Akihito's Korean roots

The Fujiwara embrace of Kudara

By William Wetherall

First posted 4 April 2006
Last updated 10 April 2017

Akihito's 68th birthday present Press conference • Akihito's remarks • Media response

Akihito's 68th birthday present

At his 68th birthday press conference in 2001, Emperor Akihito cited the Shoku Nihongi (Continued Chronicles of Japan), an official chronology compiled in 797, as the authority of his admission that the mother of Emperor Kanmu (r. 781-806) was a descendant of Prince Sunta, a son of the Paekche King Muryong (501-523), who was therefore one of his ancestors. It was Kanmu who moved the Yamato capital to Heiankyo in 794, five years after his mother's death. The new capital, and a series of important changes that Kanmu set into motion, came to define the beginning of the Heian period.

Objection to the accession of a Yamato prince whose mother had a Korean pedigree was overcome by Fujiwara no Momokawa, whose own daughter became Kanmu's wife and mother of the next Emperor. The Fujiwara, already a powerful family, came to control the court for the better part of four centuries, by marrying Fujiwara women to princes who later became sovereigns. The princes were usually raised in their mother's household, to be dominated by Fujiwara uncles and grandfathers, many of whom came to hold the highest posts, including regent.

Such matrilineal affiliation was common in the Heian aristocracy, where marriages were typically duolocal: a husband visited his wife at night and departed the next morning. Patrilocal marriage, according to which a wife moved into her husband's family and gave up membership in her natal family, and patrilineal affiliation, didn't become the norm until much latter in Japan, where marital customs regionally varied down to the 19th century, when Japan became a state and enacted a common Civil Code.

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68th birthday press conference

The Imperial Household Agency, which posts Japanese and English versions of proceedings of press coverences and other public appearances by Imperial Family members, showed the following Japanese transcription and "unofficial translation" of the "question" and "response" concerning Japan and Korea on the occasion of Akihito's on 18 December 2001.

While reading the Japanese and English versions of the following question and reply, keep in mind these four facts.

1. No country on the Korean peninsula has ever been the closest geographical neighbor of any entity on the Japanese islands -- unless we are talking about the period when the two regions were bridged by land, or the period when the straits between the two regions were much narrower than they have been in historical times.

2. There was no "Korea" at the time of Paekche and there is no "Korea" today.

3. 韓国 (Kankoku), i.e., the Republic of Korea, did not exist until 1948. The term 韓国 (Karakuni) appears in Nihon shoki (Chronicles of Japan) and Shoku Nihongi (Continued Chronicles of Japan) only as part of the personal names of servants of the court.

A 672 account in Nihon shoki reports the feats of Iki no Fubito Karakuni (壹伎史韓國), who is described only as a general of Ōmi (近江 Afumi) province (NS 28, Tenmu 1-7-23, 672-8-24 [21], NKBT 68:400-405, Aston 2:315-318).

731 and 732 entries in Shoku Nihongi refer to a promotion and appointment of Mononobe no Karakuni no Muraji Hirotari (物部韓國連廣足) (SN 11, Tenpyō 3-1-27, 731-3-13 [9], SZKT 1:125, and SN 11, Tenpyō 4-10-17, 732-11-13 [9], SZKT 1:130). A 699 entry states that he was a disciple of En no Otsunu (役小角 En no Wotsunu, En no Otsuno, En no Odzuno 634-706), also known as En no Gōja (役行者), who is supposed to have founded the ascetic Shūgendō (修験道) sect (SN 1, Monmu 3-5-24, 699-6-29 [26], SZKT 1:4).

4. Akihito spoke of "migrants" who "migrated" -- not people who "came" or "came over" or "immigrated". Nor did he say that anyone "came" much less "came over" from Korea to "Japan" -- which, like "Korea", did not then exist as a national entity.

While Akihito's remarks were undoubtedly well-intended as a gesture of personal diplomacy, at the same time they reflect the kind of fuzzy ahistorical talk that feeds romantic nationalist thinking about the past, in which neither "Korea" nor "Japan" -- even loosely speaking -- were the national entities that many people today seem to want to imagine.

Note also, in the English version, the provision of historical dates and other clarifications that are absent in the Japanese version -- although the vast majority of Japanese readers would not have understood the whos, whats, wheres, and whens of Akihito's history lecture.

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Akihito's remarks about Kanmu's Paekche roots
Japanese and English texts The following Japanese and English texts are from the website of the Imperial Household Agency. The bold highlighting is as received. The layout, the colored highlighting, and the underscoring are mine. All bracketed romanization and English, including the [ bracketed English translations ] in the received English version, are also mine.
天皇陛下お誕生日に際し (平成13年) 天皇陛下の記者会見会見年月日：平成13年12月18日宮殿石橋の間	Responses to Questions on the Occasion of the Birthday of His Majesty the Emperor [ Heisei 13 = 2001 ] [ Press conference of the Emperor ] [ Conference date: Heisei 13-12-18 ] December 18, 2001 [ Kyūden / Shakkyō no Ma = Palace / Hall of Lion Dance ]
問3 世界的なイベントであるサッカーのワールドカップが来年，日本と韓国の共同開催で行われます。開催が近づくにつれ，両国の市民レベルの交流も活発化していますが，歴史的，地理的にも近い国である韓国に対し，陛下が持っておられる関心，思いなどをお聞かせください。天皇陛下日本と韓国との人々の間には，古くから深い交流があったことは，日本書紀などに詳しく記されています。韓国から移住した人々や，招へいされた人々によって，様々な文化や技術が伝えられました。宮内庁楽部の楽師の中には，当時の移住者の子孫で，代々楽師を務め，今も折々に雅楽を演奏している人があります。こうした文化や技術が，日本の人々の熱意と韓国の人々の友好的態度によって日本にもたらされたことは，幸いなことだったと思います。日本のその後の発展に，大きく寄与したことと思っています。私自身としては，桓武天皇の生母が百済の武寧王の子孫であると，続日本紀に記されていることに，韓国とのゆかりを感じています。武寧王は日本との関係が深く，この時以来，日本に五経博士が代々招へいされるようになりました。また，武寧王の子，聖明王は，日本に仏教を伝えたことで知られております。しかし，残念なことに，韓国との交流は，このような交流ばかりではありませんでした。このことを，私どもは忘れてはならないと思います。ワールドカップを控え，両国民の交流が盛んになってきていますが，それが良い方向に向かうためには，両国の人々が，それぞれの国が歩んできた道を，個々の出来事において正確に知ることに努め，個人個人として，互いの立場を理解していくことが大切と考えます。ワールドカップが両国民の協力により滞りなく行われ，このことを通して，両国民の間に理解と信頼感が深まることを願っております。	Question 3 Next year Japan and the Republic of Korea will co-host the global event, the 2002 FIFA World Cup. As the tournament draws ever nearer, exchange on a person-to-person level between the two countries is intensifying. Could Your Majesty tell us of any interests or thoughts you have concerning the Republic of Korea, which both historically and geographically is Japan's close neighbor? Answer 3 [ The Emperor ] That the people of Korea and Japan have from ages past had deep interchange is recorded in detail in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan, compiled in 720), among other historical records. Those who immigrated or were invited to come to Japan from Korea [ People who migrated, and people who were invited, from Kankoku ] introduced culture and technology. Of the musicians in the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency, some are direct descendants of musicians who came over to Japan from Korea [ descendants of the migrants ] at that time, and have inherited the music for generations and still perform the Gagaku (Imperial Court Music) on various occasions. It was truly fortunate that such culture and technology was brought to Japan through the enthusiasm of Japanese people and the friendly attitude of the Korean people. I also believe that it contributed greatly to Japan's subsequent development. I, on my part, feel a certain kinship with Korea, given the fact that it is recorded in the Shoku Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan [ Continued Chronicles of Japan ], compiled in 797), that the mother of Emperor Kammu (reign 781-806) was of the line of King Muryong (reign 501-523) of the Kingdom of Paekche. King Muryong had strong relations with Japan, and it was from his time that masters of the Five Chinese Classics (books compiling the teaching of Confucianism) were invited to Japan one after another to teach Confucianism. King Song Myong (reign 523-554), son of King Muryong, is recognized as the one who introduced Buddhism to Japan. It is regrettable however that Japan's exchanges with Korea have not all been of this kind. This is something that we should never forget. The FIFA World Cup 2002 is an event that is further energizing exchange between the peoples of the two countries. In order that this course be followed through, I believe that it is important that the people of both countries try to understand correctly the individual course of events that their respective countries have followed and that they each understand on a person-to-person basis the other's position. I hope that the World Cup will, through cooperation between the two peoples, run smoothly and that this will result in enhancing understanding and mutual trust between the Japanese and Korean people. Paekche is one of three kingdoms of ancient korea. It is said to have been established in 18 B.C. and perished in 660 A.D.

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Media response

Akihito's remarks were widely reported in Korea. They also attracted a lot of rather lame commentary in the English press in Japan and overseas.

Local staff writers and foreign correspondents who report on Japan in English typically expose their preconceptions and prejudices when it comes to reporting on Japan-Korea relations. The major flaw in English reports on Akihito's remarks was not that writers saw them as unusual for a sovereign to make in public (possible true), but that they considered them unusual for any Japanese to make about Korean ties (untrue).

A friend made this comment in email, referring to how The New York Times and The Japan Times reported the story.

JT has jumped on the NYT bandwagon with an "emperor is a kimchi-farter" story on page 1.

I sent him this reply.

The "Close Neighbors" piece by Matsubara? A real disappointment. Maybe JT staff writers have blood ties with NYT correspondents.

Postwar scholars have debated the "invasion" versus "diffusion" issue to death. All have recognized some physical migration from Korea. Most have acknowledged at least some intermarriage with the Yamato aristocracy. Not a few have suggested that the Yamato clan itself has continental origins. But none, to my knowledge, have contested Kanmu's parentage, described in the Shoku Nihongi, which was complied during his own reign.

There is some confusion in the English press, in both Japan and Korea, as to Akihito's source of information. Many articles I've read have dubbed the "Shoku Nihongi" as "Chronicles of Japan". But as the name implies ("shoku" = "zoku"), it should be called "Continued Chronicles of the Japan". In fact it is the sequal to the Nihon shoki, sometimes called Nihongi, or the "Chronicles of Japan" as translated by Aston.

Also contemporary with Kanmu's time was the well-known Shinsen Shojiroku, the last (extant) early peerage. This source lists the aristocratic clans in Heiankyo and the Kinki area generally, and nearly 30 percent of the clans are of immigrant (Korean or Chinese) origin. Most better educated Japanese have at least heard of this, though they may not connect with what it says about the presence of "kikajin" in pre-Heian and early Heian Japan.

Certainly since the excavation of Takamatsuzuka in 1972, the bookstores have barely been able to keep up with the flood of publications sifting through the evidence of early Korean connections. How many NHK specials have been devoted to documentaries on the discoveries of early Korean and Japanese ties at various sites in Japan, including Tsushima?

I get the impression (as did at least some observers in Korea) that many Japanese, if they even took notice of Akihito's remarks, took them to be just a natural expression of what is obvious to anyone who knows anything about early Japanese history in general, and Kanmu in particular. He was, afterall, the emperor who moved the capital from Nara to Nagaoka and then to Kyoto, thus launching the Heian Period.