
The Yamatai Honshu Theory is the theory that the
Yamatai-koku was located in
Honshu
, historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...
, specifically
Kinai
is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. ''Kinai'' is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kinai''" in . The five provinces were called ''go-kin ...
(now
Kinki region), where the capital was located in 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 ...
rather than in
Kyushu
is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...
as the
Yamatai Kyushu Theory proposes.
According to this theory, the Yamatai-koku was essentially continuous with the
Yamato Kingship
The was a tribal alliance centered on the Yamato Province, Yamato region (Nara Prefecture) from the 4th century to the 7th century, and ruled over the alliance of Nobility, noble families in the central and western parts of the Japanese archipe ...
, with its capital in roughly the same region, and the Yamatai-koku transformed into the Yamato Kingship when the Kofun period began.
Overview
In the
Edo period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
,
Arai Hakuseki
was a Confucianist, scholar-bureaucrat, academic, administrator, writer and politician in Japan during the middle of the Edo period, who advised the ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Ienobu. His personal name was Kinmi or Kimiyoshi (君美). Hakuseki (白� ...
advocated the theory in which he insisted Yamatai-koku was located in the
Yamato Province
was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, th ...
(,
Nara prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the ...
,
Honshu
, historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...
). Later, he advocated the different theory, in which he insisted Yamatai-koku was located in the
Yamato county (, ''Yamato-gun'') in the
Chikugo Province
was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyūshū, corresponding to part of southwestern Fukuoka Prefecture. Chikugo bordered on Higo and Chikugo to the southeast, and Chikuzen to the north and east, Bungo to the east and Hizen to t ...
(
Fukuoka prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...
,
Kyushu
is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...
) in his book ''Foreign Affairs Chronicle''.
Since then, from the Edo period to the present, the mainstream of the academic world has been largely divided between the "Yamatai Honshu (
Kinai
is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. ''Kinai'' is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kinai''" in . The five provinces were called ''go-kin ...
) Theory ()", which has been insisted and supported by
Naito Konan et al. and the "
Yamatai Kyushu Theory ()", which has been insisted and supported by
Shiratori Kurakichi et al.
The Kyushu theory, however, is divided into two distinct theories: one that says the Yamataikoku "moved" (the "eastward shift" theory) and one that says it "did not move at all. The "eastward shift" theory holds that the Yamataikoku moved to the Kinai region and became the
Yamato Kingdom.
proposes the and states that of is different from the of ( and and the female kingdom in Tsukushi is in Kinai through the "". It is assumed that the new royal capital, which was the capital of Japan, is
Yamatai
Yamatai or Yamatai-koku is the Sino-Japanese name of an ancient country in Wa (Japan) during the late Yayoi period The Chinese text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' first recorded the name as ()Schuessler, Axel (2014). "Phonological Notes ...
.
In the 1960s, it was thought that artifacts from the period of the Yamataikoku were abundant in Kyushu while those from the Kinai region were scarce in the Kinai region. The National Institute for Radiocarbon Dating and Dendrochronology has presented a chronology based on
radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...
and
dendrochronology
Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...
that compares the tombs of
Himiko
, also known as the , was a shamaness-queen of Yamatai-koku in . Early Chinese dynastic histories chronicle tributary relations between Queen Himiko and the Cao Wei Kingdom (220–265) and record that the Yayoi period people chose her as ruler ...
and the
Yamato imperial court to those of
Yamatai
Yamatai or Yamatai-koku is the Sino-Japanese name of an ancient country in Wa (Japan) during the late Yayoi period The Chinese text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' first recorded the name as ()Schuessler, Axel (2014). "Phonological Notes ...
and
Himiko
, also known as the , was a shamaness-queen of Yamatai-koku in . Early Chinese dynastic histories chronicle tributary relations between Queen Himiko and the Cao Wei Kingdom (220–265) and record that the Yayoi period people chose her as ruler ...
, and that the establishment of the Yamato Imperial Court dates back to that time. Some have suggested that
radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...
of pottery from the Kinai region by the National Institute of Japanese Archaeology and Dating suggests that the establishment of the early state in the Yamato region of the Kinai region dates back to the same period as the Yamataikoku.。. According to this Kinai theory, there was at least one power in 3rd century Japan that was able to secure transportation routes from Yamato to the continent, and it can be said that a power with great influence over the entire western Japan centering on Yamato, namely the "
Yamato Kingdom," was already established at this time.
Makimuku ruins
The
Makimuku ruins
The Makimuku ruins are ruins in Nara Prefecture Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai near Mount Miwa. Recovered artifacts are of the Yayoi Period and Kofun Period.
It is designated as a national historic site, and an archaeological site that began in the ...
site is considered by some researchers to be the best candidate for the center of the
Yamatai
Yamatai or Yamatai-koku is the Sino-Japanese name of an ancient country in Wa (Japan) during the late Yayoi period The Chinese text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' first recorded the name as ()Schuessler, Axel (2014). "Phonological Notes ...
, and may be the site that proves the . In 2011, a part of another large building was found about 5 meters to the east of the large building ruins, and the building ruins may have been built in the late 3rd century or later.。
Hashihaka Kofun

The is a megalithic tomb (''
kofun
are megalithic tombs or tumulus, tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century AD.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞 ...
'') located in
Sakurai City,
Nara Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the ...
,
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 ...
. The Hashihaka ''kofun'' is considered to be the first large keyhole-shaped ''kofun'' constructed in Japan and is associated with the emergence of the
Yamato Kingship
The was a tribal alliance centered on the Yamato Province, Yamato region (Nara Prefecture) from the 4th century to the 7th century, and ruled over the alliance of Nobility, noble families in the central and western parts of the Japanese archipe ...
. It is sometimes considered the birthplace of the
Kofun system of tombs which is highly linked to the emergence of a state level society.
[都出比呂志 (1991). "日本古代国家形成論序説-前方後円墳体制論の提唱-". 日本史研究. Vol. 343.]
See also
*
Yamatai
Yamatai or Yamatai-koku is the Sino-Japanese name of an ancient country in Wa (Japan) during the late Yayoi period The Chinese text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' first recorded the name as ()Schuessler, Axel (2014). "Phonological Notes ...
*
Wajinden
The ''Wajinden'' (倭人伝; "Treatise on the Wa People") are passages in the 30th fascicle of the Chinese history chronicle ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' that talk about the Wa people, who would later be known as the Japanese people. It de ...
*
Makimuku ruins
The Makimuku ruins are ruins in Nara Prefecture Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai near Mount Miwa. Recovered artifacts are of the Yayoi Period and Kofun Period.
It is designated as a national historic site, and an archaeological site that began in the ...
*
Hashihaka Kofun
*
Yamatai Kyushu Theory
Annotations
References
{{Yamatai footer
Hypotheses
Yamatai
Honshu