Queen Himiko (and the Kingdom of Yamatai) | History of Japan 7 

1:28 Yeah, this is a real name (not Himiko’s attendant!), look it up! Do you have a hard name to pronounce/spell? Himiko shirt and more: teespring.com/queen-himiko1

Being a Japanese, the video series are very admirable...I deeply support you! At its primitive point, Japan had tradition which is characterized by women's presence. This is unique tendency worldly. Ancient Japan worshiped Sun Goddess Amaterasu and got many empress like Empress Suiko. Moreover even Genji Monogatari, which is first literature of this world, was written by the court lady at Heian period. But the tradition gradually changed by continuous wars which led dramatic rise of warrior class who holds masculine and paternal culture. Similar phenomenon are observed in Qin, which was first united dynasty of China.

the greatest most introverted female ruler in history ?

And i thought Himiko was a myth just like in Tomb Raider.....

I know I’m a year late but... I’ve always had this wild theory that Himiko was the real person Amaterasu was based on. Perhaps she followed some early sun kami prototype which gave her that power, but I really think she was the basis for the legend itself. Powerful shaman woman named Sun Girl? Her rituals were based on bronze mirrors that showed people visions? Sounds an awful lot like the sun goddess who came out of seclusion to look at a bronze mirror 🤔 I would postulate that Himiko was promoted to divinity by later descendants, particularly future Emperors who wanted her blessing so they wouldn’t do as bad a job as her immediate successor. I’m particularly drawn to the legend of Ise shrine, which houses Yata-no-Kagami, the mirror of Amaterasu herself, and one of the Imperial Regalia of Japan. It’s said that Yamatohime-no-mikoto, daughter of 11th Emperor Suinin, wandered for 20 years searching for a place to dedicate worship to Amaterasu. Eventually, she found Ise, and the kami’s voice told her it was “a secluded and pleasant land. In this land I wish to dwell.” Long story short, thus began the tradition of sending a Japanese princess to attend the goddess, where the shrine reportedly still houses the mirror and is strictly forbidden to outsiders. Maybe I’m making causation out of correlation. Maybe these are broader cultural themes without immediate connection: bronze mirrors and seclusion, preferring female attendants, a proud direct bloodline to one woman. Personally, I think the connection is too juicy to pass up.

Apparently, her name in ancient Japanese was actually pronounced Pimiko.

Queen himiko is my favorite character from the Japanese history, wish we could have known more about her

I love what you showed when you depicted how a ruler's power improves the power of their vassals. You depicted Himiko with 3 Power, and each of her three vassals had 2 Pwr. Meaning that if just over half her vassals rose up against her, they would outpower her. Unless her remaining vassals stayed true and protected her. But she would be vastly outnumbered if all her vassals turned against her. This is true of any ruler and their vassals. As you strengthen your vassals, you also create potential threats with each misstep you take. Not sure that you were trying to make that point so clear, but it was just very well illustrated there.

Started watching your japanese history videos just 2 hours ago and I gotta say they are very good. Keep on it waiting for the next vid.

*An unmarried queen with a male attendant on a well-protected and secluded palace....* 😏😏😏

Man 1: Is this the right Wei? Man 2: No, no, I'll show you the Wei. LMAO 😂😂😂

It's funny. I never actually heard of Queen Himiko until I played Tomb Raider 2013. I honestly thought she was a myth created for the game, but I'm surprised to see that she was an actual person!

Great video man! Love your drawings :)

So let me get this straight. When women ruled there was peace and land prospered. When a man took over, it all fell to ruins. It makes you think...

Euhemerism: One could argue that she may be Amaterasu herself and founded the imperial Line (Yamatai = early Yamato; Himiko's Mirror = Amaterasu's Mirror), that she was deified and regarded as a "myth" with time 🗻 Best Example for Euhemerism? The "legend" of Troy and Heinrich Schliemann's finding of the actual, historic ruins of Troy. Early History is a botched work mostly but especially when it comes to myths, it gets really convoluted. Maybe not generally but in some cases, it could be a probable explanation that myths were history once of some sort. Just look at the first 25 Emperors of Japan who are regarded as semi-mythical but most likely they represent and/or were mixed up with early rulers at different times, their "official" lifetimes being canonized/estimated/made up by japanese historians of old. They are regarded as myths and their timeframes are pretty much made up. Lifespan is another important point-in earlier days, it could easily happen that rulers who lived to be 90 or even a 100 Years old were regarded as nearly immortal and with time and fading memory their lifespans were stretched to hundreds or thousands of years (like the first chinese emperors)...🐉 -> Like in earlier times people would explain a volcanic eruption or meteor shower with the wrath of a god 🌠☀

I'm so invested I want to know more about Himiko and her relative Iyo. They were so young when they started ruling. And Himiko was a great leader. There were so many powerful women in Japanese history. Why did it suddenly switch to male domination?

Thank you for doing this video! I adore Queen Himiko!

The Yayoi - Nara period is so fascinating! I hope you make more videos about it, like Yamato Takeru and kofun tombs and the shift during the Asuka towards Buddhism, and other stuff. :)

Emperor Showa also lived in isolation from his people, until 1945. So we can understand how Himiko could be the supreme ruler while only interacting through one person.

I can learn Japanese history and English at the same time. I love your channel !

Thought tomb raider wasnt exactly based on real story, but the history behind it was amazing :D

BEEZOW DOO-DOO ZOPITTYBOP- BOP-BOP

Do you know the WAE? I'll show you the WAE 4:03

Just reminded of how Himiko was contemporaneous to the Thee Kingdoms period, totally forgot about that. I really wish I could travel back in time and see it first hand. I bet the land and the society's going to be really intersting. Oh, also, when we move to Kofun, are you going to cover the Haniwas? I really like to imagine a few hundred of them on a great mound

I really enjoy your videos about Japan's history 😍. I was always in love with Japan and these give me chance to learn new things. ありがとう！🙇

I know her through FGO. I thought she was just some dignified airhead waifu, but she actually sounds like a badass🔥🔥

*When some random dude on YT teaches you better than your history teacher*

it's really really helpful... you made these history videos in a very interesting way😃easy to memorize,.. recently I'm studying the Japanese history, 文学史ect...keep making more history ,folktale, cultural videos like these in such a interesting way!... Btw I'm from India😊🌸

Your videos are just spectacular! I've been wanting to learn Japanese history for a long time, and this is so interesting! (And funny. Very, very funny.)

This is absolutely fascinating!😃💖 You're right though it's frustrating how it just ends suddenly. It's like wait where's the rest of the story?😮

himikos stand 「here comes the sun」 was just better than the other stands

Aww thank you very much for making these videos! I appreciate that you draw&voice the video and research informations. I’m waiting for the next video! Thanks for showing the wei to us.

You are the man! I see a bright future for you as history youtuber :D

MUCH better ending this time

I’m glad somebody did a video on her they’re actually kind a hard to find on RU-vid !

When FGO motivates you to learn more about history~

That commie part killed me

I like your drawing style btw 😄 1:30 I think Beezow Doo-doo is Ainu people....

Another nicely animated and educational video. I hope you get a several more thousand subscribers to reflect the spectacular work you put in to create these videos

As a Chinese，I did read some records about this queen in some Chinese history books.

Hope more people could see your contents.. it's really well made and deserve more views

This is an extraordinary series. I am on my 2nd viewing and I have dozens of pages of Notes. Thank You.

1:28 the male attendant was actually Nashime 難升米

Oooof you're so underrated

Every time I hear amaterasu, I think of Naruto...

From what little there was recorded it's actually still very interesting :D

Love these older linfamy illustrations

When I heard the full name of the only one male attendant ... I started laughing really seriously 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Then I started to think how to write it in カタカナ！

Thanks for helping me pass my mythology test fam

Me after playing tomb raider *You know I'm something of a historian myself*

My first thought when hearing some Chinese records say Himiko's brother was the real power was that it's very possible they simply dismissed her as the ruler because she was a woman. They probably just assumed it had to be her brother who really ran everything because the thought of a woman holding absolute power in such a way was inconceivable to them. And the fact that some sources described her as some sort of witch also lends creedens to this, because historically, saying a woman's power came from magic has been a common way for misogynistic societies to discredit said woman's achievements

thank you for telling me about my past life

Love your videos. Not japanese so i learn a lot from these.. love from Sri Lanka. 🇱🇰 🇱🇰

Dude, you are THE S***, seriously, my new favourite you tuber hands down, been watching since the start of the history videos (found them when searching for something EXACTLY like what you provided, thanks buddy ^_^), and you’re so funny and great at not overloading us with jargon so that we. Actually. Learn. :0 I’m a teensy bit obsessed with Japan and this is helping so much, while giving me a great laugh, keep up the good work and I can’t wait to check out your other stuff!

I'm loving all your pop culture references =) And your art really is great. Awesome style.

Fantastic video as always...

Beezow doo doo zopittybop-bop- bop!!! Don't mind me, just binge watching your videos, AGAIN.

What if Himiko *was* Amaterasu? Like, what if the concept of a sun goddess being a super important figure in the religion is actually derived from Himiko's greatness?

Draw more "nice things"

See the next video to not find out because we don't fking know! Greatest line ever. of all time.

Wow she's like Elizabeth before Elizabeth, can someone make a movie about Himiko!

no, she's a magical girl that got a contract from an immortal bunny/cat thing, and is fighting witches

To understand Himiko, you must understand the chronology of Hinotori. Hinotori appeared numerous times, but the two that are relevant to Himiko are, 108 AD and 246 AD. In 108 AD, Hinotori appeared and caused a period of “70 or 80 years of disturbances and warfare” (72 years to be exact). In 180 AD, Himiko assumed the throne. After a period of 66 years, Hinotori appeared in 246 AD and blotted out the Sun. The people revolted against her, and she would ask for help from China, but it would be too late. She would die a year later. This is likely the source of The Legend of Amaterasu, with the story of JIMMU coming after the events of Himiko.

YES FINALLY LINFAMY DOES A VIDEO ON YAMATAI!!! IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS SINCE TOMB RAIDER: A SURVIVOR IS BORN CAME OUT!!!!

I better get my notifications 😤... Or else.

OMG this video shows me da wei, keep going man. I'll sacrifice my self as well

Like the shaman Queen idea - detecting a little narrator frustration. 👍🏻

I love japanese anime, culture and food, i've subscribed to the channel :D

Nice video! I waiting for Nobunaga/Hideyoshi and Tokugawa age lol

This is an underrated channel. Also, what was of the Emishi/Jomon/Ainu during the Yamatai period? Were they still holed up in northern Japan fighting against the Yayoi, or had they been pushed out into Hokkaido at that point?

It's interesting that in Japan, their sun god is female, while others I've read about often, if not always, depict them as male.

Hoping to visit Japan soon and not embarrass myself too much. Thank you very much for the crush cartoons on Japan!

Linfamy! Dude I know u are reading this 😂 Just to remind u I love ur work and I have watched all the previous episodes since last month! Make more お願いします

People like Linfamy are how history teachers should be. I might have gotten better than a D in my Japanese History class, lol.

She's also a pretty good buster support

I'm sorry if this is rude but can she fight ?

Learning this makes me more proud to be Japanese.

Your videos are really, really good. So much so that I've been watching them so often that I just realized I wasn't subscribed, because the only videos that have been suggested to me recently have been your videos. I fixed that quickly, now subscribed, found your channel a week ago

Watched a few videos. Worth subscribing! Also love ❤️ the drawings

Love your vids ❤️ keep up the good work sir!!

Another great video :)

I want Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop’s job. Himiko is a cutie! Great job again!

“Meeting Destiny” on the calendar 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Okay, I'm like five years late but I just started playing Tomb Raider 2013, so I wanted to know more about Yamatai and Queen Himiko. Unfortunately, Google didn't give me much info on her and what info I could find I had trouble getting through because I've got a bad case of textbook burnout. So thank you for making this video. It really helps me.

Himiko himoko miko himiko

Keep this up you will be my new history teacher

Keep it up! You really got something good going here.

Good video. Most scholars believe the Yamatai kingdom is the precursor to Yamato (as you mentioned), and that Himiko was buried in an early keyhole kofun near the town of Sakurai in southern Nara Prefecture. It's called the Hashihaka kofun, and the locals call it the Honbo (dragonfly) kofun. It's on an ancient road known as the Yamanobei no Michi running North to South. I lived near Nara City for 12 years and saw it hiking the old aforementioned road in 2006. If you look at a map or airial picture of the region, draw a line with your finger from Kyoto (Heian-kyo) south, following towns and cities, you'll see several places that periods of Japanese history are named after (Heian-kyo, Nara [Heijo-kyo], Asuka), and many other places associated with Japanese history (Ise, Kashihara [Fujiwara-kyo], Miwa...). The capitol cities were built in a grid patterned after Xian, China. An interesting illustration of the ancient pecking order is to count the claws on dragons in their artwork. China-5 claws, Korea- 4 toes, Japan- 3 toes. Anyway, the richness of history and archaeology in the Kinki region (the heart of the Yamato kingdom) suggests it's significance into antiquity and a major reason why many scholars believe that that's where Yamatai was.

this makes the Okami game make more sense to me :P

Dude, your videos are hilarious and awesome. Rock on.

Really enjoy this, keep it up. :)

Gonna bing watch this whole playlist

Thx for information about her i also watch your other videos

The end of the video is why I have a love-hate with history. “Sometimes, we just don’t have a gaddang clue”

Very nice, as always! Keep up the good work! One minor point, though: you mention towards the end of your video that the association of the ruler with kami was the basis for political legitimacy in Japan all the way until the 1950's. This is.... technically true, but rather misleading. By the time a truly unified state had been established during the Nara period, the religious undertones of rule in Japan had fallen, and certainly by the time of the Ashikaga Shogunate and the Sengoku Jidai, it was utterly irrelevant as real political power wasn't even in the hands of the Emperor anymore.

Info about yamatai is scare..... That is why writing things down is important kids!

One vid led me to another and all of sudden i stumble across your vids lol but I actually enjoy them can’t wait for the next one. Now how did i go from anime vids to this 🤔

And some people claim that all of East Asian history was Patriarchal. What an awesome woman ruler!

Everytime you say* kami I kept hearing the Soviet anthem, but still great video 👍🏼

Awesome video as always !