Table of Contents
Nutty History offers a brisk tour of ancient Japan in which legend and the material record keep trading places. After rising seas cut the islands from the mainland, a very long pottery tradition is set beside a much later written myth. In the oldest chronicles the world begins in chaos until Izanagi and Izanami form the islands, and an earthly founder, Jimmu, starts an imperial line. Himiko, a shaman queen of the third century, is the next puzzle. She is a recluse, rarely seen, served by many women, and known for spells, yet Chinese notes record her while Japanese histories do not. After her death the film describes violence and a girl queen. Later rulers mix with gods. One is said to have become the war deity Hachiman. Another, Nintoku, is credited with flood works and with a keyhole tomb so large it covers more ground than the pyramids. Buddhism then mixes with the older rites, a court plot breaks a powerful clan, and a reform puts land under the throne as the first histories are written.
Key points
- The tour runs from a very long early pottery age into mythic founders known from later chronicles.
- Himiko is presented as a reclusive shaman queen known from Chinese notes rather than Japanese ones.
- Later rulers are shown blurring into gods, including a war deity made from an emperor.
- Keyhole tombs, one of them enormous, mark a rising elite whose builders go unnamed.
- Buddhism, a court conflict, and a centralizing reform close the story as writing appears.
Short quotes
the universe was in a state of Primal chaos until the Divine couple Izanagi and izanami were born
Nutty History, Short history of ancient Japan
This is the creation scene the channel takes from Japan’s oldest mythic histories. Watch at 4:45
the Dyson kofun as it's called is a keyhole shaped Mound
Nutty History, Short history of ancient Japan
The great keyhole tomb is the channel’s example of a burial built at imperial scale. Watch at 11:08
Buddhism was starting to take hold and blend with Shinto beliefs
Nutty History, Short history of ancient Japan
The later chapters turn on the mixing of the new faith with the older rites. Watch at 14:03
Video by Nutty History. Watch on YouTube.