Yamatai Honshu Theory
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The Yamatai Honshu Theory is the theory that the Yamatai kingdom was located in Honshu, specifically Kinai, where the capital was located in the
Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...
rather than in
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 ...
as the
Yamatai Kyushu Theory The Yamatai Kyushu Theory is the theory that the Yamatai kingdom was located in Kyushu rather than in Honshu as the Yamatai Honshu Theory proposes. The theory proposes that the original capital of Japan was located in Kyushu, and when the Kofun p ...
proposes. According to this theory, the Yamatai was essentially continuous with the Yamato Kingship, with its capital in roughly the same region, and the Yamatai transformed into the Yamato Kingship when the Kofun period began


Overview

Arai Shiraishi, in his "Koshitong or Inquires," proposed the theory of Yamato Province. Later, however, in "Gaikoku no Jijo Chosho" (Foreign Affairs Chronicle), he proposed the theory of Yamato-gun in Chikugo Province. Since then, from the Edo period to the present, the mainstream of the academic world has been largely divided between the "'" (Naito Konan et al.) and the " Kyushu Theory" (Shiratori Kokichi et al.). The Kyushu theory, however, is divided into two distinct theories: one that says the Yamataikoku "moved" (the "eastward shift" theory) and one that says it "did not move at all. The "eastward shift" theory holds that the Yamataikoku moved to the Kinai region and became the
Yamato Kingdom The is the period of Japanese history when the Imperial court ruled from modern-day Nara Prefecture, then known as Yamato Province. While conventionally assigned to the period 250–710, including both the Kofun period (–538) and the Asuka ...
. proposes the and states that of is different from the of ( and and the female kingdom in Tsukushi is in Kinai through the "". It is assumed that the new royal capital, which was the capital of Japan, is Yamatai(Masao Kume, "New Yamataikoku Theory: The Queen's Onimichi and the War of Conquest," Rekishi ni okeru Seiji to Minzoku (Politics and the People in History), 1986; "The Seal of the Emperor of Japan Wei and Its Historical Background," Studies in the History of Japanese Seals, Yusankaku, 2004). In the 1960s, it was thought that artifacts from the period of the Yamataikoku were abundant in Kyushu while those from the Kinai region were scarce in the Kinai region. The National Institute for Radiocarbon Dating and Dendrochronology has presented a chronology based on
radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...
and
dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...
that compares the tombs of Himiko and the Yamato imperial court to those of Yamatai and Himiko, and that the establishment of the Yamato Imperial Court dates back to that time. Some have suggested that
radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...
of pottery from the Kinai region by the National Institute of Japanese Archaeology and Dating suggests that the establishment of the early state in the Yamato region of the Kinai region dates back to the same period as the Yamataikoku.。. According to this Kinai theory, there was at least one power in 3rd century Japan that was able to secure transportation routes from Yamato to the continent, and it can be said that a power with great influence over the entire western Japan centering on Yamato, namely the "
Yamato Kingdom The is the period of Japanese history when the Imperial court ruled from modern-day Nara Prefecture, then known as Yamato Province. While conventionally assigned to the period 250–710, including both the Kofun period (–538) and the Asuka ...
," was already established at this time.


Makimuku ruins

The
Makimuku ruins The Makimuku ruins are ruins in Nara Prefecture Sakurai near Mount Miwa of the Yayoi Period. It is designated as a national historic site . It is an archaeological site that began in the 3rd century , and some researchers consider the area ...
site is considered by some researchers to be the best candidate for the center of the Yamatai, and may be the site that proves the . In 2011, a part of another large building was found about 5 meters to the east of the large building ruins, and the building ruins may have been built in the late 3rd century or later.。


Hashihaka Kofun

The is a megalithic tomb (''
kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』 ...
'') located in Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture,
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 ...
. The Hashihaka ''kofun'' is considered to be the first large keyhole-shaped ''kofun'' constructed in Japan and is associated with the emergence of the Yamato Kingship. It is sometimes considered the birthplace of the
Kofun system The is a social order seen in the construction of stylized Kofuns that appeared in the early Kofun period of Japan. It is believed to represent a new level of social complexity and the advent of the Yamato Kingship Overview The concept wa ...
of tombs which is highly linked to the emergence of a state level society.都出比呂志 (1991). "日本古代国家形成論序説-前方後円墳体制論の提唱-". 日本史研究. Vol. 343.


See also

* Yamatai * Wajinden *
Makimuku ruins The Makimuku ruins are ruins in Nara Prefecture Sakurai near Mount Miwa of the Yayoi Period. It is designated as a national historic site . It is an archaeological site that began in the 3rd century , and some researchers consider the area ...
* Hashihaka Kofun *
Yamatai Kyushu Theory The Yamatai Kyushu Theory is the theory that the Yamatai kingdom was located in Kyushu rather than in Honshu as the Yamatai Honshu Theory proposes. The theory proposes that the original capital of Japan was located in Kyushu, and when the Kofun p ...


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References

{{Yamatai footer Hypotheses Yamatai