Yamataikoku (邪馬台国) was an ancient country in Japan, recorded in an old Chinese history book, Sanguo Zhi. According to the book, Himiko was the shaman queen ruler of the country. The country was recorded to be the head of thirty allied countries, which were previously battling each other. Himiko's brother ascended to throne after his sister's death in 248, but as the allied countries were about to go back to the civil war, he was replaced with another queen Iyo (or Toyo) to regain peace.

Location

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Location of Yamataikoku is one of the most controversial topics in Japanese history. If tracing the route to Yamataikoku literally through Sanguo Zhi, the country would be located somewhere on the Ocean, so the location is ambiguous in written sources. Historians have been debating for centuries whether it was in Northern Kyushu or in Kinki. From theory, if Yamataikoku was located in Kyushu, that would mean that the center of government could have been separated, but if it was placed in the Yamato Plain, in Kinki, that would mean that it would support the centralization of governmental power, and directly pass on its governmental power and systems straight into the Yamato period.

There are some debates over whether Yamataikoku was placed at Hawaii, or even closer near Okinawa, a southern Japanese island.

Country's Name

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Although Sanguo Zhi records the country's name "邪馬壹國", it is mostly agreed that "壹"(one) was the letter used instead of "臺"(base), due to either error of transcription or naming taboo of the letter "臺".

Today historians agree that the name of the country should be Yamato not Yamataikoku because double vowels was not the part of Japanese language at that time. Also, phonetics research of early Chinese supports the view that "邪馬臺" was pronounced similarly to Yamato.

Ancient Japan

Yamatai | 야마타이코쿠 | 邪馬台国 | 邪马台国