This episode is perhaps a bit less straightforward than I would have liked, so apologies if there is any confusion. Next episode should get us back on track if there is too much confusion. That said, a few things here that I really couldn’t get into in the depth I wanted in the episode.

Wakatake and the Liu Song

So I’ve mentioned this before, but while there are a fair number of scholars that understandably suggest Wakatake is Bu (武) in the Song Chronicles, more and more I am inclined to suggest that he is actually Kō (與). After all, the date of Kō’s envoy in 462 matches up just too well with the Chronicle for this time, and the envoy from Bu arrived in 478, less than 2 years before Wakatake’s recorded death. Of course, it is likely that one of the sources we read is wrong, as they don’t exactly match up entirely, but if that is the case, I am inclined to go with the Song histories. It is a bit odd that an envoy would be sent towards the end of Wakatake’s reign, but we do know that he eventually put the Crown Prince, Shiraga, in charge of many of the functions of government. In the Chronicles this is placed shortly before his death, but what if it occurred earlier? It is possible that Shiraga was then sending out the mission asking for assistance in completing his father’s objectives, in which case it would be Shiraga who is known as “Bu” and who gained the title of “King of Wa”.

Of course, a big question in all of this is what did it mean, in a practical sense? We tend to assume that because they gained a great title and various concessions that they must have done a lot. However, it is also possible that the titles were the culmination of a series of actions by the Wa that led to greater and greater titles being issued by the Liu Song, but there is no guarantee that any ruler that received them would necessarily reign for a long time. Death could come swiftly and unexpectedly, even to those in power, so we have to be careful of translating grand titles and what it actually means. Was it some kind of lifetime achievement award, or more like a recognition of the state?

Foreign Lineages

One of the things we talk about are the foreign lineages in Japan. One of the most prominent is the Hata (秦), who were weavers and whose name expressly references the continent. Then there were others like the Aya (漢), another group named for their weaving expertise who are described with the character for the Han dynasty rather than the Qin. These are expressly foreign lineages, founded by people who came or were brought over from the Korean peninsula.

However, there were also foreign ties with various “indigenous” lineages. The powerful Mononobe (物部) are known to have accepted foreigners into the family, likely bringing various advantages in terms of continental wealth and technology with them. Even the royal lineage has multiple mentions of both mythical and historical ties to continental descent. This idea has been further bolstered by research into DNA, showing clear links between the people of the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago by the later Kofun period.

Immigrant Gods

One of the more controversial topics of Japanese history at this time would seem to be the idea of “immigrant” gods, or kami. Now, it isn’t controversial—or shouldn’t be—that there are kami that are worshipped in the archipelago that claim to have come from the Korean peninsula. After all, we had Ama no Hiboko who supposedly came to Tsuruga, and we have others in Naniwa and elsewhere, all claiming to be from the Korean peninsula. However, there are other deities, or just aspects of them, where it seems we often meet resistance on this topic. In particular when we discuss the origins for kami like Amaterasu and Susano’o. These are major figures in the Shinto pantheon, and are often considered just about as Japanese as one can get. And so it may be understandable when people balk at the idea that there might be elements from the continent and even other cultures—making them, as some might say, “transnational” deities.

But there is definitely evidence of the same kind of influences that were exerting pressure on the Wa in the archipelago similarly reshaping how they saw the world, including the world of the supernatural. And so we see elements, like the popularity of the Queen Mother of the West, found in the early mirrors from the continent, but also in similarities in how deities like Amaterasu are portrayed. This isn’t to say that Amaterasu is a stand-in for a continental deity, but rather that she is an amalgamation of various stories and ideas—much as the Chronicles themselves and just about any modern culture is the product of every influence that came before.

If anything, early kami seem to be represented as snakes, arrows, etc. We see this in the deity of Mt. Miwa in early stories and even the giant serpent captured by Sukaru that is identified as Ikazuchi (the Thunder God). There is also the description of the rainbow that illuminates the site of Takuhata’s death as looking like a “giant serpent”. Of course, there are other visible-kami-as-animal examples, such as in the stories of Yamato Takeru, but snakes seem to have a particular place of prominence in the stories.

On the other hand, the world of Takamagahara, the Heavenly Plain, is filled with rice fields and silk weaving, among other things. Even the mirrors hung in the trees, and even swords, were things that came, originally, from the continent. Particularly, though, there seems to be an emphasis with weaving, which, of course, explains the title of Michael Como’s book: “Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Female Immortals in Ancient Japan”. Here he also places a lot of emphasis on the Weaver Maiden figure that we see in things like the Weaver Maiden and the Oxherd story of Tanabata fame. But rather than trying to summarize all of his arguments, I am going to recommend that if you are interested, check out his book on the subject and come to your own conclusions.

References

• — (2022). Inabe Jinja Website. http://www.inabe-jinjya.or.jp/index2.html. Last checked 3/31/2022.

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

• Kim, P., & Shultz, E. J. (2013). The 'Silla annals' of the 'Samguk Sagi'. Gyeonggi-do: Academy of Korean Studies Press.

• Kim, P., Shultz, E. J., Kang, H. H. W., & Han'guk Chŏngsin Munhwa Yŏn'guwŏn. (2012). The Koguryo annals of the Samguk sagi. Seongnam-si, Korea: Academy of Korean Studies Press.

• Como, Michael (2009). Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Female Immortals in Ancient Japan. ISBN: 978-0824829575.

• 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.

• Best, J. (2006). A History of the Early Korean Kingdom of Paekche, together with an annotated translation of The Paekche Annals of the Samguk sagi. Cambridge (Massachusetts); London: Harvard University Asia Center. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1tg5q8p

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

• 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