Episodios

  • Urashima Taro and Other Stories

    Urashima Taro and Other Stories
    Mar 1 2022
    This episode we will take a break before diving into the life of Ōhatsuse Wakatake, looking, instead, at three stories from the Nihon Shoki from this time, including one of the oldest incarnations of the story of Urashima Tarō, often seen as Japan's own Rip van Winkle. https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-59 Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is Episode 59: Urashima Taro and other stories. First, thanks to Lauren for supporting us over on Ko-Fi.com, and a belated thanks to Gaijin Historian for supporting us on Patreon. If you would like to join them, go check out SengokuDaimyo on either platform, or see the links on our own home page at SengokuDaimyo.com. With that out of the way, a quick apology: this episode is a little short. I had intended to jump into the life of our current sovereign, Ohohatsuse, aka Yuryaku Tenno, but there is still a lot of information I'm trying to get through, and I'd rather make sure that I have as much as I can before I start jumping into all of that, because it is a lot. But I don't want to leave you hanging, and there are a few fun stories that don't really impact the overall story, so I thought I would pull on those. To be honest, these stories would probably fit better in a Halloween episode. They are full of ghosts and werewolves and fantastical stories—and some of them you may even know. They hearken back to some of the stories we've already heard: from the isle of the immortals to stories about the great Homuda Wake, aka Oujin Tennou, and I think they also help tell us a few things as well. For one thing, it is interesting that they exist at all. For the most part the Nihon Shoki was compiled as a dynastic history, telling the story of the royal family. Rarely do we get glimpses of others unless they are directly involved, somehow, in the royal lineage. Most of the time the stories of the fantastical are built around the stories of the sovereigns themselves—and certainly we have those stories in this period, too. Of course, stories of ghosts and magic can't exactly be taken at face value, and it does make us wonder about the rest of the narrative. We can't even be sure that these stories are set in the proper time. Were these stories that were being told in the 5th century? Or did they come about later, and just get added in here? Certainly some of the stories of continental exploits seem like they may actually be more appropriately attributed to an earlier sovereign, so while we can probably start to make some assumptions as to the accuracy of some dates, other events may have simply been placed in the time that seemed to best suit the lesson that was being communicated. Either way, we can't necessarily claim that these are actual fifth century stories—what we really know is that they existed by the eighth century and were well-known enough to have been written down in the compilation that became the Nihon Shoki. The three stories I want to focus on each deal with slightly different themes and events. To start with, perhaps it may be best to talk about the ghostly horse from the tomb of Homuda Wake, aka Oujin Tennou. As you may recall, his reign was credited with the arrival of the first horses from the Korean peninsula, along with their keeper, Ajikki. Next, we'll dive into something of a werewolf story. Well, kind of—it may not exactly be a Lon Chaney style story, but there is definitely the idea of fantastical shapeshifting, which is almost its own genre in traditional Japanese stories. Finally, we'll touch on what I suspect is the most famous of the stories—perhaps one of the most famous stories in Japan. That is the story of Urashima Taro, or, as he is known in these early stories, Urashima-ko, the Child of Urashima. This is Japan's own Rip van Winkle story, and it also shares a fair amount with some of the earlier stories of the Nihon Shoki, during the legends of the very first heavenly descendants. This early version also relies on the use of the famous Peng Lai, or Isle of Immortals, from stories of the famous Qin dynasty. All of that, and perhaps a little bit more, in this episode. Let's get into it, shall we? Our first story in today's triple feature comes, we are told, from the reports from the Kawachi area as recorded in the Nihon Shoki. If the Chronicles are to be believed, one of the earliest purposes for writing in the archipelago was to collect information from around the countryside and relay it back to the central government. Reports like this—the later fudoki—often give us intriguing insights into life outside the center, and can be quite illuminating. The report from Kawachi tells of a man in Asukabe named Hakuson of the Tanabe no Fubito. Hakuson—and that name is odd, as it doesn't look like a Japanese name, but I'll touch on that later. Anyway, Hakuson had a daughter, and she was married to a man named Karyu of ...
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    30 m
  • The Impulsive Loves of Wakatake no Ōkimi

    The Impulsive Loves of Wakatake no Ōkimi
    Mar 16 2022
    This episode we really start getting into the reign of Wakatake, aka Yūryaku Tennō, and we'll start with stories centered mostly on the women who were his wives and consorts--or, in some cases, almost were. Through that we'll examine what the Chronicles have to say about his character. For more, check out the podcast webpage at https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-60 Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is episode 60: The Impulsive Loves of Wakatake no Ohokimi. Let's start with a quick recap of where we are—so this is the latter part of the 5th century, and our current sovereign is Ohohatsuse Wakatake—though perhaps Wakatakiru would be more accurate, since we have what appear to be two contemporary inscriptions of that name on swords from different parts of the archipelago, indicating that he was recognized well outside of the core Yamato homelands around the Nara Basin and the Kawachi plains. That said, I think I'll stick with Wakatake for consistency for now. He is very likely one of the five Kings of Wa mentioned in the records of the Liu Song dynasty—many believe he is the fifth ruler known as "Bu", as that name uses the same character found in his name, also pronounced "take", though I suspect that he was probably the 4th ruler, "Ko", based on both the timing of the entries as well as some of the details provided. The name "Ohohatsuse" is likely a locative, drawn from the location of his palace in Asakura in the area of Hatsuse, while Wakatakiru seems to have been his given name. He was clearly a sovereign of some import, but his legacy is somewhat marred by stories of violence and cruelty. The chronicles here are clearly divided in the picture they are attempting to paint of him—the Nihon Shoki lays bare episodes of cruelty and capriciousness that often turn the sovereign into little more than a villain, tossing his weight around, often for his own pleasure. He reminds me not a small bit of Peter the Third in Hulu's series, "The Great". And yet we also see growth over time. In many ways, the stories about Wakatake—if you strip the more fantastical elements—come off as a remarkably human experience: the image of a complex, flawed individual with an inordinate amount of power and authority. If the general story is to be believed, it would not seem entirely implausible that he truly helped strengthen the State of Yamato and its hegemony. On the other hand, it is also fairly clear that he was lauded perhaps a bit overmuch. All of the Chronicles talk about how, upon his birth, there was a great light, and he is universally described as strong and handsome, if not necessarily kind-hearted. The Kojiki, in particular, seems to go to great pains to show him in a positive light, leaving out many of the less savory details given elsewhere. Of course, the Kojiki, in general, tends to often be light on details. It rarely deals with events that were not happening on the archipelago, and even then it seems to prefer stories of sexual and romantic conquest over others. This all makes sense for what the Kojikiclaims to be: a narrative extolling the virtues and lineage of the royal family back to time immemorial. It is meant to be a story, and we tend to want our stories to be more simple and clear-cut. In contrast, the Nihon Shoki revels in bringing us details from different sources, so of course that's where we find snippets from the Baekje Annals and various other works. It seems to have been leveraging a much larger corpus from which to draw on, so we get a much richer and darker picture of the tapestry of Wakatake's reign. The Kujiki—or at least the Sendai Kuji Hongi—seems to fall somewhere in between, though in this case it seems rather sparse on details. In fact, based largely on the account in the Kujiki, it almost feels as if very little of import happened during this reign. But one should remember that, much like the Kojiki, the Kujiki was more interested in lineages and the basic flow of the royal family—not to mention the Owari and Mononobe families—and often acknowledges that it is skipping over large stories that it felt were not germane to its overall goal. And all this makes me a little more cautious than usual about what we see during this reign. It seems clear that Wakatake no Ohokimi had some not inconsiderable sway in the archipelago, and certainly there was a lot that was happening in the 5th century in general. What isn't entirely clear is not just how many of the stories are true, but whether they all belong to the same reign. Certainly some sources, like the Baekje Annals, likely had dates that could fit into this regnal period—and for the most part it does seem like the dates for this reign, which likely started in the 450s and ended around 479, are more concrete than any others up to this point—but how many of the sources that the scribes were drawing from had...
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    49 m
  • Bad Behavior and the People Who Excuse It

    Bad Behavior and the People Who Excuse It
    Apr 1 2022
    Continuing with Wakatake and looking at some of his more egregious behavior and how the people around him often turned it around or made excuses for him. For more on this episoe, check out our website at https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-61 Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 61: Bad Behavior and the People that Excuse It. First off, quick shout out to Owen for donating to support the show. If you want to join Owen, you can donate over on Ko-Fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or check us out on Patreon. More information at the end of the episode. We have been talking about the reign of Ohohatsuse no Wakatake no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tenno, in the latter part of the 5th century. As a quick reminder, this is the first sovereign for whom we actually have real corroborating evidence from the Chronicles and other sources. Either way, we do know that there was a sovereign named Wakatake—or Wakatakiru—in the latter part of the 5th century, and while many of the entries in the Chronicles are still doubtful—this is still several hundred years before it would all be compiled—in general the dates in the Nihon Shoki are considered more reliable, at least for things that one could reasonably expect would have been officially recorded, as opposed to just stories that were passed on orally. If you've been listening to the past few episodes, you might have gotten the general vibe that Wakatake wasn't a particularly nice guy. Indeed, despite a literally glowing description of his birth—and I mean that, the Kojiki and the Sendai Kuji Hongi claim that the palace was filled with a bright light when he was born—Well, despite such a description, it is clear in the Chronicles that Wakatake had his shortcomings, namely a famous temper and a penchant for cruelty. So this episode we'll dive even more into some of this bad behavior, which even the premodern commentors take a negative view of. The Nihon shoki is more critical in general, but even the Kojiki paints him in a pretty bad light sometimes – and what is also interesting in these tales are the ways in which others try to mitigate Wakatake's shortcomings, reinterpreting his behavior to smooth things over. So let's get into it, shall we? One of the first and best examples is a story out of the Nihon Shoki, which took place, we are told, in 458, early in Wakatake's reign. He and the court had gone to the Yoshino Palace, and from there he went out hunting in the area of Mimase. This was around the southeast corner of the Nara basin. This had apparently become a new popular destination for hunting, much as Awaji island was with Wakatake's predecessors. In the morning, Wakatake went out with his retinue of ministers and stewards, and by all accounts they had a fruitful hunt—in fact, they were so successful they had just about depleted the local fauna. As was typical in one of these official hunts, the stewards that were brought along were expected to dress the game brought in by the sovereign and his ministers. They would skin, clean, and render the game down into component meat, skin, et cetera. It was bloody work, and in later centuries, at least, would be considered a polluting activity that would require ritual ablutions, and was often left to others to handle whenever possible. And so it was somewhat shocking when Wakatake suggested to his high-born ministers that they get their hands dirty and take part in the work of dismembering the carcasses themselves. Nobody knew how to respond to this. One can imagine the pall of awkward silence that fell over the assembled crowd. After all, nobody really wanted to get elbows deep into the blood and guts of the game they had taken—they had people to do that for a reason. But neither did anyone want to tell that to Wakatake, who, one must remember, only a year or two earlier had murdered his own family in a deadly play for the throne. Of course, this silence only further angered Wakatake, who was upset that nobody would say anything, and so he took out his anger on one of the stewards, the horse-keeper of Ohotsu, and killed him right there, in front of everyone. One can imagine that things remained tense around the encampment after that, and when the rest of the royal court, including the current and previous Queens, Hatahi Hime and, one assumes, her daughter, Nakashi Hime, though perhaps they are referring to Wakatake's mother, Osaka no Naka tsu Hime, who had been queen to Woasazuma Wakugo. When they showed up it was clear that everyone was on edge, and no doubt a few discrete questions allowed them to quickly discern what had happened. The two women, the Queen and the Dowager Queen, chose an Uneme, Hi no Hime, who was the daughter of the Atahe of Yamato. They had her take the sovereign, Wakatake, a drink of sake. The sake, being served by a beautiful woman, was enough to distract Wakatake's anger and get ...
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    36 m
  • Crime and Punishment

    Crime and Punishment
    Apr 16 2022
    A look at the military/law enforcement capabilities of Yamato during the reign of Wakatake, with particular focus on the Mononobe as well as campaigns on the peninsula. For more, check out the podcast website at https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-62 Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 62: Crime and Punishment So in recent episodes we've had a lot of talk about the less desirable qualities of Wakatake no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tenno. And yet, it seems clear from the chronicles that the reign of Wakatake wasn't all about his personal character flaws—some of which may not have even been considered flaws by people of the day. After all, for all of his own penchant to resort to violence, this was not necessarily a forgiving time, and it seems that this is what kept him on top, but also a trait that he brought to bear in further growing and strengthening Yamato rule in the archipelago and its influence abroad. So in this episode we are going to explore what the Chronicles have to say about the ways that Wakatake and those who served him asserted royal authority throughout the archipelago and even onto the peninsula. In doing so we will also explore the importance of the Mononobe, the court's enforcers, and what they tell us about the court's punitive and peacekeeping authority. By the way, just a quick note that we will be covering a variety of topics dealing with death and violence, including mentions of violence against women and sexual assault. While we should be able to avoid the more gory details, I just wanted to put that out there for anyone who might be sensitive to any of those topics. Now, we mentioned back in Episode 60 some of the evidence that Yamato still wasn't entirely unchallenged in their hegemony of the islands. Even in the mid-fifth century, when Wakatake came to power, the lords of Kibi were building kofun to rival those in Yamato. While it does seem that Yamato may have had some sort of primacy, there was no guarantee that they would be able to keep it indefinitely, and Kibi was a particular threat. This comes across most clearly in a story from the Nihon Shoki, set during Wakatake's reign: the story of the Sakitsuya, Omi of Lower Kibi, known in another work as Yama, of the Kibi no Omi, the Kuni no Miyatsuko—in other words the ruler of the land of Kibi. Now there were men of Kibi serving at the Yamato court. One of these was a Toneri, or male attendant, known as Ohosora of the Yuge-Be, or Bow-Maker's Be, of Kibi. While in service to Wakatake, Ohosora was called back home on a matter of some urgency. However, once back in Kibi he was detained by Sakitsuya, who refused to let him return. In fact, he held Ohosora back for several months, until Wakatake started to wonder that he had not returned. After all, Kibi is really not so far from the lands of Yamato and Kawachi, all things considered—about 170 km from modern Ohosaka to Okaayama, which is probably a week or so on foot or by boat, but perhaps a couple days on horseback, and only 48 minutes or so by Shinkansen. So Wakatake sent another person, Mike no Kimi to go find him, and Mike was, indeed, able to get Ohosora back to Yamato. When he did, Ohosora had quite the tale. If the Nihon Shoki's account is to be believed, Sakitsuya was apparently obsessed with Wakatake—in a pretty creepy and disturbed way. For example, this one time, he took a bunch of young girls and make them fight grown men. The girls were all meant to represent the men of Wakatake while the grown men represented Sakitsuya's own troops. This was all going well until the girls started to get the upper hand, at which point Sakitsuya, in a rage, drew his sword and started to kill them. In another episode, Sakitsuya took a rooster and had it plucked of its feathers, its wings clipped, and he called it Wakatake's rooster. Then he choose a large rooster of his own and used precious iron to create even more deadly spurs, like some kind of early mecha-veloci-rooster. He then pitted the two against each other. Once again, however, things did not go as planned, and when the naked bird representing Wakatake started to get the upper hand, just has had happened before, Sakitsuya drew his sword and killed the offending cock. When Wakatake heard all of this one can only imagine his reaction. He sent thirty soldiers from the Monono Be to Kibi, where they found Sakitsuya and put him to death along with seventy other members of his household. Of course, we have to remember that the Nihon Shoki isn't exactly a reliable narrator when it comes to the actions of Yamato and its sovereigns—after all, they had a vested interest in making Yamato out to be the good guys, even if they weren't. Still, we can see the echoes of conflict with Kibi, Yamato's neighbor who controlled a not insignificant strategic location along the Seto Inland Sea and whose rulers were being...
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    41 m
  • Immigrants, gods, and movie studios

    Immigrants, gods, and movie studios
    May 1 2022
    In which we talk about envoys to the continent, and those people who then immigrated to the archipelago. Along the way we'll also talk about the tragic death of the Ise Princess and just how one powerful immigrant family are connected--however loosely--to a modern movie studio. For more information on this episode, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-63 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is Episode 63: Immigrants, Gods, and Movie Studios Last episode we looked at how Wakatake, aka Yuryaku Tenno, and the court backed up their will in the archipelago as well as on the continent—using the Mononobe, their enforcers, in the areas near the court and further afield. As we discussed, this was a period with plenty of violence and turmoil, but one thing it wasn't was a period of isolation. Besides the military entanglements on the continent, there were also accounts of more diplomatic efforts on farther shores—namely with the court of Liu Song. And even though over the course of the reign Yamato power waned on the peninsula, as it would seem based on evidence in the Samguk Sagi, that doesn't mean that there weren't still people moving from one locale to the other. In fact, if Yamato influence did wane towards the end of Wakatake's reign, that may have been impetus for more people—namely Yamato's closest peninsular allies—to make the trip across the straits to the archipelago. So this episode we are going to focus on those people and the innovations, especially ideas they brought over, and—in a true illustration of how the historical processes described in the Chronicles continue to resonate down to the present day—we're going to conclude with just what all of this has to do with a modern day movie studio-slash-theme park in Kyoto. Now, as for people, we have plenty of evidence in this period of individuals coming across the straits and staying in the islands. We've talked about some of these people already, such as the Imaki, who were artisans brought over from Baekje, to join groups that we already know, like the Aya, and a few we'll talk about this episode. And these people were bringing new technologies. Some are obvious, like methods of weaving fabric, or even pottery. For example, there is a particular type of pottery, known in Japan as sueki, or Sue ware. It is unlike the terracotta used for the haniwa figures that famously decorated the kofun. Sue ware vessels tend to be blue-grey stoneware, and are the same—or at least extremely similar—to ones found on the Korean peninsula, particularly in the Kara and Silla regions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a fair amount of it shows up in the area of modern Ohosaka, near Naniwa, likely Yamato's main port, even when the court was elsewhere, indicating that there were likely potters there who had come over with the technology from the continent. But beyond the tangible innovations imported from the continent and the peninsula, there were less tangible ones as well. We have writing, of course, but even just the basics of statecraft and how to organize and administer larger territories and diverse groups of people—things likely passed on from the dynasties in China. And then there is another step beyond that in the realm of the metaphysical. And there were plenty of continental ideas on that front as well, bringing in foreign deities—or karakami—to be worshipped locally, as well as importing foreign concepts that were absorbed into local practice. In some cases these may have retained some connection to the continental practices that spawned them, but in others they may just as easily have become localized to the needs of the people. All of this would have a profound impact on the make-up and belief systems in the archipelago, such that there are many things that even today are regarded as indigenous to Japan or Shinto and yet would seem to have roots outside of the archipelago. This didn't all happen during the reign of Wakatake, of course, but there are enough things that did that this is as good a place as any for us to look at what was happening in this regard in the late 5th century. So, backing up a bit. At this point, what exactly was going on on the peninsula and the continent? Of course, a big part of it – and something we've touched on in recent episodes – is the conflict between and among Silla and Goguryeo—as well as Baekje and Kara—over on the Korean peninsula. It is somewhat difficult to say how active Yamato was, but at least there appears to have been members of the greater Wa ethnic sphere who were a part of the conflicts going on. Beyond the peninsula, of course, were the successive dynasties laying claim to some part of that area that had been known as the "Middle Kingdom" since ancient times. To the Japanese Chroniclers, this all was all simply labeled as "Kure", the Japanese pronunciation of the character ...
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    47 m
  • The Prince in Waiting

    The Prince in Waiting
    May 16 2022
    Covering the end of Wakatake's reign, including a recap of how we got here, and the transition to the next sovereign, Prince Shiraga. You can find more information at https://www.sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-64/ Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan! My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 64: The Prince in Waiting. In this episode, I'm going to focus on the very end of Ohohatsuse Wakatake, aka Yuryaku Tenno's, reign, and the question of his successor and the various high-ranking individuals that helped out that successor. But I'm going to start off this episode with a recap of sorts – of all the sovereigns we've talked about so far, at least the notable ones, that have brought us up to this date. Of course, this focuses on the sovereigns because that is the information we typically have. For the most part, particularly in the more legendary parts of the Chronicle, only the birth and death of the sovereigns are worth mentioning, and other characters appear only when they impact the story of the royal line, but we should take the time to realize that there were so many different individuals who were actually working to take things forward. This is often an issue for us, as we try to tell a story that people will actually be able to follow—the more names, the more difficult it can be to track what is going on, but that is also the complexity of real history. And so I hope you'll forgive a summary that focuses largely on the reigns of different sovereigns that the Chroniclers found to be important during their time. As we've heard throughout our tour of the Chronicles to-date, certain rulers stand out. Iware Biko, aka Jimmu Tennou, purportedly founded Yamato through conquest, marching—or perhaps rowing—his way up the Seto Inland Sea from Himuka, in Kyushu, and making a claim to the Nara Basin, displacing the locals, the ancestors of the Mononobe and Owari families. After nine truly unremarkable sovereigns, we then found ourselves in the time of the legendary sovereigns Mimaki and Ikume, the Iribiko dynasty, aka Sujin and Suinin Tennou. They ruled at the base of Mt. Miwa, associated with a powerful early Kofun era culture with links across the archipelago. Their reigns were filled with building early structures of statehood, conquest, and intercourse with the continent—in all likelihood based on events surrounding the rise of Yamato around the time of the historical Queen Himiko. At this time, we know that intercession with spiritual powers was important to rulership, and the role of sovereign may have even been shared with co-rulers, who handled more of the mundane administration aspects. We regularly saw pairs of rulers, either male and female hiko-hime pairs, or else elder and younger ye-oto arrangements. It is not entirely clear what the actual relationship between these individuals were—if they were blood relatives, or married, or if it was some other power sharing arrangement. Ohotarashi's reign, meanwhile, was overshadowed by the warrior-prince, Wo-usu, more popularly known as Yamato Takeru, the Brave of Yamato. Though Yamato Takeru perished and never ruled, we are told that the new lineage that came to the throne after the death of Waka Tarashi Hiko, aka Seimu Tennou, claimed descent from the Brave of Yamato. Of this next lineage, the Sovereign Okinaga Tarashi Hime, aka Jinguu Tennou, was credited with her own controversial military campaigns. Some claim she was a fictional character, created to explain continental claims of Himiko, and the official Chronicles only give her the status of regent—not of sovereign proper. However, they still have her ruling well into the time of her son, Homuda Wake, aka Oujin Tennou, with the help of her close advisor and prime minister, Takeuchi no Sukune. Homuda Wake seems another pivotal figure, and he would eventually be canonized as the kami, Hachiman. Besides apparently sharing rule with his mother, Okinaga Tarashi Hime, Homuda Wake would later give administrative responsibility of the realm to his son, Ohosazaki, while appointing another son as Crown Prince. Eventually, Ohosazaki, would come to the throne, where he is known to us as Nintoku Tennou. He is traditionally said to be buried in Daisen Kofun, one of the three largest mausoleums in the world—though there are those who question this designation. The next several sovereigns are said to be sons of Ohosazaki—Izaho Wake, Midzuha Wake, and Woasatsuma Wakugo no Sukune, aka Ritchuu Tennou, Hanzei Tennou, and Ingyou Tennou. Then there is Woasatsuma's son, Anaho, aka Ankou Tennou, and while there are certainly various interesting stories during these reigns, none of these sovereigns seem to measure up to the sovereign who follows—Ohohatsuse Wakatake, aka Yuuryaku Tennou, who is the sovereign we've been discussing for the last few episodes. Or at least the next official sovereign. Prince Ichinohe may have actually ruled...
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    30 m
  • The Party King of Wa

    The Party King of Wa
    Jun 1 2022
    Shiraga is now King, but what kind of king would he be? What great deeds should we expect? Well, I can tell you one deed--he apparently threw some epic parties. For more, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-65 Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is episode 65: The Party King of Wa. This week I want to talk about Shiraga Takehiko Kunioshi Waka Yamatoneko, aka Seinei Tennou, the son and successor of Wakatake or Yuryaku Tennou. And along with discussing Shiraga's life, we will also revisit some of the continental historical sources that we've touched on previously, looking at how they line up with what we've learned about these past couple of sovereigns. In looking at Shiraga's life, I can't help but think of the contrast between expectations and reality. It is often easy for us to discuss historical subjects when we already know the outcome. We talk up the English king Henry VIII and even Henry V quite a bit, because we know what they did. But then there are others who are perhaps not as well known, or whose reigns were not such a success. How much attention do we pay them? After all, Wakatake could have been killed early on in the fighting with his brothers, and then he would be remembered merely for an attempted coup, rather than the larger-than life figure we know him as. Also, it is often hard to see the details of those standing behind a shining light in history. Sometimes that light illuminates, but often it blinds us to the potential of those around them, much as the Chronicles' focus on the royal line often obscures the details of the other people who were working, often just as hard, to build Yamato and the culture of the archipelago. So I want to keep in mind here the potential that Shiraga demonstrates as much as what he actually accomplishes, and try, somehow, to look beyond the bright light cast by his father, Wakatake. Okay, so what do we know about how Shiraga came to the throne, and why? Last episode we left off with the death of Wakatake and then Crown Prince Shiraga securing the throne through the assistance of his prime minister, the Ohomuraji, Ohotomo no Muroya, as well as Yamato-Aya no Tsuka. Their forces had surrounded the royal Treasury, where a would-be usurper, Prince Hoshikawa, and his brothers had barricaded themselves in and then set the whole thing on fire, burning everyone inside. And with that, Crown Prince Shiraga was able to take the throne himself, becoming the ruler known to us, today, as Seinei Tennou. Of course, the Chronicles also suggest that Shiraga wasn't exactly new to the throne. Well, maybe. The Nihon Shoki claims that he was appointed at the end of Wakatake's reign, as Wakatake was on his deathbed. This contrast in accounts is a good reminder of how the organization of the Chronicles—particularly the Nihon Shoki—isn't always something we can take for granted. I don't necessarily trust all of the dates as given, and, while it does seem that more was getting written down at this time, there isn't necessarily agreement between the different sources. I attribute this to a few things. First of all, without any other evidence, I suspect a lot of this was still being transmitted orally, stories about the period that were passed down. Although the Chronicles seem to aspire to the idea of an official history of the era, it is really focused on these stories—though sometimes the format of those stories is that they get broken up across different months and years and there is a bit of a detective work and even assumption that needs to go in there. We'll talk about that a little later when we look at the continental sources. But back to the Chronicles. Shiraga has now taken the throne, one way or another. But what is he inheriting, and what kind of monarch is he going to be? As we know, he was the son of Wakatake, whose exploits have become legendary. There were courtiers serving the Yamato court from across the archipelago—from Musashi in the east to the land of Hi in the west. They laid claim to rights over Kara, Nimna, Silla, and Baekje—however much those same states may have protested, if asked. Furthermore, Shiraga was entering with some background and experience. And advisors: He had Muroya to help him run things, as well as Matori, the Oho-omi of the Heguri. And at the same time, there was a certain chaos in the world. Baekje was still finding its footing after being devastated by Goguryeo, and even the mighty Liu Song would fall around the time of Wakatake's death, in 479. A savvy leader may have looked to such a power vacuum and seen an opportunity for growth and further expansion of the power of the state. Alas, none of this would come to be. Whatever Shiraga's ambitions were, it seems clear that he was unable to fulfill them, as his reign would only last a brief four to five years after the death of Wakatake. He did...
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