Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai: Archaeology, History, and Mythology

417 Pages·2007·4.41 MB·English

by  J. Edward

5_Kidder_JACKET_qp6 1/11/07 1:36 PM Page 1
(Continued from front flap) K Himiko and Japan’s The third-century Chinese chronicle Wei zhi (Record
ID ofWei) is responsible for Japan’s most enduring ancient
Himiko and Japan’s Elusive Chiefdom ofYamataiis a master- Japanese history D mystery.This early history tells of a group of islands off
fulsummary ofJapanese archaeology,making it required E the China coast that were dominated by a female shaman
R
reading for Japan historians as well as scholars with an “This volume is the most comprehensive treatment in English to date of the Elusive Chiefdom named Himiko. Himiko ruled for more than half a
interest in literature and art history during this forma- century as head of the largest chiefdom, traditionally
problem presented by the Wei zhi.It brings to bear the most recent develop-
tive stage in Japan’s past. known as Yamatai,until her death in 248.Yet no such
ments in historical and especially archaeological research in Japan and combines H
person appears in the old Japanese literature.Who was
them with a thorough re-interpretation of the early Japanese myths.Given the i
m of Yamatai Himiko and where was the Yamatai she governed?
author’s long and distinguished career in the archaeological study of Japan, a
These questions about a critical period in the rise of the
i
J.EDWARD KIDDER,JR.,is emeritus professor of retrospective summary of the archaeology alone is a significant event.Add to k Japanese state have puzzled scholars for more than two
Japanese at International Christian University,Tokyo. this his very thorough examination of textual sources,and the result is a truly o centuries.Although the postwar boom in archaeology
unique,multifaceted study of ancient Japanese society.” a has provided a more panoramic picture of Japan in the
n Archaeology, History, and Mythology centuries following the introduction of rice,bronze,and
—Walter Edwards,Tenri University
d iron, and the transformation into an agrarian society,
scholarly discussion and archaeological evidence have
J
a been inconclusive.Nevertheless,the flood of new infor-
“Using a balanced combination of archaeology and historical texts,Professor
p J. E K , J . mation,combined with the perennial interest in national
Kidder gives a marvelously rich portrait of life in Yayoi Japan.Although the DWARD IDDER R
a origins,has produced a staggering amount of commen-
location of Yamatai has long been one of the major problems in Japanese n tary and speculation.
historiography,this is the first book-length treatment of the topic in English ’
s
to consider archaeology.The addition of a new translation of the Wei zhi In this,the most comprehensive treatment in English to
E
account of Japan is a major contribution and adds considerably to the value of date, a senior scholar of early Japan turns to three
l
the book.I have no doubt that it will be widely used by scholars and students u sources—historical,archaeological,and mythological—
of Japanese history,art history,and archaeology.” s to provide a multifaceted study of ancient Japanese
i
v society. Analyzing a tremendous amount of recent
—Mark Hudson,University of Tsukuba e
archaeological material and synthesizing it with a
C thorough examination of the textual sources,Professor
h Kidder locates Yamatai in the Yamato heartland,in the
i southeastern part of the Nara basin.He describes the
e
f formation in the Yayoi period of pan-regional alliances
d
that created the reserves of manpower required to build
o
massive mounded tombs. It is this decisive period, at
m
the end of the Yayoi and the beginning of the Kofun,
that he identifies as Himiko’s era.He maintains,more-
Jacket art: o
over, that Himiko played a part in the emergence of
Tattooing on haniwa figure:Shijo¯ Tomb,Kashihara city,Nara.Middle Kofun. f
Yamato as an identifiable political entity.In exploring
Detail of triangular-rim-deities-animals mirror #M34,Tsubai-o¯tsukayama Tomb, Y
a the cultural and political conditions of this period and
Yamashiro-cho¯,Kyoto (courtesy Higuchi Takayasu).
m identifying the location of Yamatai as Himiko’s area of
activity, Kidder considers the role of magic in early
a
Jacket design: Japanese society to better understand why an individual
t
Janette Thompson,Jansom a with her qualifications reached such a prominent posi-
i
tion.He enhances Himiko’s story with insights drawn
from mythology,turning to a rich body of commentary
for explanations buried deep in mythological stories
and the earliest descriptions.
University of Hawai‘i Press
(Continued on back flap)
Honolulu,Hawai‘i 96822-1888 www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
Himiko and Japan’s
Elusive Chiefdom
of Yamatai

Himiko and Japan’s
Elusive Chiefdom
of Yamatai
Archaeology, History, and Mythology
J. E K , J .
DWARD IDDER R
University of Hawai‘i Press
Honolulu
© 2007 University of Hawai‘i Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
12 11 10 09 08 07 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kidder,J.Edward (Jonathan Edward)
Himiko and Japan’s elusive chiefdom of Yamatai :archaeology,history,
and mythology / J.Edward Kidder,Jr.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8248-3035-9 (hardcover :alk.paper)
1. Yamatai (Japan) 2. Himiko,3rd cent.3. Japan—History—To 645. I.Title.
DS855.3.K527 2007 952’.01—dc22 2006035363
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the
guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources.
Designed by Janette Thompson,Jansom
Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group
Contents
List of Illustrations and Tables, vii
Acknowledgments, ix
Introduction, xi
Chapter 1 Ancient Texts and Sources, 1
Chapter 2 The Wei Zhi and the Wa People, 8
Chapter 3 The Initial Problem and Three Centuries of Compounding It, 21
Chapter 4 Travel by Land and Water to Neighboring Countries, 36
Chapter 5 Han Commanderies,Korean Kingdoms,and Wei China, 53
Chapter 6 Japan in Transition from Yayoi to Kofun, 59
Chapter 7 The Izumo-Yamato Contention, 114
Chapter 8 Himiko,Shamans,Divination,and Other Magic, 127
Chapter 9 Mirrors and Himiko’s Allotment, 160
Chapter 10 The Japanese View of the Wei Zhi Years, 186
Chapter 11 The Endless Search for Yamatai, 229
Chapter 12 Makimuku and the Location of Yamatai, 239
List of Abbreviations, 283
Notes, 285
Wei Zhi Text, 339
Select Glossary, 343
Bibliography, 359
Index, 391

Illustrations and Tables
FIGURES
2.1 Wei zhitext 11
2.2 Schematic plan of directions and distances to Yamatai from Daifang,
and number of households 13
2.3 Tattooing on Yayoi and Kofun haniwafaces 14
3.1 Map showing the Japanese islands lying parallel to the China coast 28
4.1 Pictures of boats,Yayoi period 43
4.2 Models and picture of boats,Kofun period 44
5.1 East Asia in the third century AD 55
6.1 Population densities:Latest Jòmon period and Yayoi period 61
6.2 Major Yayoi sites,round and keyhole tombs of the Kofun period
in north Kyushu 62
6.3 Representative Yayoi-period skulls from regional sites 64
6.4 Yayoi cemetery,Doigahama,Toyokita-machi,Yamaguchi 65
6.5 The moated Hiratsuka-kawazoe site,Amagi city,Fukuoka 73
6.6 Òtsuka component of Santonodai site,Yokohama city,Kanagawa 75
6.7 Yayoi-period buildings 77
6.8 Kofun-period buildings 79
6.9 Yayoi-period burials 93
6.10 Four-cornered mounded grave,Miyayama Tomb,Yasugi city,Shimane 104
6.11 Ritual objects of steatite,Early Kofun period 109
7.1 Yayoi-period sites in the Nara Basin and northern foothills 120
7.2 Areas of distribution of bronze weapons and bells 125
8.1 Shamans illustrated on ceramic vessels 128
8.2 Haniwa kotoplayers 134
8.3 Middle Yayoi bronze bells with pictorial decoration 145
8.4 Oracle bones and carapace 154
8.5 Distribution of oracle bones from the Yayoi period through the Heian 155
9.1 Triangular-rim-deities-animals mirror no.M34,Tsubai-òtsukayama
Tomb,Yamashiro-chò,Kyoto 161
9.2 Ground plans of early tombs;burial chamber of Kurozuka Tomb 167
9.3 Location of tombs yielding mirrors dated 235–244,the so-called
Himiko mirrors 173
vii
viii ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES
9.4 Four dated mirrors 176
9.5 Mirrors matched with mirrors retrieved from the Tsubai-òtsukayama
Tomb,Kyoto,forming the basis for the Kobayashi thesis 181
10.1 Incised monster/serpent figures on pottery sherds 200
10.2 Wooden models of flying birds as grave markers with holes for
supporting poles 219
12.1 Distribution of tombs on the southeast side of the Nara Basin
between Tenri and Sakurai 240
12.2 Large clay stands for libation pots (tokushu-kidai) 246
12.3 Ground plans of Makimuku tombs 250
12.4 Aerial view of Chausuyama Tomb,Sakurai city,and Hashihaka Tomb,
Sakurai city 252
12.5 Makimuku area,west of Mt.Miwa,with ritual sites outlined 255
12.6 Mt.Miwa;sacred stones (iwakura)alongside road in front of haiden,
Òmiwa Shrine 257
12.7 Wooden objects with incised patterns from Makimuku sites 260
12.8 Probable route from Daifang to Yamatai 279
TABLES
1 Wei zhi distances 38
2 Population statistics from Middle Jòmon to Yayoi 60
3 Immigrant to native ratios in dentition differences by period
and region 67
4 Rulers 10–43 102
5 Tombs in Nara prefecture containing more than ten mirrors 110
6 Number of other mirrors/triangular-rim mirrors by region
and prefecture 163
7 Comparative decoration on the triangular-rim mirrors from the
Tsubai-òtsukayama and Kurozuka tombs 168
8 Mirrors dated to Himiko’s hegemony 172
9 Rulers from Sujin to Suiko 188
10 Identified locations of Yamatai (pre–World War II) 232
11 Identified locations of Yamatai (post–World War II) 233
12 Model for identifying relationships between tombs in Nara and
Osaka prefectures 248
13 Makimuku tombs 249
14 Titles of officials of major chiefdoms under Yamatai in the Wei zhi 277
15 Kamo-iwakura bells matched with bells found elsewhere 320
16 Evaluation by Mori Kòichi (1965) of designations of imperial tombs 334
Acknowledgments
Whether the faculty and graduate students in the Department of Archaeology of
Kyoto University realized it or not,my year as a Fulbright scholar in that depart-
ment in 1952–1953 made me a convert to the Kyoto position—if I was not fully
persuaded before.To be in the company of the heavyweights of Yayoi and Kofun
archaeology—Umehara Sueji, Arimitsu Kyòichi, Kobayashi Yukio, Higuchi
Takayasu, Tsuboi Kiyotari, Kanaseki Hiroshi, and Nishitani (then Kawabata)
Shinji—was an invigorating and memorable experience.I had been accepted there
because of the friendship between Umehara and Alfred Salmony,my professor at
NYU, whose common interests were early Chinese bronzes. It was a dramatic
moment when the Tsubai-òtsukayama Tomb grave-goods were recovered. Most
important were thirty-three bronze mirrors of a special type belonging to the time
of Himiko and perhaps the generation that followed her.By matching them with
similar mirrors from other tombs,Kobayashi developed his thesis of a Yamato fed-
eration of chieftains,a thesis critical to the rise of the Yamato state.The sheer focus
and drive of the department was contagious,the general views of its members were
convincing,and I found each one imparting knowledge in a special way.Not all sur-
vive today,but the many kindnesses they extended me since that time have always
been very much appreciated.Additionally,Suenaga Masao,then director of the Nara
Prefecture Museum of Archaeology at Kashihara,was most generous with the use
of his museum materials.
Despite more than thirty-five years in Tokyo,my association with the Kyòdai
department put the stamp on me,which I look on as a badge of honor.The years at
International Christian University brought me in contact with many archaeologists
and others. My particular thanks go to the staff of what was then the ICU
Archaeology Research Center:Charles Keally,Koyama Shûzò,Oda Shizuo,Kobiki
Harunobu,and Chiura Michiko (until her demise in 1982).The staff of the ICU
Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum,Hara Reiko and Fukuno Akiko,have provided
many helpful services for which I am eternally grateful.Akiko’s generosity and tech-
nical skills made a glossary possible.Translation problems were enlightened by the
wisdom,patience,and stamina of Koyama Shûzò,Yatsunami Hirokazu,and Dorothy
Wong.Their wide-ranging views were exceptionally valuable.Other help in various
forms came from Oikawa Akifumi,Hongo Hitomi,Hayashi Tòru,Koyama Yoko,and
Igata Michiko.Special kudos go to those working in the ancient heartland:Walter
Edwards,Yamamoto Tadanao,Ishii Kayoko,and Kaneko Hiroyuki.The expert guid-
ance and the remarkable erudition of Shimizu Shin’ichi in the Sakurai/Makimuku
area and Yonekawa Jin’ichi in the Sakurai and Tenri areas were very much appreci-
ated factors in the study.I wish also to acknowledge the contributions of others who
ix