The , also known as , was an immigrant clan active in Japan since 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 ...

(250–538), according to the

history of Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inven ...

laid out in the '' Nihon Shoki''. The name ''fuhito'' comes from their occupation as scribes. They were descended from

Prince Junda was the second son of King Muryeong of Baekje who settled in Japan. His father was born on the island of Kyushu in Japan and because of this was called Semakishi (嶋君) and King Shima (斯麻王). Prince Junda was most likely also born in J ...

(''Junda Taishi'') who died in 513 in Japan. He was a son of the 25th king of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...

, Mureyong. His brother

Seong Seong, also spelled Song or Sung, is an uncommon Korean family name, a single-syllable Korean given name, as well as a common element in two-syllable Korean given names. The meaning differs based on the hanja used to write it. Family name The fa ...

became the 26th king of Baekje and his nephew

Prince Imseong , was the third son of King Seong of Baekje who died in battle with Silla forces in 554. Because of the discrepancies in dates it is thought he was actually third son of Wideok of Baekje. Another way to read or write his name is Rimseong. Japan ...

also settled in Japan. With the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

coming, an event hosted by

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 ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, Emperor

Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. Bo ...

told reporters "''I, on my part, feel a certain kinship with Korea, given the fact that it is recorded in the Chronicles of Japan that the mother of

Emperor Kammu , or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kanmu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the scop ...

iigasawas of the line of King Muryong of Baekje.''" According to the ''

Shoku Nihongi The is an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the ''Six National Histories'', coming directly after the '' Nihon Shoki'' and followed by ''Nihon Kōki''. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi ...

'', Niigasa was a descendant of Prince Junda, son of Muryeong.''Nihon Shoki'' Chapter 17 It was the first time that a reigning Japanese emperor himself mentioned Korean blood in the imperial line, although it was nothing unknown at the time. During the

Japanese Empire The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

, the Imperial family and its Korean ancestry was often used under the pretext of assimilating Koreans. This was done in order to encourage Korean subjects of the Japanese Empire to embrace Japanization and the Japanese Emperor's

divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

Family tree

(462–523) – called Semakishi (嶋君)/King Shima (斯麻王) because he was born on the island 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 ...

"''Junda-taishi''" (c. 480–513) – son of King Mureyong who settled in Japan (c.510–?) (c. 540–?) (c. 570–?) (c. 600–?) (c. 630–?) (c. 660–?) (c. 690–?) (c. 720–90) – daughter of Ototsugu, concubine of

Emperor Kōnin was the 49th emperor of Japan, Emperor Kōnin, Tahara no Higashi Imperial Mausoleum, Imperial Household Agency according to the traditional order of succession. Kōnin's reign lasted from 770 to 781. Traditional narrative The personal name of ...

, mother of

Emperor Kanmu , or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kanmu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the sco ...

References

{{reflist Japanese clans Japanese people of Korean descent

Family tree

See also

References