empress jingū: a shamaness ruler in early japan

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Empress Jingū: a shamaness ruler in early JapanChizuko Allen aa University of Hawaii at ManoaPublished online: 09 Dec 2010.

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Japan Forum

15(1) 2003: 81–98 ISSN: 0955–5803 print/1469–932X onlineCopyright © 2003 BAJS DOI: 10.1080/0955580032000077748

Empress Jingu: a shamaness ruler in early Japan

C H I Z U K O T. A L L E N

Abstract:

Many post-war Japanese historians considered Empress Jingu, themother and regent to Emperor Ojin of the early fifth century, a mythical figure andtreated the accounts of her life in

Kojiki

,

Nihon shoki

and

Fudoki

as the product offabrication that mirrored the lives of empresses from later centuries. Their theories,however, were not only flawed but failed to address the extraordinary emphasis givento her achievement in the chronicles. The story of Jingu can reveal important politicalaspects of the formative Yamato polity because its basis, i.e. her seizure of power andexpedition to Korea, developed very early and were recorded by the sixth century.

A careful examination of the story confirms the importance of shamaness-priestessrulers in the fourth century, a point which some historians and archaeologists havelong suspected. Jingu is representative of a series of women who served as principalrulers in ‘pair rule’ and were known by the quasi-title Princess Oho tarashi. Herexpedition to the kingdom of Silla suggests that these women played an importantrole in ushering in the age of intensive interactions with the Korean states. The storyalso indicates a gradual shift of power from female rulers to male rulers due to thelatter’s control of military affairs.

Keywords:

Empress Jingu, Yamato, shamaness, priestess

Princess Okinaga tarashi is one of the most prominent figures portrayed in

Kojiki

(Records of ancient matters) and

Nihon shoki

(History of Japan), Japan’s oldestsurviving chronicles, as well as in

Fudoki

(The Gazette), a collection of regionallegends, poems and geographic information, all compiled by the early eighthcentury. She is usually known as Empress Jingu, a Sinicized name attributed toher later in the eighth century.

1

The chronicles portray her as the primary consortof Prince Tarashi nakatsu or Emperor Chuai, the fourteenth ruler of the Yamatostate on the traditional list, and, after his early death, regent to her young sonPrince Homuta wake, who later became Emperor Ojin, the fifteenth ruler. Booknine of

Nihon shoki

is exclusively dedicated to her regency, and the

Kojiki

chapteron Chuai focuses on her achievements, rather than his. Although not popular in

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Empress Jingu

Japan today, the story of Jingu’s life was widely known in pre-war Japan. Theaccounts by the two chronicles can be summarized as follows.

The divine spirits, including Amaterasu and gods of the Sumiyoshi Shrine,possessed Jingu and told Emperor Chuai not to attack Kumaso in southernKyushu but to seek control of Silla, a land of gold, silver and other colorful goodson the Korean peninsula. Although he refused to obey and died soon afterwards,the gods promised Jingu that Silla would be given to Chuai’s son to whom shewould soon give birth. Jingu inserted a stone under her skirt to delay the birthof her child and led her ships to Silla, assisted by the wind-gods and fish of thesea. The king of Silla was so frightened by the coming of the ships that he notonly surrendered of his own accord but promised to send yearly tribute toYamato. Upon returning to northern Kyushu, Jingu gave birth to Prince Homutawake. She then defeated the late emperor Chuai’s adult sons by another princesswho had plotted to take the throne in Yamato. She passed away at the age of 100after serving for many years as regent to her son, who later became EmperorOjin. Her tumulus is located in northern Yamato.

2

She was a fifth-generationdescendant of Kaika, the ninth emperor on the traditional list, on the paternalside, and a sixth-generation descendant of a Silla prince, Ame no hihoko, on thematernal side.

3

Besides the two chronicles, six of the extant volumes of

Fudoki

mention Jingu’svoyage along the coast of Japan as part of her journey to Silla. They refer to hernot only as Princess Okinaga tarashi or Oho tarashi, but also as

sumera mikoto

,the title equivalent to

tenno

, or emperor, today. The use of this title, as well as thevacancy of the throne during her regency, lead us to think that Jingu had beenregarded as a ruler until the chroniclers determined the official list of rulers.

4

Many post-war Japanese scholars turned away from the story of Jingu, althoughsome held a higher regard for the adaptations from the Korean chronicle

Paekchegi

(Chronicle of Paekche) incorporated in the accounts of Jingu’s life in

Nihon shoki

.

5

This is largely due to the tainted image of Jingu created over manycenturies. Following the retreat of the Mongol-Koryo naval forces from Japaneseshores in the thirteenth century and Hideyoshi’s invasion of Choson-dynastyKorea in the sixteenth century, popular legends of Jingu’s peninsular invasiondeveloped by assimilating ethnocentric views and descriptions.

6

Furthermore,Japanese imperialists in modern times have utilized Jingu’s peninsular activitiesas a historical precedent to justify Japan’s rule over Korea (Nakamura 1940: 9–14). The emotional repulsion from Jingu, who had symbolized Japan’s jingoismuntil the end of the Second World War, is understandable, and yet not academi-cally justifiable.

Most scholars have accepted the theory that it was Ojin who replaced previousrulers in Yamato by establishing a new dynasty based in Naniwa-Yamato (Hirano1977: 51–4). This theory alone necessitates re-examination of Jingu, who directlypreceded Ojin in the chronicles. Since he allegedly reigned at the beginning ofthe fifth century, his mother’s time should correspond to the late fourth century.

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Studies of Jingu, therefore, can potentially shed light on the fourth century, ofwhich historians know very little.

In recent years, the once-popular view that the Yamato confederacy emergedmuch later than the fourth century has been seriously challenged by archaeologistsstudying the spread of standardized keyhole-shaped tumuli and accom-panyingbronze mirrors from Kinai to the rest of Japan.

8

Their studies reveal that the originof the confederacy and its direct and indirect influence over regional powers canbe traced back as early as the third century (Tsude 1991, 1995; Piggott 1997: 12).A formative Yamato polity must have existed by the fourth century, and this isanother reason why we should make every effort to utilize the accounts in thechronicles as potential sources of information for this very early period.

Although the Yamato elite initially utilized oral traditions to preserve their past,the polity began employing scribes able to write Chinese by the late fifth centuryand produced

Teiki

(Imperial genealogies) and

Kyuji

(Old records), the no-longer-extant chronicles, sometime in the sixth century (Yamao 1996: 22). We canassume that the basic story of Jingu was already in these early chronicles, whichserved as main sources for

Nihon shoki

and

Kojiki

. Also, the basis of the story ofJingu, consisting of her seizure of power and expedition to Korea, was mentionedby individuals contemporaneous to the sixth-century rulers, Emperors Keitai andKimmei, in the

Nihon shoki

volumes that are considered reliable (Uemura 1977:78). There is no doubt that the story has very early origins.

This paper examines the core elements of the indigenous story of Jingu with apremise that they can reveal important political aspects of early Japan. We shallfirst critically review the ways in which Japanese historians have dealt with Jinguin their studies. We shall then explore an alternative interpretation, whichconfirms the importance of female rulers in high antiquity as portrayed in thestory. Relevant historical theories and archaeological findings are referred to inthe process.

Existing views

When the compilers of

Nihon shoki

read the passages on Himiko, the third-century queen of Wa, in the Chinese annals

Wei chih

, they considered her amanifestation of Jingu since both women served as high priestesses for the Stateand made advancement in foreign relations. They thus extrapolated the accountsof Jingu all the way back to the time of Himiko and her immediate successors byartificially extending the former’s regency and the reigns of succeeding rulers.This fact was finally uncovered by Naka Michiyo, a late-nineteenth-centuryscholar, who found that the chronology of Paekche kings cited in Book nine of

Nihon shoki

was pushed back by 120 years, or two sexagenary cycles, whencompared with the correct chronology in

Samguk sagi

(History of the ThreeKingdoms), compiled in twelfth-century Korea (Naka 1897). Later scholars thusassumed that the original dates for all the adaptations from

Paekchegi

as well as


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Empress Jingu

the story of Jingu itself could be calculated by adding two sexagenary years(Ledyard 1975: 217). An attempt to figure out dates for the story of Jingu in thisway is futile because it originally came with no Chinese calendar years and wasarbitrarily assigned to the time of Himiko (Yasumoto 1999: 225–6).

In the 1920s, when many revered Jingu as a symbol of national expansion,Tsuda Sokichi, the father of historical textual criticism in Japan, advanced hiscritical view that later became influential in academic circles. He argued that the

Kojiki

and

Nihon shoki

accounts regarding the period prior to Ojin were legendaryand unreliable for the following reasons. First, the names of the rulers up to Jinguappeared to be posthumous and unreal. Also, he found it contradictory that Jinguattacked Kumaso in

Nihon shoki

, despite the gods’ prediction that it wouldsurrender peacefully if she conquered Silla. He thought inconsistent that, againas recorded in

Nihon shoki

, Paekche’s opening of diplomatic relations with Yamatohad come years after its pledge of allegiance to Jingu alongside Silla’s. Theaccounts have many supernatural descriptions and inaccurate Silla names.Finally, they referred to Silla as the ‘land of treasures’, even though it was theleast advanced of Korean states at that time. Based on all this, Tsuda assertedthat the story had been created in the early sixth century when Silla was pros-perous enough (1924: 168–78).

Tsuda concurrently maintained that Jingu’s peninsular expedition was a vagueexpression of the Yamato state’s advance to Silla that he thought took place duringOjin’s reign. Based on his reading of the inscription on King Kwanggaet’o’s stele,built near the Yalu River in the early fifth century, he speculated that, during thecourse of this reign, Yamato had dominated Silla, aided Paekche and establishedits foothold in Kaya.

9

He concluded that the sixth-century compilers of

Teiki

and

Kyuji

had devised the mother of Ojin as a proxy for Ojin’s peninsular activitiesbecause they needed a woman identifiable as Queen Himiko after all (Tsuda1924: 172–8). Both Tsuda’s disapproval of the accounts of the rulers prior to Ojinand his interpretation of Jingu as Ojin’s shadow impacted on the ways post-warscholars viewed the story of Jingu. In fact, almost all the interpretations thatdenied Jingu’s validity can be traced back to Tsuda’s thesis.

For instance, Mizuno Yu asserted that most of the early rulers, including Jingu,were fictitious, based on his hypothesis that their names had been fabricated inlater periods. He assumed that the chroniclers had created the name Okinagatarashi and other tarashi names in the seventh century by borrowing the term

tarashi

from the names of Emperor Jomei (Prince Okinaga tarashi hironuka, r.629–41) and his wife Empress-Regnant Kogyoku-Saimei (Princess Ametoyotakara ikashihi tarashi, r. 642–5, 655–61). He further speculated that the chron-iclers had sought to magnify the importance of these two rulers because they werethe parents of Emperors Tenchi (r. 661–71) and Tenmu (r. 672–86), who initiatedthe history compilation projects. As for the name Okinaga, Mizuno suspectedthat the Okinaga family had been influential enough to add their name at thistime since Jomei’s grandmother was an Okinaga woman. He assumed that Jingu,


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as Ojin’s mother and at the same time an Okinaga woman, had been created toserve as an artificial link between the Ojin-Nintoku dynasty and the Keitai-Jomeidynasty, which, he argued, were totally unrelated (Mizuno 1952: 114–46, 201–12).

The theory that denied the historicity of Jingu and other early rulers wasdeveloped further by Naoki Kojiro. He assumed that the details of the accountsof Jingu’s life had been created in the seventh century by integrating variousoccurrences from the reigns of three empresses: Suiko (r. 592–628), Kogyoku-Saimei and Jito (r. 686–97). According to Naoki, Jingu’s expedition to Silla wasbased on Kogyoku-Saimei’s preparation for an expedition to Silla in 661

AD

, andChuai’s sudden death due to his faithlessness was modeled on the discord withthe gods of Tsukushi and subsequent death experienced by the empress,Kogyoku-Saimei. The birth of Ojin, also in Tsukushi, was created from the birthof Prince Kusakabe, the son of Empress Jito (r. 690–7), who accompaniedKogyoku-Saimei to the same location. Jingu’s victory over Prince Oshikuma wasbased on Jito’s elimination of Prince Otsu, Kusakabe’s half-brother and rival forthe throne. The fact that the oldest record of the Sumiyoshi Shrine can be tracedback to the seventh century strengthened Naoki’s belief (1964: 153–72) that thestory of Jingu was created at that time.

Others elaborated Tsuda’s view that the story of Jingu merely reflected Yamato’speninsular expansion at Ojin’s hands. According to Inoue Mitsusada, Ojin hadbeen the actual commander of the peninsular campaigns, but was reduced to thestatus of a fetus in Jingu’s womb because Queen Himiko of the third century hadleft a stronger impression, which was somehow conflated with that of Ojin’smother (Inoue 1985: 111–13). Michiko Aoki speculated that the chroniclersattributed Ojin’s Silla campaign to Jingu in order to make the former appear asa peaceful man. She assumed his reign to be brutal based on the bloodlettingmentioned in the

Fudoki

volume on Harima – as well as on his name Homuta,which

Nihon shoki

describes as an ‘archery arm-piece’ (Aoki 1974: 36–8). Aokiat the same time viewed Jingu as an embodiment of the exalted positions ofwomen in early Japan (Aoki 1991: 34–6).

It is time to rethink what Tsuda said many decades ago. The conflicting storylines and supernatural descriptions do not constitute sufficient grounds for theoutright dismissal of the accounts as a source material. Contradictions emergedbecause information from different sources was assembled. Supernaturalphenomena were included because they were part of the original oral traditionsand represented the ancient world view. The reason for the more realistic contentsand names from the time of Ojin simply indicate that written records becameavailable beginning from that era.

Although Naoki’s argument that later empresses and their acts are reflected inthe story of Jingu may hold some truth, we must pay attention to the fundamentaldifferences between Jingu and the later female rulers. She, only a fifth-generationdescendant of the early emperor Kaika, usurped the throne by force while the


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Empress Jingu

later empresses, all daughters of previous emperors, were simply installed. Inaddition, as we shall see, she held much more power and authority than the laterwomen. Her unusual status does not fit into the norms of later history.

So, for all Mizuno’s arguments, the absence of records of original names doesnot prove the non-existence of such figures. Historians and folklorists agree thatthe names of persons are more easily forgotten than their achievements whenwriting is not available. This is particularly so when titles, instead of personalnames, were commonly used (Inoue 1985: 47; Akima 1993: 168). Disregard ofthe term

tarashi

as a seventh-century addition is also a mistake for, as we shallsee, the chronicles record numerous

tarashi

names before and after Jingu. AsMizuno himself noted, according to

Sui shu

,

tarashi

is part of the designation forthe Japanese king, Ame tarashi hiko (‘prince’ Ame tarashi), mentioned by theYamato envoys sent to Sui China in 600

AD

. As the ruler at the time was EmpressSuiko (r. 592–628), we must consider Ame tarashi hiko as a title for the Yamatoruler, rather than as a personal name (Tsunoda

et al

. 1958: 11; Yamao 1989: 469).Contrary to Inoue’s argument, recent memories usually overshadow remote

memories, rather than the other way around. It is not likely that Himiko, whodied a century and a half earlier than Ojin, left a stronger impression than Ojindid in the minds of people during and following his reign, particularly if he wasthe founder of a new dynasty. Besides, if he was in fact brutal, the bloodlesspeninsular campaign would have enhanced his reputation.

Scholars not influenced by Tsuda’s views have suggested that the story of Jingucould contain historical truth. For instance, Okamoto Kenji has argued that sherepresented a queen whom the Yamato court remembered for her work thatextended to the Korean peninsula. He has claimed that this woman may havebeen active before the thriving of the peninsular kingdoms from the late fourthcentury (Okamoto 1959: 167–70). Uemura Seiji believed that the story of Jinguin the chronicles had drawn upon traditions that could be traced back to the endof the fourth century. He rejected the view that considered the whole story afabrication, and suggested the existence of a nucleus of fact at the heart of thestory (Uemura 1977: 78–83). In the same vein, Tsukaguchi indicated that certainhistorical truth might be hidden in the gist of the story as in most legendarystories (Tsukaguchi 1980: 231).

The renowned folklorist Mishina Akihide pointed out that the accounts ofJingu had possibly absorbed events from a long period of time as if they all hadoccurred in her lifetime. He thought that this was similar to the way the legendsof Gyogi and Kukai, celebrated Buddhist monks of the Heian period, haddeveloped and, from this, he argued that Jingu could be a historical figure just asthey were (Mishina 1962: 94). Assuming that the story had begun as an ancientfolk legend, he saw in Jingu, not an empress, but a shamanistic priestess who wasin charge of the education of rulers as well as maritime travels. He speculatedthat the original story of Jingu was initially passed on by a priestly family thattraced its ancestry to Ame no hihoko of Silla (Mishina 1972: 193–206). Mishina


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made many insightful points about Japan’s early customs, but not about politicalhistory.

In search of the time of Jingu

The story of Jingu suggests important political realities of early Japan, which arein accord with studies and theories already advanced by historians, archaeologistsand folklorists. First, we must seriously consider the fact that the story depictsJingu as a paramount shaman-priestess ruler and see if such female rulers existedafter the time of Himiko and her immediate successors. Recent archaeologicalstudies of tombs and other remains have revealed that female chieftains wereprevalent throughout western Japan in the fourth century. These women obvi-ously dominated the fields of religious rituals, politics and the military since theirburial chambers included many iron weapons and tools as well as mirrors andjades. Occasional joint burials with their sons suggest strong ties with maleoffspring. Tombs of men as primary chieftains appear beginning from fifth-century sites (Imai 1996: 6–8).

Similar findings with regard to female rulers have been reported from Korea.According to Sarah Nelson, the largest Old Silla tombs in Kyongju from early inthe fifth century, consisting of two overlapping mounds for a married couple,contained a gold crown and a belt, the symbols of rulership, in the female mound,rather than in the male mound. The additional burial items in the female mound,including gold jewellery and exotic imports, clearly signify the woman’s holdinga higher status than her spouse. Nelson suggests the existence of a ‘pair rule’ anda pattern of matrilineal succession to the female throne in the nascent Silladynasty (Nelson 1991: 101–6).

The theory that women ruled together with their male partners was advancedearly in post-war Japan. The folklorist Origuchi Shinobu, for instance, pointedout that royal women had often acted as shamanistic mediators between the godsand male rulers and thus had been called

Naka sumera mikoto

(‘middle’ tenno).According to Origuchi, these women occasionally acted as independent rulerswhen appropriate male candidates were unavailable. Kogyoku-Saimei (r. 642–5,655–61), for instance, took the throne after her husband’s death and was able,through prayer, to induce much rain following a drought. Iitoyo, who is variouslydepicted as the unmarried sister or aunt of both Emperors Kenzo and Ninken,temporarily occupied the throne as shamaness-priestess in the late fifth century(Origuchi 1954: 12–16).

The scholar Kasai Wajin studied ancient genealogies and concluded thatmarriages between uterine brothers and their descendants were prohibited untilthe time of Emperors Tenchi and Tenmu, but never between non-uterine brothersand their descendants (Kasai 1957). This implied that early Japanese society wasprobably matrilineal and that key political positions may have been passed onfrom mother to daughter. Hora Tomio suspected that joint rule by a woman in

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charge of divination and a man in charge of administration was the norm in earlyJapan, as exemplified by Himiko and her brother in the third century. Hora foundmany examples of such joint rule in the chronicles and

Fudoki

, including that ofPrincess Taburatsu and her brother in Tsukushi, who allegedly submitted them-selves to Jingu. He also referred to the historical example in Okinawa, where ruleby a shamaness and her brother was the norm until the Middle Ages. In suchjoint rule, the woman held that primary position and the man the secondaryposition because the latter’s legitimacy was dependent on the former’s spiritualauthority (Hora 1959: 52–62, 133–6). The historian of gender, Takamure Itsue,popularized the notion of ‘pair rule’ in Japan coining the term

himehikosei

(‘princess-and-prince system’) (Takamure 1966). Joan Piggott recently arguedthat memories of such early co-rulership had persisted into the late seventh andearly eighth centuries (Piggott 1999: 22).

These theories and findings are naturally consistent with what we know aboutthe earlier period through the description of Himiko in the third century. Himikofocused on divination in her isolated quarters while her brother looked afteradministrative matters. The ruling pair in the third century consisted of a shama-ness in charge of spiritual affairs and her brother in charge of pragmatic matters.

Wei chih

recounts that, after Himiko’s death, a 13-year-old girl from her lineageeventually succeeded because the people of Yamatai refused to obey competingmale leaders (Tsunoda

et al

.

1958: 8). This suggests that secular men in chargeof military and political affairs were beginning to assert their power independentof female rulers in charge of rituals. At the same time, third-century Japan wasnot yet ready for such a change and thus saw the installation of another womanto the primary rulership.

This pattern of ‘pair rule’ probably remained in fourth-century Japan as we cansee traces of sister-brother pairs in the chronicles: Princess Yamato totohi momoseand Emperor Kaika; Princess Saho (Emperor Suinin’s consort) and her brotherSaho hiko; and Princess Yamato and Emperor Keiko (Suinin and Keiko are listedas the eleventh and twelfth rulers on the traditional list). The second pair hatcheda plan to assassinate Suinin and usurp the throne. The first and third princessesutilized their magico-religious power to assist their ruling brothers and their sons.As recorded in

Nihon shoki

, Prince Yamato totohi momose revealed the cause ofan epidemic and foretold an uprising that challenged the rule of Sujin, the sonof Kaika. Princess Yamato erected the Ise Shrine and bestowed on Yamato takeru,Keiko’s son and Chuai’s father, a divine sword, which later became part of theimperial regalia (Hori 1968: 192–3). It is likely that these women in fact playedgreater roles than depicted in the chronicles, which were organized around malerulers.

The balance of power between male and female rulers must have shifted infavor of the former by the latter half of the fourth century. One obvious reasonfor this change is the increasing need of military power to extend the sphere ofthe Yamato confederacy. The process of Yamato’s expansion through military


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battles and schemes is exemplified by Yamato takeru’s conquest of southernKyushu and eastern Honshu, as detailed in the chronicles. Male leaders whocould conquer enemies with their physical prowess and bravery naturally inspiredawe and respect in the formative Yamato polity. Another possible reason for thechange is the gradual influence of Chinese civilization via the Korean peninsula.Although the Yamato rulers did not directly contact the Chinese dynasties till thefifth century, as we shall see, by the latter half of the fourth century, they musthave become familiar with the Chinese administrative systems under theauthority of the ‘son of heaven’ through the kingdom of Paekche. The Chinesemodel served as the model for the Japanese elite for centuries to come.

Such Chinese influence became obvious in the fifth century when the Yamatorulers, known as the Five Kings of Wa in the Chinese annals, sent tribute to, andsought recognition from, the Chinese court. King Wu’s letter to the Sung emperorin particular boasted military conquests by preceding kings with no mention offemale rulers (Tsunoda

et al

.

1958: 9–10). The male rulers no longer relied ondivine oracles controlled by shamanesses, but sought, instead, to legitimate theirrule through the authority of the Chinese emperors, the male monarchs theysought to emulate. By this time, they were able to assert their power independentof their female counterparts by securing organized military, administrativesystems, overseen by retainers, and large territories. They then passed on theirauthority to their younger brothers and later to their sons. Yet the significance ofthe role of priestess did not disappear overnight. The wives and unmarrieddaughters of the male rulers filled the position of priestess to conduct traditionalrituals.

The story of Jingu portrays a powerful shamaness ruler whose authority wascomparable to that of Himiko in earlier days. This probably indicates that awoman could still claim power independent of male leaders, particularly whencrises arose. After her seizure of power, Jingu was able to designate her child asher successor, not yielding her throne to a powerful man. At the same time, wesee new traits surrounding the succession. She chose her son, not a young womanfrom her lineage, as her primary successor. The ruling pairs were comprised, notof a sister and brother or an aunt and nephew, but of a husband and wife or amother and son. The sons of the male ruler were eager to claim their rights tosucceed to the throne. The story thus depicts a transitional period that demon-strated both new and old elements in ‘pair rule’ and succession patterns.

Since their tombs include weapons and armor, it is possible that female rulersof the fourth century led troops. Even in the Hayato Rebellion that arose inKyushu in the early eighth century, shamanesses went to the front line toconsult the oracles, to inspire the soldiers and to curse their enemies. InOkinawa, head shamanesses led troops in time of war even up to the MiddleAges. This, it would not be surprising if a priestess ruler of the late fourthcentury led her troops in male attire in response to the needs of the age, asdepicted in the story of Jingu.

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Royal women continued to wield power and influence in the fifth and sixthcenturies. After Iitoyo briefly sat on the throne in the late fifth century, EmpressYamada, the wife of Ankan (r. 531–5) and daughter of Ninken, was asked to takethe throne to succeed Emperor Senka (r. 535–9), but she refused. In the late sixthcentury, Empress Suiko ascended to the throne as the first empress regnantofficially acknowledged by the chroniclers, despite the presence of several maturesons of former emperors. She acceded because she was deemed to be the mostqualified to rule during the time of political crisis following the death of EmperorSushun. Suiko did rule independently after the death of Prince Shotoku, herregent and nephew, even confronting her powerful uncle Soga no Umako at times(

Nihon shoki

1967: 60–215; Piggott 1999: 26–34).Although the seventh century saw several empresses regnant, the delicate

nature of their status demonstrated the general decline in the power of women.Empress Kogyoku-Saimei assumed the throne when her son, later to becomeEmperor Tenchi, decided to delay his accession for political reasons. Jito, Tenchi’sdaughter, succeeded to the throne when her husband Emperor Tenmu died, toensure that her son (Prince Kusakabe) and later her grandson (Emperor Monmu)be named heir apparent. After Monmu’s untimely death, Genmei (r. 701–15),who was his mother and Jito’s half-sister, as well as Gensei (r. 715–24), his sister,were each installed as empresses regnant to secure heir apparent status for hisson, who later became Emperor Shomu (r. 724–49). After Shomu’s death,Empress Koken (r. 749–58) succeeded to the throne as his only surviving child.But it is important to note that these women reigned, not as a consequence oftheir own personal attributes, but because of their close ties with their malerelatives (

Nihon shoki

1965; Takemitsu 1991). They assumed the throne so thatyoung male candidates from a chosen lineage would be able to succeed uponreaching maturity. Still, the pattern of mother-to-son succession exemplified byJingu and Ojin was repeated in this later period.

An examination of the name Oho tarashi hime, used in

Fudoki

to refer to Jingu,and the name Okinaga tarashi hime, used in the chronicles, can shed further lighton the female rulership of the time.

11

The key word is

tarashi

, which appear inthe name of all of the three emperors immediately preceding Ojin: Oho (‘great’)tarashi hiko (Keiko), Waka (‘junior’) tarashi hiko (Seimu) and Tarashi nakatsu(‘middle’) hiko (Chuai). The chronicles record seven

tarashi

names in the earlierperiod: Omodaru tarashi and Tohotsu Yamasaki tarashi, the names of two gods;Yoso tarashi hime, the consort of Kosho, the fifth ruler on the traditional list;Ame tarashi hiko kuni oshihito, commonly known as Koan, the sixth ruler; Ikatarashi hime, Suinin’s daughter; and Ika tarashi hiko, Suinin’s son. After Jingu,the chronicles record five

tarashi

names, including Emperor Jomei and EmpressKogyoku-Saimei, already mentioned. The other three are: Waka tarashi hime,Emperor Yuryaku (the twenty-first ruler)’s daughter; O tarashi hime, EmperorKotoku (r. 645–654)’s primary consort; and Yamato neko takamizu kiyo tarashihime, known as Empress Gensei. We thus find numerous

tarashi

names used


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91

exclusively for royalty and gods from the very early period to the seventhcentury.

12

There is no doubt that the term

tarashi

connoted something peculiarto the ruling family.

Among the many

tarashi

names listed in the above, Oho tarashi hiko/Wakatarashi hiko and Oho tarashi hime/Waka tarashi hime form two logical pairs forsenior and junior positions. We already know that Prince Ame tarashi was thequasi title of the ruler in Japan in 600

AD

. Waka tarashi hime, who served aspriestess at the Ise Shrine during Yuryaku’s reign in the late fifth century, is alsoreferred to by her personal name, Princess Takuhata (

Nihon shoki

1967: 461).This leads us to think that Waka tarashi hime was a quasi-title for the position ofroyal priestess. If so, Oho tarashi hime must have been a quasi-title that referredto a royal priestess who received higher esteem than Waka tarashi hime, and Ohotarashi hiko and Waka tarashi hiko were their male counterparts. These titles musthave existed in the fifth century, when Princess Takuhata was called Waka tarashi.It is possible that, at this early age with limited written records, the personalnames of royalty were easily forgotten since they were usually called by their

tarashi

titles with distinguishing adjective markers, such as oho, waka and naka.It is also possible that their deeds were incorporated into those of one represent-ative

tarashi

figure who was most remembered.Jingu’s other pseudo-title, Okinaga tarashi, contains the name Okinaga, the

only family name attached to any

tarashi

titles. This name came from her father,Okinaga no sukune. The chronicles record that the ninth ruler Kaika’s son alreadyhad an Okinaga wife and thus acknowledge the family as one of the most powerfulfamilies from the very early period. Many scholars agree that the Okinaga was a‘secondary royal family’ qualified to provide queens in the fifth and sixth centuries(Kiley 1973: 46, Hirano 1993: 60–3).13 As the chroniclers sought to emphasizethe alternative lineal succession, the inclusion of Jingu and her achievementsunder her non-royal name was their way of admitting that rulership in this periodwas not strictly limited to the primary royal family. Capable women of theOkinaga and other families could claim power in competition with directdescendants of the royal house.

The story of Jingu makes an important suggestion as to the commencement ofa new phase in Yamato’s relationship with the Korean kingdoms. It is widelyknown that Japan’s archaeological findings demonstrate a sudden increase in theflow of advanced cultures from the peninsula by the early fifth century. While theearlier Japanese tumuli contain mostly ritual and agricultural goods, the tumulifrom this period contain many military objects such as metal horse gear and iron-plate armor as well as numerous iron ingots, which are almost identical to itemsfound in Silla and Kaya sites. Japanese islanders clearly obtained these items fromthe Korean peninsula because they did not possess iron-making facilities till thelate fifth century (Farris 1996: 5–6; Barnes 1988: 257; Kobayashi 1965: 27–44).It is undeniable that interaction between southern Korea and the Kinai region ofJapan intensified at this time.


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92 Empress Jingu

These findings led Egami Namio to advance his ‘horse riders’ theory that a peopleoriginally from Puyo, north of the Korean peninsula, first moved southward toestablish Paekche and then migrated into the Japanese islands eventually to conquerthe Yamato basin by the late fourth century (Egami 1967: 172–5). Although somestill follow this theory or its revised versions, most scholars today disagree withEgami because archaeological data in fact indicate that the importation ofpeninsular goods was more gradual than it would have been had it resulted froman abrupt military conquest (Edwards 1983: 56; Farris 1998: 122).

What the story of Jingu indicates, despite its distortions, is that a shamanessruler made a breakthrough in Yamato’s relationship with Silla, and perhaps withPaekche and Koguryo. The theory that Jingu was given credit for the peninsularactivities undertaken by Ojin obviously makes little sense in view of the powerthat belonged to early female rulers. It is logical to assume that the female rulersplayed an important role in opening a new Korean-Japanese relationship utilizingtheir political, military and religious authority.

We know, through Samguk sagi, that Koguryo’s advancement from the northprompted Paekche and Silla to seek friendly relations with Yamato by the latefourth century, even to the extent of their sending pawns there in 397 and 402AD respectively (Samguk sagi 1996, I: 17–40). Many scholars have also contendedthat the Paekche-Yamato relationship was first established around 366 AD asNihon shoki’s adaptations from Paekchegi describe a Yamato envoy’s first visit toPaekche in that year (Hirano 1993: 56). Yamato must have had relations with Sillaby this time, if not earlier, as Silla was geographically much closer. The story ofJingu conveys, in its embellished fashion, that Yamato’s female ruler succeeded inhaving Silla supply coveted iron and precious metals in the early stage of thisrelationship.

The story also suggests an important maritime innovation that enhancedYamato’s interactions with the peninsular states at this time. The depiction ofJingu and her entourage sailing through the Kanmon Strait, a narrow andchallenging navigational path connecting the Inland Sea and the Korea Strait,represents a high point in their journey as depicted in Nihon shoki. This routecontrasts sharply with earlier routes shown in the chronicles. One of them was tosail from Kinai to eastern Kyushu through the Inland Sea, and then clockwisealong the Kyushu coast to reach northern Kyushu, the closest point to the Koreanpeninsula. Another was to leave Tsuruga, north of Lake Biwa, and cross the Seaof Japan to reach the peninsula. Compared with these long and arduous routes,the new route, utilizing the Kanmon Strait, must have enabled faster and morefrequent travel between Kinai and the peninsula (Nakada 1956: 121–7; Tsugata1995: 201–19).

It is related that Jingu’s mother was a fifth-generation descendant of the Sillaprince Ameno hihoko, who wandered along the Japanese coasts in search of hismysterious wife. Besides the genealogical link, the chronicles emphasize theconnection between Jingu and the Silla prince by a lengthy reference to his story


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Chizuko T. Allen 93

and the navigational courses shared between them. These descriptions may be areflection of close ties between the Yamato female rulers and the Korean states.Mishina suspects that shamanesses in Yamato adopted sophisticated rituals andreligious instruments from the peninsula (1972: 53, 126). If they indeed hadancestral and cultural ties with the peninsula, their success in diplomatic relationsand travels across the sea can be readily understood.

Conclusion

Many pre-war Japanese scholars, in line with the jingoistic views expressed in thepopular legends of Jingu, utilized the accounts of her peninsular expedition in thechronicles to justify modern Japan’s continental aggressions. It was against thebackground of this academic climate that Tsuda Sokichi, equipped with modernacademic training, took on his iconoclastic mission to question the historicalvalidity of the chronicles. Although his efforts to re-examine the ancient sourcematerials were admirable, he unfortunately judged them solely from the view-point of the modern individual and rejected all that appeared illogical, incon-sistent or inauthentic. He consequently disapproved of historical studies that usedthe accounts of the rulers before Ojin, and those who followed his footsteps evensuspected deliberate fabrications concerning the details of Jingu’s life by thechroniclers. However, as we have seen, their studies are not academically sound.More importantly, they neglected to utilize information pertinent to early Japanand failed to answer the fundamental question of why Jingu is invested with suchan exalted position in the chronicles and Fudoki.

Japan’s early records obviously fall short of our expectations for historicalwritings today, not only as a result of their rudimentary writing skills but alsobecause of their unique values and world view. It is also true that the desire ofthe Japanese chroniclers to reinforce the legitimacy of the royal house distortedtheir writings to some extent. Still, we must recognize their intent to write‘correct’ histories as expressed in the preface of Kojiki (Tsunoda et al. 1958: 14).Nihon shoki demonstrates their efforts to draw information on various sourcematerials available at that time. The same efforts must have been made by theearlier chroniclers in the sixth century. They did not freely compose the accountsof Jingu’s life: their writings were based on written and oral information passedon to them.

As Mishina correctly pointed out (1962: 94), historical legends often developedaround one prominent figure by assimilating events from a long period as if theyall had taken place in his or her lifetime. Particularly in view of the fact that, asshown in this study, the original name for Jingu, Princess Oho tarashi, was not apersonal name but a quasi-title for distinguished priestess rulers, it is possiblethat the story concerning her, the most celebrated Oho tarashi, developed overtime by absorbing the deeds of multiple Oho tarashi women. Nevertheless, wemust note that the basic story, i.e. the seizure of power and the peninsular


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94 Empress Jingu

expedition, had already been formed by the sixth century. We have seen howwomen in the fifth century or the early sixth century did not have much influenceover the fundamental narrative, even though their lives may have affected minorparts of the story. If Jingu’s deeds epitomize the achievements of multiple women,these women must have come from the fourth century, when they served asprimary rulers. We can thus conclude that the women who may have beenamalgamated into the narrative of Jingu lived before the time of Jingu, not after.

The basic story of Jingu reinforces the views of historians and archaeologistswho have emphasized the primary roles played by female rulers in magico-religious, political and military affairs in early Japan. The strength of femaleleadership is evidenced by the fact that, despite her secondary royal lineage, sheemerged as a most powerful ruler, as a consequence of her spiritual qualificationsand political skills. The story also illustrates the shift from the old to the new,especially from female-dominated rule to male-dominated rule, which began tooccur in the fourth century. The military challenge by the sons of the male rulerand Jingu’s designation of her son as heir amply foreshadow the age of maleleadership. The reason for this shift must stem from the increasing needs formilitary might and the burgeoning influence of Chinese civilization.

Jingu’s successful voyage to Silla and the latter’s subsequent compliance in thestory indicate that female leaders played an important role in ushering in the eraof intensified exchanges with the Korean kingdoms. This breakthrough inYamato’s peninsular relations should rightfully be attributed to the shamaness-priestess rulers who held the principal authority in the ‘pair rule’. It is likely thatthey had close ties with, and knowledge of, the Korean states, desired theiradvanced technology that was lacking in Yamato, and consequently pursued thepolicy of opening official relationships with them.

It is my hope that this paper will rekindle interest in the accounts of Jingu’s lifeand encourage much-needed study of these documents. For instance, in-depthanalysis is required from linguists on the origin and meaning of the term tarashi,a key word in understanding rulership in early Japan. Further clarification of thehistory of the Okinaga family and other powerful families of high antiquity isnecessary to comprehend the workings of the formative Yamato polity. Freshanalyses of the adaptations of the Paekchegi accounts subsequently incorporatedinto the accounts of Jingu and elsewhere in Nihon shoki are needed to elucidatethe nature of Yamato relations with the Korean states. Archaeological excavationsof major tumuli in the Kinki area, if allowed, will certainly answer manyremaining questions about Jingu and her age. All in all, we cannot afford todismiss the accounts of Jingu and other early figures in the chronicles and Fudokias unworthy fables because they can serve as windows for further investigationinto important aspects of early Japan.

University of Hawaii at Manoa


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Notes1. There are terminological difficulties in dealing with royalty in early Japan. The Japanese term

tenno and the archaic term sumera mikoto have both been translated as emperor since the Meijiperiod. Although I have chosen to follow this practice, I realize that the position of Japaneserulers was in fact much weaker than that which the term ‘emperor’ suggests. The early Yamatorulers were probably considered the highest of the chieftains, as suggested by the term Ohokimi (‘great one’) used for Yuryaku in the late fifth century (Ledyard 1975: 218–19). We mustalso note that the Chinese-style names, such as Ojin and Jingu, were given by scholars afterthe compilation of the chronicles and Fudoki. The original documents contain only Japanese-style names, such as Homuta wake no mikoto (Prince Homuta wake) and Okinaga tarashi hime(Princess Okinaga tarashi). In this paper, I shall mainly use Chinese-style names because oftheir brevity and popularity.

2. The tumulus attributed to Jingu is called ‘Goshakami kofun’ and is the largest and perhaps theoldest in the ‘Saki’ group of tumuli located in the northern Nara basin. No excavation has beenallowed (Shinokawa 1988: 136–7).

3. This is a summary of the story related in Nihon shoki (1967: 322–62) and Kojiki (1958: 227–38). For Jingu’s genealogy, see the Kojiki sections on Emperors Kaika (1958: 175–8) and Ojin(1958: 239–62) as well as Book nine of Nihon shoki.

4. Of the Fudoki extant today, the volumes on Harima, Hitachi, Hizen, Settsu and Tosa refer toJingu substantially (Fudoki 1958). The volumes on Harima, Hitachi and Settsu repeatedly referto her as sumera mikoto. The Fudoki treatment of Jingu demonstrates the popular notion beforethe compilers of Nihon shoki established the official list of rulers (Takioto 1991: 10–22).

5. After Ikeuchi Hiroshi considered the adaptations from Paekchegi to be authentic (1947), manyscholars followed suit. See Ledyard (1975) and Hirano (1977, 1993), for example.

6. Ethnocentric writings on Jingu by medieval Shinto priests helped transform the original storyof Jingu into popular legends that emphasized her peninsular conquest. The spread of shrinesdedicated to Ojin as the god of Hachiman also enhanced the popular perception of Jingu asthe conqueror. The legends spread widely in the Tokugawa period through popular writingsand theater (Tsukamoto 1996).

7. Inoue thinks that Ojin reigned around 370–390 AD (1985: 110). His reasons include the Kojikiaccount that Ojin received gifts from the Paekche king Kun Ch’ogo (r. 346–75 AD). We knowthat this is not an adequate reason because Nihon shoki details his exchanges with the Paekchekings Asin (Ahwa, r. 392–405 AD) and Chonji. Chonji’s reign lasted from 405 to 414 AD (Best1979: 134). Ojin’s tumulus is considered a product of the early fifth century. It is possible thathe was active in the early fifth century instead of the latter part of the fourth century (Yasumoto1999: 233–7).

8. Joan Piggott, for instance, suggested that the Yamato state had not established its influence overIzumo till the late sixth century (1989: 73–4). Kadowaki also believed that Yamato did notdominate regional powers until the middle of the sixth century (1981: 128–9).

9. The authenticity of the inscription was debated in the 1970s and 1980s (Hatada 1979).10. See Mishina (1972: 77–81). He suspects that similar traditions existed in early Silla where a

select group of young aristocratic men, or Hwarang, took the lead in fighting enemies. It ispossible that the original Hwarang were young women, perhaps shamanesses, as indicated inSamguk sagi (1996, 2: 84). The male Hwarang continued to dress in female attire.

11. Many scholars, including Mishina (1972: 170) and Tsukaguchi (1980: 247), think that Ohotarashi hime is the name initially used for Jingu.

12. Tsukaguchi was the first to list all tarashi names from the chronicles (1980: 42–5). Heconjectured that the term tarashi had changed into the more popular form tari, which wasfrequently used in aristocratic male names from the seventh century, such as Fujiwara no kama


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tari. While he thought that tarashi had originated from the verb terasu (‘shine’), Mishinasuggested that it stemmed from the archaic verb hitasu (‘nurture’) (1972: 126–7).

13. Many Okinaga individuals appear in the chronicles with no direct relation to each other. Someof the first Okinaga men and women mentioned are: Princess Okinaga no mizuyori, a consortof Kaika’s son; Okinaga no sukune, Jingu’s father; and Prince Okinaga no tawake, the brotherof Chuai and also grandfather of Ojin’s consort. Hirano (1993: 64) thinks that the earliestreliable marriage between the ruling house and the Okinaga took place at the time of Ingyo(the nineteenth ruler on the traditional list) in the fifth century, while Ohashi (1984: 257–8)thinks it was during the reign of Bidatsu (r. 572–85). However, the diffusion of the Okinagaindividuals may signify their earlier predominance not only in their home base around the LakeBiwa but also in Yamato.

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Chizuko T. Allen, PhD, is Assistant Director of Student Academic Services at the School ofHawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa. She received her PhD inKorean history from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1988. Her research interests lie inJapanese–Korean relations in ancient times as well as Korean intellectuals under the Japanesecolonial rule in the twentieth century. Email: [email protected]


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empress jingū: a shamaness ruler in early japan

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