302 Part IV: East Asian Civilization
Archaeologists studying the Japan of the Yayoi and Kofun periods find the
largest polities on the island of Kyushu and the southern regions of Honshu.
This is not surprising, since rice cultivation, probably introduced from the
Yangzi delta region of China around 350 B.C.E., would have permitted popula-
tion increase and thus the need for more complex forms of social organization.
We know that a very ancient people, the Ainu, were probably the islands’ earli-
est settlers, though where they came from is unknown. Their remnants now are
mostly located in the far northern island of Hokkaido. The Japanese language
has linguistic affinities to Korean, and the most logical route of settlement
appears to have been through Korea to Kyushu, then a northward progression
in claiming the entire chain. However, a look at the broad curve of China’s
coast and the islands just eastward suggest other possible sources of settlers in
the distant past. Just as populations of southern China settled in Taiwan, tak-Box 8.1 Edict to Queen Himiko from Emperor Ming 239 C.E.Herein we address Himiko, queen of Wa, whom we now officially call a friend of
Wei. The governor of Tai-fang, Liu Hsia, has sent a messenger to accompany your
vassal, Nanshomai, and his lieutenant, Toshi Gyuri. They have arrived here with your
tribute, consisting of four male slaves and six female slaves, together with two pieces
of patterned cloth, 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 of “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.
Your ambassadors, Nanshomai and Gyuri, who have come from afar, must have
had a long and fatiguing journey. We have, therefore, given to Nanshomai an appoint-
ment as commandant in the imperial guard. We also bestow upon them the decora-
tion of the silver seal with blue ribbon. We have granted them audience in
appreciation of their visit, before sending them home with gifts. The gifts are these:
five pieces of crimson brocade with dragon designs, ten pieces of crimson tapestry
with dappled pattern, fifty lengths of bluish red fabric, and fifty lengths of dark blue
fabric. These are in return for what you sent as tribute. As a special gift, we bestow
upon you three pieces of blue brocade with interwoven characters, five pieces of tap-
estry with delicate floral designs, fifty lengths of white silk, eight taels of gold, two
swords five feet long, one hundred bronze mirrors, and fifty catties each of jade and of
red beads. All these things are sealed in boxes and entrusted to Nanshomai and
Gyuri. When they arrive and you acknowledge their receipt, you may exhibit them to
your countrymen in order to demonstrate that our country thinks so much of you as to
bestow such exquisite gifts upon you.
Source: Okazaki Takashi, “Japan and the Continent,” in The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 1,
Ancient Japan, transl. Janet Goodwin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 288.