Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan

Sengoku Daimyo
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Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan is a Japanese history podcast where we will be going through a chronological history of Japan. We will start with prehistory and continue up through the Meiji period. Episodes are released as soon as they are available--working on a monthly release schedule.

  1. Episode 72

    The Three Kingdoms Period

    Continuing with our continental history catch-up, we discuss the Three Kingdoms period and the eventual rise--and fall--of the Jin dynasty.  We look at the origins of the nine rank system, as well as cultural phenomena like the Seven Worthies of the Bambboo Grove. For more, see https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-72 Where we are: Website: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast  Libsyn: https://feeds.libsyn.com/209813/rss  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the.sengoku.daimyo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wwwsengokudaimyo  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tatsushu.bsky.social  How to contribute: Patreon: https://patreon.com/SengokuDaimyo  Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo  BuyMeACoffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/sengokudaimyo  Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is episode 72: The Three Kingdoms Period Greetings, and welcome back.  We are currently still in a pause on the archipelago while we catch up with what has been happening on the continent.  Specifically, right now, we are focused on the various dynasties that arose around the Yellow and Yangzi rivers. Last episode we covered the rise of the Qin and then the Han, who ruled for four centuries from the Yellow River region—first in Chang'an, modern Xi'an, and later from Luoyang.  These traditional capitals would be used again and again over the centuries. This episode we'll cover turbulent era immediately following the fall of the Han, including the rise of the Three Kingdoms—Shu, Wei, and Wu—and eventual reunification and then dissolution under the Jin. This period sees a lot of changes happening, both in population movements and in cultural phenomena.  Our focus is going to be on some of those things that would, in one form or another, eventually be transferred over to the archipelago.  Things such as the system of government ranks as well as cultural phenomena, like the famed Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove. Our story starts towards the end of the Han dynasty—the Later Han, sometimes known as the Eastern Han, as the capital had moved to Luoyang, east of Chang'an.  At this time, there was massive migration south to the jungles and forest of the Yangzi river region.  While there had been ethnic Han emigres to the region in the past, it was nothing on the scale of the millions of people who would seek refuge there during the chaotic fall of the Han dynasty.   What they did when they got there was partly dependent on just where they settled along the reaches of the Yangzi river. The majority headed to the lower reaches of the Yangzi,.  This area must have been both similar to and radically different from the Yellow River Floodplain, where many had come from.  The Yellow River floodplain was extremely flat, and the Yellow River was known to regularly overflow its banks, as it was constantly depositing sand and other detritus, which, in turn, raised the bed of the river itself.  In fact, there are places today where the Yellow river towers some ten meters—about three stories—above the surrounding countryside due to the constant attempts to pen it in and prevent devastating flooding.  When the Yellow River did flood, the flow of the river could shift drastically across the largely flat floodplain. In contrast, the Yangzi river was more easily tamed.  While it still had problems with flooding, the mountainous and hilly terrain provide more natural containment for the river, and its headwaters in the rocky, mountain regions bring a lot less sediment downstream.  How much?  Well, one figure I found suggested that the Yangzi, which is Asia's largest river, has a flow rate of over 30 thousand cubic meters of water every second, and discharges about 480 million tons of sediment every year.  Compare that with the Yellow River, which has a flow of only about 2500 cubic meters of water every second, but over a billion tons of sediment.  For those trying to do the math in their heads, the Yellow River has a flow rate about ten times less than that of the Yangzi and yet it discharges over twice the amount of sediment every year. So, you can imagine that it was generally a less chaotic area for farming, and indeed, many of the peasants who settled in the lower reaches of the Yangzi became farmers, often working for elite families who had set themselves up in the south.  This was the location of the ancient state of Wu, which had had ethnic Han inhabitants since at least the eastern Zhou dynasty, so at least the 3rd century BCE, and whose old capital was around modern Suzhou, on the shores of lake Tai, in the precincts of modern Shanghai, at the mouth of the Yangzi river.  Now we've heard of the state of Wu before on this podcast: you may or may not recall that Wu was the state known in Japan as Kure, though where, exactly, that name comes from seems to be a bit of a mystery.  Back in Episode 48 we talked about weavers coming to Japan from "Kure" during the reign of Homuda Wake, and then in episode 60 we see envoys from "Kure" coming over in 470, during the reign of Ohohatsuse Wakatake, aka Yuuryaku, though at that time it would have almost certainly referred to the Liu Song dynasty which was still centered on the lower reaches of the Yangzi.Here's where I should probably note that the name "Wu" itself is the modern reading of the character used, which in ancient Sinitic language was probably something more like "Nguo" or even "Ngwa".  Even today, this area has its own Sinitic language, called "Wu Language" that is occasionally spoken there, though mostly as a "kitchen language" spoken at home, rather than an official language or dialect…and that leads us to some interesting additional connections between this area and the history of the Japanese language. We know the Japanese archipelago felt the reach of the continent since at least the Qin and Han dynasties - we have the famous seal of King Na of Wa, as well as the Han dynasty mirrors that came over and which the Japanese were keen to replicate – but how much else they took on of the cultural aspects is somewhat hard to say at this point.  But looking at the language, one thing we can observe is how the various Japanese on'yomi readings of Sinitic kanji characters connect to pronunciations of different times and places on the continent, suggesting that different periods and locations of contact are reflected in the Japanese language itself.  Many kanji have multiple on'yomi readings in different categories – one is the Kan-on, or "Han" reading, while another is the Go-on, or "Wu" reading, "Go" being a reading for the character Wu, likely pulled from the old pronunciation, "Nguo".  (And so for instance the same character read as "Mei" could also be read "Myou" or "Ka" could be read as "Ge", or even "Jitsu" as "Nichi".)  The Go-on is typically assumed to be the older reading, which likely came over in the 6th century or earlier, while the so-called "Han" reading probably reflected more the Tang dynasty and later.  This doesn't necessarily mean that those Go-on readings came from Wu itself or the ancient Wu language, but more likely that they were simply older or regional readings that differed from the northern dialects in vogue in later centuries.  And even though Mandarin and Cantonese didn't evolve into their current forms until later, there were distinct regional differences in language between the northern and southern areas as early as the 6th century, as Yan Zhitui noted in his writings.  The south had a reputation as more culturally refined, though alternatively that could be seen as lazy and archaic, whereas the north had perhaps a coarser dialect, and was also seen as more hard-working and industrious, though one should note that Zhitui was a native of the north and therefore likely prejudiced in his views. Language differences aside, over time, of course, the people of the original state of Wu were largely absorbed or replaced by the Han people migrating south, especially with the uptick at the end of the Han dynasty.  And as I mentioned before, many who settled in this region became farmers, working for elite families, many of whom had set up around Lake Tai, near the old capital.  Eventually another city would come to take precedence, however, and that was the city of Jianye, known today as Nanjing, the Southern Capital, and we will see why in a little bit. Before that, though, let's talk about the rest of the Yangzi.  While farmers were moving into the relatively flat and fertile areas in the southern reaches, those in the more mountainous regions often had a different experience.  While there were certainly farms producing food, many of the communities in the middle reaches had more of a military focus, setting up various fortified communities, often taking advantage of the mountainous terrain.  In the mountains, communities had to be relatively self-sufficient. Further upriver is the Min River basin, a relatively flat area, highly suitable for agriculture, but surrounded by mountains.  This is the home of the modern city of Chengdu, in modern Sichuan.  The relatively flat, fertile land meant that various states could arise here, and many different ones had indeed risen and fallen by this time.  There had been a growing Han presence since at least the Qin dynasty, but interactions with others were awkward, requiring the traversal of difficult and mountainous terrain to get out of the river basin.  The same things that would allow states to form in this region, often protected by the mountains from outside forces, would also be the things that kept them isolated at the same time, preventing them from expanding and conquering much beyond their own region. So these – the southern reaches, the central mountains, and the Min River or modern-day Sichuan basin – were the three areas of the Yangzi that people were moving to in the Han dyn

  2. Episode 73

    Southern and Northern Dynasties

    Our last look at the continent for a while as we look at what was happening over there, at least in a large sense.  We'll get into the story of Wang Dao and his live-in hermit, Guo Wen, and talk about hermits, gardens, and the general chaos that was this period. You can also check out more at https://www.sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-73 Where we are: Website: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast  Libsyn: https://feeds.libsyn.com/209813/rss  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the.sengoku.daimyo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wwwsengokudaimyo  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tatsushu.bsky.social  How to contribute: Patreon: https://patreon.com/SengokuDaimyo  Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo  BuyMeACoffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/sengokudaimyo    Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is episode 73: The Southern and Northern Dynasties Thanks for coming back.  We only have a little more time that we are going to spend on the continent before we get back to the archipelago, so please bear with me and we'll soon get back to Japan and the rise of the imperial family with the latest dynasty, in the 6th century. This episode, we are going to look at capital cities, gardens, hermits, and finish up with a very brief account of the political changes in the South and in the North.  Like the past couple of episodes, this is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a comprehensive history of this period—I'm mainly just hoping to get enough of an outline that we can refer to it as we head back to our main topics.   I'd like to say that I'm going to make this period make more sense, but honestly, it is extremely chaotic, so that is not likely.  But we will try to hit the major highlights. Given all of that, why are we even talking about it?  Well, as we've seen in the Chronicles, there is plenty of contact with the continent at this time, and understanding some of the things that go on here might help us later on as we see things coming to the archipelago.  There is also a tendency, in my opinion, to take a look at the continent—and especially the area of modern China—and make assumptions that the Middle Kingdom is the pinnacle of civilization in the Asia at the time.  Certainly, at this point, groups around the Yellow River and Yangzi region are utilizing complex instruments of statecraft that far outstrip what we currently see in the archipelago—even on the Korean peninsula.  But until the 6th and really the 7th centuries this area is in flux.  While dynasties continued to make grandiose claims, which Yamato rulers would piggyback off of—like the Five Kings of Wa and their request for titles from the Liu Song court—their control was tenuous, and fraught. In addition, when Japan does start to adopt more continental culture, it may be helpful to understand just where the roots of that culture came from, even as it sees a particularly insular twist. Finally, this will give us context as we start to see the archipelago ingest other things from outside, particularly as we examine the influx of Buddhism, which arrives in about the 6th century, and other connections to the larger trading routes, generally known as the Silk Road. So, last episode we covered up through the fall of the Han dynasty in the 3rd century and the rise of the three Kingdoms of Shu Han, near modern Chengdu; Cao Wei, up around the Yellow River, and Eastern Wu along the central and lower reaches of the Yangzi.  The Cao Wei eventually changed to the Jin dynasty, started with the Sima family, who replaced the Cao family of Cao Wei and then went on to conquer most of the Yangzi as well as the Yellow River region.  However, their northern capital at Luoyang was sacked in 317 by a state calling itself the Han.  Founded by Liu Yan, this so-called "Han" state claimed the name of the previously highly successful imperial dynasty, despite the fact that they were actually ethnic Xiongnu, one of the main nomadic people who challenged Han hegemony in the north. We'll hear more about Liu Yan and his Han dynasty later.  For now I'll just note an interesting tidbit about the Xiongnu—or perhaps something more like the Hong-na or even the Huna, based on the pronunciation of the time.  You see, they were a major nomadic empire across the Eurasian steppes from at least the 3rd century BCE, and they appear to be connected to—if not the same group—as the Huns who traveled west in the 5th century to the Volga and eventually invading the Roman Empire.  That's right, the same group that was giving the Han dynasty and its successor states so many problems may have been the ancestors to the people that eventually went on to threaten Rome and its allies.  With the destruction of Luoyang in 317, the Sima emperors moved the court down to the city of Jiankang on the Yangzi river.  With them came much of the ethnic Han northern aristocracy—those who did not or could not stay and find a place in the new Hongna, or Xiongnu, Han kingdom.  All told there were probably more than a million people who fled south with the destruction of Luoyang. Now as we've seen throughout history humans have always been accommodating when a large in flux of newcomers shows up and suddenly puts down roots, right?  Well, maybe not quite so much.  There is plenty of evidence of tension between the northern and southern families, but the newly displaced Northern court found ways to woo the Southerners over—pun intended, as all puns should be—and some of the Northern families even intermarried with the Southerners. The Southern Elites—those who had established themselves in the area of Wu for generations—mostly had their country estates southeast of the capital city, Jiankang, around Lake Tai, near the site of the capital of the old state of Wu, around Suzhou.  The northern emigres, on the other hand, settled east of the city, in an area known as Guiji, since the land around Lake Tai had largely been taken generations back.  These villas and country estates were often expansive affairs, with various orchards, animals, etc.  This can be attributed, in part, to the fact that the landscape of the south, as we've already discussed, was a little different than that of the north.  For one thing the city, Jiangkang, was not a walled city, like those in the north—at least not at this time.  As I mentioned some time back, the city didn't initially have walls—or, well, not the giant city walls common elsewhere as a necessary security requirement.  There were walls around the segregated palace area, a common feature of most capital cities, but the city otherwise relied on the river and surrounding mountains as their main defenses.  And so the city, unlike most up to that point, had a natural flow from an urban to rural environment. And this is a pretty big change from cities in the north.  While we have limited information on most of these cities—after all, they were built up time and again, usually destroying traces of what came before—we have some idea of their evolution.  Early on, the capital was the place where the elite sovereigns conducted their rites—it was basically the site of the sovereign's ancestral temple.  Later, it was distinguished as the site of the royal palace, with walls and towers.  In the Han dynasty, it became a ritual center conforming—or at least attempting to conform—to a Confucian ideal as laid out in the Zhou-li, the Rites of Zhou, the classic that Confucius lauded and which is said to have been penned by the Duke of Zhou himself, though many things attributed to it may have been later innovations. According to the Zhou-li, the ideal capital city was a square or rectangle, with a walled palace in the center, and three gates on each side.  Nine roads would run east to west, and nine roads would run north to south, creating a classic grid pattern.  There were other ritual requirements, but this basic pattern was held up as the ideal for an imperial city. More often then not, however, capital cities merely aspired to these dimensions.  The palace compound—a walled "inner city" itself, where the sovereign and the courts conducted their business—was typically set not in the center, but in the northern districts, as the throne was expected to face southward.  This also had the side effect that maps—at least those where directionality was important—typically placed south at the top, rather than the bottom, as it was assumed that the ruler would view them from a southward facing position. These cities were places for the business of government and for housing the people who made that government run, and were decidedly urban in their characteristics.  Rural areas and farmland only existed outside, beyond the walls of the city. In some ways this ideal city plan also matches up with the characteristics of communities along the Yellow River floodplain.  While low, flat land made for good farming, villages and communities would often cluster together on higher ground to avoid the inevitable floods that would eventually come when the Yellow River broke through the banks containing it, creating a distinction between the rural fields and living spaces.  As violent clashes broke out in the north, many people would seek shelter in walled communities—cities or fortresses—to defend themselves from the raids. And so imagine what it must have been like for the northerners who made their way down to the new capital of Jiankang.  Along the Yangzi, farmers were much more likely to live in amongst their fields, not huddled together, and even the city transitioned smoothly from urban to rural in a natural flow.  It is little wonder that there was a greater emphasis on the natural environment in the south. Those serving in government offices would have had property in the city.  After all, nobody wants a longer co

  3. Episode 74

    Yamato and State Formation

    This episode we step back and take a look at the formation of the Yamato state on the Japanese archipelago.  This covers the various reigns up to this point, but takes a look at the larger themes that brought us to this point. For more, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-74 Where we are: Website: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast  Libsyn: https://feeds.libsyn.com/209813/rss  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the.sengoku.daimyo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wwwsengokudaimyo  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tatsushu.bsky.social  How to contribute: Patreon: https://patreon.com/SengokuDaimyo  Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo  BuyMeACoffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/sengokudaimyo  Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is episode 74: Yamato and State Formation. We are finally back on the archipelago, after taking a few episodes to look a little more in depth at the continent, particularly at the culture that grew up in the Yellow and Yangzi rivers between the 3rd and late 6th centuries—the same period, generally, as the Mounded Tomb Culture in the Japanese archipelago and the Korean Peninsula.   We'll probably be going back there, especially as the 6th century is going to see the arrival of several new things from the continent, including Buddhism and various aspects of material culture. This is going to be a shorter episode, and mostly recap, as we are going to re-ground ourselves in the archipelago and try to set the stage for the rest of the 6th century.   To start with, let's look back what we know, so far.  A lot of this is going to be things we've covered before, but sometimes it helps to step back and look at the larger picture of what is going on in the story, especially in terms of state formation.  This topic – state formation, or in other words, exactly when "Japan" came to be - is something we've touched on, but it is an important point as we try to piece together the history of Japan.  Of course, the Chronicles claim that Japan is and always was a state, more or less.  They even use the term "Nihon" well before its attested existence, as well as the term "Sumera no Mikoto" for the rulers—something that basically claims the sovereigns were not mere rulers, or kings, but heavenly emperors, equal to those who sat upon the Tang dynasty throne, over on the continent. But states don't just appear out of nothing.  Groups of people gather together, create systems by which to govern themselves, and then, at some point, come to see themselves as a nation.  When and how this happens is often murky, however, and there is rarely a single moment when one can definitively say that a polity is a state, short of a written document declaring it so—and even that can't always be trusted.  In fact, there may be multiple peaks where a polity starts to show the traits of statehood, but then there is the question of whether or not they are sustained beyond just a single strongman and his—or her—ideas and cult of personality.  To that end, let's look at what we know of the Kofun period and what evidence we have, besides just what the Chronicles try to tell us. First off, in the 3rd century, we have reference in the chronicles of the Cao Wei dynasty to Himiko, the so-called "Queen of Wa", in Yamateh, the largest of several Wa states—for more on her, go back to Episode 13.  From what we know of this period, "Wa" was more an indication of ethnicity than any kind of state, and ethnic Wa people were likely still resident with other ethnic groups on the Korean peninsula at that time.  In addition, there are other groups on the archipelago that are mentioned later in the Chronicles, and we know that there were descendants of the Jomon populations still resident in parts of the islands.  Whether or not the Kumaso, the Hayato, the Emishi, or Tsuchigumo refer to simply different Wa groups or to individuals of other ethnicities, speaking another language isn't necessarily clear, as the Chronicles seem more focused on their position vis-à-vis Yamato.  Still, we see enough evidence that there are both common practices and diversity throughout the archipelago. While we have no direct evidence of Himiko in the islands—or nothing that the scholarly community as a whole can come together around—we do have physical evidence that this was a period of change, and there is a lot to point to Yamato, and specifically to the area at the base of Mt. Miwa.  Not only do we have the remains of the palace found at Makimuku, and archaeological traces from around the archipelago, but it is also where we see the first of the monumental keyhole shaped tombs. To be clear, this wasn't the start of the mounded tomb culture.  On the archipelago, that goes back to the funkyubo, mounds with multiple burials, which began back around the middle Yayoi period.  And we also see mounded tombs on the peninsula as well.  For the funkyubo, these were typically communal burials—even if only for a portion of the community.  These mounds eventually became tombs for individuals, and the keyhole tombs, with their rounded, circular rear mounds and the trapezoidal front were a particular feature of the Yamato region, at least at first. The existence of these large tombs is generally taken as an indication that the community—and by extension the leader of that community—was able to organize considerable amounts of labor.  Many have theorized that the organization of such labor arose from the need for communal agriculture, but once such labor exists it can be used in various ways, from building and expanding agricultural fields, but also for military and other state actions. The expansion of the keyhole shaped tomb mounds is seen as an expansion of the influence of what Gina Barnes refers to as the Miwa Polity, our early Yamato community.  Here a lot of people struggle to refer to it as a state.  Sure, they can organize labor and make things happen, but what really is a "state"?  Typically it consists of government, defined territory, a set of belonging by the people in it, laws, that sort of thing—you know, the sorts of things that don't show up in the archaeological record all that well.  Exact definitions of when something becomes a "state" can vary from person to person, depending on whom you talk to, but it is something other than simply a familial or clan structure.  The people in the state are connected by something more than kinship.  Max Weber described the state as a body that monopolized the use of legitimate physical violence in a given geographic territory.  In other words, the state can arrest people, incarcerate them, and even put them to death, and it is generally considered "legitimate".  Meanwhile if one person were to try to do that to another—or even one group, or gang—then that is typically considered illegitimate.  You can't just go and hit your neighbor, no matter how many "hit-me" pheromones they might be putting off.  Unless, of course, you can claim to be part of the state and you have a good reason, like they looked at you funny. Many have built on Max Weber's theories, and there is more nuance than just the person with the biggest club, though many still fall back on his definition as the baseline. The general theory in the archipelago at the time we are looking at it is that we are still working on a more tribal basis, with groups associated through bonds of real or fictional kinship.  Earlier scholars linked these bonds with the "uji" structure of groups like the Mononobe and the Ohotomo, but more recently this appears to be a late development.  Early authority may have stemmed from spiritual authority, emphasizing the Yamato sovereign's connection to the deity of Mt. Miwa, though it was also likely based on their position in a complex trade network that ran from the continent, through the peninsula, and on to the archipelago.  The development of trade networks are one of the theorized mechanisms for how societies get more complex.  Here many people point to the mirrors that Himiko has said to have received, and there have been efforts to connect mirrors found at various tombs around the archipelago with common batches that likely came over from the continent at the same time.  In effect, the Miwa polity was setting itself up as an authority on not only spiritual matters, but in what made someone "elite". Still, evidence of influence is not the same as evidence of control.  Just because mirrors and tombs show up in different areas does not meant that Yamato had direct control over that region like some kind of vassal state.  Later on it may have actually been the case that there were regulations on different types of tombs for different individuals, but early on it may have been simply related to how much labor a single group could organize. Early on, many kofun appear to be carved out of the landscape, from existing ridges and hills.  This would certainly have cut down on labor costs.  Effectively these early tombs, impressive as they are, are little more than a platform, with a standard burial dug into the round back half of the mound, and decorated with a variety of haniwa—circular, terracotta decorations.  As we previously mentioned, these haniwa were probably originally pillars for other kinds of vessels, possibly for offerings of some kind, but they morphed into various shapes.  From the fourth century we have figures of birds, houses, and various weapons. Then there are the various goods found inside different kofun.  While those tombs designated as belonging to ancestors of the current Japanese imperial house have been largely been off-limits to full-on, intrusive excavations, there are others that have been made available, or tombs that have been opened in previous centuries, either officially or otherwise, and the grave goods deposite

  4. Episode 75

    The Mirror, Sword, and ...Seal?

    We know about the regalia, the mirror, the sword, and the jewel, but has that always been the case?  This episode we look at a new sovereign coming to the throne and recieving the mirror, the sword, and... a seal.  So what's up with that? For more, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-75 Where we are: Website: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast  Libsyn: https://feeds.libsyn.com/209813/rss  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the.sengoku.daimyo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wwwsengokudaimyo  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tatsushu.bsky.social  How to contribute: Patreon: https://patreon.com/SengokuDaimyo  Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo  BuyMeACoffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/sengokudaimyo  Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 75: The Mirror, Sword, and …Seal? We are going to be talking about the person who followed Wakasazaki, aka Buretsu Tennou, known to us as Keitai Tennou—and no, that isn't the Cell Phone sovereign, different kanji, despite the fact that it keeps coming to my mind.  We'll talk about what the Chronicles say about how he came to the throne, and what his lineage may have looked like.  We'll look at some of what we know around this period, and what some others have had to say.   As usual, it is a bit difficult to say for certain what happened, but perhaps we can know a little bit. Last episode we covered up to this point in the early 6th century, with the ongoing formation of the Yamato State.  As we noted, although the Chronicles claim an unbroken lineage, there appear to have been at least two main dynasties, so far.  The first was the Iribiko dynasty, starting with Mimaki Iribiko, who is credited as the founder of Yamato.  Then there is the dynasty that tentatively begins with Okinaga Tarashi Hime and her son, Homtsu Wake—although possibly it actually starts with his son, Ohosazaki, for reasons we'll talk about later.  That second dynasty, which included the clearly historic figure of Ohohatsuse Wakatake, aka Wakatakiru no Ohokimi, or Yuryaku Tennou, ended around 506 with the death of Ohatsuse Wakasazaki—an aptly named bookend for the last descendant of Ohosazaki no Mikoto—the young Sazaki as the last heir to the Great Sazaki. That dynasty seems plagued with succession disputes. Despite the order that the Chronicles attempt to apply to it, the remaining stories make many people suspect that after each sovereign's death, there was a period of confusion and chaos.  Different groups in Yamato and surrounding areas would often pick up arms and vie for power and control.  Influential forces would rally around potential candidates—those with some claim to the throne.  The Chronicles often makes the claim that they were direct descendants of a previous sovereign—sometimes even siblings to the sovereign who had just passed.  It was clearly not a matter of strict patrilineal succession, however, and there are even more than a few women who may have thrown their hat into the ring, with Ihitoyo being one of the most convincing candidates so far. During all of this, we see the rise of the various economic households.  Most clearly are the Be—a continental innovation, where various individuals were gathered into a created household for economic purposes.  Some of these are groups of similar professions.  The Umakai-be, or the horsekeepers, and the Tamazukuri-Be, the Jewel-makers, are examples of these kinds of groups.  Members were apparently scattered across various lands, but a single family remained nominally responsible for coordinating them.  That family, sitting at the top of such a structure, would have had access to resources that that were produced by the other members, taking a bit off the top, as it were. Other such families were dedicated to simply producing economic wealth, typically in the form of some number of koku of rice, for the upkeep of some person or institution.  For instance, the upkeep of the monumental tombs that we see, or some particular family member. We also see the service nobility—families who support the court and the sovereign and the business of the court, and through that maintain an elite status.  Early on we see Takeuchi no Sukune and his descendants, who make up the Heguri, who are often the Ohomi, or Great Minister.  Similarly there are the Mononobe, who appear to be a constructed -Be style family focusing on the arts of war—Mono-no-fu being another term for warriors—but who claim their own divine lineage through another Heavenly grandchild.  Then there are the Ohotomo.  They claim descent through Michi no Omi, or at least according to the Chronicles—Michi no Omi theoretically rode with the legendary Iware Biko, aka Jimmu Tennou, when he supposedly invaded Yamato.  Later you see Ohotomo no Takemotsu serving in the time of Okinaga Tarashi Hime, aka Jinguu Tennou, and  Ohotomo no Muruya, in the time of Wakatake no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tennou.  This is probably the first reliable account of the Ohotomo family in the Chronicles as a powerful member of the court, but we will see their continued presence. In the period of the second dynasty, the service nobility play a large role in running the state and even in helping to select new sovereigns.  In the story recounting Wakasazaki, or Buretsu Tennou, Matori, of the Heguri family, appears to be the one in charge at the start, but Ohotomo no Kanamura, presumably the son or descendant of Ohotomo no Muruya, helps Wakasazaki overthrow and destroy Heguri no Matori, gaining his place as Ohomuraji in the process.  In some ways, it seems as though the important political story of Wakaszaki's reign at the turn of the 6th century wasn't about him at all, but about the competition between the Heguri and the Ohotomo. When Wakasazaki dies without an heir, it is these same service nobility who seem to be figured prominently in the next part of the story, the selection of the next sovereign. According to the Chronicles, it was Ohotomo no Kanamura who made the pitch that they would need someone to sit on the throne. The Nihon Shoki puts this two weeks after the death of Wakasazaki,  Kanamura proposed a candidate—one Yamato Hiko, a fifth generation descendant of Tarashi Nakatsu Hiko, aka Chuai Tennou.  This Yamato Hiko was living in Kuhada, in the land of Tanba—modern Hyogo Prefecture. The next part is a little, well, strange.  Rather than sending a simple messenger to Yamato Hiko and asking him to come take the throne, they apparently sent what the Nihon Shoki refers to as an "honor guard"—so armed men.  Now remember, up to this point, successions were a bloody affair, and when Yamato Hiko saw armed men coming for him, he took to the hills, not wanting to be purged just because he had a connection to an ancient sovereign.  The men searched high and low but they could not find him. And so, a few days later, Kanamura and the other nobles started the search anew.  They focused on another prince, Prince Wohodo.  The Nihon Shoki claims he was the son of another Prince, named Hiko Nushi-bito, and his wife, Furuhime.  Although Hiko Nushi-bito lived in Miwo, in the district of Takashima—probably around the area of modern Takashima o nthe shores of Lake Biwa—Wohodo's father passed away and his mother, Furuhime, took him back to her home of Takamuku.  This was likely in the area of modern Fukui, in the old province of Echizen, the area of the ancient land of Koshi that was closest to the Kinai region.  So that is where they sent the honor guard this time, to the land of Mikuni, to find Wohodo and ask him to take up the throne. When the troops showed up this time, Wohodo remained calm, and sat there with his personal retainers.  Still, he wasn't exactly sure what was going on, and so he didn't exactly consent, immediately.  However, someone had snuck him a message beforehand to tell him what was going on.  That was Kawachi no Umakahi no Obito no Arako, who let him know that this was a force coming to kill him, but rather to escort him back to the court.  When everything was finally over, Arako would be well rewarded for his service. Traveling with the honor guard, Wohodo made it down to the Kusuba palace, traditionally identified as being around Kuzuhaoka in Hirakata in modern Osaka.  It was there that Ohotomo no Kanamura presented Wohodo with the Mirror, the sword, and the signet, or seal. And let me take a moment and mark this occasion.  We've seen discussions of the mirror and the sword before this point, and this seems to indicate the three items of imperial regalia of Japan:  The Mirror, the Sword, and the Jewel.  And this is the first time we've seen these used as part of the ascension ceremony, at least since they were first brought down to earth in the legend of the Heavenly Grandchild, Ninigi no Mikoto. As you may recall, legends in the Chronicles claim that the Mirror and the Jewel were both hung on the Sakaki tree outside of the Heavenly Rock Cave as part of the ceremony to get Amaterasu to come out into the light.  There is even mention of a blemish on the mirror from when it was accidentally knocked against the side of the cave.  The sword implies the famous Kusanagi, or grass-cutter, found by Susanowo in the tail of Yamata no Orochi.  Of course it could be that it was a different mirror and a different sword, but I think that any reader in the 8th century would have assumed these to be the same as those discussed earlier in the Chronicles.  These were described back in episodes 15 and 16, as well as the descent of Ninigi no Mikoto in episode 22. More reliably, it does seem there was a tradition in the archipelago of maintaining and even displaying elite goods, such as mirrors, jewels, and swords, from tree-like structures to announce or welcome royalty. This is, however, the first time we've seen them brou

  5. Episode 76

    Cross-Strait Relations: Part I

    As we start to look at the events documented in the reign of Wohodo, aka Keitai Tenno, we are going to be looking at a lot of records dealing with the southern end of the Korean peninsula through Tsukushi, or Kyushu.  This first part will look mostly at what we know about these areas from the linguistic and archaeological angles.  Specifically, we are trying to break down the notion that there was necessarily a clear distinction between the "peninsula" and the "archipelago".  Gina Barnes often refers to all of this as pen/insular, though that rarely is as clear when spoken.  The importance of this distinction is seen perhaps no more clearly than in the land of Nimna--aka Mimana in Japanese and Imna in modern Korean.  This was likelye an independent polity, and not simply an early colony of Yamato.  On the flip side, there is plenty of reason to believe that there were ethnic Wa people--even whole communiteis or polities--on the Korean peninsula. For more, check out https://www.sengokudaimyo.com/episode-76 Where we are: Website: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast  Libsyn: https://feeds.libsyn.com/209813/rss  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the.sengoku.daimyo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wwwsengokudaimyo  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tatsushu.bsky.social  How to contribute: Patreon: https://patreon.com/SengokuDaimyo  Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo  BuyMeACoffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/sengokudaimyo  Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 76:  Cross-strait Relations, Part I. Before I get too much into it, some news: we are expanding to YouTube.  I'm honestly not sure how this will work, but we are converting some of our audio into playable videos—not that the visuals are that exciting but it at least gets it out there in another format.  More information towards the end of the episode. Now, as a reminder, we are still in the start of the 6th century.  Last episode we saw the elevation of Wohodo, aka Keitai Tennou, around the year 507. These next two episodes we are going to look at what was going on—or at least what was recorded as going on—during the reign of Wohodo, aka Keitai Tennou.  Much of what we see in the Chronicles seems to really be more about the story of what was happening on the continent.  In particular, we are seeing a lot of pushback against Wa and the Wa-aligned states on the peninsula. Understandably, these states are all mentioned in the Chronicles as though they are directly controlled by Japan, or Yamato, but this is definitely an anachronistic 8th century view.  A lot of what we have appears to be from the Baekje Chronicles that the compilers of the Nihon Shoki were drawing from, but there is definitely a pro-Yamato spin to everything, so keep that in mind. Also, this episode will likely be short, but that's partly because some of this stuff is dense, and I don't want to throw too much at you at once.  Feel free to hit me up with any questions you might have and check out our podcast website for more information in an attempt to try to keep all of this straight. Last episode, we discussed Wohodo's background and how he apparently came to power to head up the third dynasty of sovereigns.  During all of that, we noted how the Chronicles connect him with figures from the past, including Homuda Wake and Ikume Iribiko.  Homuda Wake, aka Oujin Tennou, was famously considered to have been still in his mother's womb when she supposedly went to war and brought the countries of the Korean peninsula to heel.  Okinaga Tarashi Hime, aka Jinguu Tennou, was long credited with setting up the country of Mimana, aka Imna or Nimna, as a Wa state, an extension of Yamato's power.  However, it is much more likely that it was an existing state—possibly of Wa or at least a Japonic speaking people—and its existence is independently confirmed in numerous other records, though they don't necessarily corroborate Yamato's claim to it. In this first episode, we are going to take a look at what was happening across the straits, between the southern tip of the Korean peninsula and the island of Kyushu, for the most part.  This is a fraught area of discussion.  Nationalist histories from both Japan and Korea have generally come to an uneasy truce that puts Korea and Korean culture and people on the peninsula and Japan and Japanese people on the archipelago.  This all goes back to at least World War II and the use of Jingu and the Mimana Nihonfu, or the Japanese Government of Nimna, which was used as a justification for Japan's invasion of the Korean peninsula. Since then, scholars have generally agreed that there was no Japanese Government overseeing territory on the Korean peninsula.  For one thing, there was no "Nihon" for there to be "Nihon-fu"—it would have been either Wa or Yamato, either of which have much different connotations.  Furthermore, even if there was a government office of some kind on the peninsula, it was likely more of a diplomatic outpost than any kind of administrative unit.  On top of all of that, we don't' even know where it was, other than some vague ideas. If you go to Wikipedia, or do an Image Search for the Three Kingdoms period or just about anything we are going to discuss today, you often see well demarcated territories on the maps.  Baekje will likely start somewhere up near Seoul and encompass the entire western half of the southern peninsula.  Silla will likely be portrayed similarly, at least down to the Nakdong River Basin, where the map may show an area known as the Gaya Confederacy—sometimes even the Gaya Kingdom.  Nimna—or Mimana—is often not shown at all, unless you are looking at Japanese maps of this time. And yet the truth is that this is all much more complex.  Most of our history for this period is based on texts.  But those texts have flaws.  The texts from the Sinic dynasties out of the area of modern China are perhaps the most reliable, but they have scant information to tell us exactly where things are, and while some states and proto-states are listed with fairly consistent names and descriptions, this isn't universally true.  Meanwhile the Baekje annals held by the Japanese court may have been a gold mine of information, but we only get the pieces that the Chroniclers chose to include, and from what we can tell it is clear that they often changed and quote-unquote "corrected" various details in order to present the story they wanted to tell, which was meant to aggrandize the royal line of Yamato. Finally, there are the Korean sources, such as the Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa, as well as the Tongkam.  These are all invaluable sources, but they are no less biased than the Japanese Chronicles.  They were compiled centuries later—even later than the Japanese Chronicles—and it seems they were drawing from different versions of events in many cases.  The fragments of the Baekje Annals that we have in the Nihon Shoki occasionally lines up with the Samguk Sagi, but often it speaks to periods where the Samguk Sagi is otherwise silent.  It doesn't help that all of these accounts are focused on the actions of the center, and often ignore the periphery.  We don't have written Chronicles out of Gaya—or Kara—for instance, nor any other polities that may have existed on the peninsula at this time. It further obscures things that this was all written in a form of classical Sinitic—Chinese characters—that did not match up with the languages being used on either the peninsula or the islands.  In addition, many of the Korean sources are often using names that were deliberately changed when Goryeo took over—obscuring many local details by replacing placenames, one of the things linguists often rely on, with their own, ensuring that even if there had been another linguistic group, its legacy was largely erased from the landscape, leaving us to puzzle through the scraps. That we are, today, reading through yet another lens also obscures what we see.  In Aston's English translation of the Nihon Shoki he often makes the choice to render some words into the modern Korean equivalent of On'yomi, using the Korean "Chinese" pronunciation of the characters, especially where it is clear we need a phonetic spelling.  Names are often assigned a nationality, as though the modern nations of Korea and Japan already existed as linguistic entities from back in this period. This idea, that there were Wa or Japonic states on the peninsula separate from Yamato, is worth examining a little more, and here's where we should touch once again on language.  We talked somewhat about this back in Episode 9, where we discussed theories on the origins of the language of the Wa. Current scholarship seems to indicate that there was a Japonic—or proto-Japonic—speaking people on the Korean peninsula prior to the arrival of the Korean language.  This may not have been the only language on the peninsula, and we certainly know of a variety of ethnicities that show up briefly in the record, but I'm not sure how we would even be able to tell what languages such people spoke, as Korean eventually moved along the peninsula, north to south, taking over and pushing out any indigenous languages.  The state of Baekje may have had Japonic speakers, beyond those Wa who were recruited into the court and military structure, but it was likely largely speaking a language similar to Goguryeo, given their ties through purported Buyeo ancestry.  Likewise there is some evidence in Silla for a Japonic substratum, though even they had largely adopted the language used by Goguryeo and Baekje by the 6th and 7th centuries.  So even if the dominant language of the main states on the Korean peninsula was largely Korean and not Japonic, it certainly seems reasonable that there were some Japonic speaking holdouts on the peninsula, and perhaps th

  6. Episode 77

    Cross-Strait Relations, Part II

    This episode we are back looking at what the Chronicles tell us about what was going on between Yamato and the various states of the peninsula, but from a very insular viewpoint.  I recommend listening to Part I, first, and consider what the Chronicles are saying in a larger context.  That said, we have lots going on, from the troubles with Nimna and Kara/Gaya, as well as rebellion in Tsukushi--aka Northern Kyushu.  And of course, plenty of people just behaving badly, because humans haven't really changed *that* much over the centuries, unfortunately. For more, check out our podcast website:  https://www.sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-77 Where we are: Website: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast  Libsyn: https://feeds.libsyn.com/209813/rss  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the.sengoku.daimyo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wwwsengokudaimyo  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tatsushu.bsky.social  How to contribute: Patreon: https://patreon.com/SengokuDaimyo  Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo  BuyMeACoffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/sengokudaimyo  Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 77:  Cross-strait Relations, Part II We are still in the early part of the sixth century, in the nominal reign of Ohodo no Ohokimi, aka Keitai Tennou, and last episode we talked about about the island of T'amna—or Tanimura—aka Jeju, as well as linguistic possibilities and the strange archaeology of South Jeolla, including keyhole shaped tombs, similar to those found in the archipelago, but with distinct Baekje features. This episode we'll see what the Japanese Chronicles—specifically the Nihon Shoki—have to say about cross-strait relations during this time.  Much of this actually comes from the Baekje Annals quoted by the Chroniclers, which I actually trust a bit more than some of the oral histories, but even then we have to be careful about where the Chroniclers decided to bolster Yamato's reputation.  There is a lot about Nimna, and about some of the individuals who seem to have been working between the various states on and off the peninsula. The Chronicles kicks this reign off with a note about T'amna, or Tanimura, contacting Baekje for the first time, in 509.  (By the way, Korean records suggest this date is wrong—that contact happened much earlier in the 5th century, so it is unclear just why it is of such importance, but it does fit the theme, here of a focus on Baekje and the continent.)  Then, in 511 it is noted that an envoy from the Wa was sent to Baekje.  His name is given as something like Kuramachi – the name was translated into the language of Baekje and then coming back to us in annals written in Sinitic characters.  Unfortunately, we know little else, other than that someone with an ethnic Wa seeming name was claiming to be an envoy in 511. Perhaps more importantly in this particular section, there is a mention of Baekje families who had been living in the lands of Nimna for the past three or four generations.  These families had, quote-unquote, "fallen off" the Baekje registries, and were all moved back to Baekje and replaced on the registers – so it would seem that Baekje, in a sense, was regathering its own.  The importance, for us, would seem to be the resurgence of Baekje's power, pulling back in those who had left its orbit, and more.  We'll also see that this seems to be connected with other events, later on.  A year after Kuramachi's embassy, there is another one in about 512.  This is the year when Hozumi no Omi no Oshiyama, whom the Nihon Shoki names as the "governor of Tari", or Tari no Kuni no Kami, aka Tari no Kokushu, goes to Baekje with a tribute of 44 horses.  Tari, as we'll see later, is an area—or polity—associated with Nimna, a connection that we will definitely be exploring in more detail, especially in regards to Oshiyama, who shows up again and again in the record of this reign, and whose loyalty to the Yamato court might be more than a bit questionable.  As for the gift, well, horses, of course, had originally been brought the other way (from Baekje to the islands) in the previous centuries, but by now the islands were breeding plenty of their own.  The fact that they were from Kyushu—or Tsukushi—however, is interesting.  Was Kyushu a large horse-breeding center at this time?  Was there something special about Kyushu horses, compared to others?  Certainly T'amna horses were highly prized, but that wasn't until much later.  Was it just the fact that they were able to send so many? About 8 months after Oshiyama presented the horses, Baekje sent an envoy back to the islands—presumably to Yamato—along with Oshiyama, or so it appears.  This embassy requested that four provinces of Nimna—Upper and lower Tari, Syata, and Muro—all be ceded to Baekje.  After all, they were close to Baekje, geographically, and the people were already co-mingling.  Oshiyama concurred with this assessment, and said as much to Ohotomo no Kanamura, who was clearly acting as something of the prime minister these days, who agreed and told the sovereign, Wohodo, that they should indeed acquiesce and hand them over.  Wohodo concurred, and ordered Mononobe no Arakai, another powerful noble of the court, to go and make it happen.  That said, not everyone was pleased with this decision, and Monoboe no Arakai's own wife urged him to reconsider.  After all, hadn't the kami themselves given that land to Yamato?  Who was he to go and give them up?  Arakai was swayed by her arguments, but found himself in a pickle.  He couldn't just deny the sovereign's command.  And so Arakai feigned that he was ill, forcing Wohodo to choose someone else to deliver the news. Now when Prince Ohine, the eldest son of the sovereign, Wohodo, heard about all this, he, too, was rather surprised and taken aback.  He immediately sent a messenger to stop the envoys before they left, but when the messenger met with the envoys they listened, but decided to follow through.  After all, the plan to give up the four provinces was already approved by the sovereign, and he overruled the prince.  As it says in the Nihon Shoki it is "better to be beaten with a smaller stick than a larger one", meaning they would rather incur the Prince's ire than the sovereign's—not to mention the fact that the King of Baekje was unlikely to be pleased, either. When the circumstances of all this got out, rumors started to spread that Oshiyama and Kanamura had been paid off by Baekje to push this whole thing through.  Clearly not everyone was happy with the decision, but it seems  that what was done was done. So let's talk about who these people are and the context around it.  First off, we have Hozumi no Oshiyama, whom I mentioned earlier.  He's supposedly the governor of Tari, in Nimna, and he had apparently been sent to Baekje at some point as an envoy, bringing horses from Kyushu.  The Baekje annals even given him a Baekje title.  So I have to wonder whether he was even a vassal of Yamato, much as I wonder about the envoy mentioned earlier in the Baekje records, Kuramachi.  If we don't make the assumption that Yamato is the only Wa polity operating on the peninsula, it opens up the possibility that these could be envoys from some other group—perhaps even Nimna or Kara, or one of their smaller political units. Of course, the Japanese side of the story, coming to us through the Chronicles, is that Nimna at this time was under the control of the "Mimana no Nihonfu", or the Japanese Government Office of Nimna, aka Mimana.  Besides the anachronism—Japan still wasn't known as "Nihon" and at best this would be the "Wa-fu" or "Yamato-fu"—modern scholars have largely moved away from the notion that Nimna was a Japanese colony.  It does appear to have been a close ally, and there may have even been a permanent diplomatic office set up to deal with trade and various cross-strait issues.  It is even possible that it was largely made up of ethnic Wa people, or that they played a major role in the state, for all that we know.  How tied this was to Yamato is another thing entirely.  So Oshiyama may have been from Yamato, but he just as easily could have been from Kyushu or from one of the groups of Wa people in Nimna or other parts of the Korean peninsula.  His name does appear to be reflective of a Japonic name, so we assume that he was ethnic Wa, regardless of whom he served, and he very well may have been an independent agent, the actual governor of the areas that were being ceded to Baekje.  This makes more than a little sense to me, given his title and everything else.  It is also possible that some of these titles came at a later point—perhaps even because of his work to help get them turned over to Baekje. The second individual in our little drama is Ohotomo no Kanamura.  He was the Ohomuraji of the Ohotomo, and appears to have been the one pulling the strings in Yamato.  He was the one who put Wohodo on the throne, and he seems to be the one who headed up the negotiations; he simply informed Wohodo of his recommendation and received his guidance.  We've talked about Kanamura before and he will come up again in the narrative.  Despite the rumors of bribery that are mentioned, reading ahead we can see that he was still confirmed as Ohomuraji when Prince Ohine eventually came to power as Ankan Tennou, so clearly this whole episode didn't ruin their relationship that much—or perhaps it is just that Kanamura was that powerful.  It is hard to know for certain. Then there is Mononobe no Arakai—or possibly Arakahi or even Arakabi back in the day.  Like Kanamura, he has also been around since at least the previous sovereign, and he has some influence at court.  He is one of the Big Three mentioned in bringing Wohodo to power—Kanamura, Arakai, and Kose no Obito, the apparent

  7. Episode 78

    Eminent Domain and Ancient Japan

    This episode we hang up on Keitai and begin to take a look at the mess that follows him.  There are still a lot of questions about this period, but we'll try to tackle what we can and continue to pay attention to the clues about how things worked during this period. For more information, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-78 Where we are: Website: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast  Libsyn: https://feeds.libsyn.com/209813/rss  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the.sengoku.daimyo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wwwsengokudaimyo  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tatsushu.bsky.social  How to contribute: Patreon: https://patreon.com/SengokuDaimyo  Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo  BuyMeACoffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/sengokudaimyo  Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is Episode 78: Imminent Domain in Ancient Japan First off, a huge shout out to listener, Zach.  When I asked everyone about suggestions for transcripts, he went out and found a tool to auto-generate them, tried it out already, and sent me example results.  So I'll be going over the tool and seeing what I can do to get transcripts uploaded for the podcast, hopefully making everything a bit more accessible.  Thanks again, Zach! Second, I want to address the way "Keitai" (as in Keitai Tennou, the first sovereign of this current dynasty) reminds me of "keitai" as in "keitai denwa", or "cell phone". This leads to some interesting notes on Japanese language, especially for those of us coming at it from outside.  While both of those words sound the same to my English-speaking ear, especially in an English sentence, and are spelled the same in hiragana, they are slightly different, and as a Japanese instructor recently pointed out to me, they don't sound the same in Japanese.  This has to do with a certain tonal quality to Japanese that isn't typically taught, and it is almost more about the difference between accents than anything else.  In fact, there are even regional differences, all having to do with tone. Or perhaps, more precisely, having to do with pitch.  As one listener pointed out, this is more properly referred to as a "pitch accent", and falls somewhere between a truly tonal language, like Putonghua, aka Mandarin, or the Thai language, and a stress-accented language like English and most European languages. As an example, take the word "ame".  It can mean "rain" or it can mean "candy", depending on the tone you use.  Back when I was studying in Japan, I knew a couple who were from different parts of Japan, and the wife had a bit of an accent.  She would say "ame ga furu"—the rain is falling—and her children would laugh because, as they had been brought up, it sounded like "ame ga furu"—candy is falling from the sky.  Now, obviously they knew what she was saying, so if you don't hear a difference, don't worry, you will probably still be understood.  Nonetheless, I think it is a curious feature of Japanese that often doesn't get mentioned that these sorts of things exist, and I thought this might be a good time to share. So, for anyone else who thinks I overreached in seeing Keitai Tennou as the cellphone sovereign, you just might be correct.  I'm still going to giggle a little bit when I hear it though. Anyway, back to history. The last few episodes have been covering the reign of Wohodo no Ohokimi in the beginning of the 6th century, and today we'll wrap up his reign and talk about his successors.  To recap: Wohodo is said to have come to the throne in 507 and reigned up until his death in either 531 or 534.  His ascension is strange—with the death of Wohatsuse, aka Buretsu Tennou, without any heirs the court scoured the land for a suitable candidate.  They claim that Wohodo was a descendant of Homuda Wake, aka Oujin Tennou, some 5 generations back, and even descended from Ikume Iribiko through his maternal line.  However accurate this was, it is clear that the line of Ohosazaki, aka Nintoku Tennou, the sovereigns responsible for the giant keyhole tumuli in the Kawachi region, such as Daisen Ryo, had come to an end with Wohatsuse—at least along the paternal line.  So Wohodo had to be brought in from the distant land of Kochi, on the Japan Sea side of central to eastern Honshuu. This raises some interesting questions about the relationship between Yamato and other Wa polities in Japan.  Some scholars have suggested that Wohodo was a part of a separate royal family in Kochi—that many of the regions, including Izumo, Kibi, and Northern Kyushu all had their own independent polities that were only loosely tied to Yamato, which may have been primus inter pares—first among equals.  It is also possible by this time that Yamato had some kind of a paramountcy; that is to say that they had become central enough that the other states were not seen as equals.  Still, local governance would have more directly revolved around the local chieftains. An example of this local independence is seen during this reign when Iwai, the lord of Northern Kyushu, flexes his muscles and tries to take control of the shipping routes between the archipelago and the continent.  This is ultimately put down by a military expedition, suggesting that Yamato did possess some amount of military coercive power, along with any spiritual or religious cachet they may have had. It also seems quite likely that another component holding things together among these different polities were the various marriage alliances.  We've seen this in the ancient stories and so it is quite possibly true that Wohodo did have both paternal and maternal connections to Yamato.  It is also possible that these were just two in a web of relationships that could have been called on, and doesn't necessarily mean that he had the strongest claim to the throne.  In fact, the Chronicles even point out that there was another candidate who also was selected before him, but who fled due to the Yamato court's poor communication tactics. Overall, it is unclear why Wohodo was chosen as sovereign, and even his hand in things seems relatively light.  In the Chronicles, the focus during this reign is much more on those serving the court.  This includes individuals like Hodzumi no Omi no Oshiyama, Mononobe no Ohomuraji no Arakahi,  Kena no Omi, and, of course, Ohotomo no Ohomuraji no Kanamura.  Even then, most of the reign seems to be dealing with the interactions between Yamato and the continent.  Tamna, Baekje, Nimna, Kara, Silla, Ara, and other polities are all brought up, some appearing in the narrative for the first time here. Even the rebellion of Iwai, in Northern Kyushu, was focused on its effects with continental relations. The Sendai Kuji Hongi focuses just on the events in the archipelago and, even then, on the actions of the sovereign and the royal family.  Most of it is genealogical, though it does note specifically that Prince Magari Ohoe—also known as Ohine in the Nihon Shoki—was moved in to the palace for the Heir to the Throne. And this brings up the matter of succession, which we discussed somewhat before.  Wohodo had two important wives or consorts.  First, when he took the throne, Wohodo was already married to at least one wife, Menoko, the daughter of Owari no Muraji no Kusaka.  Owari is the land focused on the modern area of western Aichi prefecture, including Nagoya.  She is named in the Kuji Hongi as being raised up to the status of "Royal Consort" when Wohodo took the throne—normally the primary wife of the sovereign is raised up as the queen, but of course, our story took a turn and the court suggested that Wohodo marry a second woman, Tashiraka hime and raise her up as his queen. This strikes me as an overtly political action.  Tashiraka hime was either the daughter of Woke no Ohokimi, aka Ninken Tennou, and thus sister to the previous sovereign, Wohatsuse, or, by inference, the daughter of Shiraga no Ohokimi, aka Seinei Tennou, though this seems less likely to me.  Whatever the case, she is presented as a daughter from the previous royal line, so by suggesting that Wohodo marry her, the court may have been trying to help legitimize his rule—either that, or this is a fictional connection inserted by the Chroniclers to try to sort things out later. Because you see, when Wohodo no Ohokimi died, which happened in either 531 or 534—there is some disagreement—it wasn't his son by his second wife and full Queen Tashiraka hime who succeeded him.  Rather it was Magari no Ohine, his eldest son by his first wife and consort Menoko, who came to the throne and is known as Ankan Tennou.  Skipping ahead, we'll see that both of Menoko's sons would take the throne, albeit briefly.  Prince Ohine took the throne for about 2 years, and his brother, Take Ohiro Kunioshi Tate would reign for three, being named Senka, or Senkwa, Tennou by the Chroniclers.  It was only after those five years that the son of Wohodo and his Queen, Ame Kunioshi Hirakihiro Niha, actually took the throne. The Nihon Shoki claims that this son, aka Kimmei Tennou, was the rightful heir, but that he was too young, and so his brothers took the throne until he was old enough.  This seems more than a little suspicious, however.  First of all, both of the brothers are counted as full sovereigns—as Ohokimi—and part of the line of succession, as opposed to simply being counted as regents, holding the throne until their little brother came of age.  It is said their father died at the age of 82, so it is quite possible they were already in their 60s by the time they took the throne themselves, depending on when they were actually born—though records claim they were in their 70s. It is also curious that Ohine, the first to succeed his father, was clearly counted as the Crown Prince—he was set up in the palace reserved for the Crown Prince and was

  8. Episode 79

    Ankan's Glass Bowl

    This episode we look at some of the physical evidence from this period.  In particular, since we are talking about the sovereign known as Ankan Tenno, we will look at a glass bowl, said to have come from his tomb, which appears to have made its way all the way from Sassanid Persia to Japan between the 5th and 6th centuries CE.  Along the way we'll take a brief look at the route that such an item may have taken to travel across the Eurasian continent all the way to Japan. For more on this episode, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-79 Where we are: Website: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast  Libsyn: https://feeds.libsyn.com/209813/rss  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the.sengoku.daimyo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wwwsengokudaimyo  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tatsushu.bsky.social  How to contribute: Patreon: https://patreon.com/SengokuDaimyo  Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo  BuyMeACoffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/sengokudaimyo  Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 79:  Ankan's Glass Bowl. We are currently in the early part of the 6th century.  Last episode was our New Year's wrapup, but just before that we talked about the reign of Magari no Ōye, aka Ohine, aka Ankan Tennō.   According to the Chronicles, he was the eldest son of Wohodo, aka Keitai Tennō, coming to the throne in 534.  For all of the various Miyake, or Royal Grannaries, that he granted, his reign only lasted about two years, coming to an unfortunate end in the 12th month of 535.  The Chronicles claim that Ohine was 70 years old when he died, which would seem to indicate he was born when his father, Wohodo, was only 13 years of age.  That seems rather young, but not impossibly so. It is said that Ankan Tennō was buried on the hill of Takaya, in the area of Furuichi.  And that is where my personal interest in him and his short reign might end, if not for a glass bowl that caught my eye in the Tokyo National Museum. Specifically, it was the Heiseikan, which is where the Tokyo National Museum hosts special exhibitions, but it also hosts a regular exhibition on Japanese archaeology.  In fact, if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend checking it out.  I mean, let's be honest, the Tokyo National Museum is one of my favorite places to visit when I'm in Tokyo.  I think there is always something new—or at least something old that I find I'm taking a second look at. The Japanese archaeology section of the Heiseikan covers from the earliest stone tools through the Jomon, Yayoi, Kofun, and up to about the Nara period.  They have originals or replicas of many items that we've talked about on the podcast, including the gold seal of King Na of Wa, the Suda Hachiman mirror, and the swords from Eta Funayama and Inariyama kofun, which mention Wakatakiru no Ōkimi, generally thought to be the sovereign known as Yuuryaku Tennō.  They also have one of the large iron tate, or shields, on loan from Isonokami Shrine, and lots of bronze mirrors and various types of haniwa. Amongst this treasure trove of archaeological artifacts, one thing caught my eye from early on.  It is a small, glass bowl, round in shape, impressed throughout with a series of round indentations, almost like a giant golf ball.  Dark brown streaks crisscross the bowl, where it has been broken and put back together at some point in the past.  According to the placard, this Juuyo Bunkazai, or Important Cultural Property, is dated to about the 6th century, was produced somewhere in West Asia, and it is said to have come from the tomb of none other than Ankan Tennō himself. This has always intrigued me.  First and foremost there is the question of provenance—while there are plenty of tombs that have been opened over the years, generally speaking the tombs of the imperial family, especially those identified as belonging to reigning sovereigns, have been off limits to most archaeological investigations.  So how is it that we have artifacts identified with the tomb of Ankan Tennō, if that is the case? The second question, which almost trumps the first, is just how did a glass bowl from west Asia make it all the way to Japan in the 6th century?  Of course, Japan and northeast Asia in general were not strangers to glassmaking—glass beads have a long history both on the Korean peninsula and in the archipelago, including the molds used to make them.  However, it is one thing to melt glass and pour it into molds, similar to working with cast bronze.  These bowls, however, appear to be something different.  They were definitely foreign, and, as we shall see, they had made quite the journey. So let's take a look and see if we can't answer both of these questions, and maybe learn a little bit more about the world of 6th century Japan along the way. To start with, let's look at the provenance of this glass bowl.  Provenance is important—there are numerous stories of famous "finds" that turned out to be fakes, or else items planted by someone who wanted to get their name out there.  Archaeology—and its close cousin, paleontology—can get extremely competitive, and if you don't believe me just look up the Bone Wars of the late 19th century.  Other names that come to mind:  The infamous Piltdown man, the Cardiff Giant, and someone we mentioned in one of our first episodes, Fujimura Shin'ichi, who was accused of salting digs to try to claim human habitation in Japan going back hundreds of thousands of years. This is further complicated by the fact that, in many cases, the situation behind a given find is not necessarily well documented.  There are Edo period examples of Jomon pottery, or haniwa, that were found, but whose actual origins have been lost to time.  Then there are things like the seal of King Na of Wa, which is said to have been discovered by a farmer, devoid of the context that would help to otherwise clear the questions that continue to surround such an object.  On top of this, there are plenty of tombs that have been worn down over the ages—where wind and water have eroded the soil, leaving only the giant stone bones, or perhaps washing burial goods into nearby fields or otherwise displacing them. So what is the story with the tomb of Ankan Tennō, and this glass bowl? To answer this, let's first look at the tomb attributed to Ankan Tennō.  The Nihon Shoki tells us in the 8th century that this tomb was located at Takaya, in the area of Furuichi.  This claim is later repeated by the Engi Shiki in the 10th century.  Theoretically, the compilers of both of these works had some idea of where this was, but in the hundreds of years since then, a lot has happened.  Japan has seen numerous governments, as well as war, famine, natural disaster, and more.  At one point, members of the royal household were selling off calligraphy just to pay for the upkeep of the court, and while the giant kofun no doubt continued to be prominent features for locals in the surrounding areas, the civilian and military governments of the intervening centuries had little to no budget to spare for their upkeep.  Records were lost, as were many details. Towards the end of the Edo period, and into the early Meiji, a resurgence in interest in the royal, or Imperial, family and their ancient mausoleums caused people to investigate the texts and attempt to identify mausoleums for each of the sovereigns, as well as other notable figures, in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki.  Given that many of those figures are likely fictional or legendary individuals, one can see how this may be problematic.  And yet, the list that eventually emerged has become the current list of kofun protected by the Imperial Household Agency as imperial mausolea. Based on what we know, today, some of these official associations seem obviously questionable.  Some of them, for instance, are not even keyhole shaped tombs—for instance, some are circular, or round tombs, where the claim is often made that the other parts of the tomb were eroded or washed away.  Still others engender their own controversy, such as who, exactly, is buried in Daisen-ryō, the largest kofun, claimed to be the resting place of Ōsazaki no Mikoto, aka Nintoku Tennō.  Some people, however, claim that it is actually the sovereign Woasatsuma Wakugo, aka Ingyō Tennō, who is buried there, instead.  What is the truth?  Well, without opening up the main tomb, who is to say, and even then it is possible that any evidence may have already been lost to the acidic soils of the archipelago, which are hardly kind to organic matter. By the way, quick divergence, here—if you look up information on Daisen-ryō, aka Daisen Kofun, you may notice that there are drawings of a grave, including a coffin, associated with it.  That might get you thinking, as I did at one point, that Daisen kofun had already been opened, but it turns out that was a grave on the slopes of the square end of the kofun, and not from the main, circular burial mound.  Theoretically this may have been an important consort, or perhaps offspring or close relative of the main individual interred in the kofun, but most likely it is not for the person for whom the giant mound was actually erected.  So, yes, Daisen kofun remains unopened, at least as far as we know. As for the kofun identified for Ankan Tennō, today that is the tomb known as Furuichi Tsukiyama Kofun, aka Takaya Tsukiyama Kofun.  While the connection to Ankan Tennō may be somewhat unclear, the kofun has had its own colorful history, in a way.  Now most of the reports I could find, from about '92 up to 2022, place this kofun, which is a keyhole shaped kofun, in the correct time period—about the early to mid-6th century, matching up nicely with a 534 to 535 date for the reign given to Ankan Tennō.  But what is fascinating is the history around the 15

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Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan is a Japanese history podcast where we will be going through a chronological history of Japan. We will start with prehistory and continue up through the Meiji period. Episodes are released as soon as they are available--working on a monthly release schedule.

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