Sacral Kingship and Confederacy in Early Izumo

Abstract

A SERIES of startling archaeological discoveries in old Izumo province during the 1980s has changed our vision of how that region developed from Yayoi through early imperial times. Of particular interest is the way in which this new evidence is expanding our understanding of political organization and rulership in early Japan. Japan's early history as it is known in the West is largely Yamato-centered. That is hardly surprising, for the Yamato area saw the emergence of an early political hegemony that subsequently became the center of Japan's first unified state. In recent years, however, widespread construction work and popular support for archaeology have brought the buried past to light in many other regions of the country. The new data fills critical gaps in the written record even as it challenges parts of that record. Although historians in Japan as elsewhere have traditionally preferred written sources as the basis for their research, they have recently taken a great interest in the work of archaeologists and ethnologists, seeking a broader array of data and methods by which to trace the evolution of society, polity, and culture. A fuller understanding of historical processes and a firmer sense of chronology have resulted. In the twenty years since Professor John Hall provided English-language readers with a first look at this kind of work for the old Inland Sea region of Kibi in his Government and Local Power in Japan, 500 to 1700, a great deal has been learned about other regions as well. My attention was drawn to this progress when I took part in the Early History Seminar (Nihon Kodaishi Sama Semina) in Matsue City during July 1987. The seminar is a yearly event that brings together early historians, archaeologists, and ethnologists. In 1987 discussion focused on recent discoveries in former Izumo province, part of present-day Shimane prefecture.