The Shaman Queen of Japan

For those who saw the latest Tomb Raider movie, you may remember the fake antagonist, Queen Himiko. Some of you (like me) may have wondered if this character was taken from history or if she was purely fictional. Well, the answer to the first question is yes, kind off.

You see, Himiko’s status is hard to pinpoint between the mythical and down to earth. The main issue with this ruler is that everything we know of her doesn’t come from Japanese sources but from Chinese ones, known as the Wei Zhi at the time. Yes, despite being a Japanese ruler, her own country has no record of her existence. I know this may sound a bit strange, leading some to believe she may have been an invention of the Wei Zhi.

Himiko ruled over the mysterious nation of Yamatai. Their whereabouts are heavily debated due to a lack of evidence. The two most popular theories were that they were either located in the Nara or Kyushu region. Yamatai, under the rule of Himiko, was exceptionally wealthy and powerful. The nation of Wei Zhi recorded that it was one of the most powerful nations that they interacted with. It was stated to lead a confederation of over 30 smaller kingdoms and therefore controlled a large portion of Japan.

Regarding what we ‘know’ about this ruler, and that’s not a lot, leads to a very hard-to-understand figure. Called Shaman-queen, she spent most of her time practicing sorcery and magic rather than ruling her nation, leaving this role to her younger brother. This, however, may have been a result of a misconception from the Wei people. She may have been a lot more active governing her nation than they let us know. This misunderstanding may be because it was uncommon for rulers in Japan at this time to not receive ambassadors themselves. However, this custom was not shared by their continental neighbours, who in turn, merely assumed Himiko wasn’t an active ruler. She was however still recognized as the official ruler of Yamatai, being even given by the Wei the title of Queen of Wa, Friendly to Wei.

Queen Himiko remains a mystery even in death as, just like Yamatai, the location of her tomb is unknown. Presuming she actually existed of course!