The was a rebellion against the Yamato court that took place in

Tsukushi Province was an Old provinces of Japan, ancient province of Japan, in the area of Chikuzen Province, Chikuzen and Chikugo Province, Chikugo provinces. This province was located within Fukuoka Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(now nearby Ogōri city in

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders S ...

) in 527 AD. The rebellion was named after its leader, Iwai, who is believed by historians to have been a powerful governor of Tsukushi. The rebellion was quelled by the Yamato court, and played an important part in the consolidation of early Japan. The main record of the rebellion can be found in the '' Nihon Shoki'', although it is also mentioned in ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and other historical sources.

Background

The Yamato Kingdom was formed in the central areas of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

in the late 3rd or early 4th century, and by 350 this state had extended its rule to the western part of Honshu and the northern part of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

. In 366, Yamato invaded the

Korean peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, which at the time was divided into

three kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most ...

, Paekje, and

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...

. In this campaign the kingdom of Yamato subdued the kingdom of Pаekje, and forced it to pay an annual tribute. The Japanese also managed to establish a military colony on the southern coast (near present-day

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

) in the

Mimana Mimana (), also transliterated as Imna according to the Korean pronunciation, is the name used primarily in the 8th-century Japanese text '' Nihon Shoki'', likely referring to one of the Korean states of the time of the Gaya confederacy (c. 1st– ...

( Gaya in Japanese) area. On several occasions (391 and 404), Japanese troops as allies of the Paekje kingdom invaded Korea and fought against the Silla and Goguryeo kingdoms.

Rebellion

At the beginning of the 6th century, the rising Silla kingdom began to threaten Japanese possessions in Korea. In 512, four districts of the Japanese colony of Mimana surrendered to the Koreans, and the remaining Japanese possessions came under siege. At the same time, the kingdom of Paekje, a Japanese vassal, was attacked from two sides by the kingdoms of Silla and Goguryeo, and sent 513 Confucian scholars to Yamato with a request for help - they brought with them the first books, and thus literacy came to Japan. Before Yamato could send aid to Mimana and Paekje, Iwai, the governor of the Tsukushi region (semi-autonomous

Kumaso The were a mythical people of ancient Japan mentioned in the '' Kojiki'', believed to have lived in the south of Kyūshū until at least the Nara period. The last leader of the Kumaso, Torishi-Kaya was killed by Yamato Takeru in 397. The name o ...

region in northern

), made a treacherous alliance with the Silla kingdom, thus blocking the Yamato kingdom's attempts to send aid to Korea. This was the first recorded rebellion against the ruling

Yamato dynasty The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

Mononobe no Arakabi was a government minister during the Kofun period of ancient Japanese history. Life In 512, the king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje (called ''Kudara'' by the Japanese) requested to take control of four districts of the land of the Gaya confed ...

, the leader of a warrior clan, was sent to quell the rebellion. In 528, Iwai was overthrown and executed, and the previous autonomy of his area ended with the establishment of Daizafu Fortress, a government military stronghold on the island of Kyushu.

Consequences

Power in northern Kyushu passed into the hands of the Otomo clan, but Japanese possessions in southern Korea were lost - Mimana fell to the Silla kingdom in 562.

References

The Cambridge History of Japan: Ancient Japan
(Google Books)

External links

Nihon Shoki
Online English Translation
Scroll 17 - Emperor Keitai
{{Authority control 6th-century rebellions Kofun period Rebellions in Japan 520s conflicts 6th century in Japan 527