![Yamato Kingship in East Asia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Yamato_Kingship_in_East_Asia.svg)
The was a tribal alliance centered on the
Yamato region (
Nara Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...
) from the 4th century to the 7th century, and ruled over the alliance of
noble families
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...
in the central and western parts of the
Japanese archipelago
The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a archipelago, group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to t ...
.
The age is from the 4th to the 7th century, later than the
Yamatai Kingdom. After the
Taika Reform
The were a set of doctrines established by Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇 ''Kōtoku tennō'') in the year 645. They were written shortly after the death of Prince Shōtoku and the defeat of the Soga clan (蘇我氏 ''Soga no uji''), uniting Japan ...
, the
ōkimi as an emperor, at that time, was in power, and the
Yamato period
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 ...
ended. The time period is archaeologically known as 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 ...
. Regarding its establishment, due to the relationship between
Yamatai
Yamatai or Yamatai-koku is the Sino-Japanese name of an ancient country in Wa (Japan) during the late Yayoi period The Chinese text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' first recorded the name as () or (; using reconstructed Middle Chinese p ...
and Yamato's succession to the king's power, there are very different views on it.
The Yamato Kingship refers to the regime that emerged in the
Nara region (
Yamato region) since the
4th century
The 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini/Common era) was the time period which lasted from 301 (Roman numerals, CCCI) through 400 (Roman numerals, CD). In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Grea ...
. But the term does not imply the origin of
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 ...
, which is disputed in
Japanese history
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 invent ...
. At the same time as the rise of the , there were probably several or even dozens of power centers in the Japanese archipelago. This is an issue that Japanese academia attaches great importance to.
In the course of the development of the tribes from the state of separation to the direction of union between the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the Japanese royal power had become the center of the tribes. In order to establish its position as a united ally, the Japanese royal power attached importance to foreign relations, paid tribute to the
Eastern Jin Dynasty
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
* Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
* Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air ...
and the
Southern Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
, and made every effort to maintain close relations with the countries on 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 ...
(
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 ...
and
Gaya), monopolizing various technologies imported by foreigners. In the second half of the 5th century, it was able to overwhelm the gentry in the capital and the local clans.
Name
Until the early 1970s, the "" was widely used as a time period from the 4th to the 6th century, and the name "" was used unambiguously as the political power that ruled the main part of the Japanese archipelago during that period.
However, since the 1970s, with the discovery of significant
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』 ...
s and
excavations, the use of physical and chemical dating 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 ...
As the accuracy of these methods improved, research on the chronology of kofun tombs progressed remarkably, and the view that it was not necessarily appropriate to use the words "Yamato" and "imperial court" to describe the period emerged, and this view became influential in historical societies in Japan, and thus the term "Yamato period" was replaced by "
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 ...
" instead of "Yamato period" has become a common name in Japanese historical research and higher education in Japan. However, dendrochronology and
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 ...
have not yet reached a stage where they can actually be called established techniques, and many researchers have pointed out shortcomings and problems with their accuracy and measurement methods of the Kofun period.
。
In this article, these "" and "" will be explained. In the first half of the Kofun period, terms such as "," "," and "" have also been used in recent years (for details, see the section "About Names"). After the Kofun period, from the Asuka period onward, the Japanese centralized organization led by a great king/emperor is commonly described as the "" both in historical research and in most of the world.
However, is also used by some researchers
。This reflects the fact that various views on the use of the terms "" and "" exist side by side in the academic community.
As of 2020, " " and "" are also used in the media, but "" is also used and is not unified。
About "Yamato"
In the
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
Nihon Shoki, completed in the first half of the
eighth century
The 8th century is the period from 701 ( DCCI) through 800 ( DCCC) in accordance with the Julian Calendar. The coast of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula quickly came under Islamic Arab domination. The westward expansion of the Umayyad E ...
, as well as in other documents, metal and stone writings, and wooden tablets from the seventh century and earlier, the characters is not used for "Yamato", but is written. In the third century, the description about ''Yamataikoku'' is appeared in the
Wajinden
The ''Wajinden'' refers to the passages in the 30th volume of the Chinese history chronicle ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' that talk about the Wa people who would later be known as the Japanese people. It describes the mores, geography, and ...
, in the ''
Book of Wei
The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to 5 ...
''. With the enactment of the Taiho Ritsuryō (
Taihō Code
The was an administrative reorganisation enacted in 703 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito. Nussbaum, Louis-Fr ...
) in 701, a name of country (as well as a name of county and village) was to be written in two characters, and accordingly, the expression of the country was changed to (the reading is the same ''Yamato''). After the some change in 737 by
Fujiwara no Nakamaro
, also known as , Brown, Delmer M. (1979). ''Gukanshō,'' p. 274 was a Japanese aristocrat (''kuge''), courtier, and statesman. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Fujiwara no Nakamaro"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 207. He was Chancellor (''Daij ...
and other reasons, the expression of the country was changed to (Yamato) in around late 757. Since the expression was used widely from the enactment of the
Yōrō Code
The was one iteration of several codes or governing rules compiled in early Nara period in Classical Japan. It was compiled in 718, the second year of the Yōrō regnal era by Fujiwara no Fuhito et al., but not promulgated until 757 under ...
, there is an opinion that it is not appropriate to use this ''kanji'' name () for the political center or power before the seventh century.。However, there are the researchers, such as Makoto Takemitsu, who use this name from the late third century.
The word "Yamato" also means.
# Yamato is also a kun-yomi reading of the national name "
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 ...
" (i.e., the entire nation of Japan in ancient times).
# Yamato as a province of Japan (above)
#
Yamato
was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan.
Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan.
Japanese his ...
in the southeastern
Nara Basin
The Nara Basin (奈良盆地 ''Nara-bonchi''), also known as the Yamato Basin (大和盆地 ''Yamato-bonchi''), is a valley in the north-western part of Nara Prefecture, Japan. It has an area of roughly . It is surrounded on four sides by mounta ...
at the foot of
Mount Miwa
or is a mountain located in the city of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It has been an important religious and historical mountain in Japan, especially during its early history, and serves as a holy site in Shinto. The entire mountain is co ...
(i.e., the
Isojigun, Juichi-gun, and Yamato-kuzo in the Yamato Province)
It has three different meanings、Yamato, the narrowest of the three, is the area where the emergence-period burial mounds are concentrated, and it is thought to be the place where the center of the royal administration existed. Rather than "Yamato," which is immediately associated with the imperial Yamato State (2), "Yamato" which clearly implies 3 is more appropriate.
Shiraishi further points out that from the Nara and Kyoto basins to the
Osaka Plain
The refers to a 1,600 km² area of flat land, the largest plain in the Kinki region, including a large part of Osaka Prefecture and a southeastern portion of Hyōgo Prefecture. It is bordered on the north by the Hokusetsu Mount Range, on ...
, the
Yodo River
The , also called the Seta River (瀬田川 ''Seta-gawa'') and the Uji River (宇治川 ''Uji-gawa'') at portions of its route, is the principal river in Osaka Prefecture on Honshu, Japan. The source of the river is Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefectur ...
system in the north and the
Yamato River
The is a river which flows through Nara Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is designated Class A by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).
The river flows via towns:
*Nara Prefecture
** Yamatokōriyama
*Os ...
system in the south have very different types of ancient tombs. Yamato" is rather the area of the Yamato River system, i.e., the combination of the later Yamato and
Kawachi (including
Izumi).。In other words, according to Shiraishi, the katakana notation "Yamato" is used because it can comprehensively handle the meaning of the Yamato River system (Yamato and Kawachi) in addition to 1. to 3.
On the other hand, Kazuhiko Seki states that "Yamato" was used from the
8th century
The 8th century is the period from 701 ( DCCI) through 800 ( DCCC) in accordance with the Julian Calendar. The coast of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula quickly came under Islamic Arab domination. The westward expansion of the Umayyad Empi ...
, and before that, it was written as "Yamato" or "Daiwa", so that although "Yamato" or "Daiwa" is appropriate to describe the regime in the 4th and 5th century, "Yamato" is appropriate to prevent confusion between the two.
。
On the other hand, there are researchers who use the "Yamato" notation, such as Takemitsu mentioned above.
。
According to Takemitsu, the ancients called the area at the foot of Mt. Miwa "Yamato," a name that distinguished it from other areas in the Nara Basin such as "
Asuka
Asuka may refer to:
People
* Asuka (name), a list of people
* Asuka (wrestler), professional wrestler
* Asuka (wrestler, born 1998), professional wrestler also known as Veny outside of Japan
Places In Japan
* , an area in Yamato Province (now ...
" and "Ikaruga," and the current terminology of calling the entire Nara Prefecture "Yamato" did not appear until the 7th century. Takemitsu, who considers
Garthrace to be the birthplace of the "Yamato Court," calls the whole area "Yamato," the ancient city.
。
On the "Royal Court"
The term "
Royal court
A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...
" has its original meaning as a governmental office where the
Son of Heaven
Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchical title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty, the secula ...
conducted political affairs such as dynastic government and
Ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
, collectively known as dynastic rites.
Bureaucracy
The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
with a
Centralised
Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particu ...
Government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
and
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
as a sovereign title, and that it is inappropriate to use the term "Imperial Court" in a situation where the various governmental systems are not in place. For example, Kazuhiko Seki defines "imperial court" as "the political seat of the emperor" and argues that it is inappropriate to refer to the
4th century
The 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini/Common era) was the time period which lasted from 301 (Roman numerals, CCCI) through 400 (Roman numerals, CD). In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Grea ...
and
5th century
The 5th century is the time period from 401 ( CDI) through 500 ( D) ''Anno Domini'' (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia.
It saw the ...
regimes as the "Yamato Imperial Court"
and Kito Kiyoaki also argued in a book for the general public that multiple dynasties could have existed in the Kinki region at the time of the
Iwai Rebellion
The was a rebellion against the Yamato court that took place in Tsukushi Province, Japan (now nearby Ogōri city in Fukuoka Prefecture) in 527 AD. The rebellion was named after its leader, Iwai, who is believed by historians to have been a power ...
, and that before the
Emperor Keitai
(died 10 March 531) was the 26th legendary emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 継体天皇 (26)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but h ...
The term "Yamato Court" should be used only from the 6th century after Emperor Tsugitai, as "there may be cases where the Yamato Court is unrelated to the
Emperor Keitai
(died 10 March 531) was the 26th legendary emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 継体天皇 (26)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but h ...
.
"State" "Government" "Kingship" "Royal Court"
Kazuhiko Seki also said that "kingship" is "the political power of the king" as opposed to "the court" which is the "political place of the emperor". , "Government" is defined as "ultra-historical political power", and "state" is defined as "the entire power structure that embraces them".
As for the inclusion of words, the scheme of imperial court < kingship < government < nation is presented, but in some cases, "royal court" is used to mean "nation".... Point out that there is also confusion.
About the term "Yamato kingship"
The ancient historian Yukihisa Yamao explains that "Yamato kingship" "refers to the power structure of kings established in the central Kinki region in the 4th and 5th centuries, and is seen in the emperor genealogies of
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
Nihon Shoki as corresponding roughly from
Sojin to
Yūryaku".
In another book, Yamao also defines "kingship" as "an organism of power in which a community of privileged groups assembled as the king's vassals" is "the center of a hierarchical unity" of "a race of subordinates to the king, with the king as their apex authority", which "emerged clearly 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 ...
.
On the other hand, Taiichiro Shiraishi refers to the "coalition of political forces from all over the
Japanese archipelago
The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a archipelago, group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to t ...
except for the north and south" and the "wide-area political coalition" as the "Yamato government", and states that it is "the leader of the coalition of chiefs of the
Kinai
is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. ''Kinai'' is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kinai''" in . The five provinces were called ''go-kinai ...
and the coalition of political forces from all over the
Japanese archipelago
The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a archipelago, group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to t ...
. The "Yamato kingship" is the name given to the "Kinai kingship, which was both the leader of the
Kinai
is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. ''Kinai'' is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kinai''" in . The five provinces were called ''go-kinai ...
confederation of chiefs and the ally of the Yamato government, which was a federation of political forces from all over the Japanese archipelago.
Also, according to Yamao.
* 190's-260's The period of the emergence of royal power.
* 270s–370s: Early royal period.
* 370–490 The period of completion of kingship. This is followed by the unification of tribes by kingship (from the 490s), and then the construction of early states (from around 530).
The term is used to describe the period from the time of the completion of the kingship to the time of the unification of the tribes by the kingship (from the 490s), and the construction of the early state (from around 530).
The term was first used by
Ishimoda Tadashi in his Iwanami Koza Nihon Rekishi in 1962. It is also used as a concept of classification, but it is not necessarily strictly defined and there is no common understanding of the use of the word
Yamato Imperial Court
The term Yamato court has three meanings:
# is a powerful political force and organization based in the
Nara period
The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...
before the establishment of the Ritsuryo state.
# The government and administration of the
Yamato period
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 ...
(
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 ...
). Yamato kingship.
# , a
centralisation
Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particu ...
government or administration with a
bureaucracy
The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
led by the
Son of Heaven
Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchical title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty, the secula ...
(
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...
) during the
Asuka period
The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after t ...
or late Kofun period.
In the pre-war period, the term was used in the sense of 1. but after the war, it came to mean simply "the government of the
Yamato period
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 ...
or
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 ...
" (2.). However, with the examination of the word "dynasty" and the progress of
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
research on
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』 ...
, especially on the anterior and posterior tombs, the word is increasingly used in a more limited sense, as in 3.
At present, researchers and authors who use the term "Yamato Court" in the sense of 1. include Takemitsu Makoto and Takamori Akinori. Takemitsu, in his Encyclopedia of the Kojiki and Nihonshoki (1999), lists the Jimmu expedition and Naganohiko's
setsuwa
Setsuwa (, ja, 説話, setsu wa) is an East Asian literary genre. It consists of myths, legends, folktales, and anecdotes.
''Setsuwa'' means "spoken story". As one of the vaguest forms of literature, setsuwa is believed to have been passed down ...
as the "origin of the Yamato Court".
When using "Yamato Court" as a topic in comprehensive ancient history research that also takes into account Chinese
archival materials, or in archaeological research based on
archaeological materials, the words "Yamato (Yamato) kingship" and "Yamato Court" are used interchangeably. In some cases, words such as "Yamato (Yamato) kingship" and "Yamato Imperial Court" are used interchangeably for chronological purposes. For example.
* "Yamato kingship" before Emperor Ankang, and "Yamato court" after Emperor Yusei in the late
5th century
The 5th century is the time period from 401 ( CDI) through 500 ( D) ''Anno Domini'' (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia.
It saw the ...
– Kunio Hirano
* Before Emperor Seonghwa, "Yamato royal authority" or "Yamato royal authority", and after Emperor Kinmei in the middle of the
6th century
The 6th century is the period from 501 through 600 in line with the Julian calendar. In the West, the century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The collapse of the Western Roman Empire late in the previous c ...
, "Yamato court" – Kiyoaki Kito
The establishment of kingship
Occurrence of small countries
In the
Yayoi period
The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age.
Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...
, as there is the description of "Wa-kokuō Suishō" (, Suishō the King of Wa) dated
107 in the "History of Tō-i (Eastern I)" () in the ''
Book of the Later Han
The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later ...
'', we can see that there were a certain territory called "
Wa" and its monarch called "King". However, the details of the political organization are not known, and since there is a report in the
Wajinden
The ''Wajinden'' refers to the passages in the 30th volume of the Chinese history chronicle ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' that talk about the Wa people who would later be known as the Japanese people. It describes the mores, geography, and ...
, in the ''
Book of Gi'' (), which says "there are currently 30 countries with which our envoys can contact and communicate", it is likely that the state of separation of small countries continued until the third century.
In addition, from the description in the
Book of Later Han
The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later ...
, which reports "During the reign of
Emperor Kan and
Emperor Rei,
Wakoku was largely disturbed, and countries fought each other, and thus there was no Lord for a long period." (, ''Kan-Rei no kan, Wakoku ōini midare, komogomo ai-kōbatsu-shite, rekinen aruji nashi.''), it is clear that the political bond among the small countries was not necessarily strong. This description is also supported by the
archaeological materials. They show that
moated settlements
A ( ) is a human settlement (village) surrounded by a moat. It is thought to be a new settlement boundary facility brought from the continent along with paddy rice agriculture.
When a moat is surrounded by a moat, water moat, it is written moat ...
with deep moats and
earthworks
Earthworks may refer to:
Construction
*Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour
* Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil
*Earthworks (military), m ...
, and
highland settlements, which seem to have had a watchful function, were built in high places unsuitable for rice cultivation, and that many of the bodies in the tombs, which were clearly killed or injured in the
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
, were unearthed. In the
Jōmon period
The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...
, stone arrowheads were used exclusively as tools for
hunting
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
small animals, but in the
Yayoi period
The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age.
Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...
, they had become larger and were transformed into
weapon
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
s that could be used against humans. These archaeological evidences suggest that conflicts between small countries were fierce.
The Yamatai Kingdom and Queen Himiko
The
Wajinden
The ''Wajinden'' refers to the passages in the 30th volume of the Chinese history chronicle ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' that talk about the Wa people who would later be known as the Japanese people. It describes the mores, geography, and ...
states that
Himiko
, also known as , was a shamaness-queen of Yamatai-koku in . Early Chinese dynastic histories chronicle tributary relations between Queen Himiko and the Cao Wei Kingdom (220–265) and record that the Yayoi period people chose her as ruler fo ...
appeared in the
Yamatai
Yamatai or Yamatai-koku is the Sino-Japanese name of an ancient country in Wa (Japan) during the late Yayoi period The Chinese text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' first recorded the name as () or (; using reconstructed Middle Chinese p ...
koku in the first half of the 3rd century, and that the states (state probably refers to
City-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
s) "co-established" Himiko and made her
queen of Japan, thus ending the strife and creating a federation of about 30 small countries. Wajinden states the Emperor of the
Wei awarded Himiko the seal of "Shin-Gi Wa-ō" (, King of Wa, Subject of Wei). It also states that the Yamataikoku had a certain level of governing organization, such as the difference in status between and , a system of
punishment
Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a response and deterrent to a particular acti ...
and
tax
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
ation, and the establishment of an inspector-like official called , which is thought to have been located in northern Kyushu.
There are two theories about the location of the
Yamatai Kingdom: the ''
Honshu theory'' and the
Kyushu Theory. If the Honshu theory is adopted, a political coalition covering a wide area from the Kinki region to northern Kyushu was already established in the third century, while if the
Kyushu Theory is adopted, it would have been a regional coalition covering the whole of northern Kyushu, and the unification of the Japanese archipelago would have occurred even later.
Struggle between the Yamataikoku and the Kununokuni
In Japan, there was a war between the Yamataikoku and the
Kununokuni (Kunu no kuni/kunukoku、Kuna no Kuni/Kunakoku、Konanokuni / Konakoku) was a Japanese country that was in conflict with Yamatai, which is mentioned in the "Wajinden" in the "Book of Wei" in the Chinese history book "Records of the Three Kingdoms" ( ...
, and in
247 (the eighth year of the Shosho Era), the director of the
Obikata County, Zhang Zheng, who was sent to Japan to receive reports of the conflict between the two countries, admonished the queen with a proclamation. In addition, according to the Book of Records of the Wei Dynasty, after the death of Himiko, a male king took over but there was a civil war and a 13-year-old girl from Himiko's clan, Iyoyo (壹與, or
Toyo (臺與) in later historical books), became king and ruled again. In the
Empress Jingu
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
period of the
Chronicles of Japan, the Jin Ki-ui-note (no longer extant) cited in the
Empress Jingu
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
period of the
Chronicles of Japan mentions that in
266 (the second year of Tai-chou (an error in "Tai-shi")), an envoy of the Queen of Japan went to
Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...
, the capital of the Western Jin Dynasty, to pay
tribute
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...
to
Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...
, the capital of the Western Jin Dynasty, and this queen is thought to be Taiyou. Therefore, it is possible that the "Nihon Shoki" assumes that the actions of Taeyo were those of Empress Jingu. In addition, there is no mention of a queen in the extant
Book of Jin
The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang X ...
, although the Siyi biography and the Wudieki do mention a Japanese tribute in 266.
In addition, the location of the
Kununokuni (Kunu no kuni/kunukoku、Kuna no Kuni/Kunakoku、Konanokuni / Konakoku) was a Japanese country that was in conflict with Yamatai, which is mentioned in the "Wajinden" in the "Book of Wei" in the Chinese history book "Records of the Three Kingdoms" ( ...
is to the south of the
Yamatai Kingdom.
Wajinden
The ''Wajinden'' refers to the passages in the 30th volume of the Chinese history chronicle ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' that talk about the Wa people who would later be known as the Japanese people. It describes the mores, geography, and ...
, Gohan Sho Yaden, Song Sho Ya Kokuden, Sui Sho Ya Kokuden" Iwanami Bunko P77-86 Modern translation "Weishi" Yajinden In "Gohansho", Yamatai Kuni It is described that there is a Kunukoku at Chiyori, which crosses the sea to the east of . In the
Wajinden
The ''Wajinden'' refers to the passages in the 30th volume of the Chinese history chronicle ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' that talk about the Wa people who would later be known as the Japanese people. It describes the mores, geography, and ...
, there is another Japanese country a thousand miles across the sea to the east of the Yamatai Kingdom, and in the west of the Yamatai Kingdom is the Land of the Rising Sun. To the northwest of the Yamatai Kingdom is
Obikata County, and to the north is Itokoku.
Yamataikoku Union and the Garnet Ruins
Taiichiro Shiraishi states, "The political coalition of the wide area centered on the Yamataikoku, which was greatly revolutionized by the reorganization of the coalition order following the death of Himiko in the middle of the third century and the expansion of the map following the merger with the
Kununokuni (Kunu no kuni/kunukoku、Kuna no Kuni/Kunakoku、Konanokuni / Konakoku) was a Japanese country that was in conflict with Yamatai, which is mentioned in the "Wajinden" in the "Book of Wei" in the Chinese history book "Records of the Three Kingdoms" ( ...
coalition, is none other than the Yamato government from the latter half of the third century onward.
。
As a basis for this, it is claimed that the site of
Nara Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...
was the center of a federation of small states in the Kinai region at that time.。This site is located at the foot of Mt. Miwa in the southeastern part of the Nara Basin, where the "Great City" is said to have been located in the Asuka Period.
remains
Remains or The Remains may refer to:
Music
*The Remains (band), a 1960s American rock band
*The Ramainz, originally The Remains, a Ramones tribute band
Albums
* ''Remains'' (Alkaline Trio album), 2007
* ''Remains'' (Annihilator album), 1997
* ' ...
, which are said to be traces of
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
, have been found, and civil engineering works such as
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
have been carried out. As a political city, more than 30 pits for storing ritual tools, ritual halls, and temporary buildings for rituals were found, and the site was located in the
Tōkai region
The is a subregion of the Chūbu region and Kansai region in Japan that runs along the Pacific Ocean. The name comes from the Tōkaidō, one of the Edo Five Routes. Because Tōkai is a sub-region and is not officially classified, there is s ...
,
Hokuriku,
Kinki
The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...
, Asan Setouchi,
Kibi, Izumo, and a small number of northern
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 ...
pottery. It is a huge site comparable to the Fujiwara Palace at the end of the
7th century
The 7th century is the period from 601 ( DCI) through 700 ( DCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Common Era. The spread of Islam and the Muslim conquests began with the unification of Arabia by Muhammad starting in 622. After Muh ...
, which is about ten times larger than the Karako-Kagi site, one of the largest moat encircling settlements in Japan, and about six times larger than the
Yoshinogari site
is the name of a large and complex Yayoi archaeological site in Yoshinogari and Kanzaki in Saga Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan. According to the Yayoi chronology established by pottery seriations in the 20th century, Yoshinogari dates to between ...
. It is said to be a huge ruin, possibly surpassing the scale of
Taga Castle ruins.。Takemitsu Makoto states that the Garou site is the birthplace of the "Yamato Imperial Court".
The unique scallop-shaped burial mounds (called "scallop-shaped burial mounds. These mounds, with a mound length of 90 meters, are much larger than those in other regions, and they are also said to have inherited the culture of each region in a comprehensive manner, such as the four-cornered protruding mound tombs in the
San'in region
The is an area in the southwest of Honshū, the main island of Japan. It consists of the northern part of the Chūgoku region, facing the Sea of Japan.
Etymology
The name San'in in the Japanese language is formed from two kanji characters. The ...
(Izumo) and the shield-built mound tombs in the
Kibi region. Shiraishi Taichiro states that Kibi was an important ally of the Yamato, as special vessels and vases that were erected on top of mounds in Kibi were adopted.
。
The site of Garnet from the standpoint of the Kyushu theory of the Yamataikoku
However, according to the
Wajinden
The ''Wajinden'' refers to the passages in the 30th volume of the Chinese history chronicle ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' that talk about the Wa people who would later be known as the Japanese people. It describes the mores, geography, and ...
,
Yamatai
Yamatai or Yamatai-koku is the Sino-Japanese name of an ancient country in Wa (Japan) during the late Yayoi period The Chinese text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' first recorded the name as () or (; using reconstructed Middle Chinese p ...
is located in the south of Ito Province, which is compared to Itoshima, and it is said that the country was prosecuted with a major leader in Ito Province, and that it produced ironware and
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
, which have only been excavated in Kyushu. Furthermore, the artifacts excavated from the site of Garenguma are scarce in terms of Kyushu and Korean origin, and there are no traces of active trade with the continent as described in the
Wajinden
The ''Wajinden'' refers to the passages in the 30th volume of the Chinese history chronicle ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' that talk about the Wa people who would later be known as the Japanese people. It describes the mores, geography, and ...
, and the site itself is located inland, far from the sea.
According to Sekikawa Naokoh of the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, the large number of Han mirrors, later Han mirrors, and swords that indicate exchange with Korea have been excavated in Kitakyushu, while none have been excavated at the Garenguma site, and therefore, the active exchange with the peninsula and Korea shown in the "
Wajinden
The ''Wajinden'' refers to the passages in the 30th volume of the Chinese history chronicle ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' that talk about the Wa people who would later be known as the Japanese people. It describes the mores, geography, and ...
" has not been proven, and the Garenguma site is not the site of the Yamatai Kingdom.
[著『邪馬台国と箸墓古墳』財団法人古代学協会]。
In addition, there is an excavation of a large mirror with a flower design in the same size and style as the
Yata no Kagami
is a sacred bronze mirror that is part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan.
Name and significance
The represents "wisdom" or "honesty," depending on the source. Its name literally means "The Eight wikt:咫#Japanese, Mirror," a reference to its ...
of the
Three Sacred Treasures
The are the imperial regalia of Japan and consist of the sword , the mirror , and the jewel . They represent the three primary virtues: valour (the sword), wisdom (the mirror), and benevolence (the jewel). from the Hirabaru site in Itoshima, which raises the question of its relationship to the
Yata no Kagami
is a sacred bronze mirror that is part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan.
Name and significance
The represents "wisdom" or "honesty," depending on the source. Its name literally means "The Eight wikt:咫#Japanese, Mirror," a reference to its ...
, which is a strong candidate for the
Yamataikoku
Yamatai or Yamatai-koku is the Sino-Japanese name of an ancient country in Wa (Japan) during the late Yayoi period The Chinese text '' Records of the Three Kingdoms'' first recorded the name as () or (; using reconstructed Middle Chinese ...
, is a burial site with a burial chamber. , The Gionyama burial mound, which has a large number of mass graves and jar coffins and is said to be similar in size and shape to those recorded, is also still a popular theory for the Kyushu region of the Yamatai Kingdom. In the case of this theory, the question arises as to the relationship between the Yamataikoku and the Yamato government that developed in the Kinai region, and whether the Yamataikoku in Kyushu was destroyed or, as in the myth, moved eastward to the Kinai region and became the Yamato government.
Establishment of Yamato "kingship"
There is a prevailing view that the establishment of the Yamato kingship was based on the appearance and spread of the anterior and posterior round tombs. The date of its establishment varies slightly depending on the researcher, such as mid-3rd century, late third century, late third century, and early fourth century. The Yamato Kingdom is thought to have been a coalition government that included not only the Kinki region but also the powerful clans of various regions, while others believe that it was a centralized state led by an
Okimi Ōkimi (, ''Ōkimi'', ''Daiō'') or Ame no shita Siroshimesu Ōkimi (, Chi Tenka Daiō) is the title of the Head of the Yamato Kingship or the monarch title of Wakoku (Old Japan) from the Kofun period through the Asuka period in the ancient Japan. ...
.
Around the latter half of the third century, burial mounds with large mounds appeared in the Kinki region and other parts of western Japan. All of these tombs were either anterior-ventral or posterior-ventral mounds, and the bodies were buried in split bamboo wooden coffins several meters long inside pit-type stone chambers, and the secondary funerary objects included numerous
bronze mirror
Bronze mirrors preceded the glass mirrors of today. This type of mirror, sometimes termed a copper mirror, has been found by archaeology, archaeologists among elite assemblages from various cultures, from Etruscan art, Etruscan Italy to Japan. T ...
s with magical meanings and weapons. This is often referred to as the "emergence period". This is often referred to as an "emergence period tomb. However, due to the technical shortcomings of
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 ...
, and the large discrepancy between the measured values and the written records, some argue for a fourth century appearance based on conventional pottery dating.
![Hashihaka-kofun-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Hashihaka-kofun-1.jpg)
The uniformity of the tumulus during the period of its appearance (the first half of the Kofun period) shows that the tumulus was created as a common grave system for the chiefs of each region, and the chiefs were also jointly funeralized. There is an opinion that the alliance between them was established and a wide-area political union was formed. The spread is from Tokai / Hokuriku to northern Kyushu centering on Kinki. On the other hand, as mentioned above, around the 4th century, it is thought that it overlaps with the reigning age of
Emperor Sujin
, also known as in the ''Kojiki'', and or in the '' Nihon Shoki'' was the tenth Emperor of Japan. While Sujin is the first emperor whose existence historians widely accept, he is still referred to as a "legendary emperor" due to a lack of info ...
. There is also an opinion that it spread because the ancient burial mounds appeared together, and the central lords were dispatched to various places as chiefs (
Kuni no miyatsuko , also read as "kokuzō" or "kunitsuko", were officials in ancient Japan at the time of the Yamato court.
Yamato period
Kuni no miyatsuko governed small territories (), although the location, names, and borders of the provinces remain unclear. Kun ...
) instead of the regional coalition .
The only emergence-period burial mounds with a mound length of more than 200 meters are the
Hashihaka Kofun
The is a megalithic tomb (''kofun'') located in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. 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 Kingsh ...
(280 meters) in
Sakurai, Nara
is a city located in Nara Prefecture, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the city has an estimated population of 58,386, and 24,629 households. The population density is , and the total area is .
History
Sakurai was briefly the capital of Japan during ...
,
Nara Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...
, and the Nishidenozuka burial mound (234 meters) in
Tenri, Nara
is a city located in Nara Prefecture, Japan. The modern city was founded on April 1, 1954, and is named after the Japanese new religion Tenrikyo, which has its headquarters in the city. As of April 1, 2015, the city has an estimated population ...
.
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』 ...
(280 meters) and the Nishidenozuka tumulus (234 meters) in
Tenri City, which are concentrated in the southeastern part of the Nara Basin (Yamato in the narrowest sense) and are isolated in scale from the rest of the region. This indicates that this political coalition was led by the forces of the Kinki region, centered on Yamato. This is why this regime is called the "Yamato regime" or the "Yamato kingdom. This regime is sometimes referred to as the "anterior-anterior-cylindrical tomb system" because the establishment of the regime is based on the appearance of uniform anterior-anterior-cylindrical tombs.
Kingship?
Yukihisa Yamao writes: "It is highly probable that a 'kingship' was established in the Kinki region in the latter half of the third century, but whether it can be called a 'kingship' or not is left to future research. However, it is not clear whether this can be called a 'kingship' or not, and whether a 'royal lineage' already existed or not is left to future research."
Yamao himself is cautious about using the term "Yamato kingship". Yamao himself is of the opinion that "the establishment of kingship can be recognized in the period of Yusei and the establishment of royal lineage in the period of King Meiji",
so a systematic study of the history of state formation including this perspective is required.
The relationship between the "Yamato kingship" and the Yamataikoku
Takehiko Yoshimura, in "Iwanami Lecture on the History of Japan, Volume 2: Ancient Times I," refers to "the royal power assumed after
Emperor Sujin
, also known as in the ''Kojiki'', and or in the '' Nihon Shoki'' was the tenth Emperor of Japan. While Sujin is the first emperor whose existence historians widely accept, he is still referred to as a "legendary emperor" due to a lack of info ...
" as the "Yamato royal power," and describes the relationship between the early Yamato royal power and the Yamataikoku: "According to recent archaeological research, the possibility that the location of the Yamataikoku was in the Kinki region has become stronger. However, this has not been proven historically. However, this has not been proven historically, and the genealogical relationship with the early Yamato kingdom seems to be rather unconnected.
。
Yoshimura points out that "it is problematic whether the construction of a burial mound implies the establishment of a regime or a state," and argues that the conventional viewpoint that ascribes a political foundation to the location of a burial mound needs to be reconsidered. He argues that we need to reconsider the conventional viewpoint that ascribes political bases to the location of ancient tombs. If a group of chiefs exercising influence over a specific region had only a specific sub-region as their base, then phenomena such as the "successive relocations" in the Chronicles would not have occurred.
。
Yoshimura's view is that regardless of the early or late appearance of the anterior and posterior round burial mounds, there is a discrepancy of several decades between the time of the establishment of the Yamato kingship and the appearance of the Andonzan burial mound (present-day Sojinryo).
。
Theory of Multiple Dynasties and Parallelism of Two Dynasties
In addition to the Kyushu dynasty theory, there is another theory that advocates the coexistence of two dynasties the , the Yamataikoku in Kyushu and the Yamato kingdom in the Kinai region, as well as the multiple dynasties theory that believes there were certain forces in ancient Izumo and Kibi. There is also a theory of multiple dynasties that believes that there were certain forces in Izumo and Kibi in ancient times. In the theory of two dynasties in parallel, there is a theory that the Yamato Kingdom expanded its power after branching off from the Yamataikoku and destroyed the main Yamataikoku.
Development of royal power
The first half of the early Kofun period.
The Japanese archipelago from the late third century to the first half of the
4th century
The 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini/Common era) was the time period which lasted from 301 (Roman numerals, CCCI) through 400 (Roman numerals, CD). In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Grea ...
therefore lacks almost all
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
, including gold and stone texts, and thus the political and cultural aspects of the period can only be examined from archaeological sources.
By the middle of the fourth century at the earliest, stylized kofun tombs had spread from the southern Tohoku region to the southern Kyushu region. This means that a vast area of eastern Japan was incorporated into a broad political union (Yamato kingship) with Yamato as its leader. However, in western Japan, most of the tombs that were considered to be tombs of chiefs in the early stages of their emergence were anterior and posterior round tombs, while in eastern Japan, most of them were anterior and posterior. This is how the Kofun period began in most areas of the Japanese archipelago, and Kofun tombs were constructed in earnest.
Below, the following three periods are set as the period division of the Kofun period, as is commonly accepted.
* Early Kofun period ... From the latter half of the third century to the end of the fourth century
* Mid Kofun period ... From the end of the fourth century to the end of the fifth century
* Late Kofun period ... Early sixth century to early seventh century
This division is further subdivided into the first half of the early period (first half of the 4th century), the second half of the early period (second half of the 4th century), the first half of the middle period (end of the 4th century, first half of the 5th century), the second half of the middle period (second half of the 5th century), and the first half of the late period (first half of the 6th century to the latter half of the 7th century), and the following sections are based on this classification. The latter half of the Late Period (late 6th/early 7th century) corresponds to the first half of the
Asuka Period
The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after t ...
as a political period name.
![Andonyama_001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Andonyama_001.jpg)
Kofun tumuli come in a variety of shapes, such as anterior and posterior round tombs, anterior and posterior square tombs, round tombs, and square tombs. Although the number of tombs was dominated by round tombs and square tombs, in terms of the size of the tombs, the top 44 tombs were all post-anterior-round tombs, which were considered the most important. The distribution of these tombs spans the Yamagata and Kitakami basins in the north, and
Osumi and
Hyūga in the south, suggesting that the hierarchy that built the tombs was the
Chief
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
class that controlled vast areas throughout the archipelago.
On the top of the mound of the Early Period burial mound, cylindrical
haniwa
The are terracotta clay figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries AD) of the history of Japan. ''Haniwa'' were created according to the ''wazumi'' technique, ...
(clay figurines), which originated from the special vessel bases that were
grave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.
They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...
in the Kibi region in the late Yayoi period, are placed side by side, and many of them have their surfaces covered with
Fukiishi
( or "roofing stone") were a means of covering burial chambers and burial mounds during the kofun period of Japan (). Stones collected from riverbeds were affixed to the slopes of raised kofun and other burial chambers. They are considered t ...
, and some of them have
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
around them. The funerary objects include bronze mirrors such as triangular-rimmed mirrors and mirrors with painted bands,
bracelets
A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a wikt:supportive, supportive function to hold other items of ...
made of
jasper
Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...
, jade (
magatama
are curved, comma-shaped beads that appeared in prehistoric Japan from the Final Jōmon period through the Kofun period, approximately 1000 BCE to the 6th century CE. The beads, also described as "jewels", were made of primitive stone and eart ...
, ), iron weapons and
agricultural machinery
Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that the ...
.
The buried chief was not only a political leader in each region, but also a
Priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
who worshipped
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
while actually performing agricultural rituals.
Priests
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in p ...
who worshipped
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
while also performing
rituals
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, ...
(
ritual unity).
Among the chiefs who made up the Yamato coalition government, the above-mentioned Kibi and the northern Kanto region were particularly important. The
Keno
Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries.
Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some va ...
region, especially in
Ueno
is a district in Tokyo's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Museum of Na ...
, had large burial mounds and played an important role. The
Hyūga in southern Kyushu and the
Sendai Plain
Sendai Plain () is a plain
In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, ...
in
Rikutsu were also important regions. Taiichiro Shiraishi attributes this to the fact that both regions were frontier regions for the Yamato government coalition.
。
Seven-Branched Sword and the Monument to Kōkaido-ō (Late Early Kofun Period)
In the latter half of the fourth century, the
Seven-Branched Swords found at the
Isonokami Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in the hills of Furu in Tenri, Nara prefecture, Japan. It is one of the oldest extant Shinto shrines in Japan and has housed several significant artifacts.
Isonokami shrine was highly regarded in the ancient era, and ...
(Nara Prefecture) are dated to
369
__NOTOC__
Year 369 (Roman numerals, CCCLXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Galates and Victor (or, less frequentl ...
by their inscriptions. The seven-branched sword was made for the King of Japan by the crown prince 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 ...
, who founded his kingdom in
Mahan confederacy
Mahan () was a loose confederacy of statelets that existed from around the 1st century BC to 5th century AD in the southern Korean peninsula in the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces. Gina Lee Barnes, 《State Formation in Korea: Historical and A ...
in
356, indicating the establishment of the alliance between the Yamato and Baekje kingdoms. In addition, it is important to note that the seven Chinese zodiac signs were actually presented to the King of Yamato in the "Nihon Shoki", and the actual date was
372 when the zodiac signs were carried forward two orders.
[Rekishi Gunzo, Kazuhiko Inada. (2020) ''Encyclopedia of the Japanese Sword II'', p.118.]
In any case, Japan had a close relationship with the
Gaya countries, especially
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– ...
, and secured the iron resources produced in the region. In the northern part of the peninsula, on the other hand, there is 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– ...
, where the Japanese government was closely involved with 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– ...
, especially with 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– ...
, and secured the iron resources produced in the region.
On the other hand, in the northern part of the peninsula,
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 ...
, the
Yemaek
Yemaek or Yamaek () was an ancient tribal group in the northern Korean Peninsula and Manchuria who are regarded by some scholars as the ancestors of modern Koreans. They had ancestral ties to various Korean kingdoms including Gojoseon, Buyeo, Go ...
nation, a state of the
Tungusic peoples
Tungusic peoples are an ethno-linguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages (or Manchu–Tungus languages). They are native to Siberia and Northeast Asia.
The Tungusic phylum is divided into two main branches, northern (Evenic or ...
, which originated in the forest area in the eastern part of
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
, was established in
313 in Lelang-gun,
Daifang Commandery
The Daifang Commandery was an administrative division established by the Chinese Han dynasty on the Korea, Korean Peninsula between 204 and 314.
History
Gongsun Kang, a warlord in Liaodong, separated the southern half from the Lelang commandery ...
.
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 ...
, invaded and destroyed
Daifang Commandery
The Daifang Commandery was an administrative division established by the Chinese Han dynasty on the Korea, Korean Peninsula between 204 and 314.
History
Gongsun Kang, a warlord in Liaodong, separated the southern half from the Lelang commandery ...
in
313, and continued its southward expansion in the late fourth century. The
Gwanggaeto King Monument in
Jilin Province
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
, China, which was established to record the achievements of the
King Gwanggaeto (Kōkaido-ō in Japanese), states that Goguryeo defeated Baekje, which was connected to Japan, and engaged the Japanese twice in
400
__NOTOC__
Year 400 ( CD) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus (or, less frequently, year 11 ...
and
404 to rescue Silla from the Japanese invasion. It is engraved that it was done ( Korean literature related to Wa and Wajin ).
The Age of Giant Tombs (First Half of the Middle Kofun Period)
![NintokuTomb Aerial photograph 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/NintokuTomb_Aerial_photograph_2007.jpg)
The entire period from the end of the
4th century
The 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini/Common era) was the time period which lasted from 301 (Roman numerals, CCCI) through 400 (Roman numerals, CD). In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Grea ...
to the
5th century
The 5th century is the time period from 401 ( CDI) through 500 ( D) ''Anno Domini'' (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia.
It saw the ...
is considered the middle period in the archaeological classification of 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 ...
. In this period, the proportion of weapons and armors among the burial accessories increased, and horse harnesses and
Tankō
Tankō ( Jap. "short armor") is a form of Japanese armor that was common in the Kofun period.
Tankō
The ''tankō'' is the first uniquely definable type of Japanese armor. Other types that were used earlier such as ''Jòdai no Katchù'' (anci ...
and
Kabuto
' (兜, 冑) is a type of helmet first used by ancient Japanese warriors which, in later periods, became an important part of the traditional Japanese armour worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan.
Note that in the Jap ...
increased. These cavalry skills, weapons, and tools are thought to have been brought to Japan through the above-mentioned war against the Koguryo in the late 4th to early 5th centuries, when the Koguryo warriors fought with cavalry units. There was once a time when by overestimating these changes in the burial accessories, the , which insists that the Northern Eurasian nomads conquered Japanese agricultural people and established the "Yamato Court", was widely advocated.
It is true that the tombs of "square-front, round-posterior" (, ''
zenpō-kōen-fun
Zenpokoenfun is an architectural model of Japanese ancient tombs (Kofun), which consists of a square front part () and a circular back part (). The part connecting the two is called the middle part (), which looks like a keyhole when viewed from ...
'', circular‐shaped ancient tomb with rectangular frontage), which are thought to be originated in Yamato have been found in the Korean peninsula before the fifth century, but there are little evidences that cavalry technology, armors and tools were rapidly entered as influx to Japan and transformed the regime as insisted in the theory by Namio Egami. In the meantime, the types of tombs for chiefs and kings have remained unchanged in Japan since the third century, with the construction of a continuous series of ''zenpō-kōen-fun'', and there is a strong continuity between the early and middle burial mounds, rather than the discontinuity that Egami pointed out. This theory is less supported in comparizon with the former.
The most striking tendency of the mid-period kofun (tumuli) is their gigantic in size. Especially in the first half of the fifth century, in the Kawachi Plain (southern part of the
Osaka Plain
The refers to a 1,600 km² area of flat land, the largest plain in the Kinki region, including a large part of Osaka Prefecture and a southeastern portion of Hyōgo Prefecture. It is bordered on the north by the Hokusetsu Mount Range, on ...
), there were the
Kondayama Kofun (mound 420 meters long, traditionally, Tomb of Emperor Ōjin) and the Daisen Kofun (mound 525 meters long, traditionally, Tomb of Emperor Nintoku), both of which are world largest tombs, comparable with
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor () is the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty. It is located in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province of China. It was constructed over 38 years, from 246 to 208 BCE, and is ...
, which well shows the magnitude of the power and authority of the Yamato kingship. This also means that the center of the Yamato kingship was shifted from the Nara Basin to the Kawachi Plain, but Taichirō Shiraishi, who focuses on water systems, says that the Yamato-Yanagimoto Kofun Cluster (southeastern Nara Basin), the Saki-tachinami Kofun Cluster (northern Nara Basin), the Umami Kofun Cluster (southwestern Nara Basin), and the
Furuichi Kofun Cluster
is a group of Kofun period burial mounds located in the cities of Fujiidera and Habikino, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Twelve of the tumuli in this group were individually designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1956, within additional ...
(in the Kawachi Plain), and
Mozu Kofun Cluster (in the Kawachi Plain) in the fourth to sixth centuries are distributed exclusively in the Yamato River basin. This indicates that the large tombs of the Kinai ruling class moved within this water system throughout the Kofun period, indicating the movement of alliances within the Yamato kingship.。Mitsusada Inoue also once pointed out that the Kawachi kings were connected to the earlier Yamato royal family in the form of a groom.、At the very least, it suggests that they had established an authority that could not be easily supplanted by others.
On the other hand, there is a theory that assumes a change of dynasties, or "dynastic change theory," based on the fact that in the fourth century, huge burial mounds were concentrated in the vicinity of Mt. Miwa in the Nara Basin, while in the fifth century, large burial mounds were notably created in Kawachi. In other words, based on the archaeological findings of the distribution of burial mounds and the emperors' Japanese style
posthumous name
A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...
s appeared in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shpoki, the dynasty of the fourth century (early Kofun period) is called the Miwa dynasty ("Iri" dynasty, or Sujin dynasty), while the power in Kawachi in the fifth century (middle Kofun period) is called the Kawachi dynasty ("Wake" dynasty, or Ōjin dynasty or Nintoku dynasty). This theory was developed by Yu Mizuno. This theory was advocated by Yu Mizuno, and developed into the Ōjin new dynasty theory by Mitsusada Inoue and the Kawachi dynasty theory by Masaaki Ueda, which was taken over by Kōjirō Naoki and Seiji Okada. However, this theory of dynastic alternation has been criticized from a number of perspectives. A typical example is the "regional state" theory. In addition, from the late fourth century to the fifth century, the Yamato and Kawachi powers were united, and the two were in a coalition relationship that could be called the "Yamato-Kawachi United Kingdom.。Taichiro Shiraishi, who emphasizes the movement between Yamato River basins, takes a similar view.
![Tsukuriyama_Kofun,_Okayama_air](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Tsukuriyama_Kofun%2C_Okayama_air.jpg)
In the first half of the fifth century, large anterior-posterior mounds were also created in places other than Yamato, such as
Hyūga,
Tsukushi, Kibi, Kono, and
Tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
. Among them, the Zozan burial mound (360 meters long) in
Okayama City
is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per ...
is the fourth largest burial mound in Japan in terms of mound length, suggesting that the powerful Kibi clan, which later became the Kibi clan, had great power and used iron tools, and played an important role in the union of the Yamato regime. This suggests that the powerful clans of each region, while subordinate to the Yamato kingship, also developed their own power in their own areas.
The "regional state theory" mentioned above is the idea that in the first half of the fifth century, there were regional states of considerable scale in various regions, such as Kibi, Tsukushi, Kono, and Izumo. As one of such states, there was naturally a regional state "Yamato" in the Kinai region, which stood side by side or in a coalition, and that a unified state was born from the competition. Researchers such as Kenichi Sasaki have argued in favor of such a theory. However, there is no proof of the existence of political, tax collection, military, or judicial institutions that would be expected of a state in such a region, and some argue that it is a leap of logic to advocate the theory of regional states based on giant ancient tombs alone.
The beginning of the fifth century was also the time of the first wave of the ''
toraijin'' (immigrants from the continent or Korean peninsula - naturalized people), and the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki tell us that
Wani
Wani may refer to:
*Vani (custom), a child marriage custom in tribal areas of Pakistan
*Wani (dragon), a Japanese dragon translated as "sea monster", "crocodile", or "shark"
*Wani (scholar), a legendary scholar, sent from Korea to Japan during the ...
,
Achi no omi
, was a great-grandson of Emperor Ling of Han who settled in Japan with his son Tsuga no omi. He became the founding ancestor of the Yamato no Aya clan.Shinsen Shōjiroku His name is also recorded as 阿知吉師.
From the Nihon Shoki (289 AD ...
, and Yuzuki no kimi (the ancestors of
Yamato no Aya clan () and
Hata clan
was an immigrant clan active in Japan since the Kofun period (250–538), according to the history of Japan laid out in '' Nihon Shoki''.
''Hata'' is the Japanese reading of the Chinese surname ''Qin'' () given to the State of Qin and the Qi ...
()) were naturalized in the age of the Ōjin dynasty. The use of
Sue ware
was a blue-gray form of stoneware pottery fired at high temperature, which was produced in Japan and southern Korea during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was initially used for funerary and ritual objects, and origina ...
began around this time, and is thought to have been a technique brought by the ''toraijin''.
In the fifth century, the country of Japan again appeared in the Chinese history books. It is believed that the technology was brought to Japan by the ''toraijin''.
The five kings of Wa, that is, San (), Chin (), Sei (), Kō (), and Bu (), sent envoys to the Southern dynasties of China, bringing tributes to the emperors, thus they became vassals of the emperors and were given the titles and ranks. The international order in East Asia with the Chinese emperor at the top is called the ''
Saku-hō system'' (, ''Sakuhō taisei'', in Japanese). It is believed that the purpose of this was to gain an advantage in acquiring concessions in the southern countries of the Korean peninsula (
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– ...
and
Kara
Kara or KARA may refer to:
Geography Localities
* Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture
* Kára, Hungary, a village
* Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township
* Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province
* Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...
), and in fact, Sei and Bu were granted control of the southern part of the Korean peninsula.
The kings of Wa entered the ''Saku-hō system'' to make the Southern dynasties of China to acknowledge their mastery power in the Korean peninsula. Thus, Chin was awarded the title "King of Wa, General of Anton" in 438. Sei was also granted the same title in 443, and in addition he was awarded the title "Govenor and General of Six Provinces" in 451. Kō was granted the title "King of Wa, General of Anton" in 462. It is noteworthy that Chin and Sei asked the Chinese emperor for the title of "vassal" to their own subjects. This is thought to have been a way for the tribute to help establishing order within the Yamato government.
Government of Wakatakeru (Late Middle Kofun Period)
In
475, the capital of Baekje,
Hanseong
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
, fell to a large army of Goguryeo, King
Gaero and many other members of the royal family were killed, and Baekje moved the capital to
Ungjin
Ungjin, also known as Gomanaru (Hangul: 고마나루, literally "bear port") is a former city on the Korean Peninsula. It was located in modern-day Gongju, South Chungcheong province, South Korea. It was the capital of Baekje from AD 475 to 538 ...
in the south. Due to these situations in the Korean peninsula, many peoples who were called ''Imaki no Ayahito'' (), mainly Baekje origin, came to Japan. The era of
Emperor Yūryaku
(418 - 8 September 479) was the 21st legendary Emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 雄略天皇 (21) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order of succession. He is remembered as a patron of sericulture.Nippon ...
, from the late fifth to the sixth century, was also the time of the second wave of immigrants. Emperor Yūryaku was identified as King Bu, one of the
five kings of Wa The were kings of ancient Japan who sent envoys to China during the 5th century to strengthen the legitimacy of their claims to power by gaining the recognition of the Chinese emperor. Details about them are unknown. According to written records in ...
mentioned above.
In the "''Jōhyōbun'' (diplomatic message, ) by King Bu of Wa" dated 478, which was cited in the "History of Wakoku" in the
Book of Song
The ''Book of Song'' (''Sòng Shū'') is a historical text of the Liu Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties of China. It covers history from 420 to 479, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories, a traditional collection of historical records. I ...
, states that the kingship of Wa (that is, ancestors of King Bu) conquered many countries in the east (, Emishi), the west (, Shūi) and the north (, Kaihoku). It suggests that kingship of Wa expanded its own power to subjugate local tribes. Since is thought to refer to the Korean peninsula, this message is also considered to be related to the second wave of immigrants to Japan.
An iron sword (
Inariyama Sword
The iron or was excavated at the Inariyama Kofun in 1968. Inariyama Kofun is a megalithic tomb located in Saitama Prefecture. In 1978, X-ray analysis revealed a gold-inlaid inscription that comprises at least 115 Chinese characters. This sword ...
) unearthed from the
Inariyama Kofun in
Saitama Prefecture
is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...
, which is thought to date from this period, has an inscription dated to the year of ''Shingai'' ( (
471
__NOTOC__
Year 471 ( CDLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Novus and Probianus (or, less frequently, year 1224 '' A ...
). The name "Wakatakeru Daiō" appears on it. This name is consistent with the real name of
Emperor Yūryaku
(418 - 8 September 479) was the 21st legendary Emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 雄略天皇 (21) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order of succession. He is remembered as a patron of sericulture.Nippon ...
as reported in the ''
Nihonshoki'' and ''
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 this name is also found in the inscription on an iron sword unearthed from the
Eta Funayama Kofun in
Kumamoto Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...
. The fact that the name "Wakatakeru" is found in the kofun located both in the eastern provinces and Kyūshū is consistent with the description of the conquest achievements in the above-mentioned "''Jōhyōbun'' by King Bu of Wa".
It is known that in the iron sword inscriptions unearthed from the Inariyama kofun, a powerful clan from the eastern part of Japan served the palace of the "
Daiō" as a chief of the bodyguards (, ''jōtōjin no kashira''), and that in the iron sword inscriptions unearthed from the Eda Funayama kofun, a powerful clan from the western part of Japan served as a civil officer of the Ōkimi's entourage (, ''tensō-jin''), thus we may know they played a part in the royal power. Similar examples appeared in the "Record of Yūryaku" in the Nihon Shoki, the relationship of service between the Yamato kingship and the power of the countryside during this period is known as "''Nin-Sei'' (,
ja)", a kind of very proto-bureaucracy.
In addition, the inscriptions also include the phrases "" (
Eta Funayama Kofun) and "" (), indicating the emergence of a concept of "" centered on the Ōkimi of Japan, separate from the ''
Tianxia
''Tianxia'' (), literally meaning "(all) under Heaven", is a Chinese term for a historical Chinese cultural concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical realm of mortals, and later became associated with polit ...
'' (whole World) centered on the
Song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
. This tells us that an order was being formed under the Okimi with a certain degree of independence from Chinese authority.
The above-mentioned "Imarai Han people" were organized into groups of technicians (hina-bu), such as the , brocade-making, saddle-making, and painting divisions, and entrusted to the
Shinabe clan
Shinabe refers to a human group or organization in Ancient times, Japan, with the Japanese prefix of ''Shinashina no tomono o'' or ''Tomonomiyatsuko''.
They descend from Tamanooya-no-Mikoto according to legend
Overview
* A general term for s ...
for management. Many of the people who used
Chinese characters
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...
to record various aspects of the Yamato kingdom, to receive and dispatch goods, and to write diplomatic documents were also called , and they were responsible for the organization of the Yamato kingdom. It is thought that the organization of these visitors led to the gradual creation of a bureaucratic organization consisting of the , the administrator, and the under his control.
On the other hand, an examination of the distribution of kofun tombs in the second half of the fifth century (the second half of the middle Kofun period) shows that during this period, the construction of large anterior and posterior round tombs ceased in Chikushi, Kibi, Kono, Hyuga, Tango, and other areas where large kofun tombs were constructed in the first half of the middle Kofun period, and only the kings of the Yamato regime continued to construct large anterior and posterior round tombs with mound lengths exceeding 200 meters. Only the kings of the Yamato regime continued to construct large anterior and posterior circle tombs with mound lengths of over 200 meters. It can be pointed out from the viewpoint of archaeological materials that the authority of the
Okimi Ōkimi (, ''Ōkimi'', ''Daiō'') or Ame no shita Siroshimesu Ōkimi (, Chi Tenka Daiō) is the title of the Head of the Yamato Kingship or the monarch title of Wakoku (Old Japan) from the Kofun period through the Asuka period in the ancient Japan. ...
, the king of the Yamato regime, was significantly extended during this period, and the character of the Yamato regime was greatly changed.
Kunio Hirano, in his article on the in the 1988 edition of the
Heibonsha World Encyclopedia
The is one of Japan's two major encyclopedias, the other being the ''Encyclopedia Nipponica''. The ''World Encyclopedia'' is widely held to be the most complete and up-to-date encyclopedia in the Japanese language.
Formats
The Heibonsha ''World ...
, advocates the concept of a "dynasty" as "a stage in which a political organization with a certain number of vassals centered on the royal authority was formed," and expresses the view that the "Yamato Court" was established at the time of Wakatakeru.
Dynastic Turmoil and Transformation
Establishment of the Jikutai and Kinmei dynasties (first half of the Late Kofun period)
After the death of Wakatakeru, from the latter half of the fifth century to the end of the fifth century, the construction of giant ''Senpō-kōen-fun'' (square-front, round-posterior kofun) began to decline, and they generally became smaller. These trends indicate that the authority of the large local chiefs who had built the giant tombs was relatively declining, and that the small and medium-sized chiefs were gaining ground. There is a view that Wakatake's measures to strengthen the royal authority were successful, but at the same time led to a backlash from the old powers, and as a result, the royal authority was temporarily weakened.。
As to the relationship between the local chiefs and the Yamato kingship from the late fifth century onward, as the inscriptions on the Inariyama iron sword and the Eda Funayama sword, as well as their archaeological interpretations, suggest, it was not direct linkage each other, but rather indirect one, that the bond was based on a strong relationship between the local chiefs and the dominant clans in the Kinai region, such as the
Ōtomo clan
was a Japanese samurai family whose power stretched from the Kamakura period through the Sengoku period, spanning over 400 years. The clan's hereditary lands lay in Kyūshū.
Origins
The first family head, Ōtomo Yoshinao (1172–1223), took ...
,
Mononobe clan
The was a Japan, Japanese aristocratic kin group Uji (clan), (''uji'') of the Kofun period, known for its military opposition to the Soga clan. The Mononobe were opposed to the spread of Buddhism, partly on religious grounds, claiming that the ...
, and
Abe clan
The was one of the oldest of the major Japanese clans (''uji''); and the clan retained its prominence during the Sengoku period and the Edo period.Meyer, Eva-Maria"Gouverneure von Kyôto in der Edo-Zeit." Universität Tübingen (in German). The ...
, and other clans, which made up the Yamato kingship.
。The king came to hold tyrannical power as the "
Okimi Ōkimi (, ''Ōkimi'', ''Daiō'') or Ame no shita Siroshimesu Ōkimi (, Chi Tenka Daiō) is the title of the Head of the Yamato Kingship or the monarch title of Wakoku (Old Japan) from the Kofun period through the Asuka period in the ancient Japan. ...
," and at the same time, the ties between the Ōkimi and the chiefs of the various regions seem to have diminished. The position of the Daiō itself gradually became an organ of the Kinai confederation of powerful clans.。From the end of the fifth century to the beginning of the
6th century
The 6th century is the period from 501 through 600 in line with the Julian calendar. In the West, the century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The collapse of the Western Roman Empire late in the previous c ...
, the ''
Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki)'' mentions that four Okimis appeared one after another in a short period of time:
Emperor Seinei
(444 — 27 February 484) was the 22nd legendary Emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 清寧天皇 (22) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order of succession.
No firm dates can be assigned to this Emperor's ...
,
Emperor Kenzō
(450 — 2 June 487) was the 23rd legendary Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 顕宗天皇 (23) retrieved 2013-8-29. according to the traditional order of succession.
No firm dates can be assigned to this Emperor's life ...
,
Emperor Ninken
(449 — 9 September 498) was the 24th legendary Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 仁賢天皇 (24) retrieved 2013-8-30. according to the traditional order of succession. No firm dates can be assigned to this Emperor's ...
, and
Emperor Buretsu
(489 — 7 January 507) was the 25th legendary Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 武烈天皇 (25)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
No firm dates can be assigned to this Emperor's life or reign, but ...
appeared one after the other, suggesting that the royal line itself was severely shaken. There is also a theory (
dynastic alternation theory) that the subsequent accession of King Ohod (
Emperor Keitai
(died 10 March 531) was the 26th legendary emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 継体天皇 (26)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but h ...
) is regarded as a break in the royal line or a change of dynasty.
Against the backdrop of these royal upheavals, communication with the Chinese dynasty was also cut off during this period. The Yamato Kingdom also had an economic and political base in the southern part of the Korean peninsula based on friendly relations with Baekje, but with the retreat of Baekje's power, the position of the Yamato Kingdom in the peninsula also declined relatively. In the sixth century, both Baekje and Silla, which had been oppressed by Goguryeo, established political systems and regained power, and began to expand into the Gaya region. In the sixth century, Baekje and Silla, which had been oppressed by Goguryeo, both established political systems and regained power, and began to expand into the Gaya region.
![Mise_Maruyama_kohun_aerial](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Mise_Maruyama_kohun_aerial.jpg)
Against this backdrop, in the early sixth century, the Ōkimi Ohodo (Emperor Keitai) emerged from the
Ōmi to the
Hokuriku with a background of chieftains, and was received by Yamato to unify the royal line. However, it took 20 years for Ohodo to enter the Nara Basin, which indicates that the establishment of this royal power was not always smooth. In
527
__NOTOC__
Year 527 ( DXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Mavortius without colleague (or, less frequently, year ...
, during the reign of Ōkimi Ohodo, the
Tsukushi no Kimi Iwai (), a powerful family from Northern Kyūshu, collaborated with the
Shilla and came into military conflict with the Yamato kingdom (
Iwai Rebellion
The was a rebellion against the Yamato court that took place in Tsukushi Province, Japan (now nearby Ogōri city in Fukuoka Prefecture) in 527 AD. The rebellion was named after its leader, Iwai, who is believed by historians to have been a power ...
). Although the rebellion was quickly suppressed, it led to a decline in royal expansion into the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, and the Korean policy of
Ōtomo no Kanamura
Ōtomo no Kanamura (大伴金村) was a Japanese warrior and statesman during the late Kofun period. Most of what is known of his life comes from the '' Kojiki'' and the '' Nihon Shoki''. His clan, the Ōtomo, had been highly influential at cour ...
failed, rapidly shaking Japan's power on the Korean Peninsula. After the death of Emperor Tsugutai, from
531
__NOTOC__
Year 531 (Roman numerals, DXXXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year after the Consulship of Lampadius and Rufius Gennadius Probus ...
to
539
Year 539 ( DXXXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Strategius without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1292 ' ...
, there was a possible division of royal power, and some believe that the kingship of
Ankan
(466 — 25 January 536) was the 27th legendary Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 安閑天皇 (27)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
No firm dates can be assigned to this Emperor's life or reign, ...
and
Senka conflicted with that of
Kinmei (
The civil war of the Keitai and Kinmeicho dynasties). On the other hand, after the arrival of Ōkimi Ohodo, the integration of the entire region from the northeast to the southern part of Kyushu progressed rapidly, and especially after the Iwai Rebellion, miyake (,
ja) was established in various regions, and the view that political unification progressed domestically is prevalent.
In
540,
Ōtomo Kanamura, who had supported Ohodo the Great, lost his position.
From the Yamato State to the Ritsuryo System (Late Kofun Period)
In the first half of the sixth century, the Yamato Kingdom was reluctant to deal with external affairs, partly because iron manufacturing methods using
iron sand
Ironsand, also known as iron-sand or iron sand, is a type of sand with heavy concentrations of iron. It is typically dark grey or blackish in colour.
It is composed mainly of magnetite, Fe3O4, and also contains small amounts of titanium, silic ...
were developed and self-sufficiency in iron became possible. In
562, the Kyaya Kingdom came under the control of both Baekje and Silla, and the Yamato Kingdom lost its power base in the Korean Peninsula. On the other hand, the Yamato Kingdom strengthened its internal administration by gradually introducing Chinese cultural relics such as calendars from the peninsula, as well as affiliating and organizing its powerful clans and people. Within the Yamato kingdom, there was a series of conflicts over the leadership of the central powerful clans in the government, as well as over the acquisition of rice plantations and tribesmen. After the downfall of the Otomo clan,
Soga no Iname
was a leader of the Soga clan and a statesman during the reign of Emperor Kinmei in the Asuka period. He was the first person to hold the position of ''Ōomi'' that can be verified with reasonable accuracy, in 536 A.D. Essentially what this me ...
and
Mononobe no Okoshi
Mononobe no Okoshi (物部尾輿) was a Japanese minister during the Kofun period, and the chief of the Mononobe clan.
According to the '' Nihon Shoki'', during the reign of Emperor Ankan, a necklace belonging to Mononobe was stolen by the daught ...
confronted each other over whether to revere or reject Buddhism.
Soga no Umako
was the son of Soga no Iname and a member of the powerful Soga clan of Japan.
Umako conducted political reforms with Prince Shōtoku during the rules of Emperor Bidatsu and Empress Suiko and established the Soga clan's stronghold in the govern ...
and Dalian
Mononobe no Moriya
was an '' Ō-muraji'', a high-ranking clan head position of the ancient Japanese Yamato state, having inherited the position from his father Mononobe no Okoshi. Like his father, he was a devoted opponent of Buddhism, which had recently been int ...
, which finally led to an armed struggle (
Soga-Mononobe conflict).
[Takeshi Umehara , ''仏教の勝利'' (Tokyo: Shogakkan, 1980), 291-292.][Kenneth Doo Lee, ''The Prince and the Monk: Shōtoku worship in Shinran's Buddhism '' (Tokyo: Shogakkan, 1980), 62.][Ian Reader and George J Tanabe, ''Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan'' (Honolulu: University of Hawaiì Press, 1998), 159-160.]
Soga Umako, who won the
Soga-Mononobe conflict, installed Prince Tomarasebe as the
Okimi Ōkimi (, ''Ōkimi'', ''Daiō'') or Ame no shita Siroshimesu Ōkimi (, Chi Tenka Daiō) is the title of the Head of the Yamato Kingship or the monarch title of Wakoku (Old Japan) from the Kofun period through the Asuka period in the ancient Japan. ...
(
Emperor Sushun
was the 32nd Emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')崇峻天皇 (32)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
Sushun's reign spanned the years from 587 through 592.
Traditional narrative
Before his ascension t ...
), but the two gradually came into conflict, and Umako finally killed the
Okimi Ōkimi (, ''Ōkimi'', ''Daiō'') or Ame no shita Siroshimesu Ōkimi (, Chi Tenka Daiō) is the title of the Head of the Yamato Kingship or the monarch title of Wakoku (Old Japan) from the Kofun period through the Asuka period in the ancient Japan. ...
. He then enthroned his niece, Princess Nukotabe, as
Empress Suiko
(554 – 15 April 628) was the 33rd monarch of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 推古天皇 (33)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
Suiko reigned from 593 until her death in 628.
In the history of Japan ...
, and together with King Yabado (
Prince Shōtoku
, also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half-s ...
), they built a strong political foundation, establishing the
Twelve Level Cap and Rank System
, established in 603, was the first of what would be several similar cap and rank systems established during the Asuka period of Japanese history. It was adapted from similar systems that were already in place in Sui dynasty China, Paekche and Ko ...
and the
Seventeen-article constitution
The is, according to the '' Nihon Shoki'' of 720, a document authored by Prince Shōtoku in 604. It was adopted in the reign of Empress Suiko. The emphasis of the document is not so much on the basic laws by which the state was to be governed, suc ...
.
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, which was introduced to Japan in the middle of the sixth century, was emphasized as an
Ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...
to support governance and rule, and historical books such as
Tennōki
, alternatively known as ''Sumera Mikoto no Fumi'', is a historical text purported to have been written in 620 by Shōtoku Taishi and Soga no Umako. It is recorded in the '' Nihon Shoki'', but no extant copies are known to exist.
According to th ...
and
Kokki were compiled.After this, the political forms and systems based on the clan system were gradually dissolved, and the Yamato State phase came to an end, and the ancient
Ritsuryo State was formed.
To "Japan"
In the mid-7th century, when the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
began to invade
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 ...
, the need for centralized power in Yamato increased, and the
Taika-no-Kaishin took place at Naniwa Palace.
Emperor Tenmu
was the 40th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53.
Tenmu's re ...
, who won the right of succession to the great throne in the
Jinshin War
The was a war of succession in Japan during the Asuka period of the Yamato state. It broke out in 672 following the death of Emperor Tenji. The name refers to the ''jinshin'' (壬申) or ninth year of the sixty-year Jikkan Jūnishi calendrica ...
, began to build the
Fujiwara-kyō
was the Imperial capital of Japan for sixteen years, between 694 and 710. It was located in Yamato Province (present-day Kashihara, Nara, Kashihara in Nara Prefecture), having been moved from nearby Asuka, Yamato, Asuka. However, the name Fujiwa ...
and moved the capital from
Asuka, Yamato
was the Imperial capital of Japan during the Asuka period (538 – 710 AD), which takes its name from this place. It is located in the present-day village of Asuka, Nara Prefecture.
Etymology
Some of the many theories of what the place was nam ...
in the reign of Emperor
Empress Jitō
was the 41st monarch of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 持統天皇 (41)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
Jitō's reign spanned the years from 686 through 697.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834).
In the history o ...
.
Asuka period
The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after t ...
,
Yamato period
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 ...
. With the completion of the
Taihō Code
The was an administrative reorganisation enacted in 703 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito. Nussbaum, Louis-Fr ...
in
701
__NOTOC__
Year 701 ( DCCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 701 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
, the Yamato Kingdom began to use "Japan" as its national name (initially written as "Japan" and pronounced "Yamato"), and formally designated the new sovereign as "
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
" to replace the
Okimi Ōkimi (, ''Ōkimi'', ''Daiō'') or Ame no shita Siroshimesu Ōkimi (, Chi Tenka Daiō) is the title of the Head of the Yamato Kingship or the monarch title of Wakoku (Old Japan) from the Kofun period through the Asuka period in the ancient Japan. ...
.
[Hane, Mikiso; Perez, Louis G. (2014). Premodern Japan: a Historical Survey. (Second edition ed.). Boulder, CO. .]
Related Shrines
*
Ise Grand Shrine
The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and .
The Inn ...
:
** A shrine whose main deity is the
Amaterasu
Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the ''Kojik ...
, the ancestral deity of the Imperial Family.
Taruhito's fourth daughter,
Watahime-no-mikoto, traveled eastward through Yamato,
Omi, and
Mino Mino may refer to:
Places in Japan
* Mino, Gifu, a city in Gifu Prefecture
* Mino, Kagawa, a former town in Kagawa Prefecture
* Mino, Tokushima, a town in Tokushima Prefecture
* Mino, an alternate spelling of Minoh, a city in Osaka Prefecture
* Mi ...
in search of a land to worship Amaterasu, and then
oracle
An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination.
Description
The word '' ...
to establish a shrine in Ise where the Great God resides, which is said to be the origin of this shrine.
*
Ōmiwa Shrine
, also known as , is a Shinto shrine located in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is noted because it contains no sacred images or objects because it is believed to serve Mount Miwa, the mountain on which it stands. For the same reas ...
:
** This shrine is located in the southeastern part of the
Nara Basin
The Nara Basin (奈良盆地 ''Nara-bonchi''), also known as the Yamato Basin (大和盆地 ''Yamato-bonchi''), is a valley in the north-western part of Nara Prefecture, Japan. It has an area of roughly . It is surrounded on four sides by mounta ...
, which is believed to be the birthplace of the Yamato Imperial Court.
It is the
Ujigami
An is a guardian god or spirit of a particular place in the Shinto religion of Japan. The ''ujigami'' was prayed to for a number of reasons, including protection from sickness, success in endeavors, and good harvests.
History
The ''ujigami' ...
of the , who were the first inhabitants of the area before the
Jimmu's Eastern Expedition
refers to a series of stories in which Emperor Jimmu became emperor of Japan for the first time (Emperor Jimmu) after defeating Nagasunehiko, who had ruled the Nara Basin and its surrounding area, after leaving Hyuga Province.
Overview
...
. The main deity is
Omononushi-Ōkami, and
Mount Miwa
or is a mountain located in the city of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It has been an important religious and historical mountain in Japan, especially during its early history, and serves as a holy site in Shinto. The entire mountain is co ...
is the
Sacred mountains
Sacred mountains are central to certain religions, and are usually the subjects of many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious realms. Many rel ...
. The origin of this shrine is said to be that
Omikijin made the god of
Omiwa, his
Mitama
The Japanese word refers to the spirit of a ''kami'' or the soul of a dead person. It is composed of two characters, the first of which, , is simply an honorific. The second, means "spirit". The character pair 神霊, also read ''mitama'', is ...
, a happy soul and strange spirit, to live in a palace on
Mount Miwa
or is a mountain located in the city of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It has been an important religious and historical mountain in Japan, especially during its early history, and serves as a holy site in Shinto. The entire mountain is co ...
in Japan. Even today, the shrine does not have a
main hall, but retains the form of
Ko-Shintō
refers to the animistic religion of Jōmon period Japan, which is the alleged basis of modern Shinto. The search for traces of Koshintō began with the "Restoration Shinto" in the Edo period, which goal was to remove any foreign ideas and worl ...
(primitive Shintoism) in which the deity is worshipped from the
Prayer hall.
The
Suwa-taisha
, historically also known as Suwa Shrine (諏訪神社 ''Suwa-jinja'') or , is a group of Shinto shrines in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The shrine complex is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Shinano Province and is considered to be one of the oldest ...
, which does not have the mountain as its deity but does not have a main shrine like the Okami Shrine, was dedicated by the
Suwa clan
The , also known as the Jin or Miwa clan (神氏, ''Miwa uji / Miwa-shi'' or ''Jinshi'') was a Japanese '' shake'' and samurai family. Originating from the area encompassing Lake Suwa in Shinano Province (modern-day Nagano Prefecture), it was ori ...
, who were members of the same clan as the Miwa clan
*
Atsuta Shrine is a Shinto shrine traditionally believed to have been established during the reign of Emperor Keikō (71-130) located in Atsuta-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture in Japan. The shrine is familiarly known as ''Atsuta-Sama'' (Venerable Atsuta) or simpl ...
:
** The main deity is Atsuta no Okami, who is the deity of one of the three
Imperial Regalia of Japan
The are the imperial regalia of Japan and consist of the sword , the mirror , and the jewel . They represent the three primary virtues: valour (the sword), wisdom (the mirror), and benevolence (the jewel). ,
Kusanagi no Tsurugi
is a legendary Japanese sword and one of three Imperial Regalia of Japan. It was originally called , but its name was later changed to the more popular ("Grass-Cutting Sword"). In folklore, the sword represents the virtue of valor.
Legends
...
.
After his expedition to the east,
Yamato Takeru
, originally , was a Japanese semi-legendary prince of the Yamato dynasty, son of Emperor Keikō, who is traditionally counted as the 12th Emperor of Japan. His name written in kanji can vary, in the '' Nihon Shoki'' it is spelled 日本武尊 a ...
is said to have married , the daughter of the Owari provincial governor, and to have collapsed at Nokono-no.
*
Isonokami Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in the hills of Furu in Tenri, Nara prefecture, Japan. It is one of the oldest extant Shinto shrines in Japan and has housed several significant artifacts.
Isonokami shrine was highly regarded in the ancient era, and ...
:
** The
Ujigami
An is a guardian god or spirit of a particular place in the Shinto religion of Japan. The ''ujigami'' was prayed to for a number of reasons, including protection from sickness, success in endeavors, and good harvests.
History
The ''ujigami' ...
of the
Mononobe clan
The was a Japan, Japanese aristocratic kin group Uji (clan), (''uji'') of the Kofun period, known for its military opposition to the Soga clan. The Mononobe were opposed to the spread of Buddhism, partly on religious grounds, claiming that the ...
, a powerful clan that has served Emperor Jinmu since his time. It was founded during the reign of
Emperor Sujin
, also known as in the ''Kojiki'', and or in the '' Nihon Shoki'' was the tenth Emperor of Japan. While Sujin is the first emperor whose existence historians widely accept, he is still referred to as a "legendary emperor" due to a lack of info ...
. It is said that when
Taruhito asked the brothers
Emperor Keiko
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...
what each of them wanted, the older brother wanted a bow and arrow and the younger brother wanted the throne, and when
Emperor Keikō
, also known as and , was the 12th legendary Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Both the ''Kojiki'', and the ''Nihon Shoki'' (collectively known as the ''Kiki'') record events that took place during Keikō's all ...
made 1,000 swords and stored them at the Ishigami Shrine, they came to be revered as guardian deities.
See also
*
Wago
are native Japanese words, meaning those words in Japanese that have been inherited from Old Japanese, rather than being borrowed at some stage. Together with kango () and gairaigo (), they form one of the three main sources of Japanese words ...
*
Protohistory
Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...
*
Emishi
The (also called Ebisu and Ezo), written with Chinese characters that literally mean "shrimp barbarians," constituted an ancient ethnic group of people who lived in parts of Honshū, especially in the Tōhoku region, referred to as in contemp ...
*
Harima dynasty
*
Echizen dynasty
Annotations
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
* {{Cite book , last=武光 , first=誠 , title=「古代日本」誕生の謎 , date=5 January 2006 , publisher=PHP研究所 , isbn=4569665799
Japanese imperial history
History of Nara Prefecture
Kofun period