The Mystery of Yamatai
Oddly enough, it is not from Japanese sources that we learn of Queen Himiko. They never mention her. It is a classic Chinese historical text written in late third century, The Record of Wei section in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, that gives us our earliest and most complete picture of this ancient queen.
The shaman queen Himiko, sometimes referred to as Pimiko, ruled in the kingdom of Yamatai during the early third century AD. The previous male rulers, Huan-di (147-168) and Ling-di (168-189), were constantly engaged in warfare. For almost a century after the latter's death there had been no ruler and the region had been in chaos. The people, who are said to have been bewitched by this practitioner of the magic arts, declared that Himiko should rule them.
Himiko never married. Her younger brother took care of most of her administrative duties, but she herself was reclusive once she became queen. Himiko lived in a fortified palace further protected by armed guards. She had one thousand maids to attend her, but only one male servant. He was in charge of her food and clothing and acted as Himiko's intermediary in her communications with the world outside the palace. It is recorded that the laws during her rule were very strict.
In 238, Himiko sent a diplomatic envoy to the court of Cao Rui, the Wei emperor in China. The Record of Wei quotes the king as sending Himiko this message:
Herein we address Pimiko, Queen of Wa, whom we now officially call a friend of Wei. [… Your envoys] have arrived here with your tribute, consisting of four male slaves and six female slaves, together with two pieces of cloth with designs, each twenty feet in length. You live very far away across the sea; yet you have sent an embassy with tribute. Your loyalty and filial piety we appreciate exceedingly. We confer upon you, therefore, the title "Queen of Wa Friendly to Wei," together with the decoration of the gold seal with purple ribbon. The latter, properly encased, is to be sent to you through the Governor. We expect you, O Queen, to rule your people in peace and to endeavor to be devoted and obedient.
In return, Cao Rui gifted Himiko with one hundred bronze mirrors, and there were subsequent visits of emmissaries between the two kingdoms. Mirrors may sound like an odd present, but during the Three Kingdoms period, mirrors were a valued gift between members of the court and were often used as diplomatic gifts to bind political alliances. These mirrors ranged in size from those small enough to fit into a pocket to some which were fifteen inches in diameter. The mirrors were often passed down to the recipient's sons and grandsons and many times were buried with family members.
When Himiko died around 248 AD, she was buried in a large mound, along with over one hundred of her attendants. She was succeeded by a king whom the people hated. When he finally got assasinated, one of Hamiko's relatives put forth a thirteen year old girl, Iyo, as queen, under whose rule peace was restored.
But just where was Yamatai? The Record of Wei describes a journey to the kingdom but following those directions literally puts the place in the ocean. Today, two sites vie for the honor. It seems that those one hundred mirrors may be the key.
On Japan's southernmost island of Kyushu, the Hirabaru mound contained thirty-nine bronze mirrors from the late Han period (25-220 AD) which have been argued to have still been in style at the time of the visit to China from the Japanese sent by Himiko, and thus could have comprised all or part of the king's gift.
The other contender is Yamato, near Nara on Honshu Island, known to have been the site of ancient capitals and which even sounds like Yamatai. It was in this area that kofun, or keyhole tombs, first came into use. Kofun are megalithic tombs which get their name from the keyhole shaped mound upon which they are built. Kofun were used for burials from the middle third to the late sixth century and are unique to Japan.
Many of the Kofun around Yamato have yielded bronze mirrors in a later style than those of the Kyushu mound, and some have been found which have dates from the Wei dynastic calendar inscribed on them. In one 425 long tomb, these ancient mirrors were lined up along three of the walls, around a now disintegrated wooden coffin which held the remains of a male. This burial chamber is the largest yet found from the era and also contained weapons and armor. Proponents of the Yamato as Yamatai claim that the mirrors link the burial to Himiko.
The odd thing about the Japanese Wei style mirrors is that none of them have ever been found in China. Some archaeologists think that they were made by Chinese artisans who moved to Japan, which would rule them out as being Himiko's mirrors.
The mystery of Yamatai has yet to unravel.
Sources:
wikipedia-Himiko
Mirrors to Japanese History
Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai
The Yamatai Puzzle
The image of an unidentified Kofun in the Nara Prefecture is in the public domain.
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