Tomb period

Tomb (Kofun) or Yamato period (250 or 300 CE to 587)

Key terms:

Overview

Emergence of sacred kingship: Japan is ruled by many of regional lords claiming divine lineage
Stronger kings emerge (such as Yūryaku), but dominance is based on confederation and consent of other lineages NOT simple military supremacy
Oddities in official imperial geneology reflect breaks in ruling line
Military and trade interactions with continent

International context

Three (or four) kingdoms on Korean penninsula: Koguryŏ (Goguryeo) 高句麗, Silla 新羅, Paekche (Baekje) 百濟, Kaya (Gaya) 加倻 confederacy
Continued warfare in 300s and 400s CE
Gaya and Baekje have close contact with Wa
Both Gaya and Baekje begin to weaken in 500
- Gaya falls to Silla in 562
- Baekje falls in 660
- Goguryeo in 668

Kofun society

Kofun physical culture/artifacts
- large scale tombs
- "sacred" regalia
  - sword
  - mirror
  - curved jewel (magatama)
- haniwa
Similarity of tombs in Kinai suggest nobles with common culture
- But Izumo tombs are different -- square rather than keyhole
- Based on wet-rice agriculture
Surplus means greater stratification than Yayoi society
Three major social groupings
- uji - ruling houses
  - uji claim descent from a common mythical ancestor
  - beginning in 400s, rise of stronger monarchs (ōkimi 大君) who try to systematize and get control over kabane titles for uji
    - omi (also ō-omi)
    - muraji (also ō-muraji)
- be - these are intially specialized communities, but later the term is used to include agricultural communities as well
- yatsuko - non-agricultural slaves