Jimmu's Eastern Expedition
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refers to a series of legends in which
Emperor Jimmu was the legendary first emperor of Japan according to the and . His ascension is traditionally dated as 660 BC.Kelly, Charles F"Kofun Culture"Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, after defeating Nagasunehiko, who had ruled the Nara Basin and its surrounding area, after leaving Hyuga Province. According to the traditional dating system adopted in late 19th century, this expedition took place in 663 BC.


Overview

According to the chronicles ''
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 The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...
'', Jimmu's brothers were born in
Takachiho file:TakachihokyoWithManaiFalls.JPG, 270px, Manai Falls file:Mt.Sobo.jpg, 270px, Mount Sobo file:Yokagura.jpg, 270px, Yokagura is a List of towns in Japan, town in Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki, Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. , t ...
, the southern part of
Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...
in modern-day
Miyazaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,028,215 as of 1 January 2025 and has a geographic area of 7,735 Square kilometre, km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefectur ...
. They moved eastward to find a location more appropriate for administering the entire country. Jimmu's older brother, Itsuse no Mikoto, originally led the migration, and led the clan eastward through the
Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...
with the assistance of local chieftain . As they reached Naniwa (modern-day
Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
), they encountered another local chieftain, , and Itsuse was killed in the ensuing battle. Jimmu realized that they had been defeated because they battled eastward against the sun, so he decided to land on the east side of
Kii Peninsula The is the largest peninsula on the island of Honshū in Japan and is located within the Kansai region. It is named after the ancient Kii Province. The peninsula has long been a sacred place in Buddhism, Shinto, and Shugendo, and many people wou ...
and to battle westward. They reached Kumano and, with the guidance of the
three-legged crow The three-legged (or tripedal) crow is a mythological creature in various mythologies and arts of East Asia. It is believed to inhabit and represent the Sun. Evidence of the earliest bird-Sun motif or totemic articles were excavated around 5000 ...
''
Yatagarasu is a mythical crowThe Book of Ancient Matters, The Book of Ancient Matters, Gakken, pp. 130, 138, 139. and guiding Kami, god in Shinto mythology. He is generally known for his three-legged figure, and his picture has been handed down since an ...
'' ("eight-span crow"), they moved to
Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...
. There, they once again battled Nagasunehiko and were victorious. The record in the ''
Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...
'' of Emperor Jimmu states that his armed forces defeated a group of before his enthronement. The historically known
Emishi The were a group of people who lived in parts of northern Honshū in present-day Japan, especially in the Tōhoku region. The first mention of the Emishi in literature that can be corroborated with outside sources dates to the 5th century AD, ...
were an
ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
who lived in
Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...
, particularly the Tōhoku region. In Yamato, , who also claimed descent from the Takamagahara gods, was protected by Nagasunehiko. However, when Nigihayahi met Jimmu, he accepted Jimmu's legitimacy. At that point, Jimmu is said to have ascended the throne of Japan. Upon scaling a Nara mountain to survey the Seto Inland Sea he then controlled, Jimmu remarked that it was shaped like the "heart" rings made by mating
dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...
, archaically called . A mosquito then tried to steal Jimmu's royal blood but since Jimmu was a god incarnate Emperor, , a dragonfly killed the mosquito. Japan thus received its classical name the Dragonfly Islands, or . According to the ''Kojiki'', Jimmu died when he was 126 years old. The Emperor's
posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...
literally means "divine might" or "god-warrior". It is generally thought that Jimmu's name and character evolved into their present shape just before the time in which legends about the origins of the
imperial dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...
were chronicled 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 ...
''. Aston, William. (1896). ''Nihongi'', pp. 109–137. There are accounts written earlier than either ''Kojiki'' or ''Nihon Shoki'' that present an alternate version of the story. According to those accounts, Jimmu's dynasty was supplanted by that of Ōjin, whose dynasty was supplanted by that of Keitai. The ''Kojiki'' and the ''Nihon Shoki'' then combined those three legendary dynasties into one long and continuous genealogy. The traditional site of Jimmu's
grave A grave is a location where a cadaver, dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is burial, buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of buria ...
is near
Mount Unebi is a mountain in the city of Kashihara, in the central-western part Nara Prefecture, Japan. Together with Mount Amanokagu and Mount Miminashi, it belongs to the so-called " Yamato Sanzan", in which it is the highest. At the foot of the mount ...
in Kashihara,
Nara Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 ...
.
Imperial Household Agency The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family, and the keeping of the Privy Seal of Japan, Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century ...
(''Kunaichō'')
神武天皇 (1)
retrieved August 22, 2013.


Various theories


Northern Kyushu theory

The original starting point of the Jimmu expedition was the northern nine provinces. The rationale is as follows. * The place of departure is listed as "Hyuga", not "Hyuga Province". In the ''
Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...
'', the name "Hyuga Province" is attributed to
Emperor Keiko The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
, so we can assume that the later name of Hyuga Province was not "Hyuga" at the time of the Jimmu expedition. In the '' Nakaueki'', Hyuga is referred to as "the empty land of meat" and "the fruitless land of deer antlers", indicating that Hyuga was a barren land. The construction of
kofun are megalithic tombs or tumulus, tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century AD.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞 ...
(mound tombs) began in the late
4th century The 4th century was the time period from 301 CE (represented by the Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Mid ...
or
5th century The 5th century is the time period from AD 401 (represented by the Roman numerals CDI) through AD 500 (D) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia. ...
indicate that the land was not "barren" and thus it seems unlikely to be the place where the Jimmu expedition departed. * "Hyuga in Tsukushi" could be interpreted as "Hyuga in Tsukushi Province" (there is a place name of "Hyuga" in
Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...
), not "Hyuga Province in Kyushu". For example, even in the area of the stage of the Kyushu theory of the Evil Horse Kingdom, there is Hinata Toge between Itoshima City in Fukuoka Prefecture, where Itokuni was located, and Fukuoka City, where
Nakoku was a stateIn Japanese, the character 国/國, read as ''koku'' (in on'yomi) or ''kuni'' (in kun'yomi), can be translated as "country" or "province" which was located in and around modern-day Fukuoka City, on the Japanese island of Kyūsh ...
was located, and the Hinata River, a second class river, flows there. In Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture, there is the Hinata River. In Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture, there is a place name called Hinataishi, and in the Yabe River basin of Yame City, Fukuoka Prefecture, there is a place name called Hinatajin. There is also a myth of the three generations of Hyuga in the Itoshima area, which differs from the Chronicles, and a large mirror with an inner scrolling flower design, compared 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 Mirror," a reference to its size. Mirrors in ...
by Harada Dairoku, was excavated from the Hirabara site.。


Timing of the Eastern Expedition

* According to Mitsunori Yasumoto, based on an average reign of about 10 years per generation in ancient times, the active period of
Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...
would have been around 230–250, and the active period of Jimmu would have been around 280–300. * Based on the average length of reign of foreign royalty and their biological lifespans, Hisao Hoga argues that the average length of reign of ancient emperors was 10 years per generation, which is an unusual figure, and advocates an average of 25 years. He also believes that the reigns of ancient emperors and foreign royalty were based on the X-multiple year calendar, and he puts the reign of Emperor Jinmu at 175–194 years.。


Negative theory

* Tadashi Nishitani states that it is unlikely that northern Kyushu conquered Kinki. The main reasons for this are that stone tools disappeared earlier in the Kinki region, and iron tools spread more quickly in earnest. Square trench tombs also migrated from Kinki to Kyushu, but Kyushu's tomb system (such as post stone tombs) did not spread to Kinki. In reality, however, this theory has little basis in fact, as iron arrowheads are said to have existed in the Yamataikoku of the Weijing biography, and many have actually been excavated in Kitakyushu, but few iron arrowheads of the 3rd century have been excavated in the Kinai region.。 * Studies on the movement of Shonai-style pottery during 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 ()Schuessler, Axel (2014). "Phonological Notes ...
period confirm the movement of people from Kinki and Kibi to Kyushu, but conversely, there are no examples of pottery from Kyushu moving to Kinki and Kibi during this period (3rd century), making mass migration from Kyushu to Kinki during the Umataikoku period unlikely.。 * Reiji Harashima states that the imperial dynasty's rule over southern Kyushu is assumed to have begun in earnest during the period between the Suiko dynasty and the completion of the Chronicles, and that the story was formed in response to the invasion of Ryukyu by the
Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...
in 608, in order for the imperial dynasty to claim territorial rights over Ryukyu and adjacent southern Kyushu.。


Securing mercury

Ken'ichi Kamigaki, referring to mercury veins from Kinki to Shikoku in his book ''A Study of Niu: Mercury in Japan from the Perspective of Historical Geography'' ( Waseda University Press), argues that the Jimmu expedition to the east was the result of a clan that had run out of resources such as mercury vermilion. In search of an economic base, the clan seized the mercury mines along the Kino River, invaded the Yamato mines in Uda (now shut down), and established the Yamato kingship in the late 3rd century.歴史読本編集部編『ここまでわかった「古代」謎の4世紀』( 新人物往来社、 2014年) ISBN 978-4-04-600400-0 pp.14 - 17.


References

{{Reflist


See also

* Kashihara Shrine Pages with unreviewed translations Japanese imperial history