Episode 11: Journey to Yamato

February 15, 2020 Joshua Badgley

Reconstructed buildings at Harunotsuji, on Iki, thought to have been the capital of that kingdom in the Yayoi period.

This episode we’ll take you on a tour of the Lands of the Queen of Wa. This is the first time that we see various states of the Wa that are described as being unified under a single authority. There are only about 30 states, or countries, that are named and of those, only a handful are actually described. That said, it still gives us a jumping off point.

So if you are going to listen to the episode, you may want the following map. We’ve gone ahead and set up a potential map of the path from Daifang down to Yamato. It isn’t perfect, but gives you an approximation. There are also a lot of questions and assumptions. From Kuyahan (or Koya-kar(a)) on the Korean Peninsula down to Na seems pretty straightforward. The next land is “Fumi” or “Homi”, and it is not quite as clear as to where it is—but we’ll talk about that here. Zuma, or Toma, is also not quite as clear. Finally, there is Yamato—or maybe Yamatai. That’s also a bit of a quandry. Regardless, here’s our attempt at it:

Click Here for a Map of the Journey

Directions in the Weizhi

So first, we should talk about the directions in the Weizhi. Turns out that the directions are off. The distances might be off, but they seem like they could be relatively correct. The actual directions, though, aren’t quite right. Most of them take you south, and occasionally east. Based on those directions, Japan would appear to be upside down, stretching from the Korean straits down to at least Taiwan and maybe beyond. Perhaps that is why the chroniclers seem to have compared them to the people of Hainan south of China.

Fumi… or Homi

So this is a great example of the trouble with names at this time. First of all, everything is written in Chinese characters, not in Japanese kana, so we don’t have a clear idea of what the sounds were supposed to be. We have reconstructed some of the Ancient Chinese pronunciations, but how close those were to the Japanese, or Wa, pronunciations is hard to say. Then there are the changes in Japonic. For instance, the “F” or “H” sound was actually “P”. So “Himiko” would have been “Pimiko” and “Fumi” would have been “Pumi”. Of course, “は　ひ　ふ　へ　ほ” is “Ha Hi Fu He Ho”, so if we aren’t sure if the vowel is “u” or “o” (or if it is something in between) we get either “Fu” or “Ho”. All of this can make it quite difficult for those who aren’t Japanese linguists to make sense of the various names.

For Fumi, it is hard to see a modern equivalent. It is possible the name does not survive at all, or it survives in an unrecognized form. Given the distances, however, and suggestions of various authors, I’ve looked at three different areas. Personally, I like our third location, which actually puts Fumi up along the coast, near Munakata. Munakata shrine is associated with the island of Okinoshima. Sitting out in the Korean straits, this island is considered sacred, and the entire place is a shrine. Not only that, it has been a shrine since at least Yayoi times. And on the mainland there are numerous kofun—old mounded tombs—that appear to be associated with it. Though many of the kofun are later than Queen Himiko’s time, they nonetheless indicate areas that were considered important—likely the population centers. After all, the elites would want people to see their tombs—though some were put in rather out-of-the way places.

Zuma, Toma, or Izumo?

Another question we have is that of Toma or Zuma. Again, we need to remember that “Zu” is a voiced “Tu” (aka “Du”). So Tu/To is not as far off. Likewise, the “zu” of “Izumo” is a voiced “Tu”. It is easy to see, then, how “Toma” might have come from (or become) “Izumo”, and the population described certainly fits with what we know of the area. Izumo was a counter to Yamato in many of the old stories, not quite falling fully under Yamato hegemony until much later, despite the way the Japanese chronicles tell the story. We’ll look at this more fully, later.

Still, there are other candidates. The land that eventually became Kibi may have some claim to it, and similar areas along the Seto Inland Sea. Still, given what we know of the area up in Izumo, that seems the logical choice.

Pronunciation

Below is a list of the names of the lands that come up in the podcast. First is the original Chinese characters, and then we see the pronunciation suggested by Tsunoda, Kidder, Soumare, and Bentley. These all are versions of the names that you might run across, Bentley’s providing perhaps the accurate reading, though with a transcription that may leave many non-linguists confused. Still, I think you can get the gist:

  Land
OriginalTsunodaKidderSoumareBentley
带方Tai-fangDaifangDaifang 
韓HanHanHan 
狗邪韓Chü-ya-han/Kou-ya-hanKuyahanGouxiehan*koya-kar(a)
對馬TsushimaTsushimaTsu-ma*tǝsVma or *tusVma
一大"Another large country"IkiI-ki*ike
末盧MatsuroMatsuraMatsu-ro*mat-rɔ
伊都IzuItoI-to*itɔ
奴NuNaNa*nɑ
不彌FumiFumiFu-mi*pume
投馬TomaTomaZu-ma*toma
邪馬壱・邪馬壹YamadaiYamataiYa-ma-tai*yama-tǝ(ɨ)
斯馬ShimaShimaShi-ma*sema
已百支IpokkiIhakiI-ha-ki*kɨpa-ke
伊邪IzaIyaI-ya*iya
都支TsukiTokiTa-ki*tɔke
彌奴MinuMinaMi-na*menɔ
好古都KasotoKokotoKo-ka-ta*hokɔ-tɔ
不呼FukuFukoFu-ko*puhɔ
姐奴ShanuSonaSa-na*sanɔ
對蘇TsutsuTsusoTsu-sa*tǝsɔ or *tusɔ
蘇奴SonuSonaSa-na*sɔnɔ
呼邑KoyiKo-oKo-yū*hɔ-ipV
華奴蘇奴KenusonuKanasonaKa-na-sa-na*wanɔ-sɔnɔ
鬼KiKiKi*kui
爲吾IigoIgoI-go*wai-ŋgɔ
鬼奴KinuKinaKi-na*kui-nɔ
邪馬YamaYamaYama*yama
躬臣KushiKujiKyū-jin*kuŋginV
巴利HariHariHa-ri*pari
支惟KiwiKiiKi-i*kewi
鳥奴WunuU-aA-na*ɔnɔ
奴NuNaNa*nɔ
狗奴KunuKonaKu-na*konɔ

Kyushu v. Kinki

In the podcast, I’m not going to spend too much time on the subject of whether Yamato is in Kyushu or in the Kinki region—the area around Osaka and Nara. We may get into the evidence for the Makimuku area and the Hashihaka kofun, but I do want to at least acknowledge that there are those who believe that “Yamatai” was actually in Kyushu, and that Yamato was a later state in the Kinki region.

There are a variety of reasons as to why people insist that Himiko was Queen of a country in Kyushu. Some of it is political: There is no “Queen Himiko” in the official imperial lineages. Therefore, she couldn’t have been the ruler of Yamato. Therefore her country, which would, in modern on’yomi, be pronounced Yamatai, must have been somewhere else. Since many of the early mounded tombs are in Kyushu, and they were closest to the mainland, surely that is where she must be from?

Then there are finds like Yoshinogari. This is a large settlement with moats, a stockade, towers, and even a large, raised “palace” structure, which comes from around the time of the Weizhi. For many people it is proof that Queen Himiko must have come from this area, since nothing else has been found that quite matches it. However, it is hard to find any way that the set of instructions we are given matches up with Yoshinogari, and the site is much too small—only around 2,000 or so population. While the Chinese chroniclers may have exaggerated some numbers, it is a far cry to go from 70,000 households down to a population of about 2,000.

More likely, Yoshinogari is impressive because it survived—it was out of the way and wasn’t built on top of and plowed under over the centuries of land cultivation, which is what would have happened in most of the more populous areas of Japan. While there is no guarantee that a once populous area would remain so, it does seem likely that an area that once housed over a quarter million people would be one of the areas that even today house a lot of people. Indeed, near the Makimuku area they have many mounded tombs, including the largest of the keyhole tombs, Hashihaka, from this period, and they have found the remains of what appears to be a palace. While the current construction around the area makes it hard to do further archaeological study, it seems promising that there may once have been a large, thriving Yayoi and early Kofun population in this area. Time may tell.

For now, most scholars appear to be leaning towards the region near Osaka and Nara, and that is where we will look for answers, at least until something better comes along.

References

TORRANCE, R. (2016). The Infrastructure of the Gods: Izumo in the Yayoi and Kofun Periods. Japan Review, (29), 3-38. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/44143124
Barnes, Gina L. (2015), Achaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilization in China, Korea and Japan
KO, Kyoungsoo. (2011?) “Ritual Sites and Ritual-Related Artifacts in Korea for Comparative Study for the Positioning of Rituals in Okinoshima Island”; http://www.okinoshima-heritage.jp/files/ReportDetail_70_file.pdf
TAWARA, Kanji. (2009, Nov), “Tsushima as ‘boundary’”; Bulletin of the Society for East Asian Archaeology 2: 19-22
Bentley, John R. (2008), “The Search for the Language of Yamatai”. Japanese Language and Literature (42-1). 1-43. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/30198053
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
Kyodo. (2000, Nov 04) “Archaeologists unearth settlement mentioned in Wei Chronicle”; https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2000/11/04/national/archaeologists-unearth-settlement-mentioned-in-wei-chronicle/#.XiI9r2hKiUk
Barnes, Gina L. (1988); Protohistoric Yamato: Archaeology of the First Japanese State;
Hudson, M., & Barnes, G. (1991). Yoshinogari. A Yayoi Settlement in Northern Kyushu. Monumenta Nipponica, 46(2), 211-235. doi:10.2307/2385402

Episode 10: The Islands of the Immortals

February 1, 2020 Joshua Badgley

Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s 19th century block print depicting Xu Fu’s fantastical voyage in search of Mount Penglai. Image in the public domain, from the Boston Fine Arts Museum.

RSS

Archives

This episode we really start to take a look at Japan as seen in the Chinese chronicles. From early times, the Japanese archipelago has been viewed as an almost mythic place in Chinese histories, connected as it was with fantastical tales of the herb of immortality and Penglai, the mountain where the herb was said to grow, far out in the eastern sea.

We also take this time to look at some of what was going on in China and how that affected Japan. Remember, a key aspect of the position of the elites in the archipelago was based on the ability to acquire bronze and iron from the mainland. When turmoil on the mainland disrupted access to these goods it had ripple effects that would echo through the trade routes out into the archipelago, and we see its mark left in the archaeological record of the period.

Copy of the gold seal of the King of Na of Wa from the Tokyo National Museum.

Emerging from this chaos we then see our first glimpses of the early Wa states in the islands—while there is some mention of them in the early Han dynasty, it isn’t until the later Han accounts that we start to get any real details. Perhaps most incredible is the seal of the King of Na, a gold seal found on Shika Island, in modern day Fukuoka prefecture, which appears to be the item described in the Chronicles of the Later Han dynasty. That we should have such close agreement with the written histories is almost too good to be true—and to be honest, many have questioned its validity. Found in the late 18th century by happenstance while a farmer was working his fields, the story of its discovery is just as incredible as its provenance.

We also cover the account—sparse as it is—of king Suisho. Or—maybe King Suisho. There is no ruler in the Japanese histories that can be easily equated with this figure. This will be a problem for a while, as it is difficult to equate the Chinese names for the Japanese sovereigns with the Japanese names given to them. It is often further confused by the fact that we usually know the names in the Chronicles by their posthumous names—a practice that was likely imposed much later, in imitation of Chinese practice. And that even assumes that the given names we have—names like Ikumeiribikoisachi no Sumeramikoto—are, in fact, the names of the time and not a later name or title, as early Japanese names have their own special qualities that make them interesting to study.

And so, unfortunately, we’ll have to continue to live with some uncertainty for the time being, but at least a few of the clouds are parting and we are beginning to see a glimmer of what is going on. All of this will start to come together, and we’ll soon be entering into the period that is considered most reliably as historical. From there we’ll be able to dig into the Japanese chronicles and hopefully have a good platform to examine them critically as we do so.

References

Robbeets, Martine (2017). Austronesian influence and Transeurasian ancestry in Japanese, Language Dynamics and Change, 7(2), 210-251. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/22105832-00702005
Mizoguchi, Koji (2012). The archaeology of Japan: From the earliest rice farming villages to the rise of the state. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139034265
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
Imamura, Keiji (1997). Prehistoric Japan: New perspectives on insular East Asia. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00085215
Barnes, Gina L. (1988); Protohistoric Yamato: Archaeology of the First Japanese State. ISBN: 978-0915703111

Episode 9: The Language of Wa

January 15, 2020 Joshua Badgley

RSS

Archives

So this is a bit of a different episode. This time around we are taking a look at the language of the people of the Japanese archipelago—the Wa. It could be taken that the language of the people is of little consequence. After all, it isn’t something we can easily find in a museum. However, I think it will help clarify some of the history here.

From here on out, you may want to first listen to the podcast episode.

A guardian statue at Horyuji, one of the oldest temples in Japan. His mouth is open as he utters one of the two sacred syllables: “A” and “UN”.

So about the language. What I really take from all of this research is that if the Yayoi people—the Wa—brought Japonic with them, then by tracing the path of Japonic we have a better idea of where they came from. From the Shandong peninsula to the Korean peninsula and then to the archipelago would appear to be the path of migration, though over the course of hundreds of years. This seems to match what we see in the archaeological record as well.

It is also fascinating that we see Japonic on the Korean peninsula as well. It is easy to assume that all of the people of the Korean peninsula must have been speaking ancient Korean. But that is us assuming that the nations of today are the same as the people who were there thousands of years ago.

A rough map of the Korean peninsula in the first century CE. The Shandong peninsula is in the lower left, and northern Kyushu can be seen in the lower right corner. By Historiographer at the English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimed… — A rough map of the Korean peninsula in the first century CE. The Shandong peninsula is in the lower left, and northern Kyushu can be seen in the lower right corner. By Historiographer at the English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6606974

On the Korean peninsula, we see several different polities over the years. We are currently talking about the Samhan—Chin-han, Pyon-han, and Ma-han. Eventually these give way to Baekje (Paekche), Silla, and Goguryeo (Koguryeo), as well as the Gaya Confederacy. It is unsurprising that there are some material similarities between all of them, since they were in such close proximity. Comparatively speaking, if we looked at Medieval France, Spain, Italy, and Germany, you would also see plenty of similarities there, as well. After all, they are all in proximity to one another. But they are not the same, something you don’t really see unless you look at all of them. In particular, Baekje and Goguryeo both claimed descent from the Buyeo (Puyo) people for the Manchurian Basin, making them relatively latecomers to the peninsula. Silla is thought to have grown up out of one of the three Han, the Chin-han. However, the languages of the people up in the northern parts of the Korean peninsula are likely still related to these more northern groups that came in. I suspect even Silla may have been influenced by some of these immigrants, and it is hard to know if the language we know as the Sillan language was even there to begin with, or if it was something that was brought in and then became dominant among some of the Chin-han people.

Sillan royal tombs in Gyeongju, South Korea.

And then there are the lack of historical sources on the peninsula. Besides the Gwanggaeto Stele, from 414 CE, we have the Samguk Yusa and the Samguk Sagi to tell us the history, both of which were written well after the fact. Much of the early written works on the peninsular are in some form of Chinese, and so mostly we are assuming languages based on various placenames. We have only a few fragments of writings in Sillan, and we believe that language is similar to the language of Baekje, and Goguryeo. It is thus easy to assume that all of the lands used the same language, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. For instance, the Gwanggaeto stele specifically mentions renaming many places, indicating the original names may have been in another language. And we have a specific note of a word from the Gaya, which is all we really have to go on.

Whether Japonic comes from Koreanic, or Korean borrows from Japonic, are not only linguistic discussions, but are also enmeshed in more recent relations between the two modern nations, as well as nationalist ideas and identities. In fact, one of the things we have to be careful of in studies of this period are nationalist bias, which may be geared to serve a specific modern political narrative, rather than just objectively looking at the facts.

This will be especially important to remember when we get into the Japanese chronicles, where we’ll talk about the Japanese “colonies” on the peninsula as well as the sovereign Jingu’s invasion. From the standard Japanese viewpoint, Jingu must have crossed from Japan and into Korea. However, some Korean scholars suggest that Jingu and her husband, Chuai, were actually from the peninsula, and worked their way across the strait to conquer Japan. Whether or not the “Wa” were simply on the islands or if the “Land of Wa” included the peninsula and thus was involved in peninsular politics is all tied up in this. That narrative is potentially strengthened if Japonic was spoken on the peninsula, and to what extent.

Oh, and as a bit of a postscript, I know we only touched on Ryukyuan. Ryukyuan seems to have branched off from what became modern Japanese somewhere in the first millennium. That means that some time between the time we are discussing and the early to mid-Heian period, people moved south from Kyushu into the Ryukyuan island chain, likely bringing aspects of their life and culture with them and mingling with the life of the islanders.

References

2019; Miyamoto, Kazuo. “The Spread of rice agriculture during the Yayoi Period: From the Shandong Peninsula to the Japanese Archipelago via the Korean Peninsula”, The Japanese Journal of Archaeology, http://www.jjarchaeology.jp/
2017; Robbeets, Martine. “Austronesian influence and Transeurasian ancestry in Japanese, Language Dynamics and Change, 7(2), 210-251.” doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/22105832-00702005
2017; Shinoda, K., & Adachi, N. “Ancient DNA Analysis of Palaeolithic Ryukyu Islanders”. In Piper P., Matsumura H., & Bulbeck D. (Eds.), New Perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory (pp. 51-60). Acton ACT, Australia: ANU Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1pwtd26.10
2015; Barnes, Gina L. Achaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilization in China, Korea and Japan
2013; Vovin, Alexander. “From Koguryo to T’amna: Slowly riding to the South with speakers of Proto-Korean”, Korean Linguistics 15:2, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
2011; Lee, Sean and Hasegawa, Toshikazu. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis supports an agricultural origin of Japonic languages 278 Proc. R. Soc. B http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.0518
2011; Crawford, G. “Advances in Understanding Early Agriculture in Japan.” Current Anthropology, 52(S4), S331-S345. doi:10.1086/658369
2008; Bentley, John R. “The Search for the Language of Yamatai”. Japanese Language and Literature (42-1). 1-43. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/30198053
2007; Palmer, Edwina. “Out of Sunda? Provenance of the Jōmon Japanese.” Japan Review, (19), 47-75. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25791309
2005; Hong, W. “Yayoi Wave, Kofun Wave, and Timing: The Formation of the Japanese People and Japanese Language.” Korean Studies 29, 1-29. doi:10.1353/ks.2006.0007.
2000; Kumar, Ann and Rose, Phil. “Lexical Evidence for Early Contact between Indonesian Languages and Japanese”. Oceanic Linguistics. 219-155. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stables/3623422

Episode 8: Bronze and Iron

January 1, 2020 Joshua Badgley

RSS

Archives

Iron and Bronze make it to the archipelago. In this episode we’ll talk about the arrival of bronze and iron and what that means for the islands, as well as what it means for our understanding of them.

Shell bracelets

Before bronze, shell bracelets were imported all the way from the Ryukyu islands and used as status symbols for the elites for hundreds of years. From the Yoshinogari site.

Bronze shell bracelet

Combining two prestige goods into one, this takes the traditional shell bracelets, once imported from the Ryukyu islands far to the south, and it casts it in bronze from the mainland. From the Tokyo National Museum.

Liaoning dagger

Liaoning daggers—also known as pipa or lute shaped daggers for their broad blade—were some of the first bronze items known on the Korean peninsula, primarily up in the area attributed to the Gojoseon. Bronze did not travel down the peninsula until the later slender dagger bronze culture. From the Gyenogju National Museum.

Bronze dagger

This bronze dagger demonstrates the slender profile that was the hallmark of the “slender dagger” bronze culture, as compared to the broad Liaoning style daggers. From the Yoshinogari site.

Bronze dagger (replica)

This is a replica of a bronze dagger found in a pot burial at Yoshinogari. Its distinctive, wide pommel is also found in peninsular versions, showing the connections between the islands and the mainland material bronze culture. In this reconstruction you can see the golden gleam of the bronze, reminding us of what it would have been like, new.. From the Yoshinogari site.

Bronze dagger

This bronze dagger with a wide pommel was found in a burial at the Yoshinogari site. Here you see what it looks like dug out of the ground, but see the next photo for a view of what it might have looked like when it was new. From the Yoshinogari site.

Korean bronze dagger (replica)

This Korean bronze dagger with a wide pommel looks remarkably similar to the one found at Yoshinogari in Japan. Its silver color, compared to the golden color of the Yoshinogari replica demonstrates how different alloys of bronze can look different. These different alloys can also help determine where the item was made, even if the form copies another regional shape. From the Seoul National Museum.

Stone weapons and tools

Even when bronze and iron were available, many people were still working with and creating stone weapons and tools. In some cases these polished stone tools took the shape of the imported bronze and iron objects. From the Matsumoto City Museum

Bronze arrowheads

Bronze arrowheads still on the sprue from when they were made. Bronze arrowheads were one of the early, practical applications of bronze, though one does wonder if they were significantly better than bone, wood, or stone for their intended purpose. These show that they were being made on the archipelago. From the Tokyo National Museum

Bronze mold

Even without the ability to create bronze and iron from the raw ore, people in the archipelago could still create molds and melt down metal ingots or broken or undesirable objects to create something new. From the Yoshinogari site.

Dagger-axe

This shows the attachment of the ge, or dagger axe, to a haft. These were likely on much larger shafts, and are often mislabeled in English as “halberds”, which they don’t really resemble at all.

Wood and lacuqer armor (replica)

Lacquered wooden plates found at a Yayoi site and dated to the 3rd century BCE suggest an armor somewhat like this. Notice that he is still using stone age tools, though similar in shape to the bronze dagger-axe. Similar armors exist on the mainland, and this early armor may have drawn inspiration from those styles. From the National Museum of Japanese History in Sakura.

Qin armor

A terracotta warrior from the tomb of Qin Shihuangdi showing Qin era armor. Qin and early Han armor appear to have some similarities to fragments found in Japan, possibly representing continental influence. From the National Museum of History in Sakura.

Wooden armor (replica)

Woorden armor based on fragments found at a later Yayoi site. This was a very elaborate cuirass, with detailed carving and lacquer and two “wings” on the back. It is unclear just what purpose these rear projections had beyond decoration. From the National Museum of HIstory in Sakura.

Bronze shield ornament

These bronze spirals appear to be indigenous to the Japanese archipelago and are thought to have been ornaments on shields. From the Tokyo National Museum.

Shield (replica)

Replica of a tall Yayoi shield, based on evidence from the Yoshinogari site. Notice the use of the bronze shield ornament.

Later Han Bronze Mirror

The Later, or Eastern, Han dynasty continued to make mirrors that made their way to the islands. The Han and later Wei dynasty mirrors are used to help understand some of the connections and interactions between the various Yayoi groups.

Bronze mirror

A well preserved bronze mirror from the Yoshinogari site. Han dynasty mirrors were highly prized in the islands as elite prestige goods. From the Yoshinogari site.

Japanese mirrors

While mirrors from the mainland were most highly prized, local mirrors were also made, along with other bronze items. From the Yoshinogari site.

Dotaku (Detail)

This is a dotaku, or bronze bell. Early bells were small and functional. Over time they became larger, and those large bells appear to be created for ceremonial purposes. They often include incised pictures that are assumed to show daily life on the islands. From the Tokyo National Museum.

Dotaku (replica)

These two replica dotaku show how it looks coming out of the ground, but also how it would have looked brand new. You can see how the golden color shines through. From the Yoshinogari site.

Iron sickle blades

Iron was closely connected with agricultural activities, and unlike bronze it would have been used by all members of the society. These iron sickle blades show just that kind of utilitarianism. From the Yoshinogari site.

Spade blades

There wasn’t enough iron to waste it on the entire spade, so only the very edge was covered. This was a style in use on the Korean peninsula and in the archipelago, and would remain largely unchanged for millennia. The shape, or “kuwagata”, lent its name to a very distinctive crest, or maedate, used on many samurai helmets in later periods. Here you can see that distinctive shape. From the Seoul National Museum.

Iron sword fragment

Iron swords and other weapons and tools were brought over, possibly in quantities equal to or greater than bronze, but most of them were recycled or rusted away, leaving only fragments like this. From the Yoshinogari site.

Iron sword

Small iron sword/dagger, encrusted with rust. From Yoshinogari site.

Iron weapons

Examples of a few iron weapons found in Japan during the Yayoi period. From the Tokyo National Museum.

References

2019, March Miyamoto, Kazuo; “The Spread of rice agriculture during the Yayoi Period: From the Shandong Peninsula to the Japanese Archipelago via the Korean Peninsula”, The Japanese Journal of Archaeology, http://www.jjarchaeology.jp/
2015 Barnes, Gina L.; Achaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilization in China, Korea and Japan
2015 Kim, Bumcheol; “Socioeconomic Development in the Bronze Age: Archaeological Understanding of the Transition from the Early to Middle Bronze Age, South Korea” https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/55550/07_AP_54.1kim.pdf
2013 Mizoguchi, K.; The Archaeology of Japan: From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. (Cambridge World Archaeology). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO97811390342651996
2007 Rhee, S., Aikens, C., Choi, S., & Ro, H.; “Korean Contributions to Agriculture, Technology, and State Formation in Japan: Archaeology and History of an Epochal Thousand Years, 400 B.C.–A.D. 600”. Asian Perspectives, 46(2), 404-459. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42928724
2007 Shōda Shinya, “A Comment on the Yayoi Period Dating Controversy”, Bulletin of the Society for East Asian Archaeology, Vol 1 (2007) https://seaa-web.org/sites/default/files/publications/bseaa-1/BSEAA1-Shoda.pdf
2005 Hong, W.; “Yayoi Wave, Kofun Wave, and Timing: The Formation of the Japanese People and Japanese Language.” Korean Studies 29, 1-29. doi:10.1353/ks.2006.0007.
1997 Imamura, Keiji; Prehistoric Japan: New perspectives on insular East Asia. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00085215

Land
Original	Tsunoda	Kidder	Soumare	Bentley
带方	Tai-fang	Daifang	Daifang
韓	Han	Han	Han
狗邪韓	Chü-ya-han/Kou-ya-han	Kuyahan	Gouxiehan	*koya-kar(a)
對馬	Tsushima	Tsushima	Tsu-ma	tǝsVma or tusVma
一大	"Another large country"	Iki	I-ki	*ike
末盧	Matsuro	Matsura	Matsu-ro	*mat-rɔ
伊都	Izu	Ito	I-to	*itɔ
奴	Nu	Na	Na	*nɑ
不彌	Fumi	Fumi	Fu-mi	*pume
投馬	Toma	Toma	Zu-ma	*toma
邪馬壱・邪馬壹	Yamadai	Yamatai	Ya-ma-tai	*yama-tǝ(ɨ)
斯馬	Shima	Shima	Shi-ma	*sema
已百支	Ipokki	Ihaki	I-ha-ki	*kɨpa-ke
伊邪	Iza	Iya	I-ya	*iya
都支	Tsuki	Toki	Ta-ki	*tɔke
彌奴	Minu	Mina	Mi-na	*menɔ
好古都	Kasoto	Kokoto	Ko-ka-ta	*hokɔ-tɔ
不呼	Fuku	Fuko	Fu-ko	*puhɔ
姐奴	Shanu	Sona	Sa-na	*sanɔ
對蘇	Tsutsu	Tsuso	Tsu-sa	tǝsɔ or tusɔ
蘇奴	Sonu	Sona	Sa-na	*sɔnɔ
呼邑	Koyi	Ko-o	Ko-yū	*hɔ-ipV
華奴蘇奴	Kenusonu	Kanasona	Ka-na-sa-na	*wanɔ-sɔnɔ
鬼	Ki	Ki	Ki	*kui
爲吾	Iigo	Igo	I-go	*wai-ŋgɔ
鬼奴	Kinu	Kina	Ki-na	*kui-nɔ
邪馬	Yama	Yama	Yama	*yama
躬臣	Kushi	Kuji	Kyū-jin	*kuŋginV
巴利	Hari	Hari	Ha-ri	*pari
支惟	Kiwi	Kii	Ki-i	*kewi
鳥奴	Wunu	U-a	A-na	*ɔnɔ
奴	Nu	Na	Na	*nɔ
狗奴	Kunu	Kona	Ku-na	*konɔ