Yamato Kingdom (ヤマト王権)
The Yamato Kingdom is a term used to refer to the royal authority and government that developed around a monarch, known as an okimi, and several powerful clans during the Kofun period (tumulus period). It was mainly based in the Nara basin. In the past, the term Yamato Imperial Court was used.
About the Designation
Until the 1970s, Yamato Imperial Court (written in Chinese characters) was the more frequently used term but, since the 1980s, Yamato Kingdom (with Yamato written phonetically) has become more common after it was pointed out that the Chinese characters for "Yamato" were not used until the Nara period and that "Imperial Court" was not an appropriate expression for the polity of that time. However, this new term has not really become established and various other names are also used, including the Yamato Government (with "Yamato" written either in Chinese characters or phonetically), the Wa Government or the Wa Kingdom. While government course guidelines employ the term Yamato Imperial Court, Japanese history textbook publishers use various different terms such as those mentioned above.
Formative Stage
Already in the Yayoi period (c.300BC-c.300AD) there existed a political alliance known as Wakoku, with Chinese historical sources mentioning rulers of Wa such as King Suisho and Queen Himiko. It is believed that this political union was not necessarily a solid one, but was established based on alliances between various political powers having equal powers. However, with excavations at the Makimuku ancient ruins, it has gradually become clear that the largest political stronghold in the Japanese archipelago was constructed in the Nara basin. The two proposed locations for the Yamataikoku Kingdom, where Queen Himiko of Wa lived, are Kyushu and Kinai (the area around Kyoto and Nara) and although neither of them has been proved, the Makimuku ancient sites are thought to be the most likely remains of Yamataikoku. It is still uncertain if the Makimuku sites correspond to the Yamataikoku mentioned in Chinese sources. However, from features observed in pottery from the Makimuku sites, it is believed that by the end of the Yayoi Period at the latest, regional political powers from the Tokai region down through Hokuriku, Kinki, Asan Setouchi, Kibi, Izumo to northern Kyushu participated in the central polity located in the Makimuku sites, forming a loose political alliance that is thought to have been the foundation of the Yamato Kingdom. Furthermore, archaeological studies have proved that the spread of iron from the Izumo region towards the end of the Yayoi Period was the major reason for the Yamato Kingdom's sudden prosperity.
However, as it has been found that standardized keyhole-shaped mounds first appeared during the Kofun period in the Nara basin and then spread to Kyushu and Tohoku, it is thought that the political power that had influence over those of other areas was established in the Nara basin. The fact that keyhole-shaped mounds combine tomb styles from different regions, such as Kinai, Kibi Province (Sanyo region) and Chikushi Province (Northern Kyushu), is believed to be evidence that these regional powers formed an alliance and became one unified power. As the first keyhole-shaped mounds appeared between the beginning and middle of the third century, the most widely believed theory claims that the Yamato Kingdom was established around this time; however, there is also a theory that this was a different kingdom (the pre-Yamato Kingdom) and that the Yamato Kingdom emerged after this.
The process of how the regional political powers unified and changed into the Yamato Kingdom is still unknown. Some theories claim that the political power led by Himiko (Yamataikoku) either brought other regional powers under its control or allied with them and established the Yamato Kingdom; others believe that a different political power destroyed Yamataikoku and established the Yamato Kingdom. It is thought that some political powers, such as Yamato, Kibi and Chikushi, had grouped together and formed the Yamato Kingdom by the third century at the latest.
There have been various theories as to the royal line of the Yamato Kingdom. Theories about the royal lines of the Yamato Kingdom include that it originated from Himiko and Toyo; that the first royal line ended with Iyo and a new one appeared; that the royal line during the beginning of the Yamato Kingdom was not heredity but was shared between different powerful families; that the first royal line died out and Mimakiirihiko (Emperor Sujin) started a new one around the beginning of the fourth century.
Development Stage
Before the latter half of the fourth century, keyhole-shaped mounds were mainly seen in the Kinai, Seto Inland Sea (such as Kibi County) and northern Kyushu (such as Chikushi County) regions. It is thought that the Yamato Kingdom also exerted its hegemony mainly in these regions. However, during the latter half of the fourth century, keyhole-shaped mounds spread rapidly from Tohoku (Sendai plain and Aizu Region) to southern Kyushu, which is seen as evidence of the Yamato Kingdom extending its hegemony in other areas.
Around this time, in the middle of the fourth century (around 350), the Yamato Kingdom (Wakoku) began trading with the Korean Peninsula. Because iron ore was not produced in Wakoku at that time, iron was imported from the Korean Peninsula. Gaya (known as Minama in Japanese) was one area that produced iron. The imported iron was used to make agricultural implements such as hoes and harrows, bringing about a revolution in agricultural technology and increasing land cultivation, which led to a rapid increase in Wakoku's agricultural production capabilities around the end of fourth to the fifth century. Due to these societal changes, the Yamato Kingdom became economically stronger and began economic and military invasions of the Korean Peninsula in search of iron. The Gwanggaeto Stele, erected by the Korean Kingdom of Goguryeo, states that the Yamato Kingdom (Wakoku) began dispatching troops to the southern Korean Peninsula in collaboration with the Kingdom of Baekje. Furthermore, from the discovery of keyhole-shaped mounds, a feature unique to Wakoku, together with descriptions in Chinese historical sources of Wa controlling the southern Korean Peninsula, it is regarded that the Yamato Kingdom governed southern Korea. It is thought that trade between Wakoku and the Korean kingdoms increased as Baekje, under pressure from Goguryeo to the north, began strengthening alliances with neighboring kingdoms such as Silla and Gaya. This led to increased interaction between the Yamato Kingdom (Wakoku) and the Korean kingdoms. It is thought that the Yamato Kingdom's development nationwide, from Tohoku to southern Kyushu, was strongly connected to its interaction with the Korean kingdoms.
Until the latter half of the fourth century, the Yamato Kingdom's royal tombs were situated in Yamato (the Nara Basin), but after that, the majority were built in the Kawachi Plain. Theories to explain this include the Kingdom's base moving from Yamato to the Kawachi Plain; the base remaining in Yamato, but the Kawachi Plain being developed as a port to trade with foreign countries; or the original royal line ending and a new one being established (the Dynastic Change Theory). From descriptions in the "Nihonshoki" (Chronicles of Japan), it has become clear that at least one ruler, King Osasagi (Emperor Nintoku), made his base in Osaka and developed the Kawachi Plain; evidence of river improvement (the Naniwa-horie canal) and embankments (Manda-no-tsutsumi levee) can still be seen today.
In the fifth century, the Yamato Kingdom began paying tributes to the Chinese Court. According to Chinese historical sources, five figures from Wakoku paid tributes to the Chinese Court and were recognized as the kings of Wakoku; they are called the Five Kings of Wa. Although the reasons for and the background to these tributes by Wakoku remain unclear, it is thought they may have been to provide an advantage in the competition over interests and rights in the kingdoms of the southern Korean Peninsula (the Gaya Confederacy) and in fact, Chinese sources mention Wakoku's hegemony over the southern Korean Peninsula. Many people who were engaged in technology or cultural activities came over from China and the Korean Peninsula through trade and interaction, contributing to the development of Yamato (Wakoku). These 'toraijin' (naturalized citizens) brought advanced technologies such as sericulture, weaving, ceramics, and architecture, as well as Chinese culture from the "Analects of Confucius," practical skills such as writing and accounting to Yamato (Wakoku). The Yamato Kingdom gradually organized these settlers and the regional ruling elite (the formation of the bemin system) and placed the central ruling families in the top oomi and muraji positions. As seen from these organizational changes, it is thought that a simple bureaucratic system was already being formed around the fifth century; there is an opinion that during this time, the "Yamato Kingdom", where the king's authority was the source of power, was replaced by the "Yamato administration", where a political organization, with a King at the center, held the power.
The main figure of the Yamato Kingdom (Yamato administration) during this time was King Wakatakeru (Emperor Yuryaku). A description in the Johyobun (Memorial to the Emperor), sent to China by Waobu, a figure identified as the King Wakatakeru, shows that the Yamato Kingdom appeared to conquer various regions, although some historical materials suggest that many chiefs maintained their autonomy. From these records, it is thought that although the Yamato Kingdom was superior to other chiefs, it was not a strongly dominant relationship, but rather more like a coalition government. From descriptions in the "Nihonshoki", it is believed that the chiefs of Kibi, Harima, and Ise rebelled against the Yamato Kingdom sometime around the latter half of the fifth century and it was during this period that King Wakatakeru appeared and strengthened the political power of the Yamato Kingdom over the regional chiefs with its increased military strength.
Transitional Stage
In spite of King Wakatakeru's efforts, the royal line weakened between the late fifth century and the beginning of the sixth century; some widely accepted theories claim that the line ended several times. During this time, trade with the Chinese Court also stopped. During the late fifth century, in 475, Baekje moved further south as Goguryeo advanced southward, and this economically and politically affected the Yamato Kingdom, that had a friendly relationship with Baekje. The Yamato Kingdom maintained an economic and political base in southern Korea owing to their friendly relationship with Baekje, but as Baekje's power diminished, this base weakened, leading to a decline in iron imports. For this reason, it is thought that agricultural development in Yamato (Wakoku) remained stagnant, weakening the Yamato Kingdom and the ruling elite under their jurisdiction, a situation that existed until the beginning of the sixth century.
Furthermore, since towards the end of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth centuries many of the old burial mounds where chiefs were entombed went into decline and new types of burial mounds emerged, it is thought that King Wakatakeru's strategy for strengthening sovereignty succeeded, although his power was temporarily weakened by rebellions from the former powers.
During the early sixth century, King Ohodo (Emperor Keitai) appeared from among the chiefs of regions between Omi Province and the Hokuriku region and unified the Yamato royalty. During King Ohodo's reign, the Tsukushinokimi-Iwai, a powerful family from northern Kyushu, allied with the Korean kingdom of Silla and started hostilities (the Iwai War) with the Yamato Kingdom, though these were immediately suppressed. However, due to this incident, the Yamato Kingdom rapidly lost influence in the southern Korean Peninsula. Also, it can be seen that the regions between Tohoku and southern Kyushu rapidly consolidated and became politically unified after the time of King Ohodo.
Establishment Stage
After that, the Yamato Kingdom became less foreign-orientated and more inward-looking. At the same time the Yamato Kingdom was importing Chinese culture, such as calendar making, from the Korean Peninsula, it was strengthening domestic administration by gradually organizing both the ruling elite and the common people. Conflicts between the royals and the elite families also occurred frequently. At the end of the sixth century, Empress Suiko, Prince Shotoku, and SOGA no Umako, after emerging victorious from several conflicts, established firm political foundations and actively reformed the polity by basing it on bureaucratic systems such as Kan'i junikai (twelve cap rank system) and the Seventeen-Article Constitution. With these political reformations, the Yamato Kingdom's form of government began to disappear, becoming replaced by the ancient Yamato state.
Royal Titles
The kings of the Yamato Kingdom called themselves "Wakokuo" or "Wao" (King of Wa) when dealing with foreign countries such as China or the Korean kingdoms, and "Ame-no-shita Shiroshimesu Okimi" (literally Great King of all that is under Heaven), "Okimi" (Great King) or "Okiminushi" (Great Lord) domestically. The title "Ame-no-shita Shiroshimesu Okimi" known from archaeological studies to have been established around the fifth century is viewed as evidence of the perception that Wakoku was a different 'tenka' (realm, written with the same characters as 'Ame-no-shita') from the Chinese dynasties.
Extent of Yamato
It is believed that Yamato ranged from the south east of the Nara Basin, southern Tenri City, to the north east of Sakurai City. This area contains Hashihaka tomb, the oldest keyhole-shaped mound and part of the Makimuku ruins at the foot of Mt. Miwa and, to the south of Tenri city, the Yamato tomb group, where the royal tombs of the early Yamato Kingdom are thought to be located.
"Wamyosho", a dictionary compiled in the early Heian period, describes Yamato-mura (also called Ohoyamato) located in Shikino-shimono-kori in Yamato Province. Yamato-mura is believed to be the area surrounding the present-day Oyamato-jinja Shrine and some view this area as the first one that came to be referred to as Yamato.
As this area was the base of the kingdom, the political power that arose from this area was named the Yamato Kingdom.
Yamato also referred to the whole of the Nara Basin. Subsequently, the areas governed by the Yamato Kingdom also came to be called Yamato.
(For details see Yamato)
Other Opinions and Popular Beliefs
There is an opinion that the main political regime of the Japanese Islands until the end of the seventh century existed in Kyushu and that the Yamato Kingdom was only one regional government, but since iron swords believed to be King Wakatakeru's were found in the Inariyama burial mound (Saitama prefecture) and the Eta Funayama burial mound (Kumamoto prefecture), this theory is not thought to be valid.
(the Kyushu Dynasty theory)
Also, many theories of the "mystery-solving" type, based on loose interpretations of Japanese mythology and the chronologies in the "Kojiki" (Record of Ancient Matters) and "Nihonshoki", have been asserted by Yamato Kingdom enthusiasts, but these nearly always fail to satisfy historical scrutiny and are of limited academic value.