Rise and expansion of Yamato

The period is commonly called the Tumulus, or Tomb, period from the presence of large burial mounds
(kofun), its most common archaeological feature. Whereas Jōmon and Yayoi burial practices were rather
primitive, from the 3rd century large tombs, both circular and uniquely keystone-shaped, began to
proliferate throughout Japan, marked most especially by the enormous tumuli in and around the Ōsaka
area. It is from the very construction of the tombs themselves, from an examination of the grave goods,
as well as from increasingly reliable written sources both domestic and foreign that a picture of the
Yamato kingdom has emerged.

In the first stage of Yamato development, tombs clustered around the Shiki area of Yamato province
(modern Nara prefecture), in the southwestern corner of the Nara (Yamato) Basin. Rulers there held
sway over an expanding portion of the archipelago. The Yamato kings (called kimi and written with the
appropriated Chinese characters for “great ruler”) were centred around Mount Miwa, the object of
worship. Although the kimi exercised both secular and sacred functions, it seems that their primary
focus was a priestly one, based on a sacred connection with Mount Miwa. Archaeological findings
suggest, however, that improved agricultural techniques—such as the use of iron tools for cultivation
and improved techniques for leveling and flooding paddy fields—allowed the Yamato rulers to exercise
control over significant manpower resources, both to construct large tombs and to expand the area
under their control outward from the Nara plain.

From about 350, power shifted north to the Saki area, near the present city of Nara. The nature of the
burial goods in the tombs constructed there, the legendary accounts in Kojiki and Nihon shoki, and
records from the continent all indicate that this was a period of Yamato expansion throughout the
archipelago and even into the Korean peninsula, where, as mentioned above, its armies were engaged
in the warfare between the three Korean kingdoms on the peninsula. Although the rulers continued to
worship Mount Miwa, the religious focus of the court seems to have been concentrated upon the
Isonokami Shrine at Tenri, south of Nara. The rulers there seem to have been somewhat more military in
nature than their Miwa predecessors, and archaeological findings suggest that the most treasured items
of the Isonokami Shrine were in fact weapons—especially the so-called “seven-pronged sword”
(shichishitō), which now is designated a National Treasure.

Thus, by the end of the 4th century, Yamato was a kingdom well settled on the Nara plain with
considerable control over the peoples of the archipelago. It was in contact with Chinese rulers,
exchanged diplomatic envoys with several of the kingdoms on the Korean peninsula, and was even
strong enough to have sent an army against the powerful state of Koguryŏ, which then dominated the
peninsula. Yamato was most closely associated with the southwestern kingdom of Paekche, whence
came the “seven-pronged sword.” Contact with the mainland, although involving conflict, also
encouraged a marked rise in standards of living in the archipelago, as many of the fruits of advanced
Chinese civilization reached Japan via people from the peninsula. Weavers, smiths, and irrigation experts
migrated to Japan, and the Chinese ideographic script also was introduced at that time, together with
Confucian works written in this script. Claims by historians prior to World War II that Paekche paid
“tribute” to Japan and that Japan conquered the southern tip of the peninsula where it established a
“colony” called Mimana have since been largely discounted by historians in both Japan and Korea.

The Yamato court reached its peak in the early 5th century, during the second stage of its existence.
Once again, there was a shift in the centre of power, this time directly westward to the provinces of
Kawachi and Izumi (modern Ōsaka urban prefecture). The 5th century was one of spectacular
development for Yamato, as evidenced by the enormous keyhole-shaped tombs in the suburbs of the
modern Ōsaka region. The move into this region is thought to have resulted in a power shift either
between or within clan federations. It is now customary to regard the 5th-century rulers as a new line,
distinct from those of the Shiki and Saki areas.

What distinguishes the 5th-century tombs from earlier ones is both their enormous size—the tomb
attributed to the semilegendary emperor Ōjin is some 1,380 feet (420 metres) in length—and their
character. These rulers had access to great power in order to construct their tombs. It has been
estimated that the construction of Ōjin’s tomb would have taken 1,000 labourers, working from morning
to night, four years to complete. The goods associated with these tombs are far more military in nature
than those found in the earlier tombs: iron swords, arrowheads, and tools; armour; and all the trappings
of a mounted warrior culture. All this suggests that the 5th-century rulers represent a more military,
secular line of leaders in comparison with the priestly kings of the earlier Yamato area.

While most historians regard the 5th-century rulers as representing a new line, there is disagreement
over their origin. Some have postulated an invasion of continental “horse riders” who seized control in
the archipelago and established a new line of rulers. Myths related to Ōjin’s birth on the Korean
peninsula while his mother was supposedly leading Yamato armies there, the location of the centre of
power at the port of Naniwa (modern Ōsaka), Ōjin’s arrival there by boat, and the awesome size of the
tombs (which suggest excess slave labour available for their construction)—all these hint tantalizingly at
a conquest theory. The consensus, however, still supports an indigenous shift in leaders relying on
control of increased agricultural output and monopolizing superior military technology. From the court
at Yamato, its rulers extended control along the Inland Sea and beyond, developing more sophisticated
offices and units to control the peoples of the archipelago.

The Yamato polity

The pattern of administrative control established is called the uji-kabane system. Uji is usually translated
as “clan” in English. The uji are thought to be extensions of original agricultural communities, perhaps
what early Chinese records referred to as “states.” Essentially, farming communities were associated
into lineal groups, united by the belief that harvests would be bountiful if proper respect was paid to the
group’s ancestral deity (kami). Heads of the community functioned primarily as priests, mediating the
relationship between the group and its deity. As clans joined together—probably largely by conquest—
vertical relationships began to develop between heads of the communities and the queen or king at
emergent courts. By the 5th century, these groups, possibly already called uji, were drawn together into
economic, military, religious and familial ties with the Yamato kings. Some scholars have even argued
that uji were purely political units, so designated by the Yamato ruler. Uji appeared first in the Nara
Basin, in close association with the court; as the Yamato kingdom developed greater power, uji
appeared in other areas as well.

By the 5th century, the Yamato ruler was designating the heads of the most powerful uji, who
developed close ties with the ruler over time. The Yamato court was thus headed by a hereditary ruler,
while its members were drawn from the group of powerful clan leaders awarded kabane (titles). The
two major titles appear to have been muraji and omi, held only by clan leaders of powerful communities
serving in the area of the Yamato court. Lower-ranking titles were awarded to leaders of smaller, distant
clans who nonetheless swore allegiance. The highest officers of the emerging state were the ō-muraji
and the ō-omi, the heads and representatives of those two groups.

Another factor that aided the expansion of the emergent state was the economic and military support of
occupational groups, called be or tomo, attached to the court and its supporting uji. Structurally
somewhat similar to clans, these occupational groups were distinguished by providing a special service
to the court or to a superior clan. Earlier be were more likely to provide personal services or specialize in
religious functions, but as the power of the Yamato court spread throughout the archipelago in the 5th
century, newer be came to be involved with the production of weapons, armour, and mirrors or with
the construction of irrigation systems. Many of them were composed of recent migrants from Paekche
who specialized in raising horses or ironworking; in fact, the term be itself is of Korean origin. Some be
were directly controlled by the court, including special ones called nashiro and koshiro set up for the
support of certain royal relatives. Others were controlled by powerful clans directly in the service of the
court, such as the yugei, the quiver bearers, who were attached to the Ōtomo clan, a major military
support group for the Yamato ruling house.

Yamato relations with Korean states

If the 5th century represents an expansion of power throughout the archipelago, it also was a time of
involvement in Korean affairs as the struggle for peninsular hegemony intensified. At the time of
Yamato’s expedition against Koguryŏ in the late 4th century, Paekche and Yamato found themselves
allied against Silla or Koguryŏ (or both); while the latter looked to northern Chinese kingdoms for
support and legitimation, Yamato and Paekche usually turned to southern China. In fact, Yamato
dispatched some 10 embassies to the Nan (Southern) Song between 421 and 478.

Paekche was frequently attacked by Koguryŏ during the century, prompting continued requests for
assistance from Yamato; it is recorded that Paekche even sent a crown prince to Yamato as a hostage on
one occasion and sent the mother of the king on another. Yet, probably because of internal dissension,
Yamato did not dispatch any troops to the peninsula, although a lengthy memorial sent with the
embassy of 478 and presented to the Nan Song emperor requested that the Yamato king Yūryaku be
appointed commander of a large army being raised for dispatch against Koguryŏ.

Yamato’s interest in Korea was apparently a desire for access to improved continental technology and
resources, especially iron, which was especially plentiful near the lower reaches of the Naktong River in
the south. Yamato apparently gained a modicum of power in this region, controlled by the league of the
Kaya (Japanese: Mimana) states between Paekche and Silla, though the exact relationship—whether ally
or tributary—is unclear. But in the 6th century, Silla became militarily powerful, and Yamato faced
several reversals in the area, ultimately being driven entirely from the peninsula when Silla annexed the
Kaya league in 562.

Yamato decline and the introduction of Buddhism

The 6th century, in fact, represented a decline of Yamato power both at home and abroad. It was also
marked by another shift of the court, this time back to the old region around Mount Miwa sometime
late in the reign of Keitai (507–c. 531). From Keitai’s reign there was a marked reduction in royal power.
A large force assembled to be sent against Silla, for example, had to be detoured to Kyushu in 527 to put
down the rebellion of a local chieftain named Iwai, who had apparently refused to raise soldiers and
supplies for the continental campaign. That campaign on the continent also ended in defeat, signaling
the decline of Yamato power. The rest of the 6th century can be characterized by the growing
accumulation of power by regional clan leaders and a weakening of royal power, as well as the rise of
new clans, mostly of recent continental origin, who managed technical service groups.

Chief among them were the Soga, who under the successive chieftains Iname and his son Umako rose to
positions of dominance at court. Possessed of administrative and technical skills, especially in the fiscal
area, the Soga established marriage connections with the royal house that permitted them considerable
influence at court. The Soga are also known as sponsors of Buddhism at the Yamato court. Ultimately,
the Soga clan eclipsed all other clans at court, especially after the destruction of the Mononobe clan in a
major battle in 587, and dominated the political scene. By the end of the 6th century, Japan had reached
a low point in both foreign and domestic affairs.