![]() ![]() p.68-70.Aileen Kawagoe wrote in Heritage of Japan: There are no written records to tell us how the people of the Kofun Period lived, but from the many haniwa clay figurines and earthenware, as well as tumuli paintings, historians and archaeologists have been able to piece together details about how people of the Kofun Period lived. Since his death, he is formally known as ‘Emperor Showa.’ Emperor Yuryaku is also associated with the ‘King Bu’ of Wa identified in Chinese records of Japan. A modern example: Emperor Showa (1901-1989) was called ‘Emperor Hirohito’ during his life. ![]() It should be noted that, according to tradition, emperors have a reign name and a posthumous name. Wakatakiru (Waka Takeru) being a name for Emperor Yuryaku. Thus, from this perspective, we have a theory of origin from the haniwa which is divorced from notions of human sacrifice or live burial which was retrospectively projected onto ancient Japan by those living centuries later. The early cylindrical haniwa, being rather indistinguishable from these clay jars, can be construed as an innovation in design. Historian Fumio Miki notes that, in the preceding Yayoi Period, clay jars were placed near the summit of a burial mound in Sakurai. ![]() Paul Varley notes that the image of the human figure itself does not emerge until relatively late in the evolution of the haniwa. The precise function of these figures beyond adorning the slopes and tops of burial mounds is not entirely clear. One can begin to grasp ancient pre-literate Japanese society through the increasingly detailed objects which adorned burial mounds. Haniwa figures depict people in armor, with weapons as well as structures. Records of his life (in the Kojiki and Nihongi) were written many centuries later. If he did exist, there is no evidence linking him to the time he supposedly lived. Moreover, Emperor Suinin is a shadowy figure at best. This view is supported by a passage from the Nihongi (compiled in 720) in which Emperor Suinin (legendary emperor, supposedly reigned: 29 BCE-70 CE) decreed “"From now on make it a rule to erect clay figures and not to hurt people." There is a lack of evidence for human sacrifice associated with ancient burial rites in Japan. The use of clay figurines for this purpose was supposedly to replace actual human sacrifices. Haniwa were used primarily in relation to burial rites of prominent individuals. Haniwa figures themselves started out as rather simplistic cylindrical designs, becoming increasingly detailed over the course of the Kofun Period. In Japanese Culture, Paul Varley notes that the limbs of some of the figures were broken deliberately and used to cure specific ailments related to arms and legs. Where did the idea for crafting haniwa originate? Japanese pottery from the Jomon period called dogu (‘clay figures’) depicts fertility figures and were possibly used as part of medicinal practices. The inscription reads: “In the reign of the great ruler of Wa ru who ruled the land.” Besides swords, haniwa were commonly placed at burial sites. This sword was unearthed from a tomb during the Meiji period. The Eta Funayama Sword (5th century) contains an early inscription mentioning that it was made during the reign of Emperor Yuryaku (reign: 456-479, traditional dates). They were eventually replaced by the Mononobe and Soga clans. The Kazuraki and Otomo clans were among the most prominent at the Yamato Court during the Kofun period. Northern Honshu and parts of central Honshu were beyond the range of this polity at the time. The frontiers of the Yamato state (headed by what would become the Japanese Imperial Family) reached Izumo in the west and Kyushu in the south. This was a period in which there are few written records and before Buddhism was formally introduced by the Kingdom of Baekje. The Kofun period saw the rise of the Yamato Clan as one among many polities present on the Japanese archipelago. Among the most common objects to come down to us from the Kofun Period (250-538) are haniwa, or clay figurines used as funerary objects.
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