefore the seat of power in southwest Japan.
Moreover, he suspects that the chief inspector of Ito was a Chinese appointee, thereby
giving Lelang and Daifang virtual control of north Kyushu; see Matsumoto 1983:380.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: The Queen of Wa, Pimiko, had been at odds with the King
of Kunu, Pimikukku, and had sent Saishi Uwo of Wa to visit the prefect and report in
person regarding the conflict going on. See Tsunoda and Goodrich, 19n36 for other
readings or treatment of this adversarys name. A possible transcription error may have
reversed the second and third characters, thereby making the name into the title hikomikoto, the male counterpart of Himiko.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: To the south [of the Queens country] is the country of
Kunu. The Wei zhi is quite general in its statement, not specifying to the south of
Yamatai, so this effort to clarify the meaning in the translation could be misleading.
However, the implication is clear: the new governor-general was greeted on his arrival
with a plea from Himiko for help.And in assessing the situation, it might be added parenthetically, given the surprisingly frequent turnover of governors even in the short
time Himiko was dealing with them, he was probably relatively powerless.
Kona is variously identified as being in the prefecture of Ehime (Shikoku island),
Kagoshima and Kumamoto (Kyushu island), and Gumma; see Young, 77, 99100, 107,
109, 111, 114. In each case, efforts were made to find some phonetic similarity. For
instance, northwest Shikoku, once called Kono; south Kyushu, Kumado, and the Kuma
River in Kumamoto; Kuna, the Kumano area of Wakayama; Gumma, then called Keno.
It could well have been in southeast Kyushu, where the obstreperous people who came
to be known as Kumaso/Hayato resided. Wherever it was, it was an area described by
the Chinese historian as bordering on Himikos territory, important enough for the
turmoil to have a fundamental effect on the future of Yamatai, but fringe enough that
Himiko could survive what may have been a long-festering insurrection. Nevertheless,
304
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
NOTES TO PAGE 17
it became Himikos waterloo. If she had won her right to the throne on the battlefield
she should have been back with the troops, like Saimei later, exercising her special powers. If she had died at the front, her death might have been attributed to some supernatural cause, as history had treated Emperor Chai. Unsubdued Kumaso would be
tantamount to failure. Matsumoto thinks the associated chiefs may have had Himiko
killed as being responsible for the disaster; see Matsumoto 1983:382. At any rate, the
abrupt gap in the text gives the two events an unusual juxtaposition: her troops were
fighting one minute and she was being buried the next in a very public event.
The term used for Zhang-zhengs title, se cao yan shi (Yasumoto 1989:66: sai no
sen-shi), implies the rank of a lower official connected with border protection.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: He [the governor-general] issued a proclamation advising
reconciliation. While this sentence may have this larger political implication, the inference is more like remonstrating with or scolding Himiko, as though she was responsible for the predicament she was in. In effect, it can be interpreted as advising her to
make concessions, certainly not to expect any help.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: When Pimiko passed away, a great mound was raised, more than
a hundred paces in diameter. The Chinese text has a more cause and effect sequence: yi
si/motte shi, because she died.Yasumoto: when she died; Hirano: later, Himiko died. Paces
are bu/ho, varying over the centuries, apparently averaging close to 1 m.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: Over a hundred male and female attendants followed her to
the grave. Xun zang/junshi/juns were immolated. Nu bei/nuhi is broadly slaves or servants. Most Japanese scholars ignore the human sacrifice account or simply call it
unlikely; see Otomasu 1980:162. The Chinese had discontinued the practice well
before this time. However, if this is ignored, the rationale for the haniwa must also be
ignored, as explained in the Nihon shoki as substitutes for live human burials.The gruesome practice was discontinued in favor of making clay images, which became the
norm for elite burials; see Aston, 1:178181.
As this story is lodged in the semimythological period and contains archaeological inconsistencies, it can easily be disregarded, but the ban on horse sacrifice was issued
with the Taika Reform in 646, and since several horse burials have been found under
conditions that resemble sacrifices, that edict has been taken seriously; see Mori
1978:304. Given the current views, if by any slim chance human remains were to be
found in the immediate neighborhood of a very early imperial tomb, their presence
would be interpreted as a cemetery of loyal court workers who had expressed a desire
to be buried near the resting place of their lord. If Himiko fits the time of Emperor
Sujin, according to the story, the practice was not yet banned. It was, however, proscribed by the next ruler.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: Then a king was placed on the throne, but the people would not
obey him.Assassination and murder followed; more than one thousand were thus slain.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: A relative of Pimiko named Iyo, a girl of thirteen, was then
made queen and order was restored. Tsunoda and Goodrich (16n38) grant that most
scholars believe the name should be read Toyo and that it is derived from Toyo-no-kuni,
an old collective name for the two provinces of Buzen and Bungo that constitute northeast Kyushu. In regard to this, the comment was written when most scholars were
Kyushu proponents. A homestead in Kyushu would make Himiko a Kyushu native, an
idea repugnant to the increasing number of Yamato proponents. But, in fact, the Wei zhi
uses Iyo. Hirano notes that the Liang shu, Bei shi (History of the Northern Dynasties)
and Han yuan use Toyo, which, as he says, brings us back to the Yamaichi/Yamatai controversy. Yasumoto refers to the Liang shu and Bei shi and uses Toyo. Consistency might
suggest that Toyo be accepted, but Yamaichi appeared only once whereas Iyo appears
NOTES TO PAGES 1823
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
305
three times, giving a scribe two chances to make the correction if he thought an initial
error had been made. Or would he have stood his ground once he realized his mistake?
More likely, a later copyist miswrote, and the mistake was then reproduced by successive
scribes. I prefer Iyo.
If Iyo seems inordinately young, it should be remembered that Himiko was apparently not much more than a juvenile when she was empowered by the alliance of chieftains. She probably held the reins for over six decades. She may have been selected at
about the same age. Japanese history is replete with figurehead emperors installed as
children and civil wars fought ostensibly over control of those appointments.
Tsunoda and Goodrich: The delegation visited the capital and presented thirty male
and female slaves. It also offered [to the Court] five thousand white gems and two
pieces of carved jade, as well as twenty pieces of brocade with variegated designs. The
five thousand beads may have been milky quartz, less likely, steatite. Tsunoda and
Goodrich omit the blue (qing/aoi) with yu/tama, perhaps assuming that it was generic
for jade. Yu/tama (gem, jewel, bead, jade) is as loosely used in Chinese as it is in
English; the Japanese finally specified jade as hisui to make the distinction. Regarding
the two pieces of carved jade, Tsunoda and Goodrich omit the qualifying [with]
hole (kong/ana). The character used here is a variant for magatama, the commashaped bead that became characteristic of the Kofun period.
Tsunoda and Goodrich, 13.
Ibid., 2.
Ibid., 28. For pertinent later texts see Tsunoda and Goodrich, 2236.
Wei.
Edwards 1996:55. Following up on this lead, using the dates of 183 and 189 allows a
span of time between about fifty-eight and sixty-five years for Himiko as the paramount, a point that may have confirmed the Chinese view that the people of Wa could
live to be well over eighty.
Ibid., 38.
Ibid., 49.
Ibid., 38.
Chapter 3 The Initial Problem and Three Centuries of Compounding It

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Aston, 1:245.
Sakamoto 1991:8182.
Young, 6167.
Bleed, 60.
Saeki 1982:5; Young, 7083.
Young, 8182.
Kkogaku zasshi, vol. 5.
Young, 119121.
Samples of English translations follow: Han [vassal?] King of the Wa country Nu
(Tsunoda and Goodrich, 5); Seal of the King of Ito of Han (Young, 82); The Seal
of the King of Na of Wa of Han (Young, 118, translating the 1892 writing of Miyake
Yonekichi); The Seal of the King of Yamato of Han (Young, 104, translating the 1911
writing of Inaba Iwakichi); [From] Emperor of Han [to] King of Nu (Kidder
1959:92); King of Na of Wa of Han (Imamura 1996:185186).The gist of it is best
rendered by Miyake.
10. Saeki 1977:42.
306
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
NOTES TO PAGES 2432
Young, 8384.
Saeki 1971:50.
Saeki 1975b:5961.
Saeki 1971:142; 1975:6364.
Saeki 1977:114. It can be pointed out here that in the Silla section of the Samguk sagi
there are references to thirty-six invasions before AD 500; see Hong, 105n1.
Aston, 1:245246.
Young, 9196.
Ibid., 89; Hong, 17.
Saeki 1977:115.
Young, 86114.
Ibid., 154161.
Aston, 2:64.
Ibid., 268.
Hashimoto 1910.
Young, 142.
Ibid., 105108.
Tsunoda and Goodrich, 28: Yamadai; Young, 28, 106107.
Shida, 1927; Young, 165.
Teshigahara, 59. Articles by Takahashi and Umehara in volumes 13 and 14 of Kkogaku
zasshi, the former on the origins of the Bronze Age, the latter identifying Yamatai with
the Kinai, contributed greatly to defining the significance and relative time of the Yayoi
culture. The traditional dates of about 300 BC to AD 300 are now being questioned
through improved dating techniques, in particular a much earlier starting date because
of the appearance of rice, and the construction of tombs in the Nara area by the middle of the third century marks the end of Yayoi there.
See Edwards 1991 for a good retrospective on the pride of place in the excavation of Toro.
The Shell Mounds of Omori, 1879.
Young, 116, 125ff.; Sait 1974:82;Teshigahara, 34.
Sait 1974:1718.
tsuka and Kobayashi, 270271.
Young, 126.
Anazawa and Manome 1986:375395.
First recorded in 1873 as having grave-goods worth pursuing, Hamada Ksaku
(18811938) and Umehara Sueji of Kyoto Imperial University officially excavated Etafunayama in 1917. Umehara published the finds in 1922 in the first volume of the
Kumamoto prefectural reports on historic landmarks, scenic places, and natural monuments (Shiseki meish tennen kinenbutsu chsa hkoku), a series requested of each prefecture by the government. He restudied the burial chamber in 1944 and 1945, after
Hamadas death.
Sait 1974:124; Young, 125.
Tamaru 1989.These include ninety-five places in Kyushu, forty-seven in the Kinai, ten
elsewhere, and one each in Java/Sumatra, the Philippines, and Egypt. I might add that
once after a lecture I gave on the subject in Tokyo a Japanese told me that he could
show Yamatai to have been in Okinawa. The map referred to above, however, has no
Yamatai locations indicated on any Japanese island south of Kyushu. The overwhelming quantity of literature on the subject, far beyond manageable proportions, has generated several compilations, collected works, and dictionaries. The journal Kikan
Yamatai-koku (Yamatai-koku quarterly) updates the bibliography. Quite indispensable
are Yamatai-koku jiten by Takemitsu, which includes brief summaries of the theories
NOTES TO PAGES 3237
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
307
advanced in thirty-six books published between 1848 and 1986, and Yamatai-koku handobukku by Yasumoto Biten. Yasumoto notes where some 113 authors locate Yamatai
and adds a very substantial bibliography. More recent is Yamatai-koku o shiru jiten by
Takemitsu and Yamagishi.
For a sampling: Saga-ken Kyiku Iinkai 1989, 1990; Kidder 1991b; Hudson and Barnes.
A typical newspaper headline in April 1989: Just ended work on Saga dig holds key
to ancient Japan. Houses, storehouses, and watchtowers were reconstructed, the burial mound of the village heads was enclosed in a large building, and a museum was
erected on the site. The prefecture had struck gold. The publicity was exploited, the
attendance at the site brought in revenue for the area far beyond imagination, and Saga
was on the ancient historical map. In 1991 the prefecture gave an award to the five millionth visitor to what had been designated a History Park.
Fujisawa 1975.
Asahigurafu 1998; Edwards 1999; Higuchi and Setoguchi.
The genesis of this thesis began with the recognition of matching mirrors in an article
in Shirin in 1955: Teshigahara, 8283; Kobayashi, 1961a, b; particularly, see Edwards
1995. By way of description, the dominant type is called sankakuen-shinj-ky (or
sankakubuchi-shinj-ky), the first part of which is taken to mean the triangular crosssection of the rim, followed by deities-animals mirror.
Aston, xvxvi.
Young, 175176.
See the following as the most accessible examples of Western writing on Himiko and
Yamatai: Yonekura 1974a:4451; Saeki 1977:113119; Aikens and Higuchi, 246250,
with almost full replication of the Tsunoda and Goodrich text; Barnes 1988:45,
1316, 19; Okazaki 1993:280297, dealing with international relations; Imamura, 179,
185191; Piggott 1997:1543, chiefly concerned with the nature of rule and kingship;
Farris 1998:936, the most comprehensive discussion of the evolving theories and
arguments; Hudson 1999:183192, adopting the early pronunciation as Pimiko, primarily how she fits with a core-periphery system; Edwards 1996 largely on current
attitudes toward the problem; and 1999, on the Kurozuka tomb mirrors and their relationship to the Kobayashi theory.
Kagaku Asahi.
Chapter 4 Travel by Land and Water to Neighboring Countries

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Furuta.
Yasumoto 1989:145151. See Goodrich in Young, 11, for Chinese references to the li
and travel in terms of time.
Tsunoda and Goodrich, 4n5.
Ishida 1947:1425.
Yamao 1972:62.
Edwards 1996:57n11, 57n10.
Young, 35n32. However, the li has changed greatly, more so than all of the other linear
units, and 346.5 m must be based on an inch of 23.1 mm.
Yasumoto 1989:145, table 6: between the tenth and the first centuries BC it was 405
meters; from the first into the seventh century AD, 300 paces; between the first and third
centuries, 414.72 m; in the third century, 434.16 m; in the sixth and seventh centuries,
531.18 meters.At some point in the seventh century it became 360 paces, and from the
seventh through the tenth centuries it was 559.8 m; between the tenth and fourteenth
centuries, 552.96 m; and between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, 559.8 m.
308
NOTES TO PAGES 3749
10. Yasumoto 1989:144, table 5, embodying the studies of Fujii 1910; Shiratori 1948; Fujita
1943; and Matsushita 1975.
11. Takemoto, 386.
12. Tsunoda and Goodrich, 49.
13. Worcester, 23.
14. Lam, 208209.
15. Greenhill, 99106.
16. Worcester, 12.
17. Greenhill, 106.
18. National Museum of Korea 1980: 89, nos.143, 144; National Museum of Korea 1991:
60, pl. 6.
19. Imamura, 34. The first of the northern group, shima, is 25 km east of the Honshu
coast and 20 km north of Toshima, the next in the island chain.The underwater topography shelves off rapidly, and the oceans bed is at a greater depth than was then possible for a land bridge to any one of these islands. In other words, Kzu island could not
have been approached except by some sort of watercraft, but once some kind of craft
had reached shima, a distant island would come into view as the last one faded
behind:Toshima, Niijima, Shikinejima, and Kzujima.
20. ICUARC, 2021.
21. Koyama, 1, 1996:47.
22. Another case is the common ancient culture of north Honshu and south Hokkaido.
Similar characteristics of this region are recognizable from before 3000 BC. Early
Jmon was the first great age of exploitation of marine resources, the operations
widening offshore to include most of the important islands. For visual landmark sailing, looking simply at the closest land points in the Tsugaru Strait, two pairs of capes
are almost exactly the same distance apart: Tappizaki on the Aomori side opposite
Shirakami-misaki on the island of Hokkaido and, correspondingly, mazaki on the tip
of the Shimokita peninsula of Aomori and Shiokubi-misaki at the foot of the Hidaka
mountain range on Hokkaido. In both cases the distance is about 20 km, ideally spaced
for clear weather, daylight sailing.
23. Torihama Kaizuka Kenky Gurpu 1982, section 910:8287; 1983:8287. Boat number 1 at Torihama, also Early Jmon, is over 6 m in length, even with one end missing.
There is little more left than the flattish bottom of boat number 2, but it has two lateral ribs about 1.7 m apart, as though used for heel blocks.
24. Shimizu 1975:6365.
25. Worcester, 1112.
26. Shimizu 1975:72.
27. GBHSJ 1992, 12:94.
28. Aston, 2:161.
29. Ibid., 272.
30. GBHSJ 1997, 9:68.
31. Aston, 1:219221.
32. Ibid., 2:298.
33. Kidder 1998:40, 4749.
34. Hudson 1990:70, 1991:15.
35. Takase 2000:54.
36. Aston, 1:230.
37. Ibid., 220; Ujitani, 1:182.
38. Aston, 2:269.
39. Ibid., 1:256, 2:69.
NOTES TO PAGES 5060
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
309
Ibid., 1:229237.
Ibid., 2:72.
Ishii 1980:146147.
GBHSJ 2002, 2:8687.
Snellen, 258.
Rinoie 1978:1527.
The East 1974.
GBHSJ 1983, 5:84.
Aston, 1:280283.
Chapter 5 Han Commanderies, Korean Kingdoms, and Wei China

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Dillon 1998:132134, 332.

See Sohn, Kim, and Yong, 26, for claims that these commanderies (provinces) were all
in south Manchuria, on both sides of the Liao River, and current North Korean claims.
Gardiner, 18.
Sohn, Kim, and Yong, 28.
Gardiner, 1828.
See Suh et al. 1983:5556 for use of the Han term.
Various romanizations: Gaogouli, Kao-kou-li, Gaozhuli, Kao-chu-li; J: Kkuri.
Sohn, Kim, and Yong, 30.
Kim, 115116, 182183.
Chsen Koseki Kenky-kai 1934, 1936; Umehara and Fujita, 1947.
Gardiner; Hong 1991:101.
Ueda 1986; Hong 1994:195203.
Ueda 1986:407.
Ibid., 409.
Chapter 6 Japan in Transition from Yayoi to Kofun

1.
2.
3.
4.
Koyama 1978:50. Dates for the Jmon period are variously given, with substantial
regional overlaps; hence a strict linear system will be only a rough approximation.
One of the latest series of dates, listed as BC, published in the reports of excavations
of the Sannai-maruyama site in Aomori prefecture, is as follows: Subearliest (Ss-ki):
10,0008000; Earliest (S-ki): 80004000; Early (Zen-ki): 40003000; Middle (Chki): 30002000; Late (K-ki): 20001000; and Latest (Ban-ki): 1000300 (Kidder
1998:31n5).
Several factors must have entered in, but no agreement will be had on them: too heavy
dependence on a fertility-inhibiting unsupplemented diet of nuts; self-destructive later
Jmon ritual practices; new diseases for which the Jmon people had no immunity
in somewhat the same way the native Americans living in relatively dispersed conditions were subjected to the white mans diseasesand so on, all of which would take
a book to argue, and probably inconclusively; see Kidder 1995b.
Bunkazai Hogo Iinkai 1965.
Most critics claim that the estimates are too high, pointing to the difficulty of factoring in the seasonality of sites. Koyama readily admits to some of the pitfalls; see Koyama
1978:5ff. A few are noted here.The number of sites for a period is cumulative, and the
count is a static point at the end of each phase.This is the point at which the calculation is made.The ceramic chronology was devised in the 1930s (Yamanouchi, 2932),
based on pottery typology in the Kant Plain and the assumption that ceramic devel-
310
NOTES TO PAGES 6063
opments throughout the country moved on a coordinated front. However, great

regional differences make this a totally unrealistic view. Pottery typology for the huge
Middle Jmon sites in the central mountains suggests the occupation of only a few pitdwellings at one time, usually not more than ten. An analysis of the Moroiso phase by
Habu, a major phase toward the end of Early Jmon, puts the Jmon subsistence system then as closer to foraging than collecting, therefore implying mobility as the normal seasonal pattern; see Habu, 99. Some imbalance in number of excavated sites is
inevitable: the postWorld War II population explosion, which obligated a vast program
of archaeology in the suburbs of the modern cities and thus the discovery of numerous sites in these areas, overloading the maps disproportionately; local interest, where
archaeologists have been more active and have compiled site lists for decades, using
Nagano prefecture as an example; fuller and better quality of site publication in recent
years, particularly after an interest was taken in settlement archaeology. See Imamuras
disagreements with Koyamas method; Imamura (156159) argues that short-term fluctuations of climate and therefore population are not taken into consideration. His
refinement of the method reaches an unexpected conclusion: a spectacular population explosion for the Middle Jmon, not a smaller number, but the method seems
most difficult to apply to other stages of the Jmon period.
5. Koyama 1978:7, 5556.
6. If Himiko could not manage the chiefdoms to her north and east, in all fairness to her
nor could the more advanced state in historic centuries. The loose aggregate of
Emishi/Ezo/Ebisu/Ainu in the north consolidated to avoid assimilation as the pressures
for space mounted and hostilities in the region became more acute.The Wei zhi is clear
on the many koku beyond Yamatai not beholden to her. As evidence, there are almost
no mounded tombs north of Sendai, and the northernmost Provincial Temple, the
Rikuzen kokubunji, built after 741, is in the city of Sendai, Miyagi prefecture. Untamed
Mutsu lay farther north. Early emperors fought their hundred years war on the northern borders, only Emperor Kammu (r. 781806) claiming success in incorporating the
Thoku region into his empire.
7. Yasuda 1978:202ff.
8. Minato, 101120.
9. The surface around the Mt. Aso area in roughly the center of the island is known for
its hai-ishi (ash-stone), the result of pyroclastic materials blasted out of its volcanoan
eruption that created the worlds largest caldera.Two among the very small number of
active, so-called Class A volcanoesthe most dangerousare Aso and Sakurajima, the
latter a prominent landmark on the south coast of the island.
10. During Early Jmon the Kikai eruption that created I-jima joined with the so-called
Aira-Tanzawa eruption of the Upper Palaeolithic to form the caldera of Kagoshima
Bay. Layers of drifting ash have been of great value to archaeologists dealing with stratigraphical relationships, but the chief impact the volcanoes had on the evolving culture
was to make south Kyushu almost uninhabitable and therefore an area to be generally
avoided. See Unger, 9293, for the suggestion that the timing of the Kikai volcanos
disruptive earth-shaking activityabout 5300 BCon the Jmon culture undercuts
at least in central Kyushu the hypothesis that the speakers of the Japanese language
arrived in Early Jmon. To this might be added, however, that if we consider all prehistoric periods and then until the nineteenth century, the contributions of central and
southern Kyushu to the progress of Japanese culture are scarcely measurable. All the
cultural waves that hit north Kyushu swung east, not south, and rolled on.
11. Aston, 2:139, 283, 285.
NOTES TO PAGES 6368
311
12. Hanihara 1987:400401.

13. Aomori-ken-ritsu Shirykan (Amori Prefecture History Materials Museum) wall panel
information, 1984.
14. Pioneer students of the skeletal material noted these differences and spoke of Ota Man
(Hiroshima, about 70 skeletons; Early, Middle, and Late Jmon); Tsukumo Man
(Okayama, about 180 skeletons; Late Jmon); Yoshigo Man (Aichi, about 350 skeletons;
Late and Latest Jmon) and others or types; see Fujita 1962:64, 365, 557, with later supplementary data.
15. Hanihara 1991; Koizumi.
16. Baba; Koizumi; Nakahashi 2000.
17. Hanihara 1987:399. The twenty-five samples from five Kant Yayoi sites studied by
Yoneda and others (2005)disagreeing with the earlier classification and dating by
Suzukiwere divided morphologically into native Jmon, transitional, and Kofun types.
18. Oota et al., 1995:133.
19. Nait 1971.
20. Nagai and Sano, 174175.
21. Minato, 185.
22. Suzuki 1960, 1963.
23. Takenaka and Onishi.
24. Ibid., 18.
25. Baba. Additionally, Shigematsu, Hajime, Masaaki, and Tsunehiko (161), in dealing with
nonmetric cranial traits of Jmon and Ainu, place the Ainu in an intermediate position between Jomon and Northeast Asians on the one hand, and between Jomon and
the Native Americans on the other. Dodo, Ishida, and Saitou (1992:479) say the
Jomon and Ainu are closely related to each other. The population discontinuity is
noted between Jmon and Yayoi, with immigrants dominating north Kyushu by
around Middle Yayoi. Later Japanese are their direct descendants. Pietrusewsky (199)
compared female crania in the Ryukyus with those on the main islands of Japan and
reached the conclusion that the Jmon and the Ainu had the most characteristics in
common, while those of the Ryukyus compared favorably with a cluster of Yayoi,
Kofun, and medieval Kamakura crania, thus indicative of a population that had received
many immigrants from the main islands.
26. Hitchins, 160; Kanaseki and Sahara 1978:19. In summing up his arguments, especially
against such high estimates, Imamura (160) prefers to see the spreading practice of rice
cultivation under ideal conditions as responsible for the huge population growth,
quite like the conditions that produced the Middle Jmon subculture.
27. Nakahashi 2000:13.
28. Imamura, 161162. Basing his claim on less Korean pottery appearing in Japan by Late
Yayoi, and correlating that with a believed decline in imported luxury goodsChinese
bronze mirrorsImamura sees the exchange obstructed in some way and a slackened
flow of immigrants (164). But the data on Han-dynasty mirrors tell a different story. By
one count 148 Early Han mirrors and 141 Late Han mirrors have been recovered in
Kyushu.The latter are Middle to Late Yayoi. Looking beyond Kyushu to the east, Early
Han mirrors tally 23 in Honshu and Shikoku, while Late Han mirrors tally 116. In
other words, the exchange had not slowed, but the source of demand was shifting, and
the flow was following the moving market and the elite procurers. The substantial
increase (from 171 Early to 257 Late mirrors) indicates an expanding business.
29. Matsumura, 20.
30. Kokuritsu Kagaku Hakubutsukan 1973: section 14.
312
NOTES TO PAGES 6872
31. Sahara 1990:38.

32. GBHSJ 1993, 1:11. In a survey of twenty-six hundred jaws of the early Japanese population by the Natural Science Museum staff, the teeth of medieval individuals are said
to be largerin fact, too large to be descendants of the Jmon peopleand their
shovel-shaped incisors, so often used to identify mongoloid types, are not found in
Jmon teeth. The northern Ryukyu islanders and the Jmon people have much in
common, and the northern Kyushu Yayoi and their descendants are almost identical to
Koreans and Chinese.
33. Kat 1982:239.
34. Watanabe 1966:173201.
35. Kojima 1980:188190.
36. Harunari 1984, 1986, 1996. In the northeast zone, the modern prefectures of
Fukushima (two sites), Niigata (one), Gumma (four), and Nagano (two); in the second
zone, a small number along the north Chgoku coast, the site of K (Osaka), Nakatsu
shell-mound (Okayama), and the classic site of Doigahama (Yamaguchi), with none in
Shikoku; and the southern zone, several sites on islands, part of Nagasaki prefecture, and
as far south as Okinawa.
37. Sahara and Kanaseki, 8990.
38. Yasuda, 232236.
39. Barnes 1988:214.
40. Sahara 1992: 42, referring to Machida and Yen.
41. Mabuchi 1993:652.
42. Fujiwara 1993:151.
43. GBHSJ 1983, 4:95.
44. Sahara 1992:4243; Komiya, 656. See Introduction, n3.
45. Watanabe 1985:106110.
46. Yasumoto 1989:53.
47. Koyama 1995, 1:49; 1996, 4:3; 1998, 27:67.
48. DAndrea, 217, 219.
49. Hayashida, 218227. See chap. 2, n49.
50. Mori 1974b:236237.
51. Oikawa 2002, 79:7.
52. Mori 1974b:238.
53. Esaka, 1960:50.
54. Prominent among the birds the Chinese should have seen or been told about inasmuch as their habitats included north China at that time, and a cross-section of useful birds or ones that became symbolic in Japan, would have been white-fronted geese
(magan) as winter visitors and the three sizes of egrets (daisagi, chsagi, and kosagi) as
chiefly summer visitors. Spotbill ducks (karugamo) are resident on Honshu, and
Japanese cranes (tanch), kites (tobi), kestrels (chgenb), pheasants (kiji), and crows
(garasu) are all generally resident.The last, which are now creating a major public nuisance in huge flocks in city parks and similar places, became a protected species
because Yatagarasu, the supernatural crow, guided Emperor Jimmu out of the wilderness and into his Yamato homestead.
55. GBHSJ 1993, 3:95.
56. Sugihara 1965:165.
57. Harunari 1993.
58. Tsunematsu 1994:2629.
59. Kidder 1991a:816. This is particularly true in densely populated areas. Typically, in
downtown Tokyo, our 19901991 Hachiyama-ch (8-chome 1-banchi) excavation, on
NOTES TO PAGES 7278
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
313
the grounds of a school in Shibuya-ku, in an area replete with Jmon and Yayoi sites,
allowed digging in a space of only a little over 100 m east to west and about 75 m north
to south. This was the eastern edge of a village, only one Late Yayoi pit-dwelling
appearing.The main feature, not more than 10 m to the east of the house floor, was a
stretch of moat about 90 m long, estimated to be no more than a quarter of its full
length. V-shaped in profile, it averaged 3 m at the top and 2 m deep. Along the inside
was a series of holes, believed to be for stakes or a fence. Eight rather badly disturbed
Earliest Jmon pit-dwellings were loosely scattered on a slightly lower level.
Kanaseki and Sahara 1978:25.
Asahi Shimbunsha 1989a.
Khoku Niytaun Bunkazai 1975.
Imori 1980:325.
Ogasawara 1993:73.
Yokohama-shi Kyiku Iinkai 1965. The average Yayoi house at Santonodai/tsuka
ranged between 27 m2 and 28 m2 in floor area. Middle Jmon houses there were
around 20 m2 and Kofun period houses about 22 m2. If, as is usually thought, a Middle
Jmon house could accommodate five individuals comfortably, a typical Yayoi house
provided adequate space for one more. Houses at Toro were slightly smaller (average 21
m2) and in some cases grouped so close together it is thought that rice had to be dried
and threshed elsewhere, rather than between the houses.Toro is Middle to Late Yayoi,
and the closeness of the dwellings contributed to the sense of security and suggests intimate communal living.
ba 1948; Nihon Kkogaku Kykai 1954; Sugihara 1965; Aikens and Higuchi
1982:226237.
Edwards 1991.
Fujita 1962:273. In Sait Hidetoshis study of rice paddy size in tephra layers resulting
from volcanic action of Mt. Asama in Gumma datable to the fourth to fifth centuries,
sixth century, 1108, and 1783, paddies were small, actually decreasing in size toward the
end of the Kofun period to an average of 4.89 m2 with narrow partitions until the sixth
century, then increasing exponentially to over 100 m2 by the ninth century, with substantial partitions, presumably because of conversion to bovine or equine traction of
plows; see Sait 2003.At the other end of the country, rice cultivation in Miyazaki prefecture, called some of the oldest fields in Japan, small fields with crooked divisions and
without clear water sources as north Kyushu fields enjoyed, had expanded into swampy
areas by Middle Yayoi and become orderly and well organized; see Kuwahata, Harada,
and Toyama, 2002.
Yoshinogari had two moats and watchtowers, about twenty-four hundred burial jars
with over three hundred preserved human skeletons, and nearly fifty raised-floor granaries. Nishigomen had 228 houses of Middle to Late Yayoi; one-third of the entire settlement had been wiped out by a fire. Ninoaze-yokomakura occupied a space about
550 by 400 m with a moat 5 m wide, but it was a settlement of short duration; Karako
had 107 Early to Late Yayoi house floors in the initial excavation. For a full discussion
of the nature of houses and settlements in the Nara Basin see Barnes 1988:225231,
238246.This economic independence is disputed by Fujiwara (2002), whose models
show all such settlements to be dependent on their satellite neighbors.
hashi 1980.
Nakazono 1997:27, 710.
GBHSJ 1993, 1:142146.
Izumos present height is 19.7 m; medieval records show it was then considerably
higher.The Ise building in Shiga was 11.3 by 7.8 m, the Yoshitake-takagi building 12.6
314
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
NOTES TO PAGES 7884
by 9.6 m.The latter had a porch 1.2 m wide on three sides and 2.9 m wide on the long
northwest side, which seems to have been its orientation.
Aston, 1:76.
Ujitani, 2:308: tata.
Aston, 2:377.
Ogasawara 2000; and in Nihon kkogaku 13 (2002): 5066.
Mori 1970.
Tomiku 1961.
Saga-ken Kyiku Iinkai 1989:134.
Kyoto Teikoku Daigaku 1943:167169.
Higuchi 1974:4950.
Tsunematsu 1994:682.
Mizuno and Kobayashi 1959:775.
Kojima 1983:79.
Polished stone daggers have been found in many sites in Korea, and it may be presumed
that these noted here were made in Korea: see Arimitsu 1958. In Fujiwaras study of how
weapons and skeletal injuries illustrate fighting techniques and tactics in the Yayoi period,
he sees only relatively small-scale hostilities on the order of raids in the earlier half of the
period, but escalating to full-scale war in the latter half of the period (2004:3752).
Examples are, in Saga, Mitsu-suiden, 48 cm; Fukuoka, Maruodai, 43 cm; see Kawagoe
1975:110111.
Examples are, in Nagasaki, Shigenodan, 23 cm in length; Fukuoka, Ichinotani, 58 cm;
Kagawa, Shingyzan, 29 cm.
Kawagoe 1975:110.
Sometimes called daggers: Kim, 147148.
Kim, 128ff.
Miki, 5060.
Harunari 1998:675.
Ujitani, 1:90. The name: derived from Kamu/kami, Yamato/mountain gate,
Iware/Ihare/place in Yamato, hiko/prince, sumera/chief of chieftains, mikoto/august
heavenly deity/prince.Aston (1:109n1) also saw a population shift: In this narrative we
have probably a legendary echo of a real movement of population from Kiushiu eastwards to Yamato, at some time before the Christian epoch, but it is not safe to go further than this.The details are manifestly fictitious, some of them, as the quotations from
Chinese books put into the mouth of Jimmu Tenn, demonstrably so.
Jimmus fabricated successors: Suizei, Annei, Itoku, Ksh, Kan, Krei, Kgen, and
Kaika stretched the chronology by 483 years according to the account, with an average reign of sixty years. Each is faithfully given a heritage, the opportunity to bury his
predecessor, an empress, some children, a death date, and an eventual burial place. Suizei
killed his brother for the throne, but the others assumed the mantle in an uncharacteristic peaceable fashion. None subdued any enemies or strengthened or expanded the
empire. All had palaces in the Yamato area, and all have currently assigned tombs,
none of which is acceptable archaeologically.
Aston, 1:150187; Ujitani, 1:121151.
Ujitani, 1:18.
Aston, 1:11, 23, 35.
Ujitani, 1:42.
NOTES TO PAGES 8489
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
127.
128.
129.
130.
131.
132.
133.
315

Aston, 1:68.
Ujitani, 1:58: hirohoko.
Aston, 1:69: broad spear.
Mori 1974a:44.
Nakatani, 98147.
Asahigurafu 1983:116.
Pearson 1990: 912922.
Mori 1975:167168.
Tamaru, 39.
Ibid., 26. Recovered Early Han mirrors are listed as 171; Late Han mirrors as 257. For
Early Han, 148 are from Kyushu, while only 23 come from prefectures farther east. In
contrast, for Late Han, 141 are from Kyushu, but 116 are from prefectures farther east.
Chronologically secure, they reinforce the evidence for the cultural shift in the first and
second centuries AD. Only three Early Han mirrors are recorded from east of the
Yamato area, one each from the prefectures of Aichi,Toyama, and Nagano.
Asahi Shimbunsha 1989b:8.
Nishitani 1989:155156.
Asahi Shimbunsha 1989:22; Mainichi Shimbun, 70, 181, 184.
Asahi Shimbunsha 1989:2829, 177.
Ibid., 100, 182.
Tamaru, 26.
For a comprehensive study of the arrangement of mirrors associated with the disposition
of the human remains and a listing of all the tombs containing mirrors, see Fujita 1993.
Nara-ken-ritsu Kashihara Kkogaku Kenkysho 1989 and 1998.
Sahara 1987:271272.The use of iron doubtless hastened the spread of rice agriculture.
Its excess production, and therefore generation of wealth, is sometimes seen as the commodity base in the creation of an upper class. Disputing this, and the conventional view
that the control of bronze production was the triggering factor, Hirose believes that social
leadership and thus the formation of classes was the outcome of the construction of rice
paddies, water diversion systems, and the manipulation of the labor force in rice raising.
Nakamura 1967:1530. In a good study,Tsuchiya examined the distance stone reapers,
axes, and adzes were unearthed from the source of the stone from which they were
made, finding a clear pattern of distribution until about middle Yayoi. By late Yayoi the
pattern had changed noticeably for the reaping knives, a fact he attributed to the conversion to iron knives and a totally different supply system.
Hitchins, 166; Okazaki 1956; Mori 1970:20.
Shin, 117118. Nakamura 2001:6187 connects Kaya, north Kyushu, and Izumo
through two types of clay vessels, and sees Izumos strength as based on the iron trade.
The arguments lead to placing Yamatai and Himiko in Izumo.
Murakami E. 1994.
Okazaki 1956; Yamamoto 1968; Hashiguchi 1974; Murakami E. 1994.
Nakamura 1967:21.
Nihon kkogaku nemp 1980:394; 1982:260.
Yamamoto 1968:97109; Murakami Y. 1994:6067.
Hanada.
Aston, 1:247, 282; 2:14, 344, 387.
316
NOTES TO PAGES 8996
134. Aston, 2:294.

135. Where data are known on charcoal consumption in America, fifteen tons of pig iron produced by a furnace in a week required four square miles of forest a year; see Bealer, 3334.
136. Kashiwabara, 811; Sano 1989:7277.
137. Koyama 1996, 7:48; 1997, 23:37; 1998, 28:910.
138. Tsunoyama, 1620.
139. Kashiwabara, 11.
140. Ibid., 810.
141. Ibid., 1213.
142. Nunome, 7677.
143. Ibid., 5455.
145. Kyoto Teikoku Daigakau 1943.
146. Aston, 1:217220.
147. Chow, 13.
148. Fontein and Wu, 100102.
150. Aston, 1:58.
151. Fukunaga 1985.
152. Ibid., 9599.
153. Fukunaga in Kanaseki and Sahara 1996:118119.
154. Aston, 2:220.
155. Ibid., 1:66; Chamberlain, 116.
156. Jar burials have a very long history in Japan. Jmon jar burials, noted from Middle
Jmon, were almost always single pots, set vertically, usually upside down. Special pots
were not made for the occasion, but an adequately large vessel was used, in some cases
one already damaged and otherwise useless or a good pot with a hole bored in the bottom. These have been recognized as burials since the late 1960s. Bones fail to survive
in the acidic soil, so one can only estimate these as either containers for children or secondary burials for adults; see Kidder 1974:259272.
157. Kim, 105107.
158. For an up-to-date analysis of studies of Korean and Liaoning dolmens see Chiba.
159. Matsuo 1955.
160. Fujita 1962:380381.
161. Kanaseki and Sahara 1978.
162. Bunkazai Hogo Iinkai 1952.
163. Kanaseki and Sahara 1978:25.
164. Aston, 1:238.The literature and the archaeology attest to paired or multiple burials of husband, wife, and another female (Prince Shtoku, one wife, and mother at Shinaga, Osaka
prefecture), mother and son (Emperor Kimmei and his mother reinterred with him in
Asuka; Emperor Bidatsu with his mother in Shinaga, today Taishi-ch; Empress Suiko and
Prince Takeda in Shinaga), mother and grandson (Empress Saimei and Prince Takeru), and
mother and daughter (Empress Saimei and her daughter at chi, Nara prefecture).The
remains of Kimmeis mother were moved to his tomb many years after her death, Suiko
asked to be buried with her son, and Saimei requested that her beloved grandson be
buried with her. Of course, none of these tombs can be excavated, and even if they could
it is unlikely they would contain any physical remains leading to sex identity.
Seike claims that tooth-crown size indicates that coburials in tombs throughout
the Kofun period in the Kinki were those of siblings, so that the literary references,
such as the ones I have noted above, refer only to groups of the highest rank and for-
NOTES TO PAGES 97103
165.
166.
167.
168.
169.
170.
171.
172.
173.
174.
175.
176.
177.
178.
179.
180.
181.
182.
183.
184.
185.
186.
187.
188.
189.
190.
191.
192.
193.
317
eign origin (Seike, 78). He cites the Tanaka model 1 that dealt with tooth-crown size
in Kyushu tombs, which arrived at similar results (Nihon kkogaku nemp 2000, 53:366).
So only relatives, mostly siblings, were buried together. By way of background information, the paucity of physical remains required working with principles of association.
In some nineteen sites (some with clustered tombs) within which were twenty-nine
burials, only about five contained actual physical remains. Otherwise, fragments of more
than one coffin or additional burial compartments were adequately indicative of multiple burials. As iron armor, arrowheads, or both were found as grave-goods in burials
identified as male, their presence alonewhen no human traces existedwould mark
the occupant as male. In my view, the sampling is too small and the assumptions are too
broad, especially with no incontrovertible views on sex-identity grave-goods.
Kanaseki and Sahara, 1978:24.
Murakawa, 167.
Sahara and Kanaseki, 89.
Sait 1955:12.(I) 69.
Tashiro. Also see Yamagishi.
GBHSJ 1991, 12:164.
Kanaseki and Sahara, 1978:25.
Hudson 1992:164.
hashi 1978.
See Hudson 1992:164165 for a brief discussion of these.
Miller 1974:30, 188190.
Ibid., 31.
Aston, 2:148, modified.
Harunari 1992c.
Sugihara 1981.
Ishikawa l987:152.
Ishikawa 1988.
Nihon kkogaku nemp 1968:111.
Tanaka 1991:115.
See Hudson 1992:162 for a full recital.
Harunari 1993:148.
Takahashi 1988; Nishimoto 1991.
Hudson 1992:161163.
Kidder 1999.
Aston, 1:164ff.
Ibid., 2:109111.
Ebersole.
Huntington and Metcalf, 1315.Various reasons are given for a delay in burial, both
practical and religious: to finish the grave and assemble the grave-goods, to collect adequate provisions for the grand feast, to give the soul time to accustom and adjust itself
to the new conditions, to assure the spirit of the proper concern for it by a full period
of mourning, to negotiate for the next leader, to allow the bones to dry and therefore
become more cleanable and paintable, and more.
Steele, 2:45, 97. The only Shinto funeral I attendedwhich seems inappropriate in a
shrine, but many have funeral hallswas at the Hachiman Shrine in Mitaka,Tokyo, for
an elderly woman who had specifically asked for such a ceremony. In the course of the
service the priest called back the soul. While the history of this practice in Shinto is
difficult to trace, I assume it to have been adopted at an early date, at least as early as
the time Daoist ideas were being accepted indiscriminately because they were coming
318
194.
195.
196.
197.
198.
199.
200.
201.
202.
203.
204.
205.
206.
207.
208.
209.
210.
211.
212.
213.
214.
215.
216.
217.
218.
219.
220.
from eloquent Buddhist missionaries, in particular from the middle of the seventh century by the introducers of the Hoss sect.
Lebra, 196200. Among other features of the ceremony, useful objects, including food
and drink, are placed at the tombs door. Historically, a hut was built in the graveyard
for the widow to reside in during the forty-nine-day mourning period, now discontinued. Other observances take place on fixed days, the last on the thirty-third anniversary of death.
Shimane-ken Kyiku Iinkai 1997:6879.
Ibid., 74.
Ibid., 7879.
Ibid., 9091.
Ibid., 98101.
Hj 1989.
GBHSJ 1996, 7:7580.
Ibid., 80.
tsuka and Kobayashi.
Egami 1964, 1967.
Ishino 1992:191193. Kobayashi Yukio, whose theory of the Yamato federation is tied to
the distribution of mirrors with triangular rims (see chapter 9), believes that the disappearance of the bellswhich coincided with the appearance of such mirrorsoccurred
because the bells were no longer needed once Yamato practices had been adopted.
Asahigurafu 1983:1617 (years 19781982).
Kidder 1999:61.
Asahigurafu 1998.
Other large keyhole tombs recognized as close to the earliest in time, but outside
Yamato, are two in Osaka prefecture, Shikinzan in Ibaraki city (100 m), and
Koganezuka in Izumi city (85 m). Among the formers many iron artifacts are 21
swords, 11 daggers, and 153 arrowheads; among the latters, in three separate burial pits,
about 16 swords, 14 daggers, and 220 arrowheads; see tsuka and Kobayashi, 133,
112113; Aikens and Higuchi, 263274.
Nara-ken-ritsu Kashihara Kkogaku Kenkysho 1988:13ff. For more detailed information on early armor see Barnes 2000; Yang; and Yoshimura.
Nara-ken-ritsu Kashihara Kkogaku Kenkysho 1988:24ff.
Nara-ken-ritsu Kashihara Kkogaku Kenkysho 1988; Kidder 1987, 1989.
Iwasaki 1983:17.
For example, in two keyhole tombs: 70 in Nagazuka (82 m), Ogaki city, Gifu prefecture, and 140 in Shimanoyama (190 m), Kawanishi-ch, Nara prefecture; see GBHSJ
1996, 7580. Well over half of the latter are the wheel-shaped type, the others divided
between the ring and hoe-shaped types.
tsuka and Kobayashi, 75; Kikan kkogaku 1989:48.
See Kobayashi 1959a:8183 for stone-working techniques and materials. Given the size
of the Chausuyama Tomb (207 m) and its location, it is surprising that the Imperial
Household Agency did not include it as a matter of course in the imperial category.
Just to be on the safe side, some undesignated tombs were included, such as Misemaruyama (310 m) in Asuka.
Nara-ken-ritsu Kashihara Kkogaku Kenkysho, 1980b:51.
tsuka and Kobayashi, 5758, 124, 150, 170171, 208209, with the exception of
Kurozuka.
319
221. Ibid., 106.

222. Hudson 1999:82102.
223. Unger, 8386, but who concedes that it can be pushed back to early Yayoi. Hong
(160164), after discussing Miller and Lewin and whether the Nihon shoki speaks of
interpreters, in the paragraph dealing with the views of Lee says, We simply contend
that it was with the beginning of Yamato Wa that the aboriginal language completely
gave way to the grammatical structure of the Paekche language of Altaic origin that was
brought from Korea en masse.
224. Miller 1980, 1986:100: the Japanese language had, without question, already been in
Japan for centuries by the time the horse-riding incursions are said to have taken place.
225. Hudson 1999:82102.
226. Aikens and Higuchi, 21.
227. Kidder 1995a; paper written in 1980.
228. For these connections, see Pearson 1976:317, with good comparative illustrations at
328334.
229. Ogata 1967:401407.
230. Minato, 111.The fallout is a good time marker even north of middle Honshu in places
where it can be detected.
231. Machida.
232. Ibid., 9.
233. Iwasaki 1999:2, 742.
Chapter 7 The Izumo-Yamato Contention

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Shimane-ken Kyiku Iinkai, 55. For Kjindani see Piggott 1989:4652.

Philippi, 137138; Chamberlain, 129; Aston, 1:70.
Ujitani, 1:54ff.:Takami-musuhi-no-mikoto.
Aston, 1:7981.
Chamberlain, 114117.
Ujitani, 1:57ff.: -ana-muchi-no-kami.
Aston translates political and religious affairs as public affairs and secret matters,
the latter term used by the Izumo deity when accepting the charge, in reference to the
closeted conditions the royals chose for achieving spirit possession; see Aston, 1:80. For
the many centuries in which shields were carried, they were often donated to shrines,
white as clean and pure and therefore most acceptable to the kami.
Chamberlain, 7879.
Herbert, 319333.
Chamberlain, 179.
Ibid., 215216.
Aston, 1:153.
Shimane-ken Kyiku Iinkai, 284.
Ibid.
Sahara and Kanaseki, 113115.
For a bell-by-bell description of all except those that have not been removed from
inside another, by size, type, decoration, and condition, see Kikan kkogaku 1997:107.
In matching the bells, table 15 is useful for understanding where Izumo was doing its
business. For instance, nos. 4, 7, 19, and 22 are similar and match with one found at
Ota-kuroda in Wakayama prefecture; all have four panels of decoration; no. 21 matches
with bells found in three different sites; see Shimane-ken Kyiku Iinkai, 27.
Aoki 1971:8083; Sakai, 9/2:157; Akimoto.
320
Table 15. Kamo-iwakura bells matched with bells found elsewhere

Bell number
Site and bell number
Decoration
4, 7, 19, 22
17
6, 9
5
21
Ota-kuroda, Wakayama
Kanmaki, Nara
Tatsuuma 419, Nara
Kehi no. 2, Hygo
(1) Kehi no. 4; (2) Tkiyama;
(3) Meijidai no. 1, Osaka
(1) Kamiyashiki,Tottori;
(2) Sakuragaoka no. 3, Hygo
Kawashima-kamiato,Tokushima
4
4
4
2
31, 32, 34
11
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
panels
panels
panels
panels
3 panels, flowing water

Aoki 1971:66.
Shimane-ken Kyiku Iinkai, 1013, 283284.
Aston, 1:162163.
Philippi, 208; Aoki 1997:58.
Kakubayashi 1989.
Aoki 1971:1921.
Harashima et al., 103104.
Ibid.
Yamamoto Y. 1975:318319, 330331, gives other dimensions: 182, 195, and 145
respectively.
Mori 1981a:221222.
Shimane-ken Kyiku Iinkai, 12, 285.
Piggott 1989:53n32.
Kobayashi 1961a; Edwards 1995:179.
GBHSJ 1984, 3:106120.
Aoki 1971:139; Piggott 1989:6061, 64; Shimane-ken Kyiku Iinkai, 112113.
tsuka and Kobayashi, 1982:270271.
Murayama and Miller, 1979; Anazawa and Manome.
Kidder 1999:7879.
Chapter 8 Himiko, Shamans, Divination, and Other Magic

1.
2.
Aston, 2:188189.
In another case, with a very different outcome, En-no-ozunu (variously, En-noshkaku, En-no gyja, En-no-ubasoku), a Yamato mountain mystic who was said to
have been able to make the kami work and dance for him and who misled the people,
was exiled to an island off the Izu coast in 699. His cult grew, becoming the basis for
yamabushi practices, formalized as Shgend. Under somewhat more settled and closer
social interaction in the city of Nara, as recorded, the black-magic practices were not
an uncommon feature of political life. Although in the textbooks Prince Nagaya is
described as having been forced to commit suicide in 729 as a result of being exposed
in a plot against the emperor, the traditional view is that he was responsible for the
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
321
death of Shmus year-old son by practicing fuko on him. Nagaya, a grandson of

Emperor Temmu, had served in the position of Minister of the Right and was currently
Minister of the Left. In a macabre story of 769, a widow of an executed conspirator in
the Emi-no-oshikatsu uprising of 764, in her effort to get her son on the throne,
enlisted the help of a sorceress and stole some of Empress Shtokus hair and draped it
over a skull in the palace. A spell was pronounced over it three times. When this was
discoveredand Empress Shtoku lived on with no loss of healththe widow and her
son were banished from the capital.The acquisition of some part of a person or property signified control of that individual. In another recorded incident, the former
empress, Emperor Shmus daughter, was accused of sorcery in 772 and imprisoned
with her son as the result of an effort to divert Prince Yamabe, the man who became
Emperor Kammu, from getting the throne.
Ujitani, 1:155: Kamunatsuso-hime.
Aston, 1:192193.
Aston, 2:382383.
Stein, 6177. Matsumoto thinks the shamanism by which Himiko deluded the people was a variety of spirit worship practiced in south Korea. It did not then exist in
China. The distinctive feature was the designation of an individual to represent the
group in the conduct of its relations with the spirit world: Matsumoto 1983:378379.
Ki-d, translated as spirit way, according to the twelfth-century Samguk sagi was or
had become a vast umbrella term for almost every known occult practicethe natural
phenomena of heaven and earth, Daoist principles of directions, neutralizing curses,
exorcism, healing, agricultural ceremonies, and invoking the protection of spirits of
ancient personalities; see Piggott 1997:26.
Piggott 1997:57.
Ibid., 60.
Yamatai Forum.
Saeki 1982:18, 2122.
Ibid., 142.
Matsumae, 334.
Inoue 1965.
Kidder 1979:202206.
Philippi, 257.
Ibid., 259260.
Aston, 1:221223.
Ibid., 233.
Ibid., 224229.
Ibid., 225: palace of worship.
Ujitani, 1:186; see Aston, 1:225.
Ibid., 228.
These nuanced conceptsmi is honorific, tama means spirit, as used for a kamiare
two of the four aspects of the soul. The constructive power of existence, the destructive power of evil is ara-mitama, while the essence of harmony and peace is niki-tama,
perhaps the original feature of the soul.The different tama of kami can be worshiped in
different shrines; see Herbert, 5964.
Herbert refers to other sources that describe Jings ritual actions as the natural sequence
in the oracular process; see Herbert, 430. These stages were, first, being approached by
the kami (kami-yori-tamaeriki), then possessed by the kami (kami-gakari-shite), and lastly, by
entering the abstention hut with the koto player and formally passing from the rational
322
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
to the irrational ecstatic, kami-possessed state (kannushi-to-naritomo). While this sequence

sounds plausible, the story unfolds quite slowly over an eight-month period, from
Chais death to Jings attack on Korea, and several intervening events would seem to
have broken the implied continuity needed for reaching the climax.
If there is any historical value in these points, omi are referred to in Jings chapter,
whereas the name of the other rank, muraji, had already been used in connection with
the production of deities after Izanagi had escaped from the clutches of Yomi-no-kuni,
a narrative probably written later.The Azumi family with muraji rank worshiped three
of those deities. According to the Wei zhi, Yamatai had four levels of officials, a political situation that sounds far more vertically structured than the situation at this court a
century later.The Nakatomi, of kami stock, now had an earthly practitioner as an integral part of the ritual in Jings day. Theirs and the Imbe progenitor deities had been
prominent actors on the stage of Takamahara.
Piggott 1997:15, 17, as a medium whose efforts are directed toward controlling the
supernatural, but possibly also playing a sacerdotal role.
Ueda 1973:23.
Mizuno 1973:63.
See Mizuno 1973; Mayuzumi; and Matsubara 1976.
Philippi, 468.
Ibid., 229.
See Mizuno 1973:6263.
Philippi, 104106.
Aston, 1:93108.
Ibid.
Ujitani, 1:52; Aston, 1:6162.
See Kono, 171; Kidder 1965:6669; Nagamine, 262263; Okuyama, 1720;Taniguchi,
63; and additional articles on figurines in Kikan kkogaku 1990:1481 for standard theories on their use.
Nagamine, 262263. For Middle Jmon they are one site each in the prefectures of
Miyagi, Fukushima, Niigata, Toyama, Yamanashi, and Nagano; for Late Jmon, in
Aomori, Iwate, Ibaragi, Chiba, Osaka, and Kumamoto; and for Latest Jmon, two in
Hokkaido and one each in Aomori, Iwate, and Nara. Tateishi in Iwate yielded more
than two hundred Late Jmon figurines clustered in two places of an arc-shaped stone
arrangement, the unmistakable evidence of a ritual spot.
Hiraide Iseki Chsa Kai, 5354, 151153.
In the stories dealing with the lineage of the first emperor in the so-called Age of the
Gods, a special house that was set ablaze was the site of the miraculous birth of triplets,
sons of the Heavenly Grandchild sent down from Takamahara; see Aston, 1:8588.
Taniguchi.
Yamanashi-ken Maiz Bunkazai Senta; Ono 1990:6871; Yamagata; Kidder 1995c.
Since these studies were made, the large Sannai-maruyama site in Aomori has yielded
more than eight hundred, but here many of the smaller and simply shaped figurines
are intact. Almost all came from one of the two main refuse heaps; see Okada, 7;
Kidder 1998:4344.
Nagamine, 262, deals with places of communal activity. In another view, Mizuno (1964)
believed the parts were scattered to ensure the regeneration of the community.
Taniguchi 1990:66.
However, admittedly the archaeology of the human remains is scarcely supportive of
my thesis, but possibly because the broken figurines come largely from inland sites and
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
323
the skeletal material from coastal shell-mounds. According to Ogata, a substantial

increase in the circumference of large bones occurred with Middle Jmon, more
notably in women, a change attributable to additional heavy work probably involving
some ground digging and tree cutting, and certainly kneading clay for pottery and
pounding and grinding nuts. The bones adapted themselves to carry the increasing
robustness of the muscles. Men had five times as many broken bones as women, chiefly
right arms; see Ogata 1968:9597.This might help to explain why so many of the small
breakable figurines lack any indications of sex. The patronage of shamans houses
should not have been exclusively female. And whatever else can be read into the
archaeological record, most men were right-handed.
Tsuboi 1962:118119.
Aston, 2:174175.
Kidder 1999:143.
Snellen 1934:235.
GBHSJ 1990, 2:95.
Kidder 1974; Watanabe 1983:136.
Nara-ken-ritsu Bunkazai Kenkysho 1989:74, 163; GBHSJ 1990, 2:95.
Hry-ji Hakkutsu Chsa Gaih Hensh Sho Iinkai, 7778; Kidder 1999:284, 286,
368. Other Daoist practices rode the coattails of Buddhism, or at least the archaeology
has not revealed their existence before Buddhism was adopted by the court. One is the
burial of earth-calming goods (jichingu) before a major construction enterprise, the oldest one so far known uncovered at the Hry-ji in Nara prefecture. As a ceremony
conducted to ensure the cooperation of the earth spirits, the deposited bowls or pots
may be dated by the coins they contain.Two haji pottery bowls were found in 1983 in
the road southeast of the Middle Gate when trenches were being dug for new plumbing.They contained three Wad-kaichin coins and two small pieces of gold.The other
custom requires an inscribed object for it to be recognized. A burial plot is purchased
for peace in the next world, a practice begun in Han times in China; for this see
Otomasu 1983. One is a lead plate with six lines of not all legible characters in black
ink from a cremation grave in Dazaifu city, Fukuoka prefecture.The individual bought,
perhaps for his father, a square piece of land, paying coins, a hoe, and some silk, cotton,
and other cloth. In another example, two inscribed clay tablets, dated to the equivalent
of 763, were found in a site in Okayama. The district chief bought land for a burial
place (bochi) for two persons from the deity-landowner. It is, in effect, a certificate presentable to the deity(ies) of earth that the land was properly procured and a request that
the person or persons soul(s) be allowed to rest undisturbed. Procedures for the
ground-breaking ceremony (jichinsai) are cited by Otomasu from the Engi-shiki, deviation from which could cause great distress to the spirits who might therefore retaliate
on the living.
Osaka-fu-ritsu Yayoi Bunka Hakubutsukan 1996:19.
Harunari 1981:444445; Hudson 1992:145.
Kaku 1997. Herons are Gruidae, of which Japan now has seven species. Egrets are classified by Japanese as daisagi, chsagi, and kosagi, great, intermediate, and little egret, the
last, Egretta garzetta, today the most commonly seen year round.
Harunari 1981: tables 1 and 3; Hudson 1992:146.
Kidder 1962.
Chin, 180.
Ujitani, 1:40: shinsei na hatadono; Aston, 1:41 and n2 for implications of the matsuri
character of this activity and the abstinence implications.
324
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
Ujitani, 2:259.
Mizuno 1974; Mori 1978.
Aston, 1:281.
GBHSJ 1994, 5:74.
Snellen 1934:218224.
Aston, 2:328329.
Ibid., 87.
Ibid., 2:388ff. Droughts, famines, and floods get much attention in the literature from
the beginning of the seventh century, but the record on efforts to break a calamitous pattern of nature begins only with Kgyokus dramatic salvation of the country in the middle of the century.Temmu instituted biannual worship at the Tatsuta and Hirose shrines
in 675 so as to keep open the lines of communication with the deities of wind and abstinence, and he himself went to Hirose to worship in 684 and 686. Conditions may have
been desperate then. In times of hardship, over and above the special emissaries to these
weather kami, all known forms of supplication were tried, including prayers, amnesties,
tax exemptions, and donations of household fiefs, not unlike the efforts to relieve
Temmus diseased body in 686.A Paekche priest was able to make rain in 683, but interestingly enough, as though the Buddhists were having less success, from Jits time, pleas
from shrines and representatives sent to petition (the deities of) famous mountains, hills,
and great rivers far outnumber those emanating from Buddhist precincts. Jits Jingikan, the Office of Kami Affairs, was expected to prove its worth, and she burdened it
with demands. More sympathetic kami in some places generated local reputations, hence
the rise of well known rain-making spots such as Mt. Mur in Nara prefecture.
Snellen 1934:422.
GBHSJ 1996, 4:65; Nara-ken-ritsu Bunkazai Kenkysho 1989:78, 164.
NKKKFH 1982:100; Mizuno 1982.
Mizuno 1974.
GBHSJ 1993, 12:106. Most were certainly very professionally painted, a factor of
importance in rendering nuances of expression; but if it is true that these are before and
after expressions, Heij had its special version of the ritual in view of the hundreds of
pots from numerous sites with up to eight faces, some fierce, some surly, some vacant,
and some cherubic.
GBHSJ 1993, 6:55.
Aston, 2:110111.
Bock; Mizuno 1974.
Tanaka 1981:921.
Suenaga, 111112.
Ibid., 13; Eng. section 3.
Some might find interest in Mihashis archaeometrical thesis. Working with a triangulation thesis based on what he calls the sacred thirty-degree angle, he determined the
site of the tomb by the presence of a holy mountain with which the deceased had been
identified, since the mountain created a sacred sphere by virtue of the religious power
radiating from it.The mountain and tomb are connected by the energy flowthe first
line of the triangleand from the tomb a line projects at a right anglethe second
lineat the end of which lies a shrine or temple. A line from therethe third line
forms the thirty-degree angle and so unites the three in the common source of power;
see Mihashi.The diagrams for the many examples he gives resemble maps of flight patterns between cities from several airline hubs. If, however, one starts with the mountain, temple, or shrine and works back to the tomb, assuming a very indifferent attitude
toward history, the relationship seems a little less imaginative.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
325
Saito 1961:265272.
Ibid., 271272.
Futomani; Aston, 1:15, 83: Greater Divination.
Ibid., 152.
Ujitani, 1:127: Yamato-toto-bi-momo-so-hime-no-mikoto.
Ibid., 64.
When reports were made otherwise, they were recorded. One was foot divination
(Aston: shuffling with the feet), and another was sortilege, several men drawing slips
of paper to determine the outcome of a conspiracy against Empress Kgyoku; see
Aston, 1:107, 2:257. Many forms of divination are referred to in the poems of the
Manysh, pointing to how widespread the practice was by the eighth century. See
Mayuzumi, 9596, for the following, sketched here: tsujiura or michiyuki-ura (literally,
going on the road), overhearing what is being said by a passing pedestrian at a road
crossing in the evening; ishiura (literally, stone divination, a form of lithomancy), lifting a heavy stone, judging its weight; ashiura (literally, foot divination), walking to a
destination, arriving on the right or left foot; iiura (literally, rice divination), judging
the quality of cooked rice, permitting one to see whether the afterlife will be good or
bad; minaura (literally, water divination, a form of hydromancy), allowing a rope to
drift on a river and by how it floats and sinks predicting when a lover can be seen;
kotoura (literally, koto divining), using string music; utaura (literally, sung-poetry
divining), using poetry put to vocal music; toriura (literally, bird divination,
augury, or ornithomancy), by the sounds of the birds, or their flight patterns, or
both; tsueura (literally, cane divination, rhabdomancy), by dropping a walking stick to
see which way it lands. Interestingly enough, divination by dreams (oneiromancy)
seems to have lost its credibility by then.
Nelson, 193, 196.
Fujita 1986, 1988, 1989.
Kanzawa 1987:69.
Kimura.
Kanzawa 1983:28.
Bock, 119.
Kanzawa 1976, 1987; Hudson 1992:150152.
Asahi Shimbunsha 1988:9596.
Kanzawa 1980.
Bock, 20.
Three others, the bronze base that supports the Yakushi Buddha in the Yakushi-ji in
old Nara city and the end walls of the Takamatsuzuka and Kitora Tombs in Asuka, bear
the symbol of the north in relief and in paint, all produced in the late years of the seventh century. Less well known because of its deteriorated condition is the tapestry
called the Mandala of Heavenly Longevity, made as a memorial to Prince Shtoku
probably shortly after his death in 622, in which one hundred tortoises had inscriptions
on their backs. Contrary to tradition, its main theme is not Buddhist. It has been traditionally kept in the Chg-ji, the convent of the Hry-ji in Nara prefecture, where
a copy can now be seen; see Kidder 1999:260270.
Chamberlain, 64, 67n19: cherry bark, perhaps the bark of the common birch. See
Bock, 118.
Miller 1974:8086; Reischauer, 88.
Aston, 2:295.
Kat and Hoshino, 1972.
326
106. Aston, 2:364.

107. Ibid., 376380.
Chapter 9 Mirrors and Himikos Allotment

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Takakura 1993:59.
For instance, Hayashihara, in looking at small mirrors from eastern prefectures, lists
twenty, only one of which was found in a tomb. Five are from Yayoi sites, four fit at the
end of Yayoi or the beginning of Kofun, four are threshold Kofun, six are early Kofun
and one is late Kofun; see Hayashihara, 27. See also Arai.
Okuno 1990:13.
Odakyu Department Store Exhibition, March 1968.
Mori Kichi is perhaps their most prominent spokesman: Mori, Asahi shimbun,
1998.1.10; Sankei shimbun, 1998.1.10; GBHSJ 1998, 3:4, 54, 66, 74.
Melichar, 52 calls them sankaku buchi, ridged or reinforced border (of a bronze mirror),
indicating the difficulty in actually knowing what was initially meant; it is a cross-section
of triangular shape.
The data are taken from Fukunaga (1999:63) and for the triangular-rim mirrors
which are chiefly Early Kofunfrom Kyoto-fu Maiz Bunkazai Chsa Kenky Senta
(23), with the addition of seven mirrors from the Nishi-motomezuka Tomb in Hygo
prefecture and thirty-three from the Kurozuka Tomb in Nara prefecture.
The statistics used here total 441 triangular-rim mirrors, but the total number varies
greatly by different counts. Starting in 1959 about 300 were reported (Mizuno and
Kobayashi, 388). Roughly 330 were noted in 1994 (GBHSJ 1994, 5:57) and another
comment of about 340 in 1999 (Hudson 1999:184), but other calculations run as high
as 500 (Edwards 1999:8283n; 103n). In a kind of seriation method in which
Kishimoto arranged a sequence of variations within the framework of the basic type
(Edwards 1999:8889, reporting the work of Kishimoto), batches of mirrors should
have been on about every third boat coming from China after her time.
tsuka and Kobayashi, 202203;Tanabe 1974:75.
Kyoto-fu Maiz Bunkazai Chsa Kenky Senta 18; Okamura 1999.
GBHSJ 2002, 2:25.
Kond 1988.
For the technique of manufacture, see Ueno. Regarding domestic copies called imitations of Chinese triangular-rim examples, Kond (1974) says of the seven types he classified (3 deities3 animals with an outer animal band; 3 deities2 animals with an outer
band of geometric patterns; and so on), only certain types were copied, and each workshop tended to reproduce the same patterns. In his view the copying did not start until
the Chinese source had run completely dry.Two mirrors with the same patterns as the
3 deities2 animals from the Shikinzan Tomb but found elsewhere have a substantially
enlarged surrounding field with nipple motifs.The desire to add other patterns but retain
the basic features may be the explanation for many very large Japanese-made mirrors.
Kunai-ch-ka Rybu, 33: it might be said that the only reasonable interpretation of
such a descriptionas half of a triangle is still a triangleis that it means half the
height of a typical triangular-rim type.
A recently identified object in the Tsubai-tsukayama Tomb, for long thought to be
fragments of iron armor, has been shown by reconstruction to make up an iron crown,
said to be the first found in east Asia. Seven rounded petallike peaks rise from a cylindrical band on the front of which is an arched opening. Its similarity to haniwa crowns
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
327
of shamans, figures in Korean tomb paintings, and representations of the Prince of the
East on mirrors has been pointed out; see GBHSJ 1993, 2:9092.
Higuchi 1981; Kyoto Daigaku Bungakubu Fuzoku Chinretsukan Unei Iinkai 19.
GBHSJ 1994, 5:5663; Yasuda and Yokojima.
GBHSJ 1997, 10:7078.
Ibid. 2002, 3:5.
Ibid. 1994, 12:99.
Ibid.
Ibid. 1993, 9:5658.
Ibid. 1998, 1:95;Tsuruoka.
Within the Kurozuka group itself, no. 2 is mate of 27 and 33, 11 of 25, 12 of 31, 13 of
26, 16 of 18, 20 of 32, 27 of 33, and 29 of 30.
Karlgren.
Those datable without argument are AD 10, 105, 169, 173, 174, 189, 205, 220, 227,
229, 238, 256, 260, 278, 281, 282 (two), 283, and 291. Incidentally, the mirror of 238,
which is taken from Umeharas Kan Sankoku Rokuch kinenky shroku (Dated mirrors
of the Han and Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties periods), is not the one from the
Kitsunezuka Tomb in Yamanashi, found in 1894, so was apparently not retrieved from
a Japanese tomb.The production date is five days earlier and, while it also says the maker
has refined the copper a hundred times, the inscription terminates with my master in
the past was named Chou-kung. See Karlgren, 64.
Fukunaga 1991:47, 1997:124127. Four were made in Huang-chu 2 (AD 221), three
in Huang-chu 3 (222), and three in Huang-chu 4 (223). Of the first group (221), two
come from sites in Hubei province, one is said to have been found in Hunan, and one
is in the tani University Museum in Kyoto. In the second group (222), one is reportedly from Zhejiang province, and the others are in the National Museum, Stockholm,
and the Nihon Bunkazai Ry Senta (Japanese Cultural Properties Materials Center)
in Tokyo. All of these are mirrors with deities and animals in the technique that had
the mold imprinted from a model. In the third group (223), one is from a site in
Hubei, while the other two are in the Got Art Museum and the National Museum,
both in Tokyo. They are deities and animals mirrors, the creatures in the decoration
placed opposite each other.
Karlgren, 1718.
Ibid., 65, no. 215.
Nakano 1969:28.
Karlgren reads the inscriptions on seven mirrors as referring to the New Dynasty;
see Karlgren 31, 33, 34.
Rudolph, 243.
Kishimoto 1989.
Karlgren, 9, 18, 28, 34, 38, 43, 71.
Wang 1981; also Kond 1988:3062 for a summary of Wangs studies; Okazaki
1993:268316.
Nishikawa 1999.
Okamura 1998.
Edwards 1999:8990.
Okamura 1998:90.
Umehara 1927:322.
Tanabe 1962.
Mabuchi and Hirao.
328
43. Mabuchi 1985.

44. Okazaki 1993:293; see Karlgren, 62, 77, nos. 198, 199, for two examples of sources of
copper, Xu-zhou. Neither is dated.
45. GBHSJ 2004, 7:4. In a different study, a domestic mirror of the triangular-rim type,
when compared with a Chinese example, showed the raw materials had come from a
Chinese source: GBHSJ 2004, 8:2.
46. Mabuchi 1985:27.
47. GBHSJ 2001, 3:4.
48. The thesis of Kobayashi Yukio evolved through several articles, at first without the
political connotations of the Yamato federation: Kobayashi 1961a, 1965, 1971; for a
detailed analysis of the ruminating style of reasoning and useful supplementary notes of
the article of 1961 see Edwards 1995; see also Kond 1988.
49. Mirrors were in the coastal traffic moving to the fringe areas. Circulation was through
Aichi and then up the Kiso valley to Gifu. Others went on to Shizuoka, but to get as
far as Gumma, the best routes were through the present Tokyo area by way of the vast
drainage basin of the Tone River and so up to what is now Maebashi city.To the north
is Shibugawa city, situated at the confluence of the Katashina and Agatsuma rivers.The
whole area is exceptionally rich in tombs, many of substantial size, some built well into
historic times.This fertile plateau, the old province of Kzuke, was home to chieftains
who completely dominated the upper Kant region, probably by horse breeding and
superior horsemanship.
50. Edwards 1995:180183; Hudson 1999:191.
51. Edwards 1995:190.
52. Ibid., 192.
53. Aston, 1:156158.
Chapter 10 The Japanese View of the Wei Zhi Years

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
See Chamberlain, 224225: So in praise of this august reign they said: The Heavenly
Sovereign Mimaki, who ruled the first land, and in n3 says first applies to rule and
not land. Inoue 1966:115116 at first did not translate it, but simply romanized the
phrase: The reign was so fine that he was praised as Hatsukuni-shirashi shi-mimaki-nosumeramikoto, then translated it in n2 as Mimaki-no-sumeramikoto who has for the first
time dominated the whole realm. This, of course, implies his predecessors had ruled only
parts of it, which he then unified. Philippi, 208: In praise, this reign was called [that of]
Emperor MIMAKI who first ruled the land. Aston, 1:161: in the Nihon shoki, since great
peace prevailed, Sujin received the title The Emperor, the august founder of the country. Ujitani, 1:130: Hatsu kuni shirasu sumera mikoto. See also Hoshino 1976.
Naka Michiyo, articles in Shigaku zasshi 8/8, 9, 10, 12 (1897); Young, 9396; Wheatley
and See, 6263, 193n114.
Harashima et al. 1983.
The romanized Chinese titles are Can, Zheng, Qi, Xing, and Wu. Tsunoda and
Goodrich, 2226; for identification by different scholars see Kamstra 1967:3134;
Wheatley and See 190n111.
Aston, 1:150164 (Sjin); Chamberlain, 212215 (Sjin); Philippi, 199209; Tsugita,
2:83100 (Shujin); Ujitani, 1:121133.
Chamberlain, 212213. The Kojiki, however, came from a different set of sources. The
wife from Kii (Wakayama), Princess Mimaki, called his primary consort in the Nihon
shoki, was his third in the Kojiki, where she is named Princess Mimatsu. She was the
mother of the next emperor, Suinin, Ikume-iri-biko-isachi.The first wife in the Kojiki
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
329
is his second in the Nihon shoki, but they are credited with the same children, the text
granting that there were other choices for wives. This is apparently the case, since
Princess Ama (Kojiki) and Ohari-no-ama or Yasaka-furu-ame-irohe (Nihon shoki) must
be the same individual.They had the same children, although Ama had more, but all the
names have ama or ame in common.The Kojiki makes more effort to identify wives from
noble families or areas, showing the editors special concern with genealogy, but this
point is also valuable when looking at the regional connections with Yamato.
These readings from Ujitani, 1:124.
Chamberlain, 389.
Aston, 1:155; Ujitani, 1:126, avoids it: distant people; Sakamoto et al. 1993, 1:142, k,
ara jin, rough, wild people.
By way of commentary, dangerous groups existed in every direction but south. If those
unenlightened people could not be educated, that is, coerced into peaceful surrender,
they were to be slaughtered. Some campaigns went better than others. By the winter
of that tenth year the losers had all consented to be executed, but outside that region
others were still a threat. Ujitani (1:129) takes this to mean that the Kinai region
(uchitsu-kuni) had been subjected to Yamato rule, but beyond it there remained much
pacifying to be done.The bulk of Keiks reign is how that campaign was conducted.
Aston, 1:156.
Ibid., 157.
Ibid., 158159.
Tanabe 1974:75.
Aston, 1:160.
Ibid., 160n4.
Ibid., 161.
Ibid., 133, 109110; Chamberlain, 159; Philippi, 183185.
Aston, 1:163; Ujitani (1:132133) makes no effort to comment on this whole passage,
which is remarkably free of furigana.
Aston, 1:177.
Ibid., 165187; Chamberlain, 225248; Philippi, 210227;Tsugita, 2:100129; Ujitani,
1:134151.
Ujitani, 1:135137:Tsunuga. Another version of how this animosity arose follows this
circuitous line: Tsunoga-arashito, a man from Kaya of odd appearance with horns on
his forehead, arrived by boat at Tsunoda (todays Tsuruga, on the west coast). Wishing
to serve the ruler (Sujin), he had stopped and was misled by an individual who claimed
to be the Wa king. Suspicious, he left, sailing blindly up the west side past Izumo, along
the Koshi coast, by which time Sujin had died. So he worked for Suinin for three
yearsan indentured period. When asked if he wished to return home, he said yes and
was given pieces of red silk and sent back. Silla heard of his possessions, mustered an
army, and looted his stored textiles.This explains the hatred between the two countries.
Tsugita, 2:241.
Ujitani, 1:137138.
Aston, 1:168169.
Ujitani, 1:138: sue-hito, i.e., potters.
Kidder 1990:4143; Miwa, 53.
Chamberlain, 234, 244.
Ujitani, 1:141:Tagima-no-mura.
Aston, 1:175n1.
Chamberlain, 239; Philippi, 22: perhaps a green arch or enclosure. The Kojiki embroiders the story in another way.The attendants with the prince were returning.They piled
330
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
some kind of vegetation at a low point in a riveran unexplained green-leafed mountain, some sort of sacred ceremonial formthereby arousing the curiosity of the
prince, who asked its purpose with an oblique question. Whatever the phenomenon, it
was sufficiently surprising.The prince could speak, and this was reported to the emperor.
A different way of shocking the prince still led to the same consequence as described in
the Nihon shoki, and to that they added the senior and junior bathers (for the prince).
Tsugita, 2:117: kamu-miya.
Aston, 1:176177.
Chamberlain, 178n2; Ujitani, 1:145, thinks kume is a village.
Philippi, 227.
Ono, Harunari, and Oda, 178; Wada, 349353.
Aston, 1:178, i.e., following in death (junshi).
Kidder 1965:97102.
Variously, Comprehensive Survey of Tongguk (Korea), Complete Mirror of Korea, or History
of the East Kingdom; see Rutt, 150.
Aston, 1:179180.
Chamberlain, 226.
Ujitani, 1:147.
Ujitani, 1:148, on the Izumi coast, i.e., Osaka.
Aston, 1:184.
Read by Ujitani, 1:149, as yasakani magatama; Aston, 1:184: a magatama of Yasaka gem.
Yasaka is most likely figurative for large red, meaning agate (comma-shaped bead).
Aston, 1:185; Ujitani, 1:150: mikura.
Aston, 1:186187.
Philippi, 291n4, quoting Mishina, points out the origin of this sun-caused pregnancy
myth as among the people of northeast China, the Mongols, Manchus, and Kogury
Koreans.
Philippi, 292.
Chamberlain, 324, translates beads (tama) as pearls.
Philippi, 292293.
Tsugita, 2:241, the Izushi Shrine, Izushi-machi, Izushi-gun, Hygo prefecture, all written with characters different from those in the Kojiki.
Tanabe 1974:75.
Tsugita, 2:128: Sanry-machi, Nara city.
Kawakami, 445, 453.
Aston, 1:188214; Chamberlain, 248281; Philippi, 228254; Tsugita, 2:129176;
Ujitani, 1:152176.
Aston, 1:188: 8th year.
Ibid., 188189; Ujitani, 1:152153.
Philippi, 229n8, i.e., he married his own great-great-granddaughter.
See Hudson 1992:194197, 245248, where they are not seen as a pocket of Jmon people who resisted being civilized by the Yamato or as culturally and linguistically different southeast Asian people, but were simply holdouts in the long anti-Yamato struggle.
Aston, 1:193.
Ibid., 195n3, a variant of fumi-ishi.
See Hudson 1999:200203 for an ethnic identity discussion.
Miller 1974:188190.
Ono, Harunari, and Oda, 111120, 141, 165.
Saito 1974:198ff.; tsuka and Kobayashi, 121; Mori 1981a:921; Aston, 1:196.
331
69. Aston, 1:196.

70. Ujitani, 1:160, in the vicinity of Kobayashi, Miyazaki prefecture.
71. Aston, 1:199n1, a dialectical variation for nanzo or nazo, how or why, paraphrasing the
emperors question.
72. Aston, 1:199, modified; Ujitani, 1:161: mike no sao hashi.
73. Kidder 1999:112.
74. Ujitani, 1:163.
75. Aston, 1:200.
76. Chamberlain, 248257; Philippi, 228235;Tsugita, 2:133ff.
77. Chamberlain, 256257. In the Nihon shoki, Torishi-kaya, leader in the Kawakami
region, had invited his relatives to a magnificent feast. He was not accompanied by a
brother, but had the fair girl to himself. He was the one who was stabbed and who
admitted that his place in history as the strongest man had been usurped. He honored
the smarter fighter with a title implying the mightiest of all, the greatest of Yamato warriors.The archers then wiped out the Kumaso of the region.
78. Tsugita, 2:145.
79. Japanese writers have had a penchant for working this foreboding sense into cults to
empathize with a heros suffering, narrow the margin of survival, and engross the listener.The classic example is the tenth-century Shtoku taishi-denryaku, the cult stories of
Prince Shtoku, who died in 622 at about the age of forty-nine.These stories characterize him in his late years as morose and moody, exploring more deeply the Buddhist
scriptures and brooding about signs of his death (Kidder 1999:4452, 380382). Granted
an awareness by the seventh century that the longevity average ran about thirty years
coupled with the popular dependence on interpreting signs and omens, nevertheless,
premonitions were the prelude to the tragic end of a life seemingly cut off in its prime.
For Yamato-takeru in this same psychological environment, see Morris, 113.
80. Aston, 1:203204.
81. Ibid., 204.
82. Ujitani, 1:166: commander, general, probably meaning this, not the battle-axe referred
to by Aston, which then has to be explained because it is so out of context and nonJapanese. It would be an odd Chinese introduction to the text; see Aston, 203n1, 204.
83. Tsugita, 2:151: Ise-no-oho-mikami-no-miya, today called jing. Aston points out that
she had been appointed priestess at Ise in 5 BC according to the official chronology
and it was now AD 110 (205n1).
84. For its confused history see Herbert, 316.
85. Ujitani, 1:168: Chiba, called Kamitsufusa at that time.
86. For these see Tsugita, 2:147.
87. Water sacrifice is known to have been practiced at least into the eighth century. The
story recorded in Emperor Nintokus reign of an overflowing dike has already been
told. One of the victims marked for sacrifice talked his way out of it by proving the
magic of the river deity (kawa-kami) to be ineffectual; see Aston, 1:281. The inscribed
wooden tally from Fujiwara petitions Shin-ry- (deity-dragon-king) to reduce the
flooding, two female slaves being the sacrificial victims (GBHSJ 1993, 6:54; 1994, 5:74).
It is interesting to note that in both cases the problem was an excess of water. The
dragon deity survives through the centuries, variously the tutelary deity of the east, a
water spirit able to produce rain, an important Buddhist iconographic motif, and formally, as Dragon King of the Sea.
88. Aston, 1:206.
89. Aston, 1:207; Ujitani, 1:169: Azuma wa ya (Waga-tsuma wa, a a) which is why the eastern region is called Azuma, now written with characters for east land.
90. Chamberlain, 264265: white chive, nira (Allium odorum).
332
91. Philippi, 244245n5, a reference to the menses, perhaps her way of showing him that
the time was not suitable.
92. Ibid., 246.
93. Ibid., 247n10.
94. Aston, 1:210.
95. Inoue 1966:139140: white plover; Chamberlain, 274: white dotterel eight fathoms
[long]; Philippi, 250n4, 252: White Bird, unlikely to mean plover.
96. As read by Tsugita, 2:170. By way of comment, apparently no other place could be
found to give this loyal servant the credit he deserved. Atai or atae was an old title, and
the Kashiwade family traditionally served food for the emperors. One of the wives of
Prince Shtoku came from the Kashiwade family.
97. Ujitani, 1:172: mune-hari-no-maetsukimi = -omi, chief of the omi rank.
98. Aston, 1:213: fish hawk; Ujitani, 1:174: kakuka no tori (a bird that is heard, not seen).
99. Ujitani, 1:175: Anakui no mura. Kasuga (spring-day) was a fairly popular placename,
probably with a changed pronunciation.
100. Nakajima.
101. The Nihon shoki uses the characters for ni (sun) and hon (original) as in Nihon and
mikoto (son, tatto); see, for instance, Ujitani, 1:163173.The Kojiki uses Wa (for Yamato)
and ken, ta (build), and mikoto (mei, my, inochi); see, for instance, Tsugita, 2:136176.
Because of the use of the latter characters, Yamato-takeru has sometimes been contracted to Yamato-take or Yamato-dake (Chamberlain, 254281; Reischauer 1937,
2:40ff.) The term takeru was not exclusive to this figure, but singled out great warriors,
such as Izumo-takeru and Kumaso-takeru.
102. Iwao, 7273.
103. Morita and It 1961:1617.
104. Mori 1981a:293.
105. Mori 1965:146.
106. Asakura, Inoguchi, Okano, and Matsumae 1963:446447.
107. Aston, 1:176; see Herbert 1967:412413 for the traditions of the Moto-ise shrines, and
the circuitous travels of the sacred mirror.
108. Philippi, 232, 233n5.
109. Asakura, Inoguchi, Okano, and Matsumae, 446; Herbert, 412.
110. Asakura et al., 447.
111. Tanabe 1974:75.
112. Snellen 1934:257.
113. Aoki, 34, 27.
114. Aston, 1:214216; Chamberlain, 281282; Philippi, 255; Tsugita 1987, 2:176177;
Ujitani, 1:176178.
115. Tsugita 1987, 2:177.
116. Ujitani, 1:177; Aston, 1:215216: there should be Lords in the provinces,
and . . . Chiefs . . . in the villages. Osa = ch = head.
117. See Ujitani, 1:177, for readings.
118. Mori 1965:146.
Chapter 11 The Endless Search for Yamatai

1.
2.
Young, 127128; Sait 1974:230.

From the time Umehara entered the fray it was inevitable that the smoldering embers
would burst into flame. I knew Kobayashi and the others from when I was on a
Fulbright grant in the Department of Archaeology of Kyoto University in 19531954,
two and a half years before Umehara retired, and one could sense the level of tension.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
333
Since Umehara had accepted me as a former student of Alfred Salmony at NYU, I was
automatically seen as in the Umehara camp by the other group in the department,
where a huge amount of bitterness had recently erupted over their doing the work for
which Umehara took the credit. Fortunately, Arimitsu Kyichi (1907), who had
headed the department while Umehara was in Chicago for half a year studying the
Brundage collection of Chinese bronzes, was exceptionally composed, the graduate
students knew which side their bread was buttered on, and, thankfully, Umehara felt he
needed to protect me. At his retirement party Umehara was presented with a sixtynine-page book listing his publications, the first in Meiji 45 (1912), which totaled more
than a hundred books and a thousand articles. It is said that he thumbed through it
quickly and told the gathering which ones they had missed!
Sait 1974:191.
Kasai 1924.
Kasai 1922; Young, 131134.
See Barnes 1988:4852 for a comprehensive history of this era of archaeological research
in the Nara Basin, followed by the more current activities of Nara archaeologists.
Yasumoto 1989:127138.
Summarized by Takemoto.
Egami.
The adherents believed the theories were so definitive there would be no more discussion. I was approached about translating his work or getting it circulated in English,
but the most fundamental premise was not acceptable to me.
Okuno 1990.
Ibid., 2127.
Ibid., 2831.
Ibid., 32. For the view that size is not necessarily to be equated with rank in this formative period, see Harashima, cited in GBHSJ 1993, 7:80.
Okuno 1990:821.
Arimitsu et al., 935; Asahigurafu 1996:96101.
Kond 1988:69.
GBHSJ 1991, 12:164.
Kobayashi 1952:6468; Kond 1988:69.
Chapter 12 Makimuku and the Location of Yamatai

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Ujitani, 1:135:Tamaki.
NKKKFH 1998a:5.
Mori 1981a:416428; tsuka and Kobayashi, 186188, 313314; Nagai, Maezono,
Sekigawa, and Tamaki, 5660.
However, two points are unexplained: why the steatite baton for this occupant was in
the secondary compartment, and why all the steatite replicas of arrowheads (50) were
also there.The construction of a second compartment for grave-goods implies an initial plan to include a huge number, and the grouping of similar objects suggests they
were received in lots for burial. Most of the iron artifacts were in this side room, especially the other weapons and workmens tools: a bow, arrowheads (5), one long and one
short sword, dagger-length swords (45+), spearheads (212+), axes/adzes (14), sickles
(19), chisels (3+), spear-shaped planing knives (yariganna; fifty-one), and many miscellaneous pieces of iron (19) for which the use is unknown. An iron saw was dug out of
a trench in the mound.The bronze objects in the second room were a cap for the end
of a bow (tsuku) and a multitude of arrowheads (236).
GBHSJ 1996, 7:7580.
334
6.
See Mori 1965:146. Listed are the rulers name, his or her official number, the location of the tomb (sometimes an updated address), the tombs shape, and an evaluation
(table 16).
7. Kidder 1999:187192.
8. GBHSJ 1991, 12:140141.
9. Ibid. 1993, 5:73.
10. NKKKFH 1999:50.
11. Kyoto Teikoku Daigaku 1943.
Table 16. Evaluation by Mori Koichi (1965) of designations of imperial tombs

Ruler
Location
Shape
Evaluation
Kaika
Sujin
Suinin
Keik
Seimu
Chai
jin
Nintoku
Rich
Hanzei
Ingy
Ank
Yryaku
Seinei
Kenz
Ninken
Buretsu
Keitai
Nara city
Tenri city, Nara pref.
Nara city
Tenri city, Nara pref.
Nara city
Misasagi-ch, Osaka pref.
Habikino city, Osaka pref.
Sakai city, Osaka pref.
Nara city
Kashiba city, Nara pref.
Kashiba city, Nara pref.
Ibaraki city, Osaka pref.
Keyhole
Keyhole
Keyhole
Keyhole
Keyhole
Keyhole
Keyhole
Keyhole
Keyhole
Keyhole
Keyhole
Mtn shape
Round?
Keyhole
Keyhole?
Keyhole
Mtn shape
Keyhole
Ankan
Senka

Kashihara city, Nara pref.
Keyhole
Keyhole
Kimmei
Bidatsu
Ymei
Sushun
Asuka, Nara pref.

Taishi-ch, Osaka pref.
Sakurai city, Nara pref.
Keyhole
Keyhole
Square
Round
Suiko
Jomei
Kgyoku/Saimei
Ktoku
Tenji
Kbun
Temmu/Jit

Sakurai city, Nara pref.
Takatori-ch, Nara pref.
Yamashina, Kyoto city
tsu city, Shiga pref.
Asuka, Nara pref.
Square
Square
Round
Round
Square
Round
Octagonal
Typologically out of order

Probably; short of proof
Other possibilities
Accurate designation
Probably not a tomb
Probably not a tomb
Better selection nearby
Alternate choices better
Probably not a tomb
Probably not a tomb
Typologically out of order;
better selection nearby
Typologically out of order;
better selection nearby
Better selection nearby
Probably not a tomb; better
selection in the vicinity
Source: Mori, Kofun no hakkutsu, 1965
335
12. The Yayoi sequence consists of four typesFunabashi K1b, Uedach 1, Uedach 2, and
Funabashi K1aand the Kofun sequence of three typesKowakae-kita, Funabashi 01,
and Funabashi 02. See Barnes 1986b:449476 for an extensive analysis of the complexities of the Japanese terminological system and the perceptions of phases, styles, types, and
so forth. In this case, when decoration is so limited Jmon vis--vis Yayoi, the typological system is forced to deal primarily with shapes.
13. See Barnes 1988:421424 for reviews of the site reports and bibliography. See also
NKKKFH 1998c:50; Barnes 1988:71.
14. Kond 1986; NKKKFH 1999:3046.
15. NKKKFH 1988:7, 16, 1999:44.
16. Ibid. 1999:32.
17. Sakurai-shi Kyiku Iinkai, 2122; Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta 2000:1819.
18. Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta 1992: n.p., 19981999:5.
19. Watanabe 1966:157168; Barnes 1988:199200.
20. GBHSJ 2001, 7:6772.
21. Mori 1981a:409.
22. Kasai 1942:344368.
23. GBHSJ 1995, 4:63.
24. Kishimoto 1992; Kunugi, 1975, 1993:123, measurements in Chinese shaku (1 shaku
about 24 cm).
25. See Mori 1965:92; Harashima, Ishibe, Imai, and Kawaguchi, 1981; Kidder 1985:95.
Such studies were not being undertaken before the conversion to metric dimensions
in the 1950s, after which an intelligible principle was not immediately recognized.
26. GBHSJ 1997, 2:90. For a good overview of the tombs in the Makimuku area and their
phased spread from the Kinai see Ishino 1986.
27. Yusa.
28. Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta 1995, 19981999, 2000; NKKKFH 1998a;
tsuka and Kobayashi 1982.
29. Sakurai City Museum panel information 1997.
30. Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta 1998:8; Okuno 1990:4751; GBHSJ 1997,
2:8990.
31. Hanwa Kokud-nai Iseki Chsa-kai, 5255, 187188.
32. NKKKFH 1998a:10.
33. Sakurai-shi Kyiku Iinkai, 63.
34. Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta 1998:9, 2000:20.
35. Ibid. 1998:9.
36. GBHSJ 2002, 9:82.
37. Ibid. 1995, 4:63.
38. Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta 1998:10.
39. tsuka and Kobayashi, 248.
40. GBHSJ 1989, 4:8688.
41. Ibid. 1989, 7:107.
42. Ibid. 2002, 2:8385.
43. Ibid. 2001, 9:61.
44. Got 1940:254; Kidder 1985:97.
45. GBHSJ 2003, 48.
46. Ibid. 1995, 4:63.
47. Takamori, 21.
48. NKKKFH 1998a:1617.
49. Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta 2000:10.
336
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
GBHSJ 1988, 1:120.

Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta 1996b:26.
Ibid., 37.
Tsuboi and Tanaka 1991:128.
GBHSJ 1988, 1:120.
kami, written in kana, may therefore be translated as either great deity or
wolf, reminding one that shrines dedicated to wolves are not uncommon in Japan.
Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta 2000:15. Firsthand descriptions of the array of
stone formations are almost impossible to find. Archaeologists have investigated the
sites, approaching the hilltop from the east. The shrine authorities allow a visitor to
climb a specified trail to the top for a fee, after checking all bags and cameras and promising to make no drawings. Suggested time is two hours.
Aston, 1:58.
Additional stories characterize Sukuna-hikona as a mischievous midget who made no
contribution to the betterment of society (Aston 1:6263); Sukuna may mean
diminutive name. The deity has been subject to many interpretations, variously as a
rain, Ainu, regeneration, and court entertainers deity. Also, the close connection with
mononushi (namuchi) might suggest one and the same deity, Sukuna the miniature and disembodied spirit of the former; see Philippi, 590591, for these suggestions
culled from the literature.There are also claims that Ebisu and Daikoku, the folk deities,
are later manifestations of Sukuna-hikona and namuchi; see Aston, 1:63.
Philippi, 116.
Aston, 1:151152.
Sakurai-shi Kyiku Iinkai, 60.
Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta 2000:12.
Aston, 1:171.
Sakurai-shi-ritsu Maiz Bunkazai Senta 2000:1114; Okinoshima, 1958.
Ibid. 1999:1920.
Ibid. 2000:11, 2426.
Ibid. 1996b:48.
Ibid. 2000:45.
Ibid. 1996b:10.
Ibid., 12.
Ibid., 11.
Ibid. 2000:14; Ono, 7173. Kawamura sees the beginning of bead production around
AD 300 in Ishikawa and Izumo, spreading from there, but he does not accept a common view that Yamato chieftains received them in quantity and distributed them as
political favors.The production was too great and diffuse to have been so monopolized.
See also Tochigi-ken-ritsu Hakubutsukan.
For snake cults and Mt. Miwa, see Tomiku 1972:68133. Many years ago, when the
environment was more rustic and natural than it is today, while I was walking north
along the Yamanobe-no-michi just past the miwa Shrine and stopping to take a picture of one of the few visible iwakura, an elderly woman told me in all seriousness that
if I did the snakes would get me.
Aston, 1:208.
Philippi, 573.
Tsugita, 2:44.
Philippi, 515.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
337
Ibid., 117n16.
Ibid., n15.
Matsumoto 1976:289.
Philippi, 117n16.
Matsumae 1978:3.Almost incidental in the thesis are such inclusions as the story of the
body exposure and erotic dance performed by Ama-no-uzune-no-mikoto before the
Rock Cave of Heaven, designed to entice Amaterasu out of the cave and so bring back
the light. Such a show would have been seductive only to a male viewer; see Aston,
1:44ff., for versions of the story. The same female seducer, the progenitress of the
Sarume clan, was similarly successful when she exposed herself to Saruta-hiko-nokami, a lit-up monkey deity who was blocking the road and so impeding the descent
to earth of Amaterasus grandson. After she had her way, the monkey deity guided the
August Grandchild along the Isuzu River to Ise. He is later known as a phallic deity;
see Aston, 1:7779.
For snake veneration; adoption of nature spirits as the kami of different groups; the
beginning of the Miwa cult; sun worship in Izumo, Yamato, and elsewhere in early
Japanese religion; and assigning the Mononobe familys connection with Miwa to a late
date, see Matsumae 1993:329351.
Matsumae 1978:5.
Matsumae 1993:348.
It might be pointed out that not all who subscribe to this thesis accept such an early
date for the gender transformation.
Kat and Hoshino, 22.
Matsumae 1978:11.
Aston, 1:61, renders it as Divine radiance.
Ibid., 18.
Ellwood 1973:67.
Philippi, 454. Using historic analogy, as has been done for this sex change, does not provide a workable parallel.The Buddhist Kannon bodhisattva became female around the
thirteenth century in China, though more sexless than female in Japan. However, by
code the bodhisattva was neither male nor female in its normal, supernatural form.
Also, as popular as Kannon has been, the bodhisattva was not the apex of the Buddhist
spiritual hierarchy. A political explanation may be made for such a major transsexual
switch, but it should have ideological support.
Kidder 1999:8487.
Ibid., 112113.
According to the tenth-century Engi-shiki, a liaison priestess was to be appointed by
each emperor, chosen by divination from among the eligible imperial princesses
(Bukky Dend Kykai, 22), but selecting one at the beginning of each reign seems
not to have been regularized before the eighth century at the earliest. The saig went
through a training period, but not all were true to their mission. Two, one dispatched
by Kimmei and the other by Bidatsu, were recalled because of affairs with royal princes.
The saig Ymei sent in 585 served at Ise for thirty-seven years, through the reigns of
Ymei, Sushun, and Suiko, before voluntarily retiring. It has been argued that female
rulers did not send saig because, unlike male rulers, they did not need such a medium
(Kuratsuka, 285). It is true that there is no record showing that Suiko, Kgyoku/Saimei,
and Jit assigned liaison priestesses to Ise, but none of the Naniwa dynasty rulers did
and nothing is recorded for the reigns of Jomei and Tenji. A priestess was serving there
during Suikos reign, apparently none while Kgyoku/Saimei was on the throne
(641645 and 655661), and Jit seemed to think she could make the contact herself.
338
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
Such being the case, it is clear that it was a Yamato project of local interest, not one of
great concern for the Osaka-based rulers.Temmus interest is viewed as the solidifying
element in the Yamato courts patronage of Ise and instrumental in elevating it to
national status. He appointed the only daughter of his first wife in 674 (she retired in
686), and Mommu appointed the second daughter of Temmus tenth wife in 698 and
the second daughter of Temmus third wife in 706.
Ujitani, 2:285.
Philippi, 177.
Aston, 1:128.
Philippi, 385; Aston, 2:15.
Ibid., 251.
Aston, 1:347: had not practised (religious) abstinence (saikai).
Philippi, 360361; Chamberlain, 399400; Tsugita 2000, 3:130. See Philippi, 636, for
theories on the meaning of the word koto.
Philippi, 570.
Ujitani, 1:284.
Aston, 1:399407.
Aston, 2:11.
Ibid., 2:38. When first mentioned, the Soga are one of four family heads in the reign
of Rich, in this order: Heguri, Soga, Mononobe, and Tsubura.The first two were titled
sukune, Mononobe was -muraji, and Tsubura was -omi. The Tsubura were a flash in
the pan, evidently unseated by the Soga, who skipped rungs in the ladder to later rise
above families that claimed older histories. Sukune was more like esquire. Another was
kimi, originally meaning lord (Philippi, 498499). The Soga became omi grade, while
the others were muraji, the second grade of nobility. In Temmus reordering of the ranks
and the creation of a more elaborate system in 683 and 684, the sukune were kept in
third place, but the omi and muraji were dropped to the sixth and seventh places in the
list of eight (Ujitani, 2:295303; Aston, 2:366370; Miller 1974; Kidder 1999:9091).
A special source of power was the arrangement whereby the Soga provided consorts
for imperial princes destined to rule.
Matsubara 1976.
Philippi, 354355.
Aston, 1:154; Ujitani, 1:129: Miwa no shaden, the main shrine building of Miwa.
Ibid., 18.
Ono, Harunari, and Oda, 183.
Okazaki 1993:296.
Aston, 2:96.
Wei Zhi Text
340
WEI ZHI TEXT
WEI ZHI TEXT
341
Select Glossary
Included are readings diering from the standard Tsunoda and Goodrich translations of
the Wei zhi and Astons translation of the Nihon shoki, preferred readings from Yasumotos
Handobukku, alternate readings, and Chinese or Japanese old and current characters and
pinyin (or Wade-Giles where the latter is more familiar). Nara and Osaka may be city or
prefecture. C: Chinese; K: Korean; J: Japanese.
Achiki (scribe)
ajari (Buddhist exorcist)
Aji-suki-taka-hikone (earthly deity)
akane (madder)
akatsuchi (cinnabar)
akaumigame (loggerhead turtle)
Aki (province: Hiroshima)
Akura (tomb, Hyogo)
ama (linen)
Amagatsuji (tomb of Suinin)
Amamiyayama (tomb, Osaka)
Ama-no-hisumi (first Izumo shrine)
Amanokaguyama (Yamato hill)

Ama-no-murakumo-no-tsurugi (Sword
of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven)
Amaterasu-omikami (Sun Goddess)
amatsu kami (heavenly deity)

amatsu yashiro (shrine of heavenly deity)
Ame-no-hihoko (prince)
Ame-no-hohi-no-mikoto (priest, Izumo
shrine)
Ame-no-sade-yori-hime (island,
Tsushima)
Ame-no-uzume (uzune)-no-mikoto
(exotic dancer deity)
Anashi-niimasu-hyozu (shrine,
Makimuku)
Anato (place, Yamaguchi)
Aramichi ( Jomon site, Nagano)
ara-mitama (rough spirit)
araki-no-miya (mortuary hut)
Ariake (sea: Saga, Kumamoto)
Arita (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
asa (hemp, flax)
Asahi (Yayoi site, Aichi)

Ashihara-no-nakatsu-kuni (Central Land
of Reed Plains)
Aso (Kyushu volcanic mountain)
Asotsu-hiko/hime (earthly deities,
Kyushu) /
Asuka (period)
Atsukaya (Kumaso chieftain)
Atsuta (shrine, Nagoya)
awa (foxtail millet)
Awa (province: Tokushima)
awabi (abalone)
Awaji (island, eastern Inland Sea)
Aya (Han; clan)
aya (pattern)
aya (twill)
azuma ha ya (expression)
Azumi (clan)
azunai/azunahi (sunlessness)
banbetsu/shoban (immigrant-descended
families) /
basshi (tooth removal)
be (occupation group)
bengara/tan (red iron oxide)
/
benibana (saower)
Benkeiga-ana (tomb, Kumamoto)
Bentensha (tomb, Nara)

Bentenzuka (tomb, Nara)
Benzai-ten (originally, water deity)
Bishamonzuka (tomb, Nara)

Bizen-kurumazuka (tomb, Okayama)
bochi (burial site)

bogyoteki-shuraku (defended settlement)
343
344
GLOSSARY
Bohai/Bokkai/Parhae (polity, northeast

Asia)
bokkotsu (oracle bone)
bonchi (geological basin)
bosei-kyo (domestic copy of mirror)
bu/ho (pace)
ita)
Bungo (province: O
ita)
Buzen (province: Fukuoka/O
Can/Tsan/San (first king; J: Richu)
Chausuyama (tomb, Nara)
Cheju (island, Korea)
Chen (Chinese mirror maker)
Chen Shou (Chinese historian)
chigi (upward extension of eave)
chikiri (warp beam)
Chikuzen (province: Fukuoka)
chimaki (cloth beam)
Chin-han (polity, southeast Korea)
Ching-long/Seiryu (Chinese era)
Chinu (palace of Suinin)
Chiwara (sites, Makimuku)
Chiwara-ohaka (tomb, Nara)
Chi-wu/Sekiu (Chinese era)
cho (cloth counter)
chokujin (straight sickle)
choma/karamushi (ramie/hemp thread)
chona (adz)
Choson (region, northeast Asia)
Chuai (emperor)
Chu-shi/Shoshi (Chinese era)
Daian-ji (temple, Nara)
Daifang/Taifu/Taebang (Korean
commandery)
Daijo (Yayoi site, Mie)
dairi (imperial residence)
Dan-er/Tanji (polity, southern island)
Dan-yang (ore source, China)

Dazaifu (city, Fukuoka)
de/toku (gain)
densei-kyo (heirloom mirror)
dohan-kyo (mirror from same mold)
Doigahama (Yayoi site, Yamaguchi)
dokei-kyo (mirror from same model)
dokyo (bronze mirror)

Dong-zhi/Dong-ye (island, southeast
China)
dorei (slave)
dotaku (bronze bell)
dou/jun//to/gun (capital/county) /
Ebisu (northern people)
Emishi/Ezo (northern people)
emoko/semmoku (Ito ocial)
enatsubo (placenta pot)
Engi-shiki (Procedures of the Engi era)
En-no-ozuna (mystic)
enpun (round mound)
Enryaku-ji (temple, Shiga)
entan (red lead)
ento haniwa (cylindrical haniwa)
Eta-funayama (tomb, Kumamoto)
Fu (Chinese mirror maker)

fudoki (gazetteers)
fuhito (scribe)
fuigo (bellows)
Fujian/Fukien (province, China)
Fujinoki (tomb, Nara)
fujo (female medium)
fujutsu (shamanism)
fuko/wu gu (black magic)
fukusohin (grave-goods)
Fumi (Wa population center)
fumikaeshi (reproducing a mirror from an
imprint)
Funabashi (Yayoi site, Osaka)
funbo (mounded tomb)
fundogata (clay weight-shaped object)
funkyubo (burial mound)

Furu (site, Nara)
Furuichi (city, Osaka)
Furune Izumo (ancestor, Izumo)
Futaji-no-iri-hime (mother of Chuai)
Futatsukayama (Yayoi site, Saga)

futomani (divination by deities) /
/
Futsu-no-mitama-no-okami (warrior
with Jimmu)
GLOSSARY
Futsunushi-no-kami (messenger to
Izumo)
hata (loom)
Hatsukuni shirasu sumera mikoto
gama (bulrush)
gamontai (pictorial band)
Gan-lu/Kanro (Chinese era)
genkan (flat-bodied lute)
Gong-sun Gang (Korean warlord)
Gong-zun (Korean governor-general)
Hatsuse (river; Jomon site; palace,

Yuryaku)
Hattori (Yayoi site, Shiga)
Hayamajiri (Yayoi site, Saga)
Hayato (southeastern Kyushu people)
Gonoura (port, Iki)

Goroyama (tomb, Fukuoka)
Goryogadai ( Jomon site, Kanagawa)
gosu (small lidded vessel)

Goto (southwestern islands)
gung/ko
gyokaigan (tu )
gyokujo (short ceremonial rod)
gyokuzui (chalcedony)
Habikino (city, Osaka)
Hachiyama-cho (Yayoi site, Tokyo)
hachi (sake cup)

hafuri (Shinto priest)
hahaka (birch cherry) /
haiden (worship hall)
hai-ishi (volcanic ash)
haji (Kofun domestic pottery)
haka (grave)
Hakata (city, Fukuoka)
hakoshikisekkan (cist grave)
hakufu (white silk) /
hakusai-kyo (imported mirror)
Hakusorei (Mortuary Law)
hamaguri (Meretrix lusosia clam)
Han (river, Korea)
haniwa (Kofun clay sculptures)
hansankaku (half triangle)
hanreigan (gabbro)
harae/harai (purification)
hariguwa (mulberry)
Harima fudoki
Harima-no-oiratsume (consort of Keiko)
Harunotsuji (Yayoi site, Iki)

Hashihaka (tomb, Nara)
Hashinaka (tomb, Nara)
Hata (clan)
345
Hayatsu-hime (female shaman)

Heguri (clan)
hekigyoku ( jasper)
hekkuho/hegoko (Ito ocial)
hesaki (boat bow)
hetsu iwakura (outermost rock shelter/
rock-shelter seat)
hi (female attendant)
hi (shuttle)
hi (shuttle, loom)
Hibara (shrine, Makimuku)
Hibasu-hime-no-mikoto (consort of
Suinin) /
hiboko (sun spear)
Hie (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
hie (barnyard millet)
Hieda (Nara site, Nara)
Hieda-no-are (reciter of Kojiki )
Higaida-otsuka (tomb, Makimuku)
Higashi-nara (Yayoi site, Osaka)

Higashi-osaka (Yayoi site, Osaka)
Higashi-tonozuka (tomb, Nara)
Hii/Hi (river) /
hiki (cloth length)
hiku/hiko (Tsushima and Iki ocials)
ita)
Himegoso (shrine, O
Hime-tatara-isuzu (isuke-yori)-hime-nomikoto (consort of Jimmu)
Himiko/Himeko/Pimiko (Yamatai ruler)
Himikoko/Pimikuku (Kona chieftain)
himorogi (sacred precinct)

hinamori/hinumori (Tsushima and Iki
ocials)
hinoe-tatsu (56th year)
hinoe-uma (46th year)
hinoki ( Japanese cypress)
Hinokuma (palace of Senka)
346
GLOSSARY
hinoto-i (27th year)

hinoto-tori (37th year)
hinoto-ushi (17th year)
Hirabaru (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
Hiraide ( Jomon site, Nagano)
hiraigushi (wooden wand)
Hiratsuka-kawazoe (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
hiro (stride)
hiroba (meeting space)
Hiromine 15 (tomb, Kyoto) 15
Hirose (shrine, Nara)
Hirota (Yayoi site, Tanegashima)
Hishiro (palace of Keiko)
hisui ( jade)
Hitachi fudoki (Hitachi gazetteer)
hitsugi (con)
hiuchi (ishi) (flint) ()
Hizen (province: Nagasaki/Saga)
ho/tatematsuru (character on pot)
hokaku-kiku-kyo (TLV mirror)
hokei-shukobo (square-shaped ditched
burial)
Hokenoyama (tomb, Makimuku)
Hoki (province: Tottori)

honden (main hall)
Hongi/Mototsu-fumi (Fundamental records)
horimono (full-body tattoo)

Horyu-ji (temple, Nara)
hotategai-shiki (scallop-shaped)
Hou Han shu/Gokanjo (History of Later
Han)
Huan-di (Han emperor)
hyokeifun (gourd-shaped tomb)
Hyotanyama (tomb, Shiga)
Hyuga (province: Miyazaki)
i/yaku (interpreter/translator)
Ibukiyama (mountain, Shiga)
ichidai sotsu (regent of Ito)
Ichifukaya (daughter of Kumaso chieftain)
ichiigashi (evergreen oak)

Ichikaya (daughter of Kumaso chieftain)
Ichikishima-hime (Munakata shrine deity)
ichiko (female shaman)

ichinomiya (chief shrine)
Ichishino-nagaochi (priestess to
kunitama)
O
i da guo/Iki /
ie (family)
Igahiko (emperors pilot)
Ihara (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
Ii-ire-ne (custodian, Izumo treasures)
Ika-shiko-o (worshiper)
Ikazuchi (Mt. Miwa snake/monster)
Ikedako (volcanic eruption)
Ikegami-sone (Yayoi site, Osaka)
ikima/ikime/ikimo (Yamatai ocial)

Ikoma (western basin hills)
Ikume-iri-hiko-isachi-no-sumera-mikoto
(Suinin)
Iku-mitama (deity)
Iku-tama-yori-hime (Miwa priestess)
Imbe (clan, abstainers)

Imukai (Yayoi site, Fukui)
Inariyama (tomb, Saitama)
Inchon (port, western Korea)
Inishiki-iri-no-mikoto (son of Suinin)
inju (ribboned seal)

inugaya (yew)
inumaki ( Japanese yew)
Ioki-no-iri-hiko/hime (children of Keiko)
/
irezumi (tattoo)
Irozaki (cape, Izu)
iruka (dolphin)
ishibocho (reaping knife)
ishikiihaki-tsukuri-be (sarcophagus makers)
ishisanko-kyo (mirror with auspicious

inscription)
Ishizuka (tomb, Makimuku)
Isonokami (shrine, Nara)
Isonomiya (an Ise shrine)
Isuzu (river, Ise)
itakarato/torii (door)
Itazuke (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
Ito/Izu (Wa population center) /
Itogi (envoy)
GLOSSARY
Itoigawa (river, Niigata)

itsuki-no-miya/saigu (abstinence shrine)
Iwahashi (western basin hill)

Iwai (Tsukushi chieftain)
iwaibe (former name for haji )
iwai-no-miya/saigu (Ise liaison priestess)
iwakage-saishi (rock-shelter ritual site)
iwakura/iwaza (rock shelter/rock-shelter

seat) /
Iwami (province: Shimane)
Iware/Ihare (palace of Jingu)
Iyo/Toyo (Yamatai ruler) //
Izanagi (primary progenitor)

Izanami (primary progenitress)
I-zhou (community, southern China)
Izuhara (port, Tsushima)

Izukashi/Itsuki-no-miya (a Moto-ise
shrine)
Izumi-koganezuka (tomb, Osaka)
Izumo-takeo (shrine, Hyogo)

Izuruhara (Yayoi site, Tochigi)
Izushi (shrine, Hyogo) /
jajutsu (sorcery)
jashin (evil spirits)
Jiangsu/Kiangsu (province, China)
Jian-wu/Kenbu (Chinese era)
jichingu (earth-placating goods)
jichinsai (groundbreaking ritual)
jikifu (household fief )
Jilin/Chilin (province, China)
Jimmu (emperor)
Jin/Tsin/Chin (Chinese dynasty)
Jing-chu/Keisho (Chinese era)
Jingi-kan/Kamitsukasa (Oce of
Religious Aairs)
Jingu (regent)
Jinshin-no-ran (revolt by Temmu)
jisai (diviner)
Jito (empress)
jo (10 shaku)
joga/joka/myoga (ginger; Zingiber mioga)
/
347
jokoto/to tsuka-no-tsurugi (ten-span sword)
Jomon (period)
joo-koku (queens polity)
josaku (stockade)
jubutsu (fetish)
jufu (talisman)
jugon (conjuror)
jujutsu (magic, spell)
junshi (following in death)
junso (immolation)
kaba (birch)
kabane (political title)
kaede/fuko (maple)
Kaga (province: Ishikawa)
kagami (mirror)
Kaga-yori-hime-no-mikoto (daughter of
Keiko)
kagura (shrine music/dance)
Kagutsuchi (fire deity)
kaha-tatami (silk mat)
Kai (province: Yamanashi)
kaiko (silkworm)
Kaimon-dake (Kyushu volcano)
kaiso (secondary burial)
kajito (boat pilot)
kakatsugayu (mulberry)
kakogan (granite)
kaku (compartment around con)
kama (sickle)
Kamegaoka ( Jomon site, Aomori)
Kamei (Yayoi site, Osaka)
kamekan (burial pot)
Kami-agata (port, Tsushima)
Kamihiragawa-otsuka (tomb, Shizuoka)
kamiko (shrine priestess)

Kaminosho (site, Makimuku)
Kamiyashiki (Yayoi site, Tottori)
Kammon (strait)
Kamo-iwakura (Yayoi site, Shimane)
Kamunashi/Kamunatsuso-hime (female
shaman)
kamutokoro (shrine land)
kamuyogoto/kanyogoto (ritual greetings)
Kamu-yamato-iware-biko-no-sumerumikoto ( Jimmu)
348
GLOSSARY
kan (con)
Kanahashi (palace of Ankan)
Kanba-kojindani (Yayoi site, Shimane)
Kanbara jinsha (tomb, Shimane)

kanbe (ministerial custodian)
Kang-wu (Chinese emperor)
kango shuraku (moated settlement)
kan-i (rank)
Kanizawa (tomb, Gumma)
kanki (evil demons)
Kanmaki (Yayoi site, Nara)
kannushi (shrine priest)
kanoto-i/shingai (51st year)
kanoto-u (31st year)
kantoi (single-cloth poncho)
Karakami (Yayoi site, Iki)
Karako-kagi (Yayoi site, Nara)
karamushi/choma (ramie)
jin)
Karano (fast boat of O
Karatsu (port, Saga)
Kariya (Yayoi site, Osaka)
kariyasu (yellow dye plant)
Karuhaka (tomb, Osaka)
Kasagi (tu source, northern Kyushu)
Kasanui (a Moto-ise shrine)

kasasagi (magpie)
Kaseda (city, Kagoshima)
kashi (oak)
Kashihara (city, Nara)
kasobo (cremation)
kasseki (steatite)
Kasuga (county, Fukuoka)
Kasuya (county, Fukuoka)
kataku (firebreak)
katana (sword)
kataribe (court reciters)
kato (grain)
Katonboyama (tomb, Osaka)
Katsube (former Mononobe)
Katsumoto (port, Iki)
katsuogi (ridge log)
Katsuragi (western basin hills)
Katsuyama (tomb, Makimuku)
Kawachi (province: Osaka)
Kawashima-kamiato (Yayoi site,
Tokushima)
Kaya (polity, southern Korea)
kaya ( Japanese nutmeg)

Kayo-senzuka (tomb, Nara)
kazuradake/toki (rattan bamboo)
ke (divination)
Kehi (Yayoi site, Hyogo)
Keirin/Ke-rin (Silla/Shiragi)
keishitsu ketsugan (siliceous shale)
kemono-hen (animal radical) ()

ken (silk)
kentoshi (missions to China)
keorimono (woolen cloth)
ketsugan (shale)
keyaki (zelkova)
Kibi (Okayama area)
kibi (millet)
ki-do (Way of Demons)
kihada (yellow dye plant)
Kii (peninsula; province: Wakayama)
Kikai-akahoya (K-Ah) (volcanic

eruption)
Kikuchi (place, Kumamoto)
kimi (local ranked person) /
kimitachi (court minister)
kin (weight)
kin/nishiki ( Japanese brocade)
Kinai (heartland provinces)
kinsoku-chi (restricted area)
kinoe-saru (24th year)
kinoe-tora (54th year)
kinoe-uma (34th year)
kinoto-ushi (5th year)
kinu (silk)
kinuorimono (fabric)
kinu-tatami (silk mat)
Kirishima (Kyushu volcanic belt)
Kishi Uo/Saishi Uwo (messenger)
Kiso (river, Chubu)

Kitabatake Chikafusa (daimyo)
Kitora (tomb, Nara)
kitsu/komikan (orange)
Kitsunezuka (tomb, Yamanashi)
Kiyomihara (palace, Nara)
Kizuki (location, Izumo shrine)
ko/hu (household)
Ko ( Jomon site, Osaka)
kobetsu (royal-descent families)
kobyo (measles)
GLOSSARY
kochi/koji (dark red fabric)

kofun (period; old mound; tomb)
Koganezuka (tomb, Osaka)
Koguryo/Kokuli/Koma (polity, north
Korea)
kogyoku ( jadeite)
Koje (island, south Korea)
Kojiki (Records of ancient matters)
Kojikiden (Exposition of records of

ancient matters)
kojin (foreigner)
kokka (state)
Kokki/Kunitsu-fumi (National histories)
Kokochihiko/Kukochihiko (Kuna ocial)
Kokugaku (National Learning)

kokushi (black teeth)
komajaku (north Korea shaku)
komochi magatama (magatama with
miniatures)
Kona/Kunu/Kuna (Yamatai adversary)
konara (oak)
Kongo (southwest basin hills)
Konkomyo-kyo (Survarna prabhasa sutra)
konsei (blue cloth)

koseiken (red and blue silk)
Koshi (Niigata, Ishikawa, and Toyama
area)
koto (zither)
Kotobikihara (plain, Yamato)
kotojigata (resembling bridge-shaped koto
pieces)
namochi)
Kotoshironushi (son of O
koyamaki (yew)
Kozujima (island, Izu)
Kozuke (province: Gumma)
kuchinashi (gardenia)
Kudara/Paekche (polity, southwest
Korea; palace of Bidatsu)
kudatama (cylindrical bead)
Kuma-nishioda (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
kuma (-no-) himorogi (bead/jewel?)
Kumaso (southeast Kyushu people)
349
Kume-no-atai-kashiwade (valet of
Yamato-takeru)
kumonkin (geometric pattern)
Kunaisho (Imperial Household Agency)
Kunato (Funado)-no-kami (monkey

deity)
kuni-no-miyakko (local ocial)
kunitsu-kami (national deity)
kunugi (sawtooth oak)
Kurahashi (palace of Sushun)
kuri (chestnut)
Kuriyama (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
Kuroshio (Black Current)
Kurozuka (tomb, Nara)
kurumi (walnut)
kusabi (wedge)
kusaboke ( Japanese quince)
Kusakawa (Kofun site, Makimuku)
Kusanagi-no-tsurugi (Grass-cutter Sword)
Kushiyama (tomb, Nara)

kusunoki (camphor) /
Kusuri ido (medicine well)
kuwa (mulberry)
kuwagata-ishi (hoe-shaped bracelet)
Kuya-han/Kouya-han/Koya (polity,
south Korea)
Kwaggaeto/Kokaido-o (king, north
Korea)
Kwalleuk/Kanroku (Korean adviser)
kyo/owaru (?) (character on pot)

kyo/kashi (oak) /
Kyogazuka (southeast basin hill)
kyosekibo (megalithic tomb)
Lelang/Rakuro (Korean commandery)
Liao-dong (peninsula, Manchuria)

Lin-tun/Imdun/Rinton (Korean
commandery)
Liu-xia (governor-general)
Luoyang (capital, eastern China)
ma (linen)
ma/hai//ma/kai (horse/sea) /
Maebashi (city, Gumma)
magatama (curved bead) /
Ma-han (polity, south Korea)
350
GLOSSARY
maikiri (bow drill)

Maizo Bunkazai (Buried Cultural
Properties)
majinai (magic)
Makimuku (area, Nara)
Makinouchi (site, Makimuku)
Mamegoshi (site, Makimuku)
mamushi (viper)
manyogana (phonetic Chinese
ideographs)
Manyoshu
maruki-fune (dugout canoe)
Matsubara (Yayoi site, Goto islands)
Matsura (Wa population center)
matsuri (ceremony)
mawata (floss silk)
Meijidai (Yayoi site, Osaka)
men/wata (cotton)
men-i (cotton padding)
meno (agate)
Mesuriyama (tomb, Nara)
Mezurashizuka (tomb, Nara)
Michinoku/Mutsu (ancient Aomori)
Midorikawa (tomb, Kumamoto)
mie/mei//metsu/botsu (perish/die) /
miko (female shaman) /
miko/osaru (monkey)
mikoshi (portable shrine)
mikotonori (imperial edict) /
Mikumo (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
mikura (august storehouse)
mimagushi/mimawaki (Yamatai ocial)
Mimaki-iri-hiko-inie-no-mikoto (Sujin)
Mimana/Imna (polity, south Korea)

mimasho/mimato (Yamatai ocial)
mimi (Toma ocial)
Mimihara (tomb of Hanzei)
miminari (Toma ocial)
Mimoro (Mt. Miwa)
Mimoro-wake-no-miko (governor,
eastern provinces)
Mino (province: Gifu)
misasagi/ryo (imperial tomb)
Mise-maruyama (tomb, Nara)
misogi (water purification)
Mitake (hill, Tsushima)
mitama (spirit)
mitegura (sacred sta )
mitsugi (tribute)
Mitsunagata (Yayoi site, Saga)
Miwa (hill, Makimuku) (
)
Miwa jinsha (shrine, Makimuku)
Miwa-myojin (Miwa deity)

Miyajima (shrine island, Hiroshima)
miyatsuko/miyakko (local ocial)
Miyayama (tomb, Okayama)
Miyazu-hime (female companion of
Yamato-takeru)
Mizugaki (palace of Sujin)
mizunoe-ne (52nd year)
mizunoe-saru (12th year)
mizunoe-tatsu (32nd year)
mizunoto-i (3rd year)
mizunoto-tori (13th year)
mizunoto-ushi (53rd year)
mizura (looped hair at ears)
mogari/hingu/hinkyu (delayed interment)
mokkan (wooden con)

mokkan (wooden tally)
mokufu (bow grip)
mokusui (weaving weight)
Mononobe-moriya (chief muraji under
Kimmei, Bidatsu, and Yomei)
Mononobe-okoshi (chief muraji under

Kimmei)
mori (harpoon)
Morio (tomb, Hyogo)
moso (bamboo)
moya (funeral hut)
Mozu (tombs, Osaka)
Mujinazawa ( Jomon site, Nagano)
Mukaebaru (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
Mukatsuku (Yayoi site, Yamaguchi)
Munakata (shrine, Fukuoka)

mune-hari-no-maetsu-kimi (chief omi )
mura (bush)
muraji (rank)
Murakumo-no-tsurugi (Sword of the
Gathering Clouds)
Musashi (province: Saitama, Tokyo,
Kanagawa)
Mushazuka (tomb, Ibaragi)
GLOSSARY
Mutsu/Michinoku (ancient northern

Honshu)
Na/Nu (Wa population center)
Nabatake (Yayoi site, Saga)
negaekuwa (long-handled hoe)
Naganohara (tomb of Ingyo)
Nagato (province: Yamaguchi)
Nagazuka (tomb, Gifu)
naikokamon-kyo (concatenated arcs mirror)
Naka (river, Fukuoka)

nakato/nakade (Yamatai ocial)
Nakatomi (clan, rituals)
Nakatsu ( Jomon shell-mound, Okayama)
nakatsu iwakura (middle rock seat)
Nakatsukasa-sho (Mediate Aairs

Ministry)
Nakaumi (inlet, Shimane)
Nakayama-otsuka (tomb, Nara)
Namani (Yayoi site, Nagano)
namari (lead)
Namehazama-no-oka (first tomb of
Jomei)
nangyoku (nephrite)
Namhae (island, south Korea)
Namiki (palace of Buretsu)
Naniwa (Osaka)
Natome/Nashonmi/Nashime (envoy)
351
Nishiyagomen (Yayoi site, Kumamoto)
nishiki (brocade) /
Nishi-tonozuka (tomb, Nara)
Nokiyo-kitayama (tomb, Tottori)
Nomi-no-sukune (Izumo wrestler)
norito/noritogoto (ritual prayers)

Noto (peninsula, Ishikawa)
Nuhata-ni-iri-hime (wife of Suinin)
nuhi (female slave)

Nukatabe (sword owner)
Nunaki-iri-hime-no-mikoto (daughter of
Sujin)
nuno (linen)
(asomi) Yasumaro (recorder of Kojiki )
O
Ochi (tomb, Saimei)

fube-no-o (sorcerer)
O
fuku (Makimuku site)
O
oharae (Great Purification)
hatsuse-wakatakeru (Yuryaku)
O
hiru-me-no-muchi (daughter of Izanagi

O
and Izanami)
Okadayama (tomb, Shimane)
okami (wolf )
kamidani (ritual site, Mt. Miwa)
O
nawashiro (rice seedling field)

Nejiko (Yayoi site, Nagasaki)
Nekoya (Yayoi site, Fukushima)
nengo (era name)
Nigore (tomb, Kyoto)
Nihon sandai jitsuroku (Veritable records
of three periods of Japan)
Okinaga-tarashi-hime ( Jingu)
Oki (islands, Shimane)
Oki (Yayoi site, Gumma)
okimi (chief chieftain) /
okitsu iwakura (highest rock seat/shelter)
Nihon shoki (Chronicles of Japan)
okushitu (house rooms)

mazaki (cape, Aomori)
O
mi (province, Shiga)
O
omi (rank)
miwa (Mt. Miwa)
O
omugi (barley)
omori (weight)
onaga (magpie)
namochi (O
namuchi)-no-kami/
O
anamuchi (Izumo deity)
O
Niihari (town, Ibaragi)

niiname-sai (festival of first fruits)
niki/nishi/nushi (Ito ocial)
niki (nigi)-mitama (quiet spirit)
Ninigi-no-mikoto (grandson of Sun
Goddess)
Ninoaze-yokomakura (Yayoi site, Shiga)
kuninushi-no-mikoto (Izumo deity)

O
352
GLOSSARY
Ongagawa (river, northern Kyushu)
Onokoro (island, eastern Inland Sea)
Onyo-ryo (Bureau of Yin and Yang)
shima (island, Izu)

O
sumi (province: Kagoshima)
O
ta ( Jomon shell-mound, Hiroshima)
O
ta-kuroda (Yayoi site, Wakayama)

O
ta-minami 5 (tomb, Kyoto) 5

O
tarashi-hiko-oshiro-wake (Keiko)
O
tataneko (Miwa deity)

O
Otomeyama (tomb, Nara)
tomo-no-kanamura (family head)
O
toshiyama ( Jomon site, Hyogo)

O
u (northern Honshu)
O
usu (son of Keiko)
O
Ousu (son of Keiko; Yamato-takeru)
Paekche/Kudara (polity, southwest Korea)
Pan ye/Fan yeh (Chinese historian)

Panyu (Yue kingdom)
Pei song-zhi (Wei zhi editor)
Peng-lai (port, north China)
Pusan (port, south Korea)
Puyo (people, north Korea)
Pyon-han (polity, south Korea)
Saba (county, Yamaguchi)

Sado (island, Niigata)
Sagami (bay; province: Kanagawa)
sagi (egret)
Sai (shrine, Makimuku)
saicho (linen)
saigu/saio (Ise liaison priestess)
saihankakei (mottled pattern)
saikai (abstinence)
saishi iseki (ritual site)
saisobo (secondary burial)
Saitobaru (tombs, Miyazaki)
sajo (social class)
Sakai (city, Osaka)
sakaki (sacred tree)
Sakaya (Kumaso chieftain)
sake/shu (rice wine)
Saki (tomb of Seimu)
Saki-no-terama-no-haka (tomb of
Hibasu-hime)
saku (palisade)
Sakuragaoka (Yayoi site, Hyogo)
Sakurai (city, Nara)
Sakurajima (Kagoshima volcano)
Sakuranobaba (Yayoi site, Saga)
Samguk sagi/Sanguo zhi/Sankokushiki
(History of the three kingdoms)
san/wang//san/o (three/king-queen) /
saniwa/saniha (interpreter of utterances)
sankakuen (buchi)-shinju-kyo (triangularrim-deities-animals mirror)
Sannai-maruyama ( Jomon site, Aomori)

Qi/Chi/Sai (3rd king; Ingyo)
ra (silk gauze)
rei (mediocre sake)
reki (oak)
renmoku/lian-mu (ritual bathing)
Rikkokushi (Six national histories)
ro (bow)
rokan (high building)
ruri (glass)
ryo (gold weight)
ryobo (imperial tomb)
Ryozan/Ryuozan (tombs, Nara) /
sansho (prickly ash)

Sanshu no shinki ( jinki)/Mikusa-nokandakara (Three Regalia)
Santonodai (Yayoi site, Kanagawa)
sasa/sho (bamboo)
sashi (emissary)
satetsu (iron sand)
Satsuma (province: Kagoshima)
seigyoku ( jasper)
seiko (slave)
seitetsu iseki (iron-working site)
sekikaku (stone compartment for con)
ryusuimon (flowing water pattern)
sekishitsu (stone chamber)
GLOSSARY
sekitekko (hematite)
sekkaigan (limestone)
sekkan (sarcophagus)
semmoku/emoko (Ito ocial)
senko (red padded cloth)
senmin (male slave)
senryokugan (diorite)
sessha (subordinate, branch shrine)
Seya-tatara-hime (mother of Jimmus
consort)
sha (silk gauze)
shaen (slanted rim)
Shakado ( Jomon site, Yamanashi)
shaku (measurement unit, c.1 ft)
Shandong/Shantung (province, China)
Shao-kang (ancient Chinese ruler)

sharinseki (wheel-shaped bracelet)
Shen Yue (Chinese historian, writer of
Song shu)
Shiba (site, Makimuku)
Shibagaki (palace of Hanzei)
Shichishito (Seven-branched Sword)
Shigasato ( Jomon site, Shiga)

Shigashima (island, Fukuoka)
Shiki (palace of Sujin)
Shikinejima (island, Izu)
Shikinzan (tomb, Osaka)
shikokubie (shikoku millet)
shimako (Na ocial)
Shimanoyama (tomb, Nara)
Shimatsu-kami (Emishi chieftain)
Shimauchi (tomb, Miyazaki)
ita)
Shimogori-kuwanae (Yayoi site, O
Shimonoseki (strait)
shimpo (sacred treasure)
Shinaga (town, Osaka)
Shinano (province: Nagano)
shinbetsu (deity-descended families)
shin-i (sexagenary rule)
Shinji (lake, Shimane)
shinju (pearl)
shino/medake (bamboo)
Shin-ritsuryo (New civil and penal codes)
Shin-ryu-o (deity-dragon-king)
Shinsen shojiroku (New compilation of
register of families)
353
shinsha (cinnabar)
shintai (deity-body)
Shinzawa (tomb, Nara)
Shiokubi-misaki (cape, southern
Hokkaido)
Shirakami-misaki (cape, southern
Hokkaido)
shirami (lice)
shirasu (white volcanic sand)
Shiratake (hill, southern Tsushima)
Shiratori jinja (tomb, Osaka)
Shiratorizuka (tomb, Mie)
shisekibo (dolmen burial)
shishin (four tutelary deities)
Shitomiya (Kofun site, Osaka)
sho/sansho/mega (pepper; ginger, Zingiber)
shoga/kyo (ginger) /
shokoku (all chiefdoms) /
shoku/aganai (sacrifice)
Shoku nihongi (Chronicles of Japan
continued)
Shoryo-shi (Oce of Mausolea)
shosho (imperial script)
Shoso-in (Todai-ji storehouse)
Shotoku taishi denryaku (Chronological
legends of Prince Shotoku)
Shugendo (mountain asceticism)

shugo (moated tomb)
shuho (chiefdom)
Shu Han (kingdom; Sichuan)
shuju (dwarf )
shuko (surrounding ditch)
shura (wooden sledge)
shutan (red cosmetic)
Sichuan/Szechwan (province, China)
Silla/Shiragi (kingdom, southeast Korea)
Sima Qian/Ssu-ma Chien (Chinese

historian)
Soga-no-iname-no-sukune (court ocial)
Sogi-shi (Mourning and Burial Oce)
soko (granary)
soko (heddle)
Song shi (History of Song)
Song shu (History of Liu Song)
354
GLOSSARY
Soraku (county, Kyoto)

Sori ( Jomon site, Nagano)
soso-no-fune (funeral boat)
Sue (ceremonial pottery)
Sue-mura (kilns, Osaka)
Sugahara-fushimi-ryo (tomb of Suinin)
suga-tatami-yae (sedge mat)

sugi (cedar)
Sugu-okamoto (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
Sui shu/Zuisho (History of Sui)

suki kome (first-fruit rice) ()
sumera mikoto (chief chieftain)
Sungari (river, northeast Asia)
Suo (province: Yamaguchi)
Suruga (province: Shizuoka)
Susano-o (brother of Sun Goddess)
Suwa (lake; shrine, Nagano)

suzokukei (wool cloth)
tabunoki/inugusu (camellia)
tachi (long sword)
tachibana (mandarin orange)
taijin (ranked man)
Taika-no-kaishin (Taika Reform)
Taima (Tagima)-kuehaya (wrestler)
Tajima (province: Hyogo)

Tajima-mori (seeker of elixir)
taisha (red ochre) /
Taka-anaho (palace of Keiko)
Takachiho (mountain plateau, Miyazaki)
Takaki-no-iri-hime-no-mikoto (wife of
jin)
O
Takamahara (High Plain of Heaven)
Takamatsuzuka (tomb, Nara)

Takamawari no. 2 (tomb, Osaka)
2
Takamimusubi-no-mikoto (chief deity of

High Plain of Heaven)
Takamiya (shrine, Mt. Miwa)
Takarazuka (tomb, Nara)
takatsuki/hento (pedestalled bowl) /
Takayasu (fort, Osaka/Kyoto)
Takeda (son of Suiko)

Takehara (tomb, Fukuoka)
Take-mika-tsuchi-no-kami (Takamahara
messenger)
takenoko (bamboo shoot) /
Takenouchi-no-sukune (scout to
northeast for Keiko)
Takeshima (tomb, Yamaguchi)
Takuta-nishibun (Yayoi shell-mound,
Saga)
tama (bead, jade) /
tama (spirit)
Tamaki/Tamagaki (palace of Suinin)
Tama-yori-hime-no-mikoto (mother of
Jimmu)
tamo/tomo/tama (Fumi ocial)
tan/kusu (camphor) /
tan (cinnabar)
Tanegashima (southern island)
Tango (province: Kyoto)
Tani (site group, Nara)
tanko (cuirass)
Tano (Yayoi site, Osaka)
Tappizaki (cape, Aomori)
Tarashi-nakatsu-hiko (Chuai)
Tareyanagi (Yayoi site, Aomori)
tasuki (shoulder strap)
tatara (iron-smelting furnace)
tatari (curse)
tate (shield)
tategine (pounding stick)
Tateishi ( Jomon site, Iwate)
Tateiwa (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
Tatsurayama (hill, Tsushima)
Tatsu-uma (Yayoi site, Nara)
teikaku (mansion-tower/granary)
Tenjinyama (tomb, Nara)
Tenno-ki (History of the emperors)
Tenri (city, Nara)
Tenyaku-ryo/Kusuri-no-tsukasa (Bureau
of Pharmacy)
tetsu (iron)
ti-zhun/tei-shun (imperial guard)
to/gun (capital/county) /
Toba/Touba (Wei)
Todaijiyama (tomb, Nara)
Todoroki ( Jomon shell-mound,
Kumamoto)
Tokoyo-no-kuni (Eternal Land)
GLOSSARY
toku (gain)
tokushu-kidai (ceremonial vessel stand)
Toma/Tsuma/Toma (Wa population

center)
Tomio-maruyama (tomb, Nara)
tomo (stern of boat)
tomo/be (occupation group)
tomoegata doki (bronze whorl)
Tone (river, Kanto)
toneri (attendant)
torii (gatelike shrine entrance)
Torihama ( Jomon shell-mound, Fukui)
tori-iwa-kusu-fune (bird-rock-cavecamphor-boat)
Toro (Yayoi site, Shizuoka)
Tosa (province: Kochi)
Toshi Gori (envoy)
Toshima (island, Izu)
totsuka-no-tsurugi (ten-span sword)
Totsukizaka (Kofun site, Okayama)
Toyo-suki-iri-hime-no-mikoto (Ise
liaison priestess)
Toyo-tama-hime (daughter of sea deity)
Toyura (palace of Suiko)

Tsubai-otsukayama (tomb, Kyoto)
355
Tsukuriyama (tomb, Okayama city)

Tsukuriyama (tomb, Sosha city,
Okayama)
Tsukuriyama no. 1 (tomb, Shimane)
Tsukushi (northern Kyushu region)

tsumu (spindle)
tsumugi (padded cloth)
Tsunoga/Tsuruga (port, Fukui) /
tsuribari (fishhook)
Tsurumi-dake (Kyushu volcano)
Tsushima (island, Nagasaki) /
Tsutsuki (palace of Keitai)
Tsuyama (city, Okayama)
Tsuzuguchizuka (tomb, Nara)
uchiguwa (striking hoe)
uchitsu-kuni (Kinai region)
Uda-no-sumizaka (alternate Yamato
deity)
Uedono (tomb, Nara)
Uenoyama ( Jomon site, Kozu island)
ugo/yamaguwa (mulberry) /
ujidera (clan temple)
Umashi-maji (made)-no-mikoto
(Mononobe ancestor)
Umazuka (tomb, Mie)
umegame (burial jar under house entrance)
tsubaki (camellia) /
Tsuboi (Yayoi-Kofun site, Nara)
tsuchi (hair arrangement)
tsuchi (hammer)
Tsuchigumo (Earth Spider)
tsuchinoe-saru (48th year)
tsuchinoe-tatsu (8th year)
tsuchinoto-hitsuji (59th year)
tsuchinoto-u (19th year)
Tsuji (site, Makimuku)
tsuka/zuka (tomb mound)
Tsuki-sakaki-itsu-no-mitama-amasukuru-mukatsu-hime-no-mikoto
(Watarai deity)
Umi-cho (town, Fukuoka) /

Unebiyama (Yamato hill)
Unzen-dake (Kyushu volcano)
urabe (magician)
Urabe Kanekata (medieval chronicler)
ita)
Tsukiyama (tomb, O
Tsukuba (place, Ibaragi)
Tsukumo ( Jomon shell-mound, Okayama)
Wado-kaichin (coin)
Wa-jinden (Notes on Wa people)
Waka-ki-ni-iri-biko-no-mikoto (son of
Keiko)
uranai (divination)
urushi (lacquer)
Uryudo (Yayoi site, Osaka)
Ushirode (tomb, Nara)
usudama (mortar-shaped bead)
Uto (place, Osaka)
Wa (inhabitants of the Japanese islands)
356
GLOSSARY
Wakamiya (shrine, Miwa)

Wakasa (province: Fukui)
Waka-tarashi-hiko (Emperor Seimu)
wa-kin (decorated silk)

wako (pirate)
wakyo ( Japanese mirror) /
Wang (Chinese mirror maker)
Wang-mang (Han ruler)
Wang-qi (Korean governor-general)
Wani (port; sea monster)

Wani (clan) /
Wani-kishi (scribe)
wata/men (cotton)
Watarai (early Ise shrine)
wazoku (bandit)
Wei lue (Sketch of Wei)
Wei shu (History of Wei)
Wei zhi (Record of Wei)
Wen-di (Han emperor)
Wonsan (port, eastern Korea)
Wu (Chinese dynasty)
Wu/Bu/Mu (5th king; Yuryaku)
Wu-di (Han emperor)
Wu liang (Han tombs)
Xian/Sian (Chang-an; Chinese capital)
Xianbi/Hsien-pi (eastern Mongolia tribes)
Xian-di (Han emperor)

Xie-ma-i/Hsieh-ma-i/Yamaichi
xi/kei
Xin Tang shu (New Tang history)
Xing/Hsing/Ko (4th king; Anko)
Xiongnu/Hsiung-nu (Ordos-region tribes)
Xu-fu/Hsu-fu (expedition leader) ()
yabu-tsubaki (camellia wood)

yadake/kan (bamboo)
yakuchi (Koshi serpent/monster)
Yakushi-ji (temple, Nara)
Yalu/Ammok (river, northeast Asia)
yamabushi (mountain ascetic)

yamadori (copper pheasant)
Yamaga (Yayoi site, Osaka)
Yamaichi (chiefdom of Himiko)

yamamomiji (maple) /
Yamanobe-no-michi (mountain-foot
road)
Yamanokami (sacred site, Miwa)
Yamashina (tomb of Tenji)
Yamashiro (township, Kyoto) /
yamata (eight forks)
Yamatai (chiefdom of Himiko) /
Yamato /
Yamato-oguna (child of Yamato)
Yamato-(no)-okunitama-no-kami (a chief
deity of Yamato)
yamatori-kabuto (aconite)
Yamato-hime-no-mikoto (daughter of
Suinin)
Yamato-takeru-no-mikoto (Yamato
Brave) /
Yamato-totohi-momoso-hime-nomikoto (aunt of Sujin)
Yan (Chinese mirror maker)

yariganna (planing tool)
Yasaka-iri-hime-no-mikoto (wife of
Keiko)
yasakani magatama (agate[?] bead)
Yaseigo (experimental boat)

yasuri (file)
yata-no-kagami (large mirror)
Yatateyama (hill, Tsushima)
Yatsuka-mizuomi-zunu-no-mikoto
(Izumo deity)
Yayoi (period)
Yazuka (tomb, Makimuku)
yo/ho (remote/meet) /
yokogine (pounding stick)
Yokota (Yayoi site, Saga)
Yomi-no-kuni (the netherworld)
Yong-chu/Eisho (Chinese era)

Yoshigo ( Jomon shell-mound, Aichi)
Yoshinogari (Yayoi site, Saga)

Yoshitake-takagi (Yayoi site, Fukuoka)
yoshiyo/kusunoki (camphor tree)

Yosukeone ( Jomon site, Nagano)
GLOSSARY
yosumi tosshutsu-kata funkyubo (four corner

projections type grave mound)
yu (bark headband)
Yue (Chinese region and dynasty)
yumi-hen (bow radical)
Yun-gang (Chinese Buddhist caves)
zempo-koen-fun (keyhole-shaped tomb)
zen/tabunoki (camphor)
Zhang-zheng (Chinese ocial)
Zhao-di (Han emperor)
357
Zhao ling-gong (Korean ruler)

Zhao-tuo (Qin emperor)
Zhao-xian (district, north Korea)
Zhejiang/Chekiang (province, China)
Zhen-fan/Chinbon/Shinban (Korean
commandery)
Zheng/Chen/Chin (2nd king; Hanzei)
Zheng-shi/Seishi (Chinese era)
Zhong-ping/Chuhei (Chinese era)
Zhong-yuan/Chugen (Chinese era)
Zhou (Chinese dynasty)
zhu/hi (shuttle, loom)
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Index
abalone, 12
abstinence, 15, 114, 116, 118, 124, 129,
134, 135, 138, 152, 157158, 267,
323n62, 338n104
aconite, 81
Age of the Gods, 4, 25, 48, 115, 139
Aichi, 10, 27, 71, 72, 83, 96, 162, 163, 178,
212, 214, 247, 249
Ainu, 66, 67, 111, 112, 215, 216, 310n6,
311n25, 336n58
Aira-Tanzawa (AT), 61, 112
Akita, 99, 147
Akura (tomb), 172, 175
Altaic, 111, 319n223
Amamiyayama (tomb), 165
Amaterasu--mikami (Amateru), 2, 106,
152, 211, 232, 265267, 268, 337n84.
See also Sun Goddess
amatsu kami kunitsu kami, 159
amatsu yashiro kunitsu yashiro, 190
amber, 47
Ankan (emperor), 51, 102, 103, 188, 270,
334n6
Ank (emperor), 102, 187, 188, 244, 268,
334n6
Aomori, 70, 215
Ariake Bay, 26, 210
armor (cuirass, lamellae), 30, 50, 106, 107,
111, 166, 192, 243, 280, 318n212
arrows, 17, 89, 95, 115, 135, 202, 203, 209,
213, 215, 263, 269, 303n106;
arrowheads, 15, 30, 80, 81, 82, 87, 108,
173, 179, 243, 251, 280, 318n211;
bamboo, 15, 80, 81
Asama, Mt., 216
Aso, Mt. chain, 61, 210, 211, 233, 310n9
asphalt, 42, 47, 141
Asuka, 9, 102, 141, 158, 201, 231, 239, 270,
325n101
Atsuta (shrine), 78, 158, 219, 265
Awaji (island), 50, 152, 197, 205
azunai, 96, 316n164
bamboo, 15, 81, 218, 220, 270, 294n64
banbetsu, 98
barley, 69, 71
beads: glass, 91, 172, 174, 272; grave-goods,
85, 86, 98, 104, 107, 207, 242, 243;
magatama, 46, 91, 105, 108, 205,
330n45, 330n51; manufacture, 105, 106,
261, 264, 336n73; ; offerings, 258;
sacred, 116, 197, 206; tribute, 18,
302n102, 305n115
Bei-mi-hu, 25
bells, 81, 106, 114, 118, 124, 174, 237, 259,
274, 276, 318n205; casting, 83, 119, 121,
178179; decorated, 42, 43, 46, 50, 82,
128129, 144146, 156; distribution,
125, 319n16
Benkeigaana (tomb), 48
Bidatsu (emperor), 49, 101, 102, 188, 271,
280, 334n6, 337n97
Biwa (lake), 47, 201, 217, 230, 241
Bizen-kurumazuka (tomb), 110, 182, 183,
184, 237
Black Current (Kuroshio), 41, 69, 156,
292n53
boars: on bells, 144, 145; deities, 217, 269;
on Izu, 41; Jmon period, 63, 71; oracle
bones, 154, 155, 296n68; Yayoi hunts,
81, 82, 146; in Yayoi sites, 156
boats (ships), 3850, 52, 92, 113, 136, 144,
151, 157, 199, 206, 208, 210, 212, 215,
220; building, 49, 194; ceremonial, 44,
46, 302n103; Chinese, 3940; dugouts,
4142, 308n23; mythical, 116; replicas,
4445, 108, 251, 256
Bohai, 121
bows, 115, 203, 210, 215; grip, 17;
offerings, 202; woods, 81; Yayoi long 15,
80, 292n51, 303n106
bracelets: grave-goods, 30, 85, 91, 105, 106,
182, 207, 242, 243, 318n216; on haniwa,
129; Jmon, 92; shell, 85, 91, 108, 114;
types, 105, 108, 109
brocades, 17, 18, 90, 303n105, 305n115
bronze, 57, 76, 80; artifacts, 55, 57, 106,
234; bells, 42, 46, 50, 82, 114, 118,
119121, 125, 128129, 144145, 156,
237, 259, 276; crafts, 55; mirrors, 17, 30,
391
392
INDEX
32, 33, 78, 79, 160, 258, 266, 280, 281;

source, 178179; weapons, 78, 81, 83,
107, 108, 114, 118, 124, 125, 243, 251,
266, 274
Buddha, Buddhism, 107, 158159, 258,
262, 323n54, 337n94; exorcists, 127;
images, 142, 156, 179, 271; introduction
of, 130, 189, 271; prohibitions, 51, 94,
103, 146, 147
Buretsu (emperor), 102, 188, 244, 270,
286n25, 334n6
calendar, 157, 187189
camphor, 15, 42, 44, 92, 294n64
cannibalism, 147
cattle (cows, oxen), 15, 50, 51, 52, 71, 147,
196, 206, 217
Central Land of Reed Plains, 114, 115, 195
chariots, 50
Chausuyama (tomb), 4, 108, 109, 110, 167,
240, 242243, 252
Chen (mirror maker), 171177
Chen Shou, 1, 13, 234, 275, 276
Chiba, 100, 141, 155, 160, 163, 220, 280
chickens, 51
Ching-long (era), 171
Chi-wu (era), 172, 175
Chai (emperor), 4, 8, 46, 48, 101, 102,
133, 134135, 139, 187, 188, 218, 220,
221, 224, 226, 227, 241, 248, 334n6
chunam, 27
cinnabar, 15, 17, 80
cist graves, 65, 82, 93, 95, 9697
cloth (textiles, fabrics), 15, 116, 135; cotton,
15, 69, 90, 291n49; dyes, 90; flax, 15, 90;
hemp, 90, 91, 153; linen, 15, 69; offerings
146, 191; ramie, 69, 90; tribute, 17,
302n99, 303n105; wool, 17, 30, 301n98;
wrapping, 165, 171. See also brocades
coffins: sarcophagi, 48, 202; single, 15, 261,
276, 293n57; in tombs, 33, 105, 106,
107, 166, 172, 173, 174, 218, 242, 243,
250; transporting, 46, 50; Yayoi period,
9294, 97, 236
commanderies, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 36, 39,
40, 54, 57, 58, 63, 91, 309n2
cremation, 99, 215, 323n54, 326n15
crowns, 30, 107, 129, 326n15
cryptomeria, 15, 42, 81, 92, 294n64
cypress, 92, 247, 249, 294n64
daggers, 81, 86, 87, 198, 314n88, 318n211;

dagger-swords, 82, 83, 86, 107, 108
Daian-ji, 143
Daifang, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 27, 38, 53, 55,
56, 57, 235, 236, 279, 287n15, 302n104
dances, 127, 128, 129, 132, 138, 140
Dao, Daoism, 103, 131, 143, 156, 323n54
Dazaifu, 147, 233
deer, 63, 71, 81, 82, 121, 144, 145, 147,
154, 155, 156, 214, 216, 296n68
dendrochronology, 34, 247, 249
divination, diviners, 26, 39, 4849, 127,
140, 269, 274, 293n60; Bureau of
Divination, 157; for choice of deities,
117; for course of action, 135, 146, 202,
209; reasons for disease, 78, 158, 189;
rituals, 100, 129, 137, 138, 142,
148157, 208, 216, 228, 325n90; for
selection of individual, 190, 201, 258,
265, 337n97; tools, 15, 276, 296n68
dogs, 41, 51, 71, 112, 144, 145, 147, 202, 216
Doigahama (site), 64, 65, 68, 82, 94, 9697
dolmen graves, 9397
dragons, 14, 17
drums, 81, 127, 129
dwarfs, 16, 300n86
earrings, 92, 107, 113
earthquakes, 143
Edo, 67, 207, 222, 235, 262
Ehime, 155, 163, 219, 233
Emishi, 211, 212214, 215216, 219, 220,
223, 280
Engi-shiki, 122, 123, 124, 130, 148, 155,
264, 323n54, 337n97
Eta-funayama (tomb), 30, 126, 306n38
figurines, 140141, 142, 144, 259, 322n38
fish, 12, 14, 69, 80, 82, 96, 116, 136, 220,
265, 270; as decoration, 144, 260;
fishhooks 88
Five Kings of Wa, 234235, 328n4
Four Tutelary Deities, 170, 172, 176, 177
Fudoki, 50, 122, 123, 144, 224226
Fujinoki (tomb), 87, 101, 107, 219
Fujiwara (capital), 52, 95, 100, 101, 102,
141, 144, 147, 148, 201, 231, 254, 259
Fukui, 42, 163, 183, 197, 230
Fukuoka: gold seal, 23; graves and tombs,
48, 92, 9498; Han mirrors, 8687, 160,
INDEX
163; iron sites, 8889; rice in Jmon

sites, 70; sacred sites, shrines, and
offerings, 9, 42, 147, 175, 196; shamans,
130; silk sites, 90; Wei mirrors, 182183,
237; related to Yamatai, 25, 26, 38,
232233, 234, 235, 236; Yamato-takerus
travels, 211; Yayoi sites, 67, 7173,
7778, 80, 113, 274
Fukushima, 100, 134, 144, 163, 280
Fumi, 13, 14, 22, 30, 37, 38, 276, 279,
288n21, 289n32
funkybo, 140
Furu (site, type), 120, 237, 245, 247, 261,
268
Furuichi, 89, 102
galenas, 179
Gan-lu (era), 169
gaoliang, 80
Gemmy (empress), 2, 3, 15, 16, 101, 102,
103, 138
Gensh (empress), 138
geomancy, 40, 127, 143, 148150
Gifu, 25, 106, 115, 162, 163, 208, 212, 213,
216, 217, 272
ginger, 15, 294n64
glass, 91, 124, 172, 174, 274
gold, gilt, 17, 26, 30, 55, 92, 126, 148, 175,
177, 234, 305n9, 323n54
Goroyama (tomb), 48
gosu, 108
grave-goods, 276; horse-trappings, 51;
Kofun period, 30, 33, 105, 106109,
165166, 207, 222, 242244, 250251,
316n164; lacquer, 57; Wei mirrors, 170,
171173, 182184; Yayoi period, 82, 86,
9198, 104, 160
Guangzhou, 39, 40
Gumma, 70, 100, 106, 160, 162, 163, 172,
176, 182, 183, 194, 216, 220
gykaigan, 80
gykuj, 108
hafuri, 48, 96
haiden, 4
haji (pottery), 30, 147, 171, 173, 202, 203,
245, 246247, 250, 323n54
halberds, 81, 82, 85, 87, 88, 114
Han (Chinese dynasty): boats, 39; burial
customs, 95; commanderies, 10, 16, 29,
393
39, 40, 5357, 235236, 290n47;

connections with Japan, 12, 278;
Daoism, 132; expansion, 63, 274; foot
rules, 37; histories, 1, 1819, 26, 234;
mirrors, 27, 33, 80, 8586, 87, 156, 160,
165, 169, 170, 176, 179, 229, 236237,
243, 251, 311n28, 315n112; proscription
of grave-goods, 92; tomb arts, 50, 128
Han (Korean kingdoms), 1, 18, 38, 41, 55,
56, 279, 287n15
haniwa, 14, 33, 105, 125, 129, 207, 220,
251, 253, 289n41, 290n48, 326n15;
animals, 51, 71; boats, 41, 44, 45, 46;
cylinders, 245246, 276; houses, 7879,
190; origins, 146, 198199, 202203,
245, 304n112
Hanzei (emperor), 102, 187, 188, 334n6
Harima fudoki, 144
Harunotsuji (site), 62, 76
Hashihaka (tomb), 4, 166, 192193, 224,
230, 240, 242, 243, 246, 248, 249254,
281
Hata, 98
Hatsuse (area), 102, 268; Mt., 269; river,
241, 251, 254, 259, 270, 272; site, 259
Hattori (site), 77, 98
Hayamajiri (site), 62, 95
Hayato, 24, 280. See also Kumaso
Heian (capital, period), 24, 124, 140, 143,
155, 201, 235, 251
Heij, 50, 101, 102, 142, 143, 148, 231,
255, 259
Hibasu-hime (empress), 198, 202204, 207,
248
Hieda-no-are, 2, 6
Higashi-nara (site), 19
Higashi-tonozuka (tomb), 44, 46, 240, 242,
246
Himikoko, 17, 183
himorogi, 116, 197, 205, 267
Hirabaru (grave), 62, 98, 236237
Hiraide (site), 140
Hiratsuka-kawazoe (site), 71, 73
Hiromine (tomb), 172, 174, 176, 177
Hiroshima, 3, 89, 104, 122, 128, 163, 219,
246
Hirota (site), 64, 65
hitogata, 148
hkei-shkbo, 93, 9799, 259, 274
horses, 15, 50, 71, 108, 216, 217, 291n50,
394
INDEX
302n103; haniwa, 51, 203, 304n112;

horse-rider thesis, 235; keepers, 151;
riding, 51, 81, 106, 235, 253; sacrifice,
94, 147, 304n112; shrines, 146;
trappings, 30, 51, 107, 125, 179, 222
Hou Han shu, 1, 8, 18, 19, 20, 23, 26
houses (pit, raised-floor), 15, 74, 76, 78,
312n59, 313n65; haniwa, 7980;
Jmon period, 74, 76, 98, 141143;
Kofun period, 7880; parturition,
322n40; shamans, 77, 190; Yayoi
period, 73, 7478, 307n41, 312n59,
313n65, 313n69
Hubei, 169, 177
Hunan, 169, 177
Hygo, 74, 79, 93, 106, 119, 121, 145, 162,
163, 172, 175, 179, 182, 197, 199, 205,
207, 219, 225, 230, 245, 246, 247, 249
Ibaragi, 14, 25, 30, 106, 163, 173, 215, 216,
225, 280
Iimori (site), 78
Ikazuchi, 269
Ikegami (site), 200
Iki (island), 13, 36, 37, 38, 42, 62, 71, 96,
154, 155, 156, 277, 279, 288n19
Imbe, Imibe, 114, 116, 157, 266
imperial edict, 16
Imperial Household Agency, 31, 157, 222,
239, 242, 244, 251, 253
imperial regalia, xiii, 46, 78, 84, 98, 122,
203, 208
imperial tombs (misasagi, ry), 29, 30, 31,
34, 58, 89, 110, 166, 195, 206, 207, 218,
222223, 224, 227, 239, 241, 242, 249,
334n6; designations, 244; location,
101103
Imukai (site), 42, 43, 46
Inariyama-sakitama (tomb), 30, 126
Ingy (emperor), 102, 151, 187, 188, 334n6
Inland Sea: ceramics, 104, 114, 245247,
250, 251; fortifications, 126; geography,
38, 46, 69, 162, 208, 278; location of
Yamatai, 232234; piracy, 47, 230; route
of Jimmu, 3; route to Yamatai, 27, 236;
sites along, 65, 70, 74, 81, 83, 85, 93,
104, 119, 121, 144; tribal alliances, 118,
122, 183
iron, 40, 41, 51, 53, 54, 76, 105, 106, 122,
148, 172, 274, 281, 315n123, 316n135,
326n15; armor, 30, 111, 166, 276,

316n164; local manufacture, 8789;
swords, 82, 85, 107, 124, 126, 166,
167, 171, 173, 214, 222, 258, 268,
318n211; tools, 42, 57, 74, 80, 91, 174,
250, 276; weapons, 15, 108, 173, 174,
243, 276, 318n211
Ise (Isonomiya, Izakushi, Kasanui, Watarai),
27, 123, 133, 135, 218, 220, 254, 282,
337n84; Moto-ise, 201, 332n107;
priestesses (saig), 139, 151, 189, 211,
223, 265, 267, 331n83, 337n97; shrine
(jing), 148, 201, 214, 217, 219, 224,
262, 265, 266267
Ishikawa, 49, 108, 141, 160, 163, 216, 280
Isonokami (shrine), 102, 120, 204205,
240, 241, 268, 270, 272
Itazuke (site), 62, 72, 76, 92, 274, 292n53
Ito, 12, 13, 16, 22, 37, 38, 98, 235, 237, 273,
276, 277, 279, 288n21, 303n107
Itogi-yayako, 17
iwakura (iwaza), 4, 256258, 265, 336n56,
336n75
Iwate, 70, 97, 99, 141
Iyo (Toyo), 17, 23, 26, 35, 45, 138, 236,
244, 253, 304n114
Izanagi, 16, 84, 150, 151, 152, 157, 205,
266, 286n10
Izanami, 16, 84, 150, 158, 266, 286n10
Izu (islands), 41
Izumi-koganezuka (tomb), 172, 173174,
176
Izumo 3, 48, 91, 95, 152, 153, 180,
194195, 201202, 203, 212213, 220,
264, 268, 274, 280, 286n10, 315n126,
329n22, 337n85; bead production,
261262, 336n73; bells and spears,
118121, 125; burial systems, 103105,
114126; deities, 4, 84, 190, 191,
198199, 256, 263, 267; fudoki, 121,
123, 126, 225; shrine (taisha), 77, 78,
114, 117, 118, 121, 122, 205, 262,
293n54, 313n73
Izuruhara (site), 93, 99, 100
jade, 47, 92, 294n62, 205n115
jar burials, 65, 80, 81, 85, 86, 87, 91, 92, 93,
95, 97, 99100, 110, 111, 316n156
jasper, 15, 91, 96, 104, 105, 182, 243, 258,
262, 294n62
INDEX
jikifu, 254
Jimmu (emperor): advance to east, 3, 5, 48,
83, 114, 186, 209, 235, 241, 268; consorts,
117, 258; divining, dreams, and signs,
116, 151, 192; lineage, 23, 139, 140, 193;
place in Sun Line, 19, 314n97; events in
reign, 7, 27, 226, 263, 267; sacred sword,
205; sacrifices at tomb, 146
Jin, 169, 177
Jing-chu (era), 16, 172, 174, 177
Jingi-kan, 123, 124, 130, 156, 202, 266,
324n70
Jing (regent), 34, 35, 49, 52, 58, 89, 96,
102, 139, 188, 207, 209, 218, 224, 225,
226; attack on Korea, 45, 6, 45, 48,
230, 268; identified with Himiko, xii,
xiii, 9, 21, 22, 24, 187, 232, 273, 281,
301n89; shaman, 129, 130, 131, 132,
133137, 151, 321n24
jing-ji, 258
Jing-yuan (era), 169
Jinshin-no-ran, 131, 146, 151
Jit (empress), 3, 16, 89, 101, 102, 103,
129, 130, 131, 133, 137, 138, 142, 152,
156, 201, 202, 225, 244, 267, 324n70,
337n97
Jomei (emperor), 101, 102, 133, 334n6,
337n97
Jmon, 29, 30, 47, 51, 6768, 7071, 72,
77, 81, 83, 90, 9495, 127, 129, 130,
144, 150, 154, 260, 274, 276, 278, 280;
boats, 41, 42; ceramics, 4142, 110, 114,
128, 140141, 143, 259; dwellings, 74,
76, 98, 141143; periods, 285n3, 309n1;
physical characteristics, 6364, 6566,
9192, 96, 99, 100, 112, 209;
population, 5963, 80, 111113, 254
jo--koku, 25, 42
kabane, 5, 20, 99, 200
Kagawa, 117, 119, 139, 144, 145, 163, 219
Kagu, Mt., 154, 156, 191
Kaika (emperor), 189, 334n6
kajito, 48
Kammu (emperor), 101, 103
Kamo-iwakura (site), 114, 118121,
319n16, 319n17
kamuyogoto (kanyogoto), 114, 123
Kanagawa, 25, 64, 93, 106, 128, 147, 154,
155, 163, 182, 215
395
Kanba-kjindani (site), 83, 114, 118119,

121
Kanbara Jinsha (tomb), 124, 166, 173
kang-shraku, 51, 7173, 312n59, 313n69
kan-i, 99
Kanizawa (tomb), 172, 175, 176
kannushi, 135
Karako, Karako-kagi (site), 43, 71, 72, 76,
81, 91, 100, 120, 128, 154, 230231,
245, 293n56, 313n69
Karano, 49
Kashihara, 3, 14, 85, 102, 107, 120, 180,
202, 206, 231, 246, 253, 261, 268, 270
Kaya (Imna, Mimana), 42, 50, 58, 88, 128,
195, 196, 197, 270, 287n15, 329n22
Keik (emperor): conquests, 130, 151, 194,
226, 329n10; defeat of Kumaso, 24;
events of reign, 4, 102, 122, 123, 187,
188, 207220, 223, 225, 280; identified
with Yamato-takeru, 221; lineage, 27,
139, 189, 204, 267; palace, 241; tomb,
222223, 224, 242, 244, 249, 253, 334n6
Keitai (emperor), 5, 21, 78, 89, 101, 102,
131, 151, 188, 204, 225, 244, 267, 268,
270, 334n6
Kenz (emperor), 102, 188, 244, 270,
334n6
Kibi (region), 20, 118, 125, 126, 162, 212,
214, 216, 217, 218, 220, 236, 245, 246,
253, 274, 280; site, 260, 261
ki-d, 16, 129, 132, 300n82
Kii (peninsula), 49, 84, 87, 156
Kikai-Akahoya (K-Ah), 112
Kimmei (emperor), 26, 49, 50, 101, 102,
147, 188, 225, 239, 270, 271, 334n6,
337n97
Kinki (region): bell production, 83,
119121, 124, 126; burial customs, 97,
234; center of confederacy, 274; location
of Yamatai, 21; mirrors and their
dispersal, 27, 183, 281; mixed
population, 67; shrines, 265; effect of
volcano, 112
Kirishima Volcanic Belt, 61, 113, 233
Kitsunezuka (tomb), 166, 173
Kiyomihara (palace), 27, 102, 142, 158
Kobayashi thesis, ix, 165, 180185, 307n44,
328n48
kbetsu, 98, 99
Kobun (emperor), 102, 334n6
396
INDEX
Kchi, 30, 139, 156, 159, 163

Kfuku-ji, 143
Kofun (period): artifacts in Korean tombs,
88; beginning of, 3, 33, 59, 101, 190,
279; boats, 49; grave-goods, 90, 106111;
haji and sue pottery, 202, 272; haniwa,
14, 41, 44, 46, 51, 79, 134, 146, 203;
houses, 7880, 98; mirrors, mirror
mythology, 86, 180185; oracle bones,
155156; population, 6668; ritual
artifacts, 260; secondary burials, 143;
tombs, 34, 62, 104, 105111, 242,
244245, 247, 248254; weapons, 82,
8485, 87, 209
Kogoshi, 114, 266
Kogury, 1, 2, 14, 26, 49, 50, 55, 57, 58, 89,
121, 330n49
Kgyoku (empress), 19, 49, 51, 102, 103,
129, 130, 133, 137, 138, 142, 146,
334n6, 337n97. See also Saimei
Kojiki: compilation, 2; content, 25, 228;
genealogy in, 45, 99, 193, 203204;
studies of, 22, 25
Kokugaku, 22, 23, 24
Kokushi, 25, 35
Kona, 14, 17, 26, 138, 183, 235, 274, 280,
303n109
Koshi (region), 49, 121, 140, 191, 216, 227,
280, 329n22
koto, 108, 129, 133, 134, 135, 243, 272
Ktoku (emperor), 101, 102, 187, 225,
334n6
Kotoshironushi, 140, 146
Kzu (island), 41, 308n19
Kuai-ji, 14, 15, 18
Kumamoto, 25, 30, 47, 48, 62, 70, 76, 80,
89, 95, 126, 160, 163, 210, 232, 233
Kumaso, 4, 2324, 133134, 136, 208209,
210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 220, 221, 223,
225, 303n109, 330n62, 331n77
Kunitsu fumi, 6
Kurozuka (tomb), 33, 87, 107, 110,
164168, 179, 180, 183, 184185, 238,
240, 281
Kusanagi, 84, 158, 214, 217, 218, 223, 265
Kuyahan, 12, 13, 38, 279, 287n15
Kwal-leuk (Kanroku), 187
Kwanggaeto, 58
Kyoto (Imperial) University, 26, 29, 30, 31,
149, 229231, 306n38, 332n2
lacquer, 51, 54, 55, 57, 86, 91, 94

language, 111113
Lelang, 10, 18, 27, 5457, 91, 178
li/ri, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 3638, 276,
307n8, 307n9
Liang shu, 19, 288n23
Liaodong, 55, 56, 57
Liu Song, 1, 13, 187, 234
longevity, 15, 66, 297n72, 304n114, 305n120
Lotus sutra, 158
Luoyang, 10, 53, 55, 57, 179
magic, magicians, xiii, 85, 108, 116, 127,
205, 206, 212, 218, 223, 320n2, 325n90
Makimuku (area), ix, xiii, 80, 102, 104, 109,
117, 118, 120, 166, 196; ceramics,
245247; geography, 239241, 244245;
Mt. Miwa, 262273, 282; palaces, 196,
207, 212, 220, 239; ritual sites, 254262;
snake cult, 263265, 269, 282; tombs,
242, 248254
mamushi, 263, 264
maps, 40, 60, 277
Matsubara (site), 65
Matsura, 12, 13, 22, 38, 136, 277, 279
meat, 15, 51, 69, 71, 157, 193
Meiji, 24, 26, 27, 35, 70, 99, 258
Mesuriyama (tomb), 107, 240, 242244,
245, 246, 333n4
Michinoku, 215, 225, 280
Midorikawa (tomb), 47
Mie, 44, 79, 106, 109, 113, 163, 222
miko, 127, 138140, 224, 272
Mikumo (site), 62, 113, 160
millet (awa, hie), 70, 136, 291n49
mirrors: archaeological data, 160184, 311;
dated, 55, 134, 160161, 169177, 273,
327n26, 327n27; decoration on, 79,
156, 161, 162164, 168, 171175, 190;
donation to Himiko, xiii, 17, 3233,
110, 160161, 302n102; grave-goods,
30, 33, 53, 105, 110, 207, 235, 243, 251,
280; Ise, 78, 223, 265266, 332n107;
jingle-bell, 129, 222; manufacture,
techniques, and materials, 171, 177180,
326n13; offerings, 150, 258; Paekche
gift, 5; property of immigrants, 8586;
research material, 24, 2627, 31,
229230; sacred symbols, 197, 205, 206,
208, 213, 214216, 223; size, 84, 177;
INDEX
small, 160, 258, 326n2;TLV, 27, 165,

171, 172, 175, 176, 177; transmission
route, 328n49; triangular rim type,
161164, 165169, 177184, 207, 242;
white copper, 46; for worship, 106, 133,
136, 151; in Yayoi sites, 78, 80, 87, 90,
98, 234, 236
Mise-maruyama (tomb), 239
mitegura, 254
Mito, 30
Miwa, Mt. (Mimoro), 109, 117, 120, 153,
186, 197, 199, 224, 239, 240, 241, 242,
244, 254265, 268273, 282, 336n56,
336n75, 337n85, 338n114; Mimoro,
192, 194, 219, 263, 268, 272, 280
Miyagi, 97, 106, 141, 147, 155
Miyazaki, 41, 45, 66, 106, 149, 163, 174,
209, 210, 225, 232, 233
Miyazu (princess), 214, 217, 218, 223
mogari, 18, 9495, 101103, 111, 129,
144, 241
mokkan, 910, 27, 35, 140, 146, 147
Mommu (emperor), 51, 101, 142, 337n97
monkeys, 15, 51, 147, 296n67, 337n84
Mononobe, 148, 189, 200202, 204, 205,
209, 264, 267271, 337n85, 338n110
Morio (tomb), 172, 175
Munakata (shrine), 9, 25, 121, 122
muraji, 99, 135, 200, 201, 205, 216, 220,
322n25, 338n110
Murozuka (tomb), 44
Na (Nu), 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 23, 37, 38,
273, 276, 277, 279, 289n30, 305n9
Nagano, 30, 70, 89, 128, 140, 142, 155,
163, 216
Nagaoka, 143, 147
Nagasaki, 30, 62, 64, 65, 70, 80, 82, 89, 90,
93, 95, 163, 225, 232, 235
Nakatomi, 148, 157, 200, 209, 258, 266, 271
Naniwa (Osaka), 46, 102, 139, 149, 162,
196, 201, 205, 206, 212, 222, 337n97
Natome (Nashonmi), 16, 17, 132, 236, 278,
301n90, 302n104, 303n107
Nigore (tomb), 44
Nihon shoki (Age of the gods), 25, 48,
115117, 140; chronology, 150,
187189, 267; compilation, 2, 99;
content, 57, 186, 228; reliability, 24, 34,
244, 334; studies of, 22, 25
397
Niigata, 25, 42, 47, 49, 104, 121, 140, 155,

163, 216, 280
niiname-sai, 10, 27, 70
Nij, Mt., 52, 166, 192
Ninigi-no-mikoto, 78
Ninken (emperor), 102, 188, 244, 268, 270,
334n6
Nintoku (emperor), 50, 52, 89, 102, 147,
149, 187, 188, 189, 193, 225, 234, 244,
248, 249, 263, 331n87, 334n6
Nishigomen (site), 76, 89
Nomi-no-sukune, 198, 203, 230, 258
Nukatabe, 126
nuts, 70, 80, 112; acorns (oak), 15, 59,
294n64; chestnuts, 15, 59, 194; horse
chestnuts, 15, 59, 256, 294n64;
walnuts, 59
oak, 15, 61, 81, 112, 211, 294n64
obsidian, 47, 112
ita, 30, 62, 80, 88, 91, 95, 96, 100, 163,
182, 196, 208, 225, 232, 233, 236
jin (emperor), 5, 49, 50, 102, 135, 139,
187, 188, 189, 206, 225, 244, 248, 249,
268, 334n6
kami, 256, 262, 265, 266, 267, 269, 336n55
Okayama, 3, 5, 20, 43, 65, 70, 89, 93, 94,
104, 106, 110, 155, 162, 163, 182, 184,
199, 200, 212, 245, 246, 275, 278
Oki (islands), 42
kimi, 26
Okinawa, 48, 103, 144
Okinoshima, 9, 42, 62, 113, 175, 259, 261
kuninushi, 3, 4, 16, 18, 121, 140, 206,
264, 267, 272
kunitama, 117, 152, 153, 189190
omens, 49, 54, 127, 156, 204, 228
omi, 99, 135, 200, 322n25, 338n110
miwa, 136, 153, 190, 193, 240, 251,
256257, 336n75
mononushi, 116, 117, 139, 152, 153, 189,
191192, 258, 263, 336n58
namochi/namuchi, 84, 115117, 121,
122, 256, 264
Ongagawa, 47
oracle bones (scapulimancy), 15, 39, 100,
154156, 296n68
ta-minami (tomb), 171, 176
tataneko, 117, 152153, 189, 190, 224,
258, 263, 272
398
INDEX
tomo, 200201, 214, 216, 222, 268, 270,

271
yamato (tombs), 242, 246, 272
Yasumaro, 2, 6, 15, 179, 286n9
Paekche (Kudara), 1, 6, 14, 19, 26, 39, 41,
49, 50, 57, 58, 89, 92, 126, 268, 270271
Paekche hongi, 22
Palaeolithic, 29, 41, 310n10
Pan Ye (Fan Yeh), 1, 13, 234
paper, 54
parturition house, 141, 322n40
pearls, 15, 17, 294n62, 302n102, 330n51
phalli, 142, 337n84
pheasants, 15, 95, 115, 296n67
Philippines, 48, 233, 306n40
pigs, 100
placenta pots, 140, 143
Pleistocene, 61, 66, 244
population, 5968, 69, 80, 111113, 254,
309n4
Proto-Japanese (language), 111, 112
proto-Japanese (people), 64, 67
purification, 15, 80, 108, 114, 127, 135,
148, 152, 158, 159, 269, 293n59
Puyo, 1, 4
Pyongyang, 57
Qin, 18, 40, 54, 63, 88, 274
Qing-long (era), 169172
rain-making, 263, 324n70
regalia, xiii, 46, 78, 84, 98, 122, 203, 208
rice, 15, 5960, 74, 82, 87, 110, 144, 145,
198, 256, 258, 274; characteristics, 70,
291n49; introduction, 19, 29, 53,
6970, 111, 285n3; in Jmon sites, 70,
72, 154; paddies, 12, 42, 52, 75, 77,
116, 146, 242, 251, 266, 313n68,
315n123; reapers, 80, 260, 315n124;
sacred, 136, 151
Rich (emperor), 102, 187, 188, 189, 268,
269, 334n6, 338n110
ritual removal, 140143
Ryukyu (islands), 39, 48, 67
sacrifices, 132, 134, 136, 144, 146148, 220,
221, 224, 304n112; animal, 142, 147;
human, 129, 146147, 215, 216, 331n87
Sado (island), 42, 155
Saga, 25, 32, 62, 64, 65, 70, 76, 77, 80, 86,
87, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 100, 128, 147,
160, 163, 225, 233, 235, 236
Saimei (empress), 26, 46, 49, 101, 102, 129,
133, 137, 138, 187. See also Kgyoku
Saitama, 30, 126, 134, 163, 216
Saitobaru (tombs), 41, 45, 149, 174175,
209
sakaki, 46, 135, 150
sake, 15, 70, 91, 153, 210, 217, 264, 272,
297n70
Sakuragaoka (site), 82, 119, 121, 145,
298n74, 319n17
Sakurai, ix, 50, 87, 107, 108, 110, 153, 167,
184, 189, 201, 231, 239, 240, 242, 249,
252, 259, 261, 268, 270, 271
Sakurajima, 113
Samguk sagi, 24, 58, 306n15, 321n6
Samida-takarazuka (tomb), 78, 79, 110
saniwa, 213
Sanguo zhi, 1, 8, 234
Sannai-maruyama (site), 70, 322n43
Santonodai (site), 74, 75, 313n65
seal, 17, 18, 19, 23, 26, 51, 191, 234, 305n9
secondary burials, 90, 93, 94, 96, 99101,
103, 113, 129, 140, 143144, 317n192
Seimu (emperor), 4, 19, 102, 139, 187,
188, 189, 207, 218, 219, 224, 226227,
241, 334n6
Seinei (emperor), 102, 188, 244, 270, 334n6
Senka (emperor), 102, 188, 270, 271, 334n6
Seoul, 10, 38, 57
Shakad (site), 141
Shaku nihongi, 21
shamans, shamanism: in decoration, 82,
128, 144; duties, 100, 146; emperor as
shaman, 191; empresses as shamans, 103,
139, 265, 267; female, 4, 86, 105,
138140, 189, 193, 201, 208, 243, 281;
Himiko, 26, 130133, 137138, 321n6;
Jing, 133137; shaman-chieftain, 118;
shamans house, 77, 190, 322n46; status
of, 157; techniques, 108, 127130
Shandong, 10, 19, 39, 56, 70, 178
Shang, 39, 50, 154
Shang-fang, 170, 175, 237
Shao-xi, 13, 29
sheep, 15, 71
shell-mounds, 29, 42, 63, 64, 65, 68, 71,
9192, 95, 112, 143, 154
INDEX
shields, 15, 80, 81, 86, 89, 116, 190, 207,

274, 280, 292n51, 319n7
Shiga (island), 23, 62, 232
Shiga (prefecture), 74, 76, 77, 78, 80, 83, 98,
106, 163, 164, 217, 220, 226, 241, 247
Shimane, 30, 42, 83, 89, 91, 104, 114, 119,
123, 124, 154, 155, 163, 166, 172, 180,
219, 230, 261, 275
shimenawa, 256257
Shimonoseki, 42, 278
shinbetsu, 98
Shinji (lake), 105, 114, 118
shinp, 122, 194, 201202, 204205
shin-ry-, 147, 331n87
Shinsen shjiroku, 98, 209
Shinto, 23, 25, 108, 123, 127, 129, 130, 142,
157, 158, 159, 190, 202, 266, 317n193
Shiratori (tombs), 218, 222
Shizuoka, 42, 49, 74, 163, 182, 214
Shki-hon, 1, 12, 13, 29, 287n12
Shoku nihongi, 51, 101, 225, 286n9
Shmu (emperor), 143, 320n2
Shnai (type), 104, 245
Shs-in, 81, 171
Shtoku (empress), 138, 320n2
Shtoku (prince), 5, 20, 99, 325n101,
331n79
shura, 52
silk, sericulture: gifts, 329n22; mats, 215;
mulberry trees, 15, 69, 294n64;
production, 15, 55, 9091, 291n49;
production in China, 54; tribute, 17,
196, 302n104, 303n105; wrapping, 166,
176, 237
Silla (Shiragi), 1, 14, 19, 39, 41, 48, 49, 50,
57, 58, 89, 101, 121, 126, 134, 195, 196,
197, 203, 205, 268, 271, 287n15, 329n22
silver, 92, 126, 148, 178
Sima Qian, 54, 56
skeletons, human remains, 63, 6468, 82,
86, 90, 91, 96, 97, 100, 112, 113, 143,
165, 311n14, 311n25, 313n69, 322n46
slaves, 15, 16, 17, 18, 26, 35, 53, 58, 146,
147, 301n93, 303n105, 305n115
smallpox, 101
snakes, 23, 140, 144, 156, 198, 199, 206,
263265; deities, 153, 192193, 217,
224, 264; serpent/monsters, 84, 115,
118, 121, 122; worship, 241, 268269,
282, 336n75, 337n85
399
Soga, 6, 21, 99, 148, 151, 244, 270, 271,

338n110
spears: distribution, 124, 126; divine, 84,
197, 266; grave-goods, 174, 175; iron,
107; Kanba-kjindani site, 118; molds
for casting, 86; offerings, 136137, 190;
royal use, 194, 204; spearheads, 114, 274;
Wa military equipment, 15, 80, 292n51;
wooden, 213214
steatite, 105, 108, 243, 258, 261, 305n115
stockade, 16, 20, 300n84
storehouses (granaries, warehouses, miyake):
divine storehouse of heaven, 204; Kofun
period, 78, 202; Wa granaries, 298n75;
Yayoi period, 73, 76, 313n65, 313n69
Sue, 44, 45, 117, 125, 143, 153, 192, 197,
258, 272; Suemura, 45, 271
Sugu-okamoto site, 62, 160
Sui (dynasty), 20; Sui shu, 1, 18, 19, 27, 37
Suiko (empress), 5, 20, 101, 102, 103, 129,
137, 138, 142, 188, 225, 286n25,
302n103, 334n6, 337n97
Suinin (emperor): events of reign, 4, 83,
187189, 196207, 223, 258, 280282;
Ise connection, 267; Izumo connection,
117; lineage, xiii, 133, 196, 218; palace
site, xiii, 102, 239; title, 139; tomb, 224,
236, 239, 244, 249, 334n6
Sujin (emperor): events of reign, 34, 83,
106, 128, 152154, 184, 187196, 224,
272, 280282; founder of country, 3,
122, 139, 189, 193, 274, 328n1; in fudoki,
225; Ise connection, 267; lineage, 139,
189, 194, 220, 328n6; Miwa cult
connection, 117, 190, 194, 224, 263,
268, 273; palace site, 189, 239, 258;
tomb, 236, 242, 244, 249, 253, 334n6
Sukuna-hikona, 256, 336n58
Sumiyoshi shrine, 50, 205
sumo 31, 198
Sun Goddess: activities in Takamahara, 3,
115, 117, 140, 146, 150152, 154,
286n10; communication with, 49, 70,
133, 134, 152; lineage, 23; moved to Ise,
152, 189, 195, 201, 223, 256, 258, 262,
282; sacred mirror and sword, 78, 84,
86, 205, 214; worshipped at Ise, 4, 78,
139, 189, 201, 211, 267. See also
Amaterasu--mikami
Susano-o, 2, 16, 48, 84, 85, 92, 115, 121,
400
INDEX
122, 140, 146, 199, 214, 222, 256,

286n10
Sushun (emperor), 102, 103, 188, 239, 244,
334n6, 337n97
swords, 5, 17, 80, 81, 82, 98, 114116,
118119, 122124, 136, 137, 194, 197,
204, 205, 212, 269, 280; inscribed, 30,
126, 268; iron, 85, 87, 105, 106, 107,
111, 166, 171, 173, 222, 243, 250, 258,
318n211; Kusanagi, 158, 213, 214, 218,
223; large, 46, 8485, 202, 208; magical,
84, 159, 213, 214215, 217218; in
regalia, 46, 78, 158; wooden, 123, 212
tachibana, 4, 19, 205206, 295n66
taifu, 27
Taika Reform, 21, 90, 92, 94, 142, 146,
156; era, 187, 188, 227
Taiwan, 48, 68, 300n87
Tajima-mori, 197, 205206
Takachiho, 3, 16, 233
Takamahara, 2, 3, 16, 78, 95, 114116, 150,
211, 256, 266, 286n10, 322n40
Takamawari (tomb), 44
Takamimusubi, 115117, 256, 266
Takeshima (tomb), 172, 175
Takuta-nishibun (site), 65
Tanegashima, 85
Tateiwa (site), 62, 80, 85, 160
tattooing, 14, 19, 211, 289n41
taxes, 16, 57, 90, 158, 162, 193, 208, 221,
225, 227, 255, 298n75
teeth, 16, 66, 67, 68, 86, 100, 165, 312n32;
ablation, 6869, 100, 111, 113, 276,
312n36; black, 16, 300n87
Temmu (emperor), xiii, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 12,
51, 78, 89, 99, 101, 131, 133, 146, 147,
151, 152, 156, 157, 158159, 201, 202,
225, 244, 266, 267, 282, 299n79, 334n6,
337n97
Tenji (emperor), 6, 7, 21, 47, 101, 157, 187,
225, 241, 286n22, 334n6, 337n97
Tenjinmae (site), 99
Tenjinyama (tomb), 180
Tochigi, 14, 79, 93, 99, 163, 194
Tdaijiyama (tomb), 107
Tokoyo-no-kuni, 130, 205206, 256,
295n66
Tokugawa, 22, 262
Tokushima, 156, 163, 219, 232, 233

tokushu-kidai, 4, 245246, 254
Tokyo (Imperial) University, 25, 30, 35
Toma, 8, 13, 14, 21, 27, 31, 230, 235, 236,
276, 277, 278, 279, 289n33
Torihama (site), 42
torii, 258, 262263
Toro (site), 42, 7477, 306n31, 313n65
tortoise, turtle, 15, 121, 144, 145, 152, 154,
155, 156, 204, 276, 325n101
Toshi-gri, 16, 17
Tottori, 43, 44, 77, 91, 121, 123, 143, 163,
180, 199
Toyama, 49, 90, 104, 121, 147, 163, 216, 280
Tsubai-tsukayama (tomb), ix, 33, 110,
161, 164168, 174, 180185, 326n15
tsuchigumo, 136, 151, 209
Tsukumo (site), 65, 92
Tsukushi, 3, 19, 21, 121, 122, 125, 126,
135, 158, 195, 268, 275, 280
Tsushima, 12, 13, 36, 37, 38, 42, 45, 62, 96,
136, 139, 154, 155, 156, 235, 277, 279,
288n19
Uryd (site), 98, 219, 292n53
volcanoes, 61, 112113, 275, 310n10,
313n68, 319n230
Wad, 2, 15; Wad-kaichin, 143, 179,
323n54
Wakayama, 42, 83, 84, 156, 163, 208, 210,
265
Wang Mang, 27, 53, 56, 169
watchtower, 32, 72, 78, 236, 313n69
water mill, 54, 89
weaving: ceremony, 146; equipment, 8990,
256, 260261, 290n48; Sun Goddess as
weaver, 266; for taxes, 193
Wei dynasty, 1, 13, 16, 17, 19, 26, 27, 33,
36, 37, 53, 5556, 57, 92, 95, 138, 160,
165, 169, 171, 172, 175, 177178, 184,
229, 235, 236, 243
Wei zhi: content, 812; text versions,
1112, 339341; translation, 1218
wheat, 69, 71
wheelbarrow, 54
writing, 113
Wu (kingdom), 1, 166, 169, 172, 173, 175,
INDEX
177178
Wu (mirror maker), 170171, 172
Xian, 27, 57
Xie-ma-i, 8, 24, 25; Xie-ma-tai, 24, 25
Xin Tang shu, 1, 13, 19, 20
Xiongnu, 53, 54
Xu-fu, 18
Yakushi-ji, 143, 325n101
Yalu, 1, 14, 56, 57
Yamagata, 163
Yamaguchi, 25, 27, 46, 64, 65, 82, 94, 96,
130, 135, 162, 163, 165, 172, 182, 183,
208, 241, 247
Yamaichi, 8, 14, 24, 234, 235, 275, 289n34,
304n114
Yamanashi, 25, 106, 141, 163, 166, 172, 216
Yamashiro, 106, 191, 192, 204, 218, 270
Yamato-hime (princess), 4, 18, 27, 198,
201, 212, 213, 214, 219, 223224
Yamato-takeru: activities, 4, 122123,
211223, 263, 264, 280; death, 218; in
fudoki, 225226; legend, 151, 220222,
331n79; lineage, 139, 146, 207, 218,
227; name, 332n101; swords, 84, 87;
tombs, 218, 222223, 250
Yamato-totohi-momoso-hime (princess),
133, 152, 153, 184, 189, 191, 192193,
199, 224, 230, 264, 265, 281
Yan (mirror maker), 170, 171, 172, 175,
176, 177
Yanagimoto (tombs), 242, 253, 261
Yaseigo, 45
Yayoi period: bells, 119121, 128129,
144146, 259; boats, 4244, 46; burial
401
customs, 33, 91101, 103105, 143;

ceramics, 245246, 247; clay figurines,
144; defended villages, 51, 7174;
definition of period, 29, 70, 285n3;
hostilities, 72, 8085; houses, 7478,
190; incised creatures, 199200; models
of birds, 219; oracle bones, 154156;
population and immigration, 6066,
67, 279; production centers, 8081,
8789, 9091; rice introduction,
6970; ritual artifacts, 259261; shell
bracelets, 85, 108, 114; sites with
mirrors, 80, 87, 88, 160, 229, 237; social
strata, 8587; tattooing, 14; tooth
ablation, 6869; weapons, 8083, 114,
118, 125, 126, 274
yin-yang, 156, 157, 160, 172
Ymei (emperor), 101, 102, 148, 188, 271,
334n6, 337n97
Yomi-no-kuni, 158
Yoshigo (site), 91, 96
Yoshinogari (site), 10, 32, 34, 62, 76, 77, 81,
82, 8687, 91, 93, 94, 160, 236, 298n74,
307n41, 313n69
Yoshitake-takagi (site), 77, 78, 90
Yue, 39, 40, 55
Yryaku (emperor), 6, 22, 30, 102, 126,
187, 188, 190, 199, 225, 234, 263, 265,
267, 268269, 272, 334n6
Zhang (mirror maker), 170171, 180
Zheng-shi (era), 17, 169, 172
Zhong-ping (era), 107
Zhou (dynasty), 88, 213
Zhou (mirror maker), 174
About the Author

J. Edward Kidder, Jr. (Lit.D., LHD), is professor emeritus at International
Christian University in Tokyo. During his thirty-six-year tenure there, he
served at different times as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and vice president of Academic Affairs. He was director of the Hachiro Yuasa Memorial
Museum and the ICU Archaeology Research Center. From 1975 until his
retirement in 1993, he directed fifteen excavations for the Tokyo government in western and downtown Tokyo. Professor Kidder is the author of
more than a dozen books and numerous articles on prehistoric and early
Japan and the recipient from the Japanese emperor of the Order of the
Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.

KIDDER, J. E., Himiko and Japans Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai. Archaeology, History, and Mythology, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulú, 2007

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5_Kidder_JACKET_qp6

J. EDWARD KIDDER, JR., is emeritus professor of

Using a balanced combination of archaeology and historical texts, Professor

Janette Thompson, Jansom

University of Hawaii Press

Himiko and Japans Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai

(Continued from front flap)

Himiko and Japans

The third-century Chinese chronicle Wei zhi (Record

Himiko and Japans

Himiko and Japans

J. EDWARD KIDDER, JR.

University of Hawaii Press

2007 University of Hawaii Press

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ancient Texts and Sources, 1

The Wei Zhi and the Wa People, 8

The Initial Problem and Three Centuries of Compounding It, 21

Travel by Land and Water to Neighboring Countries, 36

Han Commanderies, Korean Kingdoms, and Wei China, 53

Japan in Transition from Yayoi to Kofun, 59

The Izumo-Yamato Contention, 114

Himiko, Shamans, Divination, and Other Magic, 127

Mirrors and Himikos Allotment, 160

The Japanese View of the Wei Zhi Years, 186

The Endless Search for Yamatai, 229

Makimuku and the Location of Yamatai, 239

List of Abbreviations, 283

Illustrations and Tables

Wei zhi text 11

ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES

Four dated mirrors 176

Wei zhi distances 38

Ancient Texts and Sources

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI

The Relevant Japanese Texts

ANCIENT TEXTS AND SOURCES

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI

ANCIENT TEXTS AND SOURCES

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI

ANCIENT TEXTS AND SOURCES

The Wei Zhi and the Wa People

THE WEI ZHI AND THE WA PEOPLE

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI

Translation of the Wei Zhi (Shoki-hon)

Fig. 2.2 Schematic plan of

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI

Going southeast29 a hundred li is the Na chiefdom.30 The official is shimako, the

THE WEI ZHI AND THE WA PEOPLE

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI

THE WEI ZHI AND THE WA PEOPLE

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI

Hou Han Shu, Sui Shu, and Later Addenda

THE WEI ZHI AND THE WA PEOPLE

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI

The Initial Problem and Three

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI

Himiko, a Southern Chieftain

THE INITIAL PROBLEM AND THREE CENTURIES OF COMPOUNDING IT

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI

THE INITIAL PROBLEM AND THREE CENTURIES OF COMPOUNDING IT

HIMIKO AND JAPANS ELUSIVE CHIEFDOM OF YAMATAI