Himiko and Japan's elusive chiefdom of Yamatai : archaeology, history, and mythology / J. Edward Kidder, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kidder, J. Edward (Jonathan Edward)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Yamatai (Japan).

Japan--History--To 645.

Japan.

Himiko, active 3rd century.

Himiko.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (418 p.)

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The third-century Chinese chronicle Wei zhi (Record of Wei) is responsible for Japan's most enduring ancient mystery. This early history tells of a group of islands off the China coast that were dominated by a female shaman named Himiko. Himiko ruled for more than half a century as head of the largest chiefdom, traditionally known as Yamatai, until her death in 248. Yet no such person appears in the old Japanese literature. Who was Himiko and where was the Yamatai she governed? In this, the most comprehensive treatment in English to date, a senior scholar of early Japan turns to three sources-historical, archaeological, and mythological-to provide a multifaceted study of Himiko and ancient Japanese society.

Contents:

Ancient texts and sources

The Wei zhi and the Wa people

The initial problem and three centuries of compounding it

Travel by land and water to neighboring countries

Han commanderies, Korean kingdoms, and Wei China

Japan in transition from Yayoi to Kofun

The Izumo-Yamato contention

Himiko, shamans, divination, and other magic

Mirrors and Himiko's allotment

The Japanese view of the Wei zhi years

The endless search for Yamatai

Makimuku and the location of Yamatai.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 28. Aug 2019)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 359-390) and index.

ISBN:

9780824862848

0824862848

9781435666214

1435666216

OCLC:

256473830