also known as or , was the legendary founder of the " Yamatonoaya clan (東漢氏)" who settled in Japan with his son Tsuga no omi. He is considered one of the three most influential Toraijins alongside Yuzuki no Kimi and Wani during the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

Origin

He is first mentioned in the ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

'' when discussing about his arrival in Japan. However, due to conflicting details across several sources that claim different origins of Achi no omi, several theories have been proposed by modern historians. According to ''

Shoku Nihongi The is an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the '' Six National Histories'', coming directly after the and followed by ''Nihon Kōki''. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi served as t ...

'' (797), it is said that he was the great-grandson of

Emperor Ling of Han Emperor Ling of Han (156/157 – 13 May 189), personal name Liu Hong, was the 12th emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was also the last Eastern Han emperor to exercise effective power during his reign. Born the son of a lesser marquis who ...

(other sources said he was still a descendant of

Emperor Xian of Han Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last Emperor of China, emperor of the Han dynasty#Eastern Han (25–220 AD), Eastern Han dynasty of China. He reigned from ...

being either his grandson or great grandson) which is the reason why his clan was named "東漢" meaning "

Eastern Han The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

" in

Chinese characters Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represe ...

. On the contrary, older documents such as the ''Nihon Shoki'' (720) and ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' (711) state that Achi no omi and his clan, the Yamatonoaya clan had originated from the kingdom of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

. Japanese scholars have indicated that Yamatonoaya clan and other "Aya (漢)" clans were all related and that they were generally classified under the same ethnic group. These mainly included: the " Aya clan (漢氏)", the "Yamatonoaya clan (東漢氏/倭漢氏)" and the " Kawachinoaya clan (西漢氏/河内漢氏)". It is said that Yamatonoaya clan, Aya and Kawachinoaya, though not from the same founder, were ethnically related, most likely all immigrating from Baekje. "Kawachinoaya (西漢氏)" in particular, is thought to be related with the Yamatonoaya clan. The clan was one of the clans first founded by the scholar Wani (alongside clans such as " Kawachinofumi clan (西文氏)") who arrived in Japan from the kingdom of Baekje who helped spread the use of the Chinese Writing system in Japan. According to Japanese scholars, Wani and Achi no omi founded Kawachinoaya and Yamatonoaya clan respectively, both being of Baekje origin and influential ethnic Koreans in Japan at the time. They shared the same character "Aya" but separated one another with the use of cardinal directions ("Kawachi/西" meaning

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and "Yamato/東" meaning

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

) as Wani's Kawachinoaya clan resided in "Furuichikoori (河内国古市郡)", (present day Furuichigun (古市郡) ja">:ja:古市郡">jain

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

) located in the west of Japan, while Achi no omi and his Yamatonoaya clan resided in the Yamato Kingdom found in the east. Some also theorized that he and his clan originated from the

Gaya confederacy Gaya (; ) was a Korean confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period. The traditional period used by historians for Gaya chronology is AD 42– ...

, specifically from the kingdom of "Aya (安邪国)" (old name for

Ara Gaya Ara Gaya (), also known as Ana Gaya, Asiryangguk (), or Alla (), was a city-state kingdom in the part of Gaya confederacy, in modern-day Haman County of South Korea in the 6th century. History As the confrontational foreign policy of Daegaya f ...

) where the placename became the etymology of the Aya clans. According to this theory, the immigrants brought many Baekje technologies from Aya and were considered as close kin to the people of Baekje. Some nationalist historians used this to support the claims over the Mimana controversy stating that Mimana (Gaya) was in fact Japanese due to the relations between the kingdom of Aya and the Aya clans of Japan. Despite the lukewarm reception in Korea, evidence alludes to the possibilities of Japanese speakers in the region. Much like the Hata clan, modern Japanese historians state that historical and archeological evidence allude to Korean origins (specifically of Baekje or Gaya), therefore in recent times, Achi no omi and his clan are perceived as Korean in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Regardless of his likely ethnicity, the truth surrounding Achi no omi and the other prominent immigrants such as Wani and Yuzuki no Kimi remain skeptical with modern historians considering them as fictional individuals whose stories were added later to help create origin stories for clans with foreign backgrounds.

References

4th-century Japanese people Yamatonoaya clan {{Japan-bio-stub

Origin

See also

References