ANCIENT KOREAN KINGDOMS ISEO AND KAYA, WHICH CONCERN ANCIENT JAPANESE HISTORY

MYOUNG-MI PARK

ABSTRACT

This paper compares and analyzes ancient Korean and Japanese history from a comparative
linguistic perspective. With discussions of ancient Korean and Japanese place names and personal
names, it presents an objective view of Korean and Japanese history. The writer’s earlier research has
led to the conclusion that when people, not just one or two persons, move to a new place, they bring
their language with them, and this was true in ancient Korean and Japanese history, just like Germans
(Angles, Saxons, Jutes, etc.) moved to the British isles along with their language which has developed
into present-day English.
Comparing the Korean and Japanese languages, it is obvious that their grammar is almost the
same. Excluding borrowed vocabulary from the Chinese language, the original vocabulary of the two
languages shows systematic phonological correspondences. From a linguistic perspective, it is highly
likely that the ancestors of Korean and Japanese people used the same language in ancient times (ca.
2,000 years ago).
The Japanese myth and ancient Korean kingdom group Kaya’s myth are similar, and even lay
people will see similarities in place and personal names in the myths. This paper is an answer to a
likely question of why that is the case in four respects: first, on the relation of Izanagi and Izanami,
the two deities that appear in the Japanese myth, to the ancient Korean kingdom Iseo; second,
on the relation between the ancient kingdom Ito, apparently the first kingdom in Japan, and the
ancient kingdom Iseo in Korea; third, on the relation between Sohori or Kusifuru, the place where
deity Ninigi-no-mikoto, who founded Japan, is supposed to have landed in the Japanese myth, and
Kuzibong, where the ancient allied kingdoms Kaya in Korea were founded; and fourth, on -iri- and
-waka- or -wake- that appear in the early emperors’ names, which reveal the real relations between
Korea and Japan in ancient times. In the ancient Japanese history (which starts with a myth) Nihon-shoki [Chronicles of Japan]
(AD720) and Koji-ki [Records of Ancient Affairs] (AD712), Izanagi and Izanami were two deities who
were both a couple and siblings and produced everything from the Japanese islands, rocks and stones,
land, woods, sea, water, wind, fire, etc. However, there is no account of where they came from in
Japanese history or myth. On the other hand, in the Korean history Samguk-sagi [Historical Records of
Three Kingdoms] (ca. 1145), there is an account of the kingdom of Iseo, which was destroyed in AD42
but its remaining forces kept threatening the kingdom Shilla for centuries. Little was known about this
kingdom Iseo, but one day in 2008, after 2,000 years, archeological materials, as many as 3,600 items,
were discovered at a dam construction site, which revealed much about Iseo.
Actually, this kingdom Iseo seems to have been where Izanagi and Izanami came from. The
evidence is in their names. Their names are also pronounced Isanagi and Isanami, and the first part of
their names in this pronunciation, Isa-, is basically the same or very similar to the name of the kingdom
Iseo. What about -nagi? In the Korean language it means “someone from”; thus, someone from Seoul is
Seoul-nagi, and someone from Busan is Busan-nagi. Now this -nagi (or -negi) is used for both men and
women, but in the past for women a different suffix -omi or -emi was used. What it means, counting in
some pronunciational parallelism between the two names, is that Izanagi / Isanagi was “a man from
Isa/Iseo” [isɔ (a wide o)] and Izanami / Isanami was “a woman from Isa/Iseo.”
Is there further evidence to support this? Apparently, there is. It is likely that the ruling class
of the destroyed kingdom Iseo escaped for a safe place, out of the Korean peninsula. The first big
island south of Korea is Taema-do (in Korean) or Tsushima (in Japanese), and the next one is Iki
(in Japanese). The 3rd-century Chinese history Sanguo-chi [Chronicles of Three Kingdoms] describes
Taema-do as having little arable land, so it would have been difficult for the refugees to settle there, and
even more so on the smaller island Iki. A natural destination would have been northwestern Kyushu
of the Japanese islands, more specifically an area where there was a kingdom called Ito in ancient
times. What is of great interest is that the name of this kingdom Ito was originally Iso, according to
accounts in ancient regional records compiled in Fudo-ki (early 8th century). Thus, a connection can
be established between the Korean kingdom Iseo and the Japanese kingdom Iso/Ito.
Supporting evidence is also found in archeology and genetic anthropology. Dolmens and stone
sarcophagi are numerous in Korea, especially in Iseo and other southern parts, and in northern
Kyushu in Japan, especially in Ito (and another area in Shimabara in Nagasaki). Similarities in
dolmens in the two countries are pointed out. Ito area has the oldest burial mound for a king in
Japan, and many bronze mirrors, stone swords (ground and polished, for ceremonies), and jade,
gold and glass ornaments are excavated there that are very similar to those found in southern Korea.
Also, in genetic anthropology the noted researcher Ken’ichi Shinoda from Japan says that DNA data
from the bones dug up from dolmens in Ito area and in southern Korea are almost the same or very similar and says he is inclined to believe that northern Kyushu and southern Korea had the same
group of people (2007, p. 179).
The first emperor of Japan in the Japanese myth/history is Emperor Jimmu, and his father’s
name was Amatsuhiko-hikonagisatake-ugayafukiaezu (recorded in Koji-ki; Hikonagi…, without
the first part, in Nihon-shoki). Ugaya- that appears in the last part of his name was an alternative
name of the ancient kingdom Ookaya/Oogaya (Great Kaya) in southern Korea, which appeared after
the kingdom Iseo. Also, Emperor Jimmu’s great grandfather Ninigi-no-mikoto’s grandfather on his
mother’s side has the name of the capital of Oogaya encoded in Chinese characters in her name (the
first and fourth characters out of the five put together 高霊, pronounced Koreon, was the name of
the capital). Furthermore, the place where Kim-suro, the founding king of Kaya, is supposed to have
come down from heaven and landed—Kuzibong—corresponds to the place where Ninigi-no-mikoto,
the first emperor Jimmu’s great grandfather, is said in the myth to have come down from heaven and
landed, Kusifuru. The Korean Kuzibong can be interpreted to mean “great capital.” In the Japanese
myth Ninigi-no-mikoto’s landing site is also called Sohori, which also means “capital”. All of this
directs us in one direction.
Finally, an unsettled issue is discussed. It is not agreed whether Kaya, which is also called Mimana
in Japan, was Japanese territory or not. The answer is in Japan’s early emperors’ names. The 10th
emperor Sujin’s name in Japanese was Mimaki-iri-biko-inie-no-sumeramikoto. The first part of this
name “Mimaki” was an alternative name of Kaya, and his name tells us that he came from Kaya, with
the next part -iri- meaning “entering from”. In this manner, the early emperors from the 1st Jimmu
to the 11th Suinin all had -iri- (“entering from”) in their Japanese names, and from the 12th Keiko to
the 25th Buretsu had -waka- or -wake-. For example, the 12th emperor Keiko’s Japanese name was
Ootarashihiko-oshirowake-no-sumeramikoto, where in addition to -wake- we note “[T]ara”, which
was one of Kaya kingdoms. “Tara” also appears in the Japanese names of the 13th emperor Seimu,
the 14th emperor Chuai and his empress Jingu, which suggests that they all came from Tara-Kaya
kingdom. The 13th emperor Seimu’s Japanese name was Wakatarashihiko-no-mikoto (analyzable into
Waka-tara-shi-hiko…). Now, this “waka-tara” corresponds phonologically to Korean “pakat-tara”,
which means “outer Tara”. It means that Tara-Kaya (and other Kaya kingdoms) expanded into Japan.
That is not to say, however, that the Korean side was superior to the Japanese side, and vice versa. It
simply shows the direction people moved.
In this paper we have seen what seems to have happened between Korea and Japan in ancient
times on the basis of the discussions of four important points. A comparative linguistic analysis has
made it possible to solve mysteries in ancient Asian history.