Yamatai

Origins

The Chinese Records of the Three Kingdoms describe how the Wa people, after years of war in the late 2nd century, agreed to make Himiko their ruler. She reigned from Yamatai over about thirty polities. Scholars still dispute whether Yamatai lay in northern Kyushu or in the Nara basin, where the Makimuku site is a leading candidate.

Rule and society

Himiko was said to practise sorcery and rarely appeared in public; her younger brother handled government. Subject countries paid taxes, markets were supervised, and officials inspected the coastal lands. In 239 she sent envoys to the Wei court and was named Queen of Wa Friendly to Wei, receiving a gold seal and bronze mirrors.

Decline and legacy

After Himiko's death around 248, a king failed to keep order and the girl Iyo became ruler. The last recorded embassy reached China in 266, after which Yamatai vanishes from the sources; its relation to the Yamato polity is unclear.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.