Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan

By: 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.
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Episodes
  • The August Founder

    The August Founder
    Nov 16 2020
    So this episode we continue with the reign of Mimaki Iribiko, and look at why the Chronicles refer to him as the August Founder, even though he is also the 10th sovereign. We'll look at how he is said to have "pacified" the rest of the land. We'll also compare what the Chronicles tell us with what we know through other sources. For more go to: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-29 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo’s Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 29: The August Founder Last episode we covered the first part of Mimaki Iribiko’s reign, with a lot of focus on Yamato Totohi Momoso Hime and the potential connections with the time of Queen Himiko, in the 3rd century, and while there are some who suggest that this account is actually taking place much earlier—possibly as early as the late 2nd century—for now we’ll keep it where it is. Of course, that episode took us through Yamato Totohi Momoso Hime’s death and subsequent burial in what we believe to be Hashihaka kofun. And with her passing it is now time for us to move on with our discussion of the ruler mentioned in the Chronicles—perhaps Himiko’s co-ruler—Mimaki Iribiko Iniye no Mikoto. We’ll go through the rest of his account and talk about what it means that he shares with Jimmu that curious title of August Founder of Yamato. We’ll look at the military and administrative expansion that he is credited with. First, though, a little more on this name: Mimaki. Now, truth be told, we don’t really have a clear indication of its meaning. Some have suggested that the “Ki” is from a Korean word meaning castle, and later we’ll see “Mimana” as a name for a state on the Korean peninsula, possibly a part of the Gaya Confederation that grew up around the area we believe have been home to the Pyonhan. So, one idea is that Mimaki indicates that this ruler is actually from the continent. This goes along with a popular theory that states that the royal line was actually founded by a conquering force from the mainland, and draws some of its inspiration from the idea of Iware Biko—who was also identified with a peninsular placename—making his way up from Kyushu, the direction that any invaders from the mainland would need to take. We’ll revisit this later in the story of Oujin, one of the later sovereigns, and another important figure in the Chronicles, who is also cited as an example of this invasion. This theory of continental origin conveniently explains why Himiko isn’t mentioned in the Chronicles, because in this narrative, the royal lineage isn’t truly from “Yamato” at all, but they either founded the state (in which case it was likely separate from the Yamatai state of Himiko) or they took over an existing state and simply put themselves up as the rulers, possibly marrying into the royal line. This is often referred to as the horserider theory, because the horse and associated technology are thought to have been the innovation that gave these immigrants such an upper hand against the otherwise established entities on the archipelago. I don’t want to get into all of this right now, but suffice it to say that I’m not currently a proponent of this theory, which I believe puts me in good company with a number of scholars. That isn’t to say that we won’t see some influence from the peninsula later on the archipelago in later centuries, but I just am not seeing it in reference to our current subject, Mimaki Iribiko. Although Mimaki Iribiko does seem to have his own conquests—acts of pacification—it is all described as starting in the Nara Basin and spreading outward from there. Furthermore, his name doesn’t necessarily come from Mimana. Various people have pointed out different possible derivations for the name Mimaki on the archipelago itself, so a Korean explanation isn’t required. In fact, looking into the Wei Chronicles, I couldn’t help but notice that those chronicles mentioned several ministers with similar names. One of them is either Mimashi or Mimato, depending on whether you follow Soumare or Kidder, and then likewise another’s is either Mimakaki or Mimawaki. In Bentley’s take on ancient Japanese pronunciation they are something like Memasing and Memawake. This makes me wonder if one of these two might not, in fact, be the Mimaki Iribiko of the Chronicles, but referenced as a minister rather than a sovereign. Either way, I think there is enough to say that there is no need to suppose a Korean origin, and no reason to believe that the name Mimaki doesn’t come from the archipelago. Of course, how much of his story is actually about him and how much is memory or legend of the founding of the state, it is hard to say, but let’s assume that he did exist, at least, and probably played some part in the early state formation of Yamato. Even if he’s a composite character—like when a complex novel ...
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    55 mins
  • Yamato and the Continent

    Yamato and the Continent
    Dec 1 2020
    Getting into the reign of Ikume Iribiko (aka Suinin Tennou) and we'll briefly cover the state of the Korean Peninsula as we will deal quite a bit with the stories of travelers who are said to have come over at this time--Sonaka, Tsunoga, and Ame no Hiboko, possibly all one and the same person or possibly combinations of several different people. For more go to: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-30 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo’s Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 30: Yamato and the Continent. Last episode we finished up with the reign of Mimaki Iribiko, who ruled from the Mizugaki Palace, who would later be named as Sujin Tenno, and whose entry and accomplishments may or may not be conflated with Queen Himiko. We are assuming that his story should reasonably be set somewhat closer to the present than the Nihon Shoki puts it, so we are assuming about the mid-3rd century CE, which puts his successor somewhere towards the latter part of the third century. This is still the very start of what we know as the Kofun period. Mounded tombs—in particular these round keyhole shaped tombs—would come to dominate how we think of this era – as evidenced by the name of the period. But it wasn’t as if that was all that was going on, it is simply the most visible. Today we are going to get into the start of the story of Mimaki Iribiko’s successor, Ikume Iribiko—perhaps better known today as Suinin Tennou. First I think it is useful to take a look at the historical and archeological setting and revisit just what is going on outside Japan at this time period, beyond just what is set out in the Chronicles. Ikume Iribiko is the first sovereign in the Chronicles with a significant interaction with people from the peninsula, and so to better understand that we should probably take a look at what is going on over there. After all, when last we took a look at the Korean Peninsula, the Lelang and Daifeng Commanderies of the Wei dynasty was going strong, situated as they were in the middle of the peninsula, somewhere around the areas of modern Pyongyang and Seoul, were a significant presence. Meanwhile, much of the rest of the southern peninsula was still populated by the people of the Samhan, the three Han of Mahan, Pyonhan, and Jinhan. These would eventually become the kingdoms of Baekje, Silla, and the Gaya confederacy. North of the commanderies was Goguryeo and Buyeo, which were already well established kingdoms by the time Himiko’s envoys sent their first tribute to the Wei court. Unfortunately, however, this period, just after Himiko, is somewhat of a blank spot, historically speaking. While we have the chronicles, these are collected from fragments of oral stories. Meanwhile, the continental accounts from this time period go silent, and with good reason. The Han Commanderies like Daifeng and Lelang, first established in 108 BCE by the Han court, and Yamato’s primary conduit to the Wei court had become a bit pre-occupied. As you may recall from our episodes on Himiko and her envoys, the Han Commanderies were administrative units established by the Han and later dynasties to help provide some measure of control over the frontier regions—in this case the Korean peninsula. Administrators were sent from and supported by the courts in their mother country, and they acted as a stand-in for many of the regular interactions with the people in the border regions. In some cases that may have been receiving tribute and trade, or even arbitrating local issues. In others, it may have involved chastising those that encroached on the territory the commanderies were responsible for. And of course they facilitated the actual missions with the court in Luoyang. Unfortunately, after Himiko’s death, we merely get a glimpse of the continued fortunes of the Wa on the archipelago, and this is probably due, at least in part, to the fact that the Wei and its commanderies had more important matters to focus on. To begin with, to their north was the relatively mature state of Goguryeo, whose leaders claimed descent from the older Buyeo state.. In 238 Goguryeo helped the Wei destroy the Liaodong commandery, which also helped the Wei gain control of Lelang and Daifeng, which had previously been administered by the Gongsun. Only four years later, though, this relationship soured, as Goguryeo continued expanding towards the south, seeking arable land along the Yalu river, which drew the ire of the Wei, who saw that as their territory, setting off a series of conflicts which would lead to the destruction of the Goguryeo capital at Hwangdo, two years later. It would take almost a half century for Goguryeo to completely replace its Meanwhile, to the south of the commanderies, other kingdoms were coming of age. The state of Baekje, which was also led by nobles from the same Buyeo lineage as the Goguryeo royal family, had been growing ...
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    50 mins
  • The Romance of Saho HIme

    The Romance of Saho HIme
    Dec 16 2020
    CW: This episode deals with some aspects of suicide as historical phenomena. For all the history, here we have a real story for you, and I think you'll enjoy it. It is the romance of Saho Hime, the wife of the 11th sovereign, Ikume Iribiko. Filled with love and betrayal--a truly epic story, especially for what we typically find so far in the Chronicles. We also discuss Saho Hime's son, Homutsu Wake, as well as other aspects of the story, and of course, we do try to look at how it fits into the actual history of this time. For more go to: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-31 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo’s Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 31: The Romance of Saho Hime. And first off, thank you to Samuel for contributing to help the show. If you’d like to join Samuel and help us keep this going, you can buy us a coffee, or more, over at ko-fi.com. That’s K-O-dash-F-I.com/SengokuDaimyo. Now, this episode should be coming out around mid-December, and I’m sure that many people are preparing or already in the festive holiday mood. Well, today’s topic is probably about as festive as a piping hot bucket of fried chicken. So let’s settle in with our kotatsu, make sure the holiday KFC order is in, and we can go over a story of love and betrayal, and why listening to that one little pig about straw as a building material may not have been the best choice ever. Content warning up front—this episode deals with fighting and war, but also touches on accounts of suicide as well. And on that cheery note, shall we begin? First off, just a quick recap from last episode: Mimaki Iribiko, aka Sujin Tennou—the 10th sovereign and also the August Founde— had passed away and his son, Ikume Iribiko, aka Suinin, had succeeded him to the throne. While it is unclear just how much of the archipelago really recognized his authority, it does seem that Yamato had friends across the water, with Princely ambassadors arriving, primarily through ports on the Japan Sea coast, at Tajima and Koshi. In fact, it seems like someone down at Shimonoseki, the entryway to the Seto Inland Sea region, may have been asserting their own rights and status, possibly controlling access through that crucial waterway. That would certainly have been something that Yamato would need to deal with, but for now I think we can safely classify that as an SSP: Some-other Sovereign’s Problem. Besides, there was plenty going on in Yamato that needs to be dealt with. To start with, there would have been the burial arrangements for the previous sovereign. Curiously, we aren’t given quite the level of details for his tomb as we are given for that of his aunt, Yamato Totohi Momoso Hime , which is said to be Andonyama Kofun, in Tenri, less than a 30 minute walk north from the ruins of the palace found near Makimuku station, and perhaps 10 minutes more to Hashihaka Kofun, where is aunt—or possibly even Queen Himiko—might be buried. Now a few things here about Mimaki Iribiko’s purported tomb. First of all, while this is a Round Keyhole shaped kofun, like Hashihaka, and of a similar length, it does have at least one difference, and that is the number of terraces. You see, the mound for Hashihaka isn’t just a random pile of stone and earth in the desired shape, but it was a terraced construction, like a step pyramid. This isn’t immediately obvious when you are looking at it today, as much of the definition has eroded away and been covered in vegetation so that it can be hard to make out, but at the time it would have been quite obvious to an observer. Hashihaka was made with four terraces, and then a small, round mound was built on the back end of the tomb, considered a fifth level, where the pit was dug to place the actual coffin. Andon’yama is similar, but it is only three terraces and a mound, so one level less than Hashihaka, which seems a bit odd—just as we had questions about the big to do over Himiko’s—um, I mean Mimaki Iribiko’s aunt’s—tomb, why would it also be larger than his? In fact, Hashihaka Kofun is larger than the next several purported imperial tombs. On top of that, Andon’yama is also thought to be about a century or so later than Hashihaka, having been dated to the first half of the fourth century. In fact, there are at least three tombs that, according to Kishimoto Naofumi, anyway, appear to have been erected between Hashihaka and Adon’yama. Two of these have slight differences in shape, which Kishimoto attributes to a subsidiary line of Yamato kingship. The other one, Nishitonozuka, Kishimoto attributes to Himiko’s likely successor, Toyo. It is possible that one of these other kofun is actually Sujin’s tomb, and that Andon’yama has been misidentified. After all, I doubt the chroniclers were meticulously measuring and cataloging all of the features of these ancient tomb mounds, themselves, and so may have ...
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    49 mins

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Entertaining, easy to digest, well researched

An excellent podcast, taking you through Japanese history from the beginning. Lovely to listen to and excellently researched and explained. The website also has photos and maps of everything discussed so you can follow along.

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