Yamatonoaya clan

, the founder of the Yamatonoaya clan from Paekche. (Kikuchi Yōsai, 1903) According to ancient Japanese records, Nihon Shoki and Kojiki, Yamatonoaya clan was one of the many clans that arrived from the Korean kingdoms during the reign of Emperor Ōjin. It is said that the clan came from Paekche alongside their ancestor, Achi no Omi and his son, (都加使主).It is said that the clan started off small but gradually grew as other clans integrated themselves to the clan, later becoming one of the most influential clans in Japan. Although oldest sources such as the Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720) state that the clan and its founder, Achi no Omi, originate from the kingdom of Paekche, the Shoku Nihongi (797) claims that Achi no Omi was a descendant of Emperor Ling of Han. Later, according to the Shinsen Shōjiroku (815), it states that he was rather a descendant of Emperor Xian of Han following the claim made by the Sakanoue clan. However, it is believed that the claims of his supposed royal heritage is an embellishment to make him seem more important as his name is recorded under "King Achi (阿智王)" (instead of his given name) likely to emphasize on the idea that he was of noble background. In actuality, the general consensus by modern historians is that Achi no Omi was likely a fictional individual, as according to historian (栗田 寛), it was common for Korean descendants to rely on prominent families for their lineage in order to raise their social status. According to (門脇禎二) at Kyoto University, the name "Yamatonoaya" was widely used by Korean immigrants to apply dominance in their newly found home. or more recently, Kaya based on historical and archaeological evidence. == Etymology ==

"Yamato" in Yamatonoaya meant "east (東)" in Old Japanese as seen in the older spelling of the clan name, thus, "Yamato no Aya" meant "Aya clan of the east". The word "Aya", written as "漢 (Kan; かん)" in ''on'yomi'', does not have a native Japanese etymology and scholars suspect it to be a loanword from a different language. Modern Japanese historians theorize that Yamatonoaya clan and its founder Achi no Omi, originated from the Kaya confederacy, specifically from the kingdom of "Aya (安邪)" or "Anra (安羅)" (old name for Ara Gaya) where the placename became the etymology of the Aya clans. According to the theory, the immigrants brought many Paekche technologies from Ara Gaya In recent times, the character for "Aya (漢)" is analogous with the ancient Han dynasty, hence why the character is heavily associated with China today. However, looking at the character's etymology, it is believed to have been used more leniently than its modern equivalent. The pronunciation of "Aya (あや)", as mentioned above, is believed to have derived from the "Kingdom of Aya (安邪国)" and was only given the character of Han (漢) later on. Similar to "Hata (はた)" being written as "Qin (秦)" but having roots in the Koreanic word "Pada/Hada (波多)", and "Kara (から)" being written as "Tang (唐)" but having roots in the "Kingdom of Kara (加羅国)", it is believed to have been directly associated with Korean kingdoms at first, then later expanded to China over several millennia, adopting different characters and interchanging when necessary. Similar usage of Chinese characters has been observed in Korean as well, with Koreans using "Han (韓; 漢; 幹; 刊)" to represent the native word "Han (한)" meaning "big" or "grand" using the Idu system. Interestingly, the native Korean word "Han" which is directly associated with the Samhan or "three Hans" of Korea, is believed to be the root of the word "Kara" in Japanese as the word "Han" would have been pronounced as "Kar" in Old Korean. Therefore, pronunciations such as "Aya; Hata; Kara" (despite stemming from different roots) were likely brought over by Korean immigrants, whose descendants later incorporated more influential characters to better represent themselves. == Relations with the Aya clans ==

Japanese scholars have indicated that Yamatonoaya clan and other "Aya (漢)" clans were all related and that they were generally classified under the same ethnic group. Kawachinoaya clan in particular, is thought to be related with the Yamatonoaya clan. The clan was one of the clans first founded by the scholar Wani (alongside clans such as the [西文氏]) who arrived in Japan from the kingdom of Paekche who helped spread the use of the Chinese Writing system in Japan. According to Japanese scholars, Wani and Achi no Omi founded Kawachinoaya and Yamatonoaya clan respectively, both being of Paekche origin and influential ethnic Koreans in Japan at the time. They shared the same character "Aya" but separated one another with the use of cardinal directions ("Kawachi; 西" meaning West and "Yamato; 東" meaning East) as Wani's Kawachinoaya clan resided in "Furuichikoori (河内国古市郡)", (present day (古市郡) in Osaka) located in the west of Japan, while Achi no Omi and his Yamatonoaya clan resided in the Yamato Kingdom found in the east. Yamatonoaya clan also had a related clan called the Sakanoue clan (the clan that Sakanoue no Karitamaro hails from) which was once part of the bigger and more influential Yamatonoaya clan, but later broke off to form a clan of their own. After the formation of the clans, the next immigrants were mainly called "Imaki no Ayabito (今来漢人/新漢人)" . == Relations with the Fumi clans ==

As mentioned above, it is believed that the Aya clans in general, though each self-proclaiming to have descended from different individuals, were most likely ethnically related people from a common group. It is believed that the ancestor of the Aya clans, Tsuka no Omi (son of Achi no Omi), was also written as "Tsuka no Atai (都賀直)" and the name Tsuka no Atai is said to have been the ancestor to many of the Fumi clans, according to their self-proclaimed genealogies. == Achievements ==

It is written both in Nihon Shoki and Kojiki that the clan specialized in architecture and carpentry. There were also heavily militarized, often guarding and protecting high-ranking members of the Soga clan who also had deep connections with the Korean peninsula, specifically the kingdom of Paekche. == Legacy ==

On top of being one of the most influential immigrant clans in Japan, clans related to Yamatonoaya became much more prominent after its fall. The clan was divided into clans with distinct surnames, such as the aforementioned Sakanoue clan, the Fumi clan, the Min clan, the Ikebe clan, and the Aratai clan. == Notable members ==

• Achi no Omi - Founder of the clan. == See also ==