Kofun period
The Kofun period is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538, the date of the introduction of Buddhism in Japan, following the Yayoi period. The Kofun period and the subsequent Asuka period are sometimes collectively referred to as the Yamato period. This period is the earliest era of recorded history in Japan, but studies rely heavily on archaeology because the chronology of historical sources is often distorted. Kofun is Japanese for the type of tumuli dating from this era.
It was a period of cultural import. Continuing from the Yayoi period, the Kofun period is characterized by influence from China and the Korea; archaeologists consider it a shared culture across the southern Korean peninsula, Kyushu and Honshu. On the other hand, wealthy zempō-kōen fun during this period were approximately 5000 from the middle of the 3rd century in the Yayoi period to the 7th century in the Asuka period in the Japanese archipelago, and many of them were massive.
In comparison, in the southern Korean peninsula, there were only 13 from the 5th century to the 6th century, and the tombs were small. Wall decorations and Japanese-style armour characteristic of kofun were excavated from 5th-century burial mounds in the southern Korean peninsula. This indicates that Japan and the southern Korean peninsula influenced one another.
According to the Nihon Shoki, Buddhism and the Chinese characters were introduced near the end of the period from Baekje. The Kofun period recorded Japan's earliest political centralization, when the Yamato Kingship rose to power in southwestern Japan and helped control trade routes across the region.
Kofun tombs
Kofun are tumuli built for the ruling class from the 3rd to the 7th centuries in Japan, and the Kofun period takes its name from these distinctive earthen mounds. Kofun contained large stone burial chambers, and some are surrounded by moats.Kofun have four basic shapes: round and square are the most common, followed by hotategaikei kofun 'scallop-shell kofun' and zempō-kōen fun 'keyhole kofun.' The keyhole tomb is a distinct style found only in Japan, with a square front and a round back. Kofun range in size from several meters to over 400 meters long, and haniwa were often buried under a kofun's circumference.
Development
The oldest Japanese kofun is reportedly Hokenoyama Kofun in Sakurai, Nara, which dates to the late 3rd century. In the Makimuku district of Sakurai, later keyhole kofuns like Hashihaka Kofun, Shibuya Mukaiyama Kofun) were built during the early 4th century. The keyhole kofun spread from Yamato Province to Kawachi Province, with giant kofun, such as Daisenryō Kofun, and then throughout the country during the 5th century. Keyhole kofun disappeared later in the 6th century, probably due to the drastic reformation of the Yamato court; the Nihon Shoki records the introduction of Buddhism at this time. The last two great kofun are the Imashirozuka Kofun in Õsaka, currently believed by scholars to be the tomb of Keitai, and the Iwayayama Kofun in Fukuoka, recorded in the Fudoki of Chikugo as the tomb of Tsukushi no kuni no Miyatsuko Iwai, the political archrival of Keitai.Kofun burial mounds on the island of Tanegashima and two ancient Shinto shrines on Yakushima suggest that these islands were the southern boundary of the Yamato Kingship; it extended north to Tainai in the present-day Niigata Prefecture, where excavated mounds have been associated with a person closely linked to the Yamato kingdom.
Yamato court
The Yamato Kingship is usually believed to have begun, and it is generally agreed that its rulers were associated with keyhole kofun culture and hegemony in Yamato until the 4th century. Autonomy of local powers remained throughout the period, particularly in Kibi, Izumo, Koshi, Kenu, Chikushi, and Hi. During the 6th century, the Yamato clans began to dominate the southern half of Japan. According to the Book of Song, Yamato's relations with China likely started in the late 4th century.The Yamato polity, which emerged by the late 5th century, was distinguished by powerful clans. Each clan was headed by a patriarch, who performed sacred rituals to the clan's kami to ensure its long-term welfare. Clan members were the aristocracy, and the royal line, which controlled the Yamato court, was at its zenith. Clan leaders were awarded kabane, inherited titles denoting rank and political standing, which replaced family names.
The Kofun period is sometimes called the Yamato period by Western scholars, as this local chieftainship later became the imperial dynasty at the end of the period. However, the Yamato clan ruled just one polity among others during the Kofun era. Japanese archaeologists emphasize that other regional chieftainships, such as the Kingdom of Kibi, were in close contention for dominance in the first half of the Kofun period; Kibi's Tsukuriyama Kofun is Japan's fourth-largest.
The Yamato Kingship exercised power over clans in Kyushu and Honshu, bestowing titles on clan chieftains. The Yamato name became synonymous with Japan as the Yamato rulers suppressed other clans and acquired agricultural land. Based on Chinese models, including the adoption of the Chinese written language, they began to develop a central administration and an imperial court attended by subordinate clan chieftains with no permanent capital. Powerful clans were the Soga, Katsuragi, Heguri and Koze clans in the Yamato and Bizen Provinces and the Kibi clans in the Izumo Province. The Ōtomo and Mononobe clans were military leaders, and the Nakatomi and Inbe clans handled rituals. The Soga clan provided the government's chief minister, the Ōtomo and Mononobe clans provided secondary ministers, and provincial leaders were called kuni no miyatsuko. Craftsmen were organized into guilds.
Territorial expansion
In addition to archaeological findings indicating the Kingdom of Kibi as a significant rival, the legend of the 4th-century culture hero Yamato Takeru alludes to the borders of the Yamato and battlegrounds in the region; a frontier was near the later Izumo Province. The frontier in Kyushu was apparently located north of present-day Kumamoto Prefecture. According to the legend, there was an eastern land in Honshu "whose people disobeyed the imperial court" and against whom Yamato Takeru was sent to fight. It is unclear if the rival country was near the Yamato nucleus or further away. Kai Province is mentioned as a location where Yamato Takeru travelled on his military expedition.The period's northern frontier was described in Kojiki in the legend of the Shido shogun expedition. One of four shōguns, Prince Ōhiko, set out northward to Koshi, and his son, Take Nunakawawake, left for the eastern states. The father moved east from northern Koshi, and the son moved north; they met at Aizu, in what is now western Fukushima Prefecture. Although the legend is probably not factual, Aizu is near southern Tōhoku, the northern extent of late-4th-century keyhole kofun culture.
Ōkimi
During the Kofun period, an aristocratic society with militaristic rulers developed. The period was a critical stage in Japan's evolution into a cohesive, recognized state. The society was most developed in the Kinai region and the eastern Setouchi region. Japan's rulers petitioned the Chinese court for confirmation of royal titles.While the rulers' title was officially "King", they called themselves Okimi) during this period. Inscriptions on two swords read Amenoshita Shiroshimesu and Ōkimi, indicating that the rulers invoked the Mandate of Heaven. The title Amenoshita Shiroshimesu Ōkimi was used until the 7th century, when it was replaced by Tennō.
Clans
Many of the clans and local chieftains that composed the Yamato polity claimed descent from the imperial family or the kami. Archaeological evidence for the clans is found on the Inariyama Sword, on which the bearer recorded the names of his ancestors to claim descent from Ōbiko, recorded in the Nihon Shoki as a son of Emperor Kōgen). Several clans claimed origin in China or the Korean peninsula.During the 5th century, the Katsuragi clan was the most prominent power in the court and intermarried with the imperial family. After the clan declined, late in the century, it was replaced by the Ōtomo clan. When Emperor Buretsu died with no apparent heir, Ōtomo no Kanamura recommended Emperor Keitai as the new monarch. Kanamura resigned due to the failure of his diplomatic policies, and the court was controlled by the Mononobe and Soga clans at the beginning of the Asuka period.
Society
Toraijin
Toraijin refers to people who immigrated to Japan from abroad via the Ryukyu Islands or the Korean peninsula. They introduced numerous, significant aspects of Chinese culture to Japan such as Chinese writing system and Buddhism from India. Valuing their knowledge and culture, the Yamato government gave preferential treatment to toraijin. According to the Shinsen Shōjiroku, 317 of 1,182 clans in the Kinai region of Honshu were considered to have foreign ancestry. Through currently disputed by modern historians, 163 were of Chinese origin, 104 from Baekje, 41 from Goguryeo, 6 from Silla, and 3 from the Gaya confederacy. They are believed to have immigrated to Japan between 356 and 645.Influential immigrants
Some of the many immigrants that had significant influence in Kofun period Japan included Wani, Yuzuki no Kimi and Achi no Omi, the founders of Kawachinofumi clan/Kawachinoaya clan, Hata clan and Yamatonoaya clan, respectively. Despite being ethnically similar, many immigrants from Baekje and Silla had arrived in Japan during Emperor Ōjin's reign carrying separate identities and foreign deities such as the kami Inari.Other immigrants who settled in Japan beginning in the 4th century were the progenitors of Japanese clans. According to Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, the oldest record of a Silla immigrant is Amenohiboko: a legendary prince of Silla who settled in Japan at the era of Emperor Suinin, possibly during the 3rd or 4th centuries.
Baekje and Silla sent their princes as hostages to the Yamato court in exchange for military support. King Muryeong of Baekje was born in Kyushu of Japan as the child of a hostage in 462, and left a son in Japan who was an ancestor of the minor-noble Yamato no Fubito clan. According to the Shoku Nihongi, Yamato no Fubito's relative was a 10th-generation descendant of King Muryeong of Baekje who was chosen as a concubine for Emperor Kōnin and was the mother of Emperor Kanmu. In 2001, Emperor Akihito confirmed his ancient royal Korean heritage through Emperor Kanmu.