Dramatis Personae

This is probably going to take another Dramatis Personae list to help keep things straight, so here we go:

Ōhatsuse Wakatake no Ōkimi

Aka Yūryaku Tennō (雄略天皇), formally listed as the 21st sovereign of the imperial lineage. He was the Great King, or Sovereign, from about 457 to 479. We also have his name on two iron swords found in tombs from around the period, which confirm his name as something like “Wakatakiru no Opokimi”. Despite the fact that a fair amount seems to have been accomplished during his relatively long reign—20 years is nothing to sneeze at—he seems mostly remembered for his cruelty and violence. Granted, it is unclear just how different this was from the norm at the time—not to excuse what he was doing so much as to place it in context. From everything we’ve seen, after a sovereign’s death there was a lot of chaos and violence, and so it is unsurprising that the one who would rise to the top might just be the one best at dealing with the violence and demonstrating authority in some way.

Woasatsuma Wakugo no Sukune

Aka Ingyō Tennō (允恭天皇) , and possibly “Oasazuma”. Officially the 19th sovereign in the line, and, according to the Chronicles, the father of both Wakatake and Anaho. That said, if the records of the Liu Song dynasty are accurate, it is entirely possible that some of this got mixed up, and it is possible that the lineage up to this point is a little confused.

Anaho no Ōkimi

Aka Ankō Tennō (安康天皇). We don’t actually know this sovereign’s given name, unless he really did have the given name of the location of his palace in “Anaho”. He was a son of Woasatsuma, and he reigned only a few short years, we are told, before he was killed by his adopted son. It is said that he named a cousin, Prince Ichinohe, as his successor, but Prince Ichinohe was killed by Wakatake in his own bid for the throne.

Prince Mimuma

Little is known about this Prince. This may be the same as Prince Mima mentioned elsewhere, a son of Izaho Wake (the “17th” sovereign in the official lineage) and Kuro Hime. He likely had some claim to the throne, due to his parentage, as there were, as of yet, no clear rules for lineal succession.

Miwa no Kimi

Mentioned mostly in passing as lord of land in Musa. This seems less of a name than a title, however—Miwa being the name of the area of Mt. Miwa, and “kimi” meaning lord. It may be that the Miwa family also had rights to the lands of Musa. Later we are introduced to others who are also tied to Musa in some way or another.

Kusaka no Hatahi

Also known as Kusaka no Hatabi, given that Old Japanese didn’t really have an “H” sound and so what we render as “H” was more likely a “P” or “B” sound. She was the sister to Prince Ōkusaka, and therefore the daughter of Ōsazaki no Mikoto, aka Nintoku Tennō, officially the 16th sovereign, and his consort, Kaminaga Hime of Himuka. She was originally married to her half-brother, Izaho Wake, with whom she had a daughter, Nakashi. After Izaho Wake's death she and her daughter went back to live with her brother. But she was then married off to Wakatake, her nephew through her half-brother, Woasatsuma, while her daughter married Anaho. That put her in the unique situation of being the queen twice, both before and after her own daughter. This causes some confusion when the narrative only refers to people by titles, and so we get the “Queen” actually being the mother of the “Dowager Queen”, at least if the Chronicles are to be believed.

Prince Ōkusaka

Son of Ōsazaki and Kaminaga Hime, like his sister, Kusaka no Hatahi, he was apparently not considered a candidate for the throne, although he is mentioned as a son of Ōsazaki when the nobles instead chose Woasatsuma, so he may have had a claim. There is plenty here to suggest, to me, anyway, that he may not have actually been a descendant of Ōsazaki, though. The name “Kusaka” feels very much like a place name, and there is a “Kusaka” (spelled with the same characters from the Prince’s name) on the island of Awaji as well as a “Kusaka-cho” (with characters indicating the bottom of a slope, or downslope) over in the the old area of Kawachi, but there is no clear indication of a connection between either of these places and these two individuals that I have seen, so for now it is just speculation. Ōkusaka had married his own niece, Nakashi Hime, and they had a son, named Prince Mayuwa.

Ne no Omi

A noble of a high ranking family. He was sent to broker the deal with Prince Ōkusaka regarding the hand of the latter’s sister, Hatahi. Ōkusaka gave him a crown to take to the sovereign, Anaho, as a sign that he agreed to the terms. Covetting the crown, however, Ne no Omi lied and said that Ōkusaka had refused, and mentioned nothing about the Crown. This led to the death of Ōkusaka, and eventually to many others.

Wone no Omi

Also “One no Omi”, he is called out as the son of Ne no Omi and, quite literally, as “Little Ne no Omi”, aka “Ne no Omi, Jr.”

Prince Mayuwa

Sometimes rendered as “Mayowa”. This was the son of Nakashi Hime and Ōkusaka, and by most accounts he wasn’t much more than 7 years old when his father was killed by Anaho’s forces. He was taken in by Anaho when the latter married Mayuwa’s mother, Nakashi Hime. When Mayuwa overheard a conversation wherein he learned that Anaho had had his father, Ōkusaka, killed, Mayuwa decided to avenge his father and he killed Anaho in his sleep. This eventually led to Wakatake’s own rise to power.

Nakashi Hime

Princess Nakashi was the daughter of Izaho Wake and Kusaka no Hatahi. She was married off to her uncle, Prince Ōkusaka, and gave birth to a child, Prince Mayuwa. After Ōkusaka was killed, she was taken as a wife and made queen by the sovereign, Anaho no Ōkimi, but they had no children together, leaving the question of an heir up for debate.

Shiki no Ōagatanushi

This is actually a title, not a name: 大県主. “Ō” means great, and in this case probably means someone with authority over several districts, or “agata”—in this case in the Shiki district of the central Nara Basin. An “agata” (県) is the term later used for “prefecture” (ken) and was an old division of area. “Nushi” (主) indicates some kind of authority—often translated as “Master” or “Lord”. The story, here, then, is interesting in that it doesn’t name the individual, and I’m not sure that it really names the sovereign, so it probably could have come from just about anywhere. The issue is that we don’t know what source material it was being pulled from, and unless we find other stories in other records, it is hard to say whether this story had actually been part of Wakatake’s tale from the beginning, or if it was just conveniently added in here. It is still neat for what it tells us about architectural traditions, though even that is still a little unclear.

Koshiwaki

Relative of the Ōagatanushi of Shiki, who was given to the sovereign along with the gift of the white dog. I assume that he was effectively given as an enslaved hostage to prove the Ōagatanushi’s sincerity.

Chinu no Agatanushi

Another example of a district leader or district chief known to us only by their title. Once again, this is a district that is fairly local to the court, sitting in the south of Kawachi.

Ōkusaka Be no Kishi

This would appear to be the head of the Ōkusaka Be corporate family group. He was originally a descendant of the Naniwa no Kishi no Hikaka—which is to say the Hikaka Kishi of Naniwa. In this case it looks as if they may be transferring him over with the same kabane.

Now, we’ve mentioned, earlier, how these “Be” families are not necessarily true family groups, but rather groups of workers who are placed into a family-unit style organization. This is the perfect example of just such a creation, with many of the members coming from Ne no Omi’s household, but the leader in charge of the Be group is clearly from another line. It is likely that they would have owed their production to the Kusaka line (possibly just for the upkeep of Kusaka no Hatahi and Nakashi Hime, as well as any of their descendants), or it may have been more regionally focused, supporting some other institution.

Prince Shiraga Takehiko Kunioshi Waka Yamato Neko

Wakatake’s son by way of Kara Hime. His name—especially the “Yamato Neko”—hearkens back to names of various legendary (and likely fictional) sovereigns. We’ll talk more about him in the next couple episodes, I’m sure.

Kara Hime

Daughter of Katsuraki no Tsubura no Ōmi, who, in turn, was responsible for sheltering Prince Mayuwa and Prince Kurobiko during Wakatake’s rampage. Tsubura no Ōmi’s kabane would seem to indicate that he was the Prime Minister, or at the very least he was the head of his Minister-ranked family. That he was from Katsuraki is also telling, as that was the same location where we got Katsuraki no Sotsu Hiko and his daughter, Iwa no Hime, meaning that it was doing a decent job of producing consorts whose offspring would go on to become sovereigns.

Of course, Kara Hime did not become a consort willingly, we are told, but rather in a failed effort to spare the life of her father. The fact that her son became Crown Prince and her daughter, Waka Tarashi Hime (aka Takuhata no Iratsume), became the Ise Princess. This would seem to actually make her the Queen, if that position had not already been taken by Kusaka no Hatahi.

Kibi no Waka Hime

Kibi no Waka Hime was originally the wife of Tasa no Omi of Kibi no Kamitsumichi. With him she had two sons, only known to us as the Ye Gimi and Oto Gimi—the Elder Lord and the Younger Lord. She was coveted by Wakatake, who, depending on the story, either killed Tasa no Omi or sent him off to the continent, taking Waka Hime as his own. She gave birth to two sons Prince Iwashiro (aka Prince Iwaki) and Prince Hoshikawa no Wakamiya. We will discuss both in later episodes.

Here the interesting thing to me is that she is from Kibi, a rival state to Yamato in the archipelago, making me wonder if there isn’t more going on here.

Kibi no Kamitsumichi no Tasa no Omi

A noble from the “upper road” of Kibi, likely indicating the eastern areas, closer to Yamato. He was married to Waka Hime, and had two sons. Later he was, according to one story at least, sent out to be the governor of Nimna (aka Mimana in Japanese and Imna in Korean) on the Korean peninsula. He would eventually attempt to cut off Yamato’s trade with the continent, at least according to one story in the Nihon Shoki. His connection with Kibi makes me wonder if this wasn’t a reworking of some political manuevering by Kibi to try to cut Yamato out of the continental trade routes, which seems to have a been a large part of Yamato’s power and influence among the other Wa groups.

Otogimi

The youngest son of Tasa no Omi. We aren’t given much on him other than that he was sent to chastise Silla and bring back more artisans from Baekje.

Kibi no Ama no Atahe no Akawo

Akawo, the Atahe (a lower ranking kabane) of the Ama (fishermen) of Kibi. He was sent with Otogimi to help chastise Silla. Here it makes sense that a leader of fishermen would be recruited for an ocean voyage, and it is likely that the “Ama” were both fishermen, traders, soldiers, and pirates as required of them. That he is said to have been from Kibi goes along with the idea that perhaps the entire excursion was actually a Kibi enterprise, not a Yamato one.

Kusu Hime

Said to be the wife of Otogimi. When she gets wind that he would betray Yamato she kills him and then goes to hide out for a while on a large island—possibly the actual Ōshima.

Kwan’in and Chiri

These were both individuals of the Western Aya, one of the various Aya groups on the archipelago. “Aya” was the name given to some of the groups descended from Baekje expats who had moved to Yamato. Given that and the distinctly un-Japanese nature of the sinographs used for their names suggested to Aston that they be read with a modern Korean reading, rather than Japanese. They requested to travel with Otogimi and Akawo so that they could bring back more artisans from Baekje. The new artisans were formed into their own group, the Imaki.

Imaki and the Aya

Neither the Imaki nor the Aya are a single individual, but rather familial groups made up of individuals from the Korean Peninsula—mostly Baekje. These groups are treated as families even though the individuals likely cannot trace to a single remote ancestor. It is interesting in how they are incorporated into the Yamato polity, however, effectively given full status as subjects. There is no indication that they are treated differently or as inferior. Compare that with, say, the way the Emishi of the Northeast or even the Hayato in the south are treated by the court.

Something we didn’t go over in the episode—after the Imaki were initially settled, disease broke out in the community. Of those who survived, they were sent to different areas around Yamato—possibly to different areas of the archipelago—to serve as local artisans.

Hitaka no Kishi no Katashiwa and Ko Anjeon

These two individuals, one with an apparently Japanese name and the other whom Aston identifies with a Korean pronunciation, were sent to find the missing expedition of Otokimi. They eventually found Kusu Hime and Akawo no Atahe and from there helped escort the Imaki back to Yamato proper.

Hiketa Be no Akawiko

Other than the mention of her in the Kojiki, there is very little to know. She is clearly of one of the Be groups, but that didn’t stop Wakatake from thinking about taking her on as a wife. She apparently lived near the Miwa River, though this could have several meanings. There is a Miwa River up in modern Hyōgo Prefecture, but I could not find “Hiketa” as a placename. There are several rivers around Mt. Miwa that this could indicate. And then for “Hiketa” itself, which is mentioned in the poems, there is a Hiketa of the same name over on the northeast side of Shikoku. Of course, it could be that, despite her name, she was not actually from Hiketa, but merely part of the Be household that supported the Hiketa family, or something along those lines.

Woguna Kimi

Woguna was an uneme, one of the ladies of the court. She was the daughter of Kasuga no Wani no Omi no Fukame, and as such her name might have been more properly Kasuga no Woguna. The kabane “kimi” or “gimi” I suspect was her later title, after being raised up. She was the mother of Kasuga no Ōiratsume. As a daughter of the Wani no Omi, she was still the daughter of a high-ranking family, even though she was nominally in a “servant” role within the palace. This is something that we’ll see that those who are “servants” in the palace are often still a good deal higher in rank and position than those who are outside. In fact, in later periods you would need to be of a certain rank to even be allowed up into the actual palace buildings. Otherwise you would be relegated to the palace grounds—assuming you were at least of a high enough rank to even get on the compound in the first place!

Kasuga no Ōiratsume

The daughter of Woguna Kimi and Wakatake no Ōkimi. We have little more at this point other than that she was recognized as Wakatake’s child, which forced him to acknowledge her mother and raise her up to the rank of an official consort.

Mononobe no Me

Mononobe no Me was a prominent noble—as we can tell by the conversations he has with the sovereign. He was at one point made Ōmuraji of the Mononobe—basically the head member of the family, similar to Ōmi, but the Mononobe were, according the Chronicles, anyway, only ranked as Muraji, which was apparently just a step below the Omi families. There is some question about this, as it isn’t clear that the kabane ranks stayed the same, and there is evidence that early on the Mononobe were one of the most powerful families in the Yamato court.

Locations

It isn’t just the people, but the places that are important. So here I’ll try to bring up some of those that we encounter with links to the area where they may be in the modern day. Taking a look, you may notice that most of these places were in the area of the Nara Basin, which is probably where the court had the most direct control, even if they had considerable influence in much of the rest of the archipelago.

Asakura Palace

Traditionally, Wakatake's palace is said to be the Asakura Palace in Hatsuse--known today simply as Hase--which, by tradition was said to be in Sakurai.

Mt. Unebi

This mountain resides in the Kashiwara area of the southern Nara Basin, and is one of three mountains known as the Yamato Sanzan—literally “Three mountains of Yamato”. The other two are Mt. Miminashi and Mt. Ama-no-Kagu. Together they formed the border for Fujiwara-kyō the first continental style permanent—if short-lived (694-710)—capital city to be built in the archipelago. It would have still been an important place in the minds of the Nara era courtiers, since it was the capital no more than 10 years before the Nihon Shoki came out, and only two years before the publication of the Kojiki. It was therefore part of the landscape where these stories were being told by Hieda no Are in response to Temmu’s request.

Musa

An area just south of Mt. Unebi, probably in southern districts of modern Kashihara city, between modern Toriyachō and Misechō. It may have one time been under the Miwa no Kimi—the family connected with the sacred Mt. Miwa, aka Mt. Mimoro. Various other individuals from the narrative also are attached, including Musa no Suguri, who may have been a local village or district head in the area.

Shiki

The district of Shiki has come up before in the stories. It probably corresponds somewhat with the modern district of Shiki, though it is hard to be certain and unlikely that the borders were that fixed in early days.

Takanukuhara in Isonokami

Possibly Takanuki no Hara. There appears to be a tradition that states that this is somewhere up in Tottori, on the Japan Sea side of Honshū. I’m having a hard time with that, since why would the continental delegation be sent all the way up there rather than somewhere in the Nara Basin. Furthermore, up to this point we have no reason to think that Isonokami is anywhere other than around the Isonokami Shrine, in modern Tenri city, which has generally been the assumption about any mention of Isonokami up to this point. So it seems a stretch to place Takanukuhara so far away from the core of Yamato.

Chinu

This is written in the Nihon Shoki as 茅渟 and I assume it was a district that stretched along the western coast of the land of Kawachi, possibly from around modern Sennan, which is where we find the Chinu Shrine, and up to the area of Naniwa in modern Ōsaka. This was first mentioned in the Nihon Shoki with the legend of Iware-biko’s invasion and the death of his brother, Itsuse, claiming that “Chinu” meant something like “Field of Blood”. In fact, it comes up regularly in the Chronicles, and the places identified with it almost seem to stretch across the coastal regions of the land of Kawachi, between the Seto Inland Sea and the mountain range that forms the western edge of the Nara Basin.

Katsuraki

Aka Katsuragi. This area on the eastern edge of the Nara Basin is still there as the modern city of Katsuragi. It was the home of Sotsu Hiko, whom some suggest may have been an early ruler in his own right, given some of his exploits and the fact that his daughter, Iwa no Hime, ended up as Queen and giving birth to future sovereigns even though she was not, per the Chronicles, descended from the royal line. Later we would see something similar with the daughter of Tsubura no Omi, Kara Hime, who would marry Wakatake and give birth to the Crown Prince and one of the Ise Princesses. In the latter part of the 5th century, this also appears to be a popular hunting spot, along with Awaji and Yoshino, likely because of the mountainous forest regions that would have been ideal for game.

Kibi

A land, similar to Yamato, with its own apparent sovereigns, or kingly class, such that they were building their own giant mounded keyhole tombs at the same time that Yamato was, and they rival in size those of the kingly tombs in Yamato. It is unclear just how much independence they held and what kind of territory Kibi expanded to, but it generally is viewed as having included most of modern Okayama Prefecture as well as much of the eastern half of modern Hiroshima Prefecture.

Kibi no Kamitsumichi

The “upper” part of Kibi, indicating an area closer to Yamato, so probably either the area around modern Okayama city or further east, towards the district of Bizen.

Nimna

Aka Imna (in Korean) and Mimana (in Japanese), this was a polity on the Korean Peninsula, probably somewhere near the Nakdong river, near or even part of the Kara confederacy. We have even seen it called “Nimna-kara”. It is controversial as the Chronicles claim that it is a Japanese colony on the peninsula, even going so far as to appoint governors, such as Tasa no Omi. However, it also seems to have had its own local ruler. It may very well have been a state of ethnic Wa on the continent, as there appear to have been Wa on both sides of the Korean straits, but just how subservient it was to Yamato is questionable. If they shared a common language and culture, it would make sense that they would have at least been closely allied. As to where it was, exactly, is difficult, if not impossible, to say.

Ōshima

This could just refer to a “big island”, but it is also the name of a specific island: possibly Azuchi-Oshima, which used to be one of the stops on the route between the archipelago and the Korean peninsula.

Mt. Mimoro aka Mt. Miwa

Mt. Miwa is the sacred mountain in the southeast corner of the Nara Basin. It was likely the main holy site for the early Yamato courts and continues to hold a special place even to this day.

References

• Ō, Yasumaro, & Heldt, G. (2014). The Kojiki: An account of ancient matters. ISBN978-0-231-16389-7

• Osawa, et al. (2008). ワカタケルの剣　「図説日本の古墳・古代遺跡―決定版 (歴史群像シリーズ)」pp 134. ISBN:978-4-05-605064-6.

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

• Bentley, John. (2006). The Authenticity of Sendai Kuji Hongi: a New Examination of Texts, with a Translation and Commentary. ISBN-90-04-152253

• Chamberlain, B. H. (1981). The Kojiki: Records of ancient matters. Rutland, Vt: C.E. Tuttle Co.  ISBN4-8053-0794-3

• Shichirō, M., & Miller, R. A. (1979). The Inariyama Tumulus Sword Inscription. Journal of Japanese Studies, 5(2), 405–438. https://doi.org/10.2307/132104

• Aston, W. G. (1972). Nihongi, chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN0-80480984-4

• Philippi, D. L. (1968). Kojiki. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN4-13-087004-1