Царица Химико: Загадка древней Японии и споры об истоках

3rd century Queen of Yamataikoku

, also known as Shingi Waō (親魏倭王), was a shamaness queen of Yamatai koku in Wa (Japan) (Wakoku). 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 following decades of warfare among the kings of Wa. Early Japanese histories do not mention Himiko, but historians associate her with legendary figures such as Empress Consort Jingū, who is said to have served as regent from 201 to 269. Scholarly debates over the identity of Himiko and the location of her domain, Yamatai, have raged since the late Edo period, with opinions divided between northern Kyūshū or traditional Yamato Province in present day Kinki. The "Yamatai controversy", writes Keiji Imamura, is "the greatest debate over the ancient history of Japan." A prevailing view among scholars is that she may be buried at Hashihaka Kofun in Nara Prefecture.

The shaman Queen Himiko is recorded in various ancient histories, dating back to 3rd century China, 8th century Japan, and 12th century Korea.

Neither of the two oldest Japanese histories – the c. 712 Kojiki nor c. 720 Nihon Shoki – mentions Queen Himiko. The circumstances under which these books were written is a matter of unending debate, and even if Himiko were known to the authors, they may have purposefully decided not to include her. However, they include three imperial family shamans identified with her: Yamatototohimomosohime no Mikoto (ja), the aunt of Emperor Sujin (legendary 10th Japanese emperor, reigned 97–30 BC) and daughter of Emperor Kōrei; Yamatohime no mikoto, the daughter of Emperor Suinin (legendary 11th, reigned 29 BC–70 AD); and Empress Jingū (reigned c. 209–269 AD), the wife of Emperor Chūai (legendary 14th emperor, reigned 192–200 AD). These dates, however, are not historically verified. One remarkable exception to early Japanese histories overlooking Himiko is the Nihon Shoki, quoting the Wei Zhi three times. In 239, "the queen [女王] of Wa" sent envoys to Wei; in 240, they returned "charged with an Imperial rescript and a seal and ribbon;" and in 243, "the ruler [王 "king"] of Wa again sent high officers as envoys with tribute". Yamato Totohi Momoso himemiko (倭迹迹日百襲媛命), the shaman aunt of Emperor Sujin, supposedly committed suicide after learning her husband was a trickster snake god. The Kojiki does not mention her, but the Nihon Shoki describes her as "the Emperor's aunt by the father's side, a shrewd and intelligent person, who could foresee the future". After a series of national calamities, the Emperor "assembled the 80 myriads of Deities" and inquired by divination. Yamato totohi momoso was inspired by Ōmononushi nushi ("Great Deity of All Deities and Spirits"), to say: "Why is the Emperor grieved at the disordered state of the country? If he duly did us reverent worship it would assuredly become pacified of itself." The Emperor inquired, saying: "What God is it that thus instructs me?" The answer was: "I am the God who dwells within the borders of the land of Yamato, and my name is Oho mono nushi no Kami." While imperial worship of this god (from Mount Miwa) was "without effect", Yamato totohi momoso later married him. The Hashihaka Kofun (箸墓) Kofun in Sakurai, Nara is associated with this legend. Yamatohime no mikoto (倭姫命), the daughter of Emperor Suinin, supposedly founded the Ise Shrine to the sun goddess Amaterasu. The Kojiki records her as the fourth of Suinin's five children, "Her Augustness Yamato hime, (was the high priestess of the temple of the Great Deity of Ise)". The Nihon Shoki likewise records "Yamato hime no Mikoto" and provides more details. The Emperor assigned Yamato hime to find a permanent location for Amaterasu's shrine, and after wandering for years, the sun goddess instructed her to build it at Ise "where she first descended from Heaven". Empress Consort Jingū (or Jingō (神功)) supposedly served as regent after the death of her husband Emperor Chūai until the accession of her son Emperor Ōjin (legendary 15th emperor, ). The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki have similar accounts. Emperor Chūai wanted to invade Kumaso, and while he was consulting with his ministers, Jingū conveyed a shamanistic message that he should invade Silla instead. Compare these:

The Emperor thought the gods were lying, said he had only seen ocean to the West, and then died, either immediately (Kojiki) or after invading Kumaso (Nihon Shoki). Jingū allegedly discovered she was pregnant, personally planned and led a successful conquest of Silla, gave birth to the future emperor, and returned to rule Yamato. The Nihon Shoki adds that since Jingū wanted to learn which gods had cursed Chūai, she constructed a shamanic "palace of worship", "discharged in person the office of priest", and heard the gods reveal themselves as coming from Ise (Amaterasu) and Mukatsu (an unnamed Korean divinity). Although the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki myth histories called Jingū first of the Japanese empresses, Meiji period historians removed her from the List of Emperors of Japan, leaving Empress Suiko as the first historically verifiable female Japanese ruler.

The oldest extant Korean history text, the Samguk Sagi (三國史記, "Chronicles of the Three [Korean] Kingdoms", completed in 1145), records that Queen Himiko sent an emissary to King Adalla of Silla in May 173.

Researchers have struggled to reconcile Himiko/Pimiko between Chinese and Japanese historical sources. While the Wei Zhi described her as an important ruler in 3rd century Japan, early Japanese historians purposely avoided naming Himiko, even when the Nihon Shoki quoted the Wei Zhi about envoys from Wa.

Identifying Himiko/Pimiko of Wa is straightforward within the history of China, but problematic within the history of Japan. The 3rd century Chinese Wei Zhi ("Records of Wei") provides details about shaman Queen Himiko and her communications with Emperors Cao Rui and Cao Fang. The 8th century Japanese Kojiki ("Records of Ancient Matters") and the Nihon Shoki ("Chronicles of Japan", which quotes the Wei Zhi) disregard Himiko, unless she was the subtext behind their accounts of Empress Jingū, Yamatohime no mikoto, or Yamato toto hi momo so hime no Mikoto. None of these three legendary Japanese royal shamans adequately corresponds with the Chinese chronology and description of Himiko. Assuming the Wei Zhi account that Himiko died around 248, if one accepts the dubious Japanese traditional dating, then she was closer to the 3rd century AD Empress Jingū than to the 1st century BC Yamato hime no mikoto and Yamato toto hi momo so hime. On the other hand, if one accepts the postdating adjustments prior to the 4th century, then Himiko was closer to these Yamato named shamans. Neither the Kojiki nor the Nihon Shoki mentions Himiko or any of the salient topics that she was unmarried, was chosen as ruler by the people, had a younger brother who helped rule (unless this refers to Jingū's son), or had numerous (figuratively "1,000") female attendants. William Wayne Farris reviews the history of scholarly debates over Himiko and her domain Yamatai. The Edo period philosophers Arai Hakuseki and Motoori Norinaga began the controversies over whether Yamatai was located in Northern Kyushu or Yamato Province in the Kinki region of central Honshū and whether the Wei Zhi or the Nihon Shoki was historically more trustworthy. The Confucianist Arai accepted the Chinese history as more reliable, and first equated Himiko with Jingū and Yamatai with Yamato. The kokugaku scholar Motoori accepted the traditional Japanese myth history as more reliable, and dismissed its Wei Zhi quotations as later accretions. He hypothesized that a king from Kumaso sent emissaries who masqueraded as Jingū's officials to the Wei court, thus leading Wei to mistake them for representatives of Himiko. Farris states that "Motoori's usurpation hypothesis (gisen setsu) carried great weight for the next century." Rather than being linked with Yamataikoku (regardless of wherever Yamataikoku was), Himiko may have been instead linked with Nakoku (奴國) (which Tsunoda located in near present day Hakata in northern Kyūshū), whereto was sent a golden royal seal, by Emperor Guangwu of the Han dynasty. Nakoku is said to have existed from the 1st century to the early 3rd century, and seems to have been independent or even a rival of the current Imperial House of Japan, supposedly in Yamato, Honshū. Even so, both the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki recorded that the current imperial dynasty, starting with Jimmu, originated from the Kumaso territory of Takachiho, Hyūga Province in present day Kyushu's southeastern section. The Kumaso were also associated with Kunakoku (狗奴國), ruled by Himiko's rival, king Himikuko. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japanese historians adopted European historical scholarship, especially the source based methodology of Leopold von Ranke. Naka Michiyo believed the Nihon Shoki chronology was inaccurate prior to the 4th century, and thus "Jingū became a fourth century queen whose reign could not possibly have coincided with Himiko's." The sinologist Shiratori Kurakichi proposed the Nihon Shoki compilers were tempted to associate Jingū with the religious powers of Himiko. Naitō Torajirō argued that Himiko was the high priestess of the Ise shrine Yamato hime no mikoto and that Wa armies obtained control of southern Korea:

Some later Japanese historians reframed Himiko in terms of Marxist historiography. Masaaki Ueda argued that "Himiko's was a despotic state with a generalized slave system" , while Mitsusada Inoue idealized Yamatai as a "balance of small states" with communal property and popular political expression. Following the late 1960s "Yamatai boom", when numerous Japanese historians, linguists, and archeologists published reevaluations of Himiko and Yamatai, the debate was joined by Japanese nationalists, mystery writers, and amateur scholars. In Japanese historical and archeological periodization, the 2nd and 3rd century era of Queen Himiko was between late Yayoi period and early Kofun period. "old tumulus"; 古墳; Kofun refers to characteristic keyhole shaped burial mounds, and the Wei Zhi noting "a great mound was raised, more than a hundred paces in diameter" for Pimiko's tomb, may well be the earliest written record of a kofun. Several archeological excavations of Yayoi and Kofun sites in kinki region, have revealed Chinese style bronze mirrors, called "mirror decorated with gods and animals"; 神獣鏡; shinju kyo. Many scholars who support the Kinki theory associate these shinju kyo with the "one hundred bronze mirrors" that the Wei Zhi records Emperor Cao Rui presented to Queen Himiko, while other scholars oppose it. The Hashihaka Kofun in Sakurai, Nara was given a recent boost by radio carbon dating circa 240–60. The early Chinese records of Himiko/Pimiko and her Yamatai polity remain something of a Rorschach test. To different interpreters, this early Japanese shaman queen can appear as evidence of communalism (Marxists), Jōmon priestess rulers (Feminist history), the Japanese conquest of Korea, the Mongolian conquest of Japan (Namio Egami's "horserider theory" (ja)), the imperial system originating with tandem rule by a female shaman and male monarch, the "patriarchal revolution" replacing female deities and priestesses with male counterparts, or a shamanic advisor to the federation of Wa chieftains who "must have looked like a ruling queen to Chinese envoys".

Depictions of Himiko in Japanese popular media take one of three archetypes: Himiko as a wise, old ruler; Himiko the cute and energetic shaman; or Himiko as a seductive sorceress. She is associated with several ritual objects including the dotaku – two large bronze bells ritually used at the end of the Yayoi period – as well as the [[Cleyera japonica branch and Chinese bronze mirrors. The Wei Zhi described Himiko's shamanism as guidao, or Japanese kido, a type of Daoist folk religion. As such, Himiko is sometimes negatively associated with black magic or demons. Ruling in the transitional period between the Yayoi and Kofun eras, depictions of Himiko often display her wearing clothing originating from a variety of time periods, often embodied masculine elements. A queen during the late Yayoi, Himiko likely wore a one piece, wide sleeved kosode under a vest and sash. She is also often depicted wearing magatama beads and a diadem. However, no one can be certain what Himiko wore. Himiko is also depicted as a wicked sorceress or tyrant. Such depictions usually present Himiko as a seductress in sexually revealing clothing, with large breasts, depicted in compromising positions, seeming to assert that Himiko's power arose from nefarious sexual appeal. One such depiction appears in the online role playing game Atlantica Online, in which Himiko appears a steampunk mercenary in revealing costume. These depictions cater largely to the otaku fan base.

Himiko's legend has been used to market a variety of objects. Various small towns seek to use Himiko as their mascot, claiming their town as her birthplace, although the archaeological evidence supports regions in the Nara basin as her capital. Yoshinogari City and Sakurai City in Nara prefecture both employ images of Himiko to attract tourists, using images such as chibi Himiko chan welcoming travelers to the region.

In the 2018 Tomb Raider film directed by Roar Uthaug (which was adapted from the 2013 video game of the same name), Himiko is at the heart of the plot. Japanese film director Masahiro Shinoda directed a film about Himiko, called Himiko.

Sanrio has created a Himiko inspired keychain. Researcher Laura Miller recounts eating a dish named for Himiko at Shinobuan Cafe in Moriyama City, where the name apparently gave rise to the popularity of the dish.

Queen Himiko contests take place in small towns offering cash prizes to women over the age of eighteen on the basis of charm and appearance. One of the earliest of these contests began in Yamatokoriyama in Nara. One such contest, Himikon, takes place in Moriyama City. Asakura in Kyushu also holds a Himiko contest during its annual Yamataikoku Festival of Flowers.

The proper name Himiko has been diversely applied, not only in Japanese society but also in other realms such as astronomy. Himiko (卑弥呼) is a train on the Amagi Railway Amagi Line and a water bus of Tokyo Cruise Ship designed by Leiji Matsumoto. The name Himiko was given to a Lyman alpha blob (a massive concentration of hydrogen gas believed to be a protogalaxy) that was discovered in 2009. Massing close to 40 billion suns and located 12.9 billion light years from Earth in the constellation Cetus, as of 2014 it is the largest and most distant known example of its kind. The one million dollar filly of 2015 American Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and Untouched Talent (mother of 2012 Kentucky Derby second Bodemeister) was named Himiko.

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