So this episode we finally get to Himiko, an intriguing and elusive figure in Japanese history. One the one hand, she is the first named person in Japanese history—or at least proto-history, since the account is written by the Chinese. And she is a woman—since the majority of history is dominated by a patriarchal narrative, to find a woman in a position of power and authority is a rarity. Being a rarity, it is easy to invest the narrative with our hopes, fears, and biases.

The truth is that there is little we know, and everyone will have a different take on Himiko’s life. To some she is a non-entity—she’s not part of the official lineage, and the historical accident of her presence in the Wei Chronicles means that we know about her, but that’s it. Besides, it isn’t even a name—it is probably just a title. Others point to the description of her as a secluded shamaness and suggest that maybe she wasn’t the actual power. In that narrative, she was a figurehead, performing the rites, but it was her younger brother who was “helping” her that actually ran things. These are certainly all possibilities, but look at the evidence.

First off, why would the Chinese account address her, instead of her brother or some other official? There certainly is plenty of circumstantial evidence to suggest that co-rulers (hiko-hime pairs) were not uncommon. Certainly it seems intriguing that one of, if not the, largest kofun from around this time is said to be the tomb of a woman—and a shamaness, at that.

Oh, and on the whole thing about the keyhole-shaped tombs. The keyhole tomb shape starts near Makimuku in the 3rd century, and then spreads to the rest of Yamato and then the rest of Japan. There are even some keyhole-shaped tombs in the southern Korean peninsula. Of course, these aren’t the only shapes for these mounded tumuli, but it is distinctive and the shape of the largest tombs—those considered to be part of the imperial line. There are some shapes that are more regional. Others that may have been reserved for officers of a particular grade, but the keyhole tombs have a particular correlation to the apparent spread of Yamato influence and authority.

The other bit of evidence we have have are the mirrors, mentioned in the episode. In particular are a type of mirrors known as triangular rimmed mirrors—so-called because they have a triangular cross-section to their rim. These mirrors are quite distinctive, with different motifs. These aren’t random—different motifs appear to have been popular at different times. For instance, there is some thought that the “gods and beats” mirrors may have been attached to a belief in the Queen Mother of the West and the King Father of the East, which may have influenced the concept of Wa rulership in Japan.

Another popular feature of these mirrors are the “TLV” style mirrors. These ones were based on a kind of board game, found in some tombs. We don’t have a clear indication of just what this game was or how it was played, but many people assume that it had some kind of astrological, fortune-telling, or other cosmological significance.

It is known as liubo, and whether it was even a game or if it was some sort of divination device is not known, though I can’t help but notice that there is no clear differentiation between the two people on either side of the board.

That it likely has some cosmological significance, at least in China, is bolstered by some of the other images on various mirrors. Another common theme are the four directional guardian animals:

• Genbu - the black tortoise of the North

• Seiryu - the blue dragon of the East

• Suzaku - the red bird of the South

• Byakko - the white tiger of the West

These guardian animals, and other such concepts, start to show up more and more often over the next few centuries. Himiko may have gone to the Wei for legitimacy, but this would be a trend that would continue over the next few centuries, and early on that is wrapped around a Chinese cosmological worldview.

For all that, there were still areas where the Wa excelled, and needed no assistance, and one of those was in the area of seamanship. As an island nation, the people of Japan have always had a close relationship with the sea, and their early shipbuilding techniques were geared towards boats that would travel on the ocean. In China, on the other hand, most people traveled overland. The ships tended towards flat-bottomed vessels used to ply the waters of the rivers and canals that criss-crossed the empire. They wouldn’t truly have seaworthy ships of their own until the Song dynasty, and even then they would often continue to build ships in the old mold, using them as floating platforms and then constructing buildings on top. This created very impressive but not exactly effective ships.

Early ships plied the water using oars. Sails may not have been available when Himiko sent her missions. They definitely show up in later models, but the earliest ships would have been pulled through the water with teams of sailors on the oars. These would have been the ships that carried the Wa to the continent for trade, diplomacy, and the occasional raid.

All that aside, there are a few things that we want to make sure to clear up, in case there are questions. The first issue is one of dates.

You see, as we note in the episode, the first mission departs either in 238 or 239. The truth is that the text claims it is in 238. If that is true, then it means that the Wa mission left during a time of major disruption. They would have hit Daifang either during the conflict or only shortly thereafter, and one cannot expect that they would have been intending, then, to contact the Wei. It is possible that they were going to the court of the Yan kingdom, which had declared its own dynasty only a year previously, and were then diverted. If they had then arrived at Luoyang later that year, they would have been there just before Cao Rui’s death. Still, they may have dealt with a regent, then—they certainly would have in the following year.

Later Chinese chronicles actually assume that 239 is the correct date. If that’s the case, then they likely arrived in Luoyang shortly after the mourning period for Cao Rui had passed, though it is possible that the mission was considered special enough that it warranted action despite the year-long mourning that should be required. In this instance we went with 239, but just realize that it could be 238.

The other main issue is one of names. For instance, “Nasome” could also be “Natome” depending on your interpretation—and it was probably something else, altogether. Proto-Japanese actually had more vowels and even consonants than modern Japanese, and so even these are approximations, but they work for our purposes to try to keep track of the story. For Chinese names we are using the modern Putonghua pronunciation (as best as I can manage), though even those would have sounded different in the spoken dialects of the time.

For a more complete understanding of things, I recommend reading through some of the references.

References

·         Barnes, G. (2015). Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilization in China, Korea and Japan. Oxbow Books. Retrieved March 12, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt19893vd

·         BARNES, G. (2014). A Hypothesis for Early Kofun Rulership. Japan Review, (27), 3-29. Retrieved March 12, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/23849568

·         Yoshie, A., Tonomura, H., & Takata, A. (2013). Gendered Interpretations of Female Rule: The Case of Himiko, Ruler of Yamatai. U.S.-Japan Women's Journal, (44), 3-23. Retrieved March 12, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/42771843

·         Barnes, G. (2012). Japan and Korea: Early States of Japan and Korea. Oxford Companion to Archaeology, 2nd Ed.

·         Bentley, J. (2008). The Search for the Language of Yamatai. Japanese Language and Literature, 42(1), 1-43. Retrieved March 12, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/30198053

·         - (2008), “Atlas of Korean History”, Department of History Education, Korea National University of Education

·         Soumaré, Massimo (2007), Japan in Five Ancient Chinese Chronicles: Wo, the Land of Yamatai, and Queen Himiko. ISBN: 978-4-902075-22-9

·         Kidder, J. Edward (2007), Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai: Archaeology, History, and Mythology. ISBN: 978-0824830359

·         Wang, Zhenping. (2005) “Ambassadors from the Islands of Immortals”

·         Lee, Ki-baik (1984) “A New History of Korea”. Shultz, Edward J., tr.