Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan

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.

Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan is a history podcast hosted by Sengoku Daimyo, with 100 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Sengoku Daimyo hosts Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan, a history show with 100 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan

  UNESCO World Heritage: Asuka and Fujiwara Ancient Capitals

  Aug 15, 20261 hourS1

  This is a special episode talking about the newest UNESCO World Heritage cultural site: The Asuka and Fujiwara Ancient Capitals. This is particularly relevant as it is directly related to the history we are currently examining in this podcast. For more information, check out the blogpost at: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-UNESCO Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is a special episode on Japan's newest UNESCO world heritage site: the Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara. Rarely do I focus too much on current events in this podcast. After all, we are still dealing with the events of the 7th century, and that is hardly "current" in any sense. However, just last month, at the end of July 2026, the UNESCO World Heritage Convention met and made a ruling on inducting the Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara as one of the newest World Heritage sites. Given the obvious relevance of this to this podcast, I thought it was worth talking about. As such we'll go into a little history of the UNESCO world heritage convention, what it means, and how sites get added—or even removed—from the list. And then we'll talk about the addition of the Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, what is included in that description, and what part those various locations play in the story of Japan's history, which we've been laying out for the past several years. Warning up front: This is probably going to be a longer episode than usual, as there is a lot to cover, but it still didn't seem to make sense to break it up into two parts. Before we get into the background of UNESCO more generally, let's talk briefly about the news. The Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fuijwara had been on UNESCO's tentative list since 2007, and following an on-site evaluation in September of 2025, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, or ICOMOS, made a recommendation in June 2026 that the property be inscribed on the World Heritage list. On 26 July, 2026, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee met in Busan, South Korea and accepted the recommendation. This becomes Japan's 22nd cultural World Heritage site, and the 27th World Heritage property in Japan, since the World Heritage program is also inclusive of natural heritage sites, such as Yakushima, Amami-Ohoshima, the Ogasawara islands, and the mountainous regions of Shirakami-Sanchi, and Shiretoko, in Hokkaido. The recommendation for Asuka and Fujiwara was not just for a single site, but includes 19 individual sites and over 1,100 hectares of "buffer zone". The individual sites are listed on the UNSECO World Heritage website as follows: • Asuka Palace Site • Asuka Pond Garden Site • Asuka Water Clock Site • Sakafuneishi Ritual Site • Asuka-dera Temple Site • Tachibana-dera Temple Site • Yamada-dera Temple Site • Kawara-dera Temple Site • Hinokuma-dera Temple Site • Ishibutai Mounded Tomb • Shobuike Mounded Tomb • Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb • Fujiwara Palace Site • Daikandaiji Temple Site • Motoyakushiji Temple Site • Mounded Tomb of Emperor Temmu and Empress Jito • Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb • Kitora Mounded Tomb • Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb So these are the specific locations, that were included in the single designation. And these are how they are officially listed on the UNESCO World Heritage site in English, so for anyone who is going to comment that saying Asuka-dera Temple is redundant, because "Tera" already means "Temple", let's just not, shall we? They are all in the Asuka and Kashihara area, and easily accessible, one from the other, so you can go and visit them if you would like. I suspect that there is going to be a bit of push for that area in the coming tourist season as they now put up official UNESCO world heritage site markers. And you may have noticed that a lot of these site names may sound very familiar, because the majority of them are places we've already mentioned on the podcast – but more on that later. But first, what does it mean to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site? UNESCO is the "United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization". It was founded in 1945, with the stand-up of the UN itself, as a successor to the League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation. That said, the idea of a "World Heritage Site" didn't come about until 1975, with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, with the first sites being designated in 1978. Prior to this, UNESCO had been involved in various attempts to help preserve various monuments of historical significance. They begin working with various museums and other organizations, and in 1965 UNESCO created ICOMOS, an international professional association to work towards the conservation and protection of cultural heritage. A site designated as a World Heritage Site must be considered to be of "outstanding universal value" and can fall under one of two categories. The first, and perhaps the one that most often comes to mind, are the cultural sites. The second are natural sites considered of outstanding value. With the 1975 convention, UNESCO had leaned heavily on ICOMOS as an advisory body regarding sites of particular cultural significance. A similar body, the World Conservation Union, provides input on sites of natural significance. To be determined a World Heritage site, there is a set of ten criteria, and a site must meet at least one of the ten. This means that a site must: i. Represent a masterpiece of human creative genius ii. Exhibit an important interchange of human values iii. Bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization iv. Illustrate a significant stage in human history v. Be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use vi. Be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance; or it must vii. Contain superlative natural phenomena viii. Be an outstanding example representing major stages of earth's history ix. Be an outstanding example representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of ecosystems and communities of plants and animals; or it must x. Contain the most important and significant natural habitats for conservation of biological diversity. I abbreviated that list, but it gives you an idea of what the committee is looking for. To be placed on the list, a site must first be nominated. Nominations are made by UN member countries and placed on a Tentative List. From there, they can be selected into a Nomination File, which is then evaluated by the advisory organizations as appropriate. The World Heritage committee meets once a year, at which time they may determine whether a nominated site will be added to the World Heritage list or if more information is needed. Having a site listed as an UNESCO world heritage site carries prestige and can drive tourism and revenue to help protect the site. Members can request financial assistance with some conservation projects, and signatory nations are expected to contribute to the conservation of world heritage sites. At the same time, the host country is expected to provide regular reports on the conditions of the site and efforts being undertaken to conserve it. Should the situation change so that key aspects of the site's intrinsic value are lost, the World Heritage Committee may choose to revoke a designation. This has only been done a few times, but it is always a possibility. All of this means that the Asuka and Fujiwara capital sites are now eligible for certain types of financial assistance and international aid to help further preserve and even restore certain aspects, such as the tomb murals in the Takamatsuzuka and Kitora kofun. But let's talk about the sites that have actually been included, and to do that, we'll go through in roughly chronological order, based on the timeline that was given by Japan in the nomination documents, and what makes the most sense for narrative cohesion. That said, it is important to note that the dates on the timeline in the UNESCO nominating document are where we first see mentions of the monuments, not necessarily when the temples were first constructed or anything like that. If you want to learn more, check out the documentation submitted on the UNESCO world heritage website. And speaking of learning more, many of the sites we are about to discuss we have covered in previous episodes—though some more than others. We'll call out relevant episodes as we can, but you can also find out more by searching on our website, sengokudaimyo.com , for more information about any of these topics. Let's start with Asukadera, or Asuka Temple. The nominating document notes that it was completed in 596, though it had been started quite a bit earlier. We discussed Askua-dera and many of the other temples back in episode 142, though Asuka-dera itself has been a part of the story since at least Episode 92, with the rise of Soga no Umako. Asuka-dera, as you may recall, started off as a private temple for the Soga family, though they were so intertwined with the royal family that it almost didn't make a difference. For the longest time it was the primary temple site at least in the Asuka region, and defined what Buddhism looked like early on. Later it would be included as one of the Four Great Temples, and it would eventually move to Nara, though a temple would continue to operate on the site until the modern day. That said, through fires and reduced patronage, the current temple is much reduced from its former glory. Still, archeologies have found indications at the site demonstrating the true extent of the temple at the height of its power and influence, and how it truly played a key role in numerous events surrounding the building of a continental style state government. Speaking of the Soga family, the next site on the list, dated to 626, is Ishibutai kofun. Ishibutai kofun was originally a square kofun, or Houfun, thought to be the resting place of Soga no Umako, the Grand Minister and head of the Soga family who led it to prominence in the age of Kashikiya Hime, aka Suiko Tenno. We talked about his passing in episode 103. Excavations have suggested that the tomb took up an area about 85 meters to a side. This included an outer moat and an inner, platform, about 50 meters square. The burial chamber is a horizontal stone chamber created with impressive megaliths—a fancy word that just means "big stones". In this case we are talking about stones that rival or even dwarf those at monuments like the famous Stonehenge, in England. The stones are part of what give it its name, Ishibutai, or Stone Stage, because unlike in other kofun, these ones are exposed. There is a theory that after the fall of the Soga family, and the deaths of Soga no Iruka and Soga no Emishi, the tomb was deliberately uncovered as a form of posthumous punishment. Because it is not a tomb under the care of the Imperial Household Agency, Ishibutai kofun has seen extensive excavation from 1933 to 1975. That said, most of the funerary goods were likely stolen a long time ago. There were some various bits and pieces found here and there—gilt and bronze implements and earthenware shards, but otherwise nothing truly significant. They did find evidence of other tombs, nearby. Perhaps ironically it seems that these other tombs were leveled to make room for Ishibutai kofun, making its own uncovering feel somewhat karmic, in a way. The next site, if we were to follow the timeline, is the Asuka Palace site. This actually encompasses the site of at least four different palaces, which we discussed back in episode 134, with a blogpost showing the various palace remains, if you want to compare them. In 630 we have the construction of the Okamoto Palace of Kashikiya Hime. Then, in 643, we have the Itabuki Palace built for Takara Hime during her first reign as Kogyoku Tenno. This was the location of the famous Isshi Incident, when Takara Hime's son, Naka no Oe, instituted the coup against Soga no Iruka and his father, killing Iruka in court in front of his mother. For more on that, check out episode 106. It was later used when she and Naka no Oe left the Toyosaki Naniwa Palace and returned to Asuka. It may be during the time of the Itabuki Palace that another one of the monuments was built. This is the Shobuike Kofun. The nomination document doesn't give a precise date for this one, and we really only know for certain that it was built in the 7th century, but they place it on the timeline shortly after the events of 643. Like Ishibutai kofun, it is a hofun, or square kofun, surrounded by a moat with a horizontal burial chamber. At only 30 meters long, it is not as large or as prominent as Ishibutai Kofun, possibly indicating that the occupants were not as prominent or that kofun building as a whole was falling out of fashion. Inside, there were two stone coffins, in the "house shape", meaning the lid had a peaked roof appearance. In addition, the interior of the coffins was lacquered, making these unique in the archipelago. Finally, perhaps as is the case with Ishibutai kofun, the mound appears to have been deliberately dismantled at some point in the early 8th century, when Fujiwara-kyo was still the capital. We do not know who was buried at Shobuike Kofun, but there are two theories. One theory proposes that, given the unique features, it may have been a member of the royal family. Another theory suggests that it may be a tomb for members of the Soga family. This theory is connected to the idea that Ishibutai is the tomb of Soga no Umako. Given its shape and similarities, perhaps this tomb is for a relative? In addition, though not part of the World Heritage Site nomination, there is a nearby square kofun known as Koyamada Kofun. There is a theory that this other tomb might also have been a royal tomb—perhaps even a first burial for Tamura no Ohokimi, aka Jomei Tenno. However, there is another theory that these two tombs, together, make up the tombs of Soga no Emishi and Soga no Iruka. That would explain them both being of similar shapes, and similar to the kofun thought to be that of Soga no Umako. It could also explain why Shobuike kofun was later destroyed, like with Ishibutai Kofun. Shortly after Shobuike Kofun was thought to have been built, the court moved to Naniwa for a time, before eventually returning to the Itabuki Palace. Then, in 656, we have the Nochi-no-Okamoto Palace, aka the Later Okamoto Palace, built after the Itabuki palace burned down. It was repurposed by Ohoama when he brought the court back from Ohotsu, and then expanded with the Ebinoko Enclosure, among other changes, turning it into the Kiyomihara palace, where Ohoama and then Uno no Sarara ruled until the completion of the Fujiwara Palace around 694. Around the same time as the Later Okamoto Palace was the construction of the Sakafuneishi Ritual Site. This site is located on a hill on the east side of the Asuka valley, overlooking the Asuka palace site. There they have found stone walls, a strange carved stone with channels for what appears to be water or liquid for some kind of ritual purpose, and, towards the bottom of the hill, a stone turtle basin and water spout that appears to have once been connected to a spring. Of all of the included sites, this is perhaps the most enigmatic in terms of how it was used and what was going on there. It is likely that this is what is referred to in the Chronicle as the Tou no Mine site, where it is said that they built an enclosure encircling two tsuki trees, calling the site the Futatsuki Palace. That said, today the name "tou-no-mine" is applied to a peak some distance further up the valley and into the mountains, and I do not believe that any concrete evidence of a "palace" has been found at either location. Still, it demonstrates that there was something going on that was important enough to build walls and create intricate stone carvings—not something we necessarily find everywhere, though they are particularly prolific in the Asuka region once you consider all the various stone carvings that have been located there. Current thinking seems to suggest that it was a site where sovereigns from Kashikiya Hime through Uno no Sarara conducted rites associated with ascension to the throne. The walls show evidence of being built earlier in the 7th century, which we discussed in Episode 118, and then damaged during the incredibly powerful Nankai earthquake during the Hakuho era. We talked about this earthquake back in episode 139, along with other natural disasters. This was an earthquake of immense power, known as a Nankai Megathrust Earthquake, that caused destruction across the archipelago, from Shikoku up through the Kanto region. Walls show evidence of being repaired in Temmu's time and the site appears to have been in use up through the 9th century. This means it was still being used in some capacity even after the court had moved up to Heian-kyo, in modern Kyoto, but who knows by whom. By the way, I feel like I should address something here. Often times there is a bit of an archaeological joke that if you don't know what something is it gets termed a "ritual site" or a "ritual implement". And, granted, "ritual" does not necessarily mean "religious". Brushing your teeth each day could be considered a ritual. So is the inauguration of a new president or prime minister. It just refers to something that we do regularly, usually as part of a societal tradition. Often it is symbolic, though sometimes it can have a greater function. So in all likelihood whatever was happening at the Sakafuneishi site probably was a kind of "ritual", whether it was religious or not, but we just don't have enough info to know what that might have looked like. The physical evidence does not conform to any other well known practice, so we are left guessing. Compare this to another "ritual" site, the next on our list: The Mizuochi site. When it was first discovered in 1972, it was clear that it was important. There was a large building foundation, in the shape of a square podium, faced with paving stones. It was also near to Asukadera and the location where various stone figures had been found at the turn of the century. It would take several more years to discern enough features to come to the realization of what it was for. This was due to the discovery of highly unusual features and artifacts. For instance, there is the central building, designated SB200. It had pillars set on base stones, forming a grid pattern in a square—four spans long on each side. This is unusual compared to other buildings on the site, which had more conventional pillars embedded in the ground. Each span of the pillars at SB200 was a uniform distance. The podium on which the building was placed was just under 11 meters on each side, and a little more than a meter in height. The pillar bases were further strengthened under the floor level, meaning that the resulting structure would have been remarkably sturdy. In the center of the building was a stone platform, set about a meter below the surface, where they found the remains of a large and small lacquered wooden boxes. Around the platform were buried wooden culverts and copper pipes, which would have been able to carry water to and from the site. There was nothing else like this discovered anywhere else, but given the nature of everything, it seemed to make sense that this was the site of the clepsydra, the water clock, which Naka no Oe is said to have built. Pottery shards from around the 650s and 660s seem to back up this identification, and simulations have demonstrated how the water clock may have actually worked. As such, the site seems to have been fairly well identified, which is really remarkable, and pro

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #154

  Uno no Sarara, Part II

  Jul 31, 202639 minS1

  We continue to look at the life and times of Uno no Sarara, aka Jito Tenno, female sovereign ruling in her own right. We look at some of the places she traveled to as sovereign and, ultimately, what she did to ensure that her grandson would succeed her. For more, check our podcast blog page: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-154 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is episode 154: Queen Uno no Sarara, Part II Light drifted in from outside the grand audience hall. It filtered through barred windows and screens, and glinted off of bright gold and bronze accents, as well as the polished stone floor. Upon a raised dais, surrounded by curtains, sat the tennou, arrayed in all of his youthful majesty. Before him were princes and high ranking nobles, dressed in their finest court clothing. Rich brocades of silk and black gauze hats only added to the pomp and circumstance of the moment. The nobles bowed and brought out a small tray. Upon it were seventeen scrolls, freshly made, representing the latest updates to the laws and punishments of the land. The nobles presented the work they had overseen, the culmination of a year's effort to further bring into line the organization of the state. Off to the side, behind a screen of her own, Uno no Sarara watched the proceedings. She thought back on all that had happened to bring them to this point. This glittering hall was a far cry from the plain wooden structures of the old Kiyomihara palace. And while she had never visited them, she could only imagine that this must rival the courts on the continent. Everything that she and her husband had worked and fought for—all of the battles they had fought, and all of the friends and children they had lost—she watched as it all came to fruition. The court was never going to be entirely peaceful—there would always be those striving for wealth and power, however they could attain it—but at this moment she no doubt felt as confident as she ever had that her efforts hadn't been for naught. No matter what happened from here, the State, and her line, would continue. So let's recap: We started with Part I of Uno no Sarara's reign back in episode 152, and then last episode we took a bit of a detour to go more in depth on the history of Ise and of the worship of Amaterasu more generally. We talked about how there is good reason to believe that Ise shrine's prominence—and even many of the stories about Amaterasu and her importance in the story of the royal family—were either created or at least emphasized during the reigns of Ohoama and Uno no Sarara. We ended with a discussion of the Jingikan, the newly created government organization developed to deal with so-called "Kami Matters", formally bringing the administration various shrines under the administration of the State. Specifically it seems to have focused on State sponsored rituals. I have no doubt that they took charge of the rituals at court itself, and they were likely involved in the worship at Ise Shrine, as well as the shrines of Tatsuta and Hirose. On the other hand, as with the spread of Buddhist temples, direct State control was likely limited, at least at this stage, likely focused on the most influential institutions. This episode I want to continue with Uno no Sarara's reign. She continued to make her mark on the court, tweaking how things worked, especially around the concept of rank. And then there were her various travels. These were mostly to her palace in Yoshino, but several other journeys, including a tour of the land of Kii—modern Wakayama prefecture—as well as a visit to her half-sister, Royal Princess Asuka. For all of that, however, the entry in the Nihon Shoki ends with what was perhaps one of the most direct and unique things she did: Ensuring a smooth transition of power to her grandchild, Prince Karu. And while in this episode we'll (spoiler alert) cover both this power transition and Uno no Sarara's eventual death, we won't be done with her reign and its impact after this episode. After all, there is still a lot going on around this time, and multiple different threads to pull on. I expect several more episodes to cover things, such as the creation of hunting and fishing preserves, Buddhist merit-making, crime and punishment, and more. There are also a few more people to talk about, such as Kakinomoto no Hitormaro, the court poet, and Fujiwara no Fubito and the establishment of the Fujiwara family as we know it. So let's take a look at Uno no Sarara and what she was up to. She was still very much putting her stamp on things, tweaking the codes and making edicts. One of the more impactful edicts would seem to be one where she had the government officials and people of the Home provinces all divided into nine classes. This seems to be introducing yet another rank system, though this one is a bit more technical than the ones that came before. For one thing, it divided everyone up into nine ranks. To do this, the court were going to take a look at a period of up to 6 years for those who already had rank and up to 7 years for those who did not. The court—presumably court appointed judges—would use that period to evaluate individuals and slot them into a new system of nine classes. Those in the first four classes would be given cap-rank based on their individual merits, the services that they had performed, and the importance of their house. There isn't really a mention about the other five classes, but as they were theoretically the lower classes of society, it may not have been quite so pertinent. BTW, of the three things that they were using to determine cap-rank, that last one, the importance of the individual's house, strikes me as the nod to the fact that the Japanese had not yet gotten away from the idea of "kabane" type hierarchy. Granted, it isn't like family was unimportant in the Tang court, the Japanese were just being much more blatant and direct about it. Once everyone was properly sorted into the appropriate cap-rank, new edicts were issued on the official court clothing, which we discussed in Episode 150, and if you check out the blogpost you should be able to see what that looked like. I would note that the cap-rank system would eventually go away and be replaced by a rank system also based on 9 ranks, which then were broken up into upper and lower and junior and senior, so very similar to what we see with cap-rank, with some slight changes. Uno no Sarara continued to make tweaks to the system, while working on the various large scale projects of the reign. She wasn't exactly a homebody, however. As she did all of this, she was regularly taking trips away from the capital. For example, between 689 and 697 she took at least 30 trips to visit Yoshino, sometimes taking as many as five trips in a year. These were often short—a couple of days and then back to the grind of the court. However, that's all that we get. Based on the dates, we can at least make a few inferences. For one, she was going down in all seasons, so she really must have enjoyed it, and it doesn't seem like it was attached to any particular official date or ritual. Perhaps it just got her away from the pressure of official life. Some of her travel appear to have been work trips. Her travel to Ise, which we talked about in the previous episodes, as well as things like traveling to visit the Castle of Takayasu and also to inspect horses at the embankment of Wani-no-kami. Those appear to have been both trips where she was keeping an eye on things. Other trips, however, provide fewer details. Mostly we know where she went. This included trips to Hatsuse, Kii, Takamiya, and Yonabari, in Uda. We are also told she ascended the Peak of Tou no Mine and later that she made another journey out to the Futatsuki Palace—presumably at the same place. And we also have a trip out to the country-house of Royal Princess Asuka. Now Hatsuse, Kii, and Uda are all places we've previously talked about. They are all on the Kii peninsula. Hatsuse—or Hase—and Yonabari, in Uda, are both due east of modern Sakurai, following the Yamato upriver and then branching off to the aptly named Yonabari river. These areas are well-referenced in the rest of the Nihon Shoki. "Kii" is a bit more ambiguous. Kii refers to the entire land of Kii, or Kii no Kuni—by the way, if you are familiar with the Japanese bookseller "Ki-no-kuni-ya", that name directly references the land of Kii as the family who started it were from Wakayama in Kii, where they served under the Kishu—or Kii—branch of the Tokugawa family during the Edo period. That said, there were others who also used the name "Kinokuni" as a locative name as well, and you will occasionally see it here or there, even outside of the famous bookstore. The land of Kii is basically all of the southern Kii peninsula. On the west side, it starts at roughly Wakayama, and includes the mountainous regions south of the Nara basin, wrapping around to the east side of the peninsula, to just south of Ise. Today it is split between Wakayama prefecture and parts of Mie prefecture, including the towns of Kihoku—literally "Northern Kii"—and Taiki—"Big Kii". Today, "Taiki" is part of the Watarai district, Watarai being the name of the location where Ise shrine was located. So you can see that Kii basically included everything from one side of the peninsula to the other. Most of the time, though, I would generally assume that travel to Kii is a reference to the nearby area of Wakayama, especially as there are other references to that area in the form of hunting and fishing restrictions, which we'll discuss more fully in a later episode. This particular trip to Kii sounds like it was a bit of a longer trip, incorporating several locations. We know that it took roughly eleven days—about a week and a half. That's enough time to do quite a bit of sightseeing. In fact, shortly before leaving, Uno no Sarara says that she is going on a "tour" of the land of Kii, and as such the land-tax and poll-tax for Kii would not be collected for a year, since, instead, they were expected to support her visit so that she could travel in appropriate style and so that temporary palaces could be made available for her use. Kii is an interesting place for Uno no Sarara to visit. It is mentioned occasionally throughout the chronicles, and its position puts it squarely in Yamato's sphere of influence. At the same time, its mountainous nature means that it was never quite as populated as regions like the Nara basin or the Kawachi plains, where the large, flat areas were better suited to wet rice paddy agriculture. In Kii, there are only a few areas really suitable for supporting large populations through agriculture alone, and even today the mountains make travel and construction in the area more difficult, so you don't have the highly concentrated population centers as in other regions. The area around modern Wakayama city provides some of the best land for agriculture, with some other coastal regions as well. But it is mountains that Kii is known for, and the mountains often have spiritual significance. Mt. Koya, or Koyasan, would be found in 805 as the center of Shingon Buddhism, but well before that you have the Kumano shrines, also known as the Kumano Sanzan—the three mountains of Kumano. There is a lot of evidence that worship at the three mountains of Kumano was heavily influenced by Buddhism and Buddhist traditions, but that this was a later influence on areas that were already important spiritual sites well before Buddhism arrived in the archipelago. The exact nature of worship is debated, but the area was important, with "Kumano" once treated as its own land, overseen by the Kumano Kuni no Miyatsuko. The deities of Kumano and the area more generally features in the Nihon Shoki in the legendary stories of Iware Biko, aka Jimmu Tenno. The Kumano shrines are, ultimately, a series of shrines in the Kumano region, roughly 20-40 kilometers from each other. There are three main shrines—Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and Kumano Nachi Taisha—known as the three mountains. There are numerous other shrines as well. There are three main deities worshipped, but then also another nine that are considered important as well, for at least twelve kami. The three main kami – Kumano Musubi no Ohokami, Hayatama no Ohokami, and Ketsumi Mikoto Ohokami – are also considered to be manifestations of Izanami, Izanagi, and Susano'o. Izanami and Izanagi are famously the progenitor kami of the archipelago, while Susano'o is the storm and ocean deity said to be the rambunctious and troublesome brother to Amaterasu Ohokami. It is quite likely that the connection with these other kami—who feature prominently in the later stories, was actually a later addition. Similarly, around the 9th century, the Kumano shrines were heavily influenced by Buddhism, which often co-opted indigenous kami worship by associating the native kami with incarnations of Buddhist figures. In this case: Thousand-armed Kannon, Yakushi—or the Medicine—Buddha, and Amithabha. I must say that associating Amithaba—or Amida—with Susano'o seems like a bold move. The deity who tossed a backwards flayed colt into Amaterasu's weaving hut is also the Buddha who made the promise that all who call on his name would find their way to the western pure land? I guess. Together, the kami of Kumano are known as the Kumano Gongen, and there is a pilgrimage trail, even today, that leads between the various shrines and peaks, as well as various temple complexes in the area. There is one other interesting connection with Kumano shrines, and that is the fact that there is a Kumano Taisha up in the Izumo region. Today, they claim that despite the names being identical, there are no actual ties between Kumano Taisha and the Kumano Sanzan. The Kumano Taisha of Izumo is actually considered the Ichinomiya, or most important shrine, of Izumo—even more important than the famous Izumo shrine, itself. It lies 30 minutes south of modern Matsue, and enshrines a kami known as Kushi-mikenu-no-Mikoto, said to be another name for none other than the famous Susano'o. Kumano Taisha claims to have been first mentioned in the Nihon Shoki back in the time of Takara Hime, aka Saimei Tennou, in an entry from 659, though that entry simply states that the Izumo no Miyatsuko was to repair the shrine of the "Itsuki" kami, and doesn't specifically mention Kumano Taisha by name. There is an entry attributed to the Izumo fudoki, which claims a shrine was located on Mt. Kumano, identified with modern day Tenguyama. And then, Kumano Taisha appears in the Engi Shiki in the 10th century. Suffice it to say, there are many different ways that this can be interpreted. Scholars have attempted to look into the potential connections between Kumano Taisha in Izumo and the Kumano Gongen of Wakayama, but it does not appear that there is a fully formed consensus. I would note that we certainly see various important worship centers branching out throughout the archipelago, setting up branches elsewhere, and we also see the association of various local kami with other, more famous kami, making the claim that they are simply another name for the same entity. This would appear to be one way to bring different groups into communion with each other, as it were, and helping to gloss over the potential difficulties found in diverse belief and worship practices. As a side note, there is at least one other Kumano Taisha of note, found up in the Tohoku region. It claims to be the "Ise of Tohoku", with a focus on Izanami and Izanagi. It seems to claim a founding around the early 9th century at the Tenno's request. Given that, I think we can ignore it for our current discussion. To bring this all back around, it is unclear if Uno no Sarara's tour of Wakayama included the Kumano shrines at this time. Certainly Kumano would play an important role in the legends and stories that the court was putting together, but what structures were in place at this point in the story are unclear. Her tour may have focused much more on the area around modern Wakayama. Her tour of the area took a total of eleven days, which is more than enough time to have seen a fair bit of the area, and certainly would have been enough time to get down to the Kumano region, but we don't have any clear details that I see to say exactly what happened. Still, I do find it interesting to look at the juxtaposition of the Kumano shrine story with that of Ise. Both took on some aspects of the official stories of the founding of Japan and appear to have been important shrines for the court to some extent, and both the trip to Ise and the trip to Kumano were events such that local taxes were commuted for a time to help pay for the royal visit. But whereas Ise would go on to reject the merging of Buddhism with local kami worship, Kumano appears to have embraced it. Kumano worship took on a highly syncretic character, with Buddhism and Kami worship becoming inextricably intertwined, maintaining that character even today, despite numerous historical attempts to extricate the two from each other. Ultimately, Ise shrine would take pride of place as the national shrine of the royal family, but I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Kumano had been more ascendant. Getting back to our discussion of Uno no Sarara's various peregrinations: we also have what appear to be two trips up to Tou-no-mine—the modern pronunciation for the name which Aston transliterates as "Tamu no Mine". This is the peak where, about forty years earlier, Takara Hime is said to have built a circular enclosure and called "Futa-tsuki" or two "Tsuki" trees palace. It was also known as "Ama-tsu-miya", the Heavenly Palace. The modern Tou-no-mine is a mountain to the southeast of Asuka, however, there is also a theory that the Tou-no-mine and Futa-tsuki palace were actually on a small hill just due east of the Kiyomihara palace site. This is where we find walls, the Sakafune-ishi stone, and other examples of work from the time when the Futa-tsuki palace would have been built. That said, to get to Tou-no-mine, we are told it was a two day trip—one day out and one day back. That said, it wouldn't have all been spent traveling. In fact, Tou-no-mine, today, is under two hours walking distance. The site by the palace is much closer, and the entry for going to the Futatsuski is only mentioned on a single day. So none of that is particularly helpful, in my opinion. Ultimately, we know that it was a location near Asuka and that it was associated with Takara Hime, the last female sovereign in her own right—even though her reign was arguably run largely by her son, Crown Prince Naka no Oe. Speaking of whom, Naka no Oe was not only the father of Uno no Sarara, but also of Royal Princess Asuka. So when Uno no Sarara went to Asuka's country house, also known as the Denso or Tadokoro, she was actually going to pay a visit on her own half-sister. By the way, "country-house" is the Aston translation. A more direct translation might be something like "Field Place". It was a private estate belonging to powerful families, such as the local elites—or in this case the royal family. It is a rare glimpse into the living conditions of those royal princes and princesses who were not resident in the palace itself. I do find it interesting that it specifically identifies the royal princess and not some male relative or husband—and Uno no Sarara isn't really noted as visiting a lot of family members all over the place. I've seen a suggestion that Asuka may have been married to Prince Osakabe, one of Temmu's sons, but if so it is interesting that Uno no Sarara goes to visit *her* house and not *his* house. Princess Asuka is not mentioned much, but given this and a few other things—including being mentioned in the Man'yoshu in connection with a poem by the famous Kakinomoto no H

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #153

  Ise and the Sun Goddess

  Jul 15, 202648 minS1

  This episode we are taking a quick break from our overall story of Uno no Sarara (aka Jito Tenno) and we are focusing on Ise Shrine and Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. There is a lot, for a bit more, check out our podcast blogpost at: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-153 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 153: Ise and the Sun Goddess. In the newly built hall of the Fujiwara Palace, the nobles of the court were gathered for a grand banquet. Snow-white walls were off-set by bright crimson pillars and trim, highlighted by bright green windows. The nobles themselves were a rainbow of colors, arranged as they were by rank. At the head of it all, on a dais, sat the Queen herself, Uno no Sarara. However, the attention was no longer on her. Instead, it was on another figure, standing in front of the assembled audience. A quiet spread throughout the hall, the court listening as Hieda no Are began to tell the story of the Sun Goddess in the Plain of High Heaven. They listened to the story of her and Susano'o, and of the backward flayed horse. They heard the tale of the Heavenly Rock Cave, and of all that came after, including the sending of the August Grandchild, Ninigi. They listened to the story—the story of Yamato. Last episode, we talked in more detail about Uno No Sarara—starting from her early years as the daughter of Naka no Ohoe, granddaughter of Soga no Kurayamada, and child-bride to her uncle, Ohoama. I'll admit we didn't look too hard at that last bit, and I don't have enough information to confirm what exactly "marriage" entailed in that context, but it is still something that I find tremendously creepy and, unfortunately, anything but unique. So I'm not going to dive too much further into it right now but… ew. We talked about how she gave birth to her son, Kusakabe, in Kyushu, during the war on the continent, and how she eventually left for Yoshino with her husband when he retired from court, presumably to outsmart his court rivals, who were positioning him to be taken out. She also is said to have played a part in the planning and execution of the resulting Jinshin no Ran, later helping her husband govern the realm. And now, she was on the throne, overseeing the completion of many of the projects started in the reign of her husband. This included the completion of the Kiyomihara code, the Fujiwara palace, and the support given to the institution of Ise Grand Shrine. This episode, I want to dive into that last topic: the emphasis in Uno no Sarara's reign on Ise Shrine and its focus, the Great God, Amaterasu no Ohokami. Although the Chronicles talk about Amaterasu as one of the founding deities of the Yamato royal line, there is plenty of evidence that this story was grafted into the tales at a later date, and that worship of Amaterasu, at least as anything more than a minor deity, likely also started relatively late. Some have even suggested that Ise Shrine itself wasn't even built until the late 7th century. So, all of this focus on Ise and Amaterasu appears to be part of the larger effort to structure the physical, cultural, and spiritual landscape of the new Yamato state. Last episode we mentioned how, according to the Nihon Shoki, Ohoama turned to worship towards Ise. Well, specifically, he worshipped Amaterasu Ohokami. So let's take a moment and talk about what we know of the history of this Great God of Heavenly Brightness. Unfortunately, most of that history is based on what we know of the kami from works like the Nihon Shoki, the Kojiki, and the Sendai Kuji Hongi, all of which came out in the 8th century or so. As such, it can be hard to know what things were actually like, earlier on, as opposed to what was added or removed later. Much of what I'm going to be talking about, today, I'm going to be pulling from a book written in 2017 by Mark Teeuvwen [Tayvin?] and John Breen titled "A Social History of the Ise Shrines", as well as Michael Como's work "Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Female Immortals in Ancient Japan", published in 2009, along with other sources. In their book, Breen and Teeuwen point out that for those who do not take the events of the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki at face value, there are two primary theories for the origin of the worship of Amaterasu: an early theory and a late theory. The early theory places the development of the worship of Amaterasu in the 5th and 6th centuries, during the reigns of such figures as Wakatakeru no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tennou. The Late Theory places the development in the 7th century, largely at the feet of such figures as Ohoama and Uno no Sarara herself. We'll take a look at the evidence and see what it says. I would note that compared to the official history, both of these would be very late theories. According to Ise Grand Shrine even today, Amaterasu arrived in Ise in the 26th year of Ikume Iribiko, aka Suinin Tennou, as stated in the Nihon Shoki, which corresponds to 4 BCE if you take the dating of the Nihon Shoki to be accurate. Of course, we've already spent plenty of time talking about the problems with the Nihon Shoki prior to the 6th century CE, as well as how the political nature of the text affected what it contained. So to kick things off, let's address the biggest question of all: why don't we believe that Amaterasu no Ohokami was always the primary deity of the pantheon of Yamato, at the very least, if not all of the Wa people of the archipelago? After all, isn't she a sun goddess, and isn't sun worship fairly well documented among the ancient Japanese? Just take a look at words like "Hiko" and "Hime", referring to rulers as sun man and sun woman. Also note that early on, worship seems to have centered around places such as mountaintops, which focused worship towards the sky and the highest point. In fact, as wet rice paddy agriculture became the dominant economic factor driving the engine of the archipelago in the Yayoi and early kofun period, early shrines were very likely about bringing the spirit of the mountain from the mountaintop and giving them a home amongst the rice fields.. And then we have the stories. Don't the ancient stories all tell about Amaterasu as the ruler of Takama no Hara, the Heavenly Plain? And isn't it her grandchild that then descends to the earth to pacify the Land of the Reed Plains—aka the Japanese archipelago? Well let's take a look at those same stories, which we've covered in earlier episodes of the podcast. The first deities mentioned in the Chronicles are deities like Ama no Minaka Nushi, Lord of the August Middle of Heaven; Takami Musubi, High August Growth; and Kami Musubi, Divine August Growth. There are other deities, like Kuni Toko Tachi, but they are barely mentioned again. Later we get Izanagi and Izanami, the masculine and feminine, who create the world and give birth to numerous deities from that point on. Among the children of Izanagi are said to be Amaterasu, Tsukiyomi, and Susano'o. Amaterasu, Heaven's Brightness, represents the sun while Tsukiyomi represents the dark of the moon. Susano'o is then the god of the storms and seas, and was sent to the Nether Land, the Ne no Kuni. Right away we see that there are numerous different stories listed in the Nihon Shoki for just about everything. Only the Kojiki gives everything as a single, coherent narrative, but surely the readers in the 8th century would have known some of these other stories, and thus the Nihon Shoki gives the alternates as well. Now the main narrative of the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki tells us that Ama-terasu no Oho-kami was born to rule over everything. In the Nihon Shoki, Izanagi and Izanami specifically mention that divine destiny in Amaterasu's creation—although actually, in that part of the text, the deity they are creating is named Oho-hiru-me no Muchi; the Great Sun Female Holder. And in the next entry they call Amaterasu: Ama-terasu Oho-hiru-me. Tsukiyomi, the deity of the moon, is made to be her consort, and they are supposedly sent to rule the plain of Heaven, Takama no Hara. The problem is that there are other entries that suggest that Takama no Hara already had a ruler: Taka-mi-Musubi. Reading the sections on Taka-mi-Musubi, we see a deity who is said to have produced 1500 children, himself—no mention of Izanagi and Izanami. Some of his children are mentioned as Omohi-kane: the Thought-Combining deity, and Sukuna-bikona: the Little-Prince-Named deity. Amatsu Hiko Hiko Ho Ninigi no Mikoto, the August Heavenly Prince, Prince Ho-ninigi, is not just a grandson of Amaterasu no Ohokami, but also a grandchild of Taka-mi Musubi. In at least one story, Takami Musubi is the one who wants Ninigi no Mikoto to become the ruler of the Central Land of the Reed Plains. Towards that end, he gathers the various kami and chooses someone to go down and prepare the way—Ama-ho-hi no Mikoto—who was to quote-unquote "expel and subdue" the evil gods of that land. We covered this story in episode 21 and 22. When that doesn't work, he gathers them again, sending others to try and do the same. Eventually he sends Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi down. All of this sounds like Taka-mi Musubi, whose name appears to refer to being the "high" deity, was the one in charge. In addition, we have the court ritual from sources like the Engi Shiki, which illustrates the deities that were invoked for the protection of the palace and the royal family. These were: Kami-musubi, Takami-musubi, Iku-musubi, Taru-musubi, Tamatsume-musubi, Oomiya-no-me, Oomiketsu-no-kami and Kotoshironushi. One might notice a lot of the "musubi" names among the deities, and a distinct lack of appeal to Amaterasu. If Amaterasu were the central deity and ancestral deity of the royal family, why is she not invoked in the rituals of the court itself? The thought, here, is that these rituals are likely much older than the worship of Amaterasu, and while Amaterasu would come to prominence in the stories that the court would tell, it was much more difficult for them to rearrange the traditional rituals to put her front and center. Those rituals were maintained by ritualist families like the Nakatomi, and they weren't likely to change the rituals willy-nilly, even for a sovereign. That was playing with supernatural fire, after all—if you changed the rituals, would they still even be effective? Granted, rituals do change, so it isn't a perfect argument; perhaps it was just not considered to be important enough to make the change since it was not something that anyone except the court ritualists needed to worry themselves over. Either way, it appears that we do have a list of deities that may have been the deities of the ruling elite prior to the rise of Amaterasu and Ise shrine more generally. We have a few other clues of what was going on in the narrative. For instance, we see the story from the reign of Mimaki Iribiko, aka Sujin Tennou, also called the First Sovereign of Yamato, despite the legendary figures inserted prior to his reign. It is in this chapter that we see a note that Ama-terasu no Oho-kami and Yamato no Oho-kuni-dama, which is to say the Spirit of the Country of Yamato, were both worshipped together in the hall—that is in the royal palace itself. And yet apparently Mimaki Iribiko feared these deities residing with him in the palace, and he had their worship moved to locations outside of the palace. Amaterasu's worship was given to Toyosuki-iri-bime, one of Mimaki Iribiko's daughters, and established in the district of Shiki, in Yamato. Yamato no Ohokunidama, on the other hand, was given over to Nunaki-iri-bime no Mikoto, another daughter through a different wife. but we are told that she was lean, and her hair was falling out, and so she couldn't perform the rites. Turning our attention back to Ama-terasu—in the reign of Ikume-Iribiko, aka Suinin Tennou, son and heir of Mimaki Iribiko, the worship of Ama-terasu would pass from Mimaki Iribiko's daughter, Nunaki Iri Bime to Ikume Iribiko's daughter, Yamato Hime. She would move the worship site from Shiki to Uda, in the shadow of Mt. Miwa, and then proceed over to the upper banks, or Kawakami, of Isuzu, in the district of Watarai. Here, in one of the alternate stories about this episode, we get the Great God of Yamato—Ohoyamato no Ohokami—speaking through a medium to warn the sovereign that he had better be careful. Mimaki Iribiko had not been quite thorough enough in his worship, so he had not had a long life, and if Ikume Iribiko didn't do the same, he would suffer a similar fate. And so, in a record eerily similar to what we see in the previous reign, the worship of the "Great God of Yamato", the Oho-Yamato no Oho-kami, is given to Nunaki-waka-hime—as opposed to Nunaki-Iri-bime—who also fails in the task because of her emaciated body. This also introduces Fukayu nushi, an ancestor of the Nakatomi, who was the one who divined what should be done. There is so much to unpack in these stories. For one, the kami bring power, but also danger. One can try to placate the kami, but it isn't like a ritual will always work, and the story is of the sovereign being actively afraid of what they might do, so they were removed from the palace. Then there is the fact that we see two seemingly similar names—Ohoyamato no Ohokami and Yamato no Kunidama both seem like we are talking about the same spirit of Yamato, though some would point out that one is the spirit of the country and one is the great kami of the country, so, clearly different. Both are also being given to someone named "Nunaki—something-something—Hime", and in both cases Nunaki seems to fail in her task because she is apparently not hot enough for the kami. She's described as too thin and emaciated or balding. We aren't given the lineage of Nunaki Waka Hime, but Nunaki Iri Bime is connected with the land of Owari. Nunaki Iri-bime is said to be the daughter of Mimaki Iribiko and Ohoama Hime, ancestor of the Owari no Muraji. Owari was the land that supported Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran. Finally, in both cases, we see the worship of the spirit of Yamato being given over to someone name "Nagochi", later identified as Nagochi no Sukune, ancestor of the Yamato no Atahe. One more note—closely on the heels of moving these two kami out of the palace, we see that the court brings in the worship of Oho-mono-nushi, the god of Mt. Miwa, under Ohotataneko, the ancestor of the Miwa clan. So the stories here account for Ama-terasu being moved to Watarai and why she isn't worshipped in the palace. It also places Oho-mono-nushi at the center of worship in Yamato. Oho-mono-nushi and Miwa continue to dominate the narrative from here on out, with a few notable exceptions, such as with Okinaga Tarashi Hime, aka Jingu Tennou and her mythical conquest of the Korean peninsula. I'm sure that had no political implications at all given everything that had happened with Baekje, Silla, and the Tang dynasty in the latter half of the 7th century. Other than scenes like that, however, the Miwa clan and worship of the Miwa deity appear frequently in the narrative. It is clear that Mt. Miwa, and its deity, were important, and when Breen and Teeuwen hypothesize that when Naka no Ohoe, which is to say Tenji Tennou, took the drastic step of moving the capital up to Ohotsu, in the land of Afumi, he also brought the Miwa deity with him. Those Afumi court rituals were conducted under the auspices of the Nakatomi, and particularly the auspices of Nakatomi no Kane, who would become one of the chief opponents of Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran in 672. After that conflict, Ohoama and his wife, Uno no Sarara, were building new traditions using Ise and constructing new legends. Legends that would be under their control and influence and which would further bolster their rule from the city that they had designed to fit inside of this newly constructed cosmological framework. And yet this also brings up what seems like an obvious question. If Ise Shrine and the worship of Amaterasu were so central to Ohoama and Uno's plans, then why would they put it so far away? Proponents of the "early" theory of the development of Amaterasu and Ise Shrine suggest that the answer lies in the text of the Chronicles. That there is some truth to the idea that there was worship in Yamato and that, for various reasons, it moved out to Watarai district early on and developed into Ise Shrine. Those who hold to the "late" theory of development see all of those stories as later inserts meant to explain away why Ise Shrine was so far away—and perhaps why Amaterasu was not included in the cool-kami club of court ritual. Teeuwen and Breen mention a few of the theories, from Naoki Koujiro stressing Ise as a strategic gateway between Yamato and Eastern Japan to Tanaka Takashi proposing that the movement of Amaterasu to Ise is actually a stand-in for one or more military campaigns to that area to bring it under Yamato control. And before we move too much further in the narrative, let's talk about how Ise is physically and geographically situated. Ise is part of modern Mie prefecture, on the eastern edge of the Ki peninsula. It is at the southern end of a series of adjoining alluvial plains that follow the coastline north to the modern prefectures of Aichi and Gifu—the ancient provinces of Owari and Mino. The capital of Ise Province used to be in Suzuka, near the the two Tsubaki shrines which both lay claim to the title of Ise no Ichinomiya, the First shrine of the land of Ise, and the pass that served as one of three major routes from eastern Japan into the Home Provinces and beyond. This puts Ise about as far away as you can get from the capital of the province without going over the mountains, themselves. It also puts it a good deal south of most major travel routes. If you are going to Ise shrine then it is pretty clear you were going to Ise shrine, as there isn't a lot of evidence for anything else in the area. The Shrine itself is actually made up of two primary shrine complexes. There is the Naiku, the inner shrine, and the Geku, or outer shrine. The Naiku, or inner shrine, is probably the area most people think about. It is at the foot of the mountains where the Shimamichi River joins the Isuzu River and both flow out of the mountains. The Naiku contains the shrine to Amaterasu no Ohokami, and is famous for its layout, where there are actually two shrine enclosures, one next to the other. The main shrine is then rebuilt in the empty enclosure every 20 years, at which point the worship is moved to the new shrine, the old shrine is torn down, and the cycle is started once again. The Outer Shrine, or Geku, is further north, and probably not as well known to foreigners. The Geku is said to enshrine the spirit of Toyouke-bime, a kami dedicated to food. According to the traditions of the Geku itself, Toyouke-bime was enshrined in the Geku at the command of Wakatakiru no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tennou, based on a dream. Regarding the history of why the Shrines—both Inner and Outer—are located here, archaeological evidence doesn't give us a lot to suggest that these might be the case. Despite the presence of the Miya River near Ise Shrine, we haven't found evidence of a large harbor or port, like we might expect if it was the jumping off point for crossing Ise Bay—or even the center of another large polity. Instead, the areas to the north—around Fujikata and Matokata inlets, for instance—show much more evidence of occupation and, presumably, use. Heck, the modern district of Fujikata is in the town of "Tsu", which literally means "port". And the capital area of Suzuaka and the Ichinomiya of Tsubaki Grand Shrine is even farther north, still. So who, if anybody, was living down in the area of Ise Shrine? If we look at the progression of tomb mounds in the area in previous centuries, we see that they start in the Matokata region in the 5th century and work their way down towards

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #151

  Dazai no Sochi of the Late 7th Century

  Jun 15, 202643 minS1

  The Dazai no Sochi--the head of the Yamato government in Kyushu--was a powerful position, with a lot of autonomy with lucrative opportunities. The people in this position were often powerful members of the court capable of representing the sovereign. They would often go on to become quite powerful in their own right. So who were the movers and shakers that held this prestigious position during Uno no Sarara's reign? This episode, we take a look at those who held the position and those who supported them. For more, check out our blogpost: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-151 PS: Hang around to the end (or check the end of the transcript) for information on some possible updates coming to the show. Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is Episode 151: The Dazai no Sochi of the late 7th century Tsukushi no Masaru was busy. A new boss was coming in, and he wanted to make sure everything was prepared. The Dazai may have been about as far as one could get from the capital and still be in Yamato, but it was also the first—and sometimes only—encounter some would have with the archipelago, so there was no excuse to be slacking off. Of course, this was hardly his first new boss, though for as long as he'd been on the job, each one could well be his last. He was getting a bit long in the tooth, after all. Twenty-nine years was a long time to be working in the same position. As Masaru paused, he thought back on some of the people he'd served. There was Soga no Akae—he was ambitious. Apparently he'd been in some rather compromising positions before coming out, but he'd done well enough when he went back. Shame that he backed the wrong horse. That did bring a chuckle to old Masaru's throat, though. He remembered when Prince Kurikuma had come out there, to the the Dazai, , and there were still people around who told stories of him. When those Afumi court stooges had showed up to try and conscript the barrier guards, Prince Kurikuma and his sons just stared them down. Everyone had been afraid that it would end in bloodshed, or at least that there would be consequences for defying the court, but Kurikuma was adamant, and the messenger had left with his tail firmly between his legs. Then there was Shima. By the time he came, Masaru already knew how everything was supposed to work. He may not have been in charge, but that wasn't his ambition. It was enough for him to be good at what he did. He didn't need to go all the way to the Palace and deal with the politics there—there were enough politics out here already. Shima, though, he was clearly suited for that Palace life. He was a capable administrator, but Masaru could tell he was ambitious. When he left, everyone knew that he would be going on to bigger and better things. And now there was another Prince coming out. So they would get the government offices prepared and greet him with proper fanfare. They'd bring him in and hold the ceremonies, and then they would get down to work. A stream of officers would present him with what they were working on and what had to happen. Masaru would be there to help make sure that everything was running smoothly and nothing got too out of hand. And that was the way things worked out on the edge of the realm. Welcome back to Sengoku Daimyo. We are still covering the reign of Uno no Sarara, and, similar to last episode, we are going to continue to talk about the people who made up Yamato at this time. This episode, more specifically, we are going to be turning away from the capital, in Asuka, and looking all the way over to Tsukushi—modern Kyushu—and at the people who served as Dazai no Sochi, or head of the local government out there, as well as the bureaucrats and staff that worked for them—at least as far we know. Many of them went on to have considerable careers that took them well beyond Kyushu. At the same time, we'll take a look at some of the things that happened under their rule as what Aston translates as the "Viceroy of Tsukushi". After that, I have a special announcement about the podcast at the end of the episode, so if you are interested in learning more about what we plan on doing, please listen all the way to the end to hear about some plans for the future. And with that out of the way, let's begin. So we are talking about the position of Dazai no Sochi or the Viceroy of Tsukushi. Often these people are referred to only as being of the "Tsukushi no Dazai" or the "Tsukushi no Ohomochi". The term "Sochi" appears later, and we first see this term applied to Prince Kawachi, in 689. It seems to show up with two different characters, which might be a term from the later Taihou code that was retroactively applied or may refer to an evolution of the position over time. I'm honestly not sure. There is still plenty of confusion over what was meant in some of the references. We've discussed this position before on the podcast: This was the sovereign's representative to the world outside of the archipelago. Not only did the Dazai no Sochi oversee all of Tsukushi—all of Kyushu— and extensive defensive forces stationed there and in the outlying islands, but they oversaw all diplomatic and trade missions to and from the archipelago. Envoy missions would come to Tsushima, where they would get a local pilot and send word ahead. They would then be received at the government center, the Dazai, near modern Fukuoka and Hakata bay. For most envoys, this was as close as they would ever get to Yamato proper. They would offload their goods there and be put up at the government supplied quarters in Wogohori. They would be wined and dined there, entertained as appropriate to their status, while word was sent on to the capital. In rare cases, envoys would be sent on another journey through the inland sea to Naniwa, and then on to Asuka, but otherwise their journey would end at the Dazaifu. Any return gifts would come back with the correspondence from the capital, and thus be handed out to the envoys and their escorts before the mission was sent back home to Silla, Tamna, or wherever they had come from. Being the middle man in this operation offered a lot of power and authority, but it also would have been quite lucrative. While diplomatic missions brought gifts for the court, they also brought trade goods, of which the Dazai no Sochi could have first pick. This is on top of the fact that this position often came with a stipend equaling the labor of hundreds of individuals. Many of the Dazai no Sochi would serve limited terms, eventually returning to Asuka, where we see them take on powerful positions. Take, for example, our first Dazai no Sochi, Tajihi no Mabito no Shima. Tajihi no Shima was born, we are told, in or around 624 to Tajihi no Maro and a daughter of Ohotomo no Hirafu. Tajihi no Maro, Shima's father was a powerful noble in the court of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou, and he had enough standing that he was one of the named individuals who provided eulogies for Ohoama on the occasion of his passing. The Tajihi family were quite well placed: they were descendants of Hinokuma no Takata no Miko, aka Senka Tennou, Shima's great-grandfather. This earned them the kabane of "Mabito", or "True Person" because of their royal lineage. Tajihi no Shima was placed in charge of the Dazai from at least 682. His predecessor that we know about is Prince Yagaki, who was dismissed around 676, and we don't know who filled the gap between him and Shima. Shima had quite the run. We don't know exactly when he returned to the court in Asuka, but it cannot have been later than 689, when we see Awada no Mahito in the position. A year later, in 690, Shima was made Udaijin, or minister of the right. That's a huge deal and we will talk about that in a bit, but what did Shima actually oversee during his tenure as Dazai no Sochi? We have quite a few events attributed to him, this reign. In 686, we see the Tsukushi no Dazai sending tribute in the form of human beings: Common men and women of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, along with 62 priests and nuns. We aren't told where these men and women came from, but I suspect that they were refugees or captives from all the fighting on the peninsula. That they were given as tribute suggests to me that they were enslaved—or at the very least they were not free. If they were uneducated, they were likely put to work as labor, perhaps building out the new capital or opening new farmlands. Later we see the various missions from Silla around the death of Ohoama, and the back and forth that went on, there, and in 688 the Tsukushi no Dazai entertained Kara, a Minister of Tamna, aka modern Jeju island, who had been sent by the king of that small country. You may recall that Tamna, while late to the game, may have been one of the last holdouts of an early Japonic speaking people outside of the archipelago. Being the Tsukushi no Dazai, Shima would not have only been concerned with foreign envoys, but also with two other groups of Hayato—specifically the Ohosumi no Hayato and the Ata no Hayato. Little is known about them, other than that Yamato considered them to be distinct ethnic and cultural groups living in the far south of Kyushu. We've talked before about how southern Kyushu maintained a significantly different material culture through Kofun period until more recent times. We also have indication that they had a distinctive shield and even art style—the famous "Hayato shields" appear to have been appropriated by the court, along with a contingent of Hayato men that were expected to act as an exotic guard for the sovereign and the court. The earliest reliable evidence we have for them is a record from 682. There are some questions as to whether or not they were related to the groups previously called Kumaso or even the Tsuchigumo, but there is no clear historical or archaeological evidence linking them other than the common cultural finds in Kyushu more generally. The Ata and Ohosumi Hayato may have been distinct clans or lineage groups living in Ohosumi and the area of modern Satsuma. We have a record in 687 of the Ata no Hayato attending Ohoama's funeral and presenting a eulogy. The chiefs who came brought 337 others—a sizeable contingent—and they were all given presents by the court. Later, we would see presents given out to 174 Hayato by Shima's successor in the Dazai, Awada no Mahito, and then in 692 we know that the court sent priests to preach Buddhism to Ata and Ohosumi. In 695, Hayato of Ohosumi were entertained in the capital, and they even held a wrestling match for the Queen and her attendants in the area west of Asukadera, by the site of the famous Tsuki tree. So the Hayato would have been another group that Shima no doubt dealt with on a somewhat regular basis in his capacity as Dazi no Sochi—and then later on when he returned to Asuka and took up his new role as Udaijin. And as I mentioned, that appointment was a Big Deal. The position of Udaijin had been vacant since Nakatomi no Kane, one of the infamous leaders of the Afumi court, was non-consensually removed from the position—and this plane of existence—when he was executed in 672, at the closure of the Jinshin no Ran. After that, Ohoama appears to have been gun-shy about sharing power with anyone outside the royal family. The position had been left vacant for about 18 years. So what made Uno no Sarara take up Shima as Minister of the Right? And what about the Minister of the Left, or the Sadaijin? Well, we don't have a Sadaijin, but we do have a Dajodaijin in the form of Prince Takechi, Ohoama's first-born son. The Dajodaijin was the Prime Minister in charge of the entire Dajokan, the Council of State, made up of the ministers of the left and right and the 8 bureaus of the government. The Sadaijin and Udaijin served under the Dajodaijin, in that hierarchical order, with the Sadaijin generally being considered higher in precedence. So it looks like, in this case, they had the Dajodaijin, Prince Takechi to run the Council and Shima, as Udaijin would have been responsible for ensuring the administration of the eight bureaus was properly carried out. That Shima was appointed just under Prince Takechi again shows the power and influence he likely had and the trust he must have had from Uno no Sarara. Remember, the Crown Prince, Kusakabe, had died before he could take the throne. Uno was enthroned as Queen, while the Crown Prince, Karu, was still a minor. Whereas Ohoama had his wife and many sons to help him run things, Uno no Sarara was running thin. As had been seen with Prince Ohotsu, there was always the threat that one of Ohoama's other sons could be propped up on the throne. Uno had to look after Karu's birthright, but there was no guarantee that he would make it to adulthood in times before modern medicine. It appears that Prince Takechi was actually considered the next in line, just in case something happened to Karu before he could ascend the throne, which makes sense that Prince Takechi was also trusted as Dajo Daijin. Shima's place as Udaijin must have been indicative of similar trust that he would look after the royal family's interests. This was no doubt helped by the role he played as Dazai no Sochi. As Udajin, Tajihi no Shima went on to have a rather incredible career. He was given 4 cho of land for his residence. This appears to be around 10 acres or so—a not inconsiderable amount of land, and it probably refers to the amount of land he was granted in the new Fujiwara capital city. Later, in the Nara capital of Heijo-kyo, Prince Nagaya's residence was about that size and Fujiwara no Nakamaro's residence is thought to have been about twice that. This would have given Shima space for multiple buildings, sprawling gardens, servants quarters, quarters for his wives and children, and much more. Tajihi no Shima would continue in his role as Udaijin, and would eventually, be promoted to the position of Sadaijin, a post he held only briefly, as he passed away almost a year later. He was not forgotten, however. It is thought that he was the model for one of the suitors of Kaguya Hime in the famous story of Taketori Monogatari—the tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Taketori Monogatari, also known as Kaguya Hime Monogatari, is considered the oldest known story in the Monogatari form. It was probably written in the late 9th or early 10th century, with references to it appearing in works as early as 909 CE. This suggests that Tajihi no Shima and others were still remembered, at least in part, over a century later. Shima is also thought to have been the patron of the famous poet, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, one of the famous 36 immortal poets. We'll have to include Hitomaro in a later episode, though we might come back to him after this reign, as he isn't mentioned in the Chronicles, but we do have some fragmentary biographical information thanks to his inclusion in the Man'yoshu. In fact, he's probably one of the most famous poets in the Man'yoshu who is not otherwise mentioned. We are told that he was the court poet during the reign of Uno no Sarara, so it makes sense that Shima may have very well been his patron and helped him get his start. Now while Shima was back in Asuka, making it big in the court, the position of Tsukushi no Dazai had to be filled, and we are told that the mantle was taken up by Awada no Mahito no Ason. This name is a bit tricky, as it seems to have two kabane: Mahito and Ason. Since his father is said to have been Kasuga no Awada no Omi no Kudara, the assumption seems to be that "Mahito" was his name, rather than his kabane. Although it was likely pronounced "Mabito" at the time, I'm going to go with the modern pronunciation of "Mahito" in part to distinguish it from the kabane. A quick side note: When reading names from this period, we usually see the kabane coming right after the family name, as the kabane is basically a rank for the family and not the individual. But we do occasionally see the kabane tacked on at the end of a name, as in Awada no Mahito's case. I would also like to quickly draw your attention to his father's name: Kudara. That can also be read as Baekje. Was this an indication that his father or an ancestor came from the continent, perhaps from Baekje? Or just that he had close ties to that kingdom? I couldn't find anything specific, but it seems interesting that he was put in place at the Dazai, where dealing with the continent would have been an important part of his duties. Awada no Mahito was not just a noble of the court, and even if his father was of Baekje descent, that may not have been the main thing that gained him the position. It may have also had to do with an earlier incident. We are told that in 653 Mahito was one of those who traveled with the 2nd envoy to the Tang court as a scholar monk. He would later return to secular life, but that experience must have been a big feather in his cap, helping him land a good position at court. In fact, in 685, we are told that he was Jikikwoushi rank—a fairly respectable position for anyone at the time—and he apparently tried to get his father raised to the same rank as he was. Aston translates the record as saying he was willing to give his rank to his father, but it is unclear to me if this means he was offering to give up his rank altogether. At the very least it seems that he felt awkward outranking his father—a good, filial attitude, it would seem. However, Ohoama didn't care. In the past, rank may have been given to entire families, but now the court was giving rank to individuals, and the rank Mahito had earned was his, not his father's. And so his request was denied. Four years later, Ohoama was gone and Awada no Mahito was sent to the Tsukushi no Dazai. We are told that he was in that position as of 689. If that was the position of Dazai no Sochi, however, he didn't hold it for long, as Prince Kawachi was raised up to that position that same year, and here we have a bit of a conundrum. Mahito is only mentioned as "Tsukushi no Dazai" while Prince Kawachi is specifically mentioned, at least twice, as Tsukushi no Dazai no Sochi. There are some who suggest that Mahito may have been the Dazai Daini, an assistant to the Dazai no Sochi—effectively the second-in-command it would appear. This makes some sense, when you consider it, and he may even have been acting Dazai no Sochi until Prince Kawachi was appointed. Of course, because our records are quite lackluster, and we are never actually told when Tajihi no Shima left the position, it is possible that Awada no Mahito was actually the Dazai Sochi for many years leading up to 689, and that Shima had returned to Asuka some time ago. This is the problem with the way things are written—sometimes they mention a name and sometimes just a position, and rarely do they mention when someone stepped down. Still, Mahito oversaw a few things that we can be somewhat sure about as they happened after he is first mentioned in the position, though it was all in the same year. For one thing, he is the one who presented gifts to the 174 Hayato in the first month of 689. This included cloth, ox hides, and deerskins. He was also there when the Queen sent relief to the Barrier Wardens whose terms were up. These were the Sakimori, a position set up to defend the archipelago and repel any potential invasions. I would assume they were regularly rotated out, especially if they were expected to man the fortifications out on some of the islands. It is interesting that we don't often see them referenced, so it isn't clear to me why the reference was made here—it may have just been a note in one of the sources the Chroniclers were using. Later that same year, we also see garments being given out—likely meaning official court clothing—to the Tsukushi Dazai and others. This was probably to bring them all in line with the latest formal wear being used in the court in Asuka. We also know that in the 6th month of that y

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #150

  Nobles of Jitou Tennou's Court

  May 31, 202640 minS1

  <p>A big part of the court are the actual court nobles, so this episode we are taking a look at some of the ones mentioned in the Chronicles for this reign.</p> <p>For more, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-150</p> <p>Rough Transcript</p> <p >Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is episode 150: Nobles of Jitou Tennou's Court</p> <p > </p> <p >Maro donned his light blue robes and made his way to the court. As he arrived, the sun was just peaking over the horizon, and as it...

  ListenShow Notes

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.